Author's Note:

I've posted a glossary of terms (including the days/months and their English equivalents) to go along with these stories, it can be found at Bigcloset Topshelf, Fictionmania, & tgstorytime.

Shout outs go to the following people: Beyogi, Maggie Finson, Loki who served as either alpha and/or beta readers, The Rev. Anam Chara who helped edit some of the dialogue (spoken by the characters Hervor, Heime & Gilda) to more accurately reflect Elizabethan era English and last but certainly not least Holly H Hart for her superb editing prowess.

Manadag, the twelfth of Harpa (cont'd)

We found our way back to the entryway and just as we were about to leave Sophie turned to me and smiled sadly.

"I guess, this is goodbye."

I stared at her and slowly started to shake my head. It didn't have to be goodbye at least not yet.

"No!" I cried defiantly and let my magic flood through me.

I poured wind energy into my throat and called across all of Helheim. My voice carried through the entire realm as I spoke: "I would speak to all that dwell here in Helheim! It is time for you to come awake."

Slowly, color returned to dead all around us and I heard Thor growl, "What is she doing!?" before I continued.

The dead were awake, most of them looked confused, but a few looked angry. "I am Princess Brynhilde le Fey of the Lejosá¡lfar! Ragnarok is at our doorsteps. I was sent here to bring Odin and the other gods back from the dead to help in the fight. I did not intend to wake the rest of you, but as I look around I realize that many of you have friends and family who are still alive. They need your help! The Jotun seek to destroy the entirety of human existence! I ask… No, I beg for your assistance. Please, there are far too many lives at stake!"

My pronouncement was met with dead silence, literally, but then a tall woman with long auburn hair stepped forward. She looked sort of familiar, but I couldn't quite place her.

"Who is your mother, child?" she asked with a very slight tilt of her head.

"Aryanna," I answered.

The woman nodded and smiled, "I thought so. I see she has passed along her spirit of defiance onto you."

"Who are you?"

"Athilda le Fey," she answered with a very slight smirk.

Mom had known Athilda when she was a very old woman, and yet the woman before me looked to be in the prime of her youth. Apparently if you were old when you died, you didn't stay old.

"Will you help us? You could use your knowledge and experience, and I bet Mom and Gramor would be glad to see you too," I said quietly.

"I passed from life when my time came, child. It seems unnatural that I should return now. This is where I belong," Athilda replied quietly.

"The girl is right," Hoenir growled from behind me. "Everything has been skewed. Nothing is as it should be, and the one responsible must be stopped. Join us, so that we bring some sanity back to the world."

Athilda seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then Lilith appeared from among the throngs of the dead, "Mother, please. Our descendant is pleading for our help. Don't let her calls fall on deaf ears."

Athilda nodded, "It appears that I have little recourse. Let us begone so that we may end this quickly."

"What of the rest of you?! Who else will join in the fight? Your descendants need your help!"

"I will!" a familiar face with long-blond hair said stepping forward.

"Marion!" I cried.

"Hello, Bryn. It's good to see you again," Marion replied with one of her lop-sided grins.

Another blond woman came up to stand next to my aunt and place her hand on Marion's shoulder, "You're just as beautiful as your mother. I'll answer your call. It's the least I can do for Aryanna and Brigit after they watched over my sister all these years."

It started out at a trickle. At first, just a few more people pledged to join the fight. There were a few familiar faces, Kona Peterson my third-grade teacher, Cindy Lawson a girl I knew who died in a steamcar accident a few years ago, and there were some not familiar faces. Then they came in a great flood and I was overwhelmed at the sheer number of those who stepped forward. People from all walks of life, and people who were garbed in modern clothes people, people in tights, people in loincloths, people in chain mail, people wearing nothing at all, elves, humans, dwarves, and all manner of creatures. They had all come because I'd called them. They were mine to command, they were my army of dead.

Of course there were those who refused to join. Many of them were creatures of a darker nature, or else humans of the most unsavory sort, but I paid them no mind. It was time to leave.

"Thank you, we march for the future of humans, elves and all creatures who walk in the light!" I called then I turned my back and moved through the exit and back into the cold of Niflheim.

"Bryn!" Eva proclaimed as I stepped through, flinging her arm's around me. Garik joined her in the embrace a moment later and I shared a brief kiss with each of them before turning back toward the entry way.

