“Dear Diary,
Right now we wait at the gates of the city of ‘Torres’. It is established just outside the ‘Maw of Mischief’ where the trickster god Loki sits. The story Strife tells me is that he is the banished blood brother of Odin. We seek the enchantment of his chains. I do not know how Strife intends to do this, nor do I see how a god would agree with a lowly ‘Valkyrie’. The local people (if they can be called that), seem to be suspicious of us.
However, I find I am in good spirits and good company. Sprite keeps himself hidden. He doesn’t chatter as much ever since we saw the giant. We keep him occupied with food. I need to ask Strife how she does that. She seems to have an endless supply of items within her ‘being’. I’d like to know more about it. Speaking of Strife, she assures me that she is nothing like her future counterpart that I describe with such disdain to her. However, she says perhaps that in the future she succumbs to the stubborn pride and arrogant self-centered mentality of other Valkyrie. Supposedly as the generations roll on, Valkyrie watch their friends die and rely more on themselves and each other. I see her point.
I would like to see if I can change this. However, I do not understand how time travel works. Has this happened already through the course of time, or do my actions here affect things later? Perhaps only Salmira truly knows. It can’t hurt to ask.
-Sweiza”
“No… no no. Like this…” Strife swings her hand out and a sword appears midswing. It is the same one that she gives Sweiza in two centuries. “You try.”
Sweiza tries again. This time the same sword, two centuries older, appears in her hands, but it flies out of her hands. Sweiza doesn’t quite have the skill down yet. Strife walks over to pick it up and hands it back to her.
“Try again.”
Sweiza stammers and grumbles. “This is too hard!”
“It’s always hard without practice. Practice makes that which is hard second nature and much easier. Much like your ability to live outdoors. You can’t tell me you were always that capable.”
The sword in Sweiza’s hand suddenly disappears. She crosses her arms and drops to the ground crosslegged.
“You’re not going to give up now are you?” Strife chuckles at her. A strand of her hair is flicked in anticipation.
Sweiza closes her eyes and looks away.
“Well?” Strife tries rounding her up. It appears to work, if not slightly.
Sweiza opens one eye and her head rocks once at the woman. She stands up again. “I have a better idea.”
Sweiza holds both of her hands out. Her rucksack appears with the straps in her hands. She opens it and flips it upside down. All of the contents fall out. “I cannot summon my items if they are in a container, correct? It has to be the whole container?”
Strife eye’s widen at the display, but she otherwise nods her head. Her left hand is already up passing through the hair over her left ear. Slowly. That action annoys Sweiza. She ignores it.
Each item is ‘reabsorbed’ into her being. She starts trying to summon each one individually. It works. “I am to gather if it is an item I have an attachment to or feel some sentimental value towards, I can summon it much quicker?”
“Yes Vera. Just like that. However, practice with items you are unfamiliar with, can also give you such memories as to be able to summon them at will without hesitation.”
“Do you have this same issue with new items?” Sweiza takes a stance and her tonfa appear in her hands once.
“Initially. Sometimes I still have trouble. But it gets easier with time.” Strife has her sword out in an instant (again) and takes a swing with the broadside at Sweiza. Sweiza lets out a yelp and instinctively raises one of the tonfa on the backside of her arm. It blocks the blow.
“I see you have some practice with those. But your armor is enchanted and would be much better suited for blocks and parries.” Strife shakes her head once. Again that annoying action of passing a finger through hair and flicking it.”
The tonfa disappear.
“Would you stop that!” Sweiza stands forward, her head leaning forward more. Her hands into fists, but it is her wrists which aim at the ground. She is clearly agitated.
Strife rolls her eyes. “We need to teach you more patience.”
“Whatever!”
Strife looks away, “Lesson concluded for now. Take a break.”
Strife closes her eyes again and flicks her hair for good measure. Sweiza lets out another grumble.
—
It is sometime towards evening when Sweiza finally breaks her silence.
“Strife, the rebellion. It fails.”
Strife blinks at her once. “Don’t be silly. Most of the Valkyrie are not proud consorts of Odin; they only back him because enough to not openly oppose him…. And with good reason!”
“Strife, wouldn’t it be possible to change the future if you knew what was going to happen?”
Strife’s hand goes up to her hair again. Sweiza walks up. Strife’s eyes widen. Sweiza grabs Strife’s hand and pulls it away from her hair. “This is a bad habit we need to fix. You do this a lot in the future too.”
Strife giggles at the idea. It doesn’t look very adult through Sweiza’s eyes. “Strife, I’m trying to be serious!”
“So you are.” Strife puts her hand up to her mouth, balls it into a fist, taps her lips to her fist and clears her throat. “And how do you propose we stop the rebellion from failing?”
