DIVINE CHAMPIONS 5: THE FROSTY FATES

THE TALES OF EGILL

"Wow!" Mikael said, as Rishi finished the whole story. "A war? Against the Jotnar?"

"Yes." Rishi said, sighing, as he took a sip of his coffee.

Long story short, seven gods were asked to choose their champions one by one, every year, as need be. Thor had chosen Rishi, whose full name was Saptarishi. Freya had chosen Rick, or Ritabrata (preferably Rick). Sif and Njord had together chosen the senior girl, whose name was Aitri. Mani, the moon god, had chosen the girl from South America Ishaan mentioned. Sol had chosen Ishaan, as he had said, and lastly, it was Mik's turn. The threat? The king of Jotunheim. Not a new thing, to be honest. When you are in the Norse world, its mostly those icy overgrown bollock-heads that create all the trouble. And now, Mikael was chosen to fight ice with ice. Apparently, the king, Bergfinn, or just Berg (really? A nickname for a bollock-head?), was a son of the infamous Thrym. The same one that stole Mjolnir and asked for Freya as his wife in return, and had had himself, and his whole family broken to pieces by Thor. He was Hel-bent on revenge, and wanted to walk away from the paths of the Norns, trying to bring about Ragnarok himself. For that, he had to acquire the Crystals of Fate that would basically make him immortal. So far, all his attempts to start the proceedings of Ragnarok were spoiled by the divine champions. First, he tried freeing Loki, but couldn't. Thank the gods he couldn't. Then, he tried cutting off the youth juice for the gods, but ended up losing an ally. And lastly, he tried killing the Sun by kidnapping Heimdall. And he, you guessed it, failed. Apparently, he wasn't as intimidating as the regular villains in movies. He was short tempered, easily irritable, and overly emotional. Sadly though, according to Ishaan, Berg was super powerful, literally indomitable and invincible on frost. And if he got the Crystals, he wouldn't just be immortal, but also invincible everywhere in the nine realms. The pressure was very much on. And then, Ishaan added, "There was some kind of weird movement after our quest last winter. Sol had said that the Norns had bolted themselves inside their lair, because of some sort of work."

"Woah!" Maja said, "Is it because of some prophecy?" Yep, the knowledge ran in the blood.

"That's what it seems to be." Rishi said, his eyebrows frowned.

"So, that means..." Mikael asked, "whenever need arises, I need to fight?"

"That's it?" Aitri asked, "Aren't you scared, or weirded out, or freaked out?"

"Not exactly." Mikael said.

"How?"

So, Maja told them why they are not freaking out. Their unknown legacy of Egill from their mother's side, as well as their known legacy of Tyr, from their father's side, them being immune to fire, and everything else that they had seen; the Valkyrie, the draugr, the bright elves, etc. No one said anything, maybe this was also new for them. After a while, Rick reacted, and said, "Probably that is why you unlocked your power much faster than we did."

"Norse blood, huh?" Aitri asked.

"Not just Norse blood, but Egill's blood." Rishi said.

"Who is Egill?" Rick asked.

"Egill is Ullr's father. An excellent hunter. A perfect archer. Some say he was a favorite of Skadi, who trained him herself. He was one that Vikings back in the day called an outsider. Very much a all-loving person, Egill was born to a Finn king, technically making him Finnish, and not a complete Viking."

"Egill wasn't exactly a Viking." Mikael said, recalling his story, "It was not until he grew up that he came into our world."

"Yeah, his young age was a treat to watch. Back then, even Sif was a young goddess." Aitri gasped at this, clearly excited to know something about her patroness, while Rishi continued, "Sif and Thor hadn't hit it off yet. So, single and all, Sif fell for the human prince while he was training in Skadi's place. Their union brought forth our sports god himself, back then, a simple demigod. However, like most god-human unions, it didn't last. However, Ullr was born, loved and cared by every Asgardian, given a demigod was a new thing, even for them. Thor says that he had literally brought him up since he was seven."

"Thor says?" Maja's eyes glowed with excitement and awe, "To you?"

"Oh yeah." Rick said, "He is very close to his patron."

"Anyway," Rishi continued, "Later, Thor asked Odin to make Ullr immortal. And that's that since then."

"And did Egill know about his first son?" Rick asked.

"He did. Ullr was there when he died as an old man."

"Wow!"

"Isn't there more?" Ishaan asked.

"Yes, yes." Rishi said, "But I'm not aware of those. Maybe you are?"

"I am." Mikael said. Maja looked at him as if to say, 'How do you know something I don't?' Mikael grinned at her like an 'I'm smart, you ain't' grin, and said, "Egill was absolutely savage during his time. And he was quite the trickster. Anyone here aware of the King Nidung?" None raised their hands except for Maja, and Rick's cat, who was just grooming herself. "Okay, then. Nidung was this very cruel Saxon king, who had kidnapped Egill's brother, Volund. And then, he had kidnapped his son, the one he had with his wife, Roman princess, Alruna. Volund was tortured, and his jewels were taken away. His sword was taken by Nidung, and his wife's ring was given to Nidung's daughter. He was so angry that he killed the king's sons, before being sentenced to death. That is when Egill had reached to free his family. He shot down a few birds and took their feathers to Volund, who fashioned two wings of them. Then, he tied this bag full of bird blood, under his belly. However, before he could escape this prison, Egill was caught."

"Oh no." Rishi put his hands on his head, clearly excited, "Then what?"

"He was presented in court, and Nidung thought of breaking him. So, he brought his son, and put an apple on his head, asking him to shoot the apple without hurting his son. Egill actually readied two arrows, and shot the apple with the first. Of course he did, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here. Nidung asked him why he took two arrows out, to which he replied that had he accidentally killed his son with the first, his second was meant for Nidung himself. That was when Volund flew away."

"Please tell me he didn't fly too close to the Sun?" Rick asked.

"Nope. Unlike Icarus, Volund was smart." Mikael chuckled.

"Yeah, Mr. Fly-high was stupid, big time."

"Anyway, then?"

"Volund flew over the court, and Nidung ordered Egill to shoot the flying Volund, so, with his second arrow, Egill shot the bag of blood, which tricked Nidung thinking he killed his brother, and he let Egill and his son go."

"All this while Volund flew to safety?" Rishi asked.

"Yes."

"Woah! Amazing archer, your ancestor." Aitri said, visibly impressed. 

"Thanks. But there is something about my mother that is different."

"Yeah." Maja agreed, "No matter how great Egill sounds from the lore, we still don't have any idea what brings the fire immunity."

"I guess we will all find out together." Rishi said, "Mikael Nyqvist, welcome to the team of the Divine Champions. And Maja Nyqvist, would you like to be second honorary member? You have to say yes."

"Yes." Maja replied as soon as Rishi finished.

"Lovely." He turned towards Rick, "Rick, go to bed."