Odin was the first to emerge, but the other gods were right on his heels as they passed through the gates.

"Norns! Marion!" Gramor let out a wide-eyed cry as Marion and emerged.

"Mom!" Marion cried just as loudly and embraced my grandmother in a hug.

"Hello, Brigit," Marion's sister, Penelope, said quietly with an awkward smile.

"Penelope," Gramor replied back with a curt nod.

Athilda and Lilith appeared next, at first Gramor didn't recognize Athilda, but as soon as the ancient Spellbinder spoke my grandmother's eyes widened and she flung her arms around the other woman with a delighted laugh.

Sophie emerged next and I saw the disappointed look as she looked around, "Why aren't Leif and Sam among the dead?"

"Mayhap, they be taken as Einherjar," Heime interjected suddenly.

"Yeah, that's probably it!" I beamed back at my father. "Just wait, Soph, we'll get to see them soon enough."

Odin appeared at my side, "The final battle is nearly upon us. I can feel it in my bones. We must go."

I nodded in agreement, and within a few moments we were on our way.

When we entered the roofed entrance to the Gjoll bridge and Modgud appeared to block our path.
"So you survived. Why am I not surprised?" she asked, staring down at me with a wry smile.

"Modgud let us pass," Odin commanded from my side.

"The girl made a promise. I intend to see that it kept," Modgud replied staring down me.

That familiar buzzing sprang to life in the back of my head and I was barely able to remain standing against its wheezing onslaught.

I winced and turned to the Allfather, "She wants free of her oath. I promised I would try to persuade you in exchange for safe passage across the bridge."

The buzzing faded away to a faint tingle and I let out a long sigh of relief.

"If I agree to free you from your oath, what would you do?" the creator god asked.

"Rejoin my people of course," she replied eying Odin thoughtfully.

Odin shook his head and looked up into her face, "You are free to go, but I fear you will not like what you find waiting for you."

"I'm never going to make another oath like that again, not if I can help it," I muttered with a shake of my head as the buzzing faded away. When I turned back to Modgud she was gone.

When we emerged on the other side of the bridge we found an army of elves waiting for us, but they weren't the same elves that had followed us down the root.

"Lejosá¡lfar!" Freyr proclaimed with a smile.

"No," I replied with a shake of my head. "These are exiled elves."

Freyr seemed taken aback by this, but didn't say a word as a tall elf dressed in woodland garb appeared to greet us.

"Lord Freyr!" He proclaimed falling to one knee.

"Rise," Freyr muttered quietly.

"Princess Brynhilde, we have defeated the Dokká¡lfar who followed you here," the elf said casting an apprehensive look toward Freyr.

"So you have," I replied.

"Lord Freyr, I want you to know that the Fellá¡lfar have stayed loyal all these years, as have all the exiled tribes. After Hervor proclaimed herself queen, we refused her rule and left álfheim," the elf said staring at the god apprehensively.

"Your loyalty is appreciated," Freyr replied. He didn't look very happy, but I had a feeling his ire was directed at Hervor and not the Fellá¡lfar.

So, that was why the exiled tribes had broken off from the Lejosá¡lfar. Everyone knew that Freyr had once ruled over álfheim, but after his death it appeared that Hervor had taken his place as ruler. I somehow doubted Hervor would willingly step down from the throne, and I was pretty sure Freyr wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"As interesting as all this is. We don't have any time to waste on idle chit chat," I muttered.

It took a good thirty minutes to mobilize the Fellá¡lfar army, but after that we finally got underway there weren't any more stops. It was pretty difficult marching such massive armies across the root of the Yggdrasil, but with so many magic users, magic pooled from both the Fellá¡lfar and the army of the dead, we were able to get the people moving up the root and on the path to Midgard.

Eirdag, the thirteenth of Harpa

When we reached Midgard the battle had already begun. I've seen battles before that day, but never ones on such a scale. I was among the first among our numbers to appear in the battlefield in New Copenhagen. A massive sail-ship that dwarfed some of the largest buildings I had ever seen rested on the ground near where the Seidskati's dinga had once stood. Jotun fought beside draugar, dark elves trolls, dragons and their human allies, while the forces of good battled desperately against them.