“Can we not ask Salmira?” Sweiza’s hands gesture in frustration.
Strife doesn’t answer her, but simply shakes her head.
Sweiza scowls a frown and looks up, “Salmira!”
Strife walks up to the girl and puts her hand on her, she puts her finger up to her lips and shakes her head. “That woman is foul business. Do not concern yourself with her.”
Sweiza again says the name Salmira at the sky. Nothing happens.
Both of Strife’s hands are on the girl’s shoulders now. She shakes her several times to snap her out of it. “Salmira will only appear when it is convenient. She dances around fate and meddles in Odin’s affairs as it suits her.”
“But she brought us together…” Sweiza looks her square in the eye.
Strife releases her hands from the girl’s shoulders. “If this is something you will not take lightly, then perhaps I might suggest negotiation. It is a good skill to have, perhaps my own skills will rub off on my daughter.”
Sweiza’s eyes narrow.
“Vera, listen to me. The next time you see Salmira, try bartering with her. You can’t hurt to try.”
Sweiza’s lips purse, but she nods once.
—
Towards nightfall, Strife has a small kettle over a small grilled table over a fire. Sweiza finally breaks her silence. Why didn’t Strife do this before rather than have her do all the work? Strife doesn’t answer, instead she perks her eyebrows up. Sweiza gets angry, again. Strife tells her she needs to learn a sense of accomplishment, and letting her do the work should give her something to feel proud of. Finally Sweiza asks Strife how much Strife keeps hidden. Strife blows a puff of air at her hair and says ‘too much’. Sweiza asks if there is a limit, and Strife merely complies with “Is there a limit to your questions?” Sweiza is about to object, when Strife says that perhaps she should get some sleep. Not being used to being in an unfamiliar land can affect a person’s sleep, especially if something ‘exciting’ might happen. Like a bitter child, she reluctantly agrees.
She finally feels her consciousness dissipate from the land of the living.
—
Sweiza sees herself back on the ‘Gigas Dura’. It is at night in the middle of the ocean. She sees a shooting star streak across the sky. There is a red arurora haunting the horizon. She looks around. She jumps feels her skin tighten when a hand presses to her. She stifles her shriek with both hands and turns around in defiance. It is Demi.
“Don’t do that!” She raises a hand to strike him. She catches herself and reluctantly lowers her hand. She stamps her foot at him once and crosses her arms.
Demi is not impressed by the display. “You are learning some self control. This is good. However, there are those of us that do not display self control.”
He points towards the small ‘shack’ (as she calls it) that serves as the dining area and bridge of the ship. Lukas walks out. He is holding something. It is Strife’s penchant.
“HEY!” Sweiza yells it at him, but he pays no attention. She tries raising her voice again, he seems to be oblivious to her. She knows he has no business with that device. If he is going to be ignorant and oblivious towards her and Demi, then she knows what she must do. She wastes no time and charges him. Her hand is already out to snatch it by the string. She’ll make a quick turn around and flee to shore if necessary. She passes through him and hits the side of the small ‘shack’ and is forced to the ground from the hit.
She sees stars and recomposes herself. She jumps to her feet and turns around. She swings her hand and attempts to swat the device away from him, but her hands passes through the string. Her eyes widen in surprise. Demi appears next to her.
“He cannot see you. This is just a dream. However, I am here to warn you. Watch and observe.” He points to Lukas.
Lukas is muttering something. It appears to be the same sequence of words, but they change in rhythmic fashion. Sweiza is not familiar with the language. What she does see is the penchant’s crystal glows white. The hands start spinning in different directions. They eventually stop at different directions; she thought they only faced the same direction, perhaps they… She is interrupted from her thoughts when a blue glow eminates from it. A sphere envelopes them. At the edges of the sphere appear to be dots and lines between them. She recognizes some of them as stars. However, there is a strange language written all throughout the sphere. Different whisps of the letters also pass through the sphere. She recognizes some of the whisps as looking like the continents she has seen on maps, but they look different. The penchant glows white again and a bolt of white lightning jumps to a specific point on the continent. It appears to be between Midgard, Muspell, Myrkvellir and Niffleheim. She recognizes it as “The Yawning Gap”.
Lukas again mutters something in the strange language. The crystal again glows a white color. The hands of the watchlike device whir around and then suddenly point in one direction at Sweiza and Demi. Lukas looks up at them. His eyes suddenly black out, and then his eye sockets turn black. Sweiza wants to scream and run, but feels something holding her in place. The penchant suddenly disappears.
