Freya's Blade (3)
Surprise! More Freya's Blade. This is a shorter selection. The next one will be very long, because I can't find any good way to split up that scene. Perhaps just more editing. Well...here continues the story of Elwynn and Arod and Agnor:
Elwynn shimmered through the nighted halls of Taleth Mon, the domain of her brothers, lords of earth and stone. She desired their wisdom.
Arod’s chamber was silent. His enchanted machines, ever clanking and clashing as he trained his feats for war, stood frozen. Agnor’s forge-fire was but a starfield of cooling embers.
She heard their booming voices echo like distant earthquakes from the roots of the ancient hill, and so followed the tunnels down, down, to the Armory far under-earth.
There she found them, but she did not greet them. Something in their words left her standing, listening and watching from the dark and silent hall. The silver light of her spirit cast shadows in the knotwork on the stone door that stood ajar before her. Within, she saw her brothers armoring for war.
*****
In the pitch blankness of the underearth, where only their eyes shone like pale coals, Arod and Agnor held constant debate as they armored themselves in the shining and powerful armor made of Agnor’s master smithcraft.
Arod’s voice boomed like a falling mountain. “I can stand alone against them if need be. Many a war I have fought with naught but spear and sword and bow. And these works of yours are more powerful than anything I have ever used.”
Agnor’s voice was lower, softer, but rich and wide and rolling. “Freya’s Blade is our only chance, brother. You are the warrior. You must wield it.”
“I have tried. I cannot unlock its power.”
“As long as you hold it, they cannot slay you. Remember when we slew Roshak? A dozen times you slashed and stabbed and his body showed no sign. But I saw. I saw the spirits trapped in Freya’s Blade holding his soul in his body, and told you to take it from his grasp.”
Arod’s eyes lit his cheeks and the tips of his beard with a feral light. “And how that lusting cur poured blood once I wrestled it from his hands. So deserve all who wish to harm my sister. But Agnor, you prove me right again. Who better to wield Freya’s Blade than the Master Smith who can read its secrets? Remember how once it burned? It tore through my armor as a thunderbolt through ice. All Elwynn’s power could hardly cure my pains. But Roshak could not sustain that fire. He did not understand it. If once you could unlock that fire, even the Mori-tan could not stand against us.”
Agnor stared at the ornate helmet in his hands. “Brother, I am afraid of what will happen if I fail.”
Arod rested a mighty hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Agnor, your mind is deep and clever. You have the gifts of intuition and imagination. If either of us can unlock the powers of Freya’s Blade, it will be you. If you fail, I will fight as I always fight, and at least you may fight beside me undying.”
“Arod, who will defend Elwynn if we fall?”
“Agnor our chance to defend her is now. If we cannot defeat them now, we will never defeat them. They grow in strength everyday. Their slaves increase, and ever they find or seize new weapons of power. The People cry out to Freya. But since she seems to hear our prayers no more, we will bear her power for her.”
Agnor’s voice grated on the stone. “Gods! All ye old gods, why have you abandoned us? Freya, Ana, Manon, Lugh, Father Dagda! Where are your powers now?”
*****
Elwynn stood trembling, tears flooding silken cheeks, pleas racing through her mind, almost daring to rush in and beg them not to go. But she knew they would never be persuaded. The knowledge came from the unsounded depths of her, and a heavy voice whispered that sometimes the only choice was to fight.
Her heart railed against that thought. She was a healer, and her enemy was pain. She hated with a loving heart all the violence of the world, and detested most the stories her brothers told of the wars of Fay and the wars of Man.
And now her beloved brothers had fallen to that bloodlust. They would leave, and they would die.
Unless…
Her tears turned suddenly cold, and she glided silent through the nighted halls under their ancient hill with one intent: to keep her brothers from fighting any battle.
*****
Arod and Agnor descended the lightless stairwells far beneath the forest’s roots, and Agnor spoke the words of trust that allowed them past the steelwork and writhing spirits and bewildering spells he’d woven to guard Freya’s Blade.
They entered the shrine where they kept their prize, the Sword of the Goddess of Life and Love and Viral Strength, and Agnor’s glowing eyes widened under the tangle of his arching brows.
The roar that bellowed from him shook the foundations of their ancient hill, and prowling night-beasts bolted in terror as all the forest rang with his desperate rage.
Freya’s Blade was gone.
Elwynn shimmered through the nighted halls of Taleth Mon, the domain of her brothers, lords of earth and stone. She desired their wisdom.
Arod’s chamber was silent. His enchanted machines, ever clanking and clashing as he trained his feats for war, stood frozen. Agnor’s forge-fire was but a starfield of cooling embers.
