6
There was a chill in the evening air and Thor had put on a thicker cloak when he joined Balder upon the long boat. The company of men included some archers relieved of their duty from the center line of defense in the city. The King had put the Einherjar on a rotation schedule since it was no longer necessary for all of them to be on alert since Thor had defeated the monster. Once all were aboard the long ship rose into the air and took off.
"You're very quiet tonight little brother" Balder casually spoke when he joined Thor at the long ship's prow. "Could our father's upcoming nuptials to the Lady Amora have anything to do with your silence?"
"How could father do such a thing so soon after mother's death, and to become betrothed to Amora?"
"That is practically what I said to Tyr when father married YOUR mother and I say the same that he said; who are you to deny father happiness? You may not have known this but your material grandsire was a drunkard who ruined his family before dying a drunkard's death" Balder said matter-of-factly.
In shock the Thunder god's head snapped up to glare at Balder "That…that cannot be true!"
"Unfortunately it is" Balder answered back "and you should know better than to judge people by their past; for were you not the reckless imp that caused both your brother, and the Lady Amora, to be taken captive by Karnilla, and, nearly got them and myself killed?"
Thor had a retort readied but stopped as Balder was right for he had been responsible for that incident as he'd spotted the white stag and gave chase despite mother's warning not to. As Loki didn't want to be pegged as scared, he and Amora had followed after him on their ponies. He'd gotten lost and so had Loki and Amora before they were captured by the Norn warrior.
"It has been four years since your mother's death and while he may miss her, I believe four years is plenty of time to mourn, and now he wishes to go on with his life as you have with your mortal consort" Balder continued. "What other choice does father have but to remarry and hope to father another son? Neither I nor my brothers have any claim to the throne after mother's divorce and YOU renounced your right to it. Besides, it has been a long time since small feet ran through the palace halls."
"My lords" the ship's captain shouted from the helm. "We near the western valleys!"
Amora lay with her head on Loki's naked shoulder listening to the racing beat of his heart from their exertions from love making. His eyes were closed but she wasn't sure if he really was asleep. She placed her hand over his heart and felt it beating against his chest. Then she saw him smile.
"Are you contented in how things are working?" she queried him as she started to play with the whorl in his chest hair.
"With the possible exception of the monster, and your father's murder, it goes as exactly as I planned four years ago when Thor freed me from the dungeons."
"Before I came to your private war council and dinner I went to see a Healer…"
"You…you aren't…" with a start Loki rose up on his right arm and wide eyed stared down at her with anticipation.
"No, but she says my time is close at hand and if you want a son you'll have to work a little harder at it for the next couple of days" Amora softly laughed at him then quickly kissed him.
"And so I shall, and I'll enjoy every minute of it" Loki grinned mischievously, "just as you shall my dear."
Loki gathered her up into his arms, pulling her to him. He kissed her back passionately as his left hand slid down her back to the curve of her hips as she giggled with anticipation.
The long boat set down in the lake in the largest of the three valleys and one Einherjar striped down to his loin cloth and Balder handed him a charm on a chain, "Put this on as it will give you the ability to shape shift."
"How does it work my Lord?" the young red haired warrior asked as he studied the small golden wing.
"Think giant river otter and you'll find out" Balder grinned at the younger man who instantly transformed into a river otter that stood a meter at the shoulder. "Good, now over you go and bring up anything that you find."
The men had to boost the "giant otter's" backside off the edge of the long boat as the charmed beast had trouble scrambling over the ship's rail but once in the water he was fluidly graceful as any aqua dancer before diving under the water's surface. After about five minutes he came back to the surface and bobbed about in the water, "Think of your own form and you will shift back" Balder called out to him. The young man transformed back into himself and Thor noticed his hands were empty.
"Did you not find anything?" Thor called out to the warrior with some disappointment in his voice.
"Yes my Prince I did, but I will need a strong net and two strong ropes to bring it up."
Both Balder and Thor shot looks of puzzlement at each other and then Balder ordered a net and two ropes to be thrown to the youth in the lake. Shifting back into otter shape the youth dived back down and was gone for another five minutes before breaking the surface to gasp for air. After taking great breaths he dived back down and came back in another eight minutes before shifting back to man shape. He handed the ends of the two ropes to his shipmates and told them to pull. Which all did, with no apparent success, at bringing up whatever the young Einherjar had found at the lake's bottom?
"Tie the ropes around the mast and use the ship to lift it out" Thor ordered the men and they wrapped the ropes around the mast and tied them tightly. Thor then signaled the ship's captain to raise the ship into the air and he got the long boat five feet off the surface of the water before the ropes went taunt and the engines of the long boat began to strain and then the mast began to crack as the ship lurched sideways and three men fell out of the boat and immediately sank because of their armor. The youth transformed back into an otter and retrieved each man as Balder ordered the ship back upon the water to pull the warriors back inside the ship.