Demi holds up a hand. He says something in a strange language. A bolt of lightning reflects off of Sweiza’s eyes as it quite literally ‘zaps’ Lukas. He shines and radiates a strange white light. His body’s flesh melts off. Underneath is what she can only describe as a wooden doll. Several strings dart down from the sky and attach to him.
Demi hurls his hand at the thing. An orb of flame illuminates his hand and then jumps to the doll. It begins to shriek and mutter that strange language again. It runs throughout the deck of the ship and then finally lunges towards Sweiza and Demi. It passes through them and falls overboard. Sweiza is left to look over at the side of the ship. Her eyebrows jump up, but they are unimpressed.
She looks over at Demi. “Why did you show me this?”
Demi looks concerned at her, “His true nature. Ask the one you call Strife. My time is short.”
She feels the dream slowly fade into blackness. This is starting to get old to her. However, she simply mutters ‘thanks’ as she disappears from the land of dreams.
—
Sweiza is startled awake. She hears the crack of fire from a log. She looks over where she last saw Strife. She is fast asleep on the ground. Sweiza sees the pillow on the ground under Strife. She cannot believe this. She wrinkles her nose at her, but restrains herself from sticking her tongue out. She finally can’t restrain herself anymore and closes her eyes and sticks her tongue out at her.
“You’re up.”
She looks over. Sprite!
“Sprite, you’ve been hiding again!”
He flies up and hovers in front of her. “That woman conned me into keeping watch for a ration bar. She tricked me.”
Sweiza starts laughing. She starts to get loud. Sprite flies up to her mouth and uses his hands to clamp her mouth shut. “Keep it down.”
Sweiza lets out some muffled words and nods. Sprite flies back in front of her. “I think it has been a few hours. The moons have shifted some distance. I’m tired. It is your turn to keep watch.”
He opens his hands at either side of him, bops up and down once and flies off towards the side of the fire some five feet. He curls up and lays himself on the ground. Sweiza looks at the display in surprise. She guesses it is her turn to keep watch. She lets out a yawn and stands stiff in front of the fire. At least she’ll keep warm!
However, this display doesn’t go on for long as her body starts to get sore from standing still. She makes it a point to change positions, stand, walk, and the like. She doesn’t see any animals or monsters. For that matter, she doesn’t remember seeing any animals since they hit the shore. Shouldn’t there have been birds chirping? How could she be so foolish as not to notice this?
—
“Dear Diary,
I am a lone in the middle of the night and this is boring. Well, not really. Strife and Sprite are next to me, if not asleep. I am stuck waiting outside the gates of ‘Torres’ with nothing to do. Lady Freya help me if I make it through the night.
I have noticed an odd peculiarity, I don’t remember seeing any animals since we hit shore of Jotunher. I don’t remember seeing any insects. For that matter, why did I hear no birds chirping? At night is one thing… I’ll need to ask Strife. Until then, I have an uneventful night ahead of me.
-Sweiza”
—
It is sometime in the early morning. Sweiza hears Strife rouse from sleep. It is more of a groggy groan.
“Strife!”
Strife lets out another half groggy groan. Sweiza marches up. The burning question. “Did you no…”
“Vera, do you mind? I just woke up.” Strife stands up once and an odd bag appears in her hands. So does a cup for that matter. Soon her animal skin canteen is out also. The ingredients go into the cup, as does the water. Everything but the cup disappears; she soon shakes it and the contents are emptied. She looks at Sweiza. “It is coffee. It helps.”
Strife starts to stretch. Sweiza is stuck there staring at her.
“Well? You had something to ask?”
“Did you notice no animals in the trees?”
Strife stops stretching. “Of course. What traveller wouldn’t. We’re in Loki’s realm. This area is under his control. You are surprised?”
Sweiza fakes it and shakes her head.
“Very good Vera. You may dream if you like. I’ll take next watch after some exercise.”
Strife starts moving her hands and arms in odd positions while she twists and contorts her body while moving backwards. Sweiza makes a face. It does not go unnoticed by Strife that Sweiza tries to sneak by her.
“And what are you doing Vera?”
Sweiza jerks with Strife’s pillow in her hands. She sheepishly walks by Strife without saying anything.
“Oh whatever. Just make sure you return it. I only have one.”
Sweiza gives a joyous nod.
—
Otherwise undisturbed, Sweiza sleeps soundly in the land of dreams until the crow of a rooster rouses her senses. Strife is already on her and nudging her shoulder.
“Vera, wakeup!”
Sweiza lets out a groan. She turns away from Strife and grips the pillow. “Just a few more minutes mother.”
Strife cocks an eyebrow up at that. Does she mean her “Strife”, or perhaps another mother? She doesn’t ask. Instead her foot nudges the girl in the back. “Wakeup! We have work to do!”
Sweiza finally sits up. “Coffee, please.”
