These Things We've Gained: Eternal Love, Building Hope, Just Honesty

by Tales of Suspense

In the aftermath of "These Things We've Lost" people strugggle to create a new normal. (Slice of Life)

13. Chapter 13

- Chapter 13 -

23May2023 – Afternoon

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

Frigga was being very strict with their security and Frey worried over why. If this was another Great Work from Anthony then caution was definitely warranted, but he wondered at them being forced to stand in a particular location. What about this green square makes us safe, he wondered. Both Frey and Odin noticed how James was projecting a large amount of calm again, and neither took it as a good sign. No wards, runes, or enchantments could be felt by Odin in the green line. How it would make them safe was still a mystery, but he knew that his wife wouldn't have them stand there unless it was for the best. A Great Work from Stark and a green outline to stand in. How do these things come together?

"So, I'm going demonstrate the auto-cast system. Then I'm going to demonstrate how the Iron Flight/Mark III uses the auto-cast system and take any questions that you have." The fact that he'd given multiple tours of the base he commanded to foreign dignitaries gave him the practiced comfort to give this kind of tour. It also gave him the insight to understand that what he was about to demonstrate was going to be shocking to the sensibilities of the people he was giving a tour too. For that reason, he kept his soul song of stillness, with hopeful notes, focused through his body to bolster it as much as he could. "I'm also going to stand outside of the square and ask you to keep yourself in it. This is no danger to me, it is not the same for you," gazing over at Frigga, he asked, "Formadr Frigga, may I begin the demonstration?"

"My men and I stand ready should the shield fail. The demonstration may begin." A nod and a small smile was aimed at James.

"Yes ma'am." With that, James stepped out of the green square outline and turned to the still powered control panel. He selected 'shield' and 'scenario 1'. The auto cast system activated.

Arc reactor seidr powered the orange runes at the corners of the green outline of a square. The runes were ones that Sean didn't recognize. They raised a sun shield so swiftly that Sean couldn't see what happened as it brought up the shield. He could see the arc reactors under the floor at the corners of the square. They were active now and powering the runes that were protecting them. Several of the runes in orange seidr on the purple mat flared up as Sean was watching them. They shown brilliantly enough that he had to look away for a moment. In looking away from the runes he could see the seidr flowing from the arc reactors under the mat into several of the runes, empowering them. Only when they were fully empowered could he see the tiny flowing script, like miniature runes flowing one into the other, that were linking the bigger runes and the arc reactors. Like wires to conduct electricity? Only he's conducting seidr? Is that how he's powering the shield? When the larger runes glowed brightly enough they flashed blindingly as they released the seidr that they had in them in a patterned mist. Sean's eyes widened as the seidr mist formed a thick layer of dense, white-seidr-rich soil, real grass growing over it and a small, living, green tree at the center of the mat, its roots sunk into the soil. "How is that possible?" The whisper Sean breathed out carried his surprise with it.

This shouldn't have been possible, at least Frey would have said that a few minutes ago. Odin would have said that as well. Neither of them could say anything for a few moments, so stunned were they that Anthony had removed mages from magic.

The man who never had a problem asking questions stepped forward to fill the silence with his curiosity. "You have a machine that can use magic, or did you use magic through the machine?" Director Fury was keenly interested in this development.

"This is the auto-cast system. It's a machine-based automatic magic casting system. It only requires a gleipnir or an arc reactor to power it, an arc reactor is preferred. It can also only cast with the runes that it has to work with." James wasn't surprised when the Kings were stunned to silence for a few moments. Frigga was unhappily quiet.

"Why is an arc reactor preferred? I thought they both carried the same seidr?" The Director wanted to go run his hand through the grass to see if it was real, maybe take some of it back for analysis. It looked very real to him.

"That is a misconception that I wish Loki wouldn't put forward."

"If they aren't the same then what's the difference?"

Stopping for a moment, James paused to find a way to explain it to someone who didn't have seidr. "Think of seidr like a flowerpot. It has soil in it that the flower eats from and it's more beautiful when a flower grows in it. It has personality that the flower gives the pot. That flower is the person. Now think of the energy from an arc reactor like a flowerpot that's filled with highly concentrated liquid plant food. It's nutritious but there's no flower growing in the pot. No flower can grow in the pot because it's too potent, so it has no personality. That's the arc reactor. The energy can certainly be called seidr, it's a different type of seidr than what fills a gleipnir. Does that make sense?"

"As a basic explanation, yes." It was a fine distinction to Director Fury. Personality. It did fit with what Sean said yesterday about how each of the people in the room who could use seidr did it in a different way because of their personality difference. Sean said that King Frey unfurled his seidr to form spells, and that King Odin unwound his seidr to array into spells. I wonder …"Would you mind if I asked you how you handle your seidr? Sean said that everyone does it differently."

Holding up his hand, James replied, "It's not that everyone does it differently, it's that we view it differently. For example, I," he unfolded his seidr to marshal it in his hand, producing a garnet glow around his hand, "unfold my seidr from my core, then," he mounted a Rune of Shield which formed just above his hand, floating, "I mount a rune, or a spell, a weave, or whatever, and then I release it," he released it to brand the glass of the window in the room, then he stowed his seidr back into his core, "and finally, I stow my seidr back into my core." He smiled as Director Fury's inquisitiveness. "The motions are all the same, the seidr comes out; the seidr is manipulated into something, what it was manipulated into is used, then the remaining seidr goes back into the core. The difference is in the words we use to describe the actions; unfold, mount, stow. Other mages will have different words for the same thing. I'm almost certain that it's a matter of personality and how it interacts with the seidr core, because natural seidr causes the failure rate in the auto-cast system to go from below one percent to just over twenty one percent. Natural seidr resists the auto-cast system."

"And an arc reactor has no personality," the Director nodded, "so it's more of a general power source then?"

"It's closer to natural seidr than electricity, but as you've seen in the hellicarriers manmade seidr can plug into a standard power grid."

"Manmade seidr? Synthetic?"

"Yes." James nodded affirmatively.

"How is Anthony casting magics without mages?" That was the truly important point to Frey, not a lesson on the basics of seidr itself.

"He uses a special interface, inspired by the rose quartz generator, to connect the arc reactor to the lines of power, which in turn connect to runes that are positioned where the casting takes place. Those runes can be of any spell, or weave, or whatnot. The runes have special borders which gather seidr from the arc reactor. If they can get enough seidr then they release it, and it automatically forms into whatever pattern the runes are activated in." James turned and motioned to the grassy scene before them. "This was patterned out with runes that create soil, grass, and a tree."

"Can anyone use this machine?" That was a sticking point for Odin. There was a certain level of education which mages received from their mentors. A large portion of it was dedicated to the ethical and moral use of seidr. Since it was such a great power there had to be responsibility and accountability for mages. Having that power in the hands of a machine had the potential for extremely unethical things to happen.

"Yes. It wasn't specifically built for everyone to use, but it can be." James could see the wariness on Odin's face.

"Does it decide what rune to use?" Is this a thinking machine? Odin wanted to know and hoped that it wasn't.

Motioning again to the mat, James answered. "It doesn't decide, per se. The person controlling it decides." Unfolding his seidr one again, he mounted a Learning Spell and a Wavering Visions Weave, releasing them to create a frontal picture of the mat and the top of the control panel above the palm of his hand which he held up. James showed the runes on the mat, explaining, "The runes for whatever you want to pattern go on the surface you want to pattern it on, a mat in this case," he turned the image to the side so that the mat was on the top and the underside with machinery was visible, "There are arc reactors on the underside of the mat," pointing to them, "as you can see here. The arc reactors are connected via lines of power," the flowing rune lines were pointed out next, "to the runes used for patterning. As you can see, the underside contains machinery to engage only certain runes at a time. The choice of what runes to engage is determined at the control panel," James pointed to the connections between underside machinery and the control panel, then pointed to the actual control panel, "I made the choice to use 'scenario 1' for this demonstration, not the machinery."

"What is a rune?" And can we use them? Runes seemed important to mages, so he wanted to know what they were. That was important to Director Fury now too.

"It is primarily used like a .exe file or a zip file. It holds a spell in it to do something with or it can hold large quantities of information in a small space which can be unpacked and used later. Once again, it depends on how it's constructed." It seemed to James like most magic could fall under the caveat of 'it depends on how it's constructed'. It was that wild difference in things that should have been standard that he disliked so. There was no standardization in what mages were taught or had to learn from. That fact caused many of Loki's answers to be frustratingly vague to James as she was trying to teach him. He knew it frustrated Anthony as well. It was why James wanted to do the research for and parse out a 'standard mage unit' for casting strength. If his brothers ever gave him the time he was going to work on it. Then again, I have time now, maybe I should just work on it.

