City of Vikings

by Farah Cook

  “Gjallerhorn, is the golden horn blown to awaken the world tree Yggdrasil – and Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, through its powerful thunder, will bring life to the branches that holds the nine worlds. The most powerful weapon made by the dwarves of Mount Yding,” says Solvej. “We’ve come to believe these two artifacts are in the possession of the Republic. Empress Benedikte, ruler of the Goth Empire has seen them with Odin’s eye.”

  Why does the Empress possess the lost eye of the god Odin, which he gave up to acquire wisdom? No sacrifice is too great for wisdom. Odin knew this when he gave up his eye to the frightful creature Mimir. Odin’s eye is wise and holds immense powers.

  “It was given to her, wasn’t it?” I say in disbelief.

  “By Mimir himself,” says Solvej, while glaring at me with her eyes turning a shade darker.

  “If the Republic has the artifacts, and these were seen using Odin’s eye, then why not awaken Yggdrasil?” I say.

  “It’s not that easy,” says Solvej. “They will need the map tattooed on your back. You becoming a raider is just one step closer to the Republic discovering it.”

  When Solvej says they, I know exactly whom she speaks of. The seven Lumini Lords who were once great Vikings. Now they’re nothing but shadows sealed behind cloaks. They control the Republic. They will soon be coming for me.

  Frederick knows all of this, but still he’s kept my secret. I could have been exposed or, even worse, killed. Why didn’t he reveal my identity? Is he waiting for the right time perhaps?

  “The Lumini Lords will soon be looking for me,” I say.

  “They’ll be looking for the girl with the one true Viking tattoo for there are many who carry a replica,” says Solvej. “The difference between your map and the replicas is that yours has been encrypted.”

  “Why encrypted?”

  “To keep the location of the nine worlds secret,” says Solvej.

  “Of course,” I say and take a deep breath. “Otherwise anyone could just find the nine worlds.” I try not to sound arrogant, but my body language is giving different signals. From the corner of my eyes, Solvej is watching me like a hawk.

  “The nine worlds shall be ruled by the Goths,” she says.

  “You sound very sure,” I say. “You are forgetting that the nine worlds are up for battle among fairies, trolls, giants, elves, dwarfs, wizards and witches, the lower Garm klan with several mystical creatures and dark forces. How can you be so sure that the Goths—”

  “Because,” says Solvej, “we’re the only superior race next to the Verans. By the gods, the Republic cannot rule. They follow the dark ways, and have made a pact with one of the most feared evil lords of our times known as Lord Nourusa. His powers fell weak after he was defeated by the Viking assassins five hundred years ago, but his worshippers have summoned him and he’s getting stronger. With the artifacts in their possession it will not take them long to find the map—”

  “But it’s encrypted,” I say cutting through her words.

  “Nine ancient encrypted runes are embedded in the map, and each rune is a rare Norse symbol that no one yet knows the meaning of. No one except…”

  I take a step away from Solvej and nervously twist my hands.

  “What are you telling me?” I say. “That I will know the meaning of the ancient Norse runes? I’m not able to read or see anything clearly on my back.”

  “I’m telling you when the time is right, you don’t have to,” she says. “You should be getting clearer visions that will help you decrypt the map and find each one of the nine worlds. Asgard, Niflheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Svart Alfaheim, Vanaheim, Muspelheim and Hellheim, the darkest world of all worlds where the shadows eat the souls of humans.”

  “You know the worlds by heart,” I say, surprised. “How do I find them?”

  “Yggdrasil will show you,” says Solvej. “She must have given you some visions by now. Each rune is designed to unlock one of the worlds.”

  Solvej draws closer, but I step back. I will not expose the map to her. There is something about her and I am not quite sure if she’s telling me the truth. Why didn’t Karen tell me all of this? After all I am her daughter.

  “You must show me the tattoo, Nora.”

  “No,” I say firmly. “It has to stay safe.”

  Swiftly Solvej takes my hands into hers and studies at the palms of my hands. She utters another laugh, like she’s read something that amused her.

