The Shadow Realm of Helheim
Five Months Ago
The sky rained with blood.
The crimson rain poured down, with the ferocity like that of fire, and soaked the five figures below on the vast plains. And then - suddenly - a lightning. It flashed from the heavens like a white spear and struck down the purplish-blackish thing with four wings and two barbed tails. The darkling fell, burnt to a crisp, and a god emerged from under it, holding a hammer.
"Ha!" Thor spat, straightening himself again. He turned to another god, wearing a patch, next to him while whirling his Mjolnir, aiming for the one bird-like darkling plummeting straight toward him. "He thought he got me, that one!"
The one-eyed god did not speak. His only response was to swing his spear Gungnir toward a two-headed wolfish darkling, splitting the thing in two. His eyes blazed with fury as he turned toward the next one, his movement clean and concise. Thor grunted and turned away from Odin and toward his next prey. He knew that Odin would not speak in that berserk state of his. Better to end this battle quickly if he wanted him to speak a word.
The bird-like darkling was almost upon Thor now. With confidence, Thor let go of his Mjolnir and cracked its skull. But the thing simply writhed, and then, screeching, split into three smaller birds. Its eyes flashed like beads as it dived again toward Thor. Cursing, Thor summoned his Mjolnir to his side again and swung -
- only to see the three birds fall before him. One was stabbed by a feather, one was whacked with a staff, and the other simply fell from the sky, dead as a stone. Thor whipped around and saw Freyja with her feathered cloak, Forseti with his staff of justice, and Hel with her aura of gloom.
Thor grunted. "Now this is just embarrassing," he said. Only Freyja responded, not with words but with a faint smile. Then they turned back to the darklings again.
The war raged on, in this cursed land of the dead, the red blood pouring from the sky and the dark blood pouring from the corpses below, the bodies of darklings slowly piling up. The five of them fought. And then, after what seemed like eternity, the darkling horde began to thin. The end was almost near.
And then, suddenly, all the darklings stopped moving. And turned their heads toward the north. As if on cue, the five gods and goddesses stopped too.
"Stay alert. Their head is coming," Odin said, somewhat unnecessarily. They all knew that the stronger darkling can control the weaker ones. They all knew what was coming.
The ground rumbled. They all turned to north and watched as the giant, three-headed man-beast sauntered toward. Each of his footsteps made the ground tremor, as if the Earth Herself was afraid.
The giant bellowed, pointing his clawed finger toward the one-eyed god.
"ODIN! You and me, one on one. Humanity ends today!"
The patched god stepped forward. The other four stepped back. The two combatants looked at each other, Odin with cold calculation and poise of a warrior, the man-beast with the hunger of a predator.
They did not stare like that for long.
It was the man-beast who attacked first. He bellowed like a mad cow and charged forward, extending his claws toward Odin. But Odin saw it coming, the move was too obvious for him. He simply stepped sideways and then, without wasting a single moment, slashed at his Achilles' heel, making the man-beast tumble onto the ground. The man-beast tried to stand up, but could not - blood gushed out from his heels as he struggled furtively. Finally, he howled with laughter, knowing that his fate was sealed.
"Very well. You have defeated me, with honor at that." The man-beast crackled. "But Odin... surely even you can't deny that - "
But before he could finish his sentence, his breath was cut short by a dagger in his throat. The man-beast fell onto the bloody earth, dead. Loki emerged from behind him, wielding the weapon that had slain the thing.
"I simply don't understand..." Loki said, licking the dagger and savoring the darkling's blood. "Why show honor to them when they show you none?"
Odin sighed. He took up his spear. The darklings around him were becoming berserk again without the leader. They took up their weapons again, and fought the remaining darklings to the bitter end. After all the remaining darkling blood was spilled, and the last one fell onto the corpse pile, the six of them stood on the bloody plains. Finally, Odin spoke.
"The world is becoming more corrupted."
"We are not enough."
"We need warriors."
"We need... Mag-Krigeres."
The Great Forest
Present
The afternoon sunlight shone down from above, bathing the trees in warm yellow glow.
The wind passed by the forest, and the leaves rustled in response. The birds sang from the branches above as if answering to the wind's chorus. Below, there was a lake in the middle, the water cold as ice yet clear as crystal. Plenty of bushes around the lake provided shelter for the small critters of all kind, some bearing the sweet spring fruits. The wild green grass stretched on for as far as eyes could see around the lake. This was where all kinds of animals called their home, and where many others stayed.
But the animals weren't the only ones there. The veteran Mag-Krigeres were here, too. They were the only ones here who had a hint of what was coming. Last night, they were contacted by their respective Patron Deities - in case of Meriam, she was contacted by Thor - to be on the lookout for new recruits. It seemed that the world needed more Mag-Krigeres, which meant that, of course, disaster was coming. In addition, they received instruction to be on the lookout for an old woman with a wild hair, and to never let her fall into enemy hands no matter what. "Kill her, if it comes to that," they had said. And then the gods disappeared back into the mist, leaving the instruction at that.
The wind blew again. The rustlings grew louder, and then again, quiet. The stage was set. And yet, for now, everything was peaceful, just as it has been for decades.
