Raeman looked callously at Serich’s heir. “We are going to kill you, Odin. And after we cut your head from your neck and toss it before our king, we are going to receive great recompense: freedom.”
Odin looked confidently at the fallen monk and smirked.
“Take my head? If your ambition truly is self-preservation, it would prove wise not to test me.”
“You are outnumbered, Odin: by my count, six to one. You don’t stand a chance.”
Odin unlocked Sleipnir from his belt and pressed her center button. As she extended into a bow staff, Odin offered his former brothers an ultimatum.
“I am going to make this very simple: if you do not back down and leave immediately, I will kill you. I will cut you down with the same malice you intended on those children. Whether you live or die is a choice you make now.”
Raeman grinned in amusement.
“Your ego is impressive,” he granted. “But ultimately, egos need to be humbled. Brothers, kill him.”
At Raeman’s command, the five other monks instantly converged on Odin. As the first monk lunged at him, trying to spear him with a dagger, Odin evaded the attack and then swung Sleipnir so powerfully into his throat that the impact shattered his wind passage. As the next two monks attacked from Odin’s left and right, Odin fell backwards onto his hands, and after the two monks crossed in front of him, Odin sprang back to his feet and smacked Sleipnir hard across both of their jaws. With three down, Odin amplified the ferocity of his assault. He drew one of his daggers, and as the next monk came within range, Odin leapt at him and stabbed the dagger repeatedly into the side of his neck. Odin then pulled the dagger from the monk’s fatal wound and hurtled the blade directly into the next attacker’s heart.
Only Raeman remained.
The former Justice totem was not experienced in combat, and as Odin stalked him, he sought only evasion.
“You think you’ve won?” Raeman scolded as he darted around the statue of Serich. “There is no winning in this realm, only survival. We live because Forneus allows it.”
“You’ll die just the same,” Odin promised. “Tell me, Raeman, where is your king now?”
Raeman seemed to fret, but after a moment, he broke into a pompous smile and pointed to the corridor behind Odin.
“He’s right on time.”
Odin instantly turned, and as he peered down the alleyway, three armed Vayne marched into view.
“He’s here!” Raeman cried to the Vayne. “Serich’s heir, ready for slaughter!”
As the Vayne neared, Raeman paraded confidently out from behind the statue.
“You’re a dead man, Odin,” he said with a laugh. “You should have known this was inevitable.”
As his arrogance began to swell, Raeman leaned in to offer Odin a final insult. However, once Raeman was within an arm’s length, Odin drove Sleipnir forcefully into his ankle and then quickly wrapped his arm around Raeman’s throat. As Raeman struggled to escape, Odin stopped him with an even stronger chokehold. With his unremitting vigour, Odin had made sure that the traitor’s last moments would be spent listening.
“You were a monk of the Throne’s Eye,” Odin seared into Raeman’s ear. “You were of our highest Order. Brave were your mind and heart. But now, in this hell, you have disgraced yourself.”
As the three Vayne began to circle him, Odin raised his dagger to Raeman’s neck and whispered coldly into the fallen monk’s ear.
“Consider this a gift.”
With a violent cut, Odin slit Raeman’s throat clean through. In a heap, Raeman’s lifeless body fell to the roadway. Odin eyed the crumpled mass and then spit onto it in disdain. Raeman’s treason had brought a great rage to Odin’s eyes, and as the three Vayne prepared to attack, they would be the first to bear its brunt.
Odin lunged first to the serpent on his left, and after evading an anticipated punch, Odin locked Sleipnir around the Vayne’s throat and violently snapped its neck. As the next Vayne sprinted at Odin and threw a wild punch, Odin retrieved one of his remaining daggers and drove the blade precisely into the center of the serpent’s oncoming fist. The Vayne reeled back clutching its hand. Odin used Sleipnir to vault into the air, and while airborne, he delivered a powerful kick into his assailant’s skull. As Odin descended back down from the fatal blow, he used his momentum to tumble into a grounded somersault. And as he rolled out, he speared his shoulder into the final Vayne. After heaving it onto his shoulder, Odin wrapped his left arm around its neck and slammed the Vayne down onto his own knee.