"Stark is using runes and arc reactors to create grass and trees? I thought he was testing weapons and drone armors here." There was a certainty in Odin's mind that this was a Great Work as well. To have removed mages from the casting of magic was no lean feat. It made the elder King slightly nervous because they hadn't gotten to the weapons part of this demonstration, and he was already stunned by what he was seeing.

"We do, but sometimes a living environment is needed, and this keeps things quiet so that mother doesn't know that anything is happening. There's no bags of dirt, no lost seidr and empty seidr cores, no leaving the house to someplace secret to give us away. It's all hushed up and handled inhouse." Jay didn't like this place any more than he liked many of the other places in the house. There was more than once when his father patterned out some soft grass to lie on while he tested something violent on himself. To Jay, it was all tainted.

"A living environment, why?" An ominous sense of foreboding came over Frey as he wondered what else this Great Work was capable of.

"For the Iron Flight." The spell and weave broke down so that James could mount a Resting Case Spell in his hand, which he released by snapping towards the resting case for the Iron Flight drone. It hit the case and instantly creased the metal back to the sides to reveal the drone armor. "I'll be controlling the drone armor from the control panel. Everything will be under control from there." He entered the commands into the panel and the drone armor came to life from its sleep mode. Taking two steps forward out of the case, the drone lifted off smoothly with its anti-grav system and floated over to set down in the patch of grass. Lifting its arms and holding them together out front of it, two runes lit up on the appendages of the drone armor. They were each near the drone's elbows. Seconds later the runes flashed too brightly to look at. A weave patterned out to cover the drone. "A Quickening Weave." Seconds after that another brilliant flash of runes situated at the forearms accompanied a weave patterning out to cover the drone armor. "A Strengthening Weave." Another flash of a different set of runes, one per arm, brought another weave to cover the drone. "A Baldayn Immaculacy Weave." A different set of runes flashed down near the wrists before a, "Jaivardhan Weave," was patterned out to cover the drone. All of these weaves were powerful. "Formadr Frigga, would you allow me to lower the shield momentarily so that the Lords can feel the weaves that were just cast?

"The drone and auto-cast system will be still while they feel it?" Frigga wasn't sure that she liked her husband, brother, and grandson being near this machine but was willing to let them be closer if it wasn't moving. When it was moving, it was dangerous.

"I'm not moving anything if the shield isn't up."

"Very well then."

"The shield is coming down, but please stay within the green square." His warning was given, so he deactivated the shield at the control panel.

The instant that the shield came down both Frey and Odin were able to feel the weaves placed on the drone armor. They could feel both the Strengthening and Quickening Weaves, as well as something they thought had to be the Jaivardhan Weave, so they had no problem believing that a Baldayn Immaculacy Weave was cast as well. The real problem that they had was that none of the weaves they could feel felt like James' casting. It felt like a properly formed weave, but there was no hint of James having done it. It felt like the arc reactor to each of them.

"The Strengthening and Quickening Weaves are applied if combat becomes difficult, and they are programed to operate with the increased strength and speed. The Baldayn Immaculacy Weave was included as a precaution if the core were corrupted somehow. The Jaivardhan Weave is for heavier combat. To accomplish their tasks each drone is equipped with a seidr sensor and a communications spike as standard equipment." The looks on the Kings faces carried all the shock that James expected to find.

"It cast magics without a mage." Frey didn't like the sentence that came out of his mouth. He liked it less that this was the reality that he found himself in, where machines could cast magics.

"Brother, it…" Odin stopped himself before he said that it couldn't do such a thing, because he watched and then felt it do just that. "It did." Though the machine was shown to him, he still felt like he needed a better explanation.

Seeing it happen on the drone made it clearer still to Sean that Lord Stark was conducting seidr like electricity to power machines and processes. He wondered how the Lord was channeling the seidr since seidr didn't normally conduct very well. Even in powering the cities with it, it took a gleipnir to store and special converters to make the seidr into useable power and a hoard of small power relays in the city to efficiently use the power. How is he doing this?

"I'm bringing the shield back up now. The next part of the demonstration will involve several dangerous elements. You're safe behind the shield, please don't try to leave it." The 'shield' option was selected on the control panel again, and again the sun shield in the green outline went up. Only when it was properly in place did James face the drone towards the window of the room at the far end of the mat and call out the next spell that he was selecting on the control panel. "Nervindr's Gale Weave. This produces winds in excess of one hundred and fifty miles per hour."

The drone armor held out a single arm this time, with its hand level to the ground and fingers rigidly out. Lines of power from the arc reactor core lit up on the surface of the drone's chest, then shoulder, then right arm, traveling down to the drone's hand. A rune lit up on the right thumb at the second knuckle that none of the monarchs could make out. A small rune that lit up on the second knuckle of the pointer finger held the weave in place on the finger. The both flashed brightly, and hurricane-force winds launched out from between the thumb and pointer finger to batter the area in front of the drone. After two seconds the winds stopped, and the runes faded.

"Grannus' Fire Spring Weave. This produces flames which burn in excess of sixty-five hundred degrees Fahrenheit." James called out the next option as he selected it.

Next the drone, with its right hand still held out in front of it, lit its lines of power to that they traveled down from the drone's chest to its right hand to light the rune on its thumb at the second knuckle. Instead of the rune on the pointer finger knuckle, this time a rune lit at the second knuckle of the middle finger. It held the weave in place. Both runes flashed brightly, and a cone of fire blasted out from between them. It scorched the area in front of the drone armor, melting the soil it flowed over and incinerating the grass and tree. The floor and wall lit up with protectives weaves and runes done in medium orange seidr. Another two seconds passed before the flames stopped.

"Ullr's Frozen Touch Weave is next. This achieves absolute zero to freeze everything, and everyone solid."

Everything remained the same except that it was the second thumb and ring finger knuckles which lit with runes. When they flashed brightly a cone of freezing cold frosted over the space in front of the drone armor freezing the still hot floor.

"Finishing up the right hand is Volosr's Breath of Stone Weave, which turns things to stone. I'm going to pattern another tree for this demonstration." The drone was moved off the mat. It walked smoothly, like a real person, off to the side while James had the auto-cast system break down the woodland clearing down into seidr, reclaim the seidr and then pattern out another woodland clearing.

While James worked, Director Fury thought over what he'd seen. These drone armors could fly, blow away, burn, or freeze their enemies all while making themselves stronger and shielded, and there was more to see from them. He wondered just how prepared Stark was for SHIELD coming after Loki. It seemed like he thought that SHIELD was worth all of this preparation. The Director wasn't so sure. He knew his organization and knew that any one of the things Stark came up with would be devastating if put into play in a real battle. What he saw that day wasn't the means to fight SHIELD, it was the means to take over the world. Director Fury wondered what James was going to do with these assets. While he wanted them for SHIELD, he knew he couldn't legally use something that could freeze, melt, blow away, or stone people. All he was allowed to do was contain or destroy it without the World Security Council's express permission.

The drone stood facing away from the Lords, but towards the new tree. This time the rune on the drone's right thumb lit up and a rune on the drone's right pinkie finger at the second knuckle lit up. After they flashed brightly the space in front of the drone crackled as hardened stone crept over everything in its path. The little tree shook momentarily before it was frozen in place, turned to stone. Two seconds later the stone stopped crackling.

Seeing a tree turned to stone settled Director Fury's opinion. SHIELD couldn't legally use these assets. He worried over where they might go, since he couldn't accept them as anything more than scrap metal or in permanent containment.

"That finishes the demonstration of the right hand. Before we move on to the left hand, does anyone have any questions?" Both Odin and Frey still looked upset to James, so he kept focusing his soul song of stillness, with hopeful notes, through himself to bolster them.

"Is this drone using the same auto-cast system as what's on the floor?" The Jaivardhan Weave will keep them safe while they are wreaking havoc in the enemy lines. Does it have the new pike spell though? Odin worried over just what these machines could do. They weren't accountable like a mage was.

"Yes. It's shrunk down to allow it to be carried around, but it's the same basic system," James used the control panel to turn the drone around, and pointed to the body, "The arc reactor core is in the middle of the chest. It lights the little lines of power, which in turn lights the runes. When they have enough seidr they release it to cast the weave or spell. There's only enough seidr in the runes for a two second casting. They're offensive abilities but they're meant to enhance combat with the rifle, not replace it."

