Baldur

Reflections Wlvn-7 part 2 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Wlvn looked frustrated. Baldur looked sympathetic.

“I know something of your Nameless one.” Baldur said, and appeared to think hard to remember exactly what he knew. Wlvn only paused for a moment.

“Anyway,” he said. “I’m just sort of frustrated. I’m sorry I was rude. What was it you wanted to tell me?”

“Why are you frustrated?” Baldur wondered.

“Well, it’s just…” Wlvn got his thoughts together. “I agree that the Titan has to go. This travesty of human slavery has to be ended, but I don’t understand. Why are you all expecting me to do the job? If you want to get rid of the Titan, why don’t you do it yourselves?”

“We can’t, and no, I cannot explain it right now, only trust me. We want this abomination ended as much as you, only we are depending on you to do it since you are not, strictly speaking, one of the gods.”

“I have to do it because I am not one of the gods?”

“Yes. And even that may be saying too much. I was told you were very clever.”

“Not by half.” Wlvn shivered before he confessed to Baldur’s questioning face. “The idea of coming face to face with the Titan scares me to death.”

Baldur nodded to say he understood. “All the same, I know you will try, and for the sake of my daughter whom I hardly know, I am grateful.” He laid his hands on Wlvn’s head then and Wlvn felt the courage rise up in his soul. This was not necessarily a good thing. He should have found his own form of courage in the course of his adventures, but as the saying goes, who can argue with the gods? He even managed a word.

“Thanks.” Then he had another thought. “I may need that courage against Loki.”

“Loki.” Baldur spoke in a not-too-kind tone of voice. “He was sent to spy on the Titan, but some of us know he is egging the monstrosity on. Of course, Odin won’t hear that.”

“I figured it was something like that.”

“Anyway, as for her name.” Baldur stepped aside to show a girl who appeared maybe Wlvn’s age, but she looked like such a little thing, she looked younger, topping out at five feet, if that. “It is Andrea. She is Greek.”

“Andrea. Greek? I thought you folks did not trade people between jurisdictions.”

“Between worlds?” Baldur confirmed what Wlvn meant by the word jurisdiction. “Normally we don’t. I had a whole story about her parents being traders and how she got stranded and how I hoped you could take her back to the land of Olympus. That story is planted in her mind and memory so you may hear about it, but the truth is, Aphrodite and Vrya had a long talk about the girl and told me that the girl would never be happy unless she came north. Naturally, I thought of you.”

“Aphrodite must be awfully young.” Wlvn mused.

“She is. That is why she discussed it all with Vrya, I suppose.”

“I feel like the stupid bachelor on the stupid television,” Wlvn said. “So now I am supposed to take her home to Greece and fall in love with her on the way, is that it?”

Baldur nodded. “More or less, but like the others, you aren’t supposed to marry her until after the Titan is killed.”

“But what if I already love someone else?” Wlvn asked.

Baldur stopped cold. “Do you?”

“No.” Wlvn admitted, but then he had to change his mind. It did seem like there was someone, somewhere, only that thought got blocked in his mind. He noticed the block. Still, he knew one thing needed to be said. “But Nameless is.” And suddenly, Nameless became accessible again, and Wlvn let him come through while he went away. Nameless immediately went to one knee and lowered his eyes. “Sir,” he said.

Baldur examined this new person of the Kairos with his eyes. “The others were right. It is remarkable the way you do that.”

“Sir,” Nameless said again, and Baldur paused to show that he was listening. “I intend to free Eir from Loki and the Titan, and when I do, I would like to ask for her hand in marriage.”

“What?”

“Just me. Not Wlvn or any of the others. Just me, and just my lifetime.”

Baldur knew that Nameless was in fact one of the Gods and that mollified things a bit. “But she is just a child.” He protested all the same. “She isn’t twenty. She can’t possibly know her own mind.”

