Hellbent by Tina Glasneck

Author:Tina Glasneck [Glasneck, Tina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vie La Publishing House, LLC

Part 2: Welcome to the Apocalypse

A window to the heavens shall open and the gods shall be pulled asunder; brother against brother, wife against husband, wisdom begetting foolishness.

And the children of Ask and Embla shall bathe in blood of the immortals as the world is set in flames by the gods’ pride.

Kiss of Ymir, Stanza 9

Chapter 15

Lady Hel, Asgard

For this trip to Asgard, she did not go crawling. She went without invitation.

Stepping back there, it was like stepping through time. She entered not by crossing the Bifrost Bridge but through the land of the giants, her people. She stood at the edge of what remained of her childhood home, a hovel in comparison to the gold and grace of Asgard. She recalled the laughter, the light in the darkness, the love.

To each other, they weren’t monsters or beasts, but family. Funny how others got to define another’s reality. Every day her father had told her she was beautiful; every day he at least had pretended they were what the heart regarded them to be: family.

She closed her eyes. She could still smell her mother’s sweet perfume, as if she’d been bathing at the lake, and the taste of the fresh mutton; hear her soothing voice asking that the children play nicely together, share, or take care of one another.

Yet, all of that had ended with Odin’s arrival. He had demanded the children, and they’d been ushered to the golden city to be prodded and poked, degraded and labeled.

How much of the prophecy that hung over their heads was indeed self-inflicted? How long could a dog be kicked before he started to bite?

“What are you doing here, Lady Hel?” asked Annar, the giant of night and her uncle. “We have not seen you on this side of the walls in a long time.”

“I know, dear Uncle, but I wished to visit my mother’s grave since I was in the area.”

“I see that you came to the realm but not by the bridge?”

“There are other ways between the realms, and this time love brought me home.”

He shook his head. “They have made you soft if you are speaking of such.”

“Only with you, for I seek news of Fenrir, or Jörmungandr.”

“Outside of the prophecies that have overshadowed their existence?”

“Evil will always exist, but evil is not absolute,” she answered.

He nodded his head. “Come, I will show you what your mother left behind for you.”

They walked through the forest of the giants, located across the river from Asgard proper. Within its depths lived other beings besides the giants and not all were friendly, but she feared nothing. She was the Goddess of Death, and nothing would change that—no matter where she stood, she still ruled. “And how did she die?”

“In battle, fighting for her children.”

“And my father, what of him?”

“Word has spread that he has been exiled in time as well, just as Thor was.”

“Thor is not in Asgard?”

“No.” He shook his head.

“And why have you not attacked?”

“The war has gone on for ages,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.