Atticus And The Orb Of Time

by M K Drake

  “Ja, alldeles för länge sedan broder,” replies Alvar.

  Ju Long scratches his head and looks at the three other men. By comparison, he is tiny, and to make matters worse, he doesn’t understand a word they are saying, “Erm, any chance of a discussion in English guys?” he requests tentatively.

  “Sorry Ju Long,” answers Olof, “These are my friends, Alvar and Kalle!”

  Ju Long waves, but quickly stops as he realises that his hand action appears a tad feminine. Alvar and Kalle laugh as they sit at a table in the room. Ju Long brings everyone some water while Olof shows them the herbs.

  “We have a boat waiting; it should take you less than a days travel from the city,” says Olof.

  “And Elric will be waiting for us?” asks Kalle.

  “Yes, I have agreed this with him. He will be joined by Mage Callan and they will escort you back to the Manor,” replies Olof.

  “And what of your tasks that remain here, my friend? You still seek the hammer and belt?” asks Alvar.

  “Yes,” says Olof, “We may have found the location,” he pulls out the map and indicates the area marked out for him by Elric. Alvar and Kalle stare at each other, almost in horror.

  “You realise what lies beneath the waves there, my friend? Even Thor himself would think twice about such a task,” says Kalle.

  “I know of a beast that dwells in the sea, but no more,” replies Olof, as Ju Long joins them.

  “It is more than just a beast, Olof,” says Alvar.

  “This monster is massive, it dominates the sea, breathing fire when it rises above the waves and is even more lethal beneath it. This is no mere sea serpent, Olof. It’s rumoured to be Leviathan,” says Kalle.

  The room goes silent as Kalle finishes. Ju Long can see the worried look on Olof’s face, “Leviathan?” he asks, breaking the silence, “I thought it was just a legend, a story told by sailors to frighten new recruits?”

  “Far from it,” replies Alvar, “The beast is real − and is far more dangerous than what is hinted at in those stories.”

  “Your powers are great; but alone, against Leviathan… I fear even you will not be strong enough,” says Kalle.

  Olof looks at Ju Long. He knows that this task is dangerous for one as inexperienced as him, “Ju Long, I want you to return to the Manor with Alvar and Kalle.”

  Ju Long stares at Olof, “I’m coming with you, Olof. I will not allow you to go after this thing alone.”

  “You do not have a choice. I am in charge of this mission; you will take this order, and you will take it well,” Olof says as he stands and heads to the window looking towards the mountain’s base, “Do you want me to contact Elric and ask him to order you?”

  Ju Long remains silent, knowing full well that there is no convincing him.

  “This is my quest,” continues Olof, “I must do this alone!”

  “We should go now,” says Alvar, “Olof, may Odin guide you and protect you.”

  Kalle gathers the bags containing the plants and herbs, then beckons to Ju Long to follow them. The three exit the room, Ju Long still visibly upset that Olof will not allow him to join him.

  The room is silent again as the door closes. Olof prepares himself, re-enacting his training and testing his powers of ice. He changes into warmer clothes, checks the map, and looks once more to the window, “It is time,” he says to himself. He raises his arms, and brings his palms together in front of himself. With a flash of light, he finds himself at the edge of a huge cliff.

  The seas are far from calm today. The waves below him crash into the cliff face, the wind is strong, buffeting against Olof and pushing the birds that dared to venture out off course. Olof looks down towards the bottom of the cliff, closes his eyes and leaps.

  As Olof rockets towards the sea, he points his arms in front of him, opens his palms and shoots masses of ice to form a sheet, upon which he slides down, rolling onto his feet. He touches the water’s edge and creates a tunnel of ice to continue his journey beneath the sea. He reaches the seabed, the frozen walls of the tunnel keeping the seawater at bay. Olof extends his tunnel, referring frequently to the location on his map, and walks along carefully, keeping one eye on the condition of the tunnel’s ice walls and the other eye for any sign of the rumoured sea beast.

  He walks for almost half an hour, until he finally reaches what appears to be a circular iron seal, set in the sea floor. The seal is riveted and about five meters in diameter, with a symbol in the centre that resembles a hammer. Excited, Olof kneels and tries to feel around the seal for some form of opening.

