Chaos God 5, page 17
part #5 of Chaos God Series
“That is roughly what I know of the beasts as well,” the scarred Valkyrie said. “I believe their anatomy is somewhat similar to yours or mine. They have hearts that pump blood, though they are cold-blooded. They have brains that, if injured to a great enough extent, they can no longer live without. They can be killed.”
“That’s good news.” I nodded as I added those few bits of information into my mental monster Rolodex.
Sontar began to spin a whole chicken over the fire that seemed to have been roasted and salted for storage. It wouldn’t take long to reheat the already cooked meat. Beside him, Vulmar settled a large cauldron over the middle of the flames. It appeared to be full of a thick stew, and as it started to heat up, the rich fragrances of roasted rabbit, boiled potatoes, and other vegetables drifted pleasantly around us.
“Will you lure the frost giants out of the chasm?” Lyrie asked in a worried voice, and her fingers knotted together in her lap.
“I don’t see any reason to have to do that,” I said. “I don’t think it would be particularly helpful, and it would definitely be unwise. I think keeping them as far away from the village as possible would be best.”
“I agree.” Nae nodded. “I have no wish to endanger the safety of our home if we can avoid it.”
“We would also have no way of knowing how long the ice of the frost giants may last,” Elora pointed out. “The frozen sheep I witnessed did not thaw when the frost giant was felled.”
“That’s definitely good information to have,” I grumbled. “These fucks sound like a real party.”
“I do not understand.” Nae’s gray eyebrows furrowed with intense confusion.
“Sorry,” I chuckled. “I mean the frost giants sound like a bad time.”
“Ah, yes,” Nae sighed, and she turned to check on the status of our meal. “It seems our food is nearly ready, though. Perhaps we should let the issue sit for now. We can discuss matters more tomorrow, after a night of rest.”
“Good idea,” I said.
We ate with the dark elves in quiet contemplation after that. Kine seemed to be stewing in his distaste for me, but he occasionally glanced at me with what almost looked like admiration. I caught his gaze once, and he immediately scowled at me and looked away.
I chuckled at the red-eyed elf’s efforts to continue despising me after I’d helped rescue his people and him from the Draugar. It looked like he was going to fight me all the way, but I’d be able to win him over eventually.
It was a fair improvement from the last elf I’d known to dislike me right off the bat, and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to give Kine the same end that Ryfon had required.
Some of the villagers who weren’t skilled in fighting or magic worked to spoon the thick stew into stone bowls and pass them out to all of us. Meanwhile, Sontar cut the reheated chicken in pieces as Vulmar added a new one to the spit.
Lyrie took up a seat on the other side of Freesia and watched us with curious eyes as I took the first taste of the stew.
“Mmmm,” I hummed with pleasure.
The stew was thick, salty, and full of flavor. There were diced and caramelized onions, chunks of gulrots, and something that looked almost like celery mixed in with bits of roasted rabbit. It was hot and warmed me right through as I swallowed another two bites.
“Do you like it?” Lyrie asked with hope in her black eyes.
“This is delicious,” Freesia sighed as she ate another spoonful.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “It’s really tasty.”
“Excellent,” Lyrie sighed with relief. “I was worried you may not find our stew very enjoyable. It is a bit of leftover stew. It is made of what we had left after a previous meal.”
“It’s really good,” I said again, and I glanced at the precooked chickens Sontar was cutting up and giving out to the villagers and our companions. “And it’s a great way to conserve food.”
“We have been forced to be a little more creative the last few moon cycles,” Lyrie said simply, and she shrugged in a way that looked like she’d become almost resigned to the state of life in their village.
“It looks like you’re living off stored food at the moment,” I said.
“We are,” Lyrie said in a guarded tone.
“How long has that been going on for?” I asked.
“The frost killed the last of our crops two moons past,” Lyrie admitted. “We have not been able to keep anything growing since then.”
“We have been living off our stored supplies,” Ivaran chimed in.
“That is unsustainable,” Freesia said with a frown.
“How much food do you have left in storage?” I asked, and my throat clenched with worry as I waited for an answer.
“Not much,” Lyrie said in an evasive tone, and she couldn’t quite meet my eyes.
“We have perhaps a week more until we will be forced to cut our rations significantly,” Kine answered in a surprising moment of honesty.
“Have you rationed already?” Ayen asked.
“We began rationing immediately when the first crop was ruined,” Nae said. “We have cut them four times already.”
“Oh, no,” Freesia sighed heavily as her face filled with worry, and I knew she was thinking of the people in her village who had slowly wasted away to nothing under the power of Gaelyra’s induced confusion.
“The people of Freesia’s village were living on barely enough to stay alive when I found them,” I explained.
“Malnutrition is a serious problem,” Freesia said. “And it can cause lifelong effects if you survive the period of near-starvation.”
“You speak from experience,” Nae said, and there was no question in her tone.
“Freesia is a healer,” Elora explained. “She took wonderful care of her people during their hardest times, and now she takes great care of all our people in Castle Levi, and in her village.”
“A healer?” Lyrie gasped. “Do you practice magic?”
