Chaos God 8, page 25
part #8 of Chaos God Series
“Of course, dude,” I said with a grin. “You know I’m good on my word. Besides, this world is under my protection now.”
“I know you didn’t want to freak people out by telling them there’s more giants out there and shit…” Johnny said. “But you can tell me, are there more big threats like that? I mean, there’s gotta be something if you’re vowing to protect Earth, right?”
“I’ll be honest with you,” I sighed. “I don’t know. As far as I’m aware there aren’t any more primordial giants out there, but I’ve seen a lot in the last year. Enough to know that things can change fast.”
“So… should we be ready?” Johnny asked, and his face screwed up with concern.
“Don’t let the knowledge of aliens and other worlds interrupt your daily life, man,” I assured him. “If there’s a problem, I’ll know about it way before you do.”
“Okay, thanks, man,” Johnny said with relief. “Oh… can I tell people I know you?”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “Just don’t make up any huge lies about me, alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Johnny nodded enthusiastically.
Most of my companions had waited outside the gym, and Johnny followed my ladies and I as we went to join them.
Sylmarie started to direct everyone into their places for our final rainbow bridge home, and Freesia sighed with distaste at the journey.
“I shall go first,” Vidar said with Nenna tucked close to his side. “To anchor the bridge and allow my brother the grand entrance of a hero returning from war.”
I had to admit, I really liked the sound of that, and I preferred the idea of keeping an eye on this area while my people crossed the bridge.
“Okay,” I said.
“Is everyone ready?” Sylmarie asked.
“Let us go home,” Shalanna said as she cradled Milo against her chest.
“Yes, please,” Innay sighed. “This place is all metal and stone, and I desire the ground beneath my feet again.”
I glanced down at the sexy huldra’s bare feet and noticed how dirty they were from the streets of Boston, and I realized how much I longed to be back on Asgard.
In those first days, and even weeks, there had been parts of me that wondered if I would ever find a way back here to Earth. Now that I had it, all I wanted was to go home to Castle Levi.
And it wasn’t just because I was in charge there, but because the world had become home to me. It was where my children had been conceived and born, and I had at least two more children who would be born there. It was where my family lived, and it had always been a part of me, even when I hadn’t known it.
Then I realized the Jötunn would have to be returned to Jötunnheim at some point, and I looked to Hersir and Progt.
“Would you like to visit Asgard and join in our celebrations before you return to your realm?” I asked.
“We can invite the rest of your tribes to join us for a while,” Sylmarie offered.
“That would be splendid,” Hersir said with a smile. “Thank you, Allfather.”
I grinned at the blue-skinned giants and turned to address everyone in my company.
“Let’s go home.” I smiled.
We gathered around in our circle, and Sylmarie led us in opening the rainbow bridge. As the light began to flicker between my fingers, I wondered what the people of Earth were thinking and seeing on the news.
My face and my battle against Surtr had to be taking up every single news outlet, tweet, and post across the world by now. As Vidar crossed the rainbow bridge, and my warriors began to follow him, I wondered what hashtag they would use. After my chancellors and best friend crossed, the Jötunn began to cross as well, and I wondered how long I would be the top story of Earth.
Would they make action figures out of me? Would they plaster my face on billboards or cereal boxes? Would they make a big-budget movie about the night I saved Boston?
I had no idea, but I kind of hoped they did it all, and more.
I smirked as the last of my warriors stepped across the bridge, and the only ones who remained by my side were Elora, Shalanna with Milo, Freesia, Sylmarie, Lyrie, Innay, Ari, and Ker.
My family.
My heart felt so full I thought it might explode inside my chest, and my ladies smiled at me as if they could feel it, too.
“Home?” Sylmarie asked.
“Home.” I nodded, and I realized I wasn’t sure how to start moving across the bridge.