“Some women know things from a very early age. Trust me, I know what I am talking about. Anyway, I won’t be born for around twenty-seven hundred years, so I suppose she will be old enough by then.”

“What? Oh, yes, I see. That does put a different perspective on things, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will think about it,” Baldur said and vanished. Nameless also went away and Wlvn came home to get the girl, Andrea, off her knees. He held out his hand, thinking that this poor girl must be grieving for her family and overwhelmed by all of the attention of the gods. He would have to be gentle with her.

“Don’t touch me!” Andrea yelled at him. “Just because the god brought me here, don’t think it was by my choice.” She got to her own feet. “You keep your hands to yourself, mister. I don’t want any part of you.”

Wlvn withdrew his hand and stepped back. “So, what do you want?” he asked, politely.

“I want to go home, and you need to take me there,” she responded sharply.

“I need to? I don’t need to take you anywhere”

“You wouldn’t leave me here. You wouldn’t dare anger the gods.”

“I didn’t ask for you. I have half a mind to leave the whole gang of tag-alongs here. Let Baldur and Mother Vrya and Dite and the rest deal with you all.”

“Mother Vrya? Dite?” Andrea looked at him and then looked down at her sandals for a moment. It was impossible to tell what went on in that mind.

“Aphrodite.” Wlvn took a deep breath. “It’s a long story. Anyway, we happen to be headed in your direction. I suppose you might as well tag-along too. Maybe the night creatures won’t eat you. I don’t imagine you would amount to more than a snack.”

“Night creatures?” Andrea looked up again, and then her face twisted back into her ornery state. “Hey, wait a minute!”

“Lord! Lord!” Badl came running around the corner. Moriah came with him, but she paused a moment to genuflect.

“Lord,” she said. Andrea held her tongue, but her eyes got very big.

“Skinny Wilken is talking about taking Elleya back to the Dnapr so she can swim back to the sea.”

Wlvn wanted to say something, but he couldn’t get a word out above Andrea’s scream. He tried to reach out for Andrea, to hold her and calm her down, but she looked at him and screamed all the more. Wlkn and Elleya came running, and she darted to them, thinking that at least these two were human. They brought her back to the fire and eventually got her to calm down enough so Wlvn could speak to Wlkn.

“You can’t go back to the Dnapr. The night creatures will get you for sure, and you don’t know the way.”

“I figure due east and we are bound to come to the river.”

Wlvn shook his head. “We go over the mountains. It is harder, but quicker.”

“But.”

“What did Mother Vrya tell you?”

“Oh.” Wlkn had forgotten that.

And at that moment, they heard Elleya explaining to Andrea. “Oh, no, dear. I’m a mermaid.” Andrea started screaming again and did not know which way to turn.

“I’m completely human.” Wlvn offered.

“You are not!” Andrea countered.

“Well, I am.” Wlkn said. “And you might as well get adjusted. I would have screamed a dozen times since we started this journey if I thought it would do any good. But these folks aren’t bad once you get to know them.”

“How can I trust you? she asked.

“How can you trust anyone?” Badl asked the pertinent question.

Andrea let out one more scream before she settled down.

“My name is Elleya.” Elleya said having completely missed everything. “Your words sound funny. Why do your words sound funny?”

“I don’t even know what words I am saying.” Andrea spoke to herself. “My family uses these words.” She spoke that in a completely different language and only Badl, Wlvn and Elleya understood what she said.

“If I talk to you in your own words, would you promise to stop screaming? You are giving poor Moriah a headache.” Badl asked while he rubbed his own forehead.

Andrea frowned at the dwarf and shifted her gaze toward Moriah to take in her long, black hair and her pointed ears. “Are you a real elf?” she asked, first in her own language and then again in the common tongue.

“Half elf.” Moriah said, shyly. “My mother was human.” Andrea said nothing but the expression on her face said something like, “Ewww!”

“I’m a mermaid.” Elleya repeated herself. “So tell us about your home and family. I have seventeen sisters and twelve brothers. We were all eggs together.”