"How many drone armors are there?" The Director knew he couldn't have them, so he needed to know about then as adversaries now.

"There are two hundred and fifty thousand of them docked currently. If you'll think back to the where the drone armors were standing in the armory, where there were two arc reactors, that's their docking cradle. Each cradle is capable of repairing the drone, breaking it down into seidr and reclaiming that seidr, and patterning out twenty drone armors all together. So in total there are five million drone armors that can be called on."

"That's an army." Sean's voice was quiet in the workshop. He tried to imagine what someone could do with an army of such destructive potential, but he could only imagine very bad things.

Nodding affirmatively, James couldn't disagree. It was true. "Yes." A small, reassuring smile touched his lips. "Do you have any other questions about the right hand auto-cast system?" No one answered him so he continued on, knowing that they would like the end of the demonstration more than the beginning. "Moving on to the left hand, the first auto-cast is the Gorgon Spell, Circuit Breaker function. This disrupts the biological connections between the heartstring and the seidr core while allowing those connections to regenerate. I don't have a volunteer to demonstrate this with, so all I can do is show you the flash. It goes off in the person's chest." The drone let its right arm relax to its side as it brought up its left arm, holding its hand out horizontally to the floor. The left side lines of power lit up coming from the arc reactor in the drone's chest, lit over its shoulder and down its arm to its hand. The little rune lit up on the second knuckle of the left thumb then the another for the spell on the second knuckle of the left pointer finger. The runes flashed brightly. A moment later a flash like a shockwave emanated from the drone armor's hand. Two seconds later the runes dulled in color.

Was that what happened in my chest? Anthony used this shockwave against me when we fought. Frey liked and disliked seeing the Circuit Breaker like this. It was enlightening and reminded him of the painful consequences of losing his temper with his nephew-by-law.

Next, James moved the drone to the side of the mat, broke down the woodland clearing and selected 'scenario 1' again. Soon enough another living tree was sitting in the middle of the grassy patch. Moving the drone back to face the tree, he was ready to begin. The lines of power to the thumb rune on the second knuckle lit up. In addition to those another rune, very similar to the one on the pointer finger, lit up on the second knuckle of the middle finger. "This is the Gorgon Spell, Piercing Blast Pike function. This produces a pike with seidr dispersal capabilities." The runes flashed brilliantly. From between the two fingers came three, arrow length, straight, sharpened pikes that shot out to embed themselves in the tree in a vertical line. The three pikes exploded into mist that covered the tree and the grass around it. All color faded from the tree as its white seidr was undone from within it. The husk of the once living tree crumbled into the rotting grass a moment later.

This time James selected the command for the target, the tree, to be marked in a red laser coming from the drone armor's eye panel. The target was painted, so he moved the drone smoothly to the other side of the green outline. "Formadr Frigga, this is the demonstration we discussed, under the same circumstances. Do I still have your permission to demonstrate this?"

Nodding once, Frigga gave her assent. "Yes, so long as we have the same protection as you demonstrated before." This was the most nerve wracking part of the demonstration. If this weapon malfunctioned it would go through her and her guardsmen and then through Odin. It ran well during the first private demonstration that James gave her. Truthfully it was only because he was able to use something other than seidr, perhaps Stark's great power that he seemed to be imbued with, to stop the weapon.

"You absolutely will have that." The left lines of power lit again lighting the runes on the second knuckle of the thumb on the left hand and the ring finger at the second knuckle as well. From between the two digits a meter long lance rocketed out towards the two Kings. James caught it instantly with his soul song of stillness and held it in place. An air of death and movement emanated from the lance as it sought out white seidr to attack. "You don't need to worry; I'm holding it in place. There's no danger to you. This is the Gorgon Spell, Hunting Death function. It produces a missile which will always seek the designated target. As you can see the tree is marked in a red laser, designating it as the target. When the missile gets to its target it imbeds itself in the target and explodes both as a conventional bomb and as a seidr dispersal weapon."

It was staring him in the eye, at least it felt like it was. Frey didn't like that something called 'Hunting Death' was so close to his family especially not when he could see it looking for its target. It was longer than a sword blade and vibrating in a subtle way that made him think it didn't like being held back. Whether or not that target was him, or his family, didn't matter. This beast was stalking its prey.

Holding Jay a little closer and pulling him away from where the floating blade was hovering, Odin knew that he was safe despite not feeling how James was restraining this flying lance. It didn't feel like he was safe. This thing was too near to his family for him to be comfortable. He wasn't comfortable with it near the guardsmen, and they were well protected.

Extending his soul song of stillness to cover the sun shield and then tree in a near perfect sphere, James called out, "I'm releasing the missile now. Don't worry, you're still protected," then he released it. The missile launched forward only to hit the soul song and unceremoniously dink off of it. Like it was shaking off the surprise, the missile zipped around the green outline's angular corners to embed itself in the base of the tree. James created a sphere of his soul song around the tree to contain the violent explosion. In just a few moments the explosion and burning were done. Nothing but ashes remained, so he withdrew his soul song from where the tree had been and from around the sun shield. James instructed the auto-cast system to break down what contents of the mat and to recast 'scenario 1'. Soon enough another innocent little tree sat on the middle of the mat just waiting for its fate.

As tested military leaders both Odin and Frey could see the benefit to having a weapon like this on the battlefield; the means to down troop transports decisively, to take out enemy artillery or siege machines, and many other things. It was under the control of a machine though, that was the real problem. Machines had no morals, no grasp of ethics, sense of honor, or fear of consequences. Either of them wouldn't have minded having this weapon should they ever need to go to war again, but it would be under the control of trained warriors not machines. Frey flared his seidr to Odin, Are these drone armors thinking machines?

Flaring his seidr back to Frey, Odin answered, It seems like they must be in order to use these weapons efficiently. We should ask James about it. Before they could ask the drone was moving again, back to the mat and the poor little tree. It only stopped moving when it was right beside the tree.

With the lines of power still lit the rune on the drone's left thumb lit as well as the rune on the second knuckle of the pinkie finger. "The last auto-cast system rune on the left hand is the Gorgon Spell, White Wall function. This creates a sort of tidal wave in a living being's white seidr that makes the white seidr immobile for about an hour, paralyzing the individual." James disliked that Anthony had invented the Gorgon Spell. Even this function could be used to kill someone painfully. This too was never what his younger brother should have been working on. The two runes flashed brilliantly but instead of something firing out from between the thumb and pinkie finger the drone calmly put its hand on the tree zigzagging up the trunk. Wherever the drone moved its hand the trunk of the tree moved with it, bending and contorting unnaturally so that the trunk of the tree was a zigzagged line with wide arches instead of tight turns. After two seconds the runes faded on the drone's hand, and it stepped back. Stepping over to the tree James tugged on one of the stiffened branches. It refused to move. "As you can see, a light application of this function is enough to paralyze a living being in whatever form you want them in. I'm not going to demonstrate a full use of this function. I don't approve of stopping someone's breathing, or the function of their internal organs."

One more time James used the control panel to move the drone armor smoothly next to him. The auto-cast system was used to break down the woodland scene of 'scenario 1' down into seidr and reabsorb it into the system. 'scenario 2' was selected from the auto-cast system next, so the system patterned out a dense grove of trees. "What I'm going to demonstrate next is the final rune that the drone armors are able to utilize. It's a multi-tiered rune to create the Embrace of the Elements Weave. Director Fury, this weave combines three of the weaves you saw earlier: Grannus' Fire Spring Weave with Nervindr's Gale Weave with Volosr's Breath of Stone Weave and adds in Aegir's Waters Weave. This last weave can create a flash flood around the caster or directly in front of them if they focus it forwards."

Frey looked to Odin as Odin looked to him. Neither of them were happy with this turn. A machine wielding something like the Embrace of the Elements Weave wasn't acceptable in the Elder Realms. Only mages should have such power.

James made all of the selections on the control panel and set the drone to its last bit of work while he extended his soul song of stillness . The drone made its way to the center of the dense grove of trees. It couldn't be seen behind the thick trees. A sudden booming drew everyone's attention. A swirling sphere formed around the drone like the deadliest of beautiful crystal balls. Slanted bands of vicious fires, dark waters, roaring winds, and cracking rocks swirled violently about the drone as the sphere of destruction consumed everything. Through the shrieking James could hear Director Fury's quiet, "That's not legal," and knew that the Director would like the end of this demonstration as well. The maelstrom howled in the drone workshop then silenced itself. Just like that the elemental assault stopped. In the center of the destruction could be seen the drone. It was kneeling with one knee in the ground, holding up its bent arms, forearms together to utilize the rune that was branded onto both of its arms, half on each side. As the rune faded from its arms the drone stood and held its arms out in front of it, waiting.

