Asgard Awakening 2

by Blaise Corvin

  Trevall pointed at Trav and yelled, “The East tribe is so weak, they needed to recruit a human slave!”

  Silence met the proclamation at first. Trav’s attention never left the Ancient, so he saw when her nostrils flared and her mouth quirked a tiny bit. The Ancient pointed at Hravalin and yelled, “Is this true, East tribe Guide?”

  Hravalin frowned. “No, of course not, Ancient! My entire company has been approved! Travis is human, but he is a powerful addition to my team! The purpose of gathering a company is to show our leadership, right?”

  Trevall crossed her wrists, wicked claws dangling, and said, “Humans are weak. Male humans are valuable for mating, not much else. I object to this human being put in danger to appease Hravalin’s delusions, and because her family is too weak to field real soldiers.”

  One of the elders frowned. “The teams were approved.”

  “I believe you were misled, Elder.” Trevall clicked her claws in a sign of respect, but her eyes glittered. Some of the watching harpies began to murmur or ruffle their feathers.

  The manipulation and politics were really obvious, and Trav had had enough. A thread of anger, and even some of his old hatred surfaced. He was really getting tired of Kin calling him a slave, reminding him of the mines. It had taken him a long time to accept it, but he had inherited Odin’s mantle, for better or for worse. He put a hand on Hravalin’s shoulder, stepped forward, and said, “I’m not a slave, not anymore. I am the Allfather reborn.”

  All around the island, harpies began making noise, and Trevall angrily spread her arms and wings. “What—”

  “Shut the fuck up, you scheming bitch.” Trav had already summoned Hex and was drawing a rune equation in the air behind him, hidden from sight by his body. “Just say which of your people I need to kill to prove that your concern is fake.”

  Trav knew how to talk to Kin, how to deal with them.

  “How dare this slave speak to a Guide this way,” growled the Ancient. “He will be punished!” She pointed dramatically at Trav...and nothing happened. Then she pointed again. Her arm dropped, and Trav smiled nastily at her. He’d already severed the Elders’ and Ancient’s control of the swamp array.

  Then he activated one line of magic that tapped the source of the array deep within the earth. He disappeared from sight for a second before he reappeared in a billow of smoke the same way that the Elders had earlier. All around the island, the spectating harpies looked shocked.

  Trav completely ignored the Ancient and pointed Hex at Trevall. “So who is it going to be? Which of your soldiers are you going to sacrifice? I’m in a bad mood, and I want to get moving.”

  Suddenly, unexpectedly, one of the biggest harpy warriors from the South tribe formation screeched in anger. It sounded like she yelled something like, “Shameful slave!” as she ran at Trav. The attacking warrior was dressed in heavy armor, with a huge two-handed sword held aloft.

  Trav had memorized all of the rules a week ago. Physically attacking another team member before the Trial was a major breach of protocol and could be severely punished. More importantly, the right to self-defense was absolute.

  After the screeching harpy had almost reached him and nobody else had moved, Trav spun and activated Shatter. His spear buzzed with lethal magic, and Trav punched the tip right through the attacking harpy’s chest armor like it was wet tissue paper.

  She was shocked, standing in place with her sword still raised above her head. Trav leveled Hex and coldly said, “Gust.” Wind violently erupted from the dagger, knocking the stricken Kin’s body clear off the island and freeing Trav’s spear. He turned, shook the blood off of Shatter, and said, “Is that good enough?”

  The looks he was getting now were much different from before. In the North tribe group, there was some disbelief and anger, but also calculation. The South tribe’s Guide, Palaeno, screeched, “Tricks! This man is too strong to be human! This is cheating!”

  Trav spun again and leveled his spear, making the harpy flinch. “One of you says I’m too weak, one says I’m too strong? Which is it? But it doesn’t matter, does it? The entire point of this exercise is to show that the Guides can attract strong followers. If you have a problem, come find Hravalin after the trial starts. Better yet, find me.”