Goddesses summoned spells that could have shattered whole worlds, and Jotun countered with magic that was just as powerful. Tanks rolled across the battlefield, blowing everything in their path to smithereens, airplanes and zeppelins soared in the sky spewing explosive rounds at any number of flying horrors as destruction rained down from all directions. Fairies and other small vattir whizzed through the battlefield magic whirling all around them as they fought much larger opponents.

For a moment all I could do was stand and watch in horror at all the death laid out before my eyes. It seemed so senseless. Yes, people were fighting for their survival, but they should not have had to. I clenched my hands around the Hyrklufar rifle I carried and slowly shook my head.

"No more," I whispered.

I felt Eva, Garik, Heime, and Hervor's emotions through the bond, and knew their thoughts mirrored my own.

"Fyr lejos!" I cried and leapt into motion.

The army of the dead followed behind me, and the Fellá¡lfar weren't too far behind. Odin and the other gods held back for just a moment, then they too leapt into the foray and joined the fight.

Gramor didn't stay with the main group, insisting that she should be of better use tending to the wounded, so she disappeared into the camps where the wounded were being kept. I don't know exactly when, but it was about this time that Sophie disappeared.

I wished, not for the first time, that I had a better handle on my magic, but I did with it what I could. Mostly, I used it to form spirit shields to block attacks to both myself and my companions, but occasionally I was able to summon a small thread of fire, or use a gust of wind magic to send an enemy combatant soaring. My bond with Heime, Garik, and Eva allowed us to coordinate our attacks with unparalleled precision. As the only one who could feel the emotions of all three I was the one responsible for relaying any possible dangers that might have cropped up.

I raised my rifle, blasting a hole through the nearest dark elf, then quickly dove to the ground as I felt my father direct a warning at me through the bond. A massive fireball flew across the space I had just vacated and I rolled back to my feet just in time to block an attack from a dark elf who had just jumped at me. I hit my enemy across the face with the butt of the rifle then I brought it back around and emptied several rounds into his chest. I felt another warning of danger, this one from Garik, and whipped around in time to fire a blast into the neck of a human soldier who had sneaked up on me from behind.

It went on like this for some time, and for each enemy I killed two more appeared to take his or her place. Then finally, I felt a sudden agonizing burst of emotion from Hervor and felt a sense of urgent need through the bond. I hesitated only a moment before breaking out in a run toward where I sensed that she was waiting. Heime, was right on my tail, and my other two companions weren't far behind, but by the time we reached my grandmother there was nothing we could do.

A massive ring of fire surrounded Hervor, and she was doing all within her power to hold it at bay. She was fighting a losing battle and we all knew it. The source of the fire was a Jotun sorceress who had a cruel smile on her face as she loosed her power against the elven queen. The bodies of dozens of elven soldiers surrounded the circle, and half-again as many were heavily wounded. Two elven spellcasters were doing their best to fend off the Jotun sorceress, but nothing they did seemed to do the trick.

I clenched my fists and did something really, really stupid. I grabbed hold of my magic, and summoned as much of it as I could possibly hold and I channeled it all at the Jotun sorceress.

"Get down!" I warned as I felt my control slip.

White hot power erupted from my hands and shot toward my target. The magic was on her in an instant and slammed into her with such force that she simply exploded. I tried to bat the magic down. There was something new there, something lurking just below the surface and it didn't want to be contained. I fought down panic and I closed my eyes, and emptied my mind of all thought as Hervor had taught me and felt the magic fade away.

Heime let out a strangled gasp and I followed his gaze to where Hervor was laying on the ground. It was a miracle she was even still alive with the burns she had sustained. Her face was the only part of her body that had been left untouched, and her arms and legs ended in stumps where her hands and feet had been burned away.

"Brynhilde come," Hervor called weakly and I rushed to her side.

It was no secret that I'd never gotten along with my grandmother, but I would have never wished such horrendous injury upon her. How she continued to breathe, let alone talk, was beyond me, but somehow she was still alive.

"Brynhilde, I sorrow for the burden that I am about to place upon thee, but now that my daughters be gone thou art the only one capable of maintaining the bond," Hervor gasped.

"Mother, please preserve thy strength. Speak not. We must find a healer we must--"

"No Heime, this body is beyond repair. Twilight is nearly upon me, as Frigg didst foresee. Allow me to speak, my son, what I must say is of great import."

"Brynhilde, I have kept the true reason of thy conception from thee. Thou wert born to take my place as queen," Hervor pronounced, wheezing for breath.