"And now we come to the last set of runes that the auto-cast system uses, the Runes of Revision." Unfolding his seidr, James motioned in a circle in front of him. "I'm forming and combining the Rune of Thought with the Rune of Ingenuity and combining those with the Rune of Remembrance. Together the three runes create the mechano-magical interface needed to work with the drones." The shimmering garnet interface was a large circle in front of James with three smaller circles holding the three runes it used. It accessed and took control of every drone armor that was available. Those runes sat on the outside border of the circle and rotated around the circle. From the interior border of the large circle was another inner border. Between these two inner borders sat many runes just waiting to be selected for use. James could see the runes that Anthony had on the drones currently, all the ones he'd demonstrated, so he selected 'All Drones' in the interface, and wiped most of the runes from the drones. Bright flashes of light came from the drone armor as it scrubbed the runes out. Similar flashes came from the drones in the armory like lightning strikes. The whole system on the drones glowed softly while they waited for new input. They didn't have to wait long as James selected a new rune. "I'm removing the Jaivardhan Weave and replacing it with a Ticonderoga's Eyes Charm; it reveals sources of white seidr." He paused for a moment, looking over the interface. A smattering of other useful runes were there, "Let's see, to replace what was on the right hand I think I'll use a Regenerative Weave, an Easy Breathing Weave, a Spell of Failing Pain, and a Clear Blood Spell," making his picks he loaded them into the interface. "For the left hand, I'll use a Numbing Weave, a Forty Locks of the Forge Weave, a Restoration Orb Spell, and a Cooling Wave Weave," then he loaded those into the interface as well, "And for the large rune I'll use a Greater Health Charm with an area of effect." All the replacement runes were loaded when James began assigning the new runes through the interface. All of the drones glowed until they were too bright to look at, then they faded back into black and grey. James dismissed the interface for the drones and used the control panel to send the drone there back to its resting cabinet, which closed on its own, then directed the auto-cast to break down and absorb the remains of the soil. Turning and smiling, he looked at the monarchs. "The runes have been rewritten."

"Formadr Frigga, the demonstration is over, would you like me to lower the shield now?" James maintained his calm professional demeanor in the face of them being spooked. It was obvious how he'd unsettled them with what he had to show them. They needed to understand though; Anthony could be dangerous if handled badly or neglected. All of my younger brothers can be.

The Lord of Vanaheim was of two minds. Frey was pleased that the drone was rewritten, that all the drones seemed to be rewritten, at least if what he saw through the window was correct. They and Midgard were much safer when a machine didn't have the ability to use the Embrace of the Elements Weave. As pleased as he was, he was displeased as well. Not only had Anthony crafted a way to cast magics without a mage, but he made that machine into a soldier, into an army of soldiers. For all the good he could see coming from these soldiers, he could also see all the immoral things that these soldiers could do unless only the very best people were put in command of them. Even then, accidents were going to happen. What to do about it was the issue at hand.

The Lord of Asgard was not of two minds. Odin understood very clearly what evil mischief could be accomplished with such powerful soldiers, particularly if they could be rewritten in the middle of battle to adapt to the enemy's strategies, tactics, and weaknesses. That wasn't the first consideration in his mind, no matter how important it was. What came front and center to his mind was the fact that these things could be taught the runes and use the special weapons made to herd monsters. Though monsters rarely struck Asgard, they were always devastating when they did. The past five hundred years had seen three attacks which cost thousands of lives, military and civilian. These special soldiers could be the means to drive monsters back without risking his people's lives. He had to look into them.

Through their imprinting Frigga could feel Odin's interest in these weapons, but not a specific interest. It interested her that he was interested. Standing in the middle of such weapons it wasn't the time to stop and discuss this with him. There were a few possibilities, so she could wait to see where his interest went to. "Yes, it is well now."

Moving quickly with the control panel, James removed the sun shield then stowed his seidr back into his core. "The shield is down."

If I could use these I could take out AIM, HYDRA, the last of the Nazi Ariosophists and occultists. They aren't legal, their offensive capability is just too high. They need to be dealt with. Director Fury lamented that the World Security Council would worry aggressively at him for even having them, let alone using them. Stepping forward, he asked what he needed to. "What do you plan to do with these?"

"Being honest, I don't know yet. They don't comply with America's laws and privatizing them for various operations opens us up to extreme legal liability unless done carefully." Hesitation ringed James' statement. Leaving them in place wasn't happening but destroying them also seemed like a bad idea. "I haven't had enough time to think over what to do with them."

"You might leave them with Stark?" That didn't seem right to the Director.

"Yes and no. He won't have control of them, I will. I'll keep them in trust for him. There are things that we've wanted to do that these might let us accomplish, but I don't know yet."

"Things like what?" Them being under James' control was a more palatable option than having them under Stark's control. The old spy was willing to leave them in James' custody, just not Stark's.

"I've put some thought to using them to fight wildfires, he wants to use them as escorts for medical personnel in war zones, then there's search-and-rescue, disaster relief, humanitarian operations. There are several things that we've been looking into. I think they're more doable now that you know the Iron Flight exists." There were more than enough good reasons to use the Iron Flight, but James had to make sure that they complied with the laws in America, then with the United Nations and NATO, and then with the laws of any nation they were deployed to. It was a lot of busy work that he already had a construct researching for him.

"You really want to do humanitarian work with them?" That surprised and pleased Director Fury. "Are you willing to operate under World Security Council supervision? Is Stark?"

"I already have a construct researching the laws we should operate under. Does the World Security Council have additional regulations?" It was a curious suggestion to James, to work under the World Security Council. The only reason he knew who they were was because he was the pilot of the War Machine armor and was briefed on being in compliance with their regulations when he was piloting it.

"They have more specific laws and more freedom to operate with immunity from lawsuits since they operate as a governmental entity in multiple nations. They could provide a way forward since you're a private citizen. As an organization, SHIELD can't use the Iron Flight as assets. I can have a member of our International Legal Unit get in contact with you. The ILU already knows the applicable laws." With all of the things that James was wanting to do with the drone armors Director Fury hoped that he would take up the offer to speak with the ILU. There was a tremendous amount of good that assets like that could do in the world.

"That's an interesting idea, Director Fury. I think I would like to speak with someone on it. If we could get legal cover for humanitarian operations then we could do more." It made James happy to have the possibility of an easier path forward. He knew very well that Anthony wasn't going to like it. All of his younger brothers had trouble with authority to varying degrees, and Anthony was the worst among them.

"Are you limiting that work to Midgard?" If James was amenable, which it seemed like he might be, then Odin wanted to arrange a meeting to discuss Asgard having access to these soldiers.

Turning to Odin, James answered quickly. "I'm limiting us to wherever we can legally do the most good."

"If Asgard provided the cost, transport, and the housing or storage for these soldiers, would you be willing to allow them to work in Asgard?" Of all of Stark's Great Works, Odin found that this one had become uniquely consequential to Asgard's future. The possibilities that it promised were like Stark's other Great Works, both magnificent and terrifying.

This was a prospect that James not only didn't expect at all but didn't feel bad in not having expected it. "We'll work wherever there's legal permission to do so and legal protection against frivolous lawsuits. What would you have us doing?"

Until the All-Speak translated 'lawsuit' as 'an action in court brought by one party who makes claims against another party' Odin found the word 'lawsuit' to be strange and foreign to him; like a scroll with a law on that that was wearable. With the appropriate translation he could answer James' concern. "We have no 'lawsuits' in Asgard. We have arbiters who are legally bound to not entertain foolish or pointless claims. We also have Royal Edicts, which would indemnify you against frivolous claims. No claim can be brought against the crown or its agents, for the good of the kingdom."

Honest surprise tinged Frey's thoughts. These soldiers were immoral, or had the strong potential to be immoral, and possibly illegal if they were thinking machines, yet Odin was pursuing them anyway. What are you after, brother?

"As for their purpose, I have a singular task, but," Odin paused for a moment, "tell me, does Midgard have monsters?"

