MOUNTAIN PEAK
With each step, my mind screams in protest. My body wants me to turn back and run, but I keep going, determined. Each step now demands all of my strength and willpower, a special kind that I never knew I had. This last stretch is not physical, it's a test of my mental fortitude. Every inch forward feels like a victory against the divine auras.
My spirit was under siege, and my will was being suppressed. Was this a mental attack? Were the gods trying to stop me from reaching them? Or was this just a test? Whatever it was, I felt asphyxiated.
My throat ached as if I had not taken water for a week, my shoulders felt heavy as if the entire mountain had been dropped on top of me, my knees folding, legs wobbly, and I could feel millions of pinpricks coursing through my feet.
But I kept going.
Now I could feel every heartbeat at my temples, thump! thump!, louder every time. Was I about to pass out or on the verge of a heart attack?
The monumental thrones edged ever closer, their size seeming to grow as I closed in, were my senses deceiving me?
When my feet reached the circular dais on which the thrones stood, the sound was gone, there was no cold, no gale winds, only moonlight, the night, and massive feet.
Walking past the thrones, heroically showing my back to the two divine beings behind me, I reached the end of the dais, a sheer cliff now below me, and a view as magnificent as any I had ever seen in front of me, I could see the Odenwald in its entirety, and at the foot of the mountain, the fabled halls of Valhalla.
As I stood there, sharing the same view that the two giant gods had seen since the time of Ragnarok, one question came to mind, if this end of the mountain overlooks the valley of the Odenwald, “What’s at the other side of the mountain?”
“Hel,” two rumbling, guttural voices said in unison, with a strength that made some tiny rocks fall over the edge, and constricted my chest to the point of pain. I was sweating, nauseous, and sporting a nice fever; about to pass out no doubt.
I gathered all my courage and made an inhuman effort to disregard my pain and my weakness, while turning around, I asked, “As in the Realm of Hel Lokisdottir? Hela, daughter of Loki? Lady Hell?” my nerves betraying me, my tongue rambling.
“Yes,” the answer came in unison again, sending another shockwave of pain, angst, and defeat my way.
There they were, Vidar and Vali Odinson.
The colossal build of the gods was awe-inspiring, my knees giving way to the floor as soon as my eyes set sight on them.
They must be around twenty-five to thirty feet tall, difficult to gauge when they are sitting. They have long white beards and mustaches, and long, grey manes atop their heads. Their hands look ancient, their faces emaciated, I think they are only waiting for time to take them away. They look extremely tired. Except for their eyes.
Their eyes seem to encompass the whole of Asgard, not just the valley below as if they have access to see everything that happens in this realm. Or that is what my gut tells me. In any case, I knew they knew of me, and of my mission here.
As I was deep in thought, without any will left to speak, nor the strength to do so, one of them addressed me.
“Welcome to the Seat of Renewal, William Hagen, son of Erik, we have attested to your deeds in our domain, meager though your strength be, you have given favor, delivering Valhalla back to us, its rightful owners.” The old god said, in a fatherly tone, perhaps trying to soothe me somewhat.
When only this one talked, the wave of energy was reduced greatly, more than by half. But I knew in my bones that it did not mean he was weaker than the other, now silent god. I had a gut feeling, that when they talked in unison, their strength more than doubled, that’s brotherly synergy for you.
“We are old, and without repose, and destined to fall to dust, in time, without Idun’s apples. We have been made aware of the changes, our power not enough anymore to hold the Eternal Ice Wall, not since the fall of our cousin Hades, whose power fueled most of it, and the fall of Atlas, whose strength supported its weight.” Whoa! Is he saying what I think he is?
Without pause, and not letting me think about anything else other than listening to him, the mighty god continued.
“Our task is at its end, our Divine Duty fulfilled, at least in part, for there is yet more for us to do, in another manner. It pains us that we must now rely on you, mortal men, to continue a task given to our forefathers by the All-Father himself. You and your human brethren MUST keep this world safe.” He continued.
“You will have the aid of Sigrun, and some of our beloved beasts still roam around the lands of Asgard, and other fabled lands you have yet to encounter. Our City and its Palaces belong now to lesser beings, lesser to us, the Divine, betters to you, the humane. Go forth to Asgard, talk or battle your way to the Twice Frozen Bridge, and make it yours, we grant you rights to it.”
A light shone in my left hand, and a Rune appeared seared in my palm. Without pain, warm, comforting.
