Calvin, Amy, and Freya followed Baldur through the gleaming streets of Asgard, the eternal city of the gods. All around them towered magnificent structures of gold, silver, and other seemingly advanced alloys, glinting brightly in the warm sunlight.
As they walked, Calvin took in the sights and sounds with awe. Mighty waterfalls cascaded down crystalline mountains, feeding lush gardens overflowing with exotic plants and rainbow-hued birds. In the distance, they glimpsed grand palaces and temples, connected by winding pathways lined with stately trees.
Everywhere gods, spirits, and mythical beasts moved with grace, conversing, singing, or relaxing in the city square. Many eyed the trio curiously as they passed by. Calvin felt small and humble surrounded by such divine splendor, but also exhilarated to walk among legends.
At last, they arrived before the most impressive palace yet - an enormous citadel of white marble and gold. Intricate carvings of warriors, beasts, and nature spirits decorated every surface. Baldur led them through halls filled with artifacts of myth and legend. As they entered the throne room, Calvin's breath caught.
Upon a dais sat Odin the Allfather himself, one-eyed ruler of Asgard, surrounded by an aura of power. His remaining eye, dark as night, bored into them. The three of them immediately knelt, partly out of respect and partly under the pressure of an immense, invisible force.
"Rise, mortals, and approach," rumbled the god-king. His voice resonated through Calvin like a thunderclap. They obeyed and Odin scrutinized them.
"It is rare I permit mortals entrance to these hallowed halls. But you have passed the trials of Anubis and stand now in Asgard by his decree. The scales have weighed your hearts and found balance. Yet further tests await... tests of courage and valor. You must prove yourselves worthy to walk among gods!"
Odin stood, his spear Gungnir thumping authoritatively. "You shall face the Gauntlet of Tyr - battles to push your limits even higher! Survive and be elevated to the ranks of heroes. Fail and be cast out." His eye flashed. "What say you?"
Calvin and Amy exchanged tense glances. This was unexpected. But they had come too far to back down now. Calvin stepped forward bowing his head.
"We accept your challenge, Allfather."
Freya yipped in agreement.
Odin smiled, teeth glinting. "Good! Then let the trials commence!"
The trio were flung into the sand-covered arena, landing roughly on the hard ground. They quickly scrambled to their feet, backs against each other, weapons drawn as they scanned their surroundings.
The coliseum was massive - at least five football fields across - the floor covered in fine golden sand. Thousands of beings packed the circular stands rising up on all sides, murmuring and pointing at the trio standing alone below.
At the emperor's box sat Odin on his throne, Gungnir planted firmly, his one eye boring into them. With a thrust of his spear, silence swept across the arena.
"Mortals!" his voice boomed out. "You stand now in the Gauntlet of Tyr to face the Trials of Valor! May the Fates smile upon you this day!"
A deafening roar rose from the crowd. Calvin steadied his breathing, gripping his spear tightly as Amy drew her daggers and Freya crouched, growling low.
With a groan of stone on stone, a section of wall slowly slid upwards across from them. Calvin narrowed his eyes, muscles tensing.
"Get ready," he murmured. From the dark passage staggered forth a massive figure, broad and hulking, nearly ten feet tall. It was a giant - crude club clutched in a meaty fist, clad in furs and dull iron armor. The giant spotted them, its beady eyes glinting with malice as it lumbered forward. The ground shook with each thudding step.
Calvin's eyes darted over the giant, analyzing, as Freya and Amy fanned out. He noted vulnerable points in the armor - gaps at the joints, thinner patches at the inner thighs. The giant roared, foul spittle flying as it raised its club.
"Now!" Calvin yelled, and they sprang into action. Amy vanished in a cloud of miasma as Freya charged full speed. The giant swung down at the wolf. Freya nimbly dodged aside as Amy suddenly appeared, landing two rapid, toxin-infused strikes on the back of the giant's knee. It stumbled with a bellow of pain just as Freya clamped her jaws around its calf, her vicious teeth sinking deep.
Enraged, the giant kicked out, catching Freya in the side and flinging her away. Calvin was already moving. As the giant regained its footing, Calvin darted past its swinging club and drove his spear hard into the gap at its hip. The blade sunk deep and the giant staggered, roaring. Calvin wrenched the spear free and leaped away as Amy struck again, her sonic edge finding a joint in the armor along its ribs. The pulse from the dagger exploded inside the wound.
