Power Play: Act 1 Svartalfheim (Ragnarok on Ice) (20 page)

It didn’t take too long for us to get all of our gear and start to head out.  Before we left, we dropped in with Hargna and went over our plan.  He didn’t care for the idea of us going to see Loki, but in the end, dad told him he was the only one who might be able to put all the pieces together.

Hargna himself was preparing to leave too.  He was part of a delegation heading off to the halls of Valhalla to try to broker peace between the dark elves and the Aesir.  The other members of the group were Hel, Azmodeous, his aide Goma, the Dark Moons, and Algrim.  With all of those elves going, it put Rumil a little more at ease with the idea of her dad going into the dragon’s den.

After we said our goodbyes and well wishes, our little trio left Svartalfheim and started on the journey to see Loki.  We left the valley undetected by the other elves and told the ones guarding the cave tunnel we were just going out on a hunting trip for dad.  We were making good time until dad and Rumil both stopped.

“Someone is following us.”  Dad started sniffing the air.  “Ahh I recognize that scent.”

“Master Fenrir our stalker only appeared about thirty paces ago.”

“Of course, he shadow jumped here.  Come on out, we know you’re there.”

I looked around to see who was following us.  After a few tense seconds I saw a giant hellhound that was very familiar to me.  It was Garm and he seemed to be pleased we discovered him.

“Lady Hel was not sure if your senses would be as strong in this form.  I am pleased to see they are.  Also fair elf, your sense of hearing is remarkable.  Young Jack, a pleasure to see you again.”

“Umm hello there, nice to see you again too, I think?”  The idea of a talking dog freaked me out.  Sure, lots of things I’ve seen would classify as weirder than this, but this one just seemed so unnatural.  Seeing him up close just brought a whole new level of chills to me.

“I have been requested to join your group in the efforts to meet with Loki, the Trickster.  Lady Hel does not think her father will do any harm to you, but Asgardian movements of late have been unpredictable.”  Did the dog smile?  I think he smiled.  “Word has traveled about Baldr’s death.”

Oh great, that didn’t take long at all.  “I didn’t mean to kill anyone; I was just trying to protect my family.”

“You mistake me young Jack, you did a service to the realms.  What Frigga, Odin, and Baldr did was unnatural, against the laws of the life cycle.  Frigga knew when she sealed the magic that she was sentencing her son to death.  You may have shot the arrow, but The Norns guided it.”

Somehow that still didn’t make me feel better, but it was a start.

“We should try to continue on, we can at least make it to the Great Forest by nightfall.  That should give us enough time to set up camp.”

“Good idea Rumil, let’s keep going.  Garm, would you take the point with Rumil?  I need to talk to my son about some things while we travel.”

“Of course, lady elf let us lead the way shall we?”

“Yes, let us be off.”  I could tell Rumil was uncomfortable with the idea of traveling beside the giant dog, but dad seemed to vouch for him.  The two of them started off and before I knew it there was about fifteen feet separating the two pairs.  That’s when dad started talking again.

“Well, your dad screwed up this time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“When I ran from the destiny to Midgard, I thought the prophecy would just go away.  Apparently that doesn’t happen and because of my selfishness, someone else has to suffer.”

“No way, no one could’ve asked you to start the destruction of this world.  You wanted to save it.  There’s nothing wrong in doing that.”

“That’s the problem; everything has a beginning and an end.  Without me to do my part, someone else has been chosen to start it.”

I didn’t like where this was going.  Something was really bothering the old man and I could tell he would try to delay the bad news as long as he could.  “Dad, just tell me what you need to say already.  Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.”

“You’re the new herald of Ragnarok son, The Norns have chosen you.”

I just stopped.  Dad hollered up ahead to Garm and Rumil and gave them the signal to take a break.  We were about halfway down the mountain path at this time and it was definitely late afternoon.  We needed to keep going but at that moment in time I couldn’t move.  I was just Jack, a minor league hockey player from Midgard who was going home one day.  This fantasy adventure into another realm and life was just that, an adventure with everyone going home at the end.  Wasn’t that what happened in the movies?

