NOVEL WEB The island of Lyngvi!
*Vol.1: Tales of a God.
Chapter 18 - The island of Lyngvi!
Here is the new chapter!
Thanks for waiting!
Without further ado, enjoy the chapter peasant!
- 30 minutes later...
- Location: Niflheim.
Pov. Thor.
After I adopted the goats and instructed them not to return to Hvergelmir, Sif and I headed towards Móðguðr to finally cross Gjarllarbrú. When we crossed, it was noticeable that we were now in the land of the dead.
How did we know? Well... Niflheim was known as the land of ice, home of Ymir while he lived and, most importantly, it was still considered the realm of the living... However, when one crosses Gjarllarbrú, the landscape... 'changes'.
The phrase, 'leave all hope, ye who enter', never made so much sense in this situation.
The realm of the dead is a place destined for all souls who have failed to go to the Valhalla hall of the Aesir or the Sessrumnir hall of the Vanir gods.
Souls remain in the river Gjöll, with some having the right to reincarnate to prove themselves worthy of going to the feast halls of the gods... Souls that are not reincarnated remain in the river until they reach Amsvartnir, where they will remain there until they are transformed in Draugr and arise on the coast of Amsvartnir, named Náströnd.
Mist covers the entire realm, teleport runes and Odin's 'vision' are interfered with by this mist rising from Amsvartnir; flying through runes was also useless, because according to Sif once you started flying... The mist would transport you to Gjarllarbrú again.
An interesting fact about the land of the dead? It's quite different from the hell mentioned in the bible; in fact, it's more of a... cold land.
And when I say cold, I'm not referring to Niflheim's cold... It's much worse.
It even seems to freeze your soul.
Anyway, when Sif and I finally arrived in Amsvartnir.
We began to search the entire coast, as Sif described it, for a rune carved into the ground.
It took a while... But we finally found it.
And just in time actually, Sif was afraid Níðhöggr would show up.
As soon as we activated the rune, a part of the lake Amsvartnir froze and a kind of 'bridge' formed.
"Once again I'm going to ask you... Are you sure about this Thor?" asked Sif looking at me.
I smiled.
"... More than ever... I don't know if there will be another rune in Lyngvi to form this bridge... So I'll go ahead to check, if there is another rune, I already thank you for your company and you can go back to Valhalla. But if there is no rune, then you will have to wait... As you can't stay in Náströnd either, as it is Níðhöggr's 'dining table'... So I'll be as quick as possible and try to be brief with Fenrir, I think about 5 minutes will be enough" I said.
Sif just nodded.
I then activated the Raiton no Yoroi and quickly ran across the bridge until I saw the island.
As I was reaching the end of the 'Ice Bridge' I realized there was something at the end.
Was it a... Dog?
Definitely not Fenrir.
I slowed down and then deactivated the 'armor'... It looked like he noticed me now.
And began to growl.
"GRR"
"Very well then... Hostile attitude deserves a hostile response..." I said, narrowing my eyes.
The creature leaped towards me.
I responded by removing the Mjolnir from my belt and tapping his jaw while he was airborne.
The result was that his head exploded in... ice?
And it looked like the 'lifeless' body was 'growing' a new head.
Does this thing regenerate?!
"…I don't exactly have a lot of time for this," I said.
I then activated the 'lightning armor' again and scanned the coast of the island of Lyngvi.
I found the other rune... It was inside a cave, which appeared to be the creature's 'home'.
Not bad then.
I then returned towards Sif, she was still on top of the rune.
As soon as I appeared, she looked at me in surprise.
"... You've returned already? So there's a rune on the other side?" asked Sif.
I nodded.
"Yes…I can handle this now, alone. But first, can you get off the rune?" I asked.
It couldn't be that easy, otherwise, Fenrir wouldn't need to be trapped on an island.
Sif then got off the rune.
When I looked towards the bridge, I started to count...
It didn't get past 2 seconds.
The bridge began to melt and became the 'black water' of lake Amsvartnir again.
So It HAD a time.
"...Well...That was...Insightful, when I discovered the bridge I ran towards my team, but when I got back it was gone...We weren't lucky to double-check as Níðhöggr chose to wake up at that time" he said. Sif.
"... By the way... What were you doing so close to Náströnd?" I asked curiously.
Náströnd is not a forbidden place like Lyngvi... But it was still the place where Níðhöggr fed on the Draugr that came up from the lake, so there was a consensus that it was a relatively dangerous place.
"We were on a mission actually... A dwarf named Andvari entrusted us with a very important mission, the mission was to capture a Draugr" replied Sif.
Andvari? Capture a Draugr? That doesn't make sense... Draugr, rare as they are, there aren't many things they can offer... One of those things is your blood, and yet not all Draugr have blood, only the 'freshest' who have just left Náströnd have a small amount of blood, the longer a Draugr spends wandering in the forest of the dead the less chance of getting blood from it.
But why did Andvari want a captured Draugr?
"... Sif... Out of curiosity... Did your group receive any more information on this mission?" I asked.