"Od's blood, just what did you find down there?" Balder yelled at the youth as he was pulled back on board ship.
"I don't know my Lord as it sits in a dark part of the lake and with the sun fading I cannot see it well" the boy gasped for air, "but it's big and gold."
Balder and Thor looked at each other with wonderment at this revelation and then Balder turned to the long ship's captain, "If we cannot pull or lift it out, let's drag it out. At any rate I will not leave here till I see with my own eyes this golden monolith."
The captain steered the long ship towards the shore then made it rise a few inches off the ground as the ropes went taunt and the engines started to strain at their burden. Swinging the ship from left to right the captain felt the unknown burden begin to move and he started forward as their hidden prize scraped along the lake's bottom muddying the water. Increasing the long boat's speed they felt the weight move faster through the water and then it surfaced. It was a rock of huge proportions and shone a fiery golden red in the setting sun as it came to a stop a few meters from the shoreline.
Balder and Thor leaped out of the ship to run to the huge rock and both gasped when they saw it up close, "Gold, it's nearly all gold! By Audumla no wonder it was so heavy" Balder gasped.
"And there are more like it on the lake's bottom my Lord Balder" the wet, blanket covered youth spoke up from the ship's railing, "that one was the smallest there."
"No wonder they slaughter so viscously" Thor gaped at this golden pillar, "as they could easily pay an army of brigands to overthrow a kingdom…" Thor's words trailed off as he shot a look of fear and dread at Balder, who returned it.
"We must get this back to father" Balder said apprehensively, "and warn him that there is treason afoot in Asgard!"
They made a few attempts to roll the rock of gold onto and up the ship's gang plank but it proved to be too heavy even for their combined efforts. Thor made all of them stand back as he unhooked Mjolnir from his belt and raising his war hammer above his head struck the rock and knocked off several large chunks of it. He struck it two more times and it completely broke apart allowing them to move the pieces onto a canvas laid on the long boat's deck as Balder ordered the captain to return to Asgard proper.
He'd shifted back into Odin's shape and dressed in a sleep shirt walked out on to the balcony of his antechamber to look over the great walled city, HIS ASGARD. As beautiful as Amora was, nothing could rival the beauty of Asgard and she was HIS. He felt the eyes of Heimdall on him, but Loki ignored it, after all not even Heimdall had been able to pierce through his disguise. Loki had completely fooled all of them into thinking that he was Odin, fooled even his sons. The only reason Amora had seen through it, was because he had touched her hand, and she'd sensed the magic that cloaked him and she'd intuitively knew it was him. He smiled ambitiously as he thought of the next five thousand or so years to come as KING of this Eternal Realm and through the son he would father from Amora, rule it forever!
Loki/Odin turned to walk back into the antechamber to head back to his, rather Odin's bedroom as he shifted back into his own form, and gazed upon his foster sister as she slept. Her hair was spread out on her pillow like some golden, free and wild thing. Her face was peaceful at rest while her body was molded by the blankets, rising and falling in graceful curves, her breathing was regular and he watched the movement of her breasts as they gently rose and fell. He'd always been in awe of her beauty, even as a child his eyes would follow her when he thought neither she, nor anyone else, was watching.
This brought the memory back to him of the first time he'd seen her naked, the first time they'd coupled together. It was on the first anniversary of their having been rescued from Nornheim and he was sitting alone in Frigga's herb garden. Hidden behind some decorative shrubs and an oak tree he sat on the ground just staring into space, not speaking or even thinking. Frozen with a nameless fear that wouldn't leave him alone and he had no idea of how to combat it. Fear was the intangible monster that no weapon could slay, and then, she was there. In a green and gold dress and green emeralds knitted into a small cap upon her head she walked through the shrubs and handed him a figure of a white stag woven from white painted branches. She told him it was for him since he didn't get to catch a real white stag. He took it from her mechanically and looked at it a long while before thanking her. Neither one of them could carry any kind of a conversation for long as they would collapse into silence and then she kissed him, hugged him and told him she thought he was very brave. Loki smiled and shook his head.
He'd been childishly foolish, charging at Karnilla, who was carrying a long dagger to slit their throats, with just the small knife that Balder had given to him. He'd never understood why Karnilla changed her mind about killing them both as she had planned, but when she grabbed his neck and lifted him off the floor she stiffened, her eyes rolled back into her head and she gasped in an eerie fashion. Then she set him back on the floor and she returned to normal, but she now spoke kindly to them, telling them they were now HER children and Loki her heir, her "sword of vengeance".
