Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 25 (edited)

Chapter 25

2840 years ago: Asgard

Dawn was breaking across the realm of the gods, the sun rose in a perfectly clear sky. The great sea gently lapped at golden shores. It was going to be another perfect day. Down on the beach near the high-tide line sat a longboat with its sail folded. Inside lay the body of Balder. He was dressed in his finest battle gear and his hands clutched his sword to his chest. All around the boat Balder's loyal servants were weeping as they piled treasures and weapons into the boat. Nearby stood a lone weeping goddess, she was dressed in black from head to toe, a black veil covering her face. The goddess shook heavily as she wept uncontrollably, her cries of pain and grief filling the dawn air. Once the boat was full, the servants took to arranging Balder's body one last time, and then began piling on firewood, as the goddess began wailing harder. As the last of the wood was piled on top of Balder's body, the goddess let out a desperate wail of pain, she shook violently and clutched at her chest. As her heart broke the goddess collapsed to the sand and lay silent.

Further back up the beach stood Odin, he was dressed in a black robe. His wild grey hair was tied back in a ponytail and a black patch covered his missing eye. He winced at that scream of pain, Odin had no doubt that the goddess had just died of heart break and now she would cross the bridge into Helheim. One day in the great hall Eljundir, Nanna would be reunited with her husband Balder.

Behind Odin stood his two remaining sons, both were dressed in black. Hermod rushed forward to help the fallen goddess, while blind Hod just stood and stared at nothing. Odin sighed heavily and bowed his head. This truly is an evil day for Asgard. What had started out as a single funeral was now about to become a double. The look on Hermod's face was confirmation enough that Nanna was dead. He lifted the goddess and laid her in the boat, next to her husband. With tears spilling down his rugged face, Hermod called for more firewood.

Behind Odin and Hod stood the rest of the Aesir gods. The Asgard court was made up of twenty-six; thirteen gods and thirteen goddesses. Even counting the two bodies in the boat there were only twenty-three of the gods present. Frigg remained locked away in her great hall. As for Fensalir, no one knew if she was even still alive. Thor was still away in Jotunheim hunting for the giantess Thokk. Loki's absence further proved the fact that he had been the giantess all along. When Thor found him, and dragged him back to Asgard he had some serious explaining to do. Most of the gods had openly demanded the death of Loki and Odin knew he was going to have a difficult time stopping the bloodshed.

One of the goddess's stepped forward and placed a comforting arm on Odin's shoulder, he didn't need to look to know who it was. The goddess was dressed in a black dress, her long red hair flowed freely well past her shoulders, a thick golden necklace studded with emeralds glinted in the morning sun. She had the perfect hourglass shaped body and was widely regarded as the most beautiful of all the goddess's in Asgard. Behind her a few of the gods frowned at the gesture, Freyja was known to be an opportunist and was rumoured to be very power-hungry.

She had taken it upon herself to comfort Odin ever since his son's death. What angered the gods most was that no one even knew if Frigg was even dead yet and already Freyja was trying to move in. It was widely whispered that a lot of the comforting Freyja offered involved being naked and in the same bed as Odin, but not one of the gods present would ever dare to voice that opinion out loud or challenge Odin's decisions.

There was also the fact that with Frigg's demise, there was an opening in the second highest seat of power in Asgard. Odin ruled Asgard, there was no doubt about it but when he was away, travelling the nine worlds, Frigg had ruled in his stead. Most believed Freyja was trying to get a jump on the other Goddess's and take that seat but again, no one would ever dare speak this out loud.

Behind the semicircle of gods stood the rest of the inhabitants of Asgard. all were weeping silently and in complete shock at the second death. The warriors stood in their finest armour while the womenfolk wore their best dresses. At the very back, towering over the rest of the crowd stood a group of giants. Even the animals had come to witness the funeral. The surrounding trees were thick with birds. The grasslands were packed with all kinds of animals. Odin turned to face the gathered assembly, Freyja stood unashamedly beside him, head held high. She was making a statement to the rest of Asgard and the fact that Odin did nothing about it or didn't try to stop her in any way just added weight to her claim.

"Welcome my friends, welcome inhabitants of Asgard, welcome giants, elves, dwarves and all free folk." Odin bowed his head, composing himself before continuing. "We are gathered here today to say farewell to Balder, loved by all and my son... and now it seems we must say farewell to his loyal and loving wife Nanna, also!"

Heads in the crowd bowed as people wept harder. Tears fell from Odin's one eye as he continued. "Balder was a kind and gentle god, he never had a harsh word for anyone. He was fair hearted and loving, much like his wife Nanna!" Heads nodded in agreement as people wept harder still.

Upon a ragged outcrop of rock stood a lone wolf. The beast was huge with thick grey fur. Its jet black eyes were fixed on Odin. Fury was building inside the wolf. His lips peeled back in a silent snarl. He did not miss that soft fool Balder or his pathetic wife. A deep growl came from the wolf as he watched and Odin continued to speak.

"It is a great shame and a bitter loss... Asgard will never be the same again..."

Odin trailed off as the grief hit him. Freyja wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. Hermod frowned at the display but stepped past them to address the crowd. His golden armour glinting in the morning sun.

"This is indeed a great time of sorrow. The loss of my brother will leave a permanent scar, yes we should mourn and weep but we must also remember we are warriors!"

All eyes in the crowd fixed on Odin's son. Upon the rocky outcrop the wolf growled deeper, its gaze now fixed on Hermod.

"I say this is also a time that calls for vengeance! We must remember the needless cause of this death!"Hermod spoke passionately, tears flowing down his rugged face as he appealed to the other gods. "My brother and his wife will now spend eternity in Helheim, they will never see the sun again or the moon or the stars, they will never know a warm summer breeze or feel the pouring rain." Hermod stopped and kicked angrily at the sand, causing a small sandstorm.

Odin watched his son and reflected on all the misery and sadness around him. The Aesir had once gone to war against the Vanir, they had fought a vicious battle that had lasted almost ten years. They battled themselves into a stalemate, many gods had been injured but none were ever killed. And now a single dart made of mistletoe has killed three. Odin scowled at the sand. Times were changing and clearly not for the better. Still, there would be time to reflect on this later. For now he was here to say farewell to his son.

Upon the ledge, the wolf was pacing. His eyes flicking between Odin and Hermod. The wolf narrowed his eyes as he watched Odin walk up to the longboat and bend down.

He's whispering in the dead gods ear! The wolf snarled again and paced faster. Why would Odin whisper in his son's ear? He didn't have the power to communicate with the dead. Did he think that somehow Balder would be able to hear him in Helheim?

As the wolf continued to pace and ponder these strange sights, a burning brand was handed to Odin who used it to set the firewood alight. Four giants stepped up to the longboat and began shoving it towards the sea. Once the current began to take the boat, the giants let go and all eyes watched the burning boat set sail for one last time. Odin turned to the other gods and began speaking. The wolf paused his pacing and pricked up his ears.

"I am going to hold a great feast in honour of Balder, Nanna and Frigg. I invite all the members of the Aesir Court to this feast at my hall, Valhalla. There we will drink and feast to their memories!"

Once Odin finished his announcement he turned and walked away with slumped shoulders and head bowed. Freyja quickly trotted after him.

On the rocky out crop, the wolf had a very human grin on its face. So, you invite all the members of the court, do you? Well then, I shall be there and I am going to make you regret that invitation.  The wolf turned and silently raced off towards the nearby woods. Out on the sea, the longboat was now more flames than boat. People began to turn away as the longboat began to sink towards its final resting place.