  On the outer side of the seal he finds what appears to be a button. In that same moment, a drop of water catches his attention, ‘The ice should not be melting yet,’ he thinks to himself. Standing up, he checks the ceiling of his ice tunnel. The melting is not just above his head; it is everywhere. The seawater around the tunnel is increasing in temperature.

  “Something is coming,” he says to himself listening for any unusual sounds, but before he can react, a giant tail comes crashing down through the ice tunnel, and it floods with water. Olof creates another tunnel, leading upward, to try and escape from the flooding. He runs, creating giant steps in the tunnel that he leaps onto as it climbs.

  A huge roar screams out from beneath the sea as Olof finally reaches the surface. He quickly creates a small island of ice with a spire in the middle. Climbing to the top of the spire to get a better view, he looks down into the sea. Peering into the murky waters, he tries to see beneath the waves. Olof attempts to locate the source of the noise and the heat melting his ice tunnels. Another roar screams out, this one is so close and powerful that the spire shatters, sending Olof crashing into the plateau of ice beneath him.

  Olof struggles to his feet, his right arm bruised and cut, “Show yourself beast!” he demands. Another roar is followed by a giant spray of water, as if something gigantic is rising from the sea.

  “Leviathan,” Olof whispers under his breath.

  A giant, serpent-like body, wider than ten massive oak tree trunks is all he can see. The beast’s head is too high in the air for Olof to observe properly. The body of the monster is riddled with mucus and its skin is ripped and scarred. The stench of rotten fish mixed with water and silt dragged up from the depths is almost unbearable. Along the body are masses of ribbon-like fins, some attached fully alongside the surface skin, some much longer and free flowing, like thin but massive tentacles. One of the tentacles flicks out and whips towards Olof. He jumps out of the way, but the force of the impact shatters the ice floor. The massive body of Leviathan bends and then Olof sees it, the beast’s head. It is more dragon-like than serpent, and moves towards Olof.

  Leviathan’s two nostrils are so large than Olof could quite easily fit inside them. The monster sniffs Olof, trying to get a scent. The smell coming from the mouth of it is awful, spewing out the exposed old flesh of past kills. Olof stands still.

  “I am not here to harm you; I seek something else!” shouts Olof.

  Leviathan moves away from the island of ice and stares at Olof. Its eyes are a bright yellow, and its teeth are twice the height of the Norse Majjai. It pauses, as if thinking. Olof breathes more steadily, hoping, willing the beast to disappear beneath the sea and leave him be. Suddenly, without warning, Leviathan lashes out. The rear of its tail shoots out from the surface and smashes what remains of Olof’s island. The tail is not flesh like the rest of Leviathan, but spiked and bony, with giant shards of hard, metallic, claw-like protrusions. It makes short work of the island of ice and in moments Olof finds himself under water.

  Knowing that Leviathan is much more lethal beneath the waves than above it, Olof makes his way to the surface again, creating another plateau of ice. As soon as he jumps out from the sea, Olof creates several small ice plateaus for him to jump between, then turns and fires several giant ice spears towards Leviathan. The ice spears just shatter against Leviathan’s thick hide. Olof tries to find some form of weak spot and aim
s for the beast’s eyes, underbelly, anywhere he can think of, but all he tries ends in vain.

  Leviathan moves swiftly, each movement causing massive undulations to the water.

  Waves crash upon Olof; he stands and waits for one wave to reach him, then leaps into the air and turns the wave into ice before sliding along it, he then creates another track of ice for him to slide down, using one hand to maintain the ice and the other hand to shoot ice spears towards Leviathan, who retaliates by shooting massive flames from its mouth. Olof tries to dodge the jets of fire; he can feel the searing heat on the back of his neck as he masterfully swoops in and out of the frozen pathways he has created.

  He finally lands on one of his plateaus and steadies himself. Leviathan leaps up high, and shoots a giant continuous flame towards Olof. The Norse Majjai counters with a giant stream of ice, but it is no good, the flame is too powerful. Soon what seems like a momentary deadlock of fire and ice turns into a one-way battle, with fortune favouring the flame. The stream of ice is shrinking. Trying desperately to shoot out as much ice as possible, Olof tries as hard as he can, calling on all of his strength, but it is futile, he can see the jet of fire getting closer, hotter, and larger. Finally, the strength of his defence takes its toll, and he falls to his knees, spent.

