by T. G. Ayer
I blinked and turned my gaze to Odin whose gray eyes had grown pale. He gave me a small nod, "It is my wish, child." Then he swallowed hard and closed his eyes. I could feel his strength seeping into my body, filing my veins and my heart. It felt like I'd been dipped into a pool of heated honey.
The moment was filled with a beautiful combination of grief and bliss. The fighting around us had begun to subside and the ringing slowly faded from my ears.
Odin's eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes again. "It is done." Then he smiled. "Brynhildr, my child. In the coming days there will be many new things to experience. New gods, and a new chance at life. Much will change, but much will stay the same. Always remember that you are loved. And always remember to love."
After a short moment in which he stared up at the strange sky that seemed to reflect the gore of the battlefield, Odin met my eyes again. "We fought this all the way. We fought against destiny and we failed." He swallowed and shook his head as I opened my mouth to say that it was all pointless. "But we also fought against Loki, against his determination to win over us all. He tried to change fate according to his own wishes, while all we did was find a way to avoid committing unspeakable acts."
He turned his gaze to Fen. "My son. It is time. You know what you have to do."
Fen shook his head, his eyes glistening with tears as he stared at Odin's face. "I can't," he whispered. "How can you expect that of me?"
Odin shook his head, but the movement was so slight it looked like a twitch. "Would you rather see me suffer until I waste away and die, or would you see me die a glorious death on the battlefield of Ragnarok?" Odin took a breath that rattled inside his body.
I sat huddled beside him, unable to believe what he was asking Fen to do. Fen's sole purpose in life was to ensure he did not wield the hand of death over Odin at Ragnarok, but now the All-Father asked him to bring the predictions to reality.
"No," I whispered. "You can't ask him to kill you." But even as I said the words I couldn't deny how right Odin was. If Fen didn't kill him now, Odin would suffer until he took his last breath, maybe he'd linger for days while the poison ate at him.
When I looked up at Fen I saw the resignation in his eyes. He too had come to the same conclusion. He drew a short dagger from a sheath at his belt and turned to Odin. "Even if the world forever curses me as Odin's killer, I will do this for you because it is your wish." Fen's words hurt deep in my heart. I could already feel his grief.
"Thank you, Fenrir, son of Odin." With those words Odin let his head fall back and watched Fen as the light in his eyes began to fade even more. He still held my hand but now the grip was weak. I tightened my grip and put my cheek to the back of his hand, unable to stop my sobs.
I forced myself to watch as Fen placed the dagger against Odin's side, in the space between his breastplates. Tears slipped down his cheek as he plunged the dagger deep into Odin's body.
Odin gasped, then exhaled slowly.
And then he was gone, his dead eyes staring up at the pink sky.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
And Fen sank to the ground beside me, his head hanging while his hand still remained on the dagger. I placed my hand over his and said, "It's over."
Fen looked up at me. "I tried so hard to not be the one." There was a desperation and hopelessness in his voice that hurt me to the core.
I shook my head, "You didn't kill him, Fen. You just gave him peace. Loki killed him with his poison, with his treachery. Not you."
Fen let out a sigh and looked around us. When his eyes widened, I looked up to see the continuing battle between Heimdall and Loki. Blades swung lightning fast around their bodies and I held my breath wondering when it will end.
Then Heimdall grunted, swinging his sword, catching Loki off-guard. Heimdall thrust his sword into Loki's chest, just above the line of his armor. Blood bubbled up in Loki's mouth and he fell to the ground dragging Heimdall with him.
Loki had his hand at Heimdall's side and at first it seemed he was just holding onto his opponent, but then the Trickster's hand fell to the ground as a gurgling sound rose from his mouth. He struggled to grab his throat, clawing at it as if ripping it open would somehow provide him relief.
And then, just like that, he stopped breathing, stopped moving.
And I let out a sigh.
At last Loki was dead.
But when I looked at Heimdall, I knew the Trickster had had one final act left in him. Loki's hand had held onto Heimdall, but as blood streamed from Heimdall's body, it became clear that the Trickster god had stabbed him between the ribs.
A death blow from the looks of it.
A technique that Loki seemed to be fond of.
And I didn't appreciate the irony that Loki had killed Heimdall in much the same way that Fen had killed Odin.
Heimdall slipped to the ground and I stumbled to his side. He turned his head to me and smiled. "It is done," he said. "And it comes to pass." I didn't know what to say, so I just sat with him, holding his hand until he breathed his last.
Around, us bodies lay everywhere as the earth sipped at the blood of the fallen. Freyr ran toward us, along with his sister and the goddess Frigga.
As Frigga fell to Odin's side, Freyr gave me a nod. "Thank you for retrieving my sword." I frowned. Was he being sarcastic? But the smile on his face as he swung the silver sword around and slipped it into its sheath said it all. I'd forgotten about the weapon when Odin fell. It must have gone back to its owner to continue fighting.
Frigga sobbed, tracing her hand over his forehead and cheeks.
"I'm sorry," said Fen opening and closing his hand. "I had to do it."
The goddess looked at him, shock stealing all color from her face. "You killed Odin?" she asked, her tone accusing and cold, and still disbelieving.