Amora kissed him twice more and then he attempted to kiss her on the lips. It was a clumsy first kiss, but he'd enjoyed it, and so did Amora. Kissing led to touching, touching to exploring, to removal of their clothes and, Loki smiled and softly chuckled, to a very ungainly attempt at sex. He'd hurt her that first time, making her cry, but she wanted him to try it again which he did but ever so gently, as if she was made of glass, as he feared he would seriously hurt her. He panicked afterwards once he'd seen the blood and then his mother discovered the two of them. Frigga had been angry at first, then she spirited the two of them to her bedroom under a concealment spell. She cleaned them both up separately, then explained that neither he, nor Amora were old enough for an assignation. Frigga then voiced the opinion that perhaps she and his…Loki froze in anger at the thought of Odin as HIS father…should speak to the Vizier and perhaps arrange a marriage between the two of them. Odin did not care about him, or Amora, did not think a marriage between them was worthwhile. So nothing happened. Now however, Amora was his lover, she would be his wife, his Queen and the mother of his soon to be conceived son, his heir to the throne. Now Loki would have his revenge and rub it in Odin's face as well.
Loki sat down on the edge of the bed and leaning over her sleeping form carefully moved a stray golden lock that had wandered to her face to rest against her nose to the side of her face and that's when he thought he saw movement under the covers. There was a bulge under the blanket where he had been sleeping and he stared at it curiously. Did it move again, was it moving, or was it just an illusion of the night shadows? Keeping his eyes on it, it did seem to be moving towards Amora, yes; yes it was slowly creeping under the covers. Slowly, cautiously he raised his left arm and with controlled movements of his fingers caused Gungnir to straighten up and rise away from the wall where he propped it. Slowly it floated through the air to his left hand and then gripping it tightly with his right hand he jumped up from Odin's bed and with speed and might stabbed the bulge with the spear.
Amora awoke with a jolt when she felt the edge of the bed sink and then snap back and she saw Loki stab downwards with his father's spear towards her. She bolted from the bed and prepared to hurl a bolt of mystic energy at him, "Have you gone mad? Why are you trying to kill me?"
She didn't launch that bolt because for some reason he was ignoring her and she heard a muffled squeak as he pulled the spearhead out of the mattress and threw back the covers to reveal a large black shape.
"What, what is that?" she gasped fearfully as she could not see it well in the night shadows.
He turned to answer her, "A black rock spide…Amora do not move, not even a muscle, don't even breathe" he was staring at her feet as he slowly rose to his own. Griping Gungnir tightly in his right hand he hurled it at her feet which caused her to shriek and instinctively jump away. She heard a hiss and then the sound of the spear skewering flesh which then hit the marble wall behind her. Turning around she saw something serpentine writhing about the spear which was embedded in the wall.
"What ARE you doing?" Amora screamed at him in a panic as she tried to cover her nakedness with her arms as she backed away from him.
"Saving your life my dear" he said coldly as he walked to where the spear stuck. "First from a black rock spider and now from…" he gasped, "a shadow viper!"
Her eyes widened with reasonable fear for the bite of a Jotun black rock spider was deadly, but when she heard "shadow viper", whose venom made it the deadliest creature known to exist in any realm, she fainted.
When she awoke she was dressed in a night gown and laying on a couch in Odin's antechamber. When she became aware of a multitude of voices she sat up and saw a company of Einherjar searching the room. Loki had transformed back into Odin and was bellowing angrily to the soldiers to search every nook and cranny thoroughly. When he noticed that she had awakened Loki/Odin went to her and she sprang up from the couch to throw her arms about his neck and wept from shock.
"It is safe now my Lady, the beasts are dead and if anything more is discovered it will be dealt with" Loki/Odin assured her.
"What goes on here father?" Thor's voice came from behind him and Loki/Odin turned to see his brother standing in the doorway of his antechamber directly behind an equally confused Balder. The Thunder god dropped some heavy burden wrapped in canvas – as a matter of fact both of them, rather all of them, as he now saw a company of men behind them carried something in canvas, onto the floor with a thud.
"Someone has tried to assassinate our father and the Lady Amora" spoke up Tyr as his brothers and the handful of men entered the room. "Father killed a black rock spider that was in his bed and a shadow viper." Tyr pointed to where the still reptile lay, still pinioned by Gungnir to the wall. Thor's face blanched as he saw it in a pool of its own venomous blood.
"Are both of you all right?" Balder set his canvas burden down completely forgetting it.
"Yes, yes we are fine, no harm done" Loki/Odin answered back, "but what is it you have brought back with you my son?"
"I prefer to tell you when the room can be emptied father" Balder quickly raised his hand to silence Thor as there were too many people in the room to safely divulge their discovery.