Andrea turned her “Ewww!” face on Elleya, but she laughed. It was not exactly a healthy laugh, but not entirely a crazy one. After that, they turned to supper and bed. Andrea slept as far from the fire and the others as she could and still get some warmth against the November cold, when she finally slept.

The morning breakfast felt exceptionally quiet, and peaceful, Wlvn thought, until he heard the mournful wail of the baby in the distance. It had to be miles away, but it had clearly come to their side of the Dnapr and that meant trouble.

“We should make the Pivdenny Brgh before sundown. It has a river that is not too wide or deep, but it is deep enough, and swift.” Badl assured everyone.

“What?” Andrea asked, and they had to explain to her about the night creatures, and then about the horses. Andrea wanted no part of Wlvn’s hands at first. She feared he might hypnotize her, or make her into a slave, or something, but she quieted when he explained that it came originally as a gift from Poseidon, and it would not hurt her.

“My Poseidon?” she asked, and Wlvn confirmed, and he took a deep breath and laid hands on her to give her the knowledge of horses. Then he gave her Strn’s sturdy beast because Moriah had agreed to ride behind Badl on number two.

“What’s Pivdenny Brgh?” Wlkn asked as they mounted up because it seemed the first chance he had to ask.

“Deep old woods on high hills.” Badl answered. “Those hills lead right up to the edge of the mountains, though we won’t be crossing that way because the pass I know is still further south.”

“Anyone live there?” Wlkn asked as they rode.

Badl shrugged. “Few giants. Troll or two.” Wlkn let out a little shriek and Moriah gave Badl a sharp slap in the arm because he was not being helpful. “Okay.” Badl calmed the girl. “Wood elves. Nice folk if you like the sort.”

That was better for Wlkn, but Andrea looked frightened at that thought.

“They won’t hurt you,” Wlvn said to assure the girl.

“Do you promise?”

“The gods don’t make promises,” Badl said what he had heard, and Moriah slapped him again because he still wasn’t being helpful. Poor Andrea rode the rest of the day in silence, but that was all right, because Elleya more than made up for it. Wlvn often rode out on the point, as he called it, just to give his ears a rest.

Reflections Wlvn-7 part 1 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Wlvn got free of the firelight and began to count the stars.

“Beautiful night out, isn’t it?” A woman spoke. Wlvn turned toward her. He did not feel surprised by the visitation and assumed it had to be yet another one of the gods. He looked again at the stars and noticed that the moon had not yet risen.

“Yes. I was just wondering how my brothers and sister are doing,” he said.

“I suspect they are doing well. Vrya is very good with children, and her brother Vry is there to help her.” The woman looked up at the stars with him.

“And you are?”

“Nanna.”

“Of course, the moon has not yet risen.”

“Soon. I must rise soon into the midst of all of that starry splendor.” Wlvn held his tongue. “Sometimes I think I am the luckiest person in all the world, and I would be happy but for one thing.”

“I will try to rescue Eir.” Wlvn said it before she could ask. “That is one reason I am doing this.”

“You have many reasons.” Nanna sighed but looked relieved to hear those words. “I am glad you remember her.” A tear came to the woman’s face, and Wlvn could not remember seeing a god cry before; except Mother Vrya. Nameless saw Mother Vrya shed some golden teardrops a time or two. Even as he thought that Nanna began to rise from the ground. She paused long enough to place her hands gently on his head. “I know the others have already given you gifts, but I believe this may help most.” She let go and rose higher in the sky, but not before she said one more word. “There are four night creatures still behind you. I am sure Loki thought you would be dead by now. They have yet to cross the Dnapr, but it will be soon, perhaps by tomorrow evening. I am sorry. I cannot say more. Remember Eir.” That last was very faint, coming from so far away. As soon as she went out of sight, the moon began to rise. It looked nearly full, as Wlvn knew it would.

