Into the Abyss

Prologue

It was silent - too quiet for my liking.

There was not a single bird chirping, deer crunching across the leaves, tree swinging, or a wind blowing for miles in each direction. In fact, as far as I could see there was not another human, animal, or plant - neither alive nor dead. I was surrounded by ice that made up the floor I stood on and the tall walls towering above me.

I spun in a slow circle as I carefully looked for an escape route of the cold fortress - I found nothing. The walls went on for what appeared to be eternity on either side of me, almost as if I was standing in a hallway. As I came back to face north as I originally was, a throne of ice materialized several hundred feet in front of me and along with it a king of sorts. It began to snow as I came upon the chilling realization of where I was.

The man on the throne raised his hand and motioned for me to come forward - to come to him. I obliged out of curiosity and fear of what would happen if I ignored his command. He was someone I grew up hearing stories about, but never before had he appeared in front of me. In all actuality the stories tell that he hadn't appeared in front of anyone for centuries. This left me wondering why he decided to show up now, to show up in front of me.

I took a moment to examine his features as I slowly creeped closer and closer towards the throne. He had to be at least 12 feet tall, but still didn't surpass the mountainous walls surrounding the both of us. He was pure muscle, his biceps had to be the size of three of my heads. The man had a bushy white beard, but he was bald. There was a large shield resting on the foot of his throne and a sword sheathed at his waist. He wore a kilt and a cape made of animal leather and furs that barely covered him. The closer I got to him, the more detail I could make out and as I finally got to be just in front of him I took note of the deep blue-purple liquid oozing out of a wound just below his ribcage. The blood was of stark contrast to the lighter, more icey blue color of his skin.

I kneeled at his feet, again out of fear rather than respect.

"You may rise, child." His voice boomed and echoed off the enclosure, in spite of the fact that he had spoken softly.

I stood and had to gaze up in order to look him in the eye. Noticing this, he picked me up with one hand and gently set me down on the arm rest of the throne.

Neither of us spoke for several minutes, until I broke the silence with a questioning whisper. "Why am I here?" I paused, "Why are you here?"

He let out a deep chuckle, as if he was laughing at my confusion. "You are here because I summoned you, I am here because this is my kingdom - what's left of it at least." I went to ask why he summoned me, but he held up his hand as a signal of silence. "I summoned you because I am dying, and because I am dying I have a message for you."

I gazed up at him even more confused than I previously had been. Summoned me? With a message? For me? I had been summoned by great beings several times in the past, but never by one who did not reveal himself to anyone but his own people. I hadn't been summonedand then treated so gently by a being meant to be evil either.

My thoughts were interrupted as he continued to speak, "I need you to trust him, child. I need you to treat him with the kindness I know you have. I need you to keep him safe and I need you to make him the gracious person he once was."

"Who, King Laufey? Who is this 'he' you speak about?" I am beyond confused, if that is even possible, I know not of this man he wants me to take care of.

He smiled down at me with a sad, pained smile, "You will know soone enough, child. But as you complete those tasks of mine, keep in the forefront of your mind that he is struggling. Know that he has never been loved or shown any ounce of kindness or acceptance, therefore he knows not how to do this in return. He needs you and you may not know it yet but you need him and you know him. You shall help each other heal and flourish without realizing it."

"I will do it. I will do as you have asked me and more, I have not a reason to trust you and yet I do so I will trust him. Thank you for your words of warning." I still do understand nor have I figured out who he speaks of. It is also if no sense to me as to why I suddenly have the overwhelming need to trust and please him.

He gave me another smile, "I know you shall, and I know you will be ready to do so when he arrives. My time is up, child, I can hold on no longer. I feel as though it is time for you to awake anyways. My time in this realm as this being is finished, but I will be here to guide you along the way. Good luck."

I had a million questions flowing through my mind and just as I began to ask the first one, he let out a deep sigh and his eyes fluttered shut. "King Laufey?" I repeated his name several more times trying to awake him, "Your majesty!" I was now yelling, desperate for answers but I knew that he was not going to awake. I was breathing heavily out of frustration, but I did my best to breath deep and focus instead on what I could get out of his words.

The second I had calmed down, I began to climb down the throne so that I could find a way out of the freezing fortress but just as my feet hit the floor there was a loud knocking sound. I looked up and around trying to find the source of the noise as it continued, but instead I only found the sight of the walls the same as before.

The knocking stopped for a second before restarting louder than before and this time when I observed the walls i noticed that they were violently shaking with chunks of snow and ice falling from them.

The walls themselves were going to crumble and fall, taking me down with them.

I started running, as fast as they could in a sad attempt of escaping, but the floor began to shake and the the walls finally broke apart. Ivey boulders and chunks began to band around, splitting the floor into pieces. My only way out, if that's what you could consider the hallway opening, was blocked and I was trapped.

I watched as a piece from each side collided with each other right above me and I didn't even have time to move before I was hit and buried beneath the remnants.