The final Vayne expelled a painful wheeze and then fell agonizingly into death.
Odin surveyed the dead, and in anticipation of another battle, he collected each of his used daggers.
As he gathered his blades, he was startled as the sounds of crying echoed from behind him. As he turned, Odin realized the cries were from the survivors of the monks’ arrow assault. There were three survivors: two violet-eyed girls and a young green-eyed woman. The two girls were kneeling beside the lifeless body of a man, shaking him and pleading for him to come back. As they screamed and beat their terrified fists against his chest, Odin averted his eyes. Their pain was a vignette of Hell, a torturous vista into Forneus’s rule. As Odin looked to the final survivor, he realized the young woman had her eyes locked intently onto him.
“Is it true?” the young woman asked.
“Is what true?” Odin replied.
“What Raeman said – are you Odin?”
“What difference does it make?”
“If the answer is yes,” the woman said, “then it makes a world of difference.”
Odin, unsure of what response he could allow, paused for a moment. As Odin stood in the quiet, suddenly, a series of bloody coughs broke the silence, abruptly calling Odin and the young woman’s attention to where the two girls were crouched. The young woman quickly rushed to the children, and as she arrived at their side, she realized that the man they had been mourning had come back to consciousness.
“Azean!” the woman cried, “you’re alive!”
As more blood spilled from Azean’s mouth, he painfully sat up and then wrapped his arms around the two small girls.
“My girls,” he wept as they latched hysterically onto him. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Azean held the girls for a long moment. After their tears had slowed, he turned to the young woman.
“Adara,” he said, “the ship will not make it back to port.”
Azean then drew out an old parchment from under his clothes.
“I hope this works for you,” he said as he handed it to Adara. “We have been too long without him.”
Adara’s emerald green eyes dimmed considerably as she accepted the scroll. After she had tucked the scroll under her robe, Azean looked up to her with a final request.
“I ask only that the ship sink admirably,” he said. “I want it to be remembered for its strength, not its weakness. I should also like a word with blue.”
As Adara wiped her tears, she turned to Odin, and somehow, without speaking, her words began to resound telepathically in his mind.
“Azean is speaking in code,” she said. “His wounds are grave, and he is not going to live. He has asked that his daughters be spared from watching him die. He has also requested to speak with you.”
Odin was stunned by Adara’s ability, but tentative about Azean’s request. However, as the battered Azean began to motion for Odin to join him, Odin found it hard to refuse. Adara quickly called the girls away, and once they were out of earshot, Odin knelt next to the badly wounded Azean. The dying man grabbed Odin by the arm and began to speak between intervals of coughs and bloody spits.
“Before you attempt to convince me otherwise,” he started, “let me be quite clear: I know who you are. I’ve waited a long twenty years for you, Odin, and I’m not going to spend my last moments pretending you’re someone else. I’m not going to die in charade.”
Odin recognized the urgency in Azean’s voice. I
t was the very same grit that had compelled him to follow Galian into the afterlife. The parallel hit Odin in such a way that he chose to forfeit any and all disguise.
“What can I do for you?” Odin asked.
“It is not what you can do for me,” Azean replied. “My time is done. It is what you can do for my daughters. They’ve had a father, Odin. They’ve never had a king. I want them to know heaven – just as I did when your father was on the throne.”
“I hope the same for them, but I am not here to –”
“I do not have the time for debate,” Azean asserted. “Odin, you are the heir to the throne. I am asking you to take back your birthright. I am asking you to get to V, and with her redeem this vile land.”
Odin shook his head, regretful that he couldn’t comply.
“I can’t,” he apologized. “You don’t understand why I’m here. I can’t waste time finding V.”
“My girls can take you,” Azean promised.
As Azean’s grip became even stronger around Odin’s wrist, the sound of numerous footsteps echoed from down one of the streets.
“It’s the Vayne,” Azean said with panic. “Only they travel in packs that large.”
Odin began to draw Sleipnir from his belt, but Azean quickly arrested his efforts.