Strife walks over to the fire and simply picks up her cup from before and walks it over to Sweiza. “There’s still some left.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Sweiza eyes it once. She makes a face. But she knows the liquid will keep her awake. In one motion she puts the cup to her mouth and moves her head back. She makes another face at it and swallows with some difficulty. It is quite bitter.
“It really needs more sugar.” Strife says it with some amusement. Sweiza’s mouth just drops and her eyes dart to the sky.
—
Strife has Sweiza perform various exercises to help rouse and stiffen her senses to alert. Strife then has Sweiza summon different objects from her being. Strife says the word of the item and Sweiza summons it and reabsorbs it accordingly. Sweiza gets better about pulling items familiar to her. However, she finally has to pull the sword out. It takes a few moments. The sparring between Sweiza and Strife begins. Strife wins all the bouts, if not by default due to a shaking an uncertain student full of doubt.
“You’ll get better Vera, count on it!” Strife nudges her playfully. Sweiza simply lets out a nod, still not sure about this Valkyrie business.
Perhaps Strife was like this at some point too? Maybe not. Sweiza remembers reading the woman’s diary. She was hardened over time due to events beyond her control. To lose your friends is a terrible thing. This is something the girl knows well, but unlike Strife, she will return to hers in the future.
Does Strife lose most of her friends as she outlives them? What a terrible thought! Will she (Sweiza) have the same fate?
—
It is towards midmorning. The two pass the time by talking about this and that. Sweiza does not talk about the dream concerning Lukas. She feels it can wait. They have current business ahead of them. Speaking of which…
A sound from just beyond the bridge gets their attention. The city gate is opening. The same grey orc from the day before walks up to them. Sweiza gets a better look at his facial features this time. His face is grey with a big black beard. He has black hair. He is in simple armor made from plates and head together with buckles. He is holding a shield and a mace.
Sweiza has heard of maces, but this is her first time actually seeing the weapon. In her mind it looks like a very crude one compared to the pictures she has seen in books.
The guard stops ten feet from their camp. “Master Lokisenna has granted you an audience. Follow me.” Sweiza looks over at Strife, whom nods back to the girl. Strife readily grabs her cup and kettle from the grill-like table over the makeshift firepit; the items disappear when they hit her hands. Both of her hands touch the grill-like table and the same effect. Strife readies herself at Sweiza’s side, whom is already following the orc from some distance behind. It is fairly obvious that Sweiza is nervous.
Strife’s pace quickens until she is side by side with the girl. She looks over, a forced and pursed smile on her face. “You’re not scared are you?”
Sweiza looks over at her wide eyed.
“Okay, I won’t push the issue. But this is rather exciting for me.” Strife leans in towards Sweiza and whispers in her ear, “If he’s anything like Odin, he’ll respond well to negotiating.”
Sweiza turns towards Strife, the woman briefly winks at her apprentice and hurries past her to match pace with the orc. Sweiza’s lips purse and her eyes widen. Can orcs be trusted?
Strife looks back at Sweiza. Sweiza’s eyes continue to stay wide. Strife perks her eyebrows. Her head motions for Sweiza to match pace. She does so. However, her attention also falls back to someone that is missing. She looks up to be safe. Sure enough, and as usual, Sprite is hovering above them. She lets out a chirp and Sprite flies down.
“What?” His arms cross at her. He tilts his head away from her.
“Please lookout for us, but stay out of sight. If you see anything suspicious, tell me, okay?”
Sprite looks up at her, suspicious of her intentions.
“Dewey, I need you.”
He lets out a chirp of acknowledgement and flies back into the sky. She is pretty certain the orc guards would have seen her, but there doesn’t appear to be any above the gate like the day before.
“Whatever.” Sweiza says it to herself as she matches pace with Strife and the orc.
—
As they pass the gates, the orc motions towards other orcs above them. They are on platforms, but not high enough where they can be seen. There are definite lookout slits between the wood that makes up the city walls. Sweiza looks up as they use a simple rope and wheel system with pegs to open and close the gates. The ropes are around the wheel in either direction so that turning it either forward or backwards, opens or closes the front gate. Sweiza is definitely impressed.
Strife leans over on her shoulder, her voice showing some amusement, “Don’t get too caught up in it. Keep your senses sharp.”
Sweiza nods wide eyed again. The orc guard however, is not impressed. “You act as if we are going to eat you.”
“Orcs don’t eat humans?” Sweiza says it bewildered. “I thought they did.”
The orc’s ears shoot back, “Absolute nonsense. Lokisenna provides all of our food. He herds the animals here...” The orc eyes the two of them once, “…and then some.”