But almost as soon as I had the thought, I felt the rush of air, and the ground launched up underneath my feet. Then I was flying through the rainbow-colored light around us, and my family were right beside me. Freesia started to look a bit green again, and I was thankful this was the last bridge she would have to endure.
The ground came up hard under my feet, but I landed easily because I was used to it now.
The rainbow bridge closed around us, and I was surrounded by cheers and applause again.
The intense change in scenery around me made my eyes hurt for a second, and it reminded me of going inside after walking around in a mid-afternoon blizzard. It took my eyes a second to readjust, and the sparkling remains of the Broken Spire in the distance were the first thing that came into focus.
We had landed on the barren plains just beyond the mountain pass that led back to Castle Levi, and I could see the tallest towers in the distance.
The landscape here was so vastly different from Boston, and I felt overwhelmed with a sense of homecoming for a moment.
The sky was bright, and I guessed it was about midmorning, and every single one of the people I’d met on Asgard was gathered around me.
All the humans, light elves, dark elves, dwarves, and even the Jötunn were clapping and cheering. Several faces were streaming with tears, and there wasn’t a single frown in the crowd. Even sour-faced Ylva had a tight smile on her face.
Wyn and Eirlina stood toward the front of the crowd, and they looked at me with love and appreciation in their eyes.
“Well done, son!” Wyn shouted above the other voices.
Before I could say anything to my awaiting fans, a massive, smooth-headed beast came barreling at me.
Frida pounced over the crowd, and she landed with her front paws on my chest. She came at me with so much force, we both fell to the ground, and I couldn’t help but laugh as she slobbered all over my face.
“Frida!” I laughed, and I patted her thick neck on both sides as I tried not to drown in her drool. “Good girl! Get off!”
It took a fair bit of pushing and coaxing to get Frida off me before I could get back to my feet, and even then, she jammed herself so hard against my side, I almost fell over again.
“Good girl,” I chuckled and gave her a good petting.
I couldn’t stop the smile on my face, and I raised my hands to quiet the crowd.
“Allfather!” someone shouted and whistled.
Finally, the crowd quieted down, but the victorious and celebratory energy was as thick as butter in the air.
“I’m sure you’re already aware,” I said with a chuckle. “But I’ve defeated Surtr!”
Deafening applause erupted, and I wondered if the demons that remained in the depths of Helheim could hear them.
“Midgard, Asgard, Jötunnheim, and all the Nine Realms are safe!” I announced.
“Levi Allfather has saved us all!” someone shouted from the back of the crowd.
The voice sounded suspiciously like Ayen’s voice, and I grinned knowing my best friend was hyping me up as usual.
My red-haired healer came up beside me and whispered in a soft voice.
“Levi, shall we tell them?” Freesia asked. “About the babe?”
“It’s up to you,” I said with a smile.
Freesia bit her bottom lip for a moment before her eyes filled with happy tears, and she nodded.
“And I have more good news!” I shouted. “Lady Freesia is with child!”
Another intense wave of shouts and applause worked through the crowd.
“Allfather, we must celebrate!” Ingrid shouted, and her pale green eyes shone with unshed happy tears.
Cheers in agreement of a celebration instantly followed, and several voices made suggestions of food choices.
“We will celebrate for days if that is what my people wish!” I said with great humor. “But first, I must introduce our newest friends! Hersir and Progt! They are the leaders of two Jötunn tribes who accompanied us and helped to save the Nine Realms!”
The Jötunn brothers waved, and their tribe members turned to greet my people with cautious friendliness.
“This is the dawn of a new age in the Nine Realms,” I announced. “One of peace, friendship, and alliances. So long as I rule, we will all live in harmony amongst one another. We will help each other, and we will protect each other!”
More cheers and applause followed my little speech, and I felt a wave of exhaustion come over me.
The day was won, and all I wanted to do now was go to bed with my ladies.
“Ingrid!” I shouted with what little energy I had left. “Bring on the feast!”
