Nidhogg - a short story

Nidhogg

I looked down upon the hellish underworld of Niflhiem from my perch. The heat of Hel's playground warmed my stomach as I lounged on the tree root, resting for the moment. Lazily, I shuffled around, letting my hind leg slip and dangle limply towards the underworld beneath me. My ferocious maw let loose a yawn, putting my rows of teeth on a frightful display. I moved my head to rest on my crossed paws, shuffling my large wings. Their leathery texture would serve as an ideal blanket, but the heat was never ending so that particular purpose was unnecessary.

My short lived nap was interrupted by a pitiful squeak. How dare something interrupt my peace? I will crush it immediately! Hastily swinging my head around, I moved my massive form to face the soon to be dead creature. A growl rumbled in my great throat, annoyance clearly showing in my eyes, but I made no lunge for the creature.

The squirrel Ratatosk perched confidently in front of me, making not even a flinch as my growl increased in volume. I grumbled through my teeth, smoke pouring out of my nostrils and crevices in my massive maw.

"What does that intolerable eagle want now." My eyes narrowed.

"He says he taunts you from above," Ratatosk proclaimed without a squeak of fear, "he asks if you've grown lazy, maybe loosing the guts to escape Yggdrasil and crush Odin."

My mighty throat rumbed loudly as I protested the eagle's accusations. Energy surged into my once tired bones and determination coursed like rivers through my veins.

"Tell him that I will escape from this cage. And when I finally take to the sky, my first target will be him!" My eyes narrowed as I snarled out the last sentence. Then, without a moment's hesitation, I lunged towards where Ratatosk was perched. The squirrel barely had time to squirm away before my deadly teeth were embedded in the great root. Ratatosk stopped momentarily on root before snickering,

"Silly Nidhogg." then took off up the great tree Yggdrasil to deliver his message.

For hours I worked, gnawing at the wood and clawing at the weaker parts. The great tree was my cage, its roots my bars, and I was determined to break free. My furiosity grew as I thought of Odin, who had the audacity to banish me here. I missed the open skies, the fire on my tongue, and he had been the one to take them from me. My mighty wings had grown weak from lack of exercise and my ferocious flame was demeaned to smoke. I hated him for this, and it would be at my claws he would pay.

Then, a crack. The root I clutched splintered beneath me and fell towards Niflhiem. A roar erupted from my jaws as I celebrated a piece of Yggdrasil's demise. I leapt up to a thicker root, one that seemed vital for the trees structural soundness.

I bit into it, the ash wood sharp against my tastebuds. I began to furiously claw with my hind legs, creating think gashes and sending splinters of wood flying. My determination was unending, I had been working on this section for years and today it would finally fall. Smoke plumed from my mouth, its dark ghastly form billowing skyward. I bit and gnawed and ripped it to shreds but after hours it was still too thick, yet I was still itching for that freedom. My body still pulsed with determination. My claws still worked tirelessly. Then, finally, with one fierce kick the root snapped away from its origin, and tumbled downward.

Something light tickled my scales as the great root was removed. It was a different kind of warm, one vastly different from that of Niflhiem's unkind flames. I stretched my broad neck skyward, absorbing as much as I could of this foreign feeling as if it would leave if I ignored it. A sense of childlike joy washed over me as I placed its name: Sunlight.

No power in all the realms could stop me as I clambered up the root system. No wind could move me fast enough. No roar could be louder than one that erupted when I breached the top.

I felt power flowing through me. My muscles bulged. My wings flexed with mighty strength. My breath felt hot and dangerous.

It was good to be home.

I broke into a sprint across the fast moving earth, my leathery wings itching to take flight once more. Then, I leapt off the ground, the green grass flattened beneath the force of the wind as I pushed my wings downward. It was just how I remembered it: The wind rushing by and tickling my scales, the white clouds swirling against a backdrop of blue, the weightlessness of it all. I felt free again, and a toothy grin molded my features.
I flapped my wings harder and enjoyed the simple sky for a moment more before heilexing down. I made great, large banks around the world tree Yggdrasil until my eyes met my target: The eagle.

He knew I was here. He knew I was coming. So he waited where I could see him on and outstretched branch, positioned as if he thought he stood a chance in fighting me. Silly bird. I dove for his perch, the wind slashing my aerodynamic body and whizzing in my ears. He moved from his branch, but not to flee as one may suspect. No, he charged me, wings outstretched and a battle cry sounding from his beak. My chest grew hot. I'll show him a battle cry.

I unhinged my jaw and let loose an enormous torrent of fire. It danced in elegant, deadly swirls that spired out in a glorious display of reds, yellows, and oranges. The flames dance around my vision, their wonderful heat like a lost love. I flapped my wings backwards to stay suspended in the air, intent on keeping a continual roast on the bird that tormented me for centuries.

Then, finally, I let him fall. The dead eagle dropped like a stone to the earth, and as he fell he moved past all the creatures that inhabited the tree. They all watched in horror as the bird they respected and counted on fell dead from the sky.

I followed him down and looked over his matted carcass at the base of the tree. Then, taking him carelessly between my teeth, I gorged on my first real meal in centuries. When I finished my light snack, I took back to the sky, my target now set on a particular God in Asgard.

Wherever I went chaos reigned. All the people and creatures of the world looked up in horror as the legendary Nidhogg passed overhead. Then, they would fight. Brother turned against brother, wife against child, creature against creature, As my shadow spread over the world, Odin's dreaded Ragnarok came to be.
I climbed higher into the sky, the fire from the destruction below giving it a red-grey hue. There, I found him.

"Odin." I snarled. He stood on his knees in front of his precious golden gates, his head slumped in defeat. As my monstrous paws landed and cracked his marble, he didn't look up.

"Odin, why don't you look at me?" I stalked closer, my claws scraped against the tiled floors, emitting a terrible noise. My tail swished menacingly behind me and my wings folded comfortably to my side.

"You will receive not amounts of pleasure or satisfaction from me, you foul dragon!" he spoke in a thunderous voice, yet his eyes remained locked with the floor. I let loose a toothy grin.

"Oh, I believe I will." In one swift motion I latched my jaws around his head and enjoyed my second meal of the day.