"We have people that we call monsters for their misdeeds, but nothing like what Loki has described to me." The monsters of Midgard paled in comparison to the monsters in the Elder Realms. The monsters of the Elder Realms were dark, evil, unknowable, …unkillable. They butchered thousands, sometimes even tens of thousands in a single attack, not even leaving enough left their victims for a proper funeral. Their hissing voices, multi-tonal messes that they were, were charming enough to persuade anyone of anything, easy as a smile. It was whispered but never proven that monsters even ate the souls of their victims, then took on their voices. No, the 'monsters' of Midgard were tame when compared to the rest of the Nine Realms. This was a subject that was personally meaningful to James, one that caused him to fear to deal honestly with people. James kept the smile on his face as he did so often and thought, If they only knew, what I know. They couldn't know, not yet, not now; depending on how his younger brothers reacted to them, maybe never.

"Such easy monsters to deal with." Odin's voice faded away as he considered what he was truly proposing. "We have no such good fortune." The scar on his left hand throbbed for a moment as his thoughts traveled back to the various attacks that Asgard had suffered under. It seemed inconceivable to him that something of such size could launch a stealth attack on a city gate, but any monster could. Even if they could just get a warning system with these soldiers to let them know of a monster's approach before it came to the city walls that would save so many lives by letting the evacuations begin sooner. There were so many lives that could be saved, unlike now, unlike before. His thoughts traveled back farther to when he first came face to face with a monster. It was a hideous day.

1900 Years Ago – Morning

Asgard City Proper, Royal Palace

Rigid discipline kept Huskarl Havardr's spine straight, his head up, and his eyes alert as he listened to the man in front of him. The Royal Guard hirdmen was going over a few things with him, important things. It was part of the process for his transfer request that would take him from the Asgardian Army of the Land to the Royal Guard. The hirdmen had the power to approve or deny his transfer, so now he was paying close attention. The young Army huskarl cut a lean figure in his military uniform. The shining grey and matte black plate armor was immaculate on his tall, muscled frame. With his helmet set to the side of his chair on the floor, his tightly braided back, golden blonde hair was visible. The light streaming in through the window wasn't what lit up his bright blue eyes; it was the deep excitement that caused them to be filled with such life.

"Speak only if spoken to; no chatting, no socializing, no making noise. We are the silent wall around the palace. Do you understand?" The hirdmen spoke in a matter of fact fashion to the newest huskarl to the Royal Guard. Hirdmen Ragnulf was at home in his small office, the Duty Office. The man was deceptively sized, slightly shorter than the average Royal Guardsmen, but just as dangerous, just as zealous. He kept his brilliant red hair braided back in rows, leaving his fair brown skin exposed around his neck and scalp. The half-dvergar hirdmen acted as the gatekeeper to the Royal Guard. Any who wanted to attain one of the highest positions of service to Asgard had to go through him first.

"Yes, Hirdmen Ragnulf. I understand, sir. Do I go to duty today, sir?" A giant smile was fighting to come across Huskarl Havardr's face. His intense discipline kept it away. He was finally there, in the Royal Palace of Asgard. This was the life he'd wanted since he was a little boy living next to the military district. From his bedroom window he could see the guardsmen going about their duties with honor and distinction. They were so strong, so stoic, so powerful that he couldn't help but want to be one of them. Their perfectly polished armor, immaculate discipline, and lethal weapons impressed him to no end. When he looked up from watching the guardsmen he could see the Asgardian Royal Palace. Its golden walls always shined, no matter the time of day or weather. It was the most majestic thing he had ever seen. It never failed to cause his chest to swell with pride and devotion to his home kingdom. That devotion led him to join the Asgardian Army of the Land a hundred years ago, at the end of the war with Vanaheim. It took him a hundred years of hard work, strict discipline, and good fortune, but he was finally there. It was more magnificent than he thought it would be.

A little smirk touched the hirdmen's lips when he noticed the twitching of the huskarl's lips. A smile was brewing on the young man's face. So long as it didn't manifest while that young man was in uniform then there would be no problems. The Royal Guardsmen didn't smile while they were on duty. They had no expression while they were on duty. Expressionlessness was part of the uniform. "You will, but half of your day will be spent sitting in the side room," he pointed to room off the left wall of his office, "reading the regulations manual, being outfitted with your uniform, being issued a guardsmen's stave, then returning to me so that I might ensure that you are ready for duty." Putting the official seal of the Duty Office on the young man's scroll of duty transfer, Hirdmen Ragnulf gave Huskarl Havardr a serious look. "You won't go to duty without my approval." The warning given; he pulled out a copy of the regulations manual to hand to the young huskarl.

"Yes, hirdmen!" Huskarl Havardr's voice was a little too loud even in his own ears. His excitement kept bubbling up, no matter how hard he shoved it down. I'm here! I'm finally here! The thought was flying around in his head like the loosest of ricochets. A slow breath helped him to calm himself again, to shove down the excitement as he took the regulations manual that the hirdmen handed over his desk. He knew that he was going to spend time talking to his wife, Majvor, when he got home that evening. She could always calm him when he grew imbalanced in his thoughts. She'd been able to restore balance to him since they were children, she knew him so well. It wasn't just his day he wanted to talk to her about. He wanted to hear about her day as well. After all, she was carrying their first child. He wanted to know how the baby's day was also. Like he had patiently waited for the post in the Royal Guard, he was patiently waiting for the birth of their first child. Will you be a son, or will you be a daughter? You'll be amazing either way! I'll make certain that you can say with pride that your father is a Royal Guardsman. I'm finally here!

An understanding expression touched Hirdmen Ragnulf's face as his severe expression dropped for a moment. "How long have you waited for this post?"

"I put in my transfer request fifty years ago, sir." The tiniest of smiles appeared on his lips before it was ruthlessly banished.

"And before that? How long were you in the Army of the Land?" The young man had made it into the Royal Guard quickly. He knew some guardsmen who had waited almost three hundred years for a position to open up. Since it was a lifetime position a guard had to retire from it before another could take his place. The war with Vanaheim left many posts open, so here this young man was, eager and ready to go.

"Fifty years, sir. I joined the Army of the Land a hundred years ago, sir." Again, the tiny smile tried to make an appearance. Again, it was banished.

"And why did you join the Army of the Land?"

"I love Asgard, sir. I want to defend her, sir. To defend the Royal Palace and the Lord of Asgard is to defend the heart of Asgard, sir. My loyalty is ironclad, sir." Even if the Lord of Asgard, Lord Borr, was imbalanced currently, it wouldn't always be that way. The kingdom would endure beyond any Lord, and that was what Huskarl Havardr wanted to protect.

"How long have you wanted to be a Royal Guardsman?" How like all of the others are you?

There were many people who were embarrassed to mention what they wanted as a child, to publicly air those immature desires. Not Huskarl Havardr though, nothing about his love of Asgard could embarrass him. "Since I was a boy, sir."

Nodding tolerantly, Hirdmen Ragnulf spoke. "I understand," he motioned to the door out to the hallway, "What you need to understand is that everyone in the Royal Guard has wanted the same thing, for just as long. All of us wanted it so we sought it out, just like you. All of us are the best that the Asgardian armies have to offer, all with ironclad loyalty. Of course the best of all the armies always comes to us, but to stay with us you need to prove that you're the best of the best. Only then will you truly be a Royal Guardsman." Hirdmen Ragnulf pointed to the door to his side room. "Familiarize yourself with the regulations. You have four hours. Go."

"Yes, sir!" Huskarl Havardr stood, taking his helmet with him, turned, and went to the door. At the door he looked back over his shoulder and spoke, "Thank you, sir," then he went through the door. It was a small room that he found himself in, with a brown tile floor, golden walls and ceiling. Beautiful paintings of glorious battles of the past hung on the walls, A desk and chair sat in front of a small window. The scene visible from the window was of the guardsmen's training grounds. It was beautiful to him. Sitting at the desk, the huskarl began to read over the regulations that would be the rules of his life from now on. For as dry and without flourish as the text was it still engrossed him, letting him pass the hours by quickly.

The door opened several hours later and Hirdmen Ragnulf came in. "Have you read the regulations?"

Huskarl Havardr stood and faced the hirdmen when he came into the small room. "Yes, sir. I've read through it several times, sir. What should I do now, sir?"

Hirdmen Ragnulf explained what happened next. "You'll take that down to the Outfitter's Office, get your uniform." handing over a uniform token to the huskarl then speaking, "and this to the Guardsmen's Armory to be assigned your stave," and a weapon token was handed over to the huskarl next.

The tokens were so light in Huskarl Havardr's hand, but they held such weight to the young man. They were one more step along the path to him becoming a Royal Guardsmen, one more step to the fulfillment of his dream. "Yes, sir. I'll go now, sir." He bent down to pick up his helmet, tokens clutched tightly in hand. He went to go but the hirdmen stood in the door, blocking him.

