Nine Realms: Gods and Warrior Hearts

Chapter 4

Ard sat on the edge of the cliff of the mountain overlooking the dale of Asgaard. The view was breath taking. It must have been the most beautiful realm of all – masterpieces of godly architecture, grand buildings embedded in lush green valleys and forests with the hall of the gods, Valhalla, majestically towering over all and everything. He took a deep breath. The aromas of a thousand living and growing things and of molecules lifeless but yet alive flushing through his brain, calming his mind. His home, his responsibility.

So far he had never doubted the Elder Gods, not to think of the Norns. He had still been so young in comparison to the original gods. 300 years seemed like the blink of an eye next to the thousands of years the first gods had already dwelled in the higher realms. This was the main reason why he didn't dare to trust his own judgement fully. Was it a lack of experience? A lack of understanding? Was he perhaps to idealistic to see the bigger picture? The Norns would, should know. Surely they would do what's right and what serves the higher purpose, after all they were the makers of fate, the executioners of the will of the source.

Sometimes Ard didn't see the meaning in all this. He was raised with the teachings of the Elders. They taught the godly children about their purpose of existence, the importance of their role as the keepers and protectors of the realm of man, the fragile race, chosen by the source for a reason. Now almost a grown, mature god, Ard wasn't so sure any more about the nature of their role. Keepers and protectors they were supposed to be but he began to see the superiority the gods seemed to claim over men.

The girl who's life he took, believing it was the right thing – what happened to her? She must have been a threat of some kind that they wanted her dead, her flame not just flickering but extinguished for good. How many lives had she lived? Would she come back? If she had been in her third incarnation then the gates would be closed now and her soul forever lost. Being taken out of life by the aether could mean that there was no return for her. Exactly that might have been the plan. But who's plan? The little ampoule he carried that day was kissed by the Norn of the future. She would have given it intent, given it the breath and will of the highest power. But was it really the will of the highest power? Too many unanswered question.

Ard didn't know the circumstances, all of those thoughts were nothing but speculations. He was told nothing and he wouldn't be able to speak to anyone about it. He only knew that things were amiss when he returned to Asgaard after his mission and the girl wasn't there. After he asked Heimdall the gate keeper about her arrival and then realised that he knew nothing about it, Ard smelled the betrayal and stormed into Valhalla where he was already expected by the Elders and, to his biggest surprise, the Norns. He almost froze when he saw them standing there but he marched on, pretending not to be intimidated by the immortal and mighty females.

He felt the anger boiling in his core the more he entertained that thought. They had deceived him into committing a tyrannical act. The gods are meant to preserve life, not take it for egoistical purposes. He was told that the girl was the next chosen maiden and that her threads were woven that way...to be taken from this life by him. Skulla had seen her end, decided her end.

Neither of this made sense. It felt like corruption. The Elders, the Norns, maybe even his so called father. Wodran didn't raise Ard and his brothers. He gave them into the care of Amms, female godly servants, appointed by the elders to raise the rare godly offspring after the hold was put into place. As young gods, Atlas, Arl and Ard were guarded and treated like treasures. The gods used to have many children until the day the source descended in form of the highest god and made them all sterile. He said only very few gods would now be able to have offspring but only in unions with half gods or humans, beings with fertile DNA, blessed by the Norn, who would execute his wishes and weave a thread for the life of a new soul. The Divine Source, in form of the highest god in flesh, left a part of itself within one of the original gods, Wodran, Ards father, so he could reign as king over the realms with wisdom and strength. Another part of himself, the Aether, the highest god left in the grail, a cup made of gold, crafted by the most able smiths in the realm, only to be used for divine purpose and with permission of Wodran himself. Locked away in the grail's chamber and guarded by Fenris, the giant wolf. Fenris would only answer to Wodran.