Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (24 page)

No one said anything for a long time.  Loki decided the giant deserved a proper burial and had set him on fire Viking funeral style.  His body was too big to move but eventually all that remained were ashes.  The fire too had burnt itself out as we looked on.  Garm had tried numerous times to get in touch with Hel with no luck.  Each time he said it was as if the connection had been broken.

“We need to find them and quickly.”  I felt like I needed to say something.  All these incredibly powerful individuals looked lost now.  They needed a captain, someone to rally the troops.  It was my turn to step up and help them.  “We should break off into two teams again.  One should return to Svartalfheim and the other should go forward on towards Valhalla.”

“Who should go where son?”

“Dad, I want you to lead up the team to Svartalfheim.  The dark elves know you and will listen to what you have to say.  Loki and Sigyn, would you go with him as support?”

Sigyn answered for them quickly.  “Of course dear, we will find out what we can and make sure the situation is stabilized.”

“Okay, Thor, Rumil, and Garm – you’re with me.  We’ll track down the delegation and confront Azmodeous.  Do we have any questions before we split up?”

No one said anything.  I hugged dad and Sigyn one last time.  Loki just patted me on the back and gave me one of his knowing psychopathic looks. 

Just before they left, dad looked back one last time.  “Jack, the most important thing for you to do is get home.  If the chance opens up, promise me you’ll take it.”

I didn’t know what to say.  The thought of abandoning my friends for my own wellbeing didn’t sit well with me.  “I can’t make that promise dad.  After all, I’m as hard headed as you.”

“At least promise me you won’t die doing anything stupid then?”

“Now that’s a promise I’ll do my best to keep.”

Knowing that time wasn’t on our side, everyone wished each other good luck and both groups were on the move in opposite directions. 

“If they took the most direct path, we should be able to pick up the trail from here by day’s end.”  Thor then set the pace and the rest of us followed. 

A few times I reached over and grabbed Rumil’s hand and gave it a squeeze.  I knew she was worried about Hargna but something told me that elf was a hard one to kill.  Eventually, we stumbled upon the remains of a camp just as the sun was going down.

“It looks like we came the right way.  Nothing suspicious looks to have happened here.”  All I saw was the remains of a fire pit with some animal bones lying around that looked like it had been dinner for the group.”

Thor looked around a little bit too.  “I agree with your assessment Jack.  I see no signs of a struggle either.”

“Azmodeous would have chosen his spot well.  My people would have come prepared for a fight.”  Rumil was right.  When they were attacked, the dark elves would have put up one hell of a fight.

“Wasn’t an Aesir traveling with them?  Hod or something?”

“According to Mistress Hel, yes he met them and was escorting the party the rest of the way.  He would know the area and if he was in on the plot could have lead them to an ambush sight.”

Garm had a point, just how deep did the plot go?  “Why don’t we rest here for a bit, then we can use the darkness to help us track without detection.”

We all sat around the burned out ashes from the previous fire.  Thor, who took the brunt of the damage from Geirrod’s attack quickly fell asleep and Garm was out pretty quickly after him.  They both deserved a few hours of peace.  Rumil and I however were wide awake.

“We’ll find your dad, you know?”

Rumil had some tears in her eye, not quite crying yet but maybe on the verge.  “I know Jack.  I just hope we find him alive.”

I pulled her close and kept an arm around her.  She started to cry and I didn’t say anything.  In times like this I have learned it’s best to let it run its course.  Eventually she stopped and when she wiped away the tears, she even gave me a smile.

“Thank you, I feel ready to confront whatever it is that is waiting for us.”

“We will together.  No matter what, we will face the unknown together.”

“Thank you Jack.  I think we also need some rest for our travels tomorrow.  We move out at sunlight.”  Hey, I thought I was in charge here.

The sunrise brought us all out of our sleep.  After a few minutes to clear the cobwebs, all four of us were ready to go.  We continued on from the campsite towards Valhalla.  It took another full day of traveling at quite a fast clip, but soon Thor passed warning that we were entering the heart of Aesir territory.  The closer we got and we still hadn’t seen any signs of a struggle.  This was getting weird.

