Chaos God 6, page 2
part #6 of Chaos God Series
I thought about how much stronger my shifting magic had been in both of the chasms, and I remembered how I’d discovered my new ability to summon weapons to myself in the Helheim chasm. It was incredibly beneficial to have the added strength the chasm and altars allowed.
I wondered if we could construct an altar at Castle Levi, or even a few of them, to boost my abilities while there. I also wondered if magical altars like that would give Sylmarie a boost, too. I didn’t understand how her magic worked at all, so I couldn’t know for sure, but it was probably worth asking her about it.
Maybe if an altar like this could help Sylmarie, she could get a look at whatever was in the depths of the Niflheim chasm.
I was still waiting to hear if Nae had found anything useful about the issue in the books the dark elves had stashed in their armory, but at this point, I wasn’t especially hopeful she would find anything.
I was pretty sure I was going to go blindly into this situation, and part of me wanted to let sleeping bears lie. The idea of letting whatever was down there stay there had appeal, but it came with plenty of risks that I definitely didn’t like.
I’d been on Asgard long enough to know that if there was some kind of aggressive creature out there, it was going to eventually find its way to me.
No, I needed to figure this situation out before it came after me. If there was any chance I could keep an element of surprise on my side, it was probably worth it.
I sighed as I turned my thought back to the potential of a stone altar at Castle Levi.
“Do you and the other dark elves still have the ability to create new stone altars?” I asked.
“Yes, but that wouldn’t be ideal,” Lyrie said, and it was clear she thought I was asking in case one of these broke. “It would be best if we could keep our altars intact. It takes a lot of energy and power to produce a new stone altar.”
“Right,” I said. “That makes sense. I was just wondering if it might be worth it to construct some new ones for Castle Levi. The castle is pretty far from both of the chasms, so there’s no benefit from them there, and it would be nice if I could have access to more strength.”
“Oh, I see,” Lyrie gasped with understanding, and she tapped a finger on her pointed chin. “Hmm. I do not know for certain. These altars were all constructed before I came of age. I suppose it is possible, though. With the right materials, and enough demon blood…”
“Do you think Emneth would have a better idea of how difficult it would be?” I asked.
“Yes, she would be the one to ask,” Lyrie confirmed. “Emneth is the most powerful magic user in our village, second only to Nae.”
“It’s hard to beat a Valkyrie,” I chuckled.
“Yes.” Lyrie grinned.
As if we’d summoned them, Elora, Nae, and Emneth walked toward us. The two Valkyries’ metallic wings were tucked casually against their backs, and I smiled at how often Elora had taken to wearing hers after Nae’s light-hearted scolding on the matter.
Elora had waited decades for her wings, and when she finally earned them, she’d struggled to feel completely worthy of the honor. One good talking-to from the older Valkyrie had been enough to convince Elora of how much of a total badass she was. My silver-haired lover was watching the older Valkyrie from the corner of her amber-red eyes, and I could see the admiration clear on her face.
Elora had lost all of her Valkyrie sisters in the horrors of Ragnarok, and I knew how much it must mean to her to have found another Valkyrie alive and well after all this time.
“How’s the packing going?” I asked.
“Very well,” Elora replied. “Emneth says the deconstruction of the altars is on track, and the rest of their belongings are mostly ready to go.”
“That’s great,” I sighed with relief. “Lyrie was explaining to me how the altars work, and I was wondering if it would be possible to construct some new ones for Castle Levi?”
Lyrie, Elora, and Nae all looked to Emneth to see what she thought, and I could see the gears turning behind her red eyes as she considered the prospect.
“I do not see a reason why it would be impossible,” Emneth mused after a moment. “The position of the altars is as important to their function as the construction of the stones. I would have to see the castle and feel around for the magic there before I could know for certain.”
“Well, we can certainly arrange that.” I smirked.
My companions smiled as a wave of hope for the future washed between us, but it was gone as quickly as it had come when a sharp and bitingly cold wind rushed through the village.