  “What is it?” I demand. “What do you see?”

  “The challenges that you’ll be faced with are those your father experienced. You must watch your every move in the Towers of Swords. Deception is written in the cards for you. Someone will want to kill you, someone from your own band – a commoner very likely. Only they can cast death spells. But you shall succeed where our enemies have failed.”

  “You’re sure about that?” I furrow my brow.

  She nods as her expression softens. “You’ll be asked to make sacrifices. Just like Odin, who paid a great price to drink from Mimir’s well.”

  “His eye…” I say. The image of Odin sacrificing his eye to drink from the well of knowledge flickers through my mind. Yggdrasil shows me what I do not know, and I’ve had a vision of this before. I’ve seen Odin, the almighty Norse god.

  “It is your duty, Nora,” Solvej’s hard eyes turn glassy. Her cheeks begin to glow. “You must find the remaining three ancient Viking assassin weapons. The powers that these will unleash will help you achieve your true gifts – extraordinary gifts that I am sure you have a taste for. What you feel inside yourself, but can’t see, touch or taste. The powers that the Norse gods gifted you with so you can defeat the enemy and protect the nine worlds from falling into the rule of the Republic.”

  “I don’t understand, what are you saying?” I ask and take a deep breath. Solvej’s revelations surprise me. Should I believe that I’m a descendant of Viking assassins guarding this ancient secret? If that’s true it only means one thing. I have to serve and protect the Empire so it can rise from the ashes and become what it once was – a glorious realm of the Goth people who will rule the nine worlds.

  “Your abilities will not be as strong as they should if you do not use the weapons of the Viking assassins. The sword belongs to you now, but that alone is not enough, and if you are to protect the Empire and the nine worlds you will need more than just the sword.”

  “Solvej what are you asking me to do?” I ask, intrigued. She looks across the room and motions towards the glorious sword. I turn to it, carefully bending my knees before the boulder. I pull the sword out from the rock. To my surprise, the weapon is light like a feather and beautiful.

  The cold metal handle sinks into the palm of my hand. I wrap my fingers tightly around it and with my other hand I feel the sharp blade with the tip of my finger.

  “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you what Karen couldn’t,” says Solvej. “If the gods trusted you with the map of the world tree Yggdrasil then, by Odin, you must learn to trust in yourself.” She sends me out into the courtyard to test the sword.

  Like a ghost, I cross it without a sound. The trees in the square fold into the silver shade from the moonlight. I feel a natural urge emerging inside me to slay something. I’m unstoppable as the power of the sword begins to run through my veins.

  What is happening to me? I release my tight grip on the weapon, but it doesn’t drop; it lingers in the air, glowing like a diamond against the dark night. Astonished, I take a step back. Hand on my heart to calm the pounding in my chest, I turn around to discover that I am not alone in the courtyard.

  A rustling sound from behind the maze gets closer. The sound turns into growling, and soon I’m faced with a big black wolf snarling aggressively at me – I’ve been faced with creatures like these one too many times before. I’m not sure if the wolf is an optical illusion or for real. In any case, what business do the wolves have in Karen’s courtyard?

  “Solvej, what do I do?” I shout, but ther
e’s no answer. Though I sense she’s watching me. I prepare for battle and in one quick motion, I reach out for the sword. Just as it flies into my hand the wolf shoots into the air ready to attack me. I cross the blade against its head and off it flies, rolling to the ground. The wolf’s body drops at my feet, blood draining from its neck.

  I step back from the pool of blood, and as I do the sound of rustling and growling multiplies. A pack of bigger and more perilous looking wolves come out of the maze, one by one, until they are surrounding me. I clench the sword, and raise it before me to eye level. I begin to swing the sword in circles to protect myself from being attacked.

  The wolves are coming from every direction now, and as I strike the sword it slays the animals like lightning, one by one dwindling to the ground. When I stop swinging the sword, I’m out of breath. Surrounded by dead wolf bodies, I realize what’s just happened. But my judgment is weak. Was that me – or does the sword use its powers and take over? Did it fight by itself like the sword that Frey, a powerful and beautiful Norse god, gave up?

