The trick was to keep his wits as he fumbled about in total darkness. After what seemed hours of feeling his way, the Aesir Chief laid eyes on a welcome sight. A faint yellow glow far down-tunnel beckoned him toward it. Reaching the tunnel's end, the Chief peered out into a very familiar space. It was the sacrificial cavern where he and the others had been held during that shit-for-brains witch's scheme to get back to the Valley. Judging from the state of the cavern, things didn't go so well for the demon.
The body was pinned beneath the great column holding up the palace high above ground. The yellow glow came from copious amounts of blood streaming out its severed neck. Drenched in that viscous fluid was the younger version of the Valley Knight. He tossed the split head into the now clear mixing fresh and saltwater whirlpool. One half went into the fresh stream, the other into the salt. The Chief then watched the young man harvest one of Aunt's thigh bones and afterwards, cut out her heart and threw it onto the brazier. A great flame erupted revealing the unconscious girl laying just above the blood and the Chief's hiding place!
The Chief locked eyes with the Knight's younger self and said, "Shit." Instead of the young warrior charging over to finish their earlier skirmish, he seemed unaware of the Chief’s presence and turned back to his grisly task. Taking hold of the large carcass of the defeated semi-divine creature, the future Valley Knight cut a long strip of skin from Aunt’s ruined throat to groin using the black sword. However, the Chief noticed the future Knight could barely manipulate the short blade. Slick from the bright yellow blood, the blade slipped out of the young man's hand and fell heavily with the sound of an anvil. Amazed the Chief grumbled, "Odin's cock! What's that damn thing made of?"
The young man struggled mightily to lift the weapon from the floor and sheath it. He started to leave, but then stopped to regard the unconscious girl. In the yellow-orange light of the brazier and Aunt's blood, the Chief's eyed the naked young woman and found her captivating! It was apparent the one-day Valley Knight thought so as well. He bent down cradled the girl and carried her into the tunnel also weighed down with the sword, bow and quiver stuffed with Aunt's body parts.
Relieved at not being discovered before the youngsters departed, the Chief broke cover and began his search for the stone. Literally leaving no rock unturned, Chief Svengald could not find the yellow stone anywhere. It then occurred to him, 'did Aunt ever drop it?' That was the most logical question for the Knight never mentioned taking it during his recounting of this night's events. Leery, the Chief went over to the mutilated carcass of Aunt which would remain forever pinned beneath the city she'd built. There in her large clutched black-skinned fists were the yellow stone and her cane.
Not sure what would happen if he touched her blood, the Chief picked up some of the shredded cloth from Aunt's elaborate garment and covered his hands. It took nearly all of the Chief's brute strength and a bent sword tip to pry open the dead fingers. "Damn! No wonder he had to use that black blade on you. I doubt a normal blade would even scratch your hide!" With the stone in hand, the familiar yellow glow added its support at suppressing the cavern's gloom. A big grin covered the Chief's face as Aunt's cane caught his eye. It would make one hell of a trophy and he could present it to the Knight. The Chief moved over to get the cane when Aunt's dead arm shot out toward the Chief.
"YAAAHHHH!" screamed Svengald as he leaped backward like a surprised cat. Fumbling for his sword, the Chief noticed the carcass did nothing else but hold out the cane in his direction. Curiosity far outweighed fear or caution as the yellow stone atop the cane began to softly glow in unison with the stone he held. When he drew near to arm's reach, the large black hand with yellow crystalline claws opened. The Chief paused for a moment and then snatched the cane from the hand. The hand fell limp with lifelessness hard upon the cavern floor. An instant afterward, the cavern shook and the light of the cane went out. The immense stillness was broken by the sound of whispering echoes from within the tunnel across the mixing waters.
"What is it now?" asked the Chief exasperated. His answer came as a swarm of crawling, jumping and slithering creatures flooded the cavern! "Mother of Odin!" yelped the Chief as he ran back towards the ruined foot bridge. It was too far to jump and even if he could clear the span, the stairs leading up into the palace had collapsed. "Fuck!" barked the Chief as he realized he had only one option left. Looking down into the swirling waters the Chief said, "I hope Little Fish has already opened the way!" Just as the swarm reached his position, The Chief dove into the swirling pool.