The gust of frigid wind blew Elora’s silvery hair all around her face, and Lyrie pushed her white hair off her own face as she shivered. I glared at the assaulting wind as it slammed into us from the north, and I knew exactly what was causing the freezing air currents.
“Shit,” I hissed. “Frost giants.”
Chapter 2
“Is that–” Elora started to ask.
“Frost giants,” I confirmed. “Move!”
I trusted Elora, Nae, Emneth, and Lyrie to spread the word to the members of the village, and I started to run north toward the harsh wind.
In between one stride and the next, I urged my body to begin to grow until I was five times my usual size. Enormous leathery dragon wings sprouted from my shoulder blades as my toes extended into long and sharp talons. I allowed the muscles of my arms to thicken and strengthen as I retained the human form of my hands, and I reached out to summon my sword and morning star from where they rested in the dark elves’ armory.
In the span of two long strides, my body had shifted into a monstrous form, and now I could hear the thundering, stomping feet of the frost giant.
I flapped my leathery wings hard, and I took off into the air among the urgent shouts of the dark elves as they prepared to join me in the battle.
Elora’s shining silver hair was easy to pick out among the dark-skinned elves as they raced north below me, and I nearly fell out of the sky when I turned my eyes toward the chasm.
A single frost giant had made it all the way to the surface, and it was climbing out of the chasm like an obese man out of a swimming pool. The creature grunted from the exertion of hauling its massive body up over the cliff’s edge, and I banked hard to the left.
“It’s out of the chasm!” I screamed down to my companions on the ground below.
Elora and Nae obviously understood the severity of that news because they both extended their metallic wings and took off into the air.
“Oh, Odin’s ghost!” Nae gasped as she ascended toward me.
“Only one?” Elora asked.
“Looks like!” I shouted over the frigid wind.
“I’ll tell the others!” Elora replied, and she dove back toward the ground where Emneth, Lyrie, and the other warriors were preparing.
I turned my eyes back to the massive creature, and I shuddered at what I saw.
The frost giant’s enormous, icy-blue eyes were clear and intelligent as it pushed itself to its full height. The beast was as tall and thick as the other frost giants we’d slaughtered last week, and he was obviously male beneath the filthy loincloth he wore. The massive creature turned and looked over his shoulder at the depths of the chasm, and when he turned south again, there was terror clear on his ugly face.
“What?” I hissed between my teeth.
The frost giant pushed itself away from the cliff’s edge like a mouse scurrying from a python, and I shuddered to think it was running from whatever blocked Sylmarie’s sight. In a few gigantic strides, the frost giant ran through the forest, and he took down most of the trees along the way.
“It’s coming!” I hollered to the dark elves below, but they were already retreating from the direction of the chasm.
Huge evergreen trees were knocked over like dominos as the frost giant fled from Niflheim, and I banked hard to keep up with the bastard.
The frost giant sucked in an enormous breath, and he blasted out a gust of sub-zero temperature at the trees in his path. The trees in front of him turned into instant Popsicles, and they shattered into a million sharp shards when he barreled through them.
He moved with a force and momentum that terrified me, and I could only hope the dark elves who weren’t fighting had enough sense to flee the village.
A second later, Emneth blasted a bright beam of light from the end of her bone staff, and it punched into the giant’s throat like a battering ram. It looked like it hardly made any impact on the massive beast, but his footsteps did slow down a little as he emerged from the forest.
“Food,” the frost giant grumbled in a booming voice.
His huge chest expanded as he sucked in another breath, and I knew he was about to blast out another freezing breath.
“Ice breath!” I roared.
The few villagers who were in the line of fire threw themselves out of the way, and they seemed to all make it just in time. The frigid wind slammed into the dark elves’ stone houses, and the structures were quickly encased in huge blocks of ice.
“Give him everything you’ve got!” I ordered the warriors.