“I never meant for this to happen.”

I’m not exactly proud to admit it, but I hugged my dad and I lost it.  Eventually I settled myself down, but by this point Rumil had our camp set up and suggested it was probably too late to go into the forest.  She’d found a decent sized cave for us and had already started a fire.  Dad and Garm agreed and they went out to catch some food for us.  I’d taken to huddling up in the back of the cave not knowing what to say or do.

“Jack, are you doing well?  I know it was not my place but I asked your father what happened and he told me.  I hope you are willing to talk to me.”

Of course I would talk to her; she was the one person I would talk to about anything.  “There has to be a mistake Rumil.  It can’t be me, it just can’t be.”

“Have you started the Ragnarok yet?”

“What?  No.  What are you talking about, I haven’t done anything yet.”  Why in the world would she ask me that?  I was starting to get riled up.

“If you have not started it yet, then there is always a good chance you can do whatever you want.”

“What about us though?  Our palms were marked to be together and we are now together.  Fate doesn’t seem to be in the business of the unavoidable.”

“So everything you did with me and for me only happened because of the mark on your palm?”

“Of course not, I did what I did because of how I felt about you.”

“If I am not mistaken, then you have made the decisions of your own freewill in regards to me and our relationship together.”

She made a lot of good points.  Before all of this started, I was under the impression I controlled my own life.  Being here made me question my own wisdom, but maybe I was right the entire time.  I did have a choice in the matter.  Screw you Ragnarok, this dumb human isn’t going to help start you.

“I see that you are smiling which means you have come to the conclusion that you do not have to start something you do not want to.”

“Thanks Rumil, once again you have proven you are both the smart, beautiful, and strong one.  Why do you need me again?”

“That is easy to answer.  You are the handsome and funny one who is good at keeping my life interesting.  Now, I believe you owe me something for my wisdom.”

“Dad and the dog could be back any minute now, I don’t know about that.”

“Not that you fool.  While we wait, I would like to hear another one of your hockey stories.  Your energies are at peace when you talk about them, plus they are most enjoyable.”

“Well then, let me tell you about opening night from this year.”

****

“Ladies, I hope you brought your man pants tonight!  We’re going to start this season strong and let every team know we’re here to make their lives hell!” 

I’m pretty sure this was the exact same speech Coach gave us last year to start the season.  I’d have to confer with Stansky and Thorston later to confirm my suspicions. 

“This town loves us and it’s our job to make sure they go home happy.  Now get your asses out there and show them what being a Bear’s all about!”

Clayton was right in that the town did love us.  A few years ago, the taxpayers approved the renovation of the arena we played in.  They added three thousand seats, sky boxes, and a state of the art scoreboard.  I hate to even think how much it cost the town, but the newly dubbed Bear Cave was the best facility in the EHL.

As we made our way out to the ice, I decided to soak it all in.  I hadn’t told anyone but depending on how this year went, I might retire and try to get into coaching.  If this was my last hurrah, I was going to enjoy it.

Everything was perfect, from the roar of the crowd when they saw us, to the arena announcer introducing us as we skated around in his own corny way.  Just skating around and firing some shots at an open net was satisfying. 

Lost in thought, I was surprised how quickly the pre-game skate around came to an end.  Time flies when you are having fun.  I got myself into position as the announcer went about introducing the starting lineups, and the national anthem that followed.  It was finally here, game time.

The Penguins came out to play.  They were beating us to the puck, getting good shots off, and just overall out working us.  Halfway through the first period and if it wasn’t for Mike Herbert in net, we would be down a few goals already. 

Clayton, for his part, was actually making up swear words to try and motivate us.  It really didn’t help when O’Brien took a terrible penalty with less than four minutes left in the first.

“Skelton, get out there and kill this damn thing off!  Stansky, take out that point man, go go go!”