“Thor, how close to Valhalla are we?”

“The hall itself is in the city center.  The city, Asgard Proper, is not too far away.  We should see the walls soon.”

We all knew what that meant.  There was a good chance there was Aesir involvement.  I also wondered if I had sent dad, gramps, and Sigyn into a trap.  What if more light elves had infiltrated Svartalfheim? 

Thor must have known I was in deep thought.  “Now is not the time to worry about the others.  We will need to be sharp if we are to survive a direct assault into Valhalla.”

He was right, of course.  It was getting closer to game time and we all needed to be focused.  The moon was starting to shine in the sky when the walls of the city came into view.

“How are we going to get in?  And more importantly, how will we get to Valhalla undetected?”

“Oh I plan on being detected.  I know the city guards and their captain, so I will be just fine.  You three, on the other hand, will use my distraction and head right for the middle of the city.  No one will be expecting you.”

He was probably right.  They would expect a dark elf army of some sort, not a human, one dark elf, and a hellhound.  “Alright, just tell us what we need to do.”

When we made it to the walls and got down to one of the gates, Thor elaborated on his master plan.  The city guards, known as the Einjerhar, would come after him for drunk and disorderly conduct.  He figured it would take a great many of them to bring him in and they most likely would need the help of their captain, Valkyrie. 

Once he had them preoccupied, it would be easy for us to stroll right up to the halls of Valhalla.  He explained there was a secret entrance in the back that was used as an escape path a long time ago.  “When you get inside, go down to the dungeons.  I would think that is where any of the other dark elves would be if they were not killed.”

“Thanks for everything Thor.  You won’t miss the party though will you?”

“I doubt Valkyrie will be able to keep me down for long.  Until then, do not have too much fun without me.”

We shook hands and then he went into the city.  It didn’t take long for him to get the guards stirred up.  Between the incoherent shouting and obvious breaking of things, Thor got them moving in no time flat.  The sounds of the confrontation were getting quite loud when Garm sniffed the air.

“Valkyrie approaches.  Once she is preoccupied, we should make our move.”

“Master Garm, would you mind taking the lead on this?  I trust your senses much more than I do my own.”

“Of course Lady Elf, I will get us there as quickly and quietly as I can.”

We got ourselves into position by the gate.  Thor had led them off the main through way, so we pushed our luck and started to head in what I hoped was the right direction.  That’s when we got our all clear signal; Valkyrie was now there with Thor.

“Thor, put an end to this madness!  What in all the realms has gotten into you?”

“Ahh Valkyrie, what an unexpected pleasure!  Still as beautiful as ever I see!”

We heard a loud clapping sound.  I was pretty sure Thor just smacked her on the ass.  However, we didn’t stick around for anymore of this.  Garm took that as the sign to go as quickly as we could and so we started our winding journey to the city center. 

With it being so late in the evening, we did not encounter anyone.  Asgard Proper, as Thor called it, was a beautiful city.  The entire place was made of different woods wrapped in steel supports.  I wish I could have seen more of it, but we were on a mission and Garm was not slowing down for anything.  We were booking along at a good clip when he slammed on the brakes.  I wasn’t paying that close attention and nearly ran him over.

“We are here, at the back entrance Thor was talking about.”

I looked around and the place we were behind looked more like a moose lodge than some sort of divine ceremony hall.  I didn’t say anything, I had learned a long time ago when in Asgard just to keep my mouth shut and go with it.

“Master Garm, where is the entranceway for the path?”

“I believe our young human is standing on it.”

“Huh?”  I looked down and sure enough I was standing on what I could only describe as a manhole cover.  “Oh, well then, that’s convenient.”

“Jack dear, would you mind moving?  This will be a lot easier to lift if your cute self was not standing on it.”

That made sense, so I did.  Rumil lifted the manhole cover up with ease and gently slid it off to the side.  There was barely a noise made, which was good.  I think.  Garm, as usual, was the bearer of bad news.  “For something that has not been in use for many cycles, it seemed too easy to remove.”

