Hello there everyone! It has been a very long time since I've posted anything but I'm back! I've recently found some free time and I'm having a bit of writer's block with my original writing so I thought I'd write a story or two on here to keep in practice. Reviews mean a lot to me and as always, please enjoy the story! :)
Frigid winds battered the wanderer mercilessly, pelting the bearded man with bullets of cold rain that soaked into his hooded black cloak; like icy needles being driven into his leathery skin. He trudged through the flooded alley, his mouth twisted into a frustrated scowl. In the past, he could have dispelled the thunderstorm without lifting a finger. But then, in the past, he wouldn't have been caught in this raging maelstrom in the first place. Oh no, this old man would have sat on a grand throne surrounded by the finest things that life had to offer, safe and warm inside his golden city. But his city and his family were gone, that life was long dead.
He continued his sluggish trek, the somber weight of his thoughts slowing his stride that much more. His melancholy reflection, however, was shattered by a boom of thunder followed by the piercing wail of a child. The old man's head shot up straight as the hair of his arms and legs stood straight up in response to the electrical surge that shook the very earth he stood on.
"What in the name of Asgard was that?" he thought as he struggled to remain balanced. Then he felt it. There was more than just the metallic energy of electricity permeating the air. No, the man felt a distinct magical charge run through his veins, one not unlike his own son's lightning. He shook his head to rid his mind of such thoughts, his snowy white beard almost whipping his face in the ferocious winds as he did so. Then, clutching his gnarled wooden walking stick, the man quickened his pace in the direction of the blast.
He emerged from the alley, grim lines in his face set like stone, and continued his walk towards Central Park. He followed the winding trail of magic energy closely, not that he really needed any help finding his way with the ear-busting screaming of a child not far ahead. Within a few more moments he had reached his destination, he did not like what he found.
The small clearing he found himself in was scorched, from the grassy floor to the bark of the surrounding trees. The blast had left little in its wake, save the burnt remains of a woman lying on the ground in the epicenter of the crater left behind by the mighty bolt of lightning. However, the wailing infant was nowhere to be seen. The old man marched around the edges of the crater in search of the crying babe but stopped short upon the sound of a wheezing breath finding its ways to he his ears. His head snapped to the source of the ragged breathing and barely contained his shock to see a pair of startling blue eyes locked on him. He raced toward the woman as quickly as he could before kneeling at her side.
"Impossible!" he thought, "A blast of that magnitude should have left naught but ash in its wake, much less a breathing woman." That was when he noticed it. A flickering green aura surrounded the woman like a glowstick, washing the old man in the scent of the sea.
"I see," he sighed inwardly, "So, the sea god saw fit to grant you protection." The old man knew, however, that whatever protection the earthshaker had granted this woman, that it would not be enough. A bolt of that strength could only have come from Zeus himself, and, observing the bloody burns that covered the woman's body, he knew that not even his own magic could save her now. In the end, all Poseidon had done was prolong her suffering.
"Please, rest now little one," the old man's voice washed over the woman, surprisingly strong and proud despite his hunched frame.
"P-please prot-" her sentence was cut short by a ragged cough that left a scarlet pool of blood on the blackened earth. She squeezed her brilliant azure eyes shut in a grimace before lifting a burned and shaky arm up and pointing in the direction of the screaming with obvious struggle.
"Please, protect him," The instant the word him left her mouth, the fight left her body and she slumped onto the ground. He wheezing breaths slowed until the clearing was filled only with the sound of howling wind and the rage-filled breath of the old man. However, the anger left him just as quickly as it had come, only to be replaced by the mournful stabbing of sorrow gnawing away at his heart. He had seen countless deaths and fought in wars larger than the human imagination could possibly comprehend, and, in a different time, the old man would have found honor in the women's fighting spirit. But now, he felt only the sting of profound loss at her death. He mourned her death with the deaths of all those that had fought in his name and felt crippled under the burden of their loss. Death seemed to follow him life a vultures follows a marching army looking for its next meal and he never seemed strong enough to save any of them.