There was only one more thing to do for Hirdmen Ragnulf. He put a hand on the young huskarl's shoulder. "Welcome to the Royal Guard, Guardsman Havardr. Long may you bring honor to Asgard."

Deep emotion tried to overtake Huskarl Havardr, but he pushed it back. All it could do was to thicken his voice as he responded in kind. "For all the days of my life, sir, I will fight for Asgard." The hirdmen stepped out of his way then, and he was out of the door and moving towards the Outfitter's Office.

On the floor below the one he was on was his destination. Huskarl Havardr kept his shoulders back and his chin up, walking as if he truly belonged there. He did belong there now, but it was hard to believe. It was as if he was walking through his dreams. This was real, more so when he got to the Outfitter's Office. The door was surprisingly plain for an office in the Royal Palace. Swift footsteps approached him from behind, so he turned to see who it was. A small woman was approaching the same door that he needed. She was carrying a covered tray in her hands, so the young huskarl opened the door and held it for her. She went in the door quickly, giving him a smile and a quick, "Thank you, good sir!" on the way past. He nodded politely to her, then entered the office himself.

"Master Indridi, I brought your lunch for you." Kjellfrid attempted to move swiftly to the counter, to deliver her master's lunch, but moved too quickly for her feet to keep up. Her dainty, slipper clad feet caught in the long skirt of her dress, taking her feet out from under her to send her tumbling to the side. "Ah!"

Without thinking about it Huskarl Havardr stepped forward quickly to catch the tray that went sliding out of the young woman's hands, and then caught the young woman with his other arm. Setting the tray of food on the office counter came first before he used both hands to carefully set the young woman on her feet. "Are you well, ma'am?"

Embarrassment colored shades of red across Kjellfrid's face. All she'd wanted was to bring her master his lunch on time and it nearly hit the floor again. How many times can one woman trip?!, she wondered as she made another mental note to shorten her skirt again. How much shorter it could go and still have her maintain her decency was a real issue though.

"Kjellfrid, why don't you return to your work?" Kind patience filled Master Indridi's voice for the third time that day. His poor assistant was going to be red in the face for a while. His heart went out to her that she was so perfectly clumsy that she just couldn't stay on her feet. Truthfully, if her talent at making and enchanting uniforms for the Royal Guard hadn't been as equally perfect then he might have looked less favorably on her inability to stay upright. As it was, he just made sure that she spent most of the day in a chair where she at least couldn't harm anyone else. Her excellent attitude and willingness to work hard certainly helped him to overlook her deficiencies in balance. Turning his attention to his newest customer, Master Indridi set the tray off to the side to make way for the business at hand. "Welcome to the Outfitter's Office, how may we serve?"

Maybe there was a little bit too much pride in his handing over the token for his new uniform, maybe there was the right amount, Huskarl Havardr would never be able to tell.

"Ah! A new Royal Guardsman. How wonderful!" Master Indridi turned around to the shelves behind him and gathered up the pieces of the Royal Guardsman's uniform. Handing them over to the young huskarl, the master pointed to the room across from the counter. "Everything has an enchantment of sizes on it, so it will fit you well enough. Once you have it on, come back to me and we'll size everything fully to you, and leave your old uniform behind, we'll dispose of it for you."

"Yes, sir!" The huskarl also didn't know if there was a little too much pride in his voice as he took his new uniform to go get it on. He had no time to think about such things because the day was going by so quickly. This place was no different. Taking off his old uniform and setting it aside went almost as fast as getting on his new uniform. The only thing that slowed him down for just a moment was when he had his new uniform on and looked down at himself wearing it. Leave your old uniform behind, the words echoed in his thoughts then. He wasn't just leaving a uniform behind; he was leaving a way of life. Very soon he would no longer be a soldier. He would be a Royal Guardsman, with everything that it entailed. A little tear came to his eye, and he wiped it away quickly. "Now isn't the time for such sentiment!" His voice was a low whisper in the small room. As soon as he pushed back the emotion swelling up in him he stepped out into the Outfitter's Office, carrying his helmet. It was a simple matter after that for the old Master Outfitter to tighten and loosen his uniform depending on what he needed to move freely. Huskarl Havardr was surprised by how much the older man knew about how a body moved and what it needed to do so unrestrictedly. By the end of the fitting session the uniform was as close and comfortable to him as his own skin. Looking at himself in the mirror in the Outfitter's Office , he knew he could wear this uniform happily for the rest of his life.

Satisfaction filled Master Indridi as he looked over the changes one last time. Everything was right and proper. Another Royal Guardsman was properly outfitted. The old master would never say that he was prideful in his work. He would only say that there was always satisfaction to be had in seeing his and Kjellfrid's work put to such good use. He looked the younger man in the eyes and stepped back. "There's nothing else I can do for you, guardsman. From here you go to the armory, just down the hall. Carry your helmet in your hand so that the other guardsmen know that you're new. When you have a weapon, then you don your helmet. Go now, guardsman. Serve Asgard with honor for all the days of your life."

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" And with that Huskarl Havardr was out the door of the Outfitter's Office and headed down the hall towards the Guardsmen's Armory where he was greeted by a gruff hirdmen by the name of Unfrid.

"Honor to you, guardsman," Hirdmen Unfrid said by way of greeting this new guardsmen, then asked, "Do you have your token?"

"Yes, sir. Right here, sir." He handed over the token granting him a guardsman's stave.

"You can leave that 'sir' talk in the hallway. I am Hirdmen Unfrid to you, and this is my armory. I worked very hard to become a Royal Hirdmen and even harder to become the Hirdmen of the Armory. These weapons are my responsibility, and you will not touch any of them without my permission. You will respect that from this day forward! Now, your name?"

"Huskarl Havardr, s... Hirdmen Unfrid." He slid the token tentatively across the counter and withdrew his hand quickly, keeping his mouth shut. He'd come across hirdmen like this one before. Speaking only when spoken to was the best option in his opinion.

"Well Huskarl Havardr, since you learn so quickly, let's get you a weapon quickly." The hirdmen turned around and walked back into the secured area where the guardsmen's weapons were stored. He selected a guardsman's stave, one that he had cleaned and aligned just that morning. Taking it back, he set it on the counter in front of the young huskarl and smirked for a second. There was the twitching of the young man's lips, as if he was wanting to smile and failing to stop himself before he could. Hirdmen Ulfrid brought up the list of weapons on the office memory cube, and marked the weapon as deployed, then he brought up the form that would let him transfer the weapon to Huskarl Havardr's custody. The form catalogued the date of transfer, weapon number, name of recipient and several other important details which the hirdmen entered quickly. When he was done he turned the screen around to face the young huskarl and pointed down to the bottom of the form. "Put your mark here."

He raised his right hand and pressed the pad of his thumb into the screen projected out from the memory cube. It left an indelible copy of his thumb print on the form. Another four spaces came up under where he'd just put his mark, so he placed the pad of each of his right fingers in one of the spaces. Never in his life had he had to give all his marks. This was suddenly more serious to him.

The form was done, and the hirdmen stored it in the cloud of data that the memory cube was connected to in the palace. Hirdmen Unfrid noticed the look that Huskarl Havardr gave the form as he had to press all five of his right hand digits into it. "You are a hand of the Lord now; this is one of his weapons. You are one of his weapons. And so, you will treat it with the respect and care that you will treat our Lord with. If you don't, it comes back to me. Do you understand?" He held out the stave to the young man with two hands.

Putting on his helmet first, the young huskarl took the weapon solemnly. "Yes, Hirdmen Unfrid. On my honor, I will bear it with respect and care."

An honest smile spread across Hirdmen Unfrid's face as he let go of the stave. "For all the days of your life, may you bring honor to Asgard. Now go, return to Hirdmen Ragnulf, and receive your posting."

The weight of the guardsman's stave was light in Huskarl Havardr's hands. Somehow at the same time it was one of the heaviest things that he had ever been entrusted with. It was a symbol of his Lord's trust in him and of his own worth. More little tears tried to moisten his eyes, but he pushed them back faster this time. "Yes," he paused for a moment to settle his weapon at his side and get his helmet on, "and thank you, Hirdmen Unfrid." He turned crisply and left the armory, headed back to where he began the day, back to Hirdmen Ragnulf.