"What?! No, you can't be serious. No, I can't… Please, anything but that!" I protested, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Who then shall take my place Brynhilde? Both of my daughters have fallen, and none of my grandchildren save thyself have the power to maintain the queen's bond."

"The queen's bond?"

"Aye, it shall bind thee to all Lejosá¡lfar."

"Mother, Brynhilde is ill prepared for this. Mayhap another can--" Heime protested.

"Nay son, she is the only one. Thou must guide her. Under thy tutelage she shall become a great queen."

"And if I refuse?" I whispered quietly.

"Without the bond… The Lejosá¡lfar they shall fall! It gives them strength. It lets them become as one. Without this bond the battle shall be lost, and all thou dost care about shall fall into ruin," Hervor replied quietly.

Hot tears stung my eyes, "Do it then!"

"One more thing," she croaked, gasping for air.

"What?"

"Whatever thou dost do, whatever thou dost say… our people must remain free of Freyr. Thou must swear it!"

"I swear it, Hervor," I muttered, binding myself to my grandmother's dying wishes.

I felt the stub of Hervor's arm reach out to touch my chest and suddenly millions of minds joined with mine all at once. I clutched at my head and screamed out in terror. I became lost in an endless river of emotions that did not belong to me. I tried to swim free, but the currents kept pulling me back in. I called out desperately for help, and felt three minds reach out to me with love and encouragement. I swam towards them, but the endless river engulfed them and I thrashed about in desperation. No matter how much I tried I couldn't break free. There were just too many minds holding me at bay.

Then I remembered my training sessions with Hervor and her lessons on meditation. With a start I realized she had been trying to prepare me for this very moment. I couldn't fight the river. No, I had to embrace it before I could contain it. I stopped struggling and let the emptiness seep into my mind. Then I let the river drain away into a corner of my mind where I locked it in place. The river would always be there waiting where I could use it, but I could never let myself become immersed in it. I could lose myself that way.

I opened my eyes and looked down to find that Hervor had passed on.

"Grandmother… Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered with tear-filled eyes before staggering back to my feet. Goddesses I was dizzy and… I felt so strange!

"Bryn!" Eva called moving to help me to stand.

"The battle!" I exclaimed with a weak voice.

"It's all right, Bryn. The enemy troops have withdrawn… for now," Garik muttered from beside Eva.

"What why?"

"I think our appearance caught them off guard. They've likely withdrawn in order to regroup."

I shook my head and felt some the dizziness fade away. "We need to get to the command tent. I'll need to speak with Mom and our other allies."

"Father, I need you," I said turning back to Heime who was on the ground clutching at Hervor's broken body.

Heime turned to me and I could see the tears streaming down his face as he released Hervor and came over to stand beside me. "Aye, daughter."

We never made it to the command tent. The hiatus was very brief and we had just enough time to gather our wits before the battle commenced. As new queen of the Lejosá¡lfar it was my job to lead my people into battle. The elves didn't seem to express any reservations, and I felt none through the bond. It was strange, really, despite having them practically forced upon me I felt responsible for the light elves. I had become irrevocably bound to them and they to me. I couldn't stand idly by and let those people … my people fight for their lives while I stood on the sidelines.

Sophie reappeared just before our return to battle. She had been searching for Leif and Sam, but had been unable to find them from among either the Einherjar or the dead from Helheim. She was convinced that they were alive, but I didn't share her optimism. If they were alive where were they? Shouldn't we have found them by now?

The ground shook under me as the enemy fighters renewed their assault. Magic coursed all around me and a there was a release of energy nearby as one of my subjects released a spell of dissipative earth magic under our feet. The ground ceased to shake and I raised my rifle as Dokká¡lfar appeared from the distance, leaping at our front line with reckless abandon.

A wall of blue magic flared to life as I summoned a spirit shield to ward against the dark elf assault. Our enemies flailed uselessly against the shield, and my troops cheered triumphantly as our spellcasters and bowmen began pelting them with their projectiles and magic. While the bow and arrow was considered a laughably antiquated weapon by modern human standards, our arrowheads had been magically enhanced, and they were often just as effective as any human or dwarven firearm.

Bright ribbons of fire magic began pelting my shield and I felt several more spellcasters raise up shields to help support mine, and others still cast their spells to counter the enemy attacks. I fired my Hyrklufar rifle into the opposing forces, directing it through my shield. Eva fought beside me, hurling her magic through the shield at the nearest enemies, while my father issued orders to the troops.