The giant reeled from their barrage, dark blood flowing from numerous wounds now. With another rage-filled bellow, it turned and brought its club straight down towards Amy. She managed to dive aside but the blow still caught her legs, sweeping her off her feet.
"Amy!" Calvin yelled in alarm. But she was already rolling back upright as Freya leaped onto the giant's arm, fangs tearing. The giant flailed, trying to dislodge the maddened creature. Calvin and Amy pressed the attack, ducking under its wild swings to land blow after crippling blow.
Finally, the brute dropped to one knee, wheezing horribly, its club fell from a limp hand. Calvin drove his spear up under the chin while Freya ripped at its throat. With a final gurgling groan, the giant toppled over, dead.
Panting, Calvin wrenched his weapon free and turned to help Amy up. "You good?" She nodded, wincing slightly but still clutching a dagger. Freya trotted over, fur matted with blood but otherwise unharmed.
The crowd erupted into wild cheering and applause.
Odin raised his spear and the cheering crowd fell silent once more. With a flash, three armored female warriors materialized around the fallen giant. Calvin recognized them as Valkyries from the stories - Odin's choosers of the slain.
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Gracefully they knelt and lifted the giant's massive body. There was a rush of wings and they ascended rapidly into the clouds. The arena floor was smooth and clean again as if nothing had happened.
Odin's voice rang out. "A worthy first trial! The giant goes now to Valhalla! But greater tests lie ahead!"
The crowd roared. Calvin steadied his breathing, rotating his spear. Amy sheathed a dagger to rub her leg and Freya shook out her fur, licking flecks of blood from her snout. They regrouped, facing the gate together.
With another rumble, the stone wall retracted further this time. Calvin tensed, spear raised. Through the widening gap shuffled two more giants followed by a pack of massive wolves with glowing eyes - winter wolves. The giants looked bigger than the last and were clad in thick hides and crude, spiked armor. One carried a hammer, the other a spiked club. Behind them prowled five winter wolves, their white fur was streaked with blue, and icy mist seeped from their jaws.
Calvin muttered under his breath. Fighting multiple giants and wolves in an open arena was less than ideal. But they had no choice. Odin obviously wanted to push them hard.
"I'll take the giants. Amy, keep those wolves busy. Freya, help Amy then join me."
The wolf chuffed, body coiling like a spring.
The giants lumbered forth; clubs raised. The winter wolves suddenly broke into a sprint, kicking up sand. Amy quickly summoned her chaotic Stinging Swarm and met the wolves head-on while Freya darted in from the side, knocking one wolf off balance.
Calvin rushed to intercept the giants, his spear whirling. He slashed multiple times as he closed the gap, sending wind blades streaking into their armor plates. The blades buffeted the giants back as each one struck, but did not pierce the armor.
The giants stomped toward Calvin while the pack of winter wolves circled Amy and Freya. Calvin kept moving, using his superior speed and maneuverability. He ducked under a hammer swing, severing the tendon of the arm wielding it. It dropped the hammer and the giant punched out with its other fist and nearly caught Calvin in the face. He brought his Obsidian bulwark up just in time.
The other giant grabbed for Calvin who twisted away. The brute bellowed and swung its spiked club. Calvin deflected it off his spear shaft, the impact jarring his hands. He spun his weapon rapidly to deflect another blow then riposted, opening a deep gash along the giant's forearm. It stumbled back with a roar. The two giants pressed him with even more fury.
A pained yelp made Calvin risk a glance back. One winter wolf was down but two more were harrying Freya while Amy dueled with the other two, icy vapors hissing around her. "Freya! Help Calvin!" Amy shouted, parrying vicious fangs with her daggers.
Freya broke away, barreling towards Calvin. As the giant swung down again, Freya latched onto its weapon arm. The brute flailed but Freya hung on stubbornly. Calvin seized the opening and drove in with a flurry of spear thrusts aimed at vital organs. The giant reeled under the sustained assault and then toppled like a felled oak. They left the other Giant alone for now. It was wounded and had lost its weapon.
Calvin and Freya raced to assist Amy who was now battling three winter wolves alone. She was holding her own but was being pushed back under their savagery. She could easily release her Venomous Miasma but the trio didn't want to reveal their cards just yet. They knew the fights would get harder and they didn't want to show their hand this early, so they fought the old-fashioned way. Calvin and Freya crashed into the wolves' flank. Startled, one wolf broke off only to be seized by Freya. Calvin stunned another wolf trying to bite Amy then impaled it while she finished the third with a lethal cross-cut. Freya crunched the final wolf's spine between her jaws then let the limp body fall.