  When he turned, Trav noticed the subtle signal that Trevall was giving the Ancient. He also noticed the Seneschal making some sort of motion. Then predictably, the Ancient said, “This human has committed murder, before the trial—”

  Trav used a tiny bit of power and whispered, “Louder,” to amplify his voice. Then he said, “What, was I supposed to just stand there while you watched? I merely defended myself.”

  “Ancient, this human acted in self-defense,” said one of the Elders.

  Trav stared down the Ancient, and when Hravalin stepped forward, he automatically took a few steps back where he’d been before. Hravalin said, “This was all very unfortunate, especially that the South tribe has already lost a fighter, but my soldier was attacked! Everyone saw it. I believe we should move to begin the trial before there are any more...accidents.” Hravalin grinned and Trav approved. Yaakova’s sister was quick.

  All around the island, the observing harpies were still as stone. They were obviously trying to decide how to react. Meanwhile, the Elders, including the Ancient, had to know by now that Trav had taken away their control of the surrounding array. Now they were all just old harpies. They were probably still dangerous, and likely had their own magic, but the crowd surrounded them. The array was obviously the reason why the crowd was so well-behaved. Trav wondered how the watching harpies would react if they knew their leaders had lost their control.

  “Yes, let us proceed. I believe the complaint has been addressed,” hissed the Ancient.

  The Elders’ faces showed no emotion, but their feathers dropped in relief. One stepped forward and said, “There will be no more violence in this sacred place! Guides, you will each have your team gather your horses, and all three of you will follow one Elder to a guarded overlap site. Good luck.”

  As the guide teams left the swamp, Trav began to hear muttering, then arguments behind them. In a few more minutes, the harpies that had been watching would figure out what they thought about what they’d just seen, and either way, Trav wanted to be gone when they did.

  Now he just needed to help Hravalin win. If the East tribe won, the show of force and defiance Trav had just made would likely help him get some more faith power.

  Chapter 21

  What is going on? Yaakova angrily sent. She was using the communication device Trav had made for her. The enchanted gadgets only allowed a small number of messages per day.

  Don’t waste your messages, Trav sent back. I will explain after we regroup.

  Yaakova gave him a look but made a small nod and looked forward again. Hravalin must have noticed and understood that there had been an exchange because she nodded too. Their group was silently leading their horses, following one of the Elders. They’d been walking for a couple miles now, and had left the swamp. Finally, Trav could see what they’d been moving toward.

  In the middle of a clearing there was a grey shimmer in the air, almost like light being refracted through dirty water. Harpies in royal guard uniforms stood nervously around it. Trav noticed signs of digging, fencing, sandbags, and other evidence that the guards were building a permanent or semi-permanent guard location.

  Trav understood why.

  The Elder finally spoke. “This is the Veil-overlap. It appeared two days ago, but the auguries let us know it would be here ahead of time.”

  “The other Guides will be going through different locations?” asked Hravalin.

  “Yes.” The Elder pointed at a group of packages and bags. “Those are your provisions. Use them well, and use them sparingly. They are all you will get. In the overlap, food spoils quickly, so everything here has been warded. It should last for at least a week.”

  Hravalin acknowledged, “I understand,” and wi
thout being told, everyone began loading up their horses with the precious food. Trav was expecting the worst, maybe faulty preserving magic, or poison, but he had ways to deal with either problem. The important thing now was to get into the overlap and discuss matters with Hravalin, Bravoosa, and his valkyries.

  After lining up their group, the Elder carefully and methodically touched a magic tool to all of their arms. When she touched Trav, he examined the symbol that the tool had left, and carefully poked the residual energy with his magical senses. Like the other tools he’d seen from the ruling class of harpies, they were very likely using old magic, far beyond their ability to replicate now. Trav was actually impressed by the workmanship of the tool, and wondered how old it was.

  The horses shied away from the overlap, instinctively terrified of it, but all the avian Kin were inhumanly strong and easily controlled them. When Trav passed through the boundary, he felt cold and dry. He shivered.

