Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (9 page)

Not long after Thor had his hammer back and Sif collected her incredibly long and sharp looking sword, we were off to the races.  Since we had some time before we got to Odin’s place, I didn’t pepper them with questions right away.  I needed time to gather my wits and figure out the best way to survive all of this. 

After a while of thinking, I decided that my trust in my teammate was well placed and his friend, for lack of a better term, seemed to be okay too.  Staying near them would definitely keep me alive as long as possible. 

Once that was decided, I began asking my questions.  “I know this place is called Asgard, but where are we?  And if you guys aren’t humans, what are you?”  Thor seemed to think on that for a moment or two before he answered.

“That is not an easy question to answer.  I would like to think of us Aesir as just a different race.  We are similar to humans but to cope with the dangers that exist in this realm we had to adapt.”

“So you weren’t kidding, this place is like a deathtrap?”

“For us it holds some danger.  For a lone human, however, this land is a death trap.”

“This whole thing’s just so confusing and, quite frankly, hard to swallow.”

“There are nine realms all connected by the World Tree.  Midgard, where you are from is the largest and most populated.  For the sake of balance, the Bifrost Bridge is the only location where our realm and Midgard physically connect.”

“Where are the other realms then?”

“The rest are much closer and therefore, easier to access.”  He pointed off in the distance, beyond the forest at a huge snow covered mountain range.  “Those mountains are Jotenheim, the land of the ice giants.”  It was hard to imagine another realm was just right there.

“Ice giants are not the only ones to reside near those peaks.   They also lead to the dark elf realm of Svartalfheim.  Instead of going up towards the peak, they live in the land of canyons below taking advantage of the natural cave system there.”

“With giants and elves and God knows what else running around, I suppose you do have to adapt.  I’m guessing that’s where your hammer comes in handy?”  I silently wished my hockey stick did that.

He picked his hammer up and placed it on the sled.  It started crackling electricity again.  “The fates give us what we need to thrive.  We need relics like this to give us access to powers unheard of on Midgard to protect ourselves.  All races have their strengths and weakness, including humans.  I believe you could be a dangerous ally in your own right under the proper motivation and circumstance.” 

I looked over at Sif who’d been quiet the entire time.  I don’t think she believed what Thor was telling me but she also didn’t seem to want to add anything to our conversation either.  So he continued on.

“While I expect no trouble from the ice giants or even the dwarves, I think the elves could be the most unsettling.  Both light and dark elves have the potential to be your enemy.  Light elves are an odd breed, not coming down from Alfheim unless given reason.  When they do grace us with their presence, they only see and speak to the Allfather.”

The who-father?  “Is that Odin?”

“Yes, that is his proper name.  Back to the elves, the dark elves are a race that is filled with stories of deception and have the reputation for discord.  If they were to find out you are here, I shudder to think of what they would do to kidnap a human.”

“So to be safe, avoid all elves, got it.  What about that guy who brought us here, Loki?  So far he reeks of stranger-danger with all that voodoo he has throwing around.”

“Much like Mjolnir allows me access to lightning, Loki has his fire runes, burned into his body so none can take them.  They allow him to access fire that he can use.  Do not be fooled by his physical gifts, Loki’s greatest strength is his mind.  He is like you in many ways, he can think of strategies to keep his enemies unsure of his next move.”

“I don’t know that I want to be compared to him.”

“Allow me to explain.  It is very similar to how you can read the opposing team’s defense tactics and strategically get us in the right position to strike.  Loki is what we would call a wild card back on Midgard.  To be honest, I have no idea what his endgame is in all of this.  I just pray to God that when we get to Valhalla we get some answers on this.”

Thor just said ‘pray to God.’  That didn’t seem to make any sense to me.  “You pray?  Really?”

“Jack, my time on Midgard has taught me a great many things.  I have come to realize there is a greater power governing us all.  So yes, I do pray and happen to be a practicing Protestant if you must know.”

Before this could become a religious debate with a man who some people long ago worshipped as a god on the theories of a higher power I changed directions.  “Are you immortal? “

“You are asking all the hard questions right away huh?  Unlike humans who have a relatively short lifespan, most races in the nine realms are very long lived.  Elves and dwarves can live for millennia and no one blinks an eye.  As for my people, no one knows if we are since not one of us has died from extended age yet.  We can die from sickness and injury just like anyone.”

“Well thanks.  I don’t feel nearly as old as I did a few minutes ago grandpa.”

“I hope these explanations helped a little bit.  You may be here for a few of our Asgardian cycles and I want you to know as much as you can.  I promise that we will get you home as soon as we can.”