She heard their booming voices echo like distant earthquakes from the roots of the ancient hill, and so followed the tunnels down, down, to the Armory far under-earth.
There she found them, but she did not greet them. Something in their words left her standing, listening and watching from the dark and silent hall. The silver light of her spirit cast shadows in the knotwork on the stone door that stood ajar before her. Within, she saw her brothers armoring for war.
*****
In the pitch blankness of the underearth, where only their eyes shone like pale coals, Arod and Agnor held constant debate as they armored themselves in the shining and powerful armor made of Agnor’s master smithcraft.
Arod’s voice boomed like a falling mountain. “I can stand alone against them if need be. Many a war I have fought with naught but spear and sword and bow. And these works of yours are more powerful than anything I have ever used.”
Agnor’s voice was lower, softer, but rich and wide and rolling. “Freya’s Blade is our only chance, brother. You are the warrior. You must wield it.”
“I have tried. I cannot unlock its power.”
“As long as you hold it, they cannot slay you. Remember when we slew Roshak? A dozen times you slashed and stabbed and his body showed no sign. But I saw. I saw the spirits trapped in Freya’s Blade holding his soul in his body, and told you to take it from his grasp.”
Arod’s eyes lit his cheeks and the tips of his beard with a feral light. “And how that lusting cur poured blood once I wrestled it from his hands. So deserve all who wish to harm my sister. But Agnor, you prove me right again. Who better to wield Freya’s Blade than the Master Smith who can read its secrets? Remember how once it burned? It tore through my armor as a thunderbolt through ice. All Elwynn’s power could hardly cure my pains. But Roshak could not sustain that fire. He did not understand it. If once you could unlock that fire, even the Mori-tan could not stand against us.”
Agnor stared at the ornate helmet in his hands. “Brother, I am afraid of what will happen if I fail.”
Arod rested a mighty hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Agnor, your mind is deep and clever. You have the gifts of intuition and imagination. If either of us can unlock the powers of Freya’s Blade, it will be you. If you fail, I will fight as I always fight, and at least you may fight beside me undying.”
“Arod, who will defend Elwynn if we fall?”
“Agnor our chance to defend her is now. If we cannot defeat them now, we will never defeat them. They grow in strength everyday. Their slaves increase, and ever they find or seize new weapons of power. The People cry out to Freya. But since she seems to hear our prayers no more, we will bear her power for her.”
Agnor’s voice grated on the stone. “Gods! All ye old gods, why have you abandoned us? Freya, Ana, Manon, Lugh, Father Dagda! Where are your powers now?”
*****
Elwynn stood trembling, tears flooding silken cheeks, pleas racing through her mind, almost daring to rush in and beg them not to go. But she knew they would never be persuaded. The knowledge came from the unsounded depths of her, and a heavy voice whispered that sometimes the only choice was to fight.
Her heart railed against that thought. She was a healer, and her enemy was pain. She hated with a loving heart all the violence of the world, and detested most the stories her brothers told of the wars of Fay and the wars of Man.
And now her beloved brothers had fallen to that bloodlust. They would leave, and they would die.
Unless…
Her tears turned suddenly cold, and she glided silent through the nighted halls under their ancient hill with one intent: to keep her brothers from fighting any battle.
*****
Arod and Agnor descended the lightless stairwells far beneath the forest’s roots, and Agnor spoke the words of trust that allowed them past the steelwork and writhing spirits and bewildering spells he’d woven to guard Freya’s Blade.
They entered the shrine where they kept their prize, the Sword of the Goddess of Life and Love and Viral Strength, and Agnor’s glowing eyes widened under the tangle of his arching brows.
The roar that bellowed from him shook the foundations of their ancient hill, and prowling night-beasts bolted in terror as all the forest rang with his desperate rage.
Freya’s Blade was gone.
Submitted by MythWind at 5:26 PM
3 Comments:
Again, your use of prose is unique. Words like "underearth" and "starfield" speak much to your credit in terms of prosaicness. I don't really feel particularly invested in the story at this point. When they find that Freya's blade is gone, I feel like I've found out too recently about the weapon and have not been intimated the exact amount of leverage it would have. I'm going off the spoken word of two characters who, themselves, I'm not very familiar with. I feel separate from this, and the tremendously spiritually jarring instance that occured before with the hunter doesn't seem to affect Elwynn at all anymore. I need more of a reason to get involved, at this point.
Jake, I don't know if these three peiece are even contiguous in the original manuscript. I do, however, really enjoy both the scenery and the characters. You have done well describing everything, and would like to see more of it.
just a quick note, In the last paragraph, i think you want "Viril strength" as in "Manly strength", right? "Viral" is the adjective that comes from "virus".
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