  Once he was on the other side, Trav walked forward with his horse and scanned the area. Everything was dead, which he had half expected. Luckily, his surroundings were flat and he didn’t see any movement or signs of immediate danger, just acres of dead, brittle grass and leafless, lifeless trees.

  The moment all of Bravoosa’s Pinions were on the other side, Trav commanded, “Everyone get on your horses and follow me! Scouts, mark this area as our entrance, but we need to make distance.”

  “You heard the Commander!” hollered Bravoosa. “Get your asses in your saddles and form ranks! Make it three wedges. Move!”

  The entire group thundered forward, and Trav felt extremely fortunate for his magic. Without it, the horses likely wouldn’t last long, since the water would have been prioritized for soldiers, not mounts.

  Trav could feel a strange feeling setting in. It might be possible for him to escape the Veil-overlap, heading to his workshop, or even Tiffany’s realm, but only if he was at full power. Leaving this place would require all the free bars of magic he had, and all at once.

  After about twenty minutes, Trav signaled a halt to Bravoosa and she slowed, then stopped the company. Trav hopped out of his saddle and called over two Pinions. “Get out your shovels and dig a big, wide hole,” he commanded. “Get some others to help you after it’s big enough to make room for more diggers.” The harpies saluted and immediately got to work.

  Yaakova and Hravalin dismounted, their expressions strained. “What is going on?” asked Hravalin. “Even for you, this was sudden.”

  Trav nodded, glad that the Guide had trusted his judgement. “We need to have a strategy session, immediately.” He used Hex to make a large dome out of the soil. It would have been helpful if Tiffany had been there to soundproof the structure, but she was at least relatively safe back in the East tribe territory, watching over Rahim. Sebastian and Jang-mi were both guarding her. Trav had thought this would be enough before, but now he had a small, persistent worry about her safety.

  Nothing I can do about it now, he thought grimly.

  Hravalin, Bravoosa, and his valkyries followed him inside. Once they were all in the dome, Trav opened a hole to the sky and sealed the doorway. He turned and said, “Yaakova, you’ve figured it out by now too, right?”

  “Yes, New One.”

  “Want to tell your sister?”

  “Not really, but I will.” Yaakova smoothed her feathers and sighed. “Based on what Trav said, about how the Elders appeared to him before, they are on our side.” She turned. “New One, do you still think this is true?” After Trav nodded, Yaakova continued, “The Ancient and the Seneschal are opposing us, though. Also, the entrance to this dead place was guarded—the other entrances that the Guides used probably are too...but we’ve already been told there are likely others. We were all tagged with magic so everyone will know if we leave, but what if assassins are sent in the other entrances to eliminate us?”

  “I knew there was something strange about that,” muttered Narnaste.

  “That’s not all.” Trav frowned. “Do you know what a Veil-overlap is? None of the Elders really explained it.”

  “I think so,” said Ysintrill. “Before I was imprisoned I heard a group talk about it. I thought it was common knowledge among harpies based on the way the Elders just skimmed over it and nobody asked questions.”

  Yaakova and Hravalin both shook their heads, and Hravalin said, “No, I assumed everyone else knew, and everything happened so fast…”

  Trav made a grim expression. “All of this is very strange, the way that the announcement was rushed, the way it was made, and even the trial. I still believe the Elders are supporting Hravalin, so now I wonder if there is another group in the palace that actually set all of this up.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Yaakova.

  “An overlap is when two veils literally overlap one another. It’s like an overlay of reality, a dimensional anomaly. There are different types of overlaps, and this one is obviously dead. Basically, this is a dead world, and I believe whoever put this plan in motion knew about it.”

  “What plan?” asked Hravalin.

  “Like I said, I don’t know who, but what I do know is that just being here is extremely dangerous. We have to worry about harpy assassins, maybe groups from other places on Asgard coming in, and whoever—or whatever—is in the veil that the Asgardian veil is overlapping with. But that’s not the worst of it.”