  The only other powerful weapon I’ve ever held in my hands is the bowie knife, which belonged to my dad – but it’s not magical or as powerful as this ancient weapon. This sword has something I’ve never felt before, and it’s like it wants me to kill. I put it down slowly releasing it from my tight grip.

  “Do you believe it now, Nora?” asks Solvej as she walks in my direction. There’s a cool air around her and her eyes are calm like the silver night. Solvej is more than just a housekeeper – she’s old and wise, carrying secret knowledge from our Viking clan – knowledge that’s several hundred years old.

  “Yes,” I say catching my breath. “I believe it and I believe that I’m destined to become a Viking assassin and follow in the footsteps of my ancestors. I will protect the Goth Empire and make sure they rightfully rule over the nine worlds.”

  “You’ll slay anything that gets in your way including our sworn enemies that withhold the artifacts. You must assassinate those who we fear the most,” says Solvej with certainty. My eyes meet hers.

  “The Verans.”

  I hear Solvej’s voice inside my head. She speaks to me in Norse:

  All doorways, before going forward, should be locked. For it is difficult to know where foes may sit within a dwelling.

  2

  AS I AM leaving Karen’s house, Solvej tells me that each and every member of the Sovereign Republic are descendants of the Veran Viking clan. The seven Lumini Lords support only their own kind, the Rognvald Raiders. They are sacred old Vikings possessing ancient wisdom and immense powers. They read minds and use the deadliest black magic and spells against their enemies.

  In the Republic, no one knows who I am except for Frederick. He’s a fine member of the Republic’s young assembly and serves only his own kind. But how loyal is he? He didn’t betray my trust, and was right all along about most things and about who I am, except this – my calling to become a Viking assassin.

  I carry the map of Yggdrasil because it is my duty to restore the broken Empire. Killing is in my blood and I am up against my sworn enemy and the people who want me dead. But I will only kill for justice or it will be the end of our Viking clan and the beginning of a far more powerful and mighty tyranny under the rule of the merciless Republic.

  The oppression we suffer now in the Triangle will be nothing compared with what Yggdrasil has shown me in my visions. When I close my eyes, I see images burned on my mind. Divisions in flames, human suffering beyond measure. Children, men, women and elderly in torment in fields of the dead. Is that what Frederick really wants and what his clan and the Republic he serves is capable of? I shy away from my thinking. I don’t want to believe it.

  The Veran Viking clan will stop at nothing and use trickery, black magic and manipulation – all is fair in our world, even among the gods themselves.

  My ancestors were part of a secret Viking assassin clan for centuries, protecting the two ancient Viking artifacts with magical powers. The horn awakens Yggdrasil and the hammer brings the branches that hold the nine worlds to life. The Goths gave their lives to protect them.

  The Republic have these artifacts, and will soon be searching for the map that will lead them to the nine worlds to be ruled by their evil Lord Nourusa. He is a dark glowing shadow who is growing powerful now that his trusted worshippers have summoned him.

  Solvej believes that the artifacts are kept hidden inside the other secret city. The City of Assassins, among the Verans’ own assassin clan of killers. Entering such a city is suicide and a deadly enemy territory.

  The Viking assassins forged four magnificent weapons to empower their greatness. The assassin sword I held in my hand – able to slay anything through strong magical forces. A powerful shield that has a secret layer of protection against armed forces, a spear that never misses its target and an axe that cuts through anything.

  These are the only weapons that will destroy the power the Republic hold over us. While the sword remains in my family, there’s vague speculation about where the other weapons are being kept. Solvej tells me that only an old Viking wizard, Alfrothul Gunnlaug, knows where they are to be found and he guards the gates to the City of Vikings – where my dad is in exile. I have to get there my dad might be able to help me, I am sure.

  An old Viking prophecy tells that after Ragnarok, the Viking doom, Yggdrasil travelled through time and space. After exactly one hundred years, in a renewed world, she must release the nine worlds from her branches. But who will rule the nine worlds of the Vikings?