“Is that why I never saw any animals or birds chirping on the way here?” Sweiza asks the orc with some curiosity. He doesn’t answer. He instead waves for them to follow him as he walks on.
The paths are what she expects from something of this sort. Wooden buildings, quite rustic surroundings, roads of dirt. To her they appear to be walking down the main street, which would make sense. What starts out as military in nature, turns more civilian in feel as they approach the center of the city. Towards the center she sees children playing games with a giant rock. She is not familiar with the game, but it involves tackling an opponent and running with it. Perhaps there is a goal somewhere? She doesn’t have time to think about it as they walk past them.
To say they get strange looks along the way is an understatement. She assumes they are the normal village folk and not guards. They wear simple clothing made of animal hide. She doesn’t spot anyone naked. Perhaps they are more civil than she thought. Perhaps this is the seat of government for the area and outlying areas are in fact less civil. She doesn’t know. Regardless, the stares and murmurs at them make Sweiza uncomfortable and she keeps her gaze forward.
They cross through a market area. The shop keepers and shoppers give them little notice - their own lives clearly being more important. Their shops don’t look unlike what they have in Maria Village or Muspell Harbor. The smells are what really get her, they smell so common as what she is used to. Clear smells of spices and meat that has been dried.
Slowly, but surely the “Maw of Mischief” looks into view. It stands much higher than Sweiza had expected, some one hundred feet in the air. Just how big is Loki anyway? Was the giant they encountered earlier an illusion?
“Uh, excuse me, you have a name right?” Sweiza walks alongside the guard and looks up at him in her most dignified, but innocent way.
The guard stops and looks down at her. “T’lak.”
His eyes focus in on her closer. He is about to continue walking when Sweiza stops him again. “Was the giant we encountered out in the wilderness an illusion?”
The guard clears his breath once and closes his eyes. This is clearly not a conversation he is expecting. “Master Loki may take any form he wishes. He also projects himself as anyone and anything he pleases.”
Strife gives the conversation some attention, but otherwise remains silent. In her mind, it is her apprentice’s place to learn. As the master she will not interfere, at least not yet.
“Can he control people like a puppet?” Sweiza says this with more alert concern.
“Why are you asking these things?” The guard says it with some alarm. His eyes are a bit more alert on her now.
“I had a dream about a wooden puppet with strings. I had heard that Master Loki talks to us in our dreams on matters of importance, especially to strangers.” Sweiza catches Strife smiling behind the guard. Strife is clearly pleased at Sweiza’s lie of ‘Master Loki’.
The guard is a bit taken aback by the statement. “Master Lokisenna provides us protection, food and shelter in this area. When he wishes to speak to us, he gathers an audience and the word is proclaimed to the townsfolk.” The guard suddenly rubs his shoulder nervously, “He is known to communicate to us in our dreams on occasion; it is normally harmless mischief or comedy. The man does get bored.”
Sweiza’s eyebrows cock up at the word ‘man’. She gives a quick glance at Strife; Strife shakes her head at the girl. Sweiza’s eyebrows drop just as quick and her attention is on the guard again.
“What about the puppet?” Sweiza tries to push the issue. The guard is clearly nervous about the matter.
He grumbles. “The Cult of Loki.”
Sweiza attempts to speak again, but the guard interrupts her. “I do not wish to discuss this matter further. I will not defy the master. Come, he awaits.” He waves the two on again to follow him. Sweiza gives Strife a look, the woman eyes her once and then follows the guard; Sweiza follows quickly after. She looks up and around to see if Sprite is nearby, she can’t see him. Hopefully her little backup plan proves to be handy. Sprite will no doubt find interesting things to report regardless, especially if she bribes him with something sweet.
They stop once at the maw. The guard turns around. “No tricks, no weapons.” He stamps his foot down. Strife nods. She looks over at Sweiza and nudges her in the back with her elbow. Sweiza also nods. The guard once again motions for them to follow.
Sweiza stares up at the gaping mouth of the cave. It looks more like the Maw of Ominous Intent than Mischief. Hopefully this is a good idea. Do they really need the enchantment that badly?
—
The cave seems to go on for some time. Sweiza notes there are torches along the walls every so many feet; they illuminate and cast a dull glow against the cave face. The walls are a distinct shade of tan where illuminated, otherwise a dull blue in the darkness. The ceiling to the cave is some distance above them, but she notes it is slowly getting smaller as they get further in the cave. She also notes that they are slowly descending. It is around several corners and some nine hundred feet in (by her count) that she hears running water. Wait, an underground stream? They finally round one more corner. Sweiza sees several trees and shrubs planted. There are what appear to be stone formations in the form of trees. Sweiza finally sees the underground stream. There appear to be several pools of water surrounding what appears to be an island of sorts. The island is directly attached to the cave face around the corner they passed. She sees it is all in a large chamber, but she thought there was Loki and his bindings, where is…
“Master Lokisenna!” The guard lets out a gruff loud shout in the cavern. “The Valkyrie that wish to see you.”