The breaking of his heart was halted by another powerful cry ripping through the billowing wind emanating from the direction the woman had pointed. He stood and glanced down at her frail and broken form one last time, thinking she would have made a fine valkyrie in a different world, before moving towards the piercing wail. As he moved, his staff seemed to shimmer with golden light and warped itself until a mighty golden spear stood in its place. The strange shape of runes glowed white-hot along its length all the way to its tip and, as it struck the ground, an invisible force pushed the rain away. The force expanded farther and farther like an invisible umbrella opening until the clearing was covered in a hidden barrier that blocked both the raging downpour and the prying eyes of mortals and gods alike. Several yards from the clearing, in a patch of fresh green grass surrounded by bushes, a swaddle of mud-stained white blankets writhed and cried with wild abandonment.
The old man approached the bundle with a delicate reverence, kneeling over the child somberly. The child paused its keening for a moment upon the old man coming into its view, but upon seeing the man's scarred and wrinkled face twisted in a scowl resumed its screeching with renewed vigor. The old man's frost colored eyebrows shot up is surprise at the sound, his one good eye widening in shock.
"Goodness boy, you have quite the set of lungs on you aye?" The old man chuckled, his cool baritone voice washing over the child like a clam breeze. The child ceased is hollering in response to the man's tone, looking up at him red-faced, the baby's hypnotising green eyes which swirled like whirlpools bored into him inquisitively.
The wanderer grunted in recognition, "Just as I thought, so Poseidon was the second to break the oath."
"Oh little one, the life you find yourself in is not an easy one," the old man sighed sympathetically, "And trust me, I know much of difficult lives." In response, the child only babbled incoherently.
"But perhaps I can make your journey a little easier, young one," the old man grinned for what seemed the first time in many years, his good eye which was colored the pale blue of the sky on a cold winter's day sparkled with hope. This boy did not resemble the wanderer's other children in the least, yet looking upon him still made the old man's heartache for a family that no longer existed. His reminiscing was interrupted, however, by the screech of an eagle trying to push its way out of the invisible barrier.
Odin observed the bird coldly, clutching the now quiet infant close to his chest. A low whistle escaped his lips and within moments, what appeared to be two flying shadows whisked overhead; flying through the wanderer's barrier with no resistance whatsoever. The eagle gave a startled screech as the two smaller figures slammed into it with more force than expected and pulled it to the ground in a squabbling mess of black and white feathers. Odin approached the dog pile, or rather, the bird pile and met his eye with the intelligent eye of the restrained eagle. Holding the bird in place were the wanderer's faithful ravens, Huginn and Muninn. They squawked in greeting before returning to their task of holding down the struggling bird with unnatural strength.
The old man raised his spear and flipped it so the blade was pointed directly at the birds head. The avian creature struggled and screamed in the clawed embrace of the ravens in a fruitless attempt to free itself. However, instead of simply killing the bird, the old man delicately touched the tip of his spear to the bird's beak and whispered a short chant. The runes adorning his spear glowed brightly as the magic worked itself into the eagle's mind. A glazed look covered the bird's eyes as it gave a squawk of confusion in the man's direction.
"Both the mother and child perished by the bolt," he whispered evenly, "You will report to your master that he succeeded in his assassination attempt."
The bird gave a final squawk of agreement before the old man nodded and tapped the butt of his spear on the wet earth releasing his barrier and ordering Huginn and Muninn to free the eagle. They did as he asked and with a triumphant screech, the eagle began its flight towards the empire state building.
The man watched its retreat until it was but a white speck against the dark thunderheads covering the starry night sky. With a final glare in the direction of where the old man knew the invisible Mount Olympus lay, he turned and began to walk in the opposite direction. Huginn and Muninn flapped their wings and flew to perch on their master's shoulders with happy caws, causing a slight curl of the wanderer's mouth and a gargle of interest from the baby that lay in his arms.
"Now then, my child," the man declared," I say it is time we head home. "So says Odin, the Allfather!" he bared his teeth in a shining grin as a golden light enveloped the group of birds and men in a bright flash of light that enveloped both Odin's group and the body of the child's mother until none of them remained.
So what do ya think? I'd love to hear all your thoughts and I got lots of fun plans for this story! Any particular pairings you'd like to see? Let me know all your thoughts and leave a review to tell me what you think! Thanks for reading :)