Humans and light elves fought side by side and the lines between the allied armies became blurred as more soldiers on each side moved in to help fill in the gaps in each others lines. Humans and elves on both sides died. Power the likes of which the world had never seen was unleashed before my eyes. Together we fought and survived.

We fought for hours, and the human troops were beginning to tire. The elves and all the other vattir possessed superior endurance, but as mortals, humans didn't have that advantage. The Spellbinders used their magic to help keep the human troops going, but there was only so much they could do and it was only a matter of time before they succumbed to exhaustion. Of course, if it happened to our troops, it would happen to the human soldiers on the other side, but they were fewer in number and would not feel the loss as greatly as we would.

"We have to end this!" I called over the roar of battle.

"How, daughter?" Heime called back.

I shook my head and looked him in the eyes, "You stay here. I need to go find my mother."

"Come hither, young Garik," Heime called with a crooked finger as we were about to depart.

Garik quickly moved over to my father. Heime unstrapped his sword belt and held it out Garik with both hands. "Take it."

"My Prince! I cannot take your blade!" Garik replied staring at Heime in utter shock.

"Garik, I have lost both my sisters and my mother. I will not suffer the loss of my daughter, not when I hath known her so short a time. Thou art a skilled swordsman. By thy hands Gram shall cut thine enemies in twain," Heime insisted.

‘Gram?’ So I had been right. The legendary sword, once reforged by the dwarven blacksmith Regin, was said to be nearly unbreakable and would cut through just about anything.

Garik smiled graciously and took Gram from my father. He unstrapped his own sword belt and handed it to my father, "I fear that a simple soldier's blade would be unsuitable for you, your highness, but I have no other to give."

Heime grasped hold of Garik's sword with a sad smile, "'Tis a fine blade. It shall suffice."

After, the exchange of weapons, Garik, Eva, Sophie and I set out with a hundred soldiers and a dozen spellcasters in tow. It didn't take long at all for me to find my mother. She was leading troops near the front line alongside Daniella, Nick Flint, Athilda and a red-haired woman dressed in flowing blue robes I didn't recognize.

The fighting was very intense, and I moved in to fight beside my mother.

"My friends and I thought we'd stop by for a visit," I said with a crooked grin.

"Bryn! What…?"

"We need to talk," I muttered.

I felt mother's hand on my shoulder and hurriedly grabbed at Eva, Sophie and Garik before I felt the winds of my mother's travel spell swirl around me as she whisked us away.

"This better be important," her disembodied voice said mid-transit.

We reappeared atop a hill cresting the battle and I shook my head to clear away some of the lingering dizziness. I looked around and noted that Daniella had come along for the ride. A swirling whirlwind appeared nearby and from it emerged Athilda, along with the red-haired woman.

"I think it's time to end this."

"End it? How?" the red-haired woman demanded.

"We need to get out there where the gods are fighting… It's important. I don't know why. I just feel it."

"Child, this is no time for foolish notions! If you go out there you could get yourself killed!" The red-haired woman said irritably.

"Hold your tongue, human! You're speaking to the queen of the Lejosá¡lfar!" Garik growled.

"The what?!" Daniella asked, eyes bulging out of her head.

"Hervor's dead… I took her place. It's what she intended all along. It's a long story and under different circumstances I'd love to tell it, but now's not the time."

"This is a waste of time. We need to get back to the battle," the red-haired woman growled suddenly.

"Who are you?" I asked staring at the woman curiously.

"I am but one of many Einherjar. In life I was known as Morgana le Fey," the woman answered back.

Morgana le Fey an Einherjar? That could only mean she had died in combat, and was chosen by the Valkyries to fight in the final battle.

"Look, we need to end this. I know it. I don't know why, I just do. Ever since I've killed Hel something is different. There's this sense of urgency goading me on."

Morgana's eyes widened as did Mom and Daniella's, but it was our ancestor that spoke. She pursed her lips and stared at me thoughtfully, "This sense of urgency… You say you first felt it after killing the goddess Hel?"

"Yes, but that's not important. It's time to take action," I replied eying her suspiciously.

"Oh, I disagree, child. I think it very important. Nevertheless, now is not the time for discussion. I believe you are right, child. I will go with you," Morgana stated resolutely.

