WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 42

Since Chloe knew the way, our group relied on her guidance to reach Gebrige Pass. The woman eyed the cliffs with a strange look in her eyes as we entered the pass and continued on. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I said nothing, and we continued on for nearly a kilometer before coming upon a camp.

Unlike the underground camp me, Siv, and Kari created with earth manipulation and runes, this camp was above ground and made of simple tents. The tents were made from Demon Beast hide. I didn’t know what kind of Demon Beast, but the leathery skin appeared to have scales, so I was betting on it being a wyrm of some sort.

As we entered the camp, one of the Valkyries spotted us, traveled into the largest tent in the center, and came back out with Fray in tow. The woman’s smile of relief upon locking eyes with me made me feel self-conscious. She looked like someone who had been worried to death over her beloved son.

“I’m glad you five have arrived safely. Is it done?” she asked.

“It’s done.” I nodded. “We killed Klaue and picked off the remaining soldiers in the area. I don’t think any got away.”

Fray’s beautiful locks swayed as shook her head. “Even if they did, it won’t matter. Come. You five must be tired. Get some food and rest.”

I was indeed pretty tired, and I knew from the slouching shoulders of my companions that they were tired too. Our plan to dispose of Klaue and his army involved constantly picking off his men to make them all paranoid, then attacking his base while most of his soldiers were chasing after Fray, which involved not sleeping much. While we could go months without sleep, that didn’t mean we never exhausted ourselves.

The Valkyries had cooked some food for everyone. It was just simple stew, but it tasted good. I could tell this was a force who did not enjoy eating bland food.

We were given a tent and allowed to rest, but because there were not many tents, the five of us were required to share a tent. It was not very big. While I couldn’t give an exact estimate, the tent given to us was just enough to fit maybe six people total. That meant it was still a pretty snug fit to have five people sleeping side by side.

To make matters worse, an argument had broken out.

“Why can’t I fucking sleep with Eryk?”

“I already told you. If you want to become Eryk’s wife, you must get the approval of each of his wives. That means me, Siv, Fay, and Lin. Right now, you have Siv’s approval, but you will only get mine when Fay and Lin also approve of you.”

“But they’re not even fucking here!”

“And that is why you should show some patience and wait.”

“Fuck that!”

Kari and Tora were standing chest to chest as they argued, but while Kari appeared calm and collected, Tora was a ball of anger and rage. I wondered if I should step in. I knew that nothing I said would get through to either them, however. My intervention might just make things worse.

Siv was standing on the side and looking nervously between Kari and Tora. Chloe was next to her. She did not look like she was bothered at all by the argument taking place between my wife and the woman who wanted to join my harem.

Since it looked like this argument might last, I took Siv by the hand and led her outside. She followed without a fight. I think she wanted to be away from the two. Chloe followed us as well.

I found a place near one of several fires that were burning. Tapping my foot against the ground, I created two backless chairs, one in front of the other, and brought out a fine-toothed comb from my new storage ring--created courtesy of Kari.

“Mind if I comb your hair?” I asked.

Siv’s eyes lit up as she nodded. “Yes, please.”

Siv sat in the front seat, I sat behind her, and Chloe watched on curiously as I began running the comb through my wife’s long hair. I had to be mindful of her wings. Taking her hair, I pulled it away from her wings and combed from bottom to top. As I did, the tail jutting from Siv’s lower back thumped lightly against the ground.

“Would you like me to comb your hair as well?” I asked Chloe.

The woman jumped as though startled, then smiled and shook her head.

“No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but if anything, I think I would like to comb your hair, Master Eryk.”

“Hmm… I probably should have someone comb it…”

“I’ll comb it after you comb mine,” Siv said in a rare display of possessiveness. I didn’t think she was bothered by Chloe so much as she didn’t want this moment taken from her. Combing Siv’s hair had been one of my daily activities before we were separated.

“Your wife seems quite possessive of you,” Chloe said with a giggle.

I shrugged and finished combing Siv’s hair as the Drakvar’s cheeks and ears became stained red. To keep her hair from getting caught on her wings, I went ahead and braided her hair as well. It sat in the middle of her back, following the contours of her spine as it trailed down to just above her butt. Her hair had grown much longer than I remembered it.

“We might have to cut your hair soon,” I said. “Are you okay with that?”

“I am okay with anything as long as you are the one doing it,” Siv said.

I smiled and finished up, then walked back into the tent with Siv and Chloe in tow. The argument was finished by the time we returned. When Kari saw us enter, she smiled.

“Our sleeping arrangements have been worked out,” she said.

