From “Ragnarok Is Upon Us”
by Katelynn Hodge
Askell.
The son of a hot-tempered and self-absorbed council member and a gloomy rich-man’s daughter, orphaned off the coast of the midgardian lake, Lake Nine. He was found all alone in an alleyway with a note reading: Who could ever love this thing... Skuld, the fate of the future, was not willing to leave the child all alone, so the Norns came to an agreement and took the boy in, raising him well in the realm of Alfheim. The fates agreed on the name Askell, which means “protected by the gods.” When the boy was grown, he became restless, aching to see the world outside of the small cottage in Alfheim that he knew all so well. The Norns reluctantly agreed to let Askell go out into the world. Askell left home two years ago, becoming known across Alfheim as champion of other worlds. His adventures became known all over the realms. From killing Ægir, the titan, to attempting to venture through all of the nine realms, from the depths of Jotunheim and to peaks of Asgard, Askell did pretty much everything he could think of, and he grew bored, desperate for an adventure that was able to appease him.... Askell climbed upon the horse given to him from the Norns. He and the horse, a large shire called Bastil, had been together since that same morning he first left home. Askell looked down at the horse as he sat upon its back and said to him:
“Where are we going today, boy? I’m bored of Vanaheim. Jotunheim? Or maybe we can go to Asgard. The gods know of my adventures. They surely have something fun for us to do! Onward to Asgard!”
He nudged the horse into a brisk gallop towards Yggdrasil and Bifrost. The ride was long and rather exhausting. Askell and Bastil called it a night and decided to set up camp near Bifrost and where Heimdall stood.
The morning came; he’d barely slept. Askell collected his thoughts before sitting up, glancing around for the shire, who was nearby grazing. He sighed in relief as he saw the horse hadn’t gone too far. He mounted Bastil and began to ride off toward Yggdrasil.
The tree stood tall and was even more beautiful up close compared to his usual view from afar. It was massive, the trunk standing at a stunning twenty-three miles tall. The core of Yggdrasil was split down the middle where a beautiful random path called Bifrost ran through it. Bifrost led into all nine of the realms and would also lead into the palace of Asgard. Heimdall, the guardian of Yggdrasil, stood in front of it. The path developed deep into the tree leading into its core, Bifrost came out the other end of the portal and wrapped around the branches of the trees. The path simply leads into the portal and back out the other end of the portal. The rainbow patterns in it led to a giant blue-colored portal leading to the realm of one’s choice. Askell climbed off Bastil and walked over to Heimdall, who was sitting down upon the floor.
“Heimdall! Pal! How are you doing today? New month, new adventure,” Askell said with a charismatic smile on his face.
Heimdall held a blank expression and said to Askell, “We are not pals, Askell. Go on. Leave already. I don’t want to deal with this right now.”
Askell smiled and got upon Bastil. “May the gods bless you, friend. And may you keep Níðhöggr at bay!”
Heimdall raised a fist in agreement. Askell approached the portal. The path inside of Yggdrasil called Askell like a falconer would their falcon, like the ways the old Vikings would call their birds of prey. This wasn’t the first time he had seen Bifrost, but this time it looked even more beautiful than before. The path glistened and gleamed as the sun beamed down on the rainbow. The second the world behind him was gone, Askell flashed Bastil a cheeky smile as the palace of Asgard came into view. He had a prideful look on his face as he hopped off the horse and began to walk towards the beautiful golden palace in front of him. He glanced back at Askell and called, “I’ll be right back, buddy!”
The shire responded back with a whinny then lowered his head and began to munch on grass.
The palace of Asgard was massive, great pillars scraping the sky above them, the giant gates a beautiful golden color that lit up the world around Askell. They swung open as Askell approached them. A beautiful path guided Askell into the palace. Askell waltzed right in, without a second thought. The first thing he saw was a massive throne in which the king of the gods himself sat. Odin. Odin was a massive man, who towered an intimidating six-foot-nine, with a long beard that was grayish colored, and fair skin that didn’t have a single wrinkle or imperfection due to his infinite youth.
“My King! I am Askell. I was raised by the wonderful Norns themselves and I have come to you for a quest. A noble one. One where those foolish Titans will know my name and one that will strike fear into their immoral hearts. You must know who I am! I’ve worked long and hard trying to make a name for myself.”
Odin seemed skeptical. He huffed out a heavy breath, then his booming voice surrounded Askell. “Mmm... Long and hard, you say. Listen, son, I have a quest for you. It's what you seek, long and hard, but the thing is that it's costly. If you lose this fight, all of humanity will too...”
Askell nodded desperately. He was smiling brightly and said to Odin, “Thank you, my king! I won’t let you down! Promise. Give me the quest. I'll get to work right away.”
Odin sighed and pulled a tiny scroll from his pocket. The scroll was the size of an ant in Odin’s palm, and when Odin reached over and dropped the scroll into the hands of Askell. When Askell weighed it in both palms, it was a bit heavier than the other scrolls he’d held, at least a solid nine pounds. He was quite curious. Usually quest scrolls are significantly smaller and they don’t feel like this, like rich leather.
“My king, what kind of quest is this?”
Odin laughed boisterously, his voice echoing through the room as he said, “Leave. Now. You need to get to work right away. The world depends on it.”
Askell bit his cheek then nodded. He gave Odin a bow. “Thank you, sir.” Askell left the palace and crossed over Bifrost and back over to the shire. He sat down on the ground and slowly opened the scroll that Odin had given to him:
“Ragnarok is upon us.”
To Be Continued…