“Uh..Lady?” Vick’s hands awkwardly hovered above her shoulders, surprised as to why she hugged him so suddenly. The others walked into the house, becoming acquainted with their surroundings.

“Oh!” The elderly woman stepped away. “My apologies! For a moment, I thought you were..”

“..My father?” He felt sorry for her. “Who was Amari to you? Was he..your son?”

The woman nodded, “..He was my everything. But when your mother came to the island, he fell so madly in love with her, and they wanted to get married right away. Of course, I didn’t approve of her, since they’d only just met.”

There was a scrap of yellow parchment on the table. By now, she must have read it a thousand times, but that didn’t keep her from looking over the lines of ink once more, longing for her son’s return. “The next day, he was gone. All he left me was this letter, saying that he was sorry..”

Victus knelt down and picked up the cups that she’d dropped, placing them next to the parchment. “You couldn’t have known. It’s not really your fault..”

“The last time we spoke, I got so mad at him, and now I’ll never forgive myself..”

An aura of silence filled the room. He wanted to cheer her up, or at the very least provide her with some amount of comfort, but the words were difficult to find, and even harder to articulate. He finally found someone he’s related to, after all these years, yet the feeling of familiarity wasn’t present between them.

“Maybe we should get going..” Victus turned to the others, who were minding their business and not eavesdropping on them. Alyza crossed her arms, followed by Vackerie doing the same.

He feigned confusion, “What? They’ll probably be done fixing the ship soon..” Victus opened the door, and distantly, he saw the ship tilting over, accompanied by loud creaking and smashing sounds. The captain’s angered shouts could be heard from all the way over yonder. “..Or not.”

“Oh, forgive me for bringing the mood down so terribly,” the elderly woman gestured to them. “Please, sit. Make yourselves at home. I’ll have the tea ready in just a moment.”

“Can I help?” Victus asked.

“Go sit down, Amar-..I mean, Vick.”

The four of them sat around a small table, sipping warm tea. Victus disliked its bitter taste, but he endured it for the warmth that it brought him. On the other hand, Alyza was exhaling with a smile after every sip, her pale face flushed by the steam that flowed from her cup. A rare sight, indeed.

“So, you’re Vick’s granny?” Vackerie bluntly asked, excitedly setting her elbows onto the table. “Not that we overheard you or anything, we’re just..Well, yeah, we overheard you.”

“Vack!” Alyza shouted, scolding her.

“It’s alright,” Granny replied. “You can call me whatever you’d like. Any friend of my grandson may as well be another grandchild of mine.”

“I’d feel bad if I didn’t know your actual name, though,” Alyza added, wearing a polite smile that the others weren’t graced with very often. Granny smiled.

“It’s Agnes, dear. You can call me Granny Agnes, as most of the other younger villagers here do.”

Vackerie yawned, and so did Victus. She giggled, pointing, “Haha, I got you-” Alyza yawned as well. “Yay! Two for one!”

“You’re a child,” Victus groaned. Granny Agnes stood up, showing them to their room. It was kind of cramped for three people to be sleeping in, but it was loads better than the ship.

They thanked her and made themselves comfortable on the floor, spaced out from each other as far as they could. Still, Agnes only had one large blanket for them all to share, and that had begun to make things complicated.

“Vick, you’re taking all the blanket!” Vack shouted.

“That’s not me, that’s Alyza-”

“Are you guys really fighting over the blanket?”

“We wouldn’t be fighting if you stopped hogging it.”

Despite her words and upbringing, Alyza loved the comforting warmth that the large fur blanket brought her, and she really was taking most of it. She sighed, closing her eyes, “I thought you were cold-blooded?”

“I am!” Vackerie replied, “But the warm fur feels nice..”

“If I get sick, I blame you,” Victus glared, shivering.

“Just go to sleep already, geez..”

Alyza quickly fell asleep, a first in the past many days that she’s been on the ship. Somehow, in her slumber, she managed to pull away more of the blanket, uncovering Victus and Vackerie. The two sat up, looking at each other.

“No way she’s already asleep. Go wake her up.”

“Me?! She’ll kill us both, whoever wakes her up!”

“You’re right..”

“We should just scoot closer to her,” Vackerie suggested.

They both moved closer to Alyza, under the blanket, until she took more of it, and they moved closer again. By the morning, the three of them were packed like sardines, with Alyza in the middle. Victus was faced away, unaware that the other two were cuddling, with Ally buried in Vack’s chest. “Mmh..So..Soft..” She slowly awoke, looking up at Vackerie. With a small shrug, she reburied herself and went back to sleep.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

A rumbling quickly woke them all up a moment later, and Victus scrambled to his feet, hurrying out the door. Granny Agnes called out to him while he ran past, shouting, “It’s just the volcano dear, sometimes it causes earthquakes!”

He opened the front door, ignoring her. Outside, black clouds had begun swirling in the sky above the mountain, bolts of stray crimson lightning crashing onto the ground. From above, a pair of men crashed into the snow like fallen stars. Victus had encountered one of them before, a son of the almighty Thor, Magni. He was in combat with another man who didn’t look very different from him, though he had much longer, braided hair.

The other man kicked Magni off of him, accompanied by a red burst of electricity that sent him flying into the mountain. Tremors followed, and the others ran outside, joining Victus.

“What’s going on?!” Alyza shouted.

The other man turned to them, glaring at her. He walked in their direction, red sparks following his every footstep. Victus took out his Vlinder Blades, “Prepare for a fight!” Alyza unsheathed her rapier, and Vackerie gripped her staff.