“There are at least thirty of them,” he informed. “You can’t win that fight. Please,” Azean begged, “take my girls away from here. Take them to V. I will buy you enough time. Please, Odin, get them to safety.”
As Azean’s tearing eyes pled for Odin’s help, Odin knew he had to agree, not only for Azean and the girls, but on behalf of the Throne’s Eye. It was a matter of heart. Hell had claimed Raeman and his troop, breaking their hearts and then rebuilding them with malice. Against the very same pressure, Odin needed to prove that Hell couldn’t claim him. He needed to be a testament to his adopted home – proof that even in Hell, he could honour what was right.
“I will take them,” Odin agreed.
“You must go now,” Azean impelled. “I can hold off the Vayne, but not for long.”
As Azean looked to his daughters, more tears welled in his eyes.
“Tell them I died a hero… tell them I died so they could know heaven.”
Odin was humbled: so much so that he had no worthy reply. As the Vayne’s footsteps grew louder, Odin realized that the only way he could honour Azean was through action. He needed to get the girls to safety.
“Now, go,” Azean spurred. “Remind this land of its former greatness.”
Odin nodded and then rose quickly to his feet.
“Your daughters will know,” he promised. “You have my word.”
As the Vayne’s shadows advanced even closer towards the intersection, Odin gave a final nod to Azean, and then turned and sprinted to Adara and the girls.
“We have to go,” he announced as he reached the three.
Odin instinctively glanced over his shoulder and saw that the first of the Vayne had emerged into the intersection. Odin turned urgently back to the girls.
“We have to go now,” he urged. “We need to run.”
Adara quickly understood, but the girls refused to abandon their father. Although he regretted it, Odin knew he had to lie to them. Feigning calm, Odin positioned the girls so that their backs were to their father, and then knelt coolly between them.
“Your dad’s an old friend of mine,” he said in a softened voice. “And you know what he always told me? He always said that his girls were like navigators. Do you know what a navigator is?”
As the girls shook their heads, Odin could see that behind them, the battered and dying Azean had laboured painfully to his feet to face the Vayne. As the first wave of Vayne began to surround Azean, Odin’s eyes fleeted back to the girls.
“A navigator is someone who can always find her way home,” he said. “Your dad told me you girls can do it blindfolded. I didn’t believe him. But he said you could do it right now. What do you think? Could you find your way home from here?”
One of the girls nodded, but as Azean’s voice screamed furiously from behind them, the second girl turned immediately back to her father. The entirety of the thirty Vayne had arrived in the intersection, and it was clear that Azean was doing anything to keep their attention on him.
“I’m here you bastards!” he raged as he brandished two daggers. “Taste my blades!”
As the callous Vayne converged on Azean, his daughters began to scream in panic. Their attempt at stealth was gone. The Vayne identified the girls and immediately began a deadly pursuit.
As Odin began to search for a strategy, Adara’s voice echoed once more in his head.
“Run!”
Odin agreed, and with great speed, he and Adara each grabbed a girl, lifted them into their arms, and began a desperate sprint away from the Vayne.
As they ran, Odin could feel Adara’s voice calling out directions in his mind.
“We need to get to the main road!” her voice resounded.
Unable to reply psychically, Odin yelled back his reply. “Why the main road?”
“Because that’s where our codes are.”
Odin didn’t understand, but there was a confidence in Adara’s voice that compelled him to follow.
With the Vayne on their trail, Adara made a combination of rights and lefts, and within thirty seconds, she had led Odin onto the main roadway of Animus Letum. It was the grand promenade of the afterlife – the path to the throne. The street was based with golden stones, and thousands of torches lined the side of the laneway. As Adara and Odin sprinted over the golden floor, Odin could see Forneus’s orange Soul Cauldron in the far distance. However, the present peril was at his back, and as Odin and Adara ran, the five Vayne had closed the distance between them to twenty yards.
“Look for an L!” Adara cried. “It’s the start of our code! It will lead us to V!”
“Where do I look?” Odin called back.
As Adara realized the Vayne were closing in, her voice filled with panic.
“Everywhere!” she yelled.
