Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (3 page)

The two of us just looked at each other with contempt.  I had heard the name before, but here in the flesh I was not impressed.  “I suggest you go back to Asgard where you are tolerated.  Here, you are outnumbered and not welcome.”

“Elf, if you think the five of you are any challenge for me, you sorely overestimate your abilities.”  The hate in her eyes was unsettling.  What had the dark elves done to the Aesir to garner such an attitude?

I looked over at Drexler and Krang and both were in bad shape.  I had not noticed right away, and with Maya preoccupied with healing them, that left only Ryle and myself.  Common sense told me to use a tactical retreat, but my pride got the better of me.

“I will not back down.  The dark elves and the Aesir have no grudge, so I suggest that you let us alone.”

She continued to stare at me, cold and hard.  Finally, she lowered her eyes and I thought she was going to retreat.  How wrong I was.  Instead of turning around, she jumped at Maya and kicked her away.  Krang was the closest to her and with a quick motion of the sword, separated his head from his body.

“NO!”  It happened so fast that I had no time to react.  Gathering myself, I quickly fired off three more arrows to separate her from Drexler.  She parried them away with ease and made her way towards me.

“I told you elf, you overestimated your abilities and now you will all die.”

She charged Ryle and I, and we separated to get away from her sword attacks.  Ryle’s youth served him well, as his agility was too fast for Sif to keep up with.  I tried to fire another arrow at her, but with no success.  Her defense with her sword was too great.

“Ryle, to me, quickly!”  He heard and came over.  “Go to Maya and get her and Drexler out of here.  I will deal with her myself.”

“Lady Rumil that is suicide!”

Sif was closing in on us.  “Listen to your subordinate, to face me alone is to ask for death!”

I pushed Ryle out of the way as she brought her sword down.  It clipped my shoulder and adding the force to my momentum, sent me flying back into a tree.  I looked over and saw that Ryle had made it to Maya, but Sif was hot at his heels.  I tried to get an arrow ready to shoot at her, but my arm was useless.  Just as she was reaching for him, Drexler rammed his shoulder into her, pushing her away.

“Do not underestimate us dark elves!”

“Filthy vermin, how dare you touch me?”  She swiped her sword at Drexler and it took all of his energy to get out of the way.  I had made it back to me feet, but my arm was still dangling.  I grabbed my knife out of my boot and ran.  I was not going to make it though.  Sif punched Drexler hard in the face and picked him up over her shoulder.

“Consider this the first casualty for not listening to the Aesir.  This elf is my prisoner and we will learn your secrets wench!”  And with that, she ran off into the forest.

“Lady Rumil, are you okay?”  Maya and Ryle came out from behind the tree.  “Let me heal your arm.”

I made my way over to them and fell to the ground.  My arm was burning from where she had clipped me.  She must have caught enough of the muscle to make it go limp.  I looked over and saw the headless body of Krang lying there.

“I am so sorry Krang; I failed you as I did your brother.”

Ryle sat down beside me.  “No Lady Rumil, it was not your fault.  This was the doing of the Aesir.”

“You are right.  The Aesir have no right openly attacking us.  We were in the woods hunting, no more.  This is an act of war and must be reported as much.”  I felt Maya going to work on my arm.  It hurt so much, but my sadness overcame the pain.

“What should we do about Drexler?  We cannot leave him with that horrible woman.”

“We will not Ryle, I promise you that.”  I reached out with my good arm and grabbed Krang’s forearm.  “I promise you, fallen warrior of Svartalfheim, we will bring your brother home.”

Maya finished up my arm a short time later.  “Lady Rumil, might I suggest we go back to our camp?  We are too exposed out here and we need to get some rest before we make our journey back.”

“You are right.  Ryle, will you help me gather Krang’s body?  We will bring him home and lay him to rest.”

He helped me pick up the body and we walked back to camp, two elves less than what we had started with.  As the fog of what happened lifted, my anger would be my motivating factor for revenge.  Sif and the Aesir would pay for this, no matter the consequence to me.

We returned to Svartalfheim the following afternoon and word quickly spread about what happened to our hunting party.  After handing Krang’s body over to the shamans to prepare his funeral, I met with my father.  As I relived the past night’s events, his face became more shocked at each passing detail.  I finished the tale, ashamed of my failure and furious at the Aesir who overstepped her bounds.