“How foolish. You, mortals, face me? Modi, the god of wrath? I shall send you all to Valhalla!” He raised his arms over his head, slamming his fists into the snowy ground. A surge of red lightning flew through the earth towards them, faster than they could react. Luckily, Magni landed in front of them, absorbing the electricity into his mighty hammer.

“You are mad, brother! These mortals are not the key to freeing our aunt!” Magni’s hammer briefly flowed with purple electricity for a moment. Modi clenched his fists, furrowing his eyebrows.

“You are right about one thing, brother. I am mad!” With a single mighty leap, and an even mightier roar, Modi lunged at Magni, punching his hammer to the ground. He charged up his other fist, and socked Magni into the sky.

“Weak,” Modi stood straight, glaring at the rest of them. Now that he was so close, it was clear to see that he was several feet taller than Magni, with even larger muscles. “Which one of you is a descendant of Nox?”

“Nox?” Victus took a step back. “We don’t know a Nox..”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Modi stepped closer, grabbing Victus by the neck. “I can crush you like the small little bug that you are!” He lifted him off of the ground, “Tell me!”

“Let him go!” Alyza shouted, gripping her rapier. “It’s me that you want. Nox is my middle name.”

“..Ah,” Modi dropped Victus, stepping towards her, “I see it now. You’ve got that virtuous attitude that got them all killed so many decades ago.”

Once he was close enough, Alyza plunged her sword deep into his abdomen, impaling him. He didn’t even flinch, “That almost tickled. Pain like this is nothing compared to the beasts we face in Asgard, thanks to our wretched uncle.”

Alyza ripped her rapier out of him, blood staining the snow. There was a stiff, determined expression upon her face, “You’ve gotten what you came for. Now leave these people alone!”

“As you wish,” a portal opened up, appearing as a tear in the fabric of time and space. Modi grabbed her by her forearm, forcing her to come along with him. She looked back at the others, her expression softening.

“It’s okay,” she told them in a soft whisper. Victus glared, his ring starting to glow.

“Fenrir!” He shouted suddenly, and the giant spectral wolf flew out from his hand, charging at Modi, who turned and stopped it in his tracks with a single look. Fenrir whimpered and turned around, running back to Victus and reverting into his ring. Modi chuckled and tossed Alyza into the portal, walking through it.

“Victus, hurry!” Vackerie pointed at the portal while it was still open. He shook off his disbelief and nodded, making a run for it.

He was one step away from entering the portal right before it disappeared, causing him to trip and fall onto the snow. Quickly, he looked up and around, realizing he was still in the same place. He pounded his fist onto the snow, “No! Agh, dammit!”

Vackerie walked over to him, “That was incredible..Even if it didn’t do anything..You didn’t tell me you were a summoner.”

“I’m not,” Victus got up. “Not in the traditional sense, anyway. Ugh, now I’m gonna feel lethargic..” Distantly, there was a heavy splash in the ocean that could be seen from miles away, followed by more tremors that shook the ground.

“You don’t suppose that was the other guy, right?”

“There’s no time to worry about that. We’ve gotta help these people evacuate,” Victus looked up at the volcano, a bright orange light emanating above it. The ground shook once again, causing a surge of lava to spew from the top of the mountain.

Both of them, along with the ship’s crew, helped the villagers aboard the ship, including Agnes. She looked back at the island as they sailed away, watching bright molten lava flowing down the mountain, destroying everything they’ve built. Spheres of molten lava suddenly burst from its top, in all directions.

“Brace for impact!” The captain shouted as a large fireball flew directly towards them. Vackerie watched everyone run past her, all except Agnes, who merely accepted her fate. “Get down!”

Vack gripped her staff, “Please don’t miss..” She had no time to charge up a powerful spell, and instead spent what little time she had to focus on aiming. A fireball formed above her staff, and she swung towards the much larger fireball flying at them. The blast when the two impacted each other was spectacular, only small bits of flaming debris landing on the ship.

“We’ve been given an opportunity, men! Quickly, douse the fires! Helmsman, get us out of here! Full sail ahead!” The crew did as he asked, and soon they were safe at sea, far enough from the active volcano.

“Oi, man overboard, cap’n!” A crewmate shouted, pointing at the man in the ocean. They threw a rope into the water, and pulled until Magni was lifted onboard. He was soaked, covered in a frost that would’ve likely killed any mortal. Victus hurried over to him when he saw that he was still conscious.

“Magni! You’re alive!” He knelt down, since Magni couldn’t find the strength to stand yet. “I need to know where Modi took Alyza. Was it Asgard? Can you take me there?”

“..Asgard..Is no place for mortals..” He replied.

“But, if it exists, isn’t that where those who died fighting go?”

“You speak of Valhalla. That is but a sheltered place within Asgard, yes, but outside of the fortified city there are monsters that roam the land,” Magni finally stood, steam flowing from his body as the frost that covered him melted. “You would be torn apart.”

“You can’t just transport us into the city?”

“No. After recent events, I am banned from using the bifrost station there. Heimdall can only get me to the wastelands outside, so I’ll have to find another way in."

“Then we find a way in-”

“It’s not that simple!” Mjolnir flew into Magni’s hand, and he sheathed it upon his belt. “I am sorry, but I cannot allow a mortal to accompany me. I will have to save your friend alone,” he began to walk past him, but Victus persisted.

“What does Modi want with Alyza, anyway? Something about her being a descendant of the Nox family?”

“He intends to use her lineage to unlock the Malefistone, and release Hel into the realms.”

“Like, Helheim, or..the goddess, Hel?”

“..Both.”

“Well shit.”