Side Stories
II
The Holy Battle of Gods
Freya's Smile
PROLOGUE
I'm losing my hair. The Holy Priest of Odin is looking at his reflection. He's never been happy with his looks. As a child he was frail. He still recalls the way his father glanced at him, clearly disappointed with that sickly, weak son. "Leave him alone. You have other qualities, Dolvar" his mother used to tell him, "One day you'll rule over this city. It doesn't matter how much your father despises you now." Yet he couldn't leave it at peace, because his father was the mightiest warrior in Asgard, not just a Priest. Dolvar had always craved his respect. And, even if he could never have changed his sharp, graceless features, he could at least cultivate his physique. Method and application. Dolvar had left his teachers amazed. Now his is the body of a God. But he's losing his hair. Hair that had been white for years. Since the birth of the twins. No one could have guessed that his mother, at forty-five could generate two creatures as flawless as they were. Dolvar remember perfectly the smile on his decrepit father's face. "I had been told that I was going to sire a God... and they... They are Gods, my son. Your siblings are Gods... Don't you find them gorgeous? Freya, the Love, and Frey, the Peace. How could anything befall to our own Asgard, now that they are here?" Dolvar hadn't replied. But that very evening he'd strangled his mother. His father wasn't even worth it. He already had a foot inside the grave. He'd left them two months later. And the twins... The twins, which he'd never dared lay hand upon, had been put under his protection. Freya and Frey, Grown up worshiping their older brother. Especially the boy... Dolvar can read the trust in his eyes every time he speaks to him. He's been, after all, a father to him. The girl gives him some thoughts. Dolvar feels her distant. Anyway the young pair live beneath the mountain and come almost never to the Valhalla Palace. Their powers have not shown properly yet and Dolvar hopes that this status quo will last indefinitely. He is in absolute power at Asgard. He doesn't need two flawless Gods to cloak his people's mind. He doesn't care. Some day they could become an outstanding tool for his power... This is why Dolvar cares for them with all the affection that he can show...
The Valhalla Palace... In truth it's just a fortress holed among the mountains. Still he likes to think about it as a veritable reproduction of Odin's kingdom. Probably this is also what the rubes dwelling in their twin city think, the place his people scornfully call "Asgard-By-The-Sea". Years before a war had taken place, to determine which city could boast the name Asgard. It ended without winners or losers. But two statues of Odin had been placed on the main square of both towns to represent their new alliance. Things are about to change... Dolvar has been thinking for a long time. The Priestess of Asgard-By-The-Sea, the luscious daughter of fishermen, Polaris Hilda, has just been soundly beaten by Athens. In this recent war Dolvar didn't assist her. He kept aside, watching. Now Asgard-By-The-Sea is weak, without its protectors. And Dolvar's brain has started pondering. At first he thought of asking Hilda's hand. Then he changed his mind. She's a Queen. He needs another kind of alliance. An alliance to carry him into the future, when there will be just one Asgard. And a single, vast reign of Odin. The Queen has a sister. A juicy teen he saw at the last official banquet. She's called Freya. Like the Goddess of Love. Like his own beloved sister. But she's just a woman. Should I marry her, Asgard-By-The-Sea would become mine... To get rid of the pesky sister-in-law would be a joke... And Princess Freya is also a beauty. And to make children with her could prove an enjoyable leisure time. Loki will take care of it... thinks Dolvar. Loki, his right-hand man, one of his best warriors. We'll celebrate the wedding as soon as the young girl enters these halls... Hilda won't dare interfere. How could she, anyway? She'll be forced to place herself under my protection... Nobody can defend her anymore... Nobody...