I spotted a dozen dark elf archers drawing their bows, and a volley of dark wood arrows flew through the air as I soared around the frost giant’s head. Most of the arrows bounced off his thick skin, but a few crammed into the softer skin under his chin. One dark wood arrow found a good mark, and it wedged squarely into the frost giant’s left pupil.
“Aaahhh!” The frost giant grabbed at his face as he screamed. “Tiny food, you hurt me!”
“Shit,” I hissed at the obvious intelligence of this frost giant, and I recalled the youngest of the three we’d defeated before.
I lifted my sword as I soared around the back of the frost giant, and I went in for a long cut under the enormous bastard’s right arm. I didn’t know if he’d heard me, or if it was just a coincidence, but he pivoted slightly and threw his beefy arm out right as I flew past.
The frost giant’s cold skin slammed into my side, and he knocked most of the wind from my lungs.
“Ugh!” I grunted.
I tumbled through the air from the blow, but I managed to right myself before I hit the ground. With a sharp flap of my leathery wings, I pushed myself back into the air.
“Archers!” I shouted. “Emneth! Lyrie!”
The archers drew their bows again as Emneth prepared another brutal blow from the end of her staff. The archers aimed for the frost giant’s face and throat, and several more dark wood arrows found homes in the massive beast’s cold flesh.
“Aaahh!” Emneth released a fierce battle cry, and her bone staff glowed with the light of her attack.
The powerful magical beam shot through the freezing air, and it slammed into the frost giant’s nose. A sickening crunching sound thundered through the air, and I knew the giant’s nose was broken.
“Gaaaah!” the giant raged, and he clutched at his face again.
A second later, a river of blue blood poured out of the beast’s nostrils, and the giant stamped his massive feet in pain.
“My nose!” the giant screamed, and his voice was a shockingly cold burst of air.
The giant’s freezing breath shot out well above the heads of my companions, and a hailstorm of sharp icicles rained down all around the village. The dark elves ducked for cover at the edges of their stone houses and behind log piles and wooden crates, and I heard only a few short cries of pain.
I listened for a second, and I was relieved I didn’t hear any blood-curdling screams that would have indicated fatal wounds. It sounded like the few injuries were probably minor, and I could continue focusing on killing the frost giant before anyone was more seriously hurt.
In the few seconds it took me to assess all this, the giant had regained his composure, and he was staring down at Emneth with vengeance in his cold eyes.
“You!” The frost giant pointed one meaty finger directly at the red-eyed elf.
“I kill you now!”
“Go ahead and try!” Emneth shouted through clenched teeth.
A split second later, the giant’s enormous foot was barreling toward Emneth’s body. She curled into a ball, rolled out from under the giant’s shadow, and pushed back to her feet just at the edge of the giant’s crushing foot.
I started to push myself toward the giant’s face as it turned an angry shade of purple under the river of blue blood, and the giant sucked in another colossal breath.
With a hard flap of my wings, I bridged the distance between myself and the ugly bastard’s face, and I hooked the spiked ball of my morning star into the corner of his blue lips. My knuckles turned white from how tightly I gripped the handle of my weapon as I pushed past the giant’s shoulders, and I dragged his mouth with me.
The giant’s frost breath burst out just behind me, and I could feel the rush of freezing air at the edges of my wings. A shiver raced through my entire body at the primordial fear of what would happen if that icy wind came in contact with my skin.
Once I had fish-hooked the frost giant away from turning Emneth into a frozen statue before our eyes, I ripped the morning star through the flesh of the giant’s mouth.
“Oooowww!” the giant screamed as a fresh river of blue blood rained down onto the snowy ground. “Now I angry!”
His words were slurred from the damage to his monstrous lips, and blue-tinted spittle flew out in every direction.
Another round of dark wooden arrows flew through the air, and I searched for both Valkyries in the fray.
Nae held her broadsword in an offensive position as she soared through the chilly air, and she veered sideways as she sliced the razor-sharp end of her sword through the meat of the giant’s shoulder blades. A split second later, Elora followed right behind her, and my silver-haired lover tore the edge of her spear a foot below Nae’s wound.