“No,” Freesia laughed suddenly, and it was plain on her face how absurd she thought that was. “I use old knowledge of the body, plants, and herbs to heal injuries and treat illness. I have no magic myself.”
“How fascinating,” Lyrie breathed, and her black eyes were bright with interest.
Sometime during the meal, Ayen had endeared himself to Kine, and now the pair sat beside one another with their very different bows in their hands. They were discussing the pros and cons of each other’s weapons and arrows, and I smiled at Ayen’s ability to make friends with just about anybody.
We chatted for a little longer as everyone finished off the small portions of stew and reheated chickens. The sun disappeared earlier than I was used to due to the mountain ranges on every side of the valley. Then, when both of my ladies started trying to smother their yawns, I knew it was time to get to bed.
“I think we should get a good night of sleep,” I suggested. “So we have the energy to begin dealing with the frost giant problem tomorrow.”
Freesia and Elora shared a heavy look that told me they knew the three of us would be up for at least a while longer as we discussed everything that was happening. I gave them a subtle nod of agreement, and then we bade our goodnights to the villagers and our companions.
My ladies looped their arms through mine as we walked back to our little stone house for the night. The temperature had dropped significantly once again, and now that I knew about frost giant breath, I couldn’t help but imagine them releasing huge puffs of icy breath into the air. It made me think of the idea parents sometimes gave to little kids who were scared of thunder and lightning that God was just bowling in the sky.
We walked into our house, and I immediately walked over to the fireplace. I stacked several nice and dry logs into a good crisscross pattern and jammed the kindling and tinder into the bottom. Once the flames were big enough to sustain themselves, I turned around and found both of my ladies sitting on the bed with their shoes and outer layers off. Elora had removed her wings as well, and they leaned against the wall by the door like a silent sentry.
“Goodness, we learned a great deal today,” Elora sighed.
“We sure did,” I agreed.
“I am very glad I accompanied you both to the village.” Freesia frowned and picked at the corner of her thumb with agitation. “We must bring more food for these people. They are on the brink of malnutrition, and it is only their frugal planning from many moons past that has sustained them for this long.”
“We will, love,” I assured Freesia as I sat down on the bed beside the two women. “I promise you, as soon as this frost giant situation has been dealt with, we can return to Castle Levi and bring them enough food to last them until we can figure out what they’re going to do.”
“Do you think they will be able to remain here?” Freesia asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “They might insist on it. This is their home, after all, and I get the feeling it has been for a really long time. I don’t think they’re going to want to just drop it and leave if they can avoid it.”
“I know that feeling,” Freesia sighed.
“It all depends on what happens with the frost giants,” I said. “If we can eliminate them all from the chasm, I think we could return this valley to a livable climate. Maybe not right away, but hopefully with time, the weather will balance out again.”
Freesia nodded solemnly, and I realized how quiet Elora had been since we’d come inside.
“Are you alright?” I asked, and I laid my hand lovingly on Elora’s exposed wrist. “You’re very quiet.”
“I was wondering…” Elora said in almost a whisper.
“What were you wondering?” I asked, and I moved my fingers up to cup her delicate chin so she would look at me. “What is it?”
“What if the chasm leads into Niflheim itself?” Elora asked, and she bit down nervously on her bottom lip.
“Niflheim?” I repeated with surprise.
Chapter 13
“What makes you think it’s Niflheim?” I asked.
“Sylmarie identified the lava chasm as Helheim,” Elora pointed out. “It would make sense if this one is Niflheim.”
“That’s a good point,” I murmured as my brain started to spin.
I thought about what I’d learned of the Asgardian underworld realms, and this chasm matched the descriptions of Niflheim perfectly. I knew about Valhalla from Norse Mythology back on Earth. From what I understood, it was like Mount Olympus, and it was the heaven of this world.
“It very well could be Niflheim,” Freesia breathed. “Gods, the world was broken by Ragnarok far more than I ever realized.”
“Yes.” Elora nodded sadly. “I knew it had changed the very face of Asgard irrevocably, but I did not know it was this severe.”
“If that is Niflheim,” I said slowly. “Then it makes more sense why it’s filled with frost giants.”
“Do you think the chasms lead right off this world?” Elora wondered.
“I don’t know,” I thought about that for a moment.
“It was always said that Niflheim, Helheim, Muspelheim, and Valhalla were entirely different realms,” Freesia said. “In the same way that Midgard is separate from Asgard. I believed they were worlds of their own.”
“I think it’s more likely that Niflheim and Helheim were just a part of this world that weren’t really visible until the chasms split open…” My words trailed off as a little fact rammed itself into the front of my mind, and I gasped hard enough that both of my ladies leaned back with surprise.
“What is it, my love?” Freesia asked.
“What have you thought of?” Elora asked.
“Hel,” I muttered, and I shook my head to reorganize my thoughts. “Loki’s daughter was supposed to be in charge of Helheim, right?”
“Yes,” Elora said with confusion. “But what has that to do with Niflheim?”
“She was appointed the ruler of Helheim,” I said. “But I didn’t see any evidence of her while I was down there. Shit, I didn’t see any evidence of any kind of leadership down there. The whole place was chaotic, and the demons behaved like they’d been operating on hunting instincts alone.”