It did not and before I could even ask if Aesir believed in Tylenol to help with this headache I was getting; Sif marshaled the dogs to a stop and gave us the sign to be quiet.  I didn’t like this one bit.  Thor grabbed his hammer and with a quick nod to the north gave me an indication of where to look.  I still didn’t see anything but the dogs seemed to be quite agitated. 

Then, out of nowhere, an arrow came hissing right at us.  I dove to the ground again and looked up just in time to see Sif swat it away with her sword.  I don’t know a lot about weapon combat but that seemed really impressive.

Thor in the mean time, had taken off after the would-be Robin Hood.  He was fast but, whoever shot the arrow was moving faster.  I saw more arrows flying towards him but Thor did a good job dodging them. 

Just as the archer was able to get into a tree and prepare another volley, I began to smell the scent of ozone.  It reminded me of thunderstorms in the summer. 

Thor pointed the hammer at the tree the archer was in and lightning went crashing into that section of forest, sending limbs and leaves everywhere.  For the first time since entering the weird dream, my mind was completely blown. 

My ears were pounding from the sound that I can only describe as a sonic boom.  There was no way anyone could survive such an assault.  I started to get up when I heard Sif grunt and turned around and saw an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. 

The archer went right over to her while she was still looking on in shock at the arrow and knocked her cold with a right cross.  I turned to see where Thor was and he was too far away!  Plus after blowing up a good deal of the forest he seemed to be pretty badly winded.  How did the archer survive?  More importantly, how did he get so close? 

Before I could make sense of any of this, I was punched hard in the face.  The blow was the hardest I had ever felt, even worse them the time I took a puck to the face. 

With my brain scrambled, I felt another bout of passing out coming on (I know, it’s pathetic).   What I didn’t expect was the archer’s hood to fall off, revealing her(!) face.  My last thoughts as I went night-night was just how incredibly beautiful she was, even though her skin was a bit on the blue side.

For the second time since coming to this horrible place, I woke up and had no idea where I was.  This time around I wasn’t on a warm cot; I was lying on the ground with my hands tied together.  More to the point, I was lying in a cave.  Well the only positive was there was a fire going and I was pretty warm.  I touched my right cheek with my bound hands and it felt just as swollen as I imagined it did. 

Carefully checking out my surroundings and seeing I was alone, I decided to inch closer to the fire and fall back asleep.  My head seriously hurt.  I dozed off pretty quickly and was asleep for some time when I felt someone touch my shoulder.  I jumped up as quickly as my body would allow and found myself looking into the eyes of the girl who knocked me out.

I don’t know how to explain it but as I looked into those eyes, there was some sort of connection.  Her eyes betrayed her right away and her features softened so I think the feeling was mutual. 

We both started to size the other one up, again in silence.  I’m guessing she was around six feet tall, which made it apparent I was going to be one of the shortest being in this crappy place.  The more I looked over, the more I started to appreciate everything.

For starters her skin was definitely blue, like a smoky blue color is the best way I can describe it.  She had long legs which led up to a perfectly curved body.  She was not too thin by any stretch and had curves that made me a little hot under the collar.  Her face was perfect from the sparkle in her sea green eyes to that playful ‘come hither’ half smile she couldn’t help but give.  White, almost platinum, very straight hair and long pointy ears that stuck out sideways framed her face.  Just as I thought this was going to start becoming more pleasant, she shook it off and I got the angry eyes.

“My original intention was to capture Sif so she could answer for her crimes against my people, but you I did not recognize.  You do not seem hostile and yet the unknown is what intrigued me.  Just who are you and what is your connection to the Aesir?”

I understood her perfectly.  I didn’t know elves knew English.  “Hey, I can understand you!”

“Of course you can foolish man.  Ever since that cursed pact Odin enforced down on us, we have all learned to speak the wretched language he brought back from Midgard, the Realms’ Common.  In fact, most dark elves now prefer the ease of Common over Druhir.”  She was rambling and knew it.  “Enough stalling and out with your identity to me.”

“Well,” I didn’t want to make her mad, she already proved she was more of a boxer than a smurf, “I’m not even a hundred percent sure who this Odin is.  My name’s Jack Skelton and I’m not from this little slice of heaven.”  Great, I sounded like a total loser.  If I ever made it home, I seriously needed to work on my game when it comes to the ladies.

“Our intelligence suggests Odin has sent emissaries between the nine realms and brought someone in to act as his war council for the conflict between our two races.  Answer all my questions truthfully and I will not harm you.  Jack Skelton, where do you hail from?  What skills do you possess that Odin plans to make use of?”

“Well in answer to your first question, I come from, Manchester, a small town in Pennsylvania.  It lies just outside of Philadelphia…”  She cut me off pretty quickly.

