Chapter 15 – Armies

Odin continued his march, leading his forces and Scylla into the gates of the giant tree. He lifted his hand as he signaled his Einherjar to halt, and even Scylla obeyed the command.

Silently he waited. The silence was quickly shattered when Thor, Peach, Shenlong, and the two brother gods were either tossed out or ran, each of them seeing Odin and his army as they escaped.

Odin kept his eyes on the door, watching as an army of Frost Giants came out in waves, each forming a line in front of the tree as they continued to exit. Thor and the others quickly made it to Odin, each coming to his side to explain the situation.

The bearded god lifted his hand, quickly silencing the noise each of them was making. "You have misused the power of Yggdrasil, Shiva!" he said, getting the others to turn to the gates.

Shiva moved through the army of giants, each of them parting as he did, until he was at the front, a large blue horse under him, carrying him with a misty mane and tail, frost spewing from its mouth and nostrils. "Come to surrender Odin?" he asked.

Odin turned to his army, "Bring Sleipnir to me!" he shouted. One of the Einherjar came forward, a large grey horse being guided by the leather reigns in his hand. The moment it came into view, Chase could see the steed in all its glory, it had eight legs. The first for were up front, two on each side of the beast, the shoulders stacked on top of each other as it moved each limb individually. The last four, at the flank, the hips stacked like the shoulders, one on top of the other as the all moved independently of each other. It stumped the kit how such a phenomenon could have occurred, none of it made any sense to him as he tried several scenarios in his mind to describe the mutation.

Odin grabbed the reigns from the solder, and hoisted himself up to the saddle resting on the back of the great horse, and off he rode, Shiva kicking his horse's sides gently to get the beast to meet Odin in the middle.

Chase found the ride smooth, yet quick, the two of them reached the meeting point before Shiva was even three fourths the way. So they both waited as the kit finally tried to calm down, his mind swimming with far too many questions and impossible scenarios. "You wish to wage battle here at Yggdrasil's roots?" Shiva asked as he arrived. "No blood needs to be shed this day, accept your punishment for the crimes you have committed!" Odin replied. "I have committed no crimes!" Shiva said, "I see no reason you need to be here!"

"You cannot deceive me!" Odin said, causing Shiva's smile to fall, "Yggdrasil has told me of you treachery, even before the little ones found their way to this world. It is only by their deeds that you will be revealed to the public. You have lost! That is your fate!"

Shiva growled at the old man, and lifted one of his swords, "I'll sooner see Ragnarok than be defeated by these little ones!" he said. "Then so be it!" Odin nearly growled, and turned Sleipnir to ride back to his army as Shiva did the same. "Well?" Thor asked his father upon arrival. Odin simply shook his head, "Then we fight!" Thor said as he pulled Mjolnir from his belt. "First, what of Zeus?" Odin asked. Thor lowered his hammer, "I am afraid I was unsuccessful in freeing him from the ice and pedaled prison within Yggdrasil." he said. Odin lowered his hand, placing it on this son's shoulder, "Permafrost is eternal, all I can ask is that you did your best."

'We were able to get most of the pedals off of Zeus before Shiva chased us out.' Odin heard the gentle kit on Thor's shoulder say in his mind. "Then we will be without the thunder of Zeus until the last of the pedals is removed! Einherjar!" Odin said and turned to his army. Each of them stood at attention, listening to their general's words, "This day is bigger than any of us! This day determines the fate of our kind. We've been slaves to the strands for too long! Never giving thought to our own decisions! But this little…KIT… has brought a new idea, a new way to live. WE are the EINHERJAR of this world, we have the strength to guide our own fates! This lesson we have learned from the little ones, will be realized and remembered, our fate will be decided by our own decisions! We will be the victors this day, because we will take that fate, into our own hands, and we will save Yggdrasil, and the future of our world!" The speech given by Odin, rose both curiosity and spirit in his solders, a belief that they could win only by their own design, and it was a design that each of them could envision, families happily living to their own light, giving and smiling as they lived in pride and happiness. Not a Frost Giant in sight as they lived in peace. Each of them shouted, each wanting to see that vision appear in their future. "FOR THE FUTURE, CHARGE!" Odin commanded and they all raced up the hill, towards battle and the tree.

Shiva simply pointed his sword, and the Frost Giants smiled, each charging in toward the Einherjar with weapons raised.

The two armies ran full force, clashing in the middle as they did battle, swords clashing against sword, ice cutting flesh and steel while steel shattered ice. Scylla reaching down with her heads to snatch the Frost Giants up one at a time, biting down hard to break them in half. The wolves at her waist reached out and snatched up any that got close while she also stepped on several, using her own body as a weapon.

Odin lifted a golden spear up as he and his horse charged, skewering several Frost Giants with a single thrust of his arm, then swinging it to the side, shattered several more with the ones stuck on his spear. Chase jumped down, quickly pouncing on one of the giants, and shattering him on a large rock. Lifting it once again, Odin hurled the spear at the smiling azure, getting the four armed man to lower his smile in fear. A giant stepped in front of him, the spear piercing the being and stopping just before the tip could pierce his skin. The giant fell forward, clutching the handle of the spear and falling still on the steps of Yggdrasil.

Shiva looked back up, spying Odin as the bearded god raced forward on his steed. The azure turned on his own horse, and raced into the tree, fear erupting in his veins as Odin drew a sharp curved blade. Sleipnir raced past the fallen giant, Odin grabbing his spear as he passed by, ripping it out the back of the fallen giant as the two of them raced into the tree of Yggdrasil disappearing into the depths of what was once called, the tree of life.

End Chapter 15