Wlvn felt sorry for the woman. Eir was her daughter, and as far as Wlvn knew, the girl had grown up in a cage, a childhood Eir’s mother Nanna, and father Baldur, would never know. “I will save her.” Wlvn felt that in his heart, but he knew it was Nameless speaking, and so he responded down the corridors of time. “I know you will.” He went back to the campsite in silence and lay down and slept. He dreamt about Vash, Perun, Zmey and spent the whole night hoping he did not run into that crowd.

They cut across country in the morning and there appeared to be animals on the hoof, everywhere, like a hunter’s paradise. Toward the evening, Wlvn called them to halt so he could do a little hunting and they could all do a little eating. Wlvn waved his cloak in the wind first to be sure it seemed only a cloak. The others watched. Then he reached into his cloak pocket, the one on the white side, and pulled out a bow and a dozen metal tipped arrows.

“Oh!” Elleya verbalized. “What a wonderful magic trick.”

“Next I’ll pull a rabbit out of my hat,” Wlvn said, and Elleya spent the next ten minutes looking for his hat.

The bow was not the fancy, compound bow he expected, but a much more primitive weapon. The arrows looked primitive too, and none of them silver tipped in the Artemis tradition, but they looked to be expertly made. Badl had his hand out.

When Wlvn handed him the bow, he hardly touched it before pronouncing his verdict. “Elf made,” he said. “Probably woodlanders, though I am sure your sword and knife were made by the dark ones under the earth.” He held his hand out again.

“I thought Hephaestus made all of this stuff,” Wlvn said, as he handed his weapons to Badl for examination.

Again, Badl barely touched them before he spoke. “The gods don’t make weapons, not needing them much. They made some at first for the Titan wars, but that was probably even before your time. Now it is just mostly armor and such to look good, you know. Ah! See here? This is the mark of Krom of Akalantis, and the long knife came out of Vesuvius. I am almost certain.”

“Not made by the Gods?”

Badl shook his head. “Strictly elf made. The gods never touched these.”

“Huh!” Wlvn felt surprised to hear that, but then he remembered Thor’s hammer would be made by elves or dwarfs as well, so it was not that much of a surprise.

“By the way,” Badl said, and he reached up while Wlvn leaned down to examine his weapons. “I got something for you.” He laid his hands on Wlvn’s head and took Wlvn completely by surprise. “Tyr, the God of War told me to manifest and stick with you, to help if I could, and he gave me a present for you. No idea what it is, but he said I should put my hands on your head and that would do it.”

Wlvn sat and shook his head. Now, he knew everything he needed to know about swords, knives, bows and arrows, spears, and a dozen other weapons he never heard of before, and he knew how to use them all, and how to fight like a true warrior. Of course, it would all take practice, but suddenly, Diogenes no longer needed to teach him. He looked at Badl and his look was not exactly kind. Badl cringed a little.

“It never came up before,” Badl offered an excuse.

“And all that business when we first met, about hiding and wanting to eat the horses and all?”

“Yeah, well, you had Wlkn with you. I don’t traffic much with humans. They stink, no offense. And horses do make good eating. I wasn’t lying, but I see they got other uses, too.”

“And that business about how we had to hurry and leave that place?”

“It was true.” Badl defended himself, but he backed down a little under Wlvn’s stare. “But I was going with you, I was.”

Wlvn shook his head again and wondered what the gods were doing to him. First the horses and now the weapons. He could breathe underwater, and frankly, he was afraid to try Thor’s gift of strength, figuring he could probably pull a mature tree right out of the ground, roots and all. He was not sure what Frigga or Nanna gave him, but he imagined it was something to help him against the Titan. He guessed that was what this was all about, but if they kept this up, soon there would hardly be anything human left in him. Even if Ydunna’s golden apples were not effective in turning him into one of the Gods, he was getting to be near enough that way all the same by the slow gift method.

