DIVINE CHAMPIONS 5: THE FROSTY FATES

LIN CITY

The duo reached a wooden gate, where it was written in Old Norse rune language:

ᛚᛁᚾ ᚲᛁᛏᛁ

Then, at the bottom, it said:

ᚠᚢᛏᚢᚱᛖ ᛚᛁᚠ ᚲᛁᛏᛁ

"Is this readable to you?" Kira asked.

"It is." Mikael replied, "I think it says, Lin City, future Lif City."

"What does that mean?"

"It is believed that after everything is decimated in Ragnarok, Lif and Lifthrasir, the two surviving human beings would be kept here. It was always Lif City. Why is it suddenly Lin City?"

"Guess we won't find out unless we go inside."

The roots of Yggdrasil made a small gorge behind the gate, through which, a person could slide in. Kira slid in. Mikael followed. And now, in front of them was the settlement, just as they had seen from afar. Little roads led to an acropolis, which had stairs that led to the palace. There were shops around, and the people were, well, not human. Or humanoid. But very familiar. "Linnorms." Mikael said, "No wonder why they named it Lin City."

"What are these snake like creatures?"

"Linnorms. Or, Lindorms. They tolerate human beings, but are no fans of my patron. Lets see what is going on inside."

They walked up to the acropolis, ignoring the weird eyes of the people. They climbed the stairs, and were faced by five linnorms. Mikael stepped up, his body experiencing a shiver, as one of the linnorms hissed, "We sense Ullr power. You the Ullr champion?"

"I am, and I am here to see your king." Mikael said, with authority.

"King want see you. Come with us."

They followed the linnorms, when Kira said, "You seem to have expected this."

"I didn't. I am freaking out inside, but I won't show it on the outside. Who knows what the inside man is like?"

The linnorms were scary. If there was one thing that Mikael didn't like, it was snakes. And now, he had to talk to those. Gods knew what their king would be like. One thing was for sure, Mikael was not excited to find out. 

But he did. When he did, Mik felt as if he would never see anything scarier again. The Linnorm King had goat horns on his head. His face was covered with scales pointier than a needle. His eyes were made of blood red slits, and his whole body was that of dark sap green scaly reptile. Imagine an anaconda with hands like a human, plus claws like a crocodile, and the face of a dragon. Yes, that was what he looked like. "Come, come, Midgardian." The King said in a raspy voice, "Champion of Ullr. Welcome to Lin City. I've been waiting for you."

"Where are my friends?"

"Not an ardent talker, are we? I see. Okay, come straight to point. I sensed you once you went past our lord Nidhogg. I hate Ullr so much that I wanted to bring you close. So, I got your friends, and put them in the magic proof prison. Using them as a bait, I drew you close to me. Now, what you have to say, champion?"

"For a linnorm, your speech is way clearer." Mikael said.

"If you know my history, you'll know why." The king said, before his eyes fixated on Kira. He got up from his throne, and slithered close to her. Kira seemed very uncomfortable as the serpentine creature walked around her, and said, "I can let you and your friends go, if this female cooperates with me."