The sudden turnabout was quite odd, but I got this sense that she had been testing me. I glanced briefly at Athilda, who nodded briefly and gave me a knowing smile. I got the sense that she too was willing to follow me.

"And the rest of you?"

Eva smiled and place her hand on my shoulder, "You are my lifkyn. There is no place I won't follow you."

Garik nodded and stepped forward, "You are more precious to me than all the jewels and precious metals in the nine worlds. I go where you go."

Sophie grinned. "Hey, I'm already dead. What do I have to lose?"

Mom shook her head and stared at me for a moment in wonder, "I don't know about this sense of urgency, but you are my child. I'll go, if only to keep you safe."

Daniella nodded in agreement. "Bryn, I feel the same way as Aryanna. I love you. I can't stay behind and let you take this risk without doing something to help. I'm not much of a fighter, but maybe I can help in some small way."

"It is decided then. We go to put an end to this madness," Athilda spoke quietly.

We returned to the battle-line and Mom stopped to confer with Flint and her other advisers. We were nearly ready to head out when familiar raspy laugh sounded from the front lines. It had been unnaturally enhanced, and boomed through the battlefield. I didn't even need to look to know who that laugh belonged to. I'd only ever met one person with such a laugh: Menegele. When I'd last seen her, she'd seemed almost sane, but this Mengele looked every bit the madwoman I knew her to be. Her clothing had been nearly torn to shreds, so much so that she might as well have been wearing nothing. Her hair was a mess, and she was covered in dirt and blood.

A strange purplish hue surrounded her as she sent bursts of magic in all directions, completely heedless of whether they hit allies or enemies. For a brief moment, I stared at her in morbid fascination. Then I felt that strange sense of urgency shift focus. Mengele had to be stopped, but it wasn't me that moved to confront her. It was Daniella.

"She's mine!" Daniella said suddenly.

She didn't look angry as she jumped into the throng of fighters around the madwoman. Daniella had never been one for violence, but in recent years she had resigned herself to using it in order to protect the ones she loved. I would never know for sure, but I got the impression that she wasn't making a move against Mengele out a need for revenge. That wasn't Daniella's way. She had never hated Mengele for what she had done to her, but she recognized that she was dangerous.

We would have helped, but we had problems of our own to deal with. A group of Dokká¡lfar sorceresses had surrounded us, and we were doing all in our power to fend them off. I held a spirit shield and fired my rifle at the dark elves and watched Daniella battling Mengele out of the corner of my eye.

Daniella hit Mengele with a rain of icy spears which shattered against the other woman's shield, sending pieces of ice flying in all directions. Mengele countered with a bright bursts of blue fire which Daniella sent careening back into the doctor with a gust of wind. Mengele howled in frustration before calling up a travel spell and disappearing, only to reappear a moment later at Daniella's side. Daniella was ready for her, and summoned a ring of fire shooting out in all directions around her. It caught Mengele unprepared, but before it could do any real damage Mengele stumbled backward with an agonized scream.

I was forced to turn my attention back to the Dokká¡lfar as one of them came running right at me. I jumped aside and brought my rifle around like a club, hitting the creature across the back of the knees as it shot past me. The dark elf went careening to the ground and Garik stepped in to lop it's head off with Gram.

When the dark elves were taken care of we all turned back to Daniella and Mengele. By this time the rest of Mengele's clothing and most of her hair had burned away. She was completely naked, and she had first, and second degree burns all over her body. She let out a mad howl and ran right at Daniella, but she never made it. With a gust of wind Daniella sent a icicle about a foot in length shooting right at Mengele. The icicle hit the doctor directly in one of her eyes. Her head snapped back and she was dead before her body hit the ground.

We all let out a collective sigh of relief, but it was short lived, as Daniella's hands moved down to grasp at something protruding from her ribs. It turned out to a small combat knife. No one had any doubt as to how it had gotten there, Mengele. Her side was covered in blood and her face seemed to drain of color as she stared at us with wide eyes.