Thor felt like roaring in rage as he watched Amora hang all over his father, didn't the woman have a shred of decency or dignity? She'd been sleeping with his father tonight…for how many nights? When had she moved into his father's bed? His fingers started to curl into fists and he took a step forward and that's when he heard and felt a hand slapping on leather and he was violently whirled around and an angry Balder dragged him out of the room. Throwing him out through the doorway Balder grabbed ahold of the sides of Thor's padded leather chest plate and angrily pushed him up against the opposite wall.
"Did you not hear anything I said earlier?" Balder growled sternly in Thor's face. "You are a Prince of the Realm and a warrior of Asgard; it's about time you acted like one little brother, instead of the spoiled brat we all tolerated."
"Someone has just tried to MURDER our father, AND our future Queen, and all your concerned about is YOUR hurt pride because father has found someone else who makes him happy." Balder released Thor and snapped sharply at him before turning to go back into Odin's antechamber, "Grow up!"
Embarrassed and angry Thor stayed out in the hallway breathing hard and then he took a deep breath and walked back into his father's room. Balder had removed his cloak and laid it over Amora's shoulders as she was now sitting on the small couch, next to his father, clutching it closely around herself.
"Perhaps we should retire to your quarters for the rest of the night my dear" Loki/Odin suggested as he gently cupped her face with his right hand.
"No, someone may have released more poisonous beasts into my rooms or perhaps my father's rooms" Amora shuddered, pulling Balder's cloak tighter about herself.
"We have thoroughly searched the rooms Allfather, and found nothing" Tyr reported to Loki/Odin.
"Good, now take your men and thoroughly search the Vizier's and the Lady Amora's rooms and have more guards outside my doors until this treacherous would-be murderer can be found" Loki/Odin commanded as he turned his attention back to Amora slipping his right arm around her waist to comfort her.
Bowing his head, making a fist Tyr crossed his arm over his heart in salute and directed his men to follow him to the Vizier's chambers. Tyr shot a questioning look at the burdens Balder's men carried as he approached.
"I will explain all later if you return alone, for the less who know the safer father and the Lady Amora will be" Balder said softly. Tyr nodded his head in understanding and left.
"What is this you bring my son?" Loki/Odin asked when Balder ordered his men to place their burdens down on the floor in front of him.
"The possible reason for the attempt on your lives father" Balder replied as he knelt down and unwrapped the bundle revealing the solid rock of gold as his men set their bundles down and uncovered them too.
Loki/Odin's eye grew wide and wider with each rock uncovered, as did Amora's eyes as well, "There were more like this at the bottom of the lake father only this one was small enough to bring back."
"You may have been right my dear Amora and this attack on us is proof of it" Loki/Odin continued to stare at the massive pieces of gold impregnated rocks before him, "as someone thinks we're getting a little too close to the bone for their comfort."
Loki/Odin questioned the young Einherjar that found the boulder and when the young man described other, larger boulders on the lake's bottom Loki knew he was going to have to see these marvels for himself. He asked for the charm back and the young man took it off and handed it back to his Liege.
Loki/Odin was still questioning the young man when Tyr entered his chambers again; the commander of Odin's Einherjar was out of breath from running.
"Why have you returned so soon, were there more poisonous vermin in Milady Amora's chambers?" Loki/Odin demanded an answer from his oldest son.
"No Allfather" Tyr gasped, "it is the Vizier's manservant he was attacked and now lies in the Healing Room."
"Old Ake, attacked" Amora gasped in shock, "how?"
"It appears he may have surprised a thief, and we, a would-be murderer, as he was knifed in your father's bedroom Milady. We found several scrolls strewn about the floor and my men are now giving chase after his attacker."
"I need to go see him" Amora said to Loki/Odin, "perhaps, if he is able, he can shed some light on all this madness."
Loki/Odin shook his head in the affirmative, "Of course my dear." Then turning to Thor he ordered his youngest son to accompany her to the Healing Room
Thor started to object, but a look from Balder made him stay silent and he bowed his head, made a fist and crossed his heart with his arm in obedience to his father and King. Rising to her feet a green and gold light ran over Amora's body changing her night gown for the black dress of mourning she'd wore earlier. She handed Balder his cloak back with her thanks for its use and walked out of Odin's antechamber with a silent Thor following.
The walk to the Healing Room was a silent one and at the moment Amora didn't care that the youngest Odinson wasn't happy about her being intimate with what he thought was his father. Someone had murdered her father, made an attempt on her life, and now had tried to kill her father's man thrall. Whoever it was that had perpetrated these attacks would soon learn the deadly folly of attacking her loved ones.