"... You know how we work Thor, 'no questions, just the mission'... Although I was also curious, as I've never seen this type of mission" explained Sif, who then began to reflect.
I really don't know if I should get involved... But it's better to ask Odin about it.
But right now, I have other priorities.
"Thanks for helping me, but now I'm more than able to cross the bridge without needing any help... So I thank you for your help Sif" I said, nodding.
Sif just replied.
"No need to say thanks, after all, we are... Friends... It's been a long time, so it's not like it's a big deal to help each other" said Sif, smiling, before saying goodbye and starting to walk towards the forest path that led to Gjarllarbrú.
She was right.
Of all the people I've met, Sif is my oldest friend, as well as the closest.
After all, I was never close to others, even my brothers. The reason?... They were idiots when they were younger, actually, they are still dumb... Even Vidar.
In fact, Vidar only became more aware of his actions when he fought me.
How did this happen? Well...
When I was in my thirties, I had just 'fought' Sif... And he thought it would be fun to do the same thing.
A month later I was in my room when suddenly my mother Frigg appeared and told me that Sif was in serious condition in the healing chamber. I was surprised and asked what had happened... Her answer?
Vidar had forced Sif to fight and played with her during the match....until Sif landed a right hook to Vidar's face and he retaliated.
Frigg had informed me, as she knew that Sif was a good friend of mine. I asked how she knew about Sif's fight against Vidar, and her answer made me a little disappointed about my brother... It was because Vidar had returned bragging that he had won and told everyone that he was as strong as I was.
I didn't believe it.
After all, it was a ridiculous answer.
As soon as I got out of bed to go over to Vidar and ask for his version, my mother spoke the following words to me: 'I know you're going to ask Vidar... You may be the 'youngest', but you're more mature and responsible than your older brothers... I beg you then... If I am telling the truth... Please don't overdo it'; that was what she said.
I just agreed and left looking for Vidar.
I found him in Valhalla, drinking and mocking the fight... Saying how pathetic the 'most promising einherjar' of the future generation was.
It was at this point that I knew Frigg had spoken the truth.
... Another thing Frigg said was also true, was that I acted like the 'responsible older brother' even though I was younger than Hérmod, Vali, and Vidar.
I then accepted this 'big brother' role... And as a 'good big brother' teaching the 'younger brother', there is a saying:
Never let the 'little shit' get too confident.
I challenged Vidar to a fight; he was drunk when he accepted the challenge...
According to Tyr, who trained the three eldest princes, Vidar never again mocked his defeated opponents and came to respect them.
I suppose a good spanking and fifteen days confined in a healing chamber did well for his personality...
Anyway, when I got back to my thoughts, I soon headed towards the rune to activate the 'Ice Bridge'.
As soon as it started to form, I activated the 'lightning armor' and 'stopped time'.
Crossing the bridge was very simple at this speed.
It was only when I got to the other side that I deactivated the 'Raiton no Yoroi' and the effect of 'Za Warudo' was gone.
And it looked like the dog-like creature had completely regenerated, and when it saw me... It started to run away.
"Well…I suppose that makes things easier," I said, shrugging.
I soon started walking along a small path. As I walked, I started having thoughts... not so necessary.
"...Hmm... Should I give Fenrir a new nickname?...Sparky?...Fluffy?...Droopy?...Hmm...So many options...But I think it would be better to 'cross over that bridge only when I reach it'" I said in finality.
After a while of walking, in the distance, I could see a kind of castle.
A castle a little... too dark for my taste.
Definitely, Fenrir wasn't there... But if people are living here then they probably know where Fenrir is chained.
So I headed towards the castle.
And as soon as I approached...
"Stop right there! Who are you? And what is your purpose in Éljúðnir?!" shouted a voice nearby.
*Slap*
"Idiot! Don't treat our lady's possible guests like that!" shouted another voice.
I turned towards the voices and saw a man and a woman... who was walking slowly towards me.
A baby crawling across the floor was faster than these two.
"*sigh* Look, I don't want to disturb... So I'll be short and straight... Do you know where Fenrir is?" I asked.
This seemed to surprise the man.
"Fenrir?! The god slayer?! The wolf of the end?! The first beast of Ragnarok?! The older brother of the queen of the underworld?!" asked the surprised man, it looked like he was hyperventilated.
I nodded quickly.
"Yes! So do you know where he is?" I asked quickly, the faster I find Fenrir the faster I get out of here.
"Nope" replied the poker-faced man.
... This dude...
I ran towards him, which seemed to surprise him, and then I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
"Are you kidding?!" I asked, and started shaking him.
The woman then tried to grab my arm to make me let go of the man.
"Please stop! We really don't know! We just know WHO he is! We don't know where he is!... But we know of someone who does!" tried to explain the woman quickly.
That last statement was helpful.
I lowered the man and put him down again, but I didn't let go.
"...Who are you talking about?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"…Our Lady…" replied the woman.
"And who is 'your lady'?" I asked suspiciously.
"The queen of the underworld…Hel" replied the woman.
Well... Looks like Loki's daughter has been busy these years...
Well... That's it, folks!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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Forgive me in case of grammatical errors... I tried. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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