Light. Light everywhere. The light hurt... a lot. There was a voice calling from within the light. First far off, then getting closer. When the voice got closer the words were, "Chief! Wake up!" Svengald Chief of the Aesir opened his eyes to slits and immediately regretted it. "Odin's one good eye!" Laughing voices surrounded him and when he finally could endure the light, the Chief saw he sat upon a sandy beach under a clear blue sky and the blazing sun. "Uhhhh, my head feels like a frost giant slammed his cock against it! Where are we? Better yet, when are we?"
A male voice unfamiliar to the Chief replied, "You're on an island in the future. Twenty-three years to be exact." His eyes now focusing, the Chief looked upon the strong handsome features of a dark-skinned man not much younger than him. The dark face though older was unmistakable even without the giant fish scale necklace hanging around his neck. "Little Fish?" asked the Chief flabbergasted. "Yes Chief, it's good to see you again." The warm smile on the boy he knew now grown comforted the Chief, but then with a start he blurted, "What happened? Where's the Knight? Am I dead?"
The adult Little Fish put a strong calloused hand on the Chief's shoulder and said, "Don't worry. The Valley Knight will be along shortly and this is not Valhalla or Nifelheim. Come, there is a fishing shelter higher on the beach. There is shade and cool water waiting." The Chief raised himself up off the hot sand and felt like he'd not moved in years. Hearing his grunts Little Fish laughed and said, "You'll get accustomed to things after a while." The Chief stopped short of the sturdy looking open faced shelter made of driftwood and covered in fresh green palm fronts.
Before the Chief could say anything Little Fish said, "You want to know how you got here and what happened that time in the City of Golden Towers?" For a moment, the Chief was surprised and then he saw Little Fish's eyes. They were the same red-brown color possessed by the Aesir witch Mjarga. They were deep and confident from years of experience. Years the Chief had yet to encounter. Sitting down on a low half palm trunk serving as a bench the Chief was relieved to be in the shade. With the breeze blowing through intentional spaces in the palm fronds, Svengald felt a comfort he couldn't describe but wanted to keep!
"Ahhhh! This is something I bet the Gods in Valhalla would fight for. Where did you learn to make such a thing?" Laughing in a much more mature version of the laugh the Chief remembered Little Fish replied, "You taught me back in the Valley. Your words were, 'Come young one and I will show you how to make something the Gods will envy you for!' You were right about that...." Right away the Chief knew there was much Little Fish was not saying. He wanted to ask, but realized much had happened after twenty-three years. To the Chief's mind after his experiences in the past, it was best not to know too much.
Trying to lighten the mood, the Chief asked, "You got anything to fill a man's belly around here? I haven't had a decent meal in decades!" Little Fish got the joke and the two men laughed as they did when he was a boy. After helping to haul ashore a tuna Little Fish kept in a tidal pool, they spent the morning cleaning it and gathering the other elements for their meal. A fine stuffing of beach crabs, shrimp, abalone, kelp and coconut went inside the tuna after wrapping it in a thick layer of palm leaves. The Chief watched quizzically as the wrapped tuna and stuffing was lowered into a pit of hot coals. Little Fish handed him a makeshift palm trunk shovel and began to bury the entire array.
"Now how's this supposed to work?" asked the Chief. "Ha, ha, ha! Trust me Chief. When we dig this up at the end of the day, you'll really think the gods envy you!" The Chief took the adult Little Fish's word as to the outcome of the meal. In the meantime, they sat under the shelter eating crabs boiled in saltwater and drinking the milk of coconuts. Having the edge of his hunger knocked off for the moment, Chief Svengald took a moment to wipe coconut oil on his skin for protection from the sun as Little Fish suggested. While seeming to be engrossed with the task the Chief asked, "So, are you going to tell me what happened that night in the citadel? The Gatebringer was you right?"
Stirring the contents inside the large half clam shell serving as a pot, Little Fish looked out towards the beach as he gave his answer. "Soon Chief, but after the others arrive. When they do, be kind enough to call me by my given name, Dadisi. Wiping the oil and crab juice from his hands the Chief stood and extended his hand to the seated man. "I am Svengald, son of Sljandir and I offer you greetings Da-dee-see?" The younger man clasped the Chief's wrist and said as he rose, "Close enough Svengald the Red!" "Ha! You still remember that after all these years?" Dadisi smiled broadly and barked, "Like it was yesterday!"
