The Lady of Midgard [Book 1]

Chapter 1

971 AD

Standing on the bank next to his mother a little boy with raven black hair watched with a frown at the boat as it sailed downriver and away from the crowd that was gathered there.

When he looked around at those near he saw they either wore a sorrowful expression or were crying. He couldn't understand why though, his mother had told him they had gone to help the Valkyries; surely that was a good thing?

His father banged Gungnir on the platform he was on once the boat reached a point and the occupants within turned into stardust floating upwards towards the heavens.

— — — —

1043 years later

It had been a fortnight of nothing but heavy storms and today dawned bright and sunny much to your relief when you had awoken that day.

You needed to get your son (and yourself) out of the house as you were both going stir crazy from being inside; the local park was definitely on the agenda today you decided. Managing to get both him and you ready without too much hassle before leaving to take a very excited child for a walk.

Shutting the door, praying that the rain would stay away; thankfully no clouds could be seen in the sky as you made your way through the streets so hopefully that meant this event of freak storms was over, realising you had forgotten your umbrella in your haste to leave.

You also hoped that this meant the end of your vivid dreams. You blamed the weather. It had to be because you could not sleep as the storm howled loudly around; there was no other possible reason for them. Every night these past two weeks you had woken as a loud clap of thunder shook the building, it always seemed to coincide with the person in your dreams being stabbed clean through and always the same voice echoing in your mind as you woke.

How you wished you had someone to talk to about them. You knew what your mother would say though, "They are trying to tell you something, pay heed to their words." If only you could make sense of them - a land of ash, a raven and a man with hair like-

"Mummy look!" Áedán exclaimed, breaking you out of your thoughts.

"Very pretty my darling." Taking the flower he was holding towards you.

Wearing jeans was your first mistake.

Sneakers your second.

It was hot.

Hotter than normal, especially for this time of year. You wondered if maybe that was what had been causing the storms?

The rest of the walk to the park was uneventful and it appeared that no one was venturing out in this heat as the park was empty when you arrived. Thankfully that meant you wouldn't have to make small talk with other parents. Not that you didn't mind, but sometimes it was just nice to have a moment to yourself and right now you wanted nothing more than to enjoy a moment surrounded by some semblance of nature, anything other than the four walls of your home.

"Áedán, mummy is going to sit under the tree here and read while you play."

"Ok mummy," Áedán responded as he ran off to the slide while you sat down amongst the roots trying to work out where you had left off.

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

The cicadas rang out while you read and your son played, his laughter ringing out as he burnt his energy off, every now and then coming over to where you sat for his drink. The air was still and silent. A lazy humid day.

Just as the cicadas reached their crescendo they stopped suddenly, their noise replaced by a low rumbling in the distance.

Fare thee well, nymph. Ere he do leave this grove, thou shalt fly him, and he shall seek thy love.

Engrossed in the book the sound did not register till a gust of wind was whipping wildly around you and a bolt of lightning hit the ground right in front of you making you jump in fright, your book scattering to the ground. A scream pierced the air, unsure if it was from you or Áedán or both as the wind started to whip harder and harder followed by more rumbling of thunder, this time much louder and much closer.

Cursing you took in the sight above you - dark clouds rolling through the sky like waves on an ocean; how you missed this turning up you didn't know. It was like something out of a storybook, to be this dark this fast it had to have sprung up from nowhere.

"Áedán!" you screamed looking around for your son.

Spotting him on the playground looking up at the clouds in terror you ran towards him calling his name again. He must have heard you over the thunder and wind as he looked at you, eyes wide in fear, and started running in your direction.

At that moment a column of rainbow light burst from the clouds and landed in front of you, an almighty roar coming from within. You managed to stop in time however Áedán was surrounded by the light.

"NO!"

Ignoring your own fear you reached out your hand towards your son hoping to save him, as soon as your hand was within the light everything in front of your eyes went white as you were sucked in. A horrible sensation engulfed you, you felt like you couldn't breathe as the air was squeezed from your lungs and a feeling like you were being pulled in every direction at once. Trying to take a breath you find you couldn't and started to panic. A heavy weight landed against your chest, realising it was your son you wrapped your arms around him and held tight.

"Please stop, please stop." you gritted out as everything spun. Closing your eyes you tried not to be sick.

What felt like an eternity but really was only a few moments later the feeling and noise stopped. Your back landed against something solid, the surface smooth enough to cause you to skid across it before finally coming to a stop.

'That is definitely going to leave a bruise' you thought.

Feeling Áedán still in your arms you tried to sigh in relief, both of you still panting because your lungs were cheering over finally being able to draw in oxygen. Slowly opening your eyes, frightened of what you would find you, only to see a golden dome stretching high above you, twinkling stars dotted in the distance could be seen through the windows that occupied the building.

Three faces appeared in your line of sight staring down at you in confusion.

"Where am I?" you squeaked out in fear.

A man with golden eyes looked at you, cocking an eyebrow before answering.

"Asgard."