The guard continues to stare at the tree and rock formations on the island. Sweiza tries to discern what it is. She looks over at Strife. Strife simply motions with her head to look at the island. What in the world would…
Sweiza lets out a surprised gasp. The rock formations start to move. Rather, what appear to be whisps of smoke and movement about them, in only a way she can describe as the rocks taking formation as sand expels itself around them. It appears to be a vapor of sorts taking shape. However, with each wisp the shapes become more human. She finally sees the glint of the chains. They pull tight as a hand pulls on them. The rock formation on the ground begins to take the form of a statue. There is another formation next to him. It appears to be holding something above him. A bowl? Another jagged formation above the two. It looks like a snake’s fangs. Ah, she remembers the legend now!
The shapes take effect as she would expect at this point. Loki appears laying on the ground in nothing more than hide clothing. He has a similar appearance as the giant in her dreams - white hair, necklace of wolf teeth, white hair in a pony tail, the long nose, he is missing the boots she remembers him wearing. What gets her attention is the eyes. There are definite eyes. They glow a dull pink. His skin is also a dull white. He appears to be an albino like Brynhilde. The statue holding the bowl above him takes shape. It is a woman. She is in simple clothing, a dress akin to a older style and a hood; she has a white apron on. She holds the bowl steady above her ‘husband’. Sweiza remembers the legend now. His wife Sigyn. She looks at the three watching them, but tends back to her eternal duty. One hand holds a cloth and is dipped soon enough into the stream around the island; the cloth’s cool water sooths the wound’s on her husband’s face. There are clear burn marks on it. Sweiza assumes from the venom. Sigyn’s other hand holds the bowl above a small rock crag. It is positioned in such a way to let liquid pour out of it and away from her husband. The liquid is a strange yellow color. It drips into an area downstream. To Sweiza this is smart thinking. Clean water in, help her husband with it, and then it also takes the ‘venom’ further downstream.
The formation above them is definitely that of a snake. It takes form just as the two gods do. However, it stays closer to that of a statue. The god (Loki) is clealy in pain and anguish. His left arm pulls against the left chain. There is a thud in the cave, almost as if it reverberates, as he does so. Sweiza notes his legs are also bound by chains. The chains do not allow for much freedom of movement. Perhaps he is able to stand. However, he pulls himself to a sitting position. He looks into the distance, but does not look directly at them.
Sweiza’s eyes dart to his right arm. A shackle and broken chain hang from it. Has Ragnarok begun? No, nonsense. It will be some time. He has merely broken one of the chains. Is this what Strife meant? Sweiza jerks to attention again as Loki’s right hand holds him up. What should be restraining his right arm, is hanging freely and dangles ever so slightly. It vibrates and sways from some kind of wind. She couldn’t feel it earlier, but there is definitely wind.
The god’s eyes finally look at them. Sweiza sees the pink eyes flash red once as light reflects off of them.
“Leave us.”
Sweiza looks from Loki to Strife. Strife doesn’t move. The guard stands to attention and walks off. He eyes Strife and Sweiza wearily, but then continues out the cave.
Loki appears to be forlorn and lets out a pained breath. His wife mentions something to him. Sweiza cannot hear it. She looks up at Strife. Strife jerks her head in a motion for Sweiza to pay attention. She looks back at Loki. The trickster and his wife finally stop speaking. Loki’s hand reaches up towards the bowl and rock crag; his wife holds the cloth up to the snake statue’s fangs. She wraps it around it. She nods once to her husband and takes the bowl and walks off with it. Sweiza squints at the cloth. Do they intend to absorb liquid? She starts thinking. Sigyn has walked off to empty the bowl no doubt. That must be hard work propping it and holding it. They surely have to change positions.
Sweiza thinks, ‘positions’ to herself. She wonders if these two have ever made love after Loki was bound. She blinks once at the thought. Her imagination runs wild at the thought. Passionate lovers even when bound. She blinks again and comes back to attention when Loki speaks.
“Two elven Valkyrie mock Loki’s illusions and outsmart him. You come here to gloat?”
Strife looks down at the ground once. She immediately looks back at the trickster god. She drops to one knee and looks down. Her eyes dart over to Sweiza. Sweiza is still standing. Strife hisses a whisper under her breath, “Vera, on your knee.”
Sweiza looks over once. She hesitates. Strife looks over at her and scowls, she lets out another hiss, “Show your respect.”
