Chapter Two – The Rogue Einherjar – Part One
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Year 5515...Day 51...Muspelheim Continent...Northern Central Region...

 

The City of Apollo stood like a steel castle upon the northern cliffs.

The sea raged below, it crashed into the stony face of the northern shoreline.

Large bulwarks stood high around the city guarding its two roads; one facing east, the other west.

Soldiers patrolled these structures, each man stood at the ready to snipe any unwelcomed schmuck down low.

The city’s flags waved wild in the wind.

The guards upon the walls paused in their steps.

They pulled back their arrows and looked down.

There was a pair of figures walking the eastern road.

With the roaring wind in his ear, the first of the two figures clapped down his heavy boots upon the mountain pass.

This figure stood with the aid of a cane, he was an aged fellow clad in a violet shroud.

He seemed fairly normal, all things considered.

His companion did not.

The second figure was clad whole in black, and all about him floated absurd existences: tiny humanoids with wings like a bird.

The men who had caught these two in their sights quickly sheathed their arrows.

Perhaps they were weary of the stranger, for he was truly a strange visitor in the literal sense of the word, but they would hardly fail to recognise his guide.

The oldest among them in particular recognised that first figure's face fairly easily, distance be damned.

“Inform Lord Apollo, tell him that his father has returned,” One of the veteran soldiers gave the order.

Among the man's younger peers then, one saluted and then he took flight to deliver that news.

The veteran stared blank of eye towards the wizened former Lord of Apollo on the road.

He cast a smile down upon him, for he had fought alongside him in countless battles once upon a time when they were younger.

Only after that did he turn his gaze upon the second figure, the man clad in black.

He knew not this man’s name, nor his title, but he could sense something about him, something both extremely eerie and quite foreboding.

He frowned and in so doing, mist escaped his flesh to cover the land.

That mist thinned, expanded until it was all but invisible, and then everything it touched, be it wind, rock or blade of grass, entered his perception.

Then at last, the mist reached that man in black.

This power could be used to perceive its own kind, and the more one person possessed the more powerful he or she was.

The five classes of men in this world were defined by that principle, from ordinary mortals to Bronze, Silver and Gold Class Bearers of Ash.

These were superhumans who even without their other powers could be seen to stand over two meters tall at the weakest layer.

The Gold Class in fact found themselves exceeding three full meters at their prime, and each man came equipped with equivalent might in their build.

Then there was the Platinum Class, the peak of all human potential, men who found themselves standing at the very top.

The previous Lord of Apollo was such a man, and that man beside him just as well stood taller than a bear.

This man then was no doubt a Platinum Class, same as their lord, the soldier didn't need to sense the man’s Ash to know that.

He did so, even still, and it was at that very moment, when his own Ash came into contact with this titan man's power, that he sensed something truly shocking.

This aura of Ash was not something a Gold Class or even a Platinum Class could bear, indeed it was far beyond either one.

His eyes opened wide, cold sweat gripped him as he stared wide eyed towards that figure.

That figure sensed him too, naturally for that is the flaw inherent to this most basic of Silver Class' abilities, but did not retaliate against his invasion of privacy.

Naturally, for the guards of this border were permitted to scrutinize any traveller in such a way, it was instead the traveller who’d be suspected if he or she chose to resist it.

He was feeling mischievous however, and so the man in black snapped his fingers.

Those tiny winged women swarmed around him, they flew in from every direction until their numbers blotted out the sun.

Each one of them had only a little bit of Ash, but they numbered as many as the ants inside an ant hill.

The result was terrific, the power on display left the old soldier in an even colder sweat.

This thing wasn't human, it couldn't even remotely be considered a mortal man of any category.

Those mischievous beings soon scattered once again, but they'd done their duty and left their boastful impression.

The former lord, Aegis of Apollo, who was companion to this man, could not help but let out an amused chuckle.

His laughter served to allow the soldiers around them to feel some modicum of relief, for they then knew that the man accompanying their former lord was at least not a wild monster he saw fit to fear.

“Master Rudolph,” He said, “Could you please restrain yourself a little?”

“My apologies,” The man in black said as he held out an arm for one of the small winged humanoids.

Now that the men were up close, they could see their forms quite clearly.

Their features were vague, but certainly more feminine than masculine on the overall.

They resembled fairies from the old myths, the little winged men and women born of flowers who grew up to be lean wingless and long eared.

They didn't wear cloth, didn't seem to have the need of it, and their bodies seemed to bear some degree of foliage or other floral decor.

They only seemed to sport as much power as their tiny bodies could permit, but it was irrelevant.

The most foolish of men could see it up close now; they were all connected.

These Fay and their Ash were as one both with the black clothed man and the entire swarm that served him.

Aegis shook his head on seeing the shocked glances of his men.

When first he’d met this man, Rudolph of Mars, he was but a scholar living in the City of Venus.

He’d been all but irrelevant in that city which was ran by women publicly, but he was not without connections.

