by Angela Foxxe
“Well, since I’m going to be imprisoned for the rest of eternity, I’ll just go tell Hans to...”
“No you won’t,” Freyja interrupted as she noticed Valemon stalking towards the grey goddess. “If you value what little existence you will continue to have, you will not harm a hair on that mortal woman’s head -- either yourself, or by proxy.”
Angrboda trembled with anger. “Well, get on with it. Stop making me wait.”
“I can’t send you there on my own and you know it. You need to go to the dungeon in Asgard and wait for your transport. Tyr will be the one to transport you.” With that, Freyja pointed her sword at Angrboda and sent a bolt of energy towards her. The distinct scent of ozone filled Valemon’s nostrils as Freyja zapped Angrboda to the next realm. “Now, Valemon, we need to hurry. I know where your mate is, but you need to come along as well. There is only one way to save her now.”
She swung herself up onto Valemon’s broad ursine back and clutched onto the fur between his shoulders. “Let’s go, Valemon. They have taken her deep into the Iron Woods. We should stop at your home first to get some important items that will tie her to this world during the ritual to save her life.”
Valemon nodded as he loped along the grass towards the dark foreboding forest that he passed through on his way to the rune stone. He burst into the forest and growls filled the air as he was immediately ambushed by the two dire wolves that had escorted Angrboda earlier.
He felt the searing pain as one bit into his rump and the other snapped at his face to disorient him. He instinctively sat down to protect his hamstrings from the onslaught of the large canines. Freyja held on for all she was worth, while Valemon reared up and swatted the giant wolves with his massive paws. He smacked one of the six foot tall beasts so hard across its head that it went sailing into the massive trunk of a nearby cedar and fell with a sickening thud as its skull shattered against the wall of wood.
The wolf that had been harassing him from behind managed to grab hold of Freyja’s long braid in its powerful jaws and was pulling her backwards off Valemon’s back. She reached for her sword, grabbed her braid in a powerful hand and cut it off in one swift motion, sending the wolf tumbling backwards. Valemon then stepped on the disoriented animal, crushing its rib cage underneath his massive weight and killing it.
“I think we’re clear of them,” Freyja said as she assessed the situation. “You managed to kill both of them, that’s good. Let’s get to your home.”
Valemon grunted in agreement. He had a bad feeling about his cousin if Hans was able to spirit Rachel away from underneath his nose. He proceeded to find the path he had taken previously, but couldn’t find it. The dire wolves must have covered it up. He sighed and picked his way gingerly through the old growth of the forest floor trying not to dislodge his passenger by hitting a stray branch.
“You can hurry up, you know,” she said. “Don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself, just plow through this.” Freyja was feeling impatient and so was he. He charged through the thick growth, crashing as he went. A murder of startled crows lifted from the canopy as the fracas of the three ton bear barreling through the undergrowth reached them. He coursed through the forest, using his gargantuan paws to shove deadwood out of his way. He made much better time in bear form than he did in his human form, since he really didn’t care if he alerted the Ironwood Clan to his presence anymore. He had Freyja on his back and that’s what made all the difference.
The goddess sat perched on the great bear’s back with her falcon cloak streaming in the breeze as he tore through the forest. Her shorn blonde hair sparkled in the dappled sunlight and her necklace glowed from within due to her restrained fury.
Valemon finally reached the edge of the forest and saw the rough logs of the chalet. He saw the corpse of one massive dire wolf lying on the ground nearby; it had already begun to attract flies and its belly was distending with putrification. He avoided it at all cost. Freyja lightly jumped down from Valemon’s massive back and surveyed the area. “You can change back now,” she told Valemon as she searched for any more signs of the Ironwood Clan.
Valemon went through the agonizing process of shape shifting back into his human form. As he stood there buck naked, Freyja eyed him up appreciatively. “You definitely have the family resemblance,” she said with a sly smirk.
