Deepforge (22 page)

Moments passed as they mentally digested what Bruno had said.

“That was…amazing!” Eric said.

“Oh, hardly,” Bruno said. “Thor made me memorize that whole thing eons ago. There’s more, much more. There are tales of battles, of heroism and heartbreak on levels mortals can never experience. And, it’s all true. Every word of it.”

“Really? All of it, even the part about dwarves and trolls?” Teelena asked.

“Yes, all of it in one way or another. You’ll notice that it only mentions one sun and one moon. These are metaphors of the levels of creation, and the planes of existence. On Earth, the Norse there took it as literally meaning
that
world, as did the world of Midgard itself. This story, in one way or another, translates to all worlds, and is retold in different languages and different pantheons. Some of them are so similar they are barely discernable from each other. Even the actual physics that drive the nature of creation kind of lines up with the stories, and you can trust me on that. I was there, throughout all of it…” Bruno seemed lost in thought for a moment.

“So, our prayers are not in vain. They
do
hear us?” Grognor asked.

Eric nodded. “Of course the gods hear our prayers. They’re gods. Prayer is
never
in vain.”

“Then, maybe we should all send a combined prayer to Odin himself,” Grognor said.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Bruno said.

Grognor got up and relayed the message; he would lead the entire army in a prayer to Odin. In a few minutes, the valley was quiet. Grognor stood high and began.

“Odin, we know you can hear our prayers. We come before you today humbled by your power and glory. From what we’ve been able to figure out, you may not be able to intervene directly because of an existing divine power on our world. So, we ask you to fill our hearts, minds and bodies with the power, the will, and the ability to defeat the enemy who threatens not just our lives, but the very future of our world. We ask that your divine justice be realized as we make war on the Black Queen, and that you not withhold any advantage we may have. We ask for you to give us the power to achieve victory!”

The roar of the ensuing victory cheer was deafening. Eric, Bruno, Teelena, Bōddy and the others nodded their approval.

“What is that noise?” Thor asked as he walked the halls. Valhalla roared with a noise not heard before.

A familiar Valkyrie ran up to him. “It’s them! From Ahl-Thoor-Hees! Where’s Grandfather?”

“Are you sure?” Thor asked.

“Listen! That’s Grognor’s voice! They’re praying!” Thrúd said, very excited about the whole thing.

Moments later they stood before Odin, who sat on his throne listening to the prayer and the overwhelming cheer coming from the obscure world. He looked out at most of Asgard, who had assembled to listen.

“That roar! It’s them, they’ve broken through the veil,” Odin said, incredulous. “How is this possible?”

“It’s Grognor, Grandfather. I told you he was worth this.” Thrúd stood proud.

“No, not just him. Your husband is mortal now. Bruno’s willingness to fight as a mortal has a lot to do with this, I’m sure of it,” Odin said as the continued roar from Ahl-Thoor-Hees echoed across the halls.

“Father, the warriors in the Great Hall have become restless with this new prayer. They want to join the fight,” Thor said, slapping his hand with his hammer.

“You know we can’t…not yet,” Odin said. “
The question
[4]
hasn’t been asked yet. You know we can’t begin until then.”

“What about me? May I join them at least?” Thrúd asked.

Odin looked down at his beautiful Valkyrie granddaughter. “Yes. You may go, but not as a Valkyrie, and you will have no divine power. But, yes. You may go.”

Thrúd screeched with excitement. “Thank you! Woohoo!”

“Remember the rules, sweetheart,” Thor said as he hugged his daughter. “Stay away from
her
at all costs. You know how important that is. She
absolutely
can’t know you’re there. Just your presence could bolster her limited power. Oh, and be sure to tell that old gargoyle husband of yours I said, ‘Don’t let your meat loaf!” He winked.

Thrúd laughed. “Daddy! You’re silly. You’ve been hanging out with Forlonok again, haven’t you?…Crap, I need to get my sword and armor!” She ran off giggling like a teenager, letting out another ‘Woohooo!’

“You’ve made her very happy, Father,” Thor said.

Odin sighed. “How can we ever deny her anything? She’s the mother of the new gods…” He shook his head.

“Yea,” Thor chuckled, “it’s just because she’s pretty.”

Odin laughed. “Well, obviously!”

The army continued to cheer the prayer, agreeing with all Grognor said, believing in a god, not as a matter of faith, but as a matter of fact. Odin and the other gods
do
exist, and had not abandoned them. It was perhaps the most important event in history for the Deepforge Empire. Bruno loved every second of it, for he knew it was all true. He had no idea what would happen with the prophecy, but he decided to take it all as an unchangeable destiny. His mortal fear for the Black Queen was stronger than ever, but now his confidence was bolstered by the bravery of these…mortals. Somehow, even though he was now mortal like them, he never felt more alive.

In the middle of their cheer, the night sky suddenly became clouded with a storm above their heads. They all got quiet as they watched the lighting and thunder suddenly filling their senses. Bright multicolored light flooded the valley, causing everyone to shade their eyes.

Bruno knew what it was. “Bifrost! Someone comes!” he said, incredulous.