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

As it turned out, the sleeping arrangements was me sleeping in the same sleeping bag as Kari and Siv, and Tora and Chloe sleeping in their own bags. I ended up on my back as Kari snuggled into my side and Siv slept on my chest. While she could sleep on her side, lying on her stomach like this was her preference.

It felt like I’d barely shut my eyes before I was forced to open them again. I didn’t know how long I’d slept, but the person who woke me up was a young woman in Valkyrie armor.

“Lady Fray would like to speak with you, your wives, and Ladies Chloe and Tora,” she said. “Please make yourself presentable before heading to her tent.”

I wasn’t given a chance to respond before the woman left, making me sigh as I set about waking Kari and Siv.

We had all slept in our clothes, so there was no need for us to get dressed, but I did use the water and fire elements to clean and dry our bodies and clothes. It would help keep us clean and get rid of the stink from days of fighting without changing.

Fray was in the large tent. It had more amenities than what ours had. There was a cot, a table, and even a love sofa. I would have asked where she got them, but I knew she always kept them inside of her self-created dimension. There were two other people, Lana and Kayla, standing around the table. She smiled at us when we entered.

“I hope you five are well-rested. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” she began as we walked over. “I’ve thought about what we should do from here, and I believe finding Tor and Sif are the most important priorities right now.”

“How do you propose we find them?” asked Kari.

“I’m fairly certain they are in Fehltgarde,” Fray admitted. “I sent some scouts ahead to determine how powerful the Sekbeist forces guarding this pass are. They have long been holed up in here. Our scouts reported that the fortress guarding this pass was destroyed and all of the Sekbeist are dead, including the Sekbeist Lord who was in charge.”

“And you believe Tor was the one who did this?” I asked.

Fray nodded. “We have long left this pass alone. Once it becomes known that our forces attacked and overwhelmed the Sekbeist stationed here, hostilities will renew. No one would attack unless they had a reason to.” I didn’t have to ask why Tor would attack this base before she answered. “Before Tor became the ruler of Ásgarðr, he was in charge of Fehltgarde. That is why I believe he chose to return there after Tyr forced him away.”

None of us disagreed with her and plans were soon made to travel to Fehltgarde. We didn’t stay in this pass for long. Time was of the essence, so after everyone had eaten their fill and the tents were packed and stored in Fray’s dimension, we headed out.

Gebrige Pass was a lot longer than I assumed it would be. By the time we reached the now destroyed fortress, it was already evening, and the sky had turned several shades of pink, orange,and purple.

Just like the scouts said, the fortress had been utterly decimated. The outer rampart that kept people from traveling beyond this point lay in ruins. As we walked closer, I found the bodies of Sekbeists scattered across the fortress.

Perhaps as a result of the fortress being made inside of a mountain pass, the building had been constructed out of stones from the mountain and was built into the mountain itself. Made of a spire with a lookout tower at the very top, I imagine what we saw of the fortress was only a small portion of its actual size.

I looked at some of the corpses strewn across the ground. One thing I noticed was they were all Sekbeist corpses, but I didn’t think that meant only Sekbeist had died during this battle. More than likely, the Guddomelig who were killed here had been buried, cremated, or whatever happened to the dead in this realm.

“My Lady,” Lana suddenly said. “It looks like there are Sekbeist scouts on the edge of that ridge over there.”

She pointed at a ridge nearly a hundred meters out, and I found my eyes focused on a group of Sekbeist crouching there. It looked like several Elites and two Shamans. Standing by their side was a massive bird that I guessed would fly them away once they were done.

“Should I dispose of them?” asked Kayla.

“There’s no need to worry,” I interrupted before Fray could come to a decision. “I can take care of them.”

I looked at Fray for permission, received her nod of assent, and disappeared into a shadow connected to the cliff. Shadow Walking was an ability I rarely used since it wasn’t all that power. However, it was the best ability to use for stealth. Unlike traveling through earth of turning into light, it was impossible to sense someone shadow walking until they were right on top of you.

Appearing within the shadow of the Elite, I activated quickly. A large spike of darkness penetrated his back, went out his chest, and lifted him on the ground.

“Someone can use the darkness element among the Guddomelig?! Impossible!” one of the Shaman’s shouted. I killed him with a reverse heel kick that snapped his neck.

As the Sekbeist spun around and went down, the last one tried to flee, but I created a light lance and sent it forward. The weapon punched a hole clean through his torso. Even though he was obviously dead, his body continued forward for another meter before crumbling.

The bird squawked as it flapped its wings and took to the sky. I recognized it as a Desert Eagle Demon Beast. There was a collar around its neck, glowing runes written in a combination of our runes and the Sekbeist language wrapped around it. I sliced my hand forward and a blade of light suddenly appeared and cut through the collar. The bird squawked, stopped fleeing, and looked around for a moment as if it didn’t know where it was. It took one glance at me, then took off in the opposite direction it had been going.