The honorable hirdmen was waiting in his office for the young huskarl. A wide smile crossed the hirdmen's face when Huskarl Havardr walked through the door. "You leave me a huskarl of the Army of the Land and return to me a huskarl of the Royal Guard. Wonderful!" Motioning to his memory cube, Hirdmen Ragnulf turned the screen around so that the other man could see it. "I have a post for you for today. Today you'll report to Hirdmen Thostensen at the front gate to the palace and finish out today with him and Huskarl Brynjolf. Tomorrow you'll report back to me for your final schedule and posting. Do you have any questions for me?"

Shaking his head negatively, Huskarl Havardr answered. "No, sir."

"Then get to the front gate quickly. Serve our Lord and our land with honor. Let this be the beginning of your watch."

Huskarl Havardr bowed to the hirdmen. Gratitude filled him for all the people who helped him to get to this point. This was his dream made manifest. He was truly a part of the Royal Guard now. "Thank you so very much, Hirdmen Ragnulf. I won't disappoint you." Turning, he made his way out of the Duty Office, then eagerly through the golden glimmering halls of the palace. Joy sung through his thoughts, through his very soul, at the fact that he was now 'Guardsman Havardr'. He couldn't wait to tell his beautiful wife, Majvor, about his day. The wife of a Royal Guardsman, she'll be so proud. He wondered if he could convince her to make a roast hraesvelgr for dinner when he got home. He'd always thought that the wild birds were too gamey until his wife got a hold of them. She was always able to turn them into a tender and succulent meal. When paired with vegetables it was always his favorite. If she wanted to make something else, that would be fine with him as he loved her cooking and had since he was a young man. Truly, he'd loved everything about her since he was a child. That she returned his love and encouraged him in pursuing his dream just made her more perfect. The light poured into the front of the palace through the windows and wide doors. He could see the gate from where he was. It struck him again that the day seemed to be moving very quickly. That's fine, I'll see Majvor soon.

As he was reaching the stairs down the front entrance of the palace a great screeching boom resounded over the whole of the city. Screaming followed in the wake of that booming and smoke rose over the city skyline. Ashes drifted on the afternoon breeze. Drawing his weapon up, Huskarl Havardr broke into a full sprint towards the front gate of the palace. Down the steps, across the walkway and to the gate. "Hirdmen Thostensen?!" Huskarl Havardr called to the hirdmen, not knowing which they were from the two guardsmen standing at the gate.

Giving a quick look over his shoulder, Hirdmen Thostensen spoke. "Are you the new huskarl?"

"Yes, sir. Huskarl Havardr, sir." The young huskarl looked over the two of them. Hirdmen Thostensen was a tall, wide man with his stave drawn up and ready to fire. He sounded older, calmer with age and experience. Who he reasoned to be Huskarl Brynjolf was a tall, slender woman who kept her silence about her. Her stave was drawn up and ready to fire. He was shocked to see one of the rare female Royal Guardsmen.

"Man the middle point of the gate." The brusque order came without even looking at their new guardsman. Another tenebrous roar shook the city, louder this time. More agonized screams followed the thunderous sound. Smoke curled on the wind taking ashes with it into the sky.

"Yes, sir. Is it raiders, sir?" The young man moved in between the hirdmen on the right of the gate and the other huskarl on the left of the gate. A strange vibration went through the air as though someone was whispering at him; telling him to be still, to fear, to surrender. This didn't feel like raiders.

"No, that's not raiders." Hirdmen Thostensen knew what it was and had been grateful to have not seen one since he was a new guardsman some seven hundred years ago. Another screech, like a din of damned souls, wailed out over the city to shake the buildings. He could see that the young huskarl had figured out what was happening. They both knew what was roaring, and who was burning now. All they could hope was that the city guardsmen could turn it back before it got to them. That hope died a painful death as they looked down the central roadway that came up to the palace gates from the Bifrost gates. Hundreds of people were panicked and running down the roadway towards the palace seeking any safety they could find. Parents carrying their children, teachers shepherding their students, city guardsmen carrying the injured and old, businesspeople and scared ordinary citizens. The people of Asgard were running towards them. None of the guardsmen could blame them.

Oozing, rolling, and flopping down the roadway was a heavy black and grey, semi translucent gelatinous mass the size of a transport ship that slapped against the road wetly. The corrupt black rot it was made of was still transparent enough to make out the shapes of partially digested bodies and bones, the clothing of its victims, broken tree branches, rocks, dirt, and the still struggling body of someone it was digesting currently. No organs, not a brain or a stomach, could be seen in this sentient blob. Its black rot left streaks of the murky slime where it or its gooey, waving, hard as steel tentacles touched. The roadway and buildings were all marked in the quickly crystalizing corruption. Spiky black stones that sucked the light into them were what was left behind it. There were no people in its wake. Another damned shriek, imitating the screams of the people it killed, resounded from the viscous bulk. The sound of it exploded down the roadway towards the fleeing people. Cracks ripped down the street and into buildings from the force of it. The back line of the crowd, those too slow or injured to get away all screamed in the sudden agony as the sound struck them. It ignited them from the inside. The burning happened so swiftly that there were statues of ash left standing in the street. All were posed in their death throes. Horror was inscribed on their faces before the marauding tentacles stretched ahead of the bulk to knock the ashes aside. The smell of burning flesh and ash filled the city along with the screams. Through the roaring the beast's innate ability to cause insidious fear and debilitating panic in the hearts and seidr cores of all who heard it took hold of the survivors, causing them to run faster. Too few of them could outrun it though. A monster had come to Asgard to hunt. Its prey fled before it.

"Huskarl, stand aside, I'm opening the gate for them." Hirdmen Thostensen hit the switch to open the gate, while keeping his weapon up. The palace had always been and would always be a safe haven for the people of Asgard.

A nudge and a nod toward the crowd from Huskarl Brynjolf had Huskarl Havardr waving and yelling at the crowd. "This way! Come this way! Come to the palace, people of Asgard!" And come they did, stampeding over one another in a mad dash to escape the monster bearing down on them.

"Huskarli! Fire on its arms, distract it from the people in front of it!" Hirdmen Thostensen aimed his weapon precisely and fired, severing a small tentacle that was closing in on a young woman carrying a baby on her back.

Both of the huskarli took careful aim and fired through the writhing crowd. They struck the monster's tentacles whenever they got too close to a fleeing Asgardian. They followed their hirdmen in trying to save as many of the fleeing people as they could, but they couldn't save everyone. Huskarl Havardr thought another three Asgardians were going to be dragged into the monster to be digested when citrine teleportation fire flared up around them. They were gone, saved. Another five people teleported away, then another four. As the people ran towards the palace they began being teleported away in small groups. The young huskarl's eyes widened in hope as he looked in the crowd for the mage powerful enough to intervene. He found the mage where he didn't expect him. A young, very tall, heavily muscled mage with flaming red hair who was wearing a warrior's garb was running alongside the people on the rooftops of the buildings. He was jumping from rooftop to rooftop and even running along the sides of the taller buildings. This powerful mage was shepherding the people towards the gates, teleporting away those who got too close to the monster. He couldn't make out who the mage was, though he was familiar. All he knew of them was that the mage was powerful enough to not only ignore the panic but to be able to use his seidr instead of just running.

The hirdmen and his two huskarli continued to pick off the tentacles while the mage teleported people away. Huskarl Havardr began to hope that maybe they could evacuate all of the people who were coming to them for shelter without too many losses. That hope took a hit when the monster grew tired of the red-headed mage and swung its tentacles towards the roof that the mage was running along. The young huskarl didn't think about it before he aimed down his stave and fired off three bolts towards the large tentacle headed towards the mage. It was severed explosively and fell to the ground to squirm and thrash until the monster reabsorbed it at the bottom and kept coming. It was a simple matter of defense then. Huskarl Havardr kept the tentacles from the mage while the mage kept their people from the monster. The two of them worked together seamlessly without ever having spoken. More city guardsmen arrived with heavier weaponry, bringing hope with them. They hovered about the monster in gunships firing down on it in an attempt to get the monster to reverse its course and leave the city. Huskarl Havardr noticed it then, as he was aiming down his stave and firing off more bolts. He noticed that the red-headed mage was pointing at the monster and the gun ships. Then he noticed that the gunships were firing on where that mage was pointing to. Who are you?

The first group of people made it to the gate and the hirdmen yelled at them, "Go into the palace! Hurry! Go to the healing rooms," and they continued to run forward seeking shelter. Swiftly more groups of people arrived at the gate. All of them were sent into the palace for safety. Through it all Huskarl Havardr kept laying down covering fire for the powerful mage who was still running towards them shepherding the last of the people, teleporting as he could.

