Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 52(edited)

Chapter 52

High up on the library rooftop perched the great raven, unnoticed by all below. The battle was over, those not dead were fleeing north or west. The All-Father was a lord of war and had witnessed countless battles over the centuries of his life. He had fought in many battles and always led his side to victory. This was the part where his Valkyries would come sweeping in and lead the souls of the warriors off to Valhalla. The raven closed his eyes as a pang of regret went through him. There were no Valkyries anymore, there was no Valhalla anymore. The raven watched as Jason fell to his knees and wrenched the arrow free of his neck. Bad move! Judging by the spray of blood the arrow must have gone through an artery. The raven turned his head in disgust, even after all these years, Gullveig hadn't changed. The witch danced with glee as Jason's blood coated her white dress. The raven's disgust increased as he saw what Hella had planned next. The former goddess of the underworld may have had a makeover but she was still a monster at heart. Even the dragon seemed put off by its master's behaviour. The raven could sense a shift in the beast's mind, only what it was shifting to remained unclear to the raven. As Hella stepped up beside her sister with bow in hand, two Furies dumped a dead body in front of Jason. Now we shall see who you truly are! thought the raven.

Jason couldn't think straight; his emotions were on overload. He had led all his friends to their deaths and for what? A stupid book? He wondered what world they would end up in next, would it be worse than this one? Would they hate him for it? Perhaps their souls would be recycled and they would be reborn into Midgard as new-born babies with no memory of this hell. That would be for the best. At least then they wouldn't remember him or what he had done. A lifeless body was dropped in front of him. She lay on her back, sightless eyes staring into the rain. As Jason realized who it was he saw red, the whole world melted into nothing but seething anger.

The anger and rage were so primal and nothing like he had ever felt before. Seeing Eva's dead body was too much, his blood was boiling and pounding in his ears, the wound in his neck pulsed and throbbed in time to the drumming in his ears. Lifting his head to the sky Jason let out a howl of rage that was not human, the sound was so primal and animal. The witches stepped back from him. The blood was still pouring from his neck but Jason didn't seem aware of it. Jason roared again and then the dragon roared in answer. Pain, rage, anger, loss, grief, guilt all swirled and pulsed inside Jason, he was literally drowning in his emotions.

Visions began to swirl through Jason's mind. He was back on the execution block, back in his cold cell, being tortured, being beaten, cornered in the cathedral where the three witch hunters caught him. He saw Eva's body again and let out another inhuman cry. The dragon again answered with a roar of its own. Hella and Gullveig retreated a few more steps, not liking the change. The visions changed. Jason was in a cold dark cave, chained and bound, huge men were stabbing him with swords and spears, whips lashed his flesh. He longed for the sky, for freedom, to fly. The anger and hatred of being bound and captive was overwhelming. In some distant part of his mind Jason understood that this was the dragon's thoughts and memories. A final vision of peaceful snow-capped mountains and a still crystal lake. The words home filled his mind and then the rage died, an icy, emotionless calm swept through his veins.

The two witches clamoured backwards as they watched Jason with growing horror. The wound in his neck was bleeding less but he wasn't dying. Worse still was that he was transforming into something new. His eyes were no longer blue but a deep forest green, a ring of pure gold surrounding his pupils, and as he roared again the witches saw that his canines were much longer, his ears had turned long and pointed. The dragon roared again and began to turn towards the witches, using its wings like a set of front legs.

"Look at its eyes!" hissed Hella.

"I know Sis, we are done for!"

The only thing that Gullveig could do was to wrap a protective arm around her sister as the dragon's forest green eyes came to rest on them. The dragon snarled viciously at them and opened its mouth wide.

The witches didn't have a chance to scream as a torrent of fire washed down over them, by the time the dragon had finished there was nothing left but ash and scorched cobblestones. It turned back to face Jason and bowed its head in submission. The dragon began to shrink in size. It got smaller and smaller until all that remained were the two massive iron bands that had been around its legs. In between them was a tiny statue of a dragon.

Jason sat in the street and looked around at all the carnage. Grief and sadness filled his heart, a small scraping noise and a feeble meow made him look down. Brutus back in his small form and badly wounded, was shoving the little statue towards Jason with his nose.

"Take hold of it!" Brutus ordered.

Jason looked at the statue but made no move to take it. Brutus was too done in to press the point. He just climbed into Jason's lap and collapsed. With an arm that felt heavier than lead, Jason stroked the cat one last time.

"I know you are not really a cat, the way you act and talk is far too human."

Brutus let out another faint meow but said nothing.

"If I had to guess, I would say you are one of the gods. There was only one Goddess that was associated with cats, so you must be Freyja."

Again, Brutus made a faint meow but sent no thoughts.

"Fine keep your secrets! But I want to thank you for being by my side until the very end, for fighting with me, for being my friend."

Brutus gave one final meow, shuddered then was still. A harsh caw followed by the flapping of wings made Jason look at the ground before him, he eyed the bird.

"I know you understand my thoughts even if you will not speak to me. You can pretend to be a bird all you want but like Brutus, I know you are so much more. I know you are Odin."

The raven bowed its head in acknowledgement but said nothing. Jason's vision was diming, he was feeling faint from the blood loss. He fell backwards to the ground, facing up at the sky he savoured the cold rain soaking his face. For some unknown reason Jason was compelled to reach out and grab the dragon statue.

"So here you are again as I die, Odin my god, my guiding light, I am ready to be led onto the next path. If it is possible, could we go to a nicer world this time?"

Jason's vision blurred and then went white as the raven fluttered up onto his chest. His vision changed to emerald green as he felt the raven's claws sinking into his chest. Finally silence and total blackness came over him.