The calm before the approaching storm.
Five Months Ago
The sky rained with blood.
The crimson rain poured down, with the ferocity like that of fire, and soaked the five figures below on the vast plains. And then - suddenly - a lightning. It flashed from the heavens like a white spear and struck down the purplish-blackish thing with four wings and two barbed tails. The darkling fell, burnt to a crisp, and a god emerged from under it, holding a hammer.
"Ha!" Thor spat, straightening himself again. He turned to another god, wearing a patch, next to him while whirling his Mjolnir, aiming for the one bird-like darkling plummeting straight toward him. "He thought he got me, that one!"
The one-eyed god did not speak. His only response was to swing his spear Gungnir toward a two-headed wolfish darkling, splitting the thing in two. His eyes blazed with fury as he turned toward the next one, his movement clean and concise. Thor grunted and turned away from Odin and toward his next prey. He knew that Odin would not speak in that berserk state of his. Better to end this battle quickly if he wanted him to speak a word.
The bird-like darkling was almost upon Thor now. With confidence, Thor let go of his Mjolnir and cracked its skull. But the thing simply writhed, and then, screeching, split into three smaller birds. Its eyes flashed like beads as it dived again toward Thor. Cursing, Thor summoned his Mjolnir to his side again and swung -
- only to see the three birds fall before him. One was stabbed by a feather, one was whacked with a staff, and the other simply fell from the sky, dead as a stone. Thor whipped around and saw Freyja with her feathered cloak, Forseti with his staff of justice, and Hel with her aura of gloom.
Thor grunted. "Now this is just embarrassing," he said. Only Freyja responded, not with words but with a faint smile. Then they turned back to the darklings again.
The war raged on, in this cursed land of the dead, the red blood pouring from the sky and the dark blood pouring from the corpses below, the bodies of darklings slowly piling up. The five of them fought. And then, after what seemed like eternity, the darkling horde began to thin. The end was almost near.
And then, suddenly, all the darklings stopped moving. And turned their heads toward the north. As if on cue, the five gods and goddesses stopped too.
"Stay alert. Their head is coming," Odin said, somewhat unnecessarily. They all knew that the stronger darkling can control the weaker ones. They all knew what was coming.
The ground rumbled. They all turned to north and watched as the giant, three-headed man-beast sauntered toward. Each of his footsteps made the ground tremor, as if the Earth Herself was afraid.
The giant bellowed, pointing his clawed finger toward the one-eyed god.
"ODIN! You and me, one on one. Humanity ends today!"
The patched god stepped forward. The other four stepped back. The two combatants looked at each other, Odin with cold calculation and poise of a warrior, the man-beast with the hunger of a predator.
They did not stare like that for long.
It was the man-beast who attacked first. He bellowed like a mad cow and charged forward, extending his claws toward Odin. But Odin saw it coming, the move was too obvious for him. He simply stepped sideways and then, without wasting a single moment, slashed at his Achilles' heel, making the man-beast tumble onto the ground. The man-beast tried to stand up, but could not - blood gushed out from his heels as he struggled furtively. Finally, he howled with laughter, knowing that his fate was sealed.
"Very well. You have defeated me, with honor at that." The man-beast crackled. "But Odin... surely even you can't deny that - "
But before he could finish his sentence, his breath was cut short by a dagger in his throat. The man-beast fell onto the bloody earth, dead. Loki emerged from behind him, wielding the weapon that had slain the thing.
"I simply don't understand..." Loki said, licking the dagger and savoring the darkling's blood. "Why show honor to them when they show you none?"
Odin sighed. He took up his spear. The darklings around him were becoming berserk again without the leader. They took up their weapons again, and fought the remaining darklings to the bitter end. After all the remaining darkling blood was spilled, and the last one fell onto the corpse pile, the six of them stood on the bloody plains. Finally, Odin spoke.
"The world is becoming more corrupted."
"We are not enough."
"We need warriors."
"We need... Mag-Krigeres."
The Great Forest
Present
The afternoon sunlight shone down from above, bathing the trees in warm yellow glow.
The wind passed by the forest, and the leaves rustled in response. The birds sang from the branches above as if answering to the wind's chorus. Below, there was a lake in the middle, the water cold as ice yet clear as crystal. Plenty of bushes around the lake provided shelter for the small critters of all kind, some bearing the sweet spring fruits. The wild green grass stretched on for as far as eyes could see around the lake. This was where all kinds of animals called their home, and where many others stayed.
But the animals weren't the only ones there. The veteran Mag-Krigeres were here, too. They were the only ones here who had a hint of what was coming. Last night, they were contacted by their respective Patron Deities - in case of Meriam, she was contacted by Thor - to be on the lookout for new recruits. It seemed that the world needed more Mag-Krigeres, which meant that, of course, disaster was coming. In addition, they received instruction to be on the lookout for an old woman with a wild hair, and to never let her fall into enemy hands no matter what. "Kill her, if it comes to that," they had said. And then the gods disappeared back into the mist, leaving the instruction at that.
The wind blew again. The rustlings grew louder, and then again, quiet. The stage was set. And yet, for now, everything was peaceful, just as it has been for decades.
The calm before the approaching storm.