I was able to win the draw and we dumped the puck down into their zone.  The Penguins were able to regroup for a second but Stansky intercepted the pass and dumped it down again.

“Nice job Stan, you’re making me look good!”

“No problem Jack, someone has to pick up the slack for O’Brien and you’re getting old!”

As the penalty time wore on, the Penguins were able to get set up in our zone and got a few good shots off.  Once again, Herbert was up to the task.  We finally caught a lucky break on their last shot though.  It deflected off of Herbert’s stick and Stansky picked it up.  O’Brien was coming out of the penalty box and took the pass perfectly. 

I was already moving up the ice and we had a two on one going.  O’Brien was just about to pass it to me when one of the Penguins came up beside him and slashed his stick right into O’Brien’s knee.  He crumpled to the ice in a heap screaming out in pain.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?  That’s bush league you moron!”  While the Stansky had gone over to check on O’Brien, I decided this guy needed to be taken down a notch.  He was a bit bigger than I, but the younger guys weren’t nearly as tough as they thought they were.

“What are you going to do about it old man?”  He dropped his gloves and I didn’t even have to respond. 

The arena was building with noise; everyone loves a good hockey fight.  I dropped mine and we circled each other a few times.  The big guy (whose name I don’t even remember) tried to throw a few fakes, but it wasn’t that convincing.  He eventually was able to grab my jersey, but I also was able to get his.  We both threw a few punches but nothing really landed. 

As the big guy kept trying to inch closer, I saw an opening.  He bobbed his head to the left every time he tried to punch.  I saw the bob and instead of ducking, I shifted to my right.  He lost his balance and I was able to hit him with a right cross on the way down. 

Once on the ice, I got a couple of cheap shots in before the refs pulled us apart.  The crowd loved it, everyone was on their feet.  Both coaches were screaming at each other and other players were pushing and shoving.  I skated over to the penalty box while the refs sorted everything out.  Eventually, one came over to give me the news.

“You’re out of the game Skelton. Five minutes for fighting, ten minutes for game misconduct, and a match penalty.”

I argued the penalties for a few more minutes to no avail.  However on my way back to the locker room, the crowd did its best to let me know that my hard work for such a short night was appreciated.  Maybe I wasn’t ready to walk away from all this, not yet anyways.

****

Dad and Garm had returned with a few rabbits and dad was busy cooking them while I finished my story.  I was even surprised to find Garm had curled up by the fire and was listening.  For a moment, he actually looked like a big puppy with his ears perked up and panting in that silly way dogs do. 

Actually everything seemed pretty normal right now, like we were a family camping and enjoying the fire together.  All that was needed to complete the picture was s’mores and the loss of exotic weaponry.  Still, it was a nice moment and I think we all needed it.  I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but tonight was worth savoring.

The next morning, we were all up early and ready to head out.  We didn’t get as much sleep as we probably needed but both Rumil and Garm had many questions for me and I can’t help it, I love talking about hockey. 

Finally deep into the night, I could barely stay awake anymore and just nodded off in the middle of an explanation.  I promised both of them next time we could talk I would answer as many questions as I could.  Before we left our camp, dad went over the route we would take to get to where Loki and Sigyn lived.

“The Fields of Idavoll are at the southwest edge of the Great Forest.  The forest itself only has sparse activity in it during the day as trolls and their ilk are more nocturnal.  However, the closer we get to The Fields, the more I expect to see Asgardian activity.  They do not trust Loki at all and I’m sure they send people to ‘check in’ on him from time to time.  It’s at that point I feel traveling at night will be our best advantage.”

“How long do you think it’ll take us to get there dad?”

“The next two days if we travel quickly will get us to the point where we will switch over to night travel.  From there, it will only take a few hours to reach their home.  This of course is assuming we don’t encounter any trouble.”

Rumil and Garm both agreed with dad’s assessment and before I knew it, we were off to the races.  Dad took point with Rumil and I in the middle and Garm as our rear guard.  He was right, the forest was very quiet and that made travel pretty easy.