It gets the god’s attention, but briefly. He looks away from them. Sweiza is already on her knee in an undignified squat. This will take some getting used to. She pipes up, “My appologies my lord. I meant no disrespect.”
The man’s eyebrows and eyes seemingly blink into themselves once. Sweiza swears she sees his eyesockets flash black, but his eyes stay there with their pink hue. He attempts to stand and lets out a groan. He doesn’t have much walking space. He looks up in fear at the snake’s fangs.
“You are here with purpose. Speak and leave.”
The god’s body trembles. Sweiza’s eyes narrow. She finally sees that he is in incredibly poor health. From the venom perhaps? Is he poisoned? Is that an effect? Can this happen to a god? Is he more man? Her questions do not stop. She forces herself to pay attention.
“My Lord. It is an honor to be in your graces. We are not worthy.” Strife says it in a tone that Sweiza can only describe as absolute humility and respecful.
The god takes in a hiss of air, but he otherwise looks away. Sweiza can see this is not going well.
The god looks at them and his voice booms, but it comes out weak, “You are as worthy as this venom. Release me, and all will be forgiven.”
Strife finally stands. Sweiza looks up at her, but Strife shoots her a stern look not to move.”
“Master Lokisenna, you are truly wise. But surely we cannot. The two raven…” Strife says it with absolute concern. Sweiza can tell the woman is faking it.
“…will know of this deed and you will be punished.” Loki’s voice comes out as a croak, “This fire god is most certainly wise to your tricks. You will have nothing from this one!”
The god finally drops to the ground. His body clearly weak. He lets out a hoarse breath. To Sweiza, he sounds as if he is on his death bed. How does this one break his bindings ensuing “The Twilight of the Gods?”
The god’s eyes look alarmed. Movement to her side gets Sweiza’s attention. Strife pulls her hands together, an object appears in her hands. It is some kind of glass tube. It is filled with a pink liquid. Sweiza thinks it is called a vial, it has the associated cork in it. Strife drops her left hand and flicks her right hand holding the vial. She holds it with her finger tips. Loki’s alarm drops.
“A temporary, but potent counteragent to the venom. So that my rightful master may regain some of his former strength. Is this not what you rightfully deserve?”
His right hand reaches up towards the two of them, but more importantly the vial.
Strife pulls the vial away. The trickster god’s arm drops. His body slackens. He is defeated.
“You want the enchantment of my binding You wish to forge the hammer.” The god looks away. “What other tribute do you bring?” The greed is evident in this one.
Strife flicks her left hand. Another vial appears in it. But it seems to contain a powder instead.
Sweiza winces when she sees the god’s head jerk right at them.
Strife pulls the vial away. The god’s stiff body does not slacken.
“My Lord.” Strife drops to her hands and knees and kisses the ground. She places both vials in front of her. “You are unfamiliar with the powder?”
Sweiza sees it, the god’s eyes narrow at Strife. Sweiza can also feel her knee. Is there a sharp pebble under it? She shifts uncomfortably, but tries to do it unnoticed. It seems to work. The god gives her no attention.
“Ground powder, two years ago, from nothing less than the Yggdrasil’s pollen.” Strife says it. However, there is some weight to her voice. Is she negotiating? Sweiza looks over to her. She can feel her knee getting sore. So she does the only thing she can think of, she kneels forward on both her hands and knees. She looks at the ground.
Sweiza out of the corner of her eyes sees movement from Strife. The woman is standing. Sweiza doesn’t see it, but the woman holds both her hands out and a basket appears. She holds it up by the handle and removes the cloth. Sweiza chances looking over and up. Apples? What in Muspell?
The god’s body finally slackens. He is defeated.
“My Lord. Apple’s from Idunn’s orchard. These are as fresh as the day they were picked in spring. Surely My Lord and rightful Master deserves nothing but his youth and strength.”
The god looks down contemplating this. He looks back up at the cloth. Sweiza follows his attention. The cloth has been stained yellow. It appears to be quite soaked. Doesn’t the god cause earthquakes once the venom drips on him? How much time do they have? Shouldn’t his wife be back with the bowl?
The god waves his free hand, but just barely. His body stays slackened.
“You honor me My Lord.” Strife looks away while she says it. The two vials are in her right hand; the basket of apples in her left. Sweiza wonders about the pollen and apples. What are they for? They must be important. Wait. Why is Strife approaching the giant?
She is left to squint as Strife walks into the distance. Distance? Loki and the small island are much further away than anticipated. The stream isn’t too deep, only a few feet. Strife wades through it. It takes her some time to get to the island. It occurs to Sweiza at that distance he must be a giant at least fifty feet high. Definitely. She confirms it when Strife doesn’t appear significant compared to him. Sweiza is surprised the god doesn’t try anything.