“I find it most disturbing that the Warrior Maiden attacked so callously.  We must go to King Oor, as taking the life and a prisoner are acts of war.  This situation is so much worse than we originally thought.”

I nodded at his words.  I knew we would have to go to the king, but the thought of reliving this story once more made me ill.  “Father, what about Drexler?  We need to organize a rescue party.  I can only imagine what she is doing to him.”

“I agree daughter.  We see the king immediately and petition his rescue.  Let us gather the survivors.”

Father and I moved quickly.  We found Ryle in the armory sitting against a corner sharpening his curved dagger.  The sleepy, yet rueful look that I had grown accustomed to seeing had been replaced with a blank stare.  It was almost as if no one was in there.

I placed my hand on his shoulder.  “Ryle, are you okay?”

“I am fine my lady.  Is there anything I can do for you?”

This was not going to be easy.  Everyone reacted differently to trauma.  “We are going to see King Oor and need you to come with us.  He will want to hear from all of us.”

He put his dagger back in his belt.  “Then let us be off.”

Maya was easy to find, with the rest of the shamans in the medical ward.  Father went over to Izek, the head of the shamans, and explained the situation.  Maya was quickly summoned and joined our group.  Her eyes were red and puffy, a tell-tale sign she had been crying.  These two may have survived, but Sif’s attack may have broken them beyond repair as well.

It was night when we left the Darklighter stronghold and made our way into the valley.  The shops and market were closed for the day and very few elves were on the street.  Those that were still out and about either offered their sympathy or gave us a quiet sign of mourning.  Saddened faces and looks of disbelief were only natural, as an attack like this had not happened since the Elven Wars.

When we reached King Oor’s estate, one of the guards escorted us to the throne room while another went to summon the king.  No doubt word had already reached his ears, but it was just like Oor to wait until we were ready to talk and not summon us.  He was a good and fair ruler, but there was feeling amongst some of the clans he was a bit too relaxed with protocol.

“All rise and be presented to the ruler of Svartalfheim, King Oor.”  It was the guard who had fetched the king.  After his declaration, he took a step back and assumed his position.

Oor entered the room and at this close range, one could not help but be impressed by him.  A full head taller than I and built like Algrim, the blacksmith, Oor was the definition of a dark elf warrior.  Even in the presence of friends, his daggers the Fangs were strapped to his back.  The blood of a great many light elves had been cleaned off those wicked weapons.

“At ease everyone.  On this dark day of mourning, we can toss aside proper protocol.”  We did as he said while he took a seat on the throne.  “Azmodeous is on his way in, but I have no time to wait.  Rumil of clan Darklighter, I know this is difficult, but once more would you share your tale?”

I took a step forward and obliged his request.  This was the second time I had to share it and it was no easier.  I did not leave out any details, from the moment we exited the cave at the Dokkalfer Mountains until the moment I returned with Krang’s body.  His disgust grew by the moment and peaked as I went into detail on how Sif beheaded one of our own and kidnapped another.  I finished my tale with a simple request.

“Your majesty, I wish to go back into the Great Forest and find Sif.  Drexler was in my squad and I mean to bring him home using any means necessary.”

By this time, Azmodeous had made it into the room and had caught most of the story.  Unlike the king’s face, his was much tougher to read.  “Lady Rumil, we can only assume that Drexler has been killed.  To go back into the woods would be a needless risk.  I know this is not the popular answer, but we need to wait for word to return from Asgard.”

“Absolutely not!  One of our people was kidnapped and to not seek a way to bring him home is a dishonor to him and the ways of the dark elves!  We are not cowards like the light elves are!”

Father stepped up beside me, “Calm down my daughter.  I know you are upset, but remember your place.”

“No Hargna, there is no need to admonish your daughter.”  Oor turned his attention back to me, “The queen would have reacted the same way, much like your own mother would have.  I also happen to agree with you.  This may be an isolated case of an Aesir acting on their own, but Drexler is a dark elf.  We will bring him home.”

“Thank you my lord.”  I bowed my head, but not before I saw the look of disdain Azmodeous had.  It might be good enough for him to hide in Svartalfheim until Ragnarok, but I would not.

“Hargna, when do you expect the Dark Moons to return from their investigation of Jotenheim?”

“Tomorrow morning my lord.  Why do you inquire?”

“They are to accompany Rumil and recover Drexler.”