At around midday, he gave the word to stop for lunch, which was good because I was getting hungry.  I also had thought of some more questions I wondered if anyone could answer.

“So team, I’ve been thinking.  What’s the real reason that my realm of Midgard was closed off to the rest of them?  I get that us humans could be at a disadvantage physically, but isn’t that for us to find out on our own?”

Both dad and Rumil didn’t know, but I was surprised by the fact Garm barked up pretty quickly.  What did the dog know?

“The light elves convinced Odin that the human race was much like those evil dark elves.  They portrayed your race as violent, greedy, and invasive.  They said it would be best to wipe you clean from Midgard but Odin, who has visited your realm a few times, did not think something so drastic was needed.  He closed the Bifrost to all races and Heimdall has been its guardian ever since.”

“I understand how dad snuck into Midgard, but if it was closed off to all races, how did Thor get there?”

Garm let out some sort of weird dog bark/laugh.  I’m pretty sure he thought I was being funny here.  “Young Jack, the Aesir have never followed their own rules.  Thor ran away to Midgard to avoid having to marry the less than fair Lady Sif.”

Well that explained quite a bit and why Sif was not all that happy to see him when we crossed over.  Now I wonder if anyone knew he had a girlfriend there with a kid.  If he’s still alive I am guessing no one knows.  “Sif was certainly pretty scary when I first met her.  She just seemed like an angry person.”

“Lady Sif is a monster.”  Rumil I knew held no love for her.  “One day, I swear on my clan’s name, I will make her pay for the pain and death she has caused.  It was her doing that the Aesir and dark elves are now on the brink of a war.”

Dad looked up at the sun, “We can talk more tonight, but we have been here too long already.  Let’s move out and make sure we get cover before nightfall.”

We broke camp and got into the same formation we were before.  Once we got into the groove of our jog, I decided to talk to Rumil.  “Hey,” in as low a whisper as I could manage, “what do you mean Sif started this whole conflict with you guys?”

“The dark elves and Aesir had long lived together without the threat of violence.  We kept to ourselves and they kept to themselves.  Very recently, while a group of us were in the woods hunting, Sif came out of the shadows and ambushed us.  As we were only hunting, we were not prepared for such and she was able to kill one of us and capture another.  A few daylights later we found our companion’s body.  He had been brutalized to no end before they slit his throat.  The foolish Aesir believed all of lies the light elves fed them.”

“Rumil, I’m so sorry.  I thought the elves had died in battle, not like that.”

Tears were coming from her eyes now; this was not an easy subject.  “The kidnappings continued.  King Oor finally had enough and we started our own raids on their weaker targets.  Now the situation is at the boiling point.  Father’s delegation to Valhalla may be the last chance to stop war from happening.”

I didn’t say anything more, but I reached over and took her hand.  For her sake and all the dark elves, I hoped war could be avoided.

We kept up our pace for awhile, but eventually the sun began to set and the cold wind started to pick up.  Dad decided we had gone for enough for one day and we all went about the task of finding shelter.  We looked for a little while, but Rumil was able to spot a tight cluster of trees that would work. 

Like last time, we immediately all went to work getting the camp set.  I cleared an area of snow off the ground and Rumil was able to find enough wood to start a fire.  Dad and Garm did some quick hunting and in no time we had food and warmth.

“I’m afraid tonight we will have to take turns keeping watch.  Jack, we are in both forest troll and dire wolf territory.  We’ll do shifts in pairs with Jack and I being pair one and Rumil and Garm in pair two.  Anyone have any questions?”

No one did and with a sense of dread, Rumil and Garm both laid down to try and sleep.  Dad explained to me that the fire may attract attention, but without it we would freeze.  Fortunately our watch produced no significant moments and when it was time to switch, I was ready.  I gently woke Rumil up, who was asleep beside me, to take over.  She gave me a quick kiss and motioned for me to lie down in her lap while she took over.  I was pretty comfortable and fell asleep quickly.