"Guess, I won't be coming with you after all," she mumbled. Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Garik carried Daniella back to the allied encampment where the healing tent was located. We stayed only long enough to receive assurances that Daniella would live before we set out again. Mom was loath to leave her, but that sense of urgency that was by now all too familiar seemed to insist that waiting around would not turn out well. We lingered long enough for Mom to give Daniella a brief kiss and to mutter a few whispered words. I have no idea what she said, and I didn't ask…

Swirling white beads of energy appeared all around us and I watched as they shot outward in all directions killing dozens of Dokká¡lfar in the process. Waves of magic shot in all directions as the magic users loosed their magic against our foes. Elven soldiers fired bow and arrow, while human soldiers loosed automatic weapons fire into the foray. Fairies, pixies and other small vattir wove in and out of the crowds of human and elves soldiers, splattering magic wherever they went.

We fought our way through the enemy lines with a vengeance, and time seemed to come to a standstill. We suffered losses, and through the bond I felt the sting of death as each of the elven soldiers passed into the next life. Tears ran down my face, but despite the pain I fought on.

Had I know exactly where we needed to go I would have had my mother send us there with a travel spell, but my odd sense of urgency wasn't specific enough to allow for that. All I had going for me was a sense of the general direction we had to head, so I remained at the forefront to guide us in the right direction.

I wished time and time again that I still had use of Mjá¶lnir, but it wasn't meant to be, and I didn't allow myself to dwell on it. I fought as best I could and held a spirit barrier around us.

Then abruptly we weren't fighting for our lives anymore. The dark elves withdrew and kept a wide berth of us… No, that wasn't right. They weren't avoiding us, they were avoiding the gods and the Jotun as they clashed.

I let my spirit shield fall and slip away, then glanced briefly at my mother before moving forward again. The gods and Jotun seemed to ignore us as we passed among them, but that didn't mean there was no danger. They were using power the likes of which few humans, or elves for that matter, had ever seen and the residue of it splattered all around us.

Thor fought against Jormungand, Odin against Fenrir, Freyr against a massive Jotun who had blood splattered down the length of a long gray beard, and Loki (the real one) didn't do much fighting at all. Instead he moved among the battling gods issuing insults and throwing things at both gods and Jotun alike. I knew the other gods and goddesses were there too, but I only caught brief glimpses of them and the residue of their powerful spells.

I came to an abrupt stop as something clicked in the back of my head and I knew that we had reached our destination…

The sense of urgency reared back to life and I didn't hesitate as I summoned up my magic. I reacted instinctively, and I'm glad I did, as a blast of energy pounded into the shield I just formed. I gasped and fell to my knees as the unknown power pried into my shield. My barrier collapsed, and I felt as if I were going to be torn apart. Then I felt it again, a sort of power lurking inside of me. What it was or where it came from I have no idea, but I knew that it was my only hope of surviving.

I let it rip through me, and there came a fundamental change from within. The strange new power became a part of me and I became a part of it. I was reforged, into what exactly I still don't know, but something had changed at the very core of my being. New power flooded into me and I reached out to it in order to form a new spirit shield around myself.

"Impossible!" a voice gasped.

The voice turned out to be, the impostor-Loki.

"You!" I breathed.

"It's not possible… That should have killed you. No elf has that sort of power!" he yelled with a wild-eyed look.

I shook my head and scowled at him. "Why do you continue to hide behind that mask, Lodur?" I asked.

Lodur smiled and shook his head, "I'm a better Loki than Loki ever was. Look at the chaos I've created! Everything has changed! Humans were never meant to have real magical power! Elves weren't supposed to be involved in any of this, and yet look around you"

"Why!? Why do this?" Mother demanded.

"So that I might live… Had I let things happen the way they're supposed to I would have died! And now nothing will stop me. All who stand in my way will be annihilated, and I will remake the Nine worlds the way I see fit, and most importantly, I'll never have to die."

"No, brother," a cold voice said from behind.

Lodur quickly swirled around to reveal the form of Odin holding a bloody spear. The body of Fenrir lay just a few feet away.

"That's not possible! Fenrir should have finished you!" Lodur cried.

"You said it yourself brother, everything has changed," Odin growled and brought his spear around, hitting his brother across the chest with its shaft.

"It doesn't matter either way. You will die, if not by Fenrir's jaws, then by my sword!" Lodur screamed, a sword suddenly appearing in his hands.

Odin brought up the haft of his spear to deflect a blow from his brother's weapon then dropped it to draw the sword strapped to his back and thrust it at Lodur's chest. Lodur parried the blow and slammed his left fist into his brother's face. Odin laughed, shrugging off the blow and ducked as his brother's sword swept above his head in what would have been a killing blow. Odin threw himself at his brother and the two went down in a tangle of fists and limbs.