Suddenly more solemn Dadisi then said, "For you Chief, it was 'yesterday'. You are but three days into your quest to help your men return home...." "A quest he has yet to complete!" The Chief startled by the unexpected presence went for his swords that were no longer there. Mockingly, the interloper chuckled as he stuck his fingers into the boiling water. "Hmmph, I thought your time around the Valley Knight would have made you sharper Chief of the Aesir." "Qatula! What are you doing here?" blurted the Chief in dismay.
Squatting before the fire pit, the god Qatula pulled a boiled crab from the clam shell pot and devoured it shell and all with razor Sharp teeth. "Damn that's good! Got any of that milk left?" The Chief didn't know how to react to the presence of the god who had tricked him and the Knight into pushing a heavy cart across the Valley's vast countryside as a test of their mettle. Though Qatula was the Priestess' most enduring husband, he was unpredictable and the Priestess was not here to keep him in line.
Licking his blackened lips, the god looked upon the two men with human looking brown eyes. "Relax kids. This is just a friendly visit to see how things are going. Now, how 'bout some of that coconut milk?" Immediately the Chief noticed Little Fish stood firm glaring at the god as he held out an empty coconut half expectantly. Something in years to come would happen between them and from the look of things, it would not be good." With a straight face Dadisi replied, "Get it yourself."
With a smile filled with razor-sharp teeth the god said, "See Chief of the Aesir? You're gone for a few days, excuse me 'decades' and the youngin's get all uppity. When you get back, you should instruct the boy Little Fish on respect for his elders." Not wanting any part of a being who was the equal of the Priestess, the Chief chose diplomacy. "Well, you know how children forget themselves when they grow up. Besides, Little, uh Dadisi wouldn't be the first man to express displeasure with the will of the gods...."
Rising from his squatting position Qatula stood quietly for a moment and then chuckled with a sound that was midway between a laugh and the rumble of a dragon. "You've got that right Chief! Long ago when I was mortal, you couldn't have gotten a squirt of piss out of me in honor of the gods! Besides, I find it refreshing to have a man stand in defiance of me as if were equals. Having power beyond mortal ken can make one lose perspective after a while. Perspective is a valuable thing. It's in all our best interests to maintain it.... Don't bother, I'll get my own."
A moment later, the Chief could hear the God far behind the fishing shelter grunt with pleasure, "Oh damn, that hits the spot!" Looking at the grown Little Fish the Chief said, "I don't know what happened and I probably don't want to. I can't imagine sitting down to a morning meal with Thor himself and telling him to get his own coconut milk...." The dark cloud over Dadisi's countenance suddenly broke as he chuckled and said, "That would be something to see...."
Giving the stout man hardened by the years a hard swat on the back the Chief whispered, "That's the spirit! Now you can give that 'squirt of piss' for something important!" "You know he can hear you right?" whispered the adult Little Fish. Reaching back into the giant clamshell the Chief replied, "Fuck...."
"So where's the Valley Knight?' asked the Chief as he pulled out a boiled crab. Dadisi gave no answer while the Chief devoured the salty crustaceon. The shadow of the god Qatula stretched its way into the shelter well before his physical form did. "So you going to tell him or not?" The Chief saw the younger man cut his eyes in the shadow's direction and nearly jumped as the god held out a coconut shell filled with milk. "Have some more Chief." Suddenly remembering the trick Qatula played on him, the Chief eyed the offered drink warily. The sharp-toothed grin flashed once more and the god replied, "Don't worry Svengald, poison's never been my thing...."
Somehow, the Chief wasn't comforted by that. Yet, it wouldn't do to be rude to a god within arm's reach. Taking the offering, the Chief bravely took a drink as to not offend. Surprisingly, the sweet fluid was cold and refreshing. "I figured since I didn't cook, I could at least make cold drinks. The fresh water is cold too by the way."
Svengald looked away from the disturbing sight of a crab not quite dead struggling in vain within the jaws of a god to the now burning red eyes of the adult Little Fish. "Ohhhhh boy! All right now, let's keep things on an even keel. Remember, one of us doesn't have the power of the gods to protect himself!"
Dadisi turned his anger away from Qatula who didn't seem to notice or care toward the boiling clamshell pot. Suddenly the fish scale necklace he wore flashed to an angrier red and no longer was the boiling water visible. Instead, a vision swirled within the shell and Dadisi said, "Look you into the water and see the fate of the Valley Knight." Chewing on a piece of crab the Chief mumbled, "Just when I thought this shit couldn't get any weirder...."
© 2011 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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