“Garm, could you be a glass half full kind of dog please?”

“I have no idea what a glass has to do with this or the amount of liquid in it.  More to the point, we need to be careful traveling from here on in.  Someone could be down here waiting to spring a trap.”

“We’ve come this far, no one is going to get in the way of saving our friends, right team?”

Rumil give me a quick kiss, which I knew was her way of saying ‘you got it!’  Garm’s tail started wagging.  I’d never seen it do that before.

“Okay then, let’s do this.”  I hopped down and it wasn’t a far jump.  Garm and Rumil came right behind me.  The tunnel we were in was tall enough for me, but Rumil had to duck just slightly in order to move forward.  It was also dark, really dark.  Following Garm, we made our way down further in.

“I smell death nearby.  Everyone on their guard.”

I heard Rumil take the knife out of her boot and I made sure my gauntlets were secure.  I could also now see a light off in the distance.  As we got closer to the light, there was an awful rotting smell filling the air.  When we made it to the end of the tunnel where it opened up into a bigger room, we could see what the smell was.

“Oh dear, this is not a good sign.”

Rumil was right.  At the bottom of the staircase was what looked like a platoon of five Aesir and they were all ripped to shreds.

The three of us froze in place.  The scene in front of us was shocking.  Garm identified the lead Aesir as Hod, the one who was guiding the dark elves here.

“We can’t stay here forever.  We need to find the dungeon and make sure everyone is okay.  Whatever did this to these guys is more than we can handle.”  Garm and Rumil both agreed on that point.

“Yes, let us find father, he will know what this is all about.”  And just like that Rumil got a move on and was heading up the stairs.  Garm and I quickly recovered and followed on. 

The scene didn’t get any better as we went on.  It looked like something had invaded Valhalla and was putting to waste anything in its way.  The few guards it looked like were stationed around were all dead at the top of the staircase landing.  Off to the right was a huge wooden door, which I assumed lead to the main hall of the building.  To the left was another set of stairs that went back down.

“I think our friends are down there.  Let’s go.”  I took off towards the stairs with Rumil and Garm in tow.  Again no one was there to stop us.  At the bottom of the stairs was another large wooden door, but this one looked like it had seen better days.  What was left of it was hanging by its top hinge.  We pushed through and soon were met with another scene of devastation. 

More Aesir guards were lying around dead, but these ones looked like they were blown up somehow, not ripped apart.  At the back of the dungeon though we saw what we were looking for.  In a large cell were Hargna, Algrim, Hel, and Ustin.  I saw three other bodies laying there with them, but it looked like they were all dead.

“Father!”  Rumil ran at top speed to the cell and the elves in the cell all jumped up.

“I cannot believe it!  Rumil, Jack, Garm?  Quickly, get us out of here!  Azmodeous is a light elf!  He is the one behind everything!”

“We know father.  He sent an ice giant named Geirrod to ambush Loki and we were there when it happened.  Before he died, he told us about Azmodeous.”

“Geirrod is dead?”  Ustin had the look of astonishment on his face.  “The Warlord was said to be all but invincible.  That is a tale that needs telling if we escape.”

“Enough chatter, we need to get out now.  The Siblings are in league with him and they have unleashed it.”  Hargna then pointed at me.  “That guard you are near, the keys are in his pocket.”

Sure enough they were.  I grabbed them as quickly as I could and also managed not to vomit.  I tossed them to Rumil who unlocked the gate.  Garm, who had been staring intently at Hel the entire time pushed the gate open and ran to her side.  She was not moving and had a large cut on her forearm.

“What foul magic has bewitched Mistress Hel?”

Hargna was able to answer that.  “Azmodeous placed her under some enchantment.  She is still alive, but from what I gathered, can only be broken by his death.”

“So be it.  Watch over me my lady and let me bring swift retribution to the light elf.”  I gave Garm a quick rub on the head.  He didn’t move or say anything, just kept looking at Hel.

“Hargna - Loki, Sigyn, and my dad went back to Svartalfheim to make sure everything there is okay.  What exactly happened to you guys?”