“Hell,” he said, and took everything back. He replaced his weapons; and then he strung his bow and twanged the string once or twice to get a good feel for the weapon. It was certainly far better than anything his village could make, and with that, he turned toward the wilderness only to see Moriah come jogging into the camp with a roe deer over her shoulders. Wlvn’s first thought was this girl had to be stronger and in much better shape than he thought. His second thought was, “Hey!”

“I figured you were going to talk away the hunting time. I had to teach myself to hunt when Mother got sick, but I think I got pretty good with the bow. I took this one with one arrow. Of course, I had to use three on the big cat that wanted to take this deer away from me.”

Wlvn frowned. He handed Moriah his long knife. “Help yourself,” he said, and as an afterthought, he added, “Good job.”

“Thanks.” Moriah responded with a big smile. “You know, you’re all right even if I’m not going to marry you.” She immediately began to cut up the deer for the fire.

“Never fear.” Wlvn responded as he unstrung his bow and put it away in his magical cloak pocket. “It is against my religion to marry any of my own, even half and halfs.” He looked at Badl and Badl hid his grin.

“I’m not yours.” Moriah spoke softly, with her mind on her work, not really paying attention to her own words. “I don’t belong to anyone but myself.” Moriah’s cheeks reddened a little and she paused. Her eyes got big. She looked at Wlvn again as if for the first time, but he wandered off for some alone time.

“Never you mind,” Badl told Moriah. “He is our god, god of all the elves and dwarfs. That’s just your elf blood talking to you. Better you pay attention to what you are doing before you spoil my supper.”

Moriah’s eyes shot back to Badl. They were still big at first, but quickly got small again as she looked down and appeared very submissive, as she had been taught. She smiled and her face reddened around her freckles and the points of her ears. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I got lots of cooking practice for Mother and the old lady. You will get plenty.”

“Know how to make deer bacon?” Badl asked.

Moriah looked up again with a sad expression and shook her head. “No.”

Badl rubbed his big hands together and grinned. “Allow me to show you,” he said, and they went at the deer together.

Wlvn looked back once and saw Badl and Moriah in a deep discussion about the food. Elleya and Wlkn were beside a tree, talking quietly to each other; well, Elleya talked and Wlkn listened, but still, Wlvn thought this could work out very well, and most importantly, he would not have to marry either girl. He smiled, but only briefly. Obviously, the girls were yet another thing the gods were tempting him with. Kill the Titan and marry the girl of your choice; or maybe both if you want them. Yet, for the life of him, Wlvn could not figure out why the gods didn’t just kill the Titan themselves. He walked away from the camp with the hope of getting a bit of time to consider all of this when he ran smack into a man who seemed to be waiting for him. Wlvn took one look and had no doubt about who he was seeing. Baldur was reported to be the most beautiful of the gods, and that was true, if you did not count his daughter, Eir.

“Good evening.” The god said as he looked innocently at the sky. “It looks like a lovely evening, nice clear sky. The stars should be out soon, and the moon is nearly full.”

Wlvn let out his biggest frown. “I already talked to your wife. I will be trying to save Eir. So, what is the girl’s name? And here…” Wlvn leaned over, not in a bow, but to put his head within easy reach of Baldur’s hands. He became terribly rude.

“I’m sorry?” Baldur looked taken aback.

“No, I’m sorry,” Wlvn said, as he straightened up, and had a change of heart. “I apologize. I’m just frustrated.”

Baldur looked at Wlvn closely and seemed to have a revelation. “You’re not five hundred years old, are you? You are just a young human boy after all.”

Wlvn had to think a minute before he nodded in agreement. “It doesn’t add up that way, exactly. In fact, right now I remember seven lifetimes, but they are all lives I will live in the future. I don’t remember any lives at the moment that I lived in the past, except maybe Faya, and the most recent, Kartesh. And that is seven future lives only if I count Amphitrite and Nameless, who I haven’t heard from in a while…”