  The Republic run by the Verans is stronger and more powerful. I hear Solvej’s words inside my head. Your duty as Viking assassin is to protect the Empire. A fate I can’t seem to avoid. If the evil Lord Nourusa comes to power our world will no longer evolve or change or get better. It will turn darker and eventually we will fall prey to the mystical creatures making their way through the Forbidden Areas.

  Still marked by the Mulhog, the talking creature that wanted to eat me when I was on my first expedition in the Forbidden Areas – I expect nothing less than far more dangerous and obscure beasts ready to tear anything alive into pieces. It’s only a matter of time till the beasts in the Forbidden Areas attack us.

  The Norse gods entrusted me with the map and the Republic will try everything in their power to seek me out, once they find out it is tattooed on my back. I’ve managed to keep a low profile despite my urge to win whilst living in the East division following the Judith Law, which suppresses natural abilities like competition.

  Although the secret Viking assassin clan has been dead for years, there’s never been a stronger need for it to be brought back to life than now. The nine worlds house nine races and each race will claim their territory rightfully. The Republic is already plotting to rule Yggdrasil, barring all other rivals from their rightful place. The world must not see such dark days or it will be the end of all the mystical creatures that belong to the nine worlds – good and evil.

  The Goths are not as powerful as they used to be, the Republic knows this and therefore continues to suppress us silently – we’re not a threat to them because we have no power. But it’s only a matter of time before they’d want to wipe out the Goth clan and one by one all the other races.

  The Triangle is our territory. Creatures from other worlds rule the Forbidden Areas. When they trespass on our territories we capture them, like those killed for amusement in the biannual sports games. But when raiders trespass in the Forbidden Areas, no one knows what becomes of them if they get caught.

  It is my mission to work through my enemies and allies in the senate. I’ll pursue the Viking assassin weapons and embrace their powers to strengthen my duty and my honor. In any case, I would want the weapons to protect myself. Once the Lumini Lords know that I carry the map they will show me no mercy.

  Working next to the enemy in the towers will be easy because I’ll be able to monitor their every move and have my own spies. Karen is linked to the Empir
e and Solvej tells me that Empress Benedikte knows of me.

  At the Elite Raider ceremony, she will awaken my heart through old Norse wisdom and strengthen it so it doesn’t fall into the temptation of making wrong decisions. But the heart of an assassin is easily deceived and I have to do what I can to protect mine from falling into temptation – or the hands of Frederick Dahl.

  Solvej mentioned that the Republic has one mission: to destroy us as soon as they start seeing us as a threat. They have become very powerful and influential and the Goth Empire holds no power against them in the Triangle. Few embedsmen, also known as barons, in high positions, and chancellors in the senate keep an alliance with us. It is those that I must seek in the City of Skies. An alliance could secure my position and protect me against contempt from the Republic.

  It is not unusual for the Lumini Lords to apply black magic and trickery to expel their enemies, and they have exposed commoners, too. They’re run by the Verans with powerful spells that can break into human minds and steal secret thoughts.

  A vulnerable mind like mine has to be sealed from them. If they knew what’s on my mind, I’d be in danger. Solvej believes the time of the Goths has returned. My mission as Viking assassin is to protect the Empire from the tyranny and domination of the long-serving Republic ruled by seven Lumini Lords from the Veran Viking clan. The clan that Frederick serves.

  “Don’t let the sacrifice Karen made be in vain, Nora,” Solvej puts her heavy hand on my shoulder. When I hear Karen’s name I don’t feel any emotional connection. I may never see her as my mom, or give her the respect she deserves. But my dad, Robert, feels close to my heart and I know I will see him soon.

  Solvej’s eyes soften. “It wasn’t all done for nothing,” she says.

  “Sacrificing me?” I try not to sound angry. Deep inside myself I feel a burning rage. Karen deceived me for all those years and I always felt different. I knew little about myself, and my life was a lie. But that’s all beginning to change. The scorching desire inside me has brought me this far – in search of my father and of who I am.