Odin didn’t have time for confusion. He was at a deadly crossroads. He was unsure of the code, but certain that Adara and the girls were in jeopardy. If he engaged the five Vayne, he knew he could defeat them. He also knew that if it turned into a brawl, he wouldn’t be able to protect the girls fully. Their survival would be a coin toss. So, siding with the girls’ best odds, Odin took Adara’s instruction and hunted the laneway for an L.
As he ran, Odin fervently scanned the street and adjacent buildings. The buildings were battered and broken down with boards nailed over their many doors and windows. There was no prominent L in the laneway, and as Odin continued to search, he could hear the Vayne’s footsteps growing closer. Odin’s understanding of the code was basic at best, but as he scanned the buildings ahead of him, one of the boarded windows caught his eye. It was painted blue. As he grew closer he saw that it was in next to an alley and, more importantly, that the boards were nailed together to form an L.
“Adara!” Odin yelled as he pointed to the window. “There! Is that it?”
Adara’s eyes followed Odin’s pointing finger, and after recognizing the L, she immediately confirmed Odin’s suspicion.
“That’s it!” she called back. “Take the alley!”
While still carrying the small girls, Odin and Adara dashed off the main road and cut down the narrow corridor marked with an L.
As Odin allowed Adara to take the lead, it was clear that the chase had begun to drain her. As she carried the small girl, her strides became more and more laborious. Odin quickly calculated the risk. With the Vayne’s pace and Adara’s fatigue, the threat of attack was imminent. The strategy needed to change. As he searched his mind and surroundings for an advantage, Odin quickly noted that the alley, unlike the main road, was narrow enough to engage all five Vayne without putting the girls in danger.
He just needed Adara’s cooperation.
“Adara!” he yelled. �
�You need to take the girls!”
Adara refused. “No, Odin! We’re stronger together!”
“I’ll catch up!” Odin promised. “Let the girls run! You can’t last much longer at this pace!”
Adara could not argue. Her fatigue had become a liability. As she looked back and realized that the Vayne were within striking distance, she had to agree.
“Okay,” she consented. “Put them down in three.”
A countdown then sounded in Odin’s mind. “Three… two… one…”
In unison, Odin and Adara landed the girls onto their feet, and as Adara became relieved of the added weight, she found a resurgence of energy. With the girls at her sides, Adara began a desperate sprint down the alleyway.
As the girls fled, Odin did the opposite. He quickly unlocked Sleipnir from his belt, pressed her center button, and then leapt into a half axel. As Odin spun aerially to face the Vayne, Sleipnir extended to her full length, and after altering his grip, Odin swung Sleipnir into the closest Vayne’s neck. As the first Vayne collapsed and the remaining Vayne spread out in front of him, Odin’s blue eyes glanced back to Adara and the girls. They were getting away.
As the three sped down the backstreet, Adara managed to relay critical information to Odin’s mind.
“The code spells LYRAN,” she said.
Odin allowed the code to register, and as the Vayne began to attack, Odin set his skills into a blaze of offensive fury. Within seconds, he had cut down the five Vayne. As the last of Forneus’s henchman fell lifelessly to the floor, Odin’s senses clenched in panic as the sound of screaming girls echoed from behind him. He was certain it was Azean’s daughters. With furious speed, Odin turned and then bolted down the alley. As he tore determinedly down the backstreet, Odin was uncertain if Adara and the girls had made it to the next letter in the code. His action hinged on that information. As he neared an intersection of roadways, he saw that one of the paths was marked with a pitchfork missing its center prong. He was tentative to identify the sign as a Y. What if it wasn’t the code and he made a wrong turn? What if it was the Y and he bypassed it? The stakes were incredibly high. The only sense that seemed relevant was instinct, and as Odin reached the intersection, he relied on his gut and made a turn down the pitchfork-marked roadway. As the lane turned into a tunnel, Odin could hear more of the girls’ screaming reverberate through the roofed underpass. He was on the right path. As he neared a stairwell that led down into a courtyard, he quickly realized why the girls were screaming.
The Sons of Animus Letum Page 38