He eyes took a dark turn to them.  “We were ambushed as soon as we entered this forsaken hall.  Azmodeous was in on it from the beginning and we were all fools for blindly following him.”  Hargna was taking this much harder than even I thought he would.  Rumil went over and gave her dad a hug and whispered something into his ear.  Whatever she said seemed to bring him back to the present.  “The Siblings has done the unthinkable.  They have unleashed the Nidhogg upon the Aesir.”

Again with the weird names, when would they learn I had no idea what they were talking about?  “What the hell is a Nidhogg?”

“An ancient wyrm, or wingless dragon if you will, that caused all this devastation you see.  It needs nothing else besides it claws and teeth to cause despair.”

“What do we do now?  Do we get the hell out of Dodge or what?”

All the dark elves looked at each other.  I could tell their first instinct was like mine, use the distraction and leave.  But without a way to remove the enchantment on Hel, what would become of her?

“I know we’re all thinking it, but maybe we should go after Azmodeous and put an end to this.  We have the element of surprise right now.  It would be a shame to let it go.”

Ustin seemed very keen on that idea.  “Let us avenge our fallen and make sure Azmodeous knows the price for deception.”  He pointed at the fallen elves.  Upon closer inspection, I saw the faces of Ustin’s teammates and Goma.  Their deaths had been quick it seemed.

Algrim, who had not said a word up until this point, finally spoke.  In a very low and dangerous growl he made his intentions known.  “The only thing those who orchestrated this shall know is death.  Come; let us send their forsaken souls to Helheim.”

“Father, do you know where your weapons are being kept?  We will need everything we can if we come across the Nidhogg.”

“I do not Rumil.  I fear they took them into the main audience chamber where I am sure they are all at right now.  Maybe along the way…”

Before he could finish his thought, we heard a loud explosion that rocked the entire building.  “That sounded like it was close.  Maybe it is another distraction we can use.  We should get going.  Garm, why don’t you stay here with Hel and keep her safe?  I’m sure we can make sure Azmodeous answers for his crimes.”

Garm didn’t like that at all.  “After what he has done to my lady and my comrades?  I will not sit here and let you put your life at risk while I do not!”

“What if we fail and either Azmodeous or the Nidhogg come down?  Who’ll be here to protect Hel and be our last line of defense?”

Garm grunted.  “Very well Master Jack, I will yield.  Do not let me down; make him suffer.”

With that, he went over to Hel’s side.  The rest of us filed out of the dungeon and climbed back up the staircase to the main floor.  What we saw was mass chaos.  A tall blonde woman in battle armor with about thirty-five Viking style soldiers were breaking into the main audience room.

“Jack, that is Valkyrie and the Einjerhar!  Thor must have told her what was happening!”

“How do we get into the chamber now with all of that happening?”

“Allow me to help you.”  We all turned around but no one was there.

“Who said that?”  Everyone looked just as baffled as I was.

“Try looking up.”  And so I did only to see a giant raven with glowing red eyes.  Great.  “I am Huginn, the Allfather’s raven of thought.  He sent me to find you and bring you to his aide.”

“Just when I thought this place couldn’t get any weirder, I get a talking raven.  Okay Hugs let me guess, Azmodeous betrayed Odin and now everything is going to crap?”

“It is as you say, the Allfather was lead astray in his beliefs and now the light elf has unleashed the Nidhogg.  As we speak, the two sides are engaged in a duel in the antechamber behind the main audience hall.  The Einjerhar, Valkyrie, and now Thor have engaged the Nidhogg.”

I looked back at the rest of our group.  “Well team, what do you think?”

Rumil was quick to speak.  “Will Odin provide Jack safe passage back to Midgard if we assist him?”

“He will Lady Elf, the human will be allowed access to the Bifrost Bridge.”

That seemed to be all Rumil needed to hear.  I would thank her later for that.  “Then we shall offer our aide.  Lead us to the Allfather so this can finally end.”

The raven cawed in success.  “Let us proceed and waste no more time.  Follow me.