He blushed as the goddess of sex and war sized him up as he stood there naked. “Well, unfortunately we don’t have time to play or I would at least see if the family resemblance actually carried through in more than physical appearance,” he quipped. He would have been stupid to turn down any invitation Freyja offered. “We need to get in there to see if Igor is alive.”
She nodded and they both moved carefully to the front of the building. Valemon saw that the front door had been broken down and he peered inside. The front room was destroyed. The coffee table had been broken, the pictures hanging from the walls had been knocked down and the lamps were shattered, leaving pieces of broken pottery everywhere. He then heard a groan from inside. “Freyja, I think he’s alive.”
She walked in, sword in hand, since she was the only one of the pair still clothed and armed. “He’s over here,” she announced as she saw the broken and bloody form of Igor in his bear form sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. “Oh baby, what have they done to you?” she whispered, her voice thick with sorrow and compassion.
Valemon swore. “At least you put up a fight, cousin. Are you able to shift back?”
Igor looked at Freyja. “He says if he does he will probably die. I agree. He’s near gone, anyway.”
Valemon fought back tears, his oldest friend was on death’s door and the woman he loved was spirited away by the monsters that had done this. “We’ll get them for you, don’t worry,” he said thickly. “Who did this?”
Igor looked at Freyja once again and blinked slowly. “It was Hans. They don’t plan on harming her, but they will kill the baby. They took her and that’s all he knows. She didn’t come out of her numbness to fight back,” she translated for him.
Valemon nodded and punched the wall. “I want to gut that slime ball myself...,” he growled. “I can’t believe she didn’t come out of...”
Freyja cleared her throat. “That is my fault,” she said quietly. “I put her in the state to keep her from going insane as the baby grew. Its alien thoughts would have taken over eventually and driven her mad. She would have either killed herself, or you, or, well, many people. I didn’t want to take that risk. She was the first ever mortal human to carry a god's child this long and survive.”
Igor looked at Freyja. “Please take me, dear lady,” he thought to her. “I am in so much pain, I need to rest.” She choked back tears as she cradled the massive bruin’s head in her lap, stroking it gently and nodded.
He looked at Valemon one last time and blinked slowly. “You lost my boots, you dumbass. If I weren’t about to give it up, I’d go over there and kick your ass,” he projected. Freyja translated while choking back tears. She then placed her forehead against that of the massive blonde bear and whispered an incantation only known to her and one other. With tears streaming from her sapphire eyes, down her porcelain cheeks, she sent Igor’s soul to her hall in Asgard. The massive bear exhaled one last shuddering breath, and was no more.
Valemon fought back tears as his lifelong friend and cousin died before his eyes. Freyja cradled the brave man’s head in her lap as he lay there naked in human form. “He is amongst the first chosen. He will not want for anything in the afterlife,” she said, her voice shaking. “We need to get going, though, but we need to do something with his body or it will attract scavengers.”
“I’ll go pull on some clothes. I think we have a wooden rowboat down by our dock. We can put him in that and light it on fire like in the old days.”
“That seems fitting,” Freyja said sadly, as she looked at the peaceful smile on Igor’s dead face.
Valemon went upstairs and pulled on some of Igor’s clo
thes and fought a fresh pang of grief. He didn’t have time for this, he thought. He had to keep it together to get Rachel back. He raced back downstairs and went out the front door to look for the rowboat.
He spied it tied to the small dock that jutted out from the rocky lakeshore in front of the chalet. Valemon went back into the house and touched Freyja gently on the shoulder. “The boat is there, I’ll go find some gas to make it go up quicker.”
“No need,” she said as she rose from the bloodied floor. “I have my ways, remember?”
“Oh yeah, right,” Valemon said. “Well, can you help me move him? He’s a huge lug and...”
Freyja looked down at the dead man and nodded. “I can do that. Let’s go. You lift him under the arms and I’ll take the feet.” With that, they lifted Igor’s limp corpse and carried it outside to the rowboat.