“I also want to go with them my lord, if that is allowed.”  Ryle had stepped forward, beside me.

Oor gave Ryle a look over.  “I sense a great fire in you young one.  You did well in your efforts to fight off a highly skilled Aesir warrior.  I grant your wish.”

“Thank you.”  He bowed his head and moved back.

“Then it is settled.  Tomorrow we return one of our own and show this Warrior Maiden that the elves of Svartalfheim are not to be trifled with.”

Algrim had delivered another bunch of arrows for me.  Using my anger and guilt as motivation, I sharpened each of the heads to the point that just a nick would pierce deeply.  As fast as this Sif moved, I would need every advantage I could get. 

Once the arrowheads were at the point I felt confident, I went to the range.  I needed to sharpen my skills, which meant making the targets even faster and forcing myself to shoot from even more difficult angles.  I do not recall how long I was there, but when I stopped to gather my wits, I saw three elves watching.

“Lady Rumil, we are here to give you are support and our condolences.  We will not fail you.”  A little taller than I, Ayr put his hand out in welcome.  I took it and the blue glow of friendship was affirmed.

“Thank you, all three of you.  Your support in this matter is most warming.”

“Of course my lady.  We are at your disposal to rescue a friend.”  Gretta was the lone female in the group and their medic.  She was also quite proficient with blades and the bow.  I could see why she was chosen for this group.

Ustin came forward and gave me a hug.  Part of me would always feel terrible for not reciprocating his feelings, but at the same time the friendship he offered calmed me.  “The Aesir have gone too far.  We will make amends for our loss.”

I broke away, “Yes we will.  One of mine, Ryle will also be joining us.  His tracking abilities are very competent and should be a great help.”

“That is why I chose him.  My brother Tymon looks up to him and spoke highly.  I am glad I was not incorrect in my choice.”

“All of your choices were perfect Ustin.  This Sif is just a monster and her skills in combat are incredible.”

“That she is my lady,” Ayr closed his eyes, as if reliving a memory, “but you have seen her in action now and she will no longer have the element of surprise.  Those are advantages to you.”

He was right.  We were not prepared for such a foe and I did not take her challenge seriously.  From that moment onward, I would never underestimate the Warrior Maiden.  The Dark Moons asked for some details from the attack to base a plan of attack on.  While we were going over everything, Ryle joined us.

“I apologize for my tardiness.”

“It is okay.  I had not specified what time we would be leaving.  But as we are all here, I say no time like the present, unless someone has a need to attend to?”

“We are all here for you.  The only thing that needs our attention is finding Drexler.”

“Thank you Gretta.  Let us see my father and tell him we are leaving on our journey.  We can make a detour to the armory if anyone needs to stock up on supplies.”

It did not take long and soon we were meeting with father in his library.  “Well my daughter, it would appear you are ready.”

“Yes father, we are all in order.  With your permission, we are ready to take our leave.”

His look was very sad, but he knew my mind was made up.  “May The Norns watch over you and bring you back safely.”

“We will come back, I promise you.”

I could not stay much longer or father’s sad look might make me change my mind with this endeavor.  However, he looked from me and addressed the four elves standing beside me.  “All of you are highly skilled and more importantly loyal to Svartalfheim.  Watch out for each other and protect one another from death.  We do not need any more blood lost.”

His message was a bit cryptic, but I would speak about that to him later.  For now, we had to get a move on if we were to make it to the forest before nightfall.  I gave my father one last hug and with that, we were off.  With everyone in top form, we were able to make good time.  It was dusk when we exited the cave and hit the mountain trail.

“Let us take a quick rest.  We have been moving incredibly fast.”

Everyone offloaded their packs and took a seat.  Rest was always welcome when traveling in such harsh environments.  Outside the cave, it was cold and it felt as if it could start snowing at any moments.  Icicles hung from all the crags and cliffs on the side of the mountain.  It just served as a reminder of how close to ice giant territory we truly were.

“Ustin, did you discover anything on your trek up towards Jotenheim?”

“Ahh, yes, we barely had anytime once we returned, but we did make a discovery.  The random tribes we were able to listen in on all reported the same rumor.”

I was intrigued.  “What rumor was that?”

“If true, it is not welcome news, but the excitement exhibited by the giants told me it probably was.  The Warlord, Geirrod, has escaped his prison.”