In the middle of the army, the multicolored bright light coalesced and manifested in a ball of energy, displacing the air around it. In a few seconds it formed into a humanoid shape. Bruno saw, but more importantly felt it as it happened.

“No, friggen way!” he said as he ran to the epicenter of the storm.

“What? Who is it?” Teelena asked.

“The most beautiful woman in the whole of creation!” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Everyone watched with wondrous eyes as the ball of light morphed into a tall blonde warrior woman. She stood with a full suit of armor, a Nordic shield and an ornate long sword. Her long golden hair flowed out from under her helm in two long braids. As the storm quickly faded away, she removed her helmet. It was Thrúd. She quickly visually searched the crowd until she saw the face she was looking for.

“Micha…I mean…Bruno!” she yelled, and ran into his arms.

Everyone watched the two embrace and kiss like they hadn’t seen each other in a very long time. They pulled away and looked deep into each other’s eyes, caressing each other’s faces. They both cried.

“My god, how long has it been?” Bruno cried.

Thrúd chuckled. “For me it’s only been a short time, but for you? Tens of thousands of years, I don’t know exactly.”

Bruno squeezed her close. “Each day away from you was like a thousand years. I’m so happy to see you.” He pulled away again. “Have
they
been watching?”

Thrúd nodded and then turned to yell at everyone, “All of Asgard has been watching. They
do
hear you! You
are
on the right path!”

They all cheered as Bruno and Thrúd hugged again.              

“How are our children?” Bruno asked.

“They’re lazy! They sit on the couch watching movies and playing video games all the time!” Thrúd laughed.

“Typical teenagers!” Bruno smiled and kissed her again. “I can’t tell you how much I missed you. I’m so glad you’re here! Thrúd…you probably already know, but the coin…”

“Yea, I know, Husband. You’re mortal.” She smiled. “Certainly you know better than that. Do you really think Asgard would let your soul be lost in the abyss? You’ll never really be mortal, silly!”

“I guess you’re right. I never thought of it that way. And you?”

“I’m not here as a Valkyrie, no divine powers. Consider me…” She looked around in thought. “As Alice, but better.” She grinned.

“Immortal?”

She nodded, biting her lip with a squint of shame.

“Cool, I can deal with that!”

They hugged and kissed again. Bruno then realized they had a huge audience. They had been caught up in their own world for a moment, and forgot about the massive army standing around them.

“Sorry, everyone,” Bruno said. “This is my wife, Thrúd. Daughter of Thor.”

Bōddy stepped up to greet her first. “Thrúd, wife of Bruno, daughter of Thor. So, your father-in-law is the god of thunder eh?” He glanced over at Bruno and shook Thrúd’s hand.

Bruno chuckled. “Yea, it’s true. But, it’s more than that. All of this has taken out the element of ‘faith of existence’. Now you all know without a doubt the gods
do
exist, and
are
listening to your prayers. This is a very big deal.”

Grognor and Teelena stepped up. Grognor spoke to the crowd, “This confirms our cause, everyone. This is what we are supposed to be doing. We
will
be victorious, the gods want it so!”

The army cheered again, even louder and with more spirit than ever.

“Thrúd?” Teelena said, “I have an old story scroll somewhere that tells of a betrothal with a dwarf. I’m Teelena, Empress of Deepforge.”

Thrúd bowed with respect. “Your highness, it is very nice to meet you. The business with the dwarf is true. Thankfully my father got me out of that. Otherwise, I would have never gotten together with him.” She motioned to Bruno.

“And I, you. This is Grognor, Emperor of Deepforge,” Bruno said, motioning to him.

Thrúd bowed again, “Sire, it is the highest honor to meet the both of you.”

“The honor is ours. Sometime you must tell us more of your story. Bruno told us of your adventures on Earth,” Teelena said.

“Oh, my gosh. There’s a
lot
of those stories!” Thrúd chuckled.

“Several volumes, at least!” Bruno said, shaking his head from seeming disbelief.

Deccon and Vella approached her. Deccon motioned to Vella. “Lady Thrúd of Asgard, I present my wife Vella. I am Deccon. It is an honor to meet you, indeed. Bruno has told us a lot about you.”

Thrúd bowed. “The metallic dragons. Sir, Lady, believe me, the honor is truly all mine.”

They spent the rest of the evening catching up, and then Thrúd finally dragged Bruno off to a very secluded spot… you can fill in the rest with your imagination. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Yea, it’s exactly like that.

Morning came with the red sun breaching the horizon as always, but this time the rogue sun could clearly be seen setting on the opposite horizon, having dominated the night sky. As the days passed, the tiny spec of red in the sky grew gradually bigger and brighter. Before the yellow sun could corrupt the red colored landscape, the army was mounted and ready to move out. Just as they assembled, another group of people could be seen approaching from the west. It was the Stone Village army, come to join the fight. Bruno and Thrúd were practically attached at the hip as they stood with the Stone Children division awaiting orders from Grognor. The metallic dragons, all but Deccon and Vella, circled above.