He’d been married to the commander of its military, Melany, and he was the brother of the Enforcer, Amelia, so his existence was actually rather noteworthy.

Furthermore, although this is a secret that even Aegis had only learnt recently, he was also father to the city’s present Lady, Rusalka of Venus herself, though it did not seem as though the girl’s mother had treated him as anything more than a sperm donor in that regard.

Whatever the case, clearly it wasn’t something he cared to boast about.

Ultimately then this seemingly unimpressive man had actually become quite a bit more impressive than he had first thought him to be.

Now as to those fairy-like beings who swarmed all around him, he knew very little, only that they were indeed impressive.

When asked, he had been told only that they were a gift, and it was quite forthcoming of Rudolph to admit their giver was The Black God, Rognir, who yielded them to him so he might accomplish a certain objective.

The truth, Aegis suspected, was largely the same and yet somewhat different, for Rudolph had not spoken much on it during their travels in spite of his probing.

Before long then the duo stood before the city gate.

They stood in wait as a massive echo began to resound through the cliffs; the heavy grate of a moving gate thundered into their ears.

Then it stopped, and did so with a resounding thud.

The former lord was first to advance, but soon enough he turned to his companion and yielded a bow fit to welcome.

“Won’t you please come and enjoy some of my hospitality, Lord Rudolph?” He said.

“I’d love to,” and Rudolph replied.

Yet, he did not advance.

One step, that's all he took before something seemed to call his mind far away.

The old Lord of Apollo looked back upon Rudolph with wonder.

Everything he'd witnessed until now had done its duty to establish the man before him as a true giant in his eyes, it therefore made him quite uneasy indeed to see that man frozen not with fear outright but most certainly with caution and a tinge of genuine alarm.

“Is something the matter?” Aegis had to ask, for what man would dare not wonder?

“Nothing...I think,” Said Rudolph, who turned back to face his companion.

Certainly it was not nothing, any man could see so, but Rudolph didn't call their minds to it.

“What do you plan to do in the coming days, Aegis?” The man asked.

Aegis, for his part, was no mere fool, he was wise enough to know Rudolph was changing the subject on purpose, but he didn’t pry into the reason why.

Truth be told, he dared not to want to know.

“I’ll rest for a few days,” Said the wizened old Lord, “Then I’ll take some troops with me back to the coast.”

Rudolph raised a brow on hearing that answer.

He could not help but ponder the years of his companion, then he asked him so,

“You’ll actually be participating in this war at your age?” He said.

“Don’t mock me, Boy,” Said Aegis in toe.

Rudolph backed off, but his words weren’t wrong to the average listener.

Aegis was indeed not a young man, a man his age would be expected to have long retired and he should bid to send his son to fight in his place, but that was just not his style, never had been.

“Let the old die in glory, leave the future to the young,” He spoke his mind.

Each syllable was solemn, he knew he was going to die, it rather irked him that he didn't really mind.

He'd grown old just like the rest, and now he knew their motives best.

Those old bones that littered the fields of his past.

He would soon join their ranks, it was his turn, not his son's, nor his grandson's either.

Rudolph himself could not argue with that logic much either.

The bitter reality for him though was that his daughter, Lady Ru, and her husband Alexander were being forced to participate in this war.

The reason was simple; as far as Jupiter and their Sovereign gave a damn Venus was responsible for this whole mess.

They had a "moral obligation" to put it right or face summery execution.

“I figure I’ve still got at least that much fight left in me,” Said the solemn Aegis, “And what of you, Master Rudolph?”

The former scholar of Venus cast a frown upon the heavens, he hadn't expected to be asked that question.

Not even that long ago he’d witnessed a clash between the gods, he’d watched as the Einherjar, the lowest of their kind, tore the very sky apart in their clash.

That was a scene he would never forget, and now he worked for one such god to take up actions against the vested interests of yet another one.

He may be more than just a man, but he was still less than even the weakest God.

What a truly frightful tale he'd swept himself up in.

'Boast of legends and men all you want in books and parchment,' he thought, 'it's only too terrifying when such beings skulk about reality.'

“I’ll leave when morning comes,” He said only this, he kept his council on the rest.

Aegis muttered that it was a pity, but he did not seek to keep him longer, he did not argue for Rudolph to stay.

They were all busy men, each with their own wars to fight, their own battles to win.

Truth be told on some level he was also a tad bit eager to be rid of him, it was only natural for that to be true.

Still, he was a civil and upright individual, so he neither said so nor acted like that were the case.

He gave as he offered, a fine dinner, bed and even a pre-parting breakfast.

He welcomed the man to his home and let him meet his family like any decent host.

Rudolph could sense their unease, but he was not rude nor did he go out of his way to be intimidating.

Quite the contrary, he was a model guest just as much as Aegis was a sparkling example of host.

Then morning came, and the two men parted without incident.

They would not ever meet again...

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