The two brothers battled back and forth, and we watched in amazement as two of the most powerful beings in existence beat one another with their fists. Odin was the larger and more powerfully built of the two, but Lodur was quicker on his feet, and used his superior agility to dodge his brothers attacks. When Odin's blows did hit home they were devastating, and left his brother in a dazed state. Lodur hit his brother in quick jabs and cheap shots that left the older brother howling in pain.

Suddenly, there was a blast of energy from Lodur's hands and Odin went flying away, screaming in agony. Lodur staggered back to his feet and started toward us again, but Loki appeared in front of us with a loud boom.

"There can only be one, Loki!" He laughed, staring at the pretender with a sort of crazed look on his face.

"Loki, surely you're not going to side with the likes of these! You were meant to fight alongside the Jotun," Lodur retorted.

"I side with no one! Not the Aesir! Not the Vanir! Not the Jotun! I side only against you! You masqueraded as me and manipulated events that resulted in my death, and I really don't appreciate that!" Loki shouted, sticking his tongue out at Lodur.

"Join with me! Together we can recreate the worlds in our image!"

"No! I don't wanna!" Loki cried, a foolish grin on his face before leaping at Lodur.

The two went down in a tangle of limbs, and it was difficult to tell which was which as they landed blow after blow on each other. Finally one of the Lokis emerged victorious, but instead of turning back to us, he turned to the other Loki and started dancing merrily, kicking the body of the other Loki periodically through the silly display. When he finished, he landed a powerful kick into the side of the other god then turned back to us with a deep bow.

"What? No applause?" he asked staring at us expectantly.

No one moved.

"Oh, fine! Be that way!" He muttered with a dramatic sigh.

"Now where were we?" he asked. "Oh, yes. That's right. I was about to kill you," he finished smiling wickedly.

"Lodur!" Mom growled.

The god smiled and shook his head, "Nope, its me, the one and only Loki. See that dead guy? That's Lodur. You forget who and what I am. I thought it would be fun to kill you. So I'm going to kill you. Then I think I'm going to co-opt Lodur's insane plan and declare myself supreme god."

Without another word Loki leapt at me and unleashed a torrent of fire. I blocked it with a spirit shield, but it was all I could do to contain the powerful blast. With my new found power I was more powerful than any elf or human magic user, but against Loki it wasn't enough. He was simply too powerful.

"You've gotten much to big for those britches of yours. You have far too much magic for a half-elf. Sadly, it's still not enough. My magic is far more powerful than yours!" he laughed gleefully.

His magic? Men couldn't use magic. Gods were no exception to the rule… Or were they? Something just didn't add up. Yet, he was using some form of power against me, and certainly it could be described as magic. It didn't make any sense!

He bounded against my shield and I could feel my hold begin to slip away as he relentlessly pressed against it. I didn't know what to do… I tried unleashing my magic against him in erratic uncontrolled bursts, but he batted them away effortlessly. Again I found myself upon the precipice of death, helplessly teetering over the edge and I had no way of getting my balance back. It was only a matter of time before I toppled helplessly into death’s dark abyss.

"Lady Aryanna!" Garik's voice called out and there was a flash of steel as something flew over my head.

Abruptly, Loki's head slid off his neck and fell to the ground at his side. The power he had summoned faded away, and I could see well enough to identify my mother standing behind the still standing body of Loki with Gram in her hands. The body tottered, then fell to the ground chest-forward at my feet.

"Well, that takes care of that," my mother said with a grim frown.

With both Loki and Lodur defeated, we moved in to assist the other gods. We proved to be of little actual help, but our presence served as a distraction, and helped Thor defeat Já¶rmungand. Soon Thor joined Freyr, and together they defeated the great bearded giant that Freyr had been combating. Odin appeared to join his son and former rival, and together the three of them blasted the Jotun with a vengeance. Soon, Heonir and Baldr joined, then Sif and Frigg. The Jotun lines fell before this new onslaught, but they didn't flee. Instead they fought on until every last one of them had fallen. I even recognized Modgud among their numbers.

With the Jotun defeated, the gods joined in the fight against the dark elves. Their attack proved devastating, and the Dokká¡lfar fled, leaving their human allies to suffer the vengeful wrath of the gods.

It was over, I realized with a long sigh of relief. We had won.

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