Down into the depths the Chief kicked while holding the glowing stone out before him. Soon, the vortex of mixing water caused him to plummet deep into darkness and the crushing weight of the depths closed in on him. Barely able to keep his eyes open and with lungs near to bursting, the Chief saw the strangest sight. Held in the shimmering embrace of naked woman was himself! Chief Svengald looked on astonished as the smiling woman deeply kissed his unconscious other self. It was then another stronger light appeared behind him and startled the woman.
A strong blue light bathed the scene and the Chief saw what looked to be an underwater version of a throne room long fallen into decay. With a strong kick, the Chief grabbed himself by the arm and pulled hard. With his other self in tow, he began kicking hard towards the light. All around him the Chief could hear the anguished wail of a woman and felt a great upsurge of water pressure building beneath him! However, his burning lungs would have no more of his frantic exertions without the benefit of fresh air. The brilliant blue light began to dwindle into darkness as the Chief felt hands upon him pulling hard.
Once more the Chief awoke under the brilliant rays of the sun with the soothing sounds of lapping waves. "Uhhhhh! Little Fish, is the tuna ready? I'm starved." "Sorry Chief, no tuna or anything else at the moment." The Chief sat up with a start and laid eyes on the Valley Knight. Grabbing his comrade about the shoulders a relief Svengald said, "Sleipnir kick me in the balls if you're not a sight for sore eyes! Wait, are you the current or future version?" Giving the Chief's arms a strong pat, the Knight replied, "We've caught up to you Chief. Don't know where or when we are though."
The Chief took a quick look at their surroundings and confirmed he was back on the island where he'd spent the morning with the future Little Fish. Down in the surfline, Little Fish was having no luck catching anything with eating. The Knight caught the look of concern on the Chief's bearded face. "What is it?" Looking to the Knight the Chief said gravely, "We are where we're supposed to be, but not when." The Knight gave a long groan and said, I figured we were in for it when Little Fish found you holding yourself. We lost the other 'you' but at least we held onto these...." The Knight held out the yellow stone and the cane towards the Chief.
"By the gods! You saved them!" The Chief took a relieved breath and pointed at the cane and said, "Please take that as a trophy from your victory over the demon." The Knight held his hands up and said, "Thank you Svengald truly, but I don't want anything that will remind me of 'Aunt'. I carried tokens of hers for thirteen years and now, I am free of her! Please keep the cane with my blessings."
Somewhat disappointed the Chief shrugged his boulders and said, "Your loss, my gain. Well anyway, I've got to get Little Fish to send me where my men are before there's more trouble!" Cautiously the Knight asked, "Did you see something when you were separated from us Chief?" Instantly, the warning given him by the adult Little Fish sent a chill up the Chief's spine. "Let's just say my friend that the less said, the better." The Knight took the Chief's words to heart and said, "Understood. Now let's work on Little Fish to get you where and when you need to be!"
It took some doing but after the Chief gave Little Fish the sea shell sent by his older self, the boy was able to open a watery gate in a large tidal pool as the tide started coming in. High above a tempest grew and the clouds began to darken. The boy despite the growing winds, stood covered in sweat. With gritted teeth Little Fish complained, "This is really hard!" At that moment, the Chief's men were ragged and filthy from their ordeal in the City of Golden Towers and seemed confused as they clung to whatever they could as the longship headed into rougher seas. Just short of the horizon lay a brace of whirlwinds tethered beneath the father of all storms!
"Son-of-a-bitch! They're headed right toward that squall line and they won't so much as drop an oar or trim a fucking sail!" Looking from the tidal pool to the boy the Chief barked, "Little Fish can I go through this and get to them?" Now with a straining voice, the boy replied, "I can't hold this!" It was the Knight who said, "Go Chief! We'll catch up to you!" The Chief placed his hand on the Knight's shoulder and bellowed, "SEE YOU IN THE VALLEY!" Before the Knight could stop him, the Chief leaped into the tidal pool.
Just as the Chief disappeared beneath the water, from out of the tidal pool burst a burly man who grabbed Little Fish in a crushing bear-hug. With his concentration broken, a great bolt of blue-red lightning shot up from the pool and engulfed both Knight, Little Fish and his attacker. Just as fast, the bolt disappeared along with the gateway. As the smoke cleared, all that was left was a smoldering and ragged fur garment floating in the tidal pool. As it sank, the tarnished and worn silver dragon cloak pin flashed in the late afternoon sunlight and the name engraved upon it said, 'RAGMAR'.
To be concluded....
© 2011 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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