“I believe I am missing the point here,” Freesia murmured.
“It just makes me wonder about whether or not Niflheim has a ruler,” I said.
“I cannot say I know of any.” Elora frowned. “If I remember correctly, Hel may have been the ruler of both, but I may be mixing those histories together by accident. Wyn will likely have more knowledge on this matter than I.”
“What if she hauled ass out of Helheim when Ragnarok began?” I wondered. “And that’s what let all the demons escape into the world? What if she’s down in Niflheim now?”
“Hmmm,” Elora hummed.
“Perhaps we should operate on the assumption that she was killed along with the other Aesir and Vanir?” Freesia suggested.
“That’s possible.” I nodded.
I brought my thoughts back to the icy chasm that presented the current problems we were facing.
I had no idea about any of the other Vanir or Aesir’s powers or abilities, but I didn’t expect we’d be lucky enough to find another one chained up and willing to give their life to warm up the frozen region around me.
I figured the odds of that were at about zero, which meant the problem of the frost giants was up to me to solve.
“So what else is there to know about Niflheim?” I asked. “What creatures are supposed to live there?”
“Well, the Draugar obviously,” Freesia said.
“And the frost giants,” Elora added.
“Right.” I nodded.
“And if it is truly an afterlife for people,” Elora said. “Then you will likely find the lost souls as well.”
“There very well may be demons within its depths, too,” Freesia pointed out. “Those bastards seem to have taken over every bit of the world since Ragnarok.”
“No matter what,” Elora sighed tiredly. “We must kill the frost giants. They are horrible, bloodthirsty creatures, and they will wreak havoc upon this village if they are left to their own devices.”
“Don’t worry, love,” I assured her. “I won’t let a single frost giant into this village.”
“I know,” Elora smiled sweetly at me, and her amber-red eyes were filled with both confidence and exhaustion.
“We should get some sleep,” I sighed, and I reached to pull my shirt over my head.
“Good idea,” Freesia murmured, and there were soft shadows under her bright green eyes.
I gave her thigh a little squeeze as she laid back on the bed, and Elora settled in beside her. Then I crawled over and stacked three more logs on the fire so it would keep us warm all throughout the night. Once the flames were stoked into raging life, I crawled in between my two half-light-elf lovers and wrapped one arm around each of them.
I hadn’t thought about it before, but both Elora and Freesia had one light elf parent. Freesia’s mother had been human, while Elora’s father had been a dark elf, and it was interesting to me to see how their genetics varied.
Freesia and Elora laid their heads on my shoulders and draped their legs over mine, and their breathing evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep a while later. Once they were both sound asleep, I felt my body relax, too, and I soon joined them in sleep.
My disembodied mind drifted through a cold darkness for what felt like hours before I found my feet again. The frozen ground came up beneath me slowly until I was standing upright once more, and the freezing air all around me seeped through my thin clothing and down to my very bones.
The cold was piercing and sharp to the point where it almost burned my nerves with the intensity. The tips of my ears, nose, and fingers were frozen enough that I couldn’t even feel them anymore. My toes ached inside the thin leather boots on my feet, and it felt like I was standing on a hundred thousand razor blades.
I was lost in the frozen darkness, and my eyes strained to find something to focus on in the lightless void. Finally, the darkness started to fade away, and an icy-blue light emanated from the glaciers all around me. I looked around and found myself at the bottom of the icy chasm. The ice-covered rock walls rose up all around me like I was standing in the middle of downtown Boston surrounded by skyscrapers made of stone.
My teeth chattered from the cold, and I wondered how long I would last here before hypothermia took over my entire body. I tried to shift my body into something more suited for the frigid chasm, but my muscles and joints were locked in place by the cold.
Panic gripped my heart as it started to race at an alarming rate, and I looked around for a way out of here before I froze to death. There were ramps and ridges all along the walls of the chasm that led up to the surface, but none of them reached down far enough for me to climb onto. I longed to be able to grow a pair of wings and fly myself up to the bright blue Asgardian sky high above.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself, and my breath came out in a shivering puff of air.
I started walking and looking for a ramp that was low enough to the ground for me to reach, and I wrapped my arms around myself and tucked my hands into my armpits to try and conserve what little body heat I had. Fear grew like a cancer deep in the back of my brain, and I knew I wouldn’t last long down here like this.
I trudged forward for what felt like hours, but in this cold, it could have been just ten minutes. The skin all over my body was covered in the tiny prickles of blood and heat loss, and I knew I was in serious danger of losing some fingers or toes to frostbite. One look down at my hands proved that to be true, the tips of my fingers were starting to turn black, and panic edged into my mind.
With every last ounce of strength in my chilled body, I urged my eyesight to strengthen so I could find a way out of here.
I knew time and luck weren’t on my side, and I was astonished I hadn’t come across any Draugar, demons, or other monsters.
But that thought came too soon.
A low hissing sound echoed from far away down the chasm. It stopped me dead in my tracks, and my eyes went wide as the adrenaline dumped into my brain.