His heart was pounding like a hammer against his chest as he came to a wheezing stop to catch his breath. The black cloaked figure hid in the shadows of the city as he fled from the Einherjar that were in hot pursuit and not far behind him. His master would be angry as he'd not been able to steal any of the Vizier's personal scrolls, first because of that fool thrall stumbling upon him in the dark and then Tyr Odinson walking in just as he'd dispatched the slave. His one and only possible hope was that neither saw his face or all would be undone and all the work that he'd done to earn his freedom from the collar he wore about his neck would be for nothing. He spotted a small group of Einherjar and realized that they were splitting up into smaller groups to try and surround him. Panic clawed at his heart and he desperately looked around for a way to get passed them but the warriors seemed to be all around him and closing in. He never would have seen the grating in the street if he hadn't slipped on the wet cobblestones and fallen on it. Fear gave him strength as he wretched it up and climbed down the work ladder pulling the grating over the hole. Setting it back into place he climbed down the ladder and ran as he'd never had before.
Loki/Odin had the young Einherjar show him exactly on the holographic, three dimensional map where the giant gold impregnated boulders were in the lake and the young man pointed to a spot seemingly under the stone dragon's head. It gave him the impression that the boulders had been regurgitated and vomited into the lake. Perhaps they had, after a fashion, and Loki knew he was going to the western boarders as soon as Amora returned and he could get rid of everyone in his antechamber.
"Ake you silly, brave old fool" Amora softly, affectionately spoke to the unconscious thrall as she stroked his aged, bald head as he lay in his recovery bed. A Healer came into the room to check on the vitals of her patient and Amora angrily turned to snap at the woman, "Why does he not have guards protecting him? He may have seen the face of his attacker whom may have also been my father's murderer."
"Yes Milady…right away…" The Healer backed out of the room and in a few moments came back with two armed Einherjar who took up positions on either side of the thrall's bed.
"Good" Amora said with some satisfaction. "Make sure that the guards are men above reproach and changed every six hours until his attacker is caught."
"Yes Milady as you command" the Healer bowed as Amora left the room with Thor following her.
Stopping to catch his breath and to listen for any sound of pursuit the hooded assailant pressed his body up against the sewer wall. Ahead of him was another grating with iron bars fastened to the wall that led to it and he cautiously walked up to it to look up through it. Perhaps he could get some idea of where he was in the city and if there were any Einherjar searching yet for him. As quietly as he could he climbed up the ladder and peered out through the grating. As far as he could tell he was in some back alley, dark and deserted. The grating didn't want to budge, forcing him to pound on it around its edges till he could feel it start to give. With a metallic shriek it gave way and he cautiously stuck his head out of the sewer. He breathed a deep sigh and then crawled out through the hole. Keeping to the shadows he kept on the move with every little sound or person he ran across gripping his heart with terror. Terror that it might be one of the pursuing Einherjar or that someone would give him away by loudly denouncing his presence. He moved ever closer to the edge of the city proper until he came to the wall just before the great aqueduct that ran parallel to the fjord that cut through and surrounded Asgard. Scrambling along the wall he found the hidden panel and by pushing it opened a long forgotten escape tunnel to the countryside. A tunnel forgotten by all, even the Allfather, but not by his master who'd promised him his freedom from the collar as long as he did want the master wanted. His master would not be happy that he'd not been able to steal any of the Vizier's most recent scrolls from his bedroom. He especially would not be happy that first the old thrall had surprised him and then Tyr Odinson. The skulker in the shadows again hoped that neither had seen his face or he surely would be a dead man.
Amora did not go back to Loki/Odin's chambers; instead she went to her father's rooms where the guards saluted both of them as Thor and his father's future Queen entered the Vizier's antechamber. Tyr was overseeing the investigation of the near death of her father's loyal thrall as Einherjar with instruments designed to locate traces of foot prints on the floor and finger prints on the scrolls, shelving, and her father's bedroom balcony.
"Did this would-be thief and murderer enter by the balcony?" Amora asked of Tyr.
"It would seem so Milady" Tyr removed his helmet, tucked it under his right arm and bowed his head "as we have found four sets of foot prints going to and fro from the balcony; one female, so we assume that set is yours, one barefoot which would be your father's thrall and if we could have one of your father's shoes we would be able to identify your father's footprints."
"Yes" she thought for a moment and then pointed to a large mahogany dresser set close to the Vizier's bed, "they should be kept there."
With a nod of his head, Tyr sent an Einherjar to the dresser to fetch a shoe which was scanned and then the Vizier's foot prints were identified. Now they would be able to follow the foot prints of the thief no matter where he went.
"You didn't, by chance, see anything of the thief's face did you?"
"No Milady, I'm sorry but I did not" Tyr stated with remorse, "but we will find him."