Everybody started to move toward creating an enormous celebration then, and my ladies and I lingered for a few more minutes before we snuck off to our bedroom. Innay came with us like it was the most normal thing in the world, and I felt overwhelmed by the joy and love in my heart.
I dropped onto our bed with utter exhaustion and satisfaction at a job well done, and I enjoyed the light conversation of my lovers as they welcomed Innay into the fold.
Innay and Freesia started to discuss all their favorite plants, and the sexy huldra promised my healer she would never run out of healing herbs ever again. It was obvious Innay would fit right into my family, and I knew an endless world of pleasure lay before me with these women by my side.
But for now, I relaxed lazily in my bed with all the satisfaction and completion of having met my destiny.
Things were better than they’d ever been in my entire life. I was God King of the Nine Realms, my people and my world were safe, and I would soon welcome two more children into my life.
My heart was full, and there wasn’t a single thing I could think of that would make my life even the tiniest bit better.
There was nothing that could bring me down.
I was Levi Allfather, and I would rule as no Aesir had before.
Epilogue
“Milo!” Shalanna said in a scolding voice. “Stop antagonizing your sister!”
The little black-haired boy gave his mother and me a sheepish grin, and he went back to hunting for lizards under the rocks around the pond. Like any curious boy approaching his fourth birthday, Milo was fascinated by all things creepy and crawly.
I chuckled softly at his mischievous charm that was so much like I had been in my previous life, and I gave an encouraging smile to the sister in question.
Ivy’s freckled face scowled harshly under a mop of dark red curls, and she stuck out her little tongue at Milo before she toddled over to sit with my ladies and me.
“It’s okay, darling,” Freesia comforted the little girl.
“Milo is a meanie,” Ivy protested with a stern pout.
“Only sometimes.” I grinned. “Remember last week, when he helped you get into Ingrid’s cookies when they were still hot from the oven?”
“Oh, yeah!” Ivy shouted and dissolved into a pile of giggles. “That was fun!”
I’d just returned from Midgard after the unveiling of a park in my honor. The humans of Earth had done nearly everything I’d daydreamed about after saving the planet from Surtr’s destruction.
A few days after we’d come home to Asgard, someone had identified me to the local news, and the story had blown up all over again: Levi, the Earth boy who’d become a God. It was all anyone had talked about for weeks, or so Johnny had said.
The residents of Boston had been especially grateful, and the entirety of New England had raised the funds to dedicate a brand-new park in my honor. It had taken three and a half years before the park was completed, and all the locals had prayed to me for weeks leading up to the dedication. They’d begged me to visit them and be present for the unveiling.
So I’d gone, of course. It wasn’t like I could miss such an honor to me.
As usual, Finnern had accompanied me because all of my ladies had their hands full with our children. He’d nearly begged me to make a special trip to Nidavellir, too, and the former dwarf king had been more than elated when I’d presented him with a full plan to check out his former home. It had been just as empty and taken over by nature as Alfheim, but Finnern had been thrilled to see his ancestral home.
I’d gone back to visit each of the realms, one by one, during the first year after I’d defeated Surtr, and it saddened me to learn that only Midgard and Jötunnheim were populated outside of Asgard. But I was determined to change that. Eventually, our populations would grow, and all the realms would be open to us.
I gazed at all my beautiful sons and daughters now with an overflowing sensation of love.
Milo was the spitting image of Shalanna, and I gazed down at the very round shape of her belly. She was due nearly any day to give me our second child together, and I couldn’t wait to meet him or her.
Ivy was a lovely mix of Freesia and me, with bright blue eyes and dark red curls. She loved to climb, explore, and collect flowers.
“I want to play,” Ivy said in a bright tone.
“Go ahead.” Freesia grinned. “I bet Faymar will play with you.”
“Oh, yeah!” my silver-haired son shouted. “Let’s go climb the apple trees!”
“Not too high!” I called as the half-siblings ran over to the copse of golden-apple trees.