Valemon grabbed a hunting knife and cut the rope that tied the boat to the pier and shoved it out into the lake. He felt a soft breeze touch his cheek as the boat drifted out into the open water. It almost seemed as if the breeze itself was pushing Igor’s body out to the middle of the large lake.
Freyja began to sing a dirge in a dialect so old that not even he could understand it. Suddenly, she raised her hands above her head and a fireball came crashing down from the heavens into the small rowboat that held Igor’s body. The small wooden craft erupted in white-hot flames as the scorching hot fireball engulfed the body within. “See, I told you I had my ways,” she said quietly while watching the body of one of her kin cremate.
Valemon placed his arm around the sorrowful goddess and said a final goodbye to his one and only friend on this earth, and vowed to disembowel the man who had made him suffer so much near the end.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Freyja and Valemon left the decimated chalet at first light. A light mist gently covered the area like a moist blanket as they traveled across the field towards the road leading away from the lake. “The Iron Woods are not very far,” she said. “It might take us a day to walk there.”
Valemon nodded and trudged alongside the beautiful goddess. “I hope we can get there in time.”
“Don’t worry; I made sure her pregnancy will not progress any further until we reach her. That way the dire wolves won’t be able to do anything except keep feeding her and wait. She will need the food and water they provide because she is so incredibly weak from the rapid growth of your cub.”
“Ah, makes sense, thank you.”
“You know, I wouldn’t have had to do that if you weren’t such an oaf and got her pregnant to begin with right?” she chastised.
“I needed the baby for Angrboda. If I didn’t, I would be locked in bear form forever, once I hit 50.”
“Well, luckily for you I handled that and now the child is all yours, provided both it and Rachel survive this,” Freyja said archly.
Valemon had nothing to say about that. He just kept walking resolutely towards the dark tree line in the distance. “Thank you for helping me. You have been neutral for so long in this I was beginning to give up hope.”
“Well, as I said, I’ve been away or else I would have been here sooner. Unfortunately, you’re now the last of your line.“
Valemon sighed heavily. She was right. If the baby within Rachel died, he would be the last. He wouldn’t dare put another human through what Rachel was going through. He was selfish and foolish.
“I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks so,” Freyja said, reading his thoughts.
“Would you please not do that, it sets my teeth on edge.”
“Sorry, force of habit. For someone with much Midgardian wealth, one would think you’d have transport available at all your domiciles.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think of that, I just never come out here. Seriously, this was more for Igor to get away, to be honest.” The fresh sting of his cousin’s loss still hit him like a ton of bricks. Valemon had grown up with Igor and his death wounded him greatly.
“Makes sense.” Freyja said. “I’m not averse to walking; I just thought we could get to where Rachel is being held faster if we had some form of transport.”
“You can’t hold on to her much longer can you?” Valemon asked.
“No. Even my power has its limits and the babe wants to go through another growth spurt. It would be its final one and it will need to be delivered. The birth will kill Rachel in her current state, and you know it.”
“Indeed.” Valemon sighed. “Can’t you just fly there?”
“Yes, but even though I’m from Asgard, I can still get wounded by those of Fenrir’s blood. I might not die, but I would need to go back to Asgard to recover. Hence why I need you, and I also think you might want a little personal revenge on Hans for what he had done to your cousin.”
“Definitely,” Valemon growled through gritted teeth as he increased his pace. “The fog is beginning to burn off. Let’s get a move on.”
Freyja smiled and picked up her pace. She enjoyed the fight as much as any of her family, if not more, especially if it was justified, like this one. She had no desire to see pointless death, like that of Igor, though. She wondered if Valemon would like her blessing for the upcoming fight. They still had enough time to make it before her control slipped. If anything, the break would help recharge her energy so she could keep a firmer grip on Rachel.
“Your feet are still injured,” Freyja stated after she had noticed Valemon limping. “We should rest.”
“I’m fine, really. I want to get to Rachel.”
