Author Games: Ragnarok

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Balder

The god of light and purity had no place at this feast, surrounded by deities representing war, or those who were used to ruling over all. If I was honest with myself, I still wasn't entirely certain why I had accepted the invitation to compete in this terrible sort of game. My brother Thor belonged her much more than I did, as did my father Odin. Thor was certain, though, that he was as firmly rooted in human memory as he possibly could be, and Father said it was foolish to accept an invitation from a god as notorious as Camazotz. 

There was nothing to be afraid of, I reminded myself, as I took another slice of bread from the middle of the table, spreading a fair amount of butter on top of it. Mother had made certain of that when I began having my nightmares. I could stab myself in the neck with this butter knife, and, unless there was a sprig of mistletoe on it, it wouldn't even break my skin. Surely none of the other deities that sat around this table were as infallible as I was. 

"Balder," a familiar voice rang out, her voice breaking through the noises of the party as easily as though it were glass. Glass, I could bathe in shards of it without getting a single cut. 

"Balder, I never thought that I would find you at an event like this. I figured you'd become a photographer or something as pacific as that," Skadi continued. Towering above me, she was dressed exactly as she had been four thousand years ago, snowshoes, armor and all. 

"I never thought I'd see myself here either," I laughed in reply. There was something unnerving about seeing a god of the same origin as me here. Hurting anyone would be difficult, but killing someone who I had known for millennia would be next to impossible. "I don't know what it was, but I felt like I had no choice but to be here."

"Imagine being in my shoes," Skadi retorted, a blizzard seeming to be in full force behind her gaze. "If people ever think about me, they only think of the sins of my father, or of my marriage to Njord."

An uncomfortable quiet ensued for the next few minutes, only straying from silence because of the loudness all around us. Gods, goddesses, and those somewhere in between yelled loudly, banging their glasses on the table as though in celebration of a battle they'd just won. It was almost enough to keep me from thinking of the fact that the majority of us would be dead soon, many of us by this time tomorrow. 

"Who else have you seen around here?" I asked in a desperate attempt to restart the conversation. "Has there been anyone else from Valhalla, or is it just you and I?" I almost wanted to cross my fingers, hoping that it was only her and I. The thought of having to see anyone else, from Njord to Sif, what one that was almost unthinkable. 

"There's a Valkyrie, and there's Loki," she said. "Although I don't think that you'd care much about either of the two."

I nodded, relieved at the fact that nobody who I truly cared about had shown up here. As much as I depended on the oaths everything had given to not hurt me, I would rely on those who loved me even more after this whole ordeal was over. Even Thor needed Sif after every important battle he had fought in, and he was a god of war. 

"If worst comes to worst," I said, slowly, having to force the words out of my mouth. "I know that you won't take it personally if I have to hurt you. But up until that point..."