I traveled back through the shadows and emerged near Fray, who looked at me with a smile.

“Let’s continue on,” I said.

“Yes. I would like to reach Fehltgarde within the next few days,” she agreed, and thus our party continued on.

***

The journey to Fehltgarde was said to be fraught with peril--at least according to Chloe.

After passing through Gebrige mountains, we continued journeying east, through a dense marshland that had been the sight of a battle during the Great War. As a wetland that remained waterlogged during all times of the year, it was mostly dominated by herbaceous plants like reeds, pickerelweed, and water lilies.

It was a good thing all of us could fly. We flew over the wetlands to avoid problematic Demon Beasts that hid within the waters. Sadly, we were unable to avoid the smell, which made me think of several year old socks that had never been washed a day since their creation. Kari wrinkled her nose as she flew beside me, along with the other Valkyries and Tora. Siv did not. Her sense of smell was tied to her tongue, her sense of taste, and so long as she breathed through her nose, she was safe.

We did run into a few flying Demon Beasts that tried to attack, but they were quickly disposed of by a member of the Valkyries. I found it funny. Back on Miðgarðr, these Demon Beasts would have been listed as S and SS-Rank and would have required an entire army to kill, but here they were as easy to slaughter as lifting a hand.

Passed the marsh were several valleys and mountains. The one Fray directed us to was narrower and deeper than many of the ones I’d seen on Miðgarðr. It had an appearance similar to a gorge, but there were no steep cliffs, only gently sloping mountains. She called it Tief Rift Valley. According to her, Fehltgarde was located further within.

The scent of fresh grass caught my attention as we traveled through the surprisingly peaceful valley. I could not see a Demon Beast in sight, and there were no Sekbeists either. We followed a winding road made of dirt instead of stone. It felt more like a road that had been naturally formed after hundreds of years of people traveling upon it. The road curved around a mountain, traveled over several hills, and at the end was a city that looked much smaller than Ásgarðr but larger than I had expected.

It looked more like a castle keep than a city. That was my first thought upon looking at Fehltgarde. A giant rampart surrounded it on one side, traveling from one side of the mountain to the other. Fehltgarde itself was built against the mountain. From this distance, all we could see was the outerwall and the spires of a castle jutting above it.

Several soldiers dressed in armor stood on the crenellations, looking out over the valley. I noticed quite a few ballistea sitting atop the watchtowers. I was surprised to see those since it didn’t seem like they would be very useful to people who had reached this level of power, but I assumed there were runes being used to enhance these weapons to far beyond what I was used to seeing.

“Halt!” a man shouted as we approached. He was standing atop the battlement just above the archway where the entrance sat. “Who goes there?! Name yourself!”

“Geoffrey, is that you?! It is Fray Vanir!” Fray announced, stepping forward. “I have come here in search of my cousin and his wife. Is Lord Tor and Lady Sif here?”

“Lady Fray, you say?!” The guard sounded surprised as he looked down at us, blinking. His eyes were focused on Fray. After a moment, he shouted, “Open the gates, men! They are allies!”

I was surprised when a cheer went up inside the keep, but then the massive doors lit up with glowing runes. The doors opened moments later on their own. As our group walked to the door, the man who had been shouting at us floated to the ground and bowed low.

“My apologies, Lady Fray, for not recognizing you sooner. Tensions have been high since Lord Tor and Lady Sif were ousted from Ásgarðr.”

“It is fine,” Lady Fray said with a warm smile. “I am just pleased to see that you and the others are safe. Are my cousin and his wife here?”

“They are indeed. If you will come with me, I will lead you to them.”

The man stood up, revealing a male with a strong jaw, a double chin, and short blond hair cut in a look that made him seem somehow refreshing. He wore armor that was silver in color. However, the armor had dings, dents, and scratches in it. I noticed there were some runes on the surface, but it looked like they no longer worked. I could only wonder at what kind of battle he must have gone through for his runes to overload and stop working like that.

We were directed to follow Geoffrey, who led us into the keep. The doors slammed shut behind us. I had no time to pay attention to that, however, as I saw how many people were already present here. Gathered along the walls, sitting on stairs, and wandering further up the cobblestone roads were hundreds or maybe even thousands of soldiers. It was not just soldiers either. There were a few kids, some men and women dressed in civilian clothing sparsely populating the area. They seemed to be the minority, however.

“Is the entire Blitz Division here?” asked Fray as we traveled.

Geoffrey shook his head. “Only about five thousand of us are here. The rest are with the Defender and Vanguard Divisions back at Ásgarðr. If you wish to know the state of our military, I recommend asking Lord Tor when you meet him.”