The second to last group of terrified people, a woman and two men, arrived at the gate and stopped running so that they could catch their breath. "Make for the palace! We'll draw it away from you." Huskarl Havardr ordered them, so they ran again. Tired and out of breath as they were, they ran anyway.

The red-headed mage was running on the side of the last building, and the young huskarl could hear the mage yelling at a middle aged man with a thick mane of blonde hair, "Run to the gate, not in the building!" The blonde man was running into buildings then coming out of them then running to another building and coming out again. It gave the monster time to catch up to him. The foolish blonde man was unknown to Huskarl Havardr.

However, the young huskarl recognized the voice of the mage and was glad of heart to hear it. Looking up he saw the now-known mage dive forward off the side of the building, summersaulting in midair, landing cleanly, and rolling to standing beside them. One of the Lords of Asgard was with them. The young Lord fired off a seidr fireball, a frigid ball of ice, and a spikey exploding metal ball from his hands. All of them hit the monster squarely, enraging it further and bringing forth wounded gurgling noises. Like the rest of the day everything happened so quickly.

The blonde man running in and out of the buildings came to the gate dragging the monster with him. The monster charged forward at top speed to the gate with two large tentacles aiming for their Lord. The Lord stepped back surprised as a tentacle aimed at his chest, just heartbeats away. There was simply no time to think. Huskarl Havardr charged forward and grabbed the blonde man, trying to throw him through the gate. The monster grabbed the man by the leg and yanked him from the huskarl's grasp. The blonde man's screaming filled his ears while the beast lunged forward to the red-headed Lord who was preparing another spell but too slowly. The Lord wasn't moving, while the monster and the huskarl moved together, both towards the Lord. It just so happened that Huskarl Havardr was faster.

Stunned shock smeared the colors of pain across the young guardsman's face as his gaze locked with Crown Prince Odin's horrified gaze. His Laedis' Wrath Weave took too long to array, and he hadn't stepped back when he should have. The guardsman in front of him was now impaled on the monster's tentacle where Odin should have been. It had slammed through the young guardsman's middle, spraying Odin in his blood and gore after the guardsman shoved him backwards away from the monster. Before he could do anything to aid the young guardsman the monster raised its tentacle swiftly then smashed the guardsman down on the paving stones in front of him. It shook the young man's body loose from its appendage to cast him away. Odin glanced over to where the guardsman had landed on his back and was already beginning to shake with the monster's infection, or perhaps it was the pain of being gutted. The Crown Prince couldn't tell. The screaming of the blonde man being pulled into the monster slowly stopped. The man inside of it with the blonde mane began digesting slowly. The blonde Asgardian reached for Crown Prince Odin without ever being able to make contact.

Taking a step back, Odin didn't move anymore. The monster was sitting in the middle of the street not moving. It felt like the damned thing was looking at him. As if it had locked eyes with him and was just waiting for him to move, it sat. Its silence felt predatory, its stillness premeditated.

"Leave now." Crown Prince Odin whispered under his breath.

The oozing beast slowly shifted around to move its various bits of collected debris into new places. At a leisurely pace the monster began to move back down the roadway towards the city gates it had knocked in. It was oblivious to the havoc it had wreaked. A small whining caught Odin's attention then, and he went to the source of it. Kneeling down next to the infected guardsman he went to speak but thought better of it when he saw the black rot beading up on the younger man's greying skin. The guardsman's eyes were already mostly black. "Thank you, guardsman. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten." Odin's voice was still a quiet whisper. He wondered if the man he was speaking to could still hear him, or if the infection had progressed too swiftly for him to hear anything anymore. It didn't change Crown Prince Odin's gratitude, or what he had to do.

From his already unwound seidr Odin arrayed another Laedis' Wrath Weave. Standing, he held his left hand palm down over the head of the infected guardsman and spoke louder. "Allow me to ease your passing." He released the spell towards the young man. Just as the fires were hitting his face, the young man's eyes turned completely black. "Majvor…" whispered from the Royal Guardsman's lips before he burned. A new monster was being born right in front of Odin and he had to stop it, only fire could suffice. When there was nothing left but ash of the guardsman did he stop powering the weave and twist his seidr back into his core. Looking up at his city the Crown Prince frowned. The mage guardsmen were already there to herd the monster out of the city and to leave a few behind in the city. Those left behind worked quickly with their own Laedis' Wrath Weaves to blast off the black rot from the buildings, roads, and people left infected by it. No time could be wasted because lives still hung in the balance. There was still more work that Odin had to do, but there was something he needed to do first.

"Crown Prince Odin, my Lord!" the courtier came running over from the palace. The over-dressed dandy looked nervously around to see if it was safe.

"What is it?" A snarl and a glare stopped the man short. Crown Prince Odin had no time for a courtier right then. There was work that he needed to get to.

"It's your father, my Prince. Lord Borr wishes to see you, to congratulate you on your success in driving back the monster."

'If this is what he calls a success then I shouldn't like to imagine what he calls a failure. We might all be dead then." Again, Odin's voice was a scant whisper. Damn you Borr! You do nothing while out people are hunted and killed! What game are you playing now?! Why do I tolerate this? (pause) Because he is King, and I'm not. It was growing harder and harder to answer that last question. The Crown Prince wondered much longer he would have a suitable answer to it, and what would happen when he didn't.

"My apologies, my Prince, but I couldn't hear what you said over," the courtier looked around at the sight of the mages working and the sound of fires burning, "all of this.. trouble." There was the unpleasant smell of ash in the air and something else, like rancid burned bacon. He thought the ash must have come from the large pile of it at the Prince's feet.

"Return to my Lord and tell him that I will attend to him shortly, there's something I must do first."

"Yes, my Prince. Of course, I'll return to him immediately." The courtier wrinkled his nose as some of the ash drifted out of the pile to land on his shoes. He kicked at it to be rid of it only to be unceremoniously shoved towards the palace by his Prince with a little snarl even. Looking at the sharp blue eyes looking down at him caused him to do the only sensible thing left for him to do. The courtier turned and ran back into the palace as fast as he could.

Looking over, Odin addressed the two other guardsmen at the gate. "Which of you is charged with controlling this gate?"

The hirdmen came to the position of attention in front of his Prince. "I am, m'Lord. Hirdmen Thostensen, sir."

Pointing down to the still smoldering ash pile, Odin asked. "And who was that?"

"Huskarl Havardr, sir. Is there something that I can assist my Prince with that the huskarl would have?" The grimace in the hirdmen's voice was obvious.

"He assisted me more than enough, hirdmen." A deep breath to calm himself only resulted in more ash in his nose. It was too disgusting to contemplate at that moment.

"Is there anything else that I can do for my Prince?" Hirdmen Thostensen waited patiently for his Prince to answer him.

"No, I just wanted to know his name." He deserves a commendation, deserves to be remembered. He deserves to be alive. They all do. Odin turned without another word and headed into the palace to deal with his father and whatever bloody game he was playing this time.

23May2023 – Afternoon

The Malibu California Mansion Of Anthony Edward Stark

Not once had Odin forgotten the look of shock and agony on the young guardsman's face as he threw himself in front of the monster to save his Prince. The look cut him deeply when he found out that Guardsman Havardr had just been assigned to the post that day. It was deeper still when he found out more about the young guardsman's life. Saving Odin's life was the last act of heroism of an already exemplary Asgardian. It cut deepest that he'd never been able to find justice for Guardsman Havardr, or any of the eleven thousand more who died that day during those few moments. After consuming the blonde last man and killing the guardsman the monster found its way out of the city, and back into the countryside where it disappeared a few days later. Not a trace of it was found. Not a trace of any monster was ever found once they chose to disappear. They came from nothing and went back to nothing; were only there to brutalize and slaughter. There was never a good monster in his opinion because Odin was so very tired of them.

Outside The Bounds Of Time

Vanaheim Royal Palace Guest Chambers

The last of the cold tears trickled down Loki's face. Elder Gorynych wiped it away quickly. His precious litil-svass had finally fallen asleep. At last, they made it through the abuse that the firehawk had done to himself and his silver child. He was pleased that they'd made it through some of the healing sessions that the firehawk conducted for Loki. The firehawk routinely collapsed from stress during or after the healing sessions, and it was time for Loki to see that as well. He was so proud of his grandchild for making it through all the recordings of her firehawk creating the nimp. It was gruesome, gory business that he normally wouldn't have supported showing to litil-svass. This was different, however. Loki needed to understand the full measure of the Dark Days. Only when she understood could she deal honestly with her firehawk.