  The beast ceases his attach and swims closer to its prey, Leviathan towers above Olof, and prepares another giant blast of fire to finish him. It opens its great jaws wide.

  Olof looks up; the fire is close now, he can feel the heat. He watches, beaten. The flame gets closer. Olof closes his eyes waiting for the inevitable. But the heat doesn’t come. Instead, all he feels is a tug on his coat and weightlessness. He opens his eyes to see Leviathan below him, the flame still pouring from its mouth as it destroys the ice plateau.

  “You found that damn hammer yet?” says a voice above him.

  He knows that accent, that tone, and smiles; he looks up and sees Ju Long grinning back at him.

  “You didn’t really think I was going to leave you behind, did you?” says Ju Long.

  Olof smiles, “Glad to see you my friend. But, how?”

  “No time for that now − will explain later. At the moment, don’t we have something to find?” replies Ju Long.

  “It is no good. Leviathan is too powerful; we need the hammer to even think of standing a chance,” says Olof.

  “Well, I don’t have a hammer, but how about some friends?” Ju Long points to the cliff face from where Olof first leapt. Khan, Safaya, and Mage Callan all stand there.

  “You have all come?” asks Olof in amazement as they land.

  “Yes,” replies Mage Callan, “Do not worry, Professor Sprocking, Atticus and Joyce have gone with Elric to meet your friends. He sent us to help once Ju Long spoke to him.”

  “I am glad, but I fear that Leviathan is too powerful an enemy for us alone,” says Olof.

  “We do not need to kill it, just distract it,” says Khan, shaking Olof’s hand as he does so.

  “It is coming!” shouts Safaya, pointing out to the sea. The massive serpent heads towards the cliff, creating a giant wave as it hurtles through the water. Leviathan’s head pops out and it fires a gigantic ball of fire towards them.

  Safaya quickly uses her abilities to divert the direction of the fireball to the sea.

  “Quickly, we do not have much time,” says Khan, “Ju Long, you distract it from the air, Safaya, keep diverting those fireballs and call the earth to the surface so Mage Callan has a base from where to launch his attacks. Mage Callan, try to cut away the tentacles when you can,” Khan looks at Olof, “Find that hammer. I doubt we will be able to hold off Leviathan for too long, but we should be able to give you enough time, my friend.”

  Olof nods, “And what will you be doing,” he asks.

  “I’m going surfing,” replies Khan, as he slides down the cliff face. Olof creates more ice for Khan to slide down with a ramp at the end. Khan shoots into the air with the momentum just as Leviathan leaps from the sea. Khan grabs a tentacle and swings from it to grab another on the other side of the beast’s giant body. He swings himself upwards and lands on top of Leviathan’s head. Using his power of might he smashes a blow to the side of Leviathan’s face, diverting its course away from the ice ramp. Mage Callan and Safaya then both slide down and leap into the air. Ju Long catches them as Safaya commands a massive area of seabed to rise above the water level. Ju Long throws Mage Callan towards it. Mage Callan somersaults as he lands and immediately begins using his sword to fire beams of energy towards Leviathan and its tentacles.

  Safaya swings herself over Ju Long and holds onto his neck as he flies. Every fireball that Leviathan fires she directs away from Mage Callan and into the sea, where it vaporises into a jet of steam. Ju Long flies in between the giant beast’s body and tentacles, launching fireballs, trying to get its attention.

  They continue to battle Leviathan as Olof quickly finds his way back to the large metal seal using his power of ice to shield him from the seawater. He finds the button and pushes it. It opens instantly, blasting out a small cloud of dust as the air escapes from beneath the lid. It clears to reveal a dark tunnel. Olof throws down a small ball of blue light and follows it. He soon reaches solid ground and another tunnel. He follows it on the meandering path as the walls glow blue with his light. Soon the hue changes to a warmer orange.