“Jack!”  The urgent whisper in my ear woke me up pretty quickly.  “I need you to stay calm for me.”

“Rumil?  What’s going on?”  I was still half asleep but I looked over and dad was already awake and Hrotti was in his right hand.

“Garm has picked up the scent of a troll.  It is getting close to camp and we may need to make a quick escape.”

I nodded that I understood.  Then I heard the inhuman roar of the troll and the sound alone made me say a quick prayer.  “Rumil, if we have to try and fight this thing, do we even stand much of a chance?”

She didn’t even have to answer.  Hey eyes told the story and it was not a pleasant one.  “Trolls are not to be trifled with.”  She looked over at dad and something was passed between the two of them without words even being said.  “Like the time with the ice giant, if there comes a time when I tell you to run then I want you to run.”

I started to object but was immediately cut off.  “No Jack, the best that any of us can do is stall it.  You must run, for me.”

Another loud roar broke our conversation off.  It was a whole lot closer this time.  “A word of advice,” Garm said very quietly, “I think the time for our departure is here.”

We got into positions as quietly as we could and started moving.  Our only lucky break was that the troll was coming from the opposite direction we needed to go, so we were able to keep on path to the Fields of Idavoll.  Unfortunately, the troll must have heard us and now he was going in the same direction.

“Everyone, move now, as fast as they can!”  Dad quickly switched into full wolf mode.  “Jack, up top now, we can go faster that way.”

Not wasting anytime and, with an assist from Rumil, I was riding on top of dad and we were moving.  It dawned on me just how much the three of them had to slow down to let me keep up with them.  The troll didn’t have such limitations and was still in hot pursuit.

“Master Fenrir, I am afraid that at some point the troll will catch up to us.”

“I know Rumil.  We need to find a place to slow this thing down.”

I guess the troll had gotten even closer.   Its roar was deafening, like the sound of being right by an airplane getting ready to take off.  Turning around, I saw the massive outline of the monster closing in.

“Jack, soon I am going to need you to go with Garm.  Rumil and I are the only ones who may have a chance at slowing him down.  Do you understand?”

I did but I didn’t like it.  “Dad, I don’t need you two…”

I didn’t even get to finish my rebuttal.  The troll had ripped a tree out of the ground and threw it at us.  Dad dodged it the best he could but it caught me off guard.  I went tumbling off dad’s back and landed awkwardly on the back of my head.

“Jack!”

I heard Rumil’s scream but it didn’t register.  I was pretty dazed and all I saw in my eyes were stars.  I felt something powerful grab onto my coat and pull me away.  I looked up and it was Garm.  We were doing well enough but the troll had closed in and with a swipe of his hand sent Garm and I flying back further into the woods.

Garm had taken the brunt of the blow and he appeared out cold.  It took me a few moments to come to my senses and when I did I saw dad and Rumil engaging the troll.  Being able to see it clearly for the first time made my blood run cold.  Its dark green skin was covered in boils and the beast was pure muscle. 

Rumil had jumped up into a tree and was firing arrows in the direction of the trolls face.  Dad was snapping and slashing at the trolls legs, trying to get him off balance.  The problem was the troll didn’t seem fazed by any of it.  Rumil’s arrows just bounced off his hide, which didn’t help dad at all.  Big and ugly was focused solely on removing his wolf problem.  There had to be something I could do.  I started looking around to see if I could create a distraction of some sort, but I was too panicked.

Then it hit me; the smell of ozone filled the air.  Even though it had been what seemed like a lifetime ago, the memory of that smell stayed with me.  Hitting the ground, I saw the eruption of lightning flash through the sky followed by the sound of a sonic boom that shook the ground. 

And then there was nothing, just complete silence.  I looked up and the troll was fried to a crisp and falling apart into ashes.  A few feet from where the troll had been standing was Thor, his hammer raised and still crackling with electricity.