"I will hold you to that oath Odinson as this thief may also have been my father's murderer" Amora looked at Tyr coldly as she then turned to leave with the still silent Thor following. She walked for some distance before stopping to face Thor, "You may think that either your father has gone senile or that I have him under some love spell. I assure you that neither is true. It was your father who surprised me with this marriage proposal after seeking my father's permission to do so. It was your father who invited me to his bed, as he greatly desires a male heir since you renounced your claim to the throne. While your father can be an intimidating presence, I have had nothing but the highest respect for my foster father. And may I remind you that I am well versed in Asgardian law because as a child, I sat at my father's feet as he stood by your father's throne."
"I care not what YOU think of me Odinson" Amora snapped at him as she turned to walk away, "I have given my consent to your father's marriage proposal and I will be married to him. I suggest you get used to it."
Thor's fingers curled into fists as he stood there in the palace hallway watching her walk back to his father's room. He was fuming as his clenched hands shook, "…get used to it" by Hela's hordes, no he would not. After a moment he followed her back to his father's rooms.
The tunnel was long and dark and he had nothing to use to light his way so he had to keep one hand against one of the walls so as not to lose his way. He counted himself fortunate that he knew the way well in order to get to the hiding chamber where the master was waiting for him. When Asgard was new born, the first King, Buri, had this tunnel built so that upon attack, women and children could escape the city proper and exit into the countryside miles away to safety. When the time came the master would use this same tunnel to lead his legions of mercenaries into the city and take the palace by surprise and when Odin was dead, his master on the throne, he would be freed from this hated collar and his own master for once.
He felt the wall bending into a curve and then he saw the dim light of a torch and he knew he was almost to the hiding chamber. The light became somewhat brighter as he went on and then, after going down a short flight of stairs, he entered into the hiding chamber. The chamber was enormous as it could hold the entire female population of Asgard with no difficulty while they filed out to the exit door. It once had been stocked with barrels of grain so that the women would have food once they reached safety, but mice, rats and insects had long ago devoured it and water had rotted the barrels to heaps of mold.
He saw his master, who as usual wore a black cloaked robe with the hood pulled all the way down to hide his face, but this time there was a giant of a man standing with him, talking to him and he also wore a black cloak with his face hidden by the hood.
"Where are the scrolls you buffoon?" his master angrily growled at him.
"I'm sorry master" he froze at the entrance door momentarily and then quickly walked to where his master stood, "I was surprised by the High Councilor's man thrall and when I killed him, Tyr Odinson walked in on me and I had to flee…"
"Did he see your face you imbecile?" his master snarled as the giant grabbed the thrall by the throat.
"N-n-no master" he gurgled, "at least I don't think he did."
It was becoming hard to breathe and he clawed at the monstrous hand at his throat as it squeezed tighter and tighter.
"You don't think he did" his master spat back at him with disgust. "Your usefulness has ended, as no doubt they have traced your foot prints and are looking for them where they lost you."
With his face turning very red and it was more and more difficult to breathe he tried to beg for a second chance but nothing came out but gurgling noises. His eyes bulged and frantically he clawed and scratched at the giant's hand but to no avail. In desperation he made a grab for the giant's face but only managed to pull the hood a ways from his face. The last thing the servant of the head Librarian saw before the giant man strangled the life from him was glowering eyes, white shining teeth curved in a cruel smile and a jagged facial scar.
It had taken some doing but Loki/Odin convinced Amora to get back into bed, but only after telling her that both rooms were thoroughly checked for any more venomous creatures and none were found, as well as telling her that he had ordered a new mattress.
Amora told Loki, as he shifted out of the Odin form, of her short spat with Thor and Loki laughed while telling her he would have loved to have seen the look on his brother's face when she did. He was silent after that, just sitting up in the bed with his elbows resting on his knees, his arms and hands loosely draped in between his legs staring straight ahead, at nothing really.
"Are you going to tell me what's on your wicked little mind or are you going to miss a chance to "father your heir-apparent"?" she sat up, pushing the blankets away from her as she made her sleeping gown disappear.
"MY wicked little mind" he glanced back at her with an incredulous look on his face as he looked at her nude breasts then laughed softly. "I was thinking whether or not we could travel to the western border lands tonight and still make it back here before dawn. Our would-be assassin has taken up most of the night and I've already ordered Balder and Thor to go back there in the morning to spy out the remaining two valleys…"
His voice trailed off as Amora cupped her breasts in her hands and lifted them slightly, again he chuckled softly, "And you're not making it any easier to think."
"Then don't" she grinned at him. "We can go tomorrow night, or, you can send Odin's ravens."
"You are a clever girl my dear Amora for that is exactly what I shall do" Loki climbed out of bed and shape shifted back into Odin's form, clothing himself with Odin's night shirt and leaving the bedroom he walked over to the open balcony of his antechamber and called for his two ravens. Within a few short minutes the black feathered spies of Odin appeared and both landed on his left arm, "Fly to the western border valleys and find for me where the dragon's horde is hidden then return as quickly as you can to me."