The vials and basket are on the ground. She sees Strife produce something. She isn’t sure what it is. She hears the god and Strife speaking. She can’t hear what they are saying. She does see Loki raise his right arm and the broken chain dangles freely from his shackle. The chain is soon in Strife’s arms as she holds it steady. The device she holds appears to be a rod or some kind of sword. She starts rubbing the chain. Perhaps it is a file? Sparks jump from the device. Strife says something and drops to her knees. The god speaks again. Sweiza wishes she could hear it. The god lets out a laugh. His wife is back again. She has the bowl. Loki says something. Strife is still standing there. The woman lets out a laugh. All three laugh about something. The woman grabs an unsoaked end of the cloth and sets it on the ground. Strife starts forward. A sword in her hand? Why?
She has the end of the giant cloth in her hand. She is cutting a section away from it. Why? Sweiza wishes she had come closer.
She hears Strife speak once again. Sigyn holds the bowl back up over her husband and under the snake statue’s fangs. Strife bows her head once. She turns back to Sweiza and starts walking towards the stream. Loki says something again. Strife turns around and says one last thing. She bows deeply. She wades through the stream at a quicker pace.
She stops next to Sweiza, but continues facing the exit. “Let’s go.”
Sweiza looks towards the god and his wife. She looks back at Strife whom is already walking towards the exit. Sweiza looks back at the god and goddess and instinctively lets out a bow. Hopefully this worked. Hopefully they got what they came for. She thinks they did.
They walk in silence at a hurried pace. Rather it is Strife that hurries along and Sweiza attempts to keep up. Sweiza keeps herself stifled. Any burning questions and Loki might hear; she has a feeling there are prying ears about the cave. Bats maybe, or some ill forgotten creatures. ‘Whatever’, is all she thinks to herself. Better them to stay in this drafty old cave than her.
It is some six hundred paces by Sweiza’s count, and she finally asks, “We got what we came for?”
Strife simply nods, but she whispers, “Stay your tongue until I say otherwise.” She eyes the girl like she understands her.
Sweiza nods. She senses something is off about this whole affair.
It is towards the exit they run into the guard outside the cave. He is standing well outside the cave opening.
He (T’lak) speaks, “You were successful?”
Sweiza looks at Strife. Strife looks at the guard and nods.
“Few are so lucky.” T’lak says it in a low voice. He doesn’t elaborate.
Sweiza blinks once and looks towards Strife. Strife doesn’t give her any attention. She is fully focused on T’lak. “How long may our stay be here?”
T’lak blinks. He seems weary. “One day’s stay. No longer.”
Strife bows. T’lak blinks once at the display and lets out a grunt. He motions for them to follow them. Strife follows behind T’lak. Sweiza follows along side her. She looks over at Strife. Strife seems to know what Sweiza is going to ask. Strife shakes her head. Sweiza’s head darts back to looking straight ahead.
They cross through the market place from before. They stop just outside the village center. T’lak points to a building. “That is Torres’s main inn.”
Sweiza looks over at it. There is a sign on it, but the language is unfamiliar. Is it written in Futhark? There is a picture of a dragon coiled around a sword on it. It is a strange, but nice design. She didn’t know orcs could be artists.
T’lak faces them. “You will pay for your stay. Do not sleep outside, something bad might happen to you. You have until after daybreak tomorrow to leave. If you don’t… well…”
The guard lets out a grunt and starts in a walk. He turns around, holds his right arm up to his chest. His head seems to tilt to the side. He lets out another grunt and walks off.
After he walks some distance, well out of earshot, Strife lets out a breath of relief. Sweiza sees that she (Strife) has been nervous up until this point. The Valkyrie did a good job of hiding it. Sweiza thinks it is a wonder, they were in the presence of one of the most dangerous gods of all time. He will start Ragnarok at some point!
Strife blinks once at Sweiza, “You did good.”
Sweiza blinks once back at Strife. She doesn’t know what she means.
“I’ll explain after we have left. I need you to trust me until then.”
Sweiza blinks dumbfounded. She frowns, but nods.
“For now…” Strife speaks with some impending urgency, “…we are safe. Let’s get some rest while the going is good.”
Sweiza frowns again, but nods at the thought. “Are we leaving early?”
Strife nods quickly. She turns towards the inn. “Let us go with haste. There are prying eyes about.”
Sweiza looks around once. There are definitely people staring at them.
“Vera, let’s go.”
Sweiza is snapped back to Strife’s attention. Strife sets off. Sweiza follows by her side. Sweiza does chance her question, but as a close whisper, “What happened back there?”
“A raw deal.”