“Now, show us the Heart.”
“Ah, yes, the Heart, ok,” I said, my chest about to explode from the pressure of their presence.
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As I produced the heart, their eyes fixed on me for the first time. And the silent god leaned forward, and extended his hand to me, his palm, which was now only skin and bones, welcomed the Uru Orb and closed on it.
“My task is now done, my Duty complete. I bid you farewell brother Vali and I thank you, William Eriksson, pass my trial, and I shall live on, through you.”
An ethereal blue light enveloped the Uru Orb, I could sense it, the vast amount of power being imbued onto the little orb was so great, that I could physically feel it, it was like being inside a strong current of water, impossible to fight against it.
I could see how space distorted all around me, centered around the Uru Orb. My sight, my body, and my soul twisting around it.
I have had this sensation before when exiting the white room with the 5150, it was spaghettification, which meant that the amount of power that was being held in the little orb was like that gravitational pull of a black hole. At least in its vicinity, it showed the same effects.
Then it suddenly stopped, the Orb stopped shining, space was no longer distorted, and of Vidar Odinson, Heir to Asgard, only memory remained.
The Orb fell heavily on the floor, I did not know what to do, so I looked at Vali, now knowing his name, questioning.
“Go on,” he said, a sad smile on his elderly yet dignified face. “Take your prize, son of Erik, that my brother’s, Mighty Vidar, Avenger of Odin,” a lonely tear fell from his eyes, “That his ultimate sacrifice is not in vain.”
The feeling of loss was like nothing else, every single fiber of my being was crying, for what else can we mortals do, in the face of losing the divine, but to weep?
The suffocating aura that had been suppressing me since I stepped into the peak of the mountain was now greatly reduced, it now felt a bit less than half the pressure than before. I was still feeling sick and weak, but it wasn’t as crippling as before. I held the Uru Orb in my hand, it felt exactly the same as before, and totally alien at the same time.
*DING
— Vidar Odinson, heir of Asgard, has challenged you to a trial. The trial will now commence, Good Luck! —
Without further notice, I was transported to an ashen plain, smoke and fire surrounding me, tremors making the earth rumble and quake, I could not see the sky, nor very far beyond me.
The Uru Orb was nowhere to be seen. Unstrapping Balmung, I waited. The air was full of ash, and power, the evidence of a deadly fight all around me, a fight inconceivable to feeble mortal minds.
When I heard him, the ragged breath, the heavy steps, the gasps trying to breathe, to survive.
I turned around and saw him, the biggest creature I had ever seen, bigger than Freki and Bear. Rivaling Vali and Vidar in height.
I saw him, right in front of me, Fenrir Vanagandr, son of Loki and Angrboda, sibling of Hel and Jormungandr.
Gleipnir’s remains, -the chain that was supposed to capture him and stop him from fulfilling his dreaded destiny-, still attached to his neck and feet.
A wooden shaft protruded from his chest, surely it was Gungnir, Odin’s spear, having wounded it before the King of the Aesir’s own death.
How was I supposed to defeat such a beast? That could even kill the father of the gods?
With eyes black as night he looked at me and growled. He was readying himself to attack me his muscles tense and his teeth bared.
But I stood my ground, steadfast in the face of this powerful creature. He was halfway dead already for all its power, his feral might, legendary deeds, and divine ancestry, the system, in its neutrality, showed me that it was possible to come out alive of this encounter.
— Fenrir Vanagandr, Grade-F, Level 17, Divine —
The ‘Divine’ tag, his rarity, was a cause for concern, but so were its fangs and claws, and massive size.
These trials were supposed to adapt to the level of the person challenging them, so they were not impossible by design. They are supposed to be difficult, not unsurmountable.
Fenrir was the OG god-killer, Odin’s Bane and Ragnarok’s harbinger. Lucky for me, Ragnarok was old news, my name is not Odin, and I am just a mortal. What is there to fear? It’s just a big rabid dog. A feral dog that needs to be put down, and I am Animal Services, nothing more, nothing less, at this point in time, we are equal, somewhat, our grades and level are the same, I have more than a chance to prevail, just have to be careful.
“Let’s do this shaggy.” I yelled at Fenrir, “Souls’ style.”