"Odin asked him to," I said. "He was dying. His death would have been excruciating. Loki poisoned him. And he insisted on taking my poison too. I couldn't stop him. And then he made Fen promise to kill him and . . ." The words tumbled out of my mouth and my tears fell unchecked.
All I cared about was that Frigga would stop looking at Fen like she hated him.
And when she came to me and hugged me tightly, I sent a prayer to Odin. "Shh. It was not your fault, and neither was it Fenrir's." She let go of me and held her hand out to Fen who took it reluctantly. His expression made me think he was waiting for her to drive a blade through his heart.
But instead she kissed him on the cheek. He stepped back and blinked. "I believe you did what Odin wished. No longer will it be said that Fenrir killed Odin in the battle of Ragnarok. They will all know that you saved the All-Father from great suffering, that what you did was an act of courage and love."
And as Frigga fell silent warriors and gods began to hurry closer and I recognized Thor in the distance. As he drew closer he shrank down to human size and rushed to Odin's side, falling to his knees beside his father. Thor had been fated to die today, but like Freyr his fate must have changed.
Tyra came swooping down from the sky, moving from dragon to human form so fast it looked like I'd imagined it. She dropped to Heimdall's side and tears fell from her eyes as she traced his cheek and held him close.
I wasn't the only one to suffer great loss on this field of death.
Brody and Aimee trudged towards us, both injured with bloodstains smearing their armor. Aimee held her side and winced as she limped closer, giving me a weak thumbs up sign before sticking her sword into the muck. She used it as a crutch which seemed really funny. Brody wheezed as he came up beside her, holding a limp arm that dripped blood onto his pants. He didn't seem to notice, just stared at the scene before him.
Three gods dead in the space of a few hours.
I stared at Loki, feeling the weight of the metal container. I hadn't been given the opportunity to fight Loki at all, no opportunity to use the water the Norn's had given me. My stomach twisted and I wondered why I'd even been given the water if I'd never been meant to use it
. A part of me wanted to take the container and fling it far into the bloody field and I felt my fingers tighten.
Then Joshua came running up from behind my friends, his face smeared with blood. He seemed uninjured and I forgot about the water as I reached out to hold him, to make sure he was really alive, really unhurt because at the moment it seemed an impossible gift.
I sucked in a breath as he cupped my cheek. "Are you okay?"
His eyes glittered and I saw pain and fear and hope all swirling together in confusion. I nodded and gave him a quick update as a few warriors walked up gathered around Loki's corpse, satisfied looks on their faces. Suri flew in, holding something within her great dragon jaws. She glided passed and dropped her burden onto the ground beside us, giving me a satisfied, golden glance.
Jormungandr's head rolled over and over until it stopped at Freya's feet. The goddess gave it a distasteful glare then turned her attention back to Odin, her face filled with grief and pain, while my gaze went from the serpent's head to Thor's face as he laid eyes on the reason he still lived.
I watched Suri as she flew around and came in to land. She moved from blood-stained, golden-scaled dragon to equally blood-spattered golden eye girl within seconds, her feet touching the ground and immediately heading into a run toward me. Joshua released me so Suri could put her arm around me. Still weak, I was happy for the support.
With Loki defeated, his greatly diminished Jotunn horde had fled leaving the battlefield to Odin's army and the remaining citizens of New York.
Ragnarok was over.
Odin and Loki were dead.
And the words of an oracle from thousands of years ago had finally come to pass.
One Month Later
Despite the pink-tinged sky, I couldn't help but enjoy the sight of the beach before me. My bare toes dug into the warm sand and I tasted the salty air on my tongue.
Odin's death had hit us all hard, a kick in the guts and broken hearts were what we now dealt with. There was a strange emptiness that I wondered would ever be filled.
Loki was dead, and I don't think many people mourned his passing. His Jotunn had given up, retreating back to their realm, but not before passing to us a little education on the mind of the Trickster.
One of his higher-ups traded information with the new gods in Idavoll. Apparently the Jotunn King believed in new slates, and had encouraged Loki's former minions to come clean.
Most of it we'd managed to figure out on our own, but at last the reason for the list had been revealed. It had been a plot to abduct the delegates. Sort of.
Loki had put things into motion to extract each and every person on that list, key personnel in the most important organizations in Midgard, in order to replace them with Jotunn impostors.
We'd know he'd been doing just that with certain influential people, but we hadn't guessed he'd gone large scale. Loki had been so confident that he'd survive the battle that he'd put things into place to ensure that Midgard, people, politicians and business, would be at his mercy.
Asgard was no longer the place I'd once known. The rift had opened again, sucking in the palace and the entire valley, destroying everything. The quakes had continued, with waters rising from the depths of Asgard's earth, and when they subsided they left behind a new, rich land. This was Idavoll, the new realm of the gods, and where Frigga and the surviving gods now lived, without the need for warriors.
I'd found out much later that the destruction of the palace of Asgard had caused the deaths of all those imprisoned within its dungeons. I had to admit I experienced no sadness for the passing of Dr Lee. I felt more sadness at the death of the frost giant Nita and I had brought back with us. What made me happy was knowing Enya and her mother had returned to their Great Lakes home, that having been the only property which survived the worldwide destruction.