“I am not sure what code you speak of, so I am going to ask you again…” 

I didn’t know what else to say so I remembered what Sif and Thor had called Earth.  “I come from Midgard.  Anyways, I think that is what you call the place I’m from.”  The look on her face went white, just like her hair, as soon as I said Midgard.  I’m pretty sure she didn’t believe me and that I was about to die here in this isolated cave.  I wondered how long I’d be dead here before people back home started to wonder. 

Before I could continue wondering my incoming death she blurted out, “You hail from Midgard?  Impossible, how did you get here?  How do I know you are not making up a tale to lure me into a false sense of security?”

I didn’t even have a chance to defend my answer before she slashed me in the arm and opened up a fresh gash on my arm.  All I could do was scream in pain as her knife was sharper than anything I’d ever felt before.  It was sharper than even when Stansky caught my leg by accident with his hockey skate in practice a few years back. 

But I credit her for immediately dropping the knife and ripping off her shirt sleeve and pressing it against my arm to stop the bleeding.  “I am so sorry!  I did not think it was possible.  Any of Odin’s spawn would have been able to stop that blade before I even had a chance to injure.  This is bad, very bad.  Humans are not supposed to be here.  If any of the other realms find out you were brought here, it will mean death to you and whoever brought you over.”

I sighed at once again receiving such uplifting news.  “Well Thor was with me on Midgard.  I knew him as my friend Oleg Thorston at the time, when Loki threw something called a returner at us that brought us here.”  Hopefully I could somehow prove I was just an innocent bystander and be sent on the first transporter home.  However at the mention of Thor’s name that idea quickly went out the window.

“Thor has returned to Asgard?  I had not heard of him in many cycles.  I wondered where he had gone and why he was there with Sif at her hunting cabin.  So Odin must have sent Loki to Midgard to retrieve him so he could act as his war council.  It all makes sense now.  What was Thor doing in Midgard?”

So without much prodding, because this is the first time in years that a beautiful woman was interested in what I had to say, I told her all about our lives back home.  I told her about the town we lived in, our hockey team, and I even got a bit nostalgic and told her about my dreams of making it to the big leagues.  I knew she probably didn’t care but she sat there and let me talk.  She even smiled which melted me even further.  After I finished it was her turn to resume the interrogation.

“This ice hockey ritual sounds very intriguing.  One day, Jack Skelton, you must take me to see such a spectacle!  I imagine the brutality and violence would be worth the trip to Midgard if we could find a way there!” 

As I tried to wrap my head around the fact a tall, blue supermodel was possibly asking me out on a date, a few minor details popped into my head.  “This might be really stupid of me but before we go out on a date (which got a very strange look from her.  I don’t think dark elves go on dates), I don’t even know your name?” 

Yep, I was now pulling out the stall tactics.  I really had hoped Thor and Sif would be here by now to rescue me, but my pessimistic side told me that boat had probably sailed.

“Oh, well my goodness I am so rude.  My name is Rumil from the clan Darklighter.  I am pleased with your acquaintance so far.” 

She then did something strange and held out her palms facing upwards towards me.  “It is a dark elf custom that two people of age place their palms together to see what fate has planned for them.  As you are the first human to ever be encountered, it would be an honor for me to be the first dark elf to formally greet you.  It will be most interesting to see what fate decides for us.”

She smiled at me and cut the rope that was holding my hands together.  Well it was her tradition and when in Rome you know?  So I placed my hands on hers and for a moment nothing happened.  Her hands were very soft with a slightly cool feel.  It was a pleasant sensation. 

Just as I was getting curious what exactly was supposed to happen, there was a sharp shock.  It felt like static electricity on steroids.  I jerked my hands up quickly clearly not expecting that and when I looked down I saw some sort of symbol glowing on each of my palms.

I looked over at Rumil and her face was quite the mix of emotions and I was pretty sure I was marked as some sort of enemy.  Hoping I could take advantage of the surprise and make a break for it before she put an arrow in me, I started to slowly shift towards the mouth of the cave. 

As I was slowly inching away, Rumil had not moved her palms from the original position.  I looked down at her palms to see what happened; I saw the same symbol that was on my palms.  She looked up at me. “Do you know what this means Jack Skelton?”

“I have no idea.  I hope this isn’t something bad like we’re enemies.  I promise you I have no intention of trying to hurt you.  Maybe we should try a redo or something?”  I gave what I hoped was the most sincere smile in my life.

“No the ritual can only be done once between two people.  This sign is completely unexpected, but now that I think about it, it is most welcome!”  Her face went from a shocked look to one of total exuberance.  I hadn’t been ready for that.

“So what do these symbols on our palms mean?  Something good it sounds like?”

“These symbols are the most sacred amongst the dark elves.  They represent two individuals who are meant to be one.”  Uh-oh, I think I knew where this was leading.  “To simplify for you, these mark us as soul mates!”

Well damn…