As if on command, Fenrir lounged at me, his front muscles tensing, his hackles up, no growl or sound coming from his mouth, silent, deadly. His jaws snapped exactly were I was just a fraction of a second before, not an ounze of strength wasted, his jump forward precise, covering just the right amount of distance between his fangs and his prey, which is to say, me.
I had dodged lateraly, like a boxer, but this time I had released all the tension on the muscles of my leg, for an explosive step to the side, positioning me twenty feet away form where I was, immediately taking a couple of jumps backward, doubling the distance yet again, I needed to figure out his attack patterns, fight smart, don’t do anything rash.
Fenrir lounged back at me yet again, snapping its jaws once more exactly where I had been, but this time, he got me, not with his fangs, not even with his paws, having used both of them to try and keep me from moving away.
It was the chains, the remains of the fabled chain Gleipnir, said to be unbreakable, that was still attached to the massive wolf's legs that got me.
I did not account for it, so it got me square in the chest and sent me flying away by main force, Balmung escaped my grasp, unable to keep my grip on it.
Fenrir lounged back at me yet again, snapping its jaws once more exactly where I had been, this time though, he got me, not with his fangs, not even with his paws, having used both of them to try and keep me from moving away.
The chains, the remains of the fabled chain Gleipnir, said to be unbreakable, still attached to the massive wolf's legs that got me.
I did not account for it, so it got me square in the chest and sent me flying away by main force, Balmung escaped my grasp, unable to keep my grip on it.
Out of breath, broken ribs, back to the floor, blood on my mouth, going in and out of consciousness, and more than half my HP wasted away by one single blow.
Passing my hands over my chest, I could feel bone, exposed rib fracture, and if the ragged breath and blood in my mouth were any indication, I had a punctured lung. I was on my death throes.
With inhuman effort, my chest screaming in pain, willfully forcing myself into focus, I searched for the beast I was flung about so hard, that I had gotten out of his visual range, or at least he was no longer in mine because I could not see it, with all the ash still in the air, the fog, the fires the overall amount of particles in the atmosphere an apocalypse would bring about, you know, Tuesday.
I could hear him before I could see him, and an idea popped into my mind, I had only one chance at this.
I coughed up all the blood I could, creating a small pool of it where I was, and then crawled a bit towards where the sound of massive paws was coming from, covered myself in soot and ash, facing up, and waited.
The pain was almost unbearable, the waiting only making me more aware of it by the second, when I felt slight tremors through the soil. He was getting closer, slowly.
I could hear him sniffing around, ever closer.
He caught the scent of my blood, and for a moment, I imagined his jaws taking me out of my hidey-hole, eating me alive, but his massive jaws passed over me. I could now see his neck, protected by the remains of Gleipnir, the god's last gamble to stop Ragnarok ended up biting their collective ass since the neck was the surefire way of ending the massive beast.
I just needed him to advance a bit more, I needed to see his chest area.
But what I could see were hackles raising, and muscles tensing.
The beast was getting ready to pounce.
Then I remembered why he was called 'Odin's Avenger.'
Looking up, angling my head, I could see two massive steel-clad boots, attached to powerful legs, Vidar had arrived, to fulfill his destiny.
The silent god just stood there, while Fenrir lowered his stance, just enough so his chest was at my reach if I were to stand up.
As it were, if Vidar were to jump and deliver the famous Fenrir slaying kick, he would be torn to pieces by the wolf's fangs, in the legends, Fenrir was almost dead by the time Vidar delivered the finishing blow. Right now though? Fenrir was more than capable of defending himself.
So I did what any person on the verge of death, with a punctured lung and broken ribs, would do at this point.
Gathering all my strength, all of my will, I stood up, my eyes darting to what I was looking for, desperately, I did not have much time left.
When I found it, I dashed forward, [Dempsey Roll], I thought, my legs immediately got a surge of power further strengthening my dash forward, my body's stance aligning perfectly with the technique, my chest screaming in pain, blood flooding my mouth, my strength quadrupled, my vision reducing by the blood loss, I could only see one thing now.
The butt of Gungnir's shaft. The mythical Odin Spear is still half buried in Fenrir's chest.
My right fist shattered in the brief amount of time when it made contact, Gungnir flew deeper inside the chest of the beast. Straight at his heart.
At the same moment, Vidar jumped and delivered a kick that destroyed Fenrir's jaw, The beast fell on top of me, crushing me completely with his weight.
I could only see darkness.
I am getting too closely acquainted with death for my liking. I thought as I faded out.