Nita and Vanya had taken their young halfling back to Alfheim, assuring us they will offer whatever help we needed. All we need do is ask.
Sara and Dvalinn had sent word, good news I'd already known. They were expecting a child and wished for us to attend the naming ceremony when the baby arrives. That was at least something to look forward to.
With the end of the war, and the coming of the new age, the armies had disbanded, and Frigga had instructed all the warriors to leave and to live normal lives. Many of the Ulfr, Valkyries and einherjar had elected to live in Midgard where their non-human sides could be hidden from the general public.
It left Fen, a general without an army, and free to make a choice about his own destiny. For once in his life.
And he chose to come with us.
I laughed to myself as I recalled his words. Something along the line of knowing me well enough that I wouldn't sit still for too long and that I needed someone like him to keep me from killing myself.
And he was probably right about that.
Behind me, beyond the dunes, my house had survived the quakes, damaged but repairable. The houses on either side hadn't been so lucky.
Around the world, the earth had rebelled, quakes and volcanic eruptions waging a war we shouldn't understand, one we were helpless to fight. The upheaval had continued for days, but at last it subsided, with scientists around the planet assuring the people that it was over.
Only when Frigga had deemed it safe did we have the Midgardian delegates returned to their homes, to instill calm and order, and with a greater understanding of what the world had just experienced.
Now my patched up home was bursting with laughter, despite plumbing that couldn't be trusted, and windows which remained without glass while we waited for our order to ship from one of the few factories that had survived.
Joshua and Aimee had come to live with me, to fill the empty rooms of my father's house with life. Derek had stopped by, flying over from New York, eager to show me all the things he'd been working on.
A part of me wondered why we bothered with inventions, and continued studies of Loki's black goo, and poisoned ammo, but another part of me felt we had to. To be safe. Just in case.
Just in case Loki had succeeded in his plan to bring himself back using Midgardian genetic technology. He'd succeeded with Enya so who's to say that, right this minute, he couldn't already be a creepy little embryo in some naive woman's womb.
Only time would tell.
And being prepared wouldn't hurt.
Brody had chosen to return to Craven, to watch over the town and the people we'd all left behind, making Aimee and Joshua two very happy people. My mothers had both come to visit, Ms Custer bringing her boisterous laughter with her, and Brody had joined her.
My mother graced us with a more controlled happiness. In time, I was sure we'd be able to put the past behind us. I had to appreciate that she was trying hard to put her pride aside, to make inroads in a positive relationship with the child she'd left behind. A relationship that child desperately wanted. Somewhere along the line, within the tumult of our lives, I'd found it in my heart to forgive my mother.
And that was a good thing.
I think.
I had one more house guest. One I'd never expected, but one who I welcomed with open arms.
Fenrir.
Something moved close behind me, stirring the air against my bare shoulders, so close I could almost feel the heat from the person's body.
Before I realized what I was doing, I spun around on the sand, one hand going to my knife the other placed on the sand, helping me to boost myself into a crouch, my blade pressed close to Joshua's throat.
He just smiled, his green eyes a little sad as I dropped the blade on the ground, my hands shaking so hard I balled them into tight fists.
"Still happening, I see?" he asked softly as he dropped to the sand, and pulled me back to sit between his legs.
I turned to face the ocean, and leaned close against his chest, sighing deeply, letting the tension flow out of me slowly.
"Sorry," I whispered.
He chuckled, the rumbling sound feeding into the bone
s of my spine. "You know you don't have to apologize."
"I could have killed you." Another whisper.
"No. You couldn't have killed me. I think I can hold my own against a girl."
I snorted. "Technically, I could have killed you. Our stock of Mead is running low," I said, my tone dry.
Never before had our own mortality been so much a part of our lives. In Asgard it had been easy, wounds healed, broken bones knitted, the Mead aiding in unnaturally fast recovery.
But with Heidrun dead, and Derek trying hard to create a replacement serum, healing potions were scarce, leaving all the warriors, Ulfr, Valkyrie and einherjar, equally vulnerable.
I sighed.
My reaction worried me. But I wasn't the only one suffering the effects of the battle.
Post-traumatic stress, according to Aimee's Internet search. We all suffered the sleepless nights, the horrific dreams, the intermittent lack of appetite.
Worse were situations like this, when the smallest thing could set me off, to overreact to something totally non-threatening, like a boyfriend creeping up on me.
Joshua tightened his arms around me and I leaned my head back on his shoulder. With a tender kiss on my cheek he said, "Mead, shmead. We don't need magical drinks as long as we have each other."
I laughed softly then shifted around so I could see his face. "Do you think you'll miss it?"
"Life in Asgard?" he asked, easily understanding what I said. When I nodded, he said, "I already miss it. But it's part of our past. What we have here and now is way more important."
He moved his hand from my waist to trace my cheek with his knuckles. Even in the fading light I could see the darkening of his eyes as he stared at my face. He had a way of looking at me that made my heart melt.
We moved closer, as if pulled together by some irresistible magical force. And as our lips met, my veins flooded with heat. And a little touch of something else.