  Nobody spoke, they just stared and Yaakova spread her hands, urging Trav to continue. Trav took a stick and drew two circles apart from each other. “Veils are like eggs. They have a shell. As you know, a portal, which is sometimes also called a veil, is like a connection through the shells when they touch.” He made squiggly lines outside of the circles. “This is negative space, darkness...but things live here.”

  Trav glanced up. “Veil-Wraiths. I don’t know much about them right now other than they are bad. But what I do know is that sometimes during an overlap, the Veil-Wraiths can penetrate the weakened ‘shell,’ invading to feed.”

  “Feed? What do they eat?” asked Ysintrill.

  “Everything.” Trav messed up his drawing with the tip of his stick. “This place is already dead. Wraiths may have already been here. But if they return, we are fucked. Want to know the really fun part? We’re kind of fucked anyway for two reasons.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask,” sighed Hravalin.

  “First,” Trav said, holding up one finger, “since this is an overlap, and it’s dead, the normal rules of veil-hopping don’t apply. The way Kin and others lose their power after crossing over to a different or incompatible veil? That won’t happen here. So normally if a powerful Kyvendi noble were to cross to another veil, they’d immediately start losing power, right?”

  Ysintrill nodded. “Yes, the more powerful a power is, the faster they lose power. This is why invaders to Asgard are usually weak and don’t stay long. And if they stay too long, they lose all of their power, like what happened to Jang-mi.”

  “Exactly. Now as far as I know, Bernacia doesn’t have any incredible powerhouses that could crush us all with a thought, but if this overlap has an access point in Kyvendi, like near a major city…”

  “Oh,” said Narnaste.

  “So what is the other thing,” asked Hravalin.

  Trav held up another finger. “Second, veils die. Nothing lives forever, even dimensions and forms of reality—”

  “What do you mean?” asked Ysintrill.

  Trav shook his head. “Don’t go digging too deep right now, I don’t entirely understand all of this myself, okay? I just know this is true. Anyway, this place is already dead. It doesn’t have energy left to sustain itself, which means it won’t exist much longer.”

  “It won’t exist?”

  “Nope.” Trav shook his head. “And you never know what might cause a chain reaction to create the collapse. Like a stacked deck of cards getting hit by wind.”

  Hravalin blinked before her eyes widened in horror. “And we have limited food, and limited wa
ter, and anyone who returns with nothing will be disqualified, and the world itself may end…”

  “You got it,” said Trav. “And it’s likely that you all will just lose any internal energy you use until we get back to Asgard. Someone is likely planning all three Guides to fail. What would happen if all three Guides fail?”

  “New Guides would be chosen,” muttered Hravalin.

  “Maybe even your sister Greeda, right?” Trav smiled without humor.

  “Someone, or someones are playing the long game,” agreed Yaakova. “There are multiple ways that someone could keep us from succeeding.”

  “There is just one good thing about all of this,” said Trav.

  “What’s that, Commander?” asked Bravoosa, speaking for the first time.

  “If there is a plan to knock out all three Guides, the North or South tribe, or maybe both might be sending assassins to kill the other Guides too. And more importantly, the other side doesn’t have valkyries.”

  Yaakova’s eyes shined. “I can finally transform again?”

  “Yes. Let’s leave this dome.” Trav produced Hex and made an opening in the earthen building so they could leave before he collapsed it. Then he moved to the hole that the soldiers had been digging and traced a simple rune equation in the air above it.

  “What’s that?” asked Narnaste.

  “In a few minutes, we will have a hole full of water,” explained Trav. “The world is dead, but there is still water deep down there somewhere. I’ve already confirmed it.” Trav turned and said, “Yaakova, want to do your thing? Get a good look at the area around us?”

  “Of course!” The harpy valkyrie began to shimmer, and moments later, she took to the air after transforming. Trav knew Yaakova was probably enjoying the way all the East tribe soldiers were pointing and gasping. Bravoosa even fell on her ass.

  Trav watched Yaakova fly with a critical eye. On one hand, air superiority was going to give his team a massive edge. On the other hand, someone might spot Yaakova easier since nothing else was moving in the sky, but Trav knew they had to take this risk.