  The orange light flickers, dancing with the flames from the torches that appear further down. Olof pokes his blue ball of light and it disappears. He follows the flickering flames to an opening.

  “I have been expecting you,” a voice echoes out around the cave walls.

  “Who goes there?” asks Olof, completely surprised that anyone or anything would be alive here.

  “It is I, Brokk,” says the voice. An old frail figure of a man steps out from the shadows, “You seek Mjolnir do you not, Olof?”

  “I do. The battle for this realm is close. A demon born of evil from before the times of Thor wants to rule. The hammer is needed,” says Olof.

  “Yes, Thor told me that you would come one day. But you must first prove your worthiness to wield the hammer and the belt,” says Brokk.

  “How do I prove this? There is not much time; as we speak, my friends battle with Leviathan.”

  Brokk walks to a battered old chest and pulls out a small rock. He hands it to Olof, “Only the Norseman of ice will be able to penetrate the flame.”

  Olof holds up the rock, and as he does so it begins to burn in his hand. The rock forces itself out of Olof’s fist, bursts into flame, and engulfs the chamber. The fire is intense as it burns his skin. Olof can barely take it. His fear of fire is intensified due to his very nature of being one with the ice. He quickly builds a wall of cold air, solidifying it to counter the fire.

  He hears Brokk in the background.

  “My work is done, I now go to join Sindri in Valhalla. Good luck young Olof. May Odin protect you,” Brokk says with a sigh and suddenly disappears into his robes, which fall to the floor empty.

  “It was an honour to meet you old man,” says Olof. He looks around the room, his vision blurred by the poor opacity of his cocoon. There are two graves here, and two statues. Olof recognises the statues as Sindri and Brokk, “The Hammer is here, but where?” he murmurs to himself. He stops for a moment and takes a deep breath, calms down and looks around again. His protection is beginning to melt around him as the heat intensifies.

  Olof spots the fire encircling the statue of Sindri more fiercely than the statue of Brokk. Thinking this must be a sign, he blasts a mass of ice to try and calm the blaze, but the fire just grows more aggressive. An arc of flame strikes the ice cocoon, melting a large portion of it, creating an inlet allowing the flames to begin to surround Olof again. The Norse Majjai encases himself again, knowing he must get to the statue. But the only way is to walk there. The only way to fight this fire is to make himself as cold as possible. Olof concentrates, he closes his eyes and begins to freeze his very being, his skin
turns blue and the blood in his veins begins to slow. He knows he does not have much time, without the flow of blood he will surely die in a matter of moments. He smashes his cocoon and walks through the flame to the statue of Sindri. With an almighty effort he pushes the statue to the floor, shattering it. In an instant the flame in the room turns to dust, swirling away into a mini whirlwind before disappearing into the cracks in the floor.

  Olof breathes as his body returns to normal temperature. His skin reclaims its colour and he stretches slowly, before trying to peer through leftover smoke.

  The room clears slowly. Hovering around the air, where the heart of the statue once lay, is Mjolnir, in all its glory.

  Olof, awestruck at the sight of the hammer, walks towards it tentatively, his long search finally over. He grabs the handle but it fades from view, revealing a belt instead.

  “Meginjord,” says Olof.

  “Yes,” says the voice of Brokk, “I apologise; the wizard told me not to reveal the truth until you had proven yourself.”

  Olof spins around, but only Brokk’s voice has returned.

  “Which wizard?” asks Olof.

  “You will find out soon,” replies Brokk, “Without Meginjord, the hammer will be too heavy to wield, even for you. The belt will be enough to escape from the beast. It will make you strong.”

  “The hammer was never here?” asks Olof.

  “It was here, but it now lies with the Orb,” says Brokk.

  “The Orb?” says Olof, “You mean the Quantorbium?”

  “The wizard said no more,” replies Brokk, “Now, I must sleep Norseman. Good luck with your quest. Oh… and Thor wants his hammer back when you are done,” the chamber goes silent, disturbed only by the distant screams of Leviathan.

  Olof wraps the belt around his waist, then quickly exits the tomb, returns to his tunnel of ice and replaces the seal. Using the belt’s great power, he launches himself through the ice, the sea, and high into the air. He sees his friends still battling with Leviathan.