“Do you wish to slay me, Calder Avardsson? After I preserved the body and soul of your love?” The god’s tone is far from concerned that he carries a god-killing axe.
He is amused.
“I want to leave the Abyss with Aura.” Calder keeps his sights on him as he moves towards the altar. He risks glancing at the Princess, who has not shifted in her deathlike state.
“I did not say you could touch her yet, did I? We have more to discuss, Calder Avardsson.” While the shrouded god’s face remains concealed, the glint of a toothy smile is just visible beneath his cowl.
“I have nothing more to say. I accomplished what I came here to do.” He wants, no,demandsnothing more than to return to the mortal realm and be done with gods for a decade or two.
“You are in my realm.” The God of Death chuckles. “And I did not release you.”
Dense static surrounds them as the atmosphere shifts.
Calder shoulders the great axe and trudges toward Aura.
However, he doesn’t reach the altar.
Instead, he and the weapon are unceremoniously tossed back into the snow like rag dolls. Before he can scramble for the god killing blade, it vanishes. He fumbles in the snow when that bitter laugh draws his ire.
The hooded god clutches Makt’s Great Axe, tilting his head as he examines the long shaft.
“Lighter than it looks. Still barbaric.” He drops it beside Aura as if it were a twig. “I now have two items to negotiate with, Calder Avardsson. Are you ready to converse with me, or would you like to continue playing these games? I have an eternity to wait for your answer.”
Calder’s face burns with brutal humiliation at being treated like a child. He remains kneeling in the snow, finally feeling the frustration that he cannot channel his frost, and full of a rage rivaling Sigvid’s.
He takes his time to push to his feet and approach the King of the Abyss, using every mental impression of Aura to keep from ripping him to shreds.
“We have not been properly introduced, Calder Avardsson. I am Volund, God of Death, King of the Abyss, Master of the Underworld. There will be no trial to remember my titles, although I will respond to any of them.” He gestures with a black-gloved hand.
As much rage courses through Calder’s veins, his nerves have him on edge, standing before the God of Death. It was one thing to suspect this man might control the entire Abyss. It was another to face him, knowing he could rip the realms apart.
“I have a unique ability to look in on people on the mortal plane. You and your little band of misfits know at least a suspicion that my realm is not in a right state. Freyr has always been a dear friend, but I dislike hosting three other gods for the last millennium. You mortals are under a false understanding that there are four Draemonium in the Abyss. I assure you, there is only one, and I am very much a solitary fellow.”
Calder takes a deep breath to steady his words. “Are you the rightful head of the pantheon?”
Volund tilts his head to the side, his toothy smile still intact on his shrouded face. “Perceptive.” He shifts position, and the crackling of the air makes the Iss Drengr twitch slightly.
“I am very interested in your future, Calder Avardsson.”
“What would my future hold that could interest the God of Death?”
Volund steps forward, and the snow beneath his feet melts pastthe brown grass, moving to the cracked earth. “I have a throne to reclaim. You have a princess to rescue and a home to return to. I believe someone of yourcapacitycan assist me beautifully.”
Great, someone else wants to use me for my power.
Volund cackles. “Apologies for that. You are a tool. A potent tool, but a tool nonetheless.”
Can he read minds?
“I assume your next thought is that I am a mind reader. While I can read the runes far better than even Crystal, I do not degrade myself by ‘reading a mind.’ Rune interpretation is not some parlor trick to perform before wealthy lords. I know most things, Calder Avardsson. And I’m someone you don’t want against you.”
“What are you plotting?”
This time, Volund does not answer immediately. Even with his face hidden, he senses Volund sizing him up.
“When I want you to know, I shall tell you. For now, I will allow you to leave my realm alive and intact. You may collect your axe and your girl’s soul and return to her preserved body. But know this: you owe me one favor to be called upon whenever I see fit.”
I will do anything for Aura, even if it means being tethered to the God of Death’s chain.