“She’ll hold, don’t worry. I need to sit down and talk with you about that, anyway, and you need to eat something.”
Valemon’s stomach growled loudly. “I guess you’re right. I am pretty hungry.” They stopped and sat down on a tree stump while Valemon searched for some food in his backpack. “You want any?”
“No thanks. That’s not the way I need to recharge, so to speak,” Freyja replied. “Food is love, yes, but we gods need energy from a different source. We don’t really eat. We do eat food in the form of offerings, but it’s not the actual food that feeds us, but the love and devotion behind the offering.”
“Ah,” Valemon said, trying to understand.
“When we do something, it drains our energy. Just like when you mortals do physical activity or, in your case, shape shift. Whenever we do something that is considered 'miraculous', for lack of a better term, it takes a good portion of energy out of us.”
“Like what you’re doing for Rachel,” Valemon said quietly.
“Yes. Exactly. That is also why I’m unable to change into my falcon form. Most of my energy and attention is diverted to keeping her alive. I’m running out, though, and will need to return to Asgard soon if I can’t...recharge, I know it’s a bad term but that’s all I can think of right now.”
“So, what happens if you need to return to Asgard?”
“She dies,” Freyja replied bluntly. “I can’t maintain the link from there. That and the effort it will take for me to call Heimdall to send the bifrost down would take what’s left out of me. I’ll arrive in Asgard and need to be carried to my chambers. I do not relish that idea at all.”
Valemon swallowed hard. “So if you don’t recharge on food, but love and devotion, how can we get you to...”
“That’s where you come in,” she said with a smile. “You know I’m not just the goddess of war and the fallen, right?”
Valemon nodded and looked at his hands. “You mean...”
“Yes. But I’m not like Angrboda. If you don’t want to, I’ll understand. We’ll just have to move faster. Also, there would be a direct benefit for you, too,” Freyja continued.
“What would that be?” Valemon asked. “I’m pretty set for material wealth and all that.”
“How about another type of blessing? We’re going to be facing some pretty stiff resistance when we get to where she’s being held. Maybe an extra boost in the defensive department when you’re in bear form?”
Valemon smiled sa
dly. “That might be worth it. You sure this is the only way to keep her alive?”
“Well, short of having the wolves turn her into one of them.”
“We really don’t want that to happen.” Valemon sighed.
“No we don’t. I mean, I’ll hold on as long as I can, but after tomorrow at sunrise there’s no guarantee. She needs to hang on longer than that in order to birth a living child. If I recall, you thought to yourself the other day that if I offered, you wouldn’t refuse. Well I’m offering now,” she said as she began to unlace her hardened leather bodice.
Valemon closed his eyes. His body was aching and his only thoughts were of Rachel. He breathed heavily while trying to formulate his thoughts. Here was the goddess of sex and battle offering herself up to him. She was the only one keeping Rachel alive through her tumultuous pregnancy. If she had to go back to Asgard to recharge, Rachel, as well as the baby, would die. He didn’t want that to happen, but he didn’t want to cheat on her, either.
Wait, they weren’t even involved in a relationship so why was he thinking like that? Maybe it was because he hoped they could have been something before all this went down? He loved Rachel and would do anything to keep her alive and wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she perished. If she didn’t want to be with him after she had the baby, so be it. As it stood between them, it was still a business relationship and he had to keep her safe so she could have the child and move on with her life if she chose, forgetting about this horrific ordeal once and for all.
He gulped hard as he felt a strong hand caress his thigh. Freyja had been reading his thoughts again and knew of his internal struggle. She caressed his bearded face with her other hand, as she gently turned it towards her for a kiss. He felt a shock of electricity course through his body as her soft, velvet lips met his in a gentle embrace to gauge his willingness. He moaned as he opened his mouth and caressed Freyja’s lips with his soft tongue. His massive cock surged against his pants as her mouth opened in response and her tongue returned his caress.