“Very well,” said Fray, going silent.

Kari and Siv stuck close to my sides as they studied the architecture. Many of the houses looked about the same as you could find anywhere. The primary construction material appeared to be stone, wood, and clay. I knew, however, that the wood and clay being used was made from more durable materials like the trees in the Ironwood Forest. Our buildings back on Miðgarðr might look the same, but they were incomparable.

I leaned into Chloe and asked, “Who is this man?”

“That is Geoffrey Hart,” Chloe answered. “He is the second-in-command of the Blitz Division. He is not as good at Spiritualism as most, but he makes up for his faults by being an excellent with sword and bow. I doubt you will find a man with better skills at either than him.”

“You flatter me, Invincible Woman,” Geofrey said.

“You know I no longer go by that title.” Chloe’s smile held a dangerous edge to it. “Please simply refer to me as Chloe.”

“Sure.” Geofrey shrugged and quickly turned away. I got the feeling he was intimidated by this woman, who had been acting as my maid ever since Fray brought me to Ásgarðr.

The castle located near the back of Fehltgarde sat against the mountain, a massive construct of towering stone blocks, powerful architecture, and near perfect symmetry. Aside from the middle spire, there were two others located on either side of the main one. Several balconies traveled from one side of the building to the other. The spires, meanwhile, were connected with by wide bridges.

Near the front of the castle, up a set of wide stairs, and passed an archway made from columns shaped like powerful men and women holding up the world, we came to a door. It was closed. When the two soldiers guarding the door spotted us, they snapped off salutes and opened the door.

“If I’m not mistaken, Lord Tor and Lady Sif should be dining right now,” Geoffrey said.

Fray ordered her Valkyries to disperse. As the many women split off, myself, Kari, Siv, Fray, Chloe, and Tora were led by Geofrey down a hallway. I knew the survivors of our group would be traveling back down to the battlements so they could assess the situation.

We eventually reached a sitting room that was neither small nor large. It seemed big enough to fit maybe two dozen people. The scent of freshly cooked food wafted through the air and reminded me that we hadn’t eaten since we started marching this morning. Sitting at a large table within this room were two familiar individuals.

Even when sitting down, Tor struck an imposing figure. Most people would still be shorter than him even like this. He was not clad in armor at the moment, but in silk robes made of earth tones. His thick red hair was tied behind his head with a leather cord. It was not as long as mine, but it was not short hair, and the trim beard covering his face lent him a neat but somehow unruly visage.

Beside him sat a woman, petite, elegant, and refined. She had dark hair that trailed down to the middle of her back, currently done up in braids. A simple tiara sat on her head. It kept her bangs from getting in the way of her enchanting green eyes. Like her husband, Sif wore a dress instead of armor. Made of white silk, it looked elegant on her slender figure.

I noticed almost immediately that their weapons were resting against their chairs.

I shook my head.

“Brother. Sister,” Fray greeted as she walked in.

“Fray!” Tor stood up with a joyful shout.

His response was nothing compared to his wife’s.

“Sister!” Sif leapt to her feet and strode over to Fray, engulfing the taller woman in a hug. “Oh, I am so glad you have returned safely. I worried you might never find a way back home when Tyr destroyed the Warp Gates.”

“So Tyr destroyed all the Warp Gates and not just the one leading to Vindenket,” Fray sighed. “It seems we have much to talk about.”

She and Sif broke apart as Tor walked over. He glanced at Fray and me with a smile, then noticed Kari, Siv, Tora, and Chloe standing behind me. His brow furrowed in confusion when he saw Tora, who subtly shifted closer to me. I thought he might get upset at seeing the daughter of his betrayer. That was why I became surprised when he looked away and instead focused on the two newcomers.

I guess he was okay with her presence because Fray seemed okay with it. That was the only explanation I could come up with.

“We do indeed have a lot to talk about, but before we could get into that, I believe introductions are in order.” And with that, Tor knelt before Siv, grabbed her hand, and kissed her knuckles. My poor wife was so shocked she froze in place like a block of ice. “I am Tor, Lord of Gudeverdenen and leader of the Guddomelig. Might I ask your name, beautiful Drakvar of Vindenket?”

I was a little shocked that he had gone for Siv and not Kari, but when I looked at his wife’s slender proportions, I realized he might just go for smaller women. Not everyone’s taste was as broad as my own. That said, if this man thought he could do this to my wife and not suffer, he had another thing coming.

“That is Siv, daughter of Queen Schnee,” I began. “And if you don’t want to kick your ass from here to Miðgarðr, you will get your hands off my wife.”