Raising his left arm Huginn and Muninn then flew away and headed west as he stood for a few moments watching them until they disappeared from his sight. Turning away from the balcony he headed back to Odin's bed, shifted back to his own form and climbed into bed, "Now what was that you said about "missing a chance to father my heir-apparent"?"
He lunged for her and she shrieked with laughter until his lips found hers and he crushed her body close to his own.
The ravens made it to the nearest western valley and flew over the lake several times before heading for the lowest point on the timber line on the mountain to land in a tree to rest from their long flight. They scanned the valley for any sign of movement with their keen beady eyes and saw only a few rabbits timidly grazing near the burned ruins of a farm house and a stag grazing near a grove of trees to the south of the lake. They could hear the roar of a waterfall and when they felt rested they headed for the sound. From their aerial vantage point they saw not one but three waterfalls; one fed the fjord in the farthest valley, two however fed the middle valleys streams and rivers, as the third waterfall joined the second before splitting off to feed the lake as the water raced down the claw-like ridges of 'the dragon's back'. Huginn spotted what looked like a trail that led to a point midway up the third waterfall and made for it with its twin following. The first bird landed only a meter or so from the falls and the spraying mist beaded up on its feathers as it walked up as close as it could get to the rushing water. The second bird landed behind the first and cawed at it, but it kept staring at the waterfall tilting its head from side to side.
From the east they now heard the sound of a long boat's engine and the first raven cawed and flapping its wings took off in the direction of the long boat, which now could be seen by them both, with the second in close pursuit. Swiftly they flew to meet the Asgardian long boat and when they reached it the raven's circled around it cawing. Balder whistled and held out both his hands and a raven landed on each one. The raven's cawed and flapped their wings excitedly, "Where Huginn, show us, show us now" Balder commanded the birds and they launched themselves into the air and made for the third waterfall.
"Follow them" Balder shouted to the ship's captain at the long boat's helm and he steered the ship after the ravens.
"What is it? What have father's ravens found?" Thor questioned Balder as he followed him to the ship's fore.
"They may have just discovered the location of the dragon's horde!"
The long ship slowed to a halt as it reached the waterfall and Balder and Thor saw both ravens land on the mountain trail. The trail was too narrow for the ship to land so it hovered next to it as both Odinsons leapt over the ship's side to land upon it and they both studied the waterfall as one raven cawed at Balder who seemed to understand it. Taking a deep breath and hugging the mountain side Balder entered the waterfall. Thor heard a gurgled cry from Balder and without thinking dashed in after his brother. The water that hammered him was unmercifully cold and when he lunged through it he found himself half frozen, thoroughly drenched, completely out of breath as he nearly fell on top of his older half-brother to find himself and Balder on a ledge with yet another waterfall to their left but neither could see where it flowed to.
"Are…are you alright?" Thor gasped as he tried to get his breath back after the frigid water violently drove it from his lungs and he held his right arm up to shield himself from the water that sprayed back from the falls to his right.
Balder had managed to rise up to a half sitting position gasping loud and deeply to restore his breathing to normal as he shivered with chattering teeth. He undid the clasp of the brooches that held his ermine cloak to the upper part of his leather bound chest plate as it was thoroughly drenched and weighed a ton. He slid it off and sat upright, "Ye…yes, I think I am."
Thor got a better view of the ledge that they sat on. The wet slippery rock appeared to be four meters wide and at least an eighth of a mile long. Gingerly the two Odinsons rose to their feet and gazed about the ledge and the waterfalls, "This fall seems to be thinner than the outer one, let's see if there is anything behind it" Balder carefully reached through it with his arm which disappeared up to his elbow.
"There is empty space behind this waterfall" he declared as he withdrew his arm from the cold water.
Carefully Balder walked to the entrance of this small rocky space and taking a deep breath walked through the second waterfall.
"Thor, come and see this."
The Thunder god did as Balder requested and found himself next to his older half-brother on another ledge that ran alongside a wall going away from the fall. The inside waterfall fell into what seemed to be a large cave but because the diffused light from outside didn't go far neither Odinson could see just how big the cave was.
"Go back to the ship and ask the captain if he has a sun orb on board and if he does bring it back along with a tether" Balder ordered Thor as he squinted into the blackness.
Taking a few deep breaths Thor walked back out through the waterfall and returned only minutes later with a crystal sphere and a handheld disc which he then handed to Balder. Balder threw the sphere out into the blackness and then pressed a button on the disk to activate the orb. Light exploded from the orb as it floated in what was revealed to be a massive cave that neither Asgardian could see any end to.
"By father's beard" Thor exclaimed as the light reflected back from something shiny in the stalactites that grew down from the caves ceiling and from the stalagmites rising up from the cavern floor and when he looked at the wall behind him he gasped.