The small orchard had been a gift of love from Innay shortly after our return to Asgard. Unbeknownst to me, the beautiful blonde huldra had snagged a few seeds from the orchard on Valhalla when we’d spent the night.
During the time that the barren wasteland had been brought back to life to become the lush gardens where we now sat, she’d planted the seeds in secret. The day the apple blossoms had started to sprout on the branches, Innay had brought me out here and encouraged one of them to mature into a golden apple right before my eyes.
“You know he will keep her safe, love,” Elora chuckled and brought me back from my thoughts.
“I know,” I murmured.
We watched for a moment as Elora’s son locked his fingers together to create a boost step for little Ivy. Faymar had been born a few months after we’d come back home to Asgard, and he was the protector of our brood. Much like Milo, he’d come earlier than expected, but he was a healthy and strong infant from the start. He’d grown faster than elves typically do, too, and Sylmarie, Freesia, and I guessed it was due to the godliness he inherited from me. This theory was proven true when Freesia also gave birth earlier than expected.
We figured Milo was so close to a normal gestation period because he was conceived so much earlier than his siblings, and long before I unlocked my god status.
Milo was the clear leader, and all of our children followed his crazy and exciting ideas without question, except Faymar. My son with the sexy Valkyrie always analyzed the dangers of any given adventure, and would use his bright intelligence to make the excitement a little more tactful.
Our youngest children, Nux and Tria, sat happily nearby as we picked at the final scraps of our picnic lunch.
Nux had the deep gray skin of his mother, Lyrie, and startling green eyes that made him stand out among all the dark elves. He had just had his second birthday, and he was quickly turning into a little prankster. Nux followed Milo around like a little shadow, and I knew we’d all be in trouble in about ten years.
I smiled at the hell they would surely give us in their preteen and teen years.
Nux had begun to show evidence that he would be a powerful magic-wielder like his mother, and Lyrie and I had asked Emneth to begin teaching him to use his magic.
At the moment, he was carefully levitating a small green leaf that had fallen from one of the trees overhead.
Tria, my daughter with Innay, was already a powerful magic user as well, and the flowers bloomed brightly under her chubby little fingers. She had wavy blonde hair that she was constantly shoving out of her face, and deep brown eyes that revealed specks of green when you got close enough.
At two and a half, she didn’t speak very often, but she communicated fluently with the plants she would bring to life. It had become a sort of code for her.
Bluebells meant she was sad, and violets meant she was excited. Roses bloomed when she was feeling loving, and bright orange flowers that reminded me of tiger lilies shot up when she was angry.
It was possibly the cutest thing I’d ever witnessed, and I found it so endearing.
Elora, Shalanna, Freesia, and Innay were all pregnant again, and Lyrie and I were actively trying for another as well. Sylmarie wasn’t keen on being pregnant again, and she said our world didn’t need more powerful creatures like Ari and Ker. Besides, she was an amazing bonus mother to all of the other children in our lives.
Ari and Ker had taken to their posts as the guardians of the chasms like ducks to water. They kept the chasms in order from afar while they spent a lot of their time in and around Castle Levi with us. Their mist-like magic allowed them to travel at rapid speeds, and their telepathic powers let them keep constant watch on the demons and creatures of the chasms.
They really were the ideal beings to guard the gates of this world’s afterlives.
The third chasm of Muspelheim was under the careful watch of my brother, Vidar. He came to visit us often, and he brought Nenna with him every time. My huldra lover’s sister had softened toward me after we’d returned from Midgard, and now she was almost likable.
All in all, things were in order, and the world was so peaceful, we’d been able to focus on improving and expanding our lands.
Innay had worked closely with our two botanists, Nestryn and Grenna, and they’d created a lush garden all around Castle Levi that rivaled the former glory of Odin’s Asgard.
I smiled as I gazed around at the finely sculpted topiaries and lush flower bushes. The place was beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to begin our next project.