They collectively turned toward the wounded giant, who stood absolutely no chance under their combined onslaught.
They regrouped, panting. The arena exploded with deafening cheers and applause. But Odin silenced them again with a thump of his spear.
"Well done! Few mortals can boast of besting winter wolves and giants both! Truly your mettle shines bright! But the Trials of Tyr have only just begun! Steel yourselves!"
Calvin watched with wary eyes as the arena began to transform around them. The fine golden sand melted away, replaced by hard, black volcanic rock that radiated waves of heat. All along the changed landscape, carved pillars of obsidian erupted from the ground, towering dozens of feet into the air. Interspersed between them, small craters burst open, venting noxious fumes and spurting gouts of liquid fire high into the air. The air smelled of sulfur and brimstone.
"Well this is new," Amy muttered, twirling a dagger.
Calvin snorted. "Yeah, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised. The gods seem intent on putting on a show."
"At least it's warm," Amy added.
All around them, the crowd oohed and aahed, clearly impressed with the dramatic transformation Odin had wrought. Calvin tuned out their excited chatter, focusing his attention on the arena gateway as it ground open once more. He had a feeling the next challenge would be emerging any second.
"I don't suppose we could take a quick break first?" Amy asked wryly. When Calvin raised an eyebrow she shrugged. "What? A girl can dream."
Calvin was about to retort when the gate finished opening. His grip on his spear tightened as Freya growled low in her throat. Through the widening entrance lumbered another giant clutching a massive fiery hammer. But rather than skin or armor, this giant appeared composed entirely of cooled magma, glowing cracks visible across its rocky exterior. Behind it shuffled forth a pack of hulking forms; black fur bristling, flames leaking from fanged maws. Hellhounds.
"Wonderful," Calvin muttered. Six hellhounds accompanied the magma giant, spread out to flank it. He quickly analyzed the new threats, mind racing. "Alright, same tactic. I'll keep Rocky occupied. Amy and Freya - focus fire the hounds."
Amy flashed him a mock salute. "Sir yes sir!"
Freya barked sharply in acknowledgement then took off like a bolt, barreling straight for the nearest hound. Amy vanished behind Calvin in a swirl of inky toxins. He braced himself, spinning his spear as the giant lumbered closer, its weapon bursting into flames.
When the brute swung Calvin was already rolling aside, the fiery hammer crashing into the ground and sending up an explosion of sparks. Calvin came up slashing at the back of its thick legs but his spear merely clanged off the hardened rock. Tch!
Its shell is like armor.
The giant turned with unexpected speed, bringing its hammer overhead in a blistering arc. Calvin barely raised his bulwark in time, the shield taking the crushing blow directly. The force of it drove Calvin to one knee, the giant bearing down. Gritting his teeth, Calvin surged upward, knocking the hammer aside. He riposted with a flurry of spear thrusts aimed at the joints and gaps in the rocky exterior but it seemed to have no effect.
With a throaty rumble, the giant punched out. Calvin twisted but still caught a glancing blow to his shoulder. He tumbled back, rolling quickly to his feet.
Risking a glance away he spotted Amy dancing between two hellhounds, her daggers finding weak points in their fiery bodies. One hound was already down but the other four were trying to surround her and Freya.
Calvin refocused on his foe just as it hefted its hammer for an overhead smash. He dove forward under the swing, the head of the weapon exploded against stone right behind him. Calvin slid between its legs, raking the back of its knees with his spear. It rumbled in irritation and stomped down trying to crush him. Calvin scrambled clear but had no time to counter as the giant turned, immediately swinging its hammer in a wide horizontal arc.
Calvin dropped flat, the head passing inches above him. He kicked up, launching into a backward dive roll to gain some distance. As the giant advanced, Calvin raised his spear and fired the Nightclaw spikes directly into the golem's chest.
The spikes struck the rocky torso and pierced straight through it with incredible force, chunks of stone exploded outward followed by gouts of flame. The giant reeled from the blow, the first real damage Calvin had managed thus far. But to his dismay, the cavity began re-forming before his eyes as the magma-like body repaired itself.
The giant recovered its balance and glared at Calvin, beady eyes smoldering. It raised its hammer once more wreathed in flames.
Time to bring out the big guns...