When Balder turned to see why he too gasped as the cave wall behind them was nearly solid gold. As they looked around the cavern they discovered that thick veins of gold permeated the walls of the cave as far as they could see.
"Now we know why no one ever found the dragon's horde" Balder exclaimed in utter amazement, "the beast devoured it and when Great grandfather Buri turned it to stone its treasure was incased in it."
The two of them carefully walked along the inner ledge and they came to what looked like a carved staircase and they realized they were not the first to find this cave. Down they followed it till they reached a lower level and Balder walked up to a stalagmite and saw that the reflective lights they had seen on the ledge were diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other shiny precious stones.
"Thor, use your hammer and give this stalagmite a tap just…here" Balder pointed to a spot next to a large emerald which Thor, after pulling Mjolnir from the loop on his belt, gave the stalagmite a smack with his war hammer and an emerald nearly bigger than Balder's hand popped out and his brother caught it and studied it for a brief moment. "I think the Lady Amora would appreciate this as an early wedding present don't you?" and before Thor could answer Balder pointed to another spot, "A tap right here if you please."
Thor was a might annoyed that Balder was treating his war hammer like a jeweler's stone cutter but he did as his brother requested and a diamond about the same size as the emerald popped out of the wet stone.
"This is for my Nanna" Balder grinned. "Now knock this thing from its base and let's take it back to father."
With a grunt Thor swung his hammer into the stalagmite and severed it completely from its base. Balder stuffed the large gems into his shirt and then helped Thor carry the jewel encrusted rock back to the ship. As they neared the stairway Balder stopped and stared at the wall just before the first stair.
"What is it?" Thor questioned him wondering why his half-brother would stop and what was so interesting in that section of the cavern wall. Balder did not answer right away but he set down the pointed end of the stalagmite and ran his hands over a section of the wall that bulged out about 12 centimeters and looked to be about six or seven meters in width. Balder then unhooked the control device to the sun orb from his belt and made it rise up towards the cavern ceiling. It seemed to go up forever but when it neared the roof Balder stopped it and gaped. He looked back at the odd rock formation and then looked back at Thor, "Od's blood, the old story was true. Here's a tale to tell your grandchildren little brother because if that up there is a spinal column, then this is a rib, and we are standing in the gullet of a monstrous dragon."
With his eyes wide with amazement Thor nodded his head in agreement as the odd wall formation ran completely up the side of the cave to the roof where it joined what indeed did look like a spinal column, "I guess we both will brother."
When they emerged from the waterfall and dumped the stalagmite onto the ship's deck the Einherjar on board looked at it with dropped jaws and wide eyes and Balder explained that there were more like it inside a fantastic cavern.
Thor climbed back on board the ship as Balder went back for his ermine cloak, and he complained that it weighed more, now that it was thoroughly soaking wet, than the stalagmite did. Tossing his cloak into the ship Balder took the control device from his belt and had the sun orb float through the waterfall and turned it off as it fell into his hands.
"The day is young captain let us see what secrets the streams and rivers of the middle valley hold before going onto the last valley" Balder ordered as an Einherjar gave him and Thor a blanket to cover themselves with and to keep warn as they flew to the next valley. Odin's ravens flew to the ship and landed on the deck in front of Balder and Thor cawing as they did so when they saw the stalagmite and the shiny jewels embedded in it. Both birds began to peck at the rock hoping to dislodge the gems for themselves and Balder laughed at the birds for their persistence.
"Both of you be on your way and tell father we've found the dragon's missing horde and will bring home enough evidence of it when we return later tonight. Now be gone and fly swiftly!"
Cawing one more time they flapped their wings and took off towards Asgard proper with the Odinsons watching them till they disappeared in the distance.
"Your awfully quiet little brother what is on your mind?"
"Have you ever heard any story about the monster that I fought earlier this week, this Mangog?" Thor finally spoke up as he turned to face his brother.
"No, I haven't, why?" Balder shot him a puzzled look.
"I have searched the Chronicles of the Kings, especially father's early years on the throne, but I can find no trace of the fiend, yet when I fought it, it knew on sight that we were Asgardians and it said that father had imprisoned it four millennia ago."
"Have you asked father about it?"
"No, not yet at least" Thor sighed with some frustration, "but he seemed not to have heard of it. I cannot believe that father would be losing his memory due to age as the Vizier was much older than father and his mind was still sharp and lucid."
"You do seem to have a puzzle as great as these mysterious raids little brother and I hope you find the key piece that puts yours together as we have just now found" Balder replied thoughtfully as the ship flew into the middle valley. Balder stood up and from a pouch on his belt pulled out the shape shifting charm and walking over to the young Einherjar that found the gold pillar in the lake and giving it to the young man, told the youth to be ready to explore the river bottom that they hovered over.