“Aaaaaahhhh!” the frost giant roared, and his towering frame bent into an awkward C-shape as his body tried to escape from the pain in his spine.
Blue blood rained down on the ground, and the blood and snow were turning into a sheet of ice at a dangerous pace.
That’s when I saw Lyrie had scrambled to the top of one of the stone houses. She held her bone totem in one hand and gestured in a wide circle with the other as her lips pulled back into a grimace with the effort of her magical attack.
The giant’s monstrous body was tense, and his face was turning purple again as he tried to push himself closer to Lyrie.
“What you doing?” the giant sneered with rage as he forced one foot through the snow.
Lyrie didn’t answer, and a single bead of sweat rolled down her temple as her hands started to tremble from the effort.
I’d seen Lyrie use her magic to rip monsters apart like ragdolls before, so I knew she was trying to pull the entire frost giant limb from limb with her magic, and I also knew it wasn’t going to work. A vein popped out of her forehead, and it looked like she was holding her breath from the exertion.
Without a second of hesitation, I dove down toward the giant’s skull with my skin-rending sword.
“Emneth! Another!” I shouted, and I looked around until my eyes locked on Elora’s amber-red gaze. “Together!”
They understood my command, and in near-perfect unison, Emneth, Elora, Nae, and I attacked the giant’s paralyzed form.
Nae and Elora pierced and stabbed through the tendons and ligaments in the frost giant’s shoulders as Emneth delivered another crushing blow to his nose, and I slashed the length of my blade straight across his throat.
His face exploded away from his skeleton like a water balloon in slow motion, and an ocean of blue blood poured out in every direction. Between the dissection at the back of the giant’s neck from the two Valkyries, and the demon blood-fueled power of my sword at the front, his flesh was destroyed in a matter of seconds. The torn-off skin of the frost giant’s head flung into the air like some kind of disgusting Frisbee, and it hurtled a few dozen yards before it plopped back onto the snow like a wet towel.
“Oooh,” one of the dark elves groaned at the sight.
A second later, I heard retching, and I knew someone had lost their breakfast to the horrific sight. I couldn’t take my eyes off the skinless skull of the frost giant as his blue eyes continued to stare for a second before any evidence of life disappeared.
“He’s going down!” I shouted.
The massive form of the beast swayed like a sickly tree in the wind for another moment before his knees finally gave way, and the enormous corpse began to fall. The giant’s dead body collapsed onto the frozen-over homes of the dark elves, and the crunch of bone on stone echoed through the valley.
A gigantic cloud of snow and dust puffed up all around the huge corpse, and it took a moment for it to settle. When the air was finally clear, I scanned the group of my companions to see if we’d lost anyone. My eyes immediately landed on Elora and Nae beside one another, and then I spotted Emneth at a safe distance.
Panic tried to rise in my throat, but I pushed it down as I tried to remember exactly which house Lyrie had been standing on.
The village was unrecognizable after the destruction and with the giant corpse in the middle of it, but then I spotted Lyrie’s stark white hair.
“Fuck,” I breathed with relief, and I was surprised to find how worried I’d been about the dark elf.
I flew down to the ground, and I landed beside the Valkyries amidst the relieved sighs of the dark elves.
“King Levi, you saved us once again,” one of the dark elf archers whose name I couldn’t remember said.
“I didn’t do it alone,” I insisted, and I opened my arms for Elora to come to me.
My silver-haired warrior breathed shakily as she stepped into my arms, and one of her hands lay protectively over the small bump of her lower abdomen.
“You okay?” I whispered into her pointed ear.
Elora buried her face into the curve of my shoulder, and she nodded.
“Yes,” my pregnant lover sighed. “I do not know why I am so shaky.”
“Hormones,” I assured her, and I pulled back to give her a warm smile. “It’s part of the pregnancy, I bet.”
