Arise, Warrior of the First Age and Herald of Dawn....Arise for our voices of victory have invoked your ascendance to the throne....Arise for your sons have sounded the call and we heed your witness....Arise, Lord of Wrath and Heroes, let us know valor and might!
Osmund the High King
Overview:
Osmund comes to be after the fall of the Jotunn Empire and the parting of ways in the Barbaric Age. Having taken Fenrir into his body, his body as Wulfric began to degrade and it forced him to evolve. Thus, Wulfric the Warrior became Osmund the High King. Spending years in solitude, he began harnessing his powers and finding new ways to utilize them. He journeys through worlds in search of meaning with his children until he stumbles upon a strange new world within Midgard. A strange assortment of entities and beings inhabit this world, but all of them were even more powerful than most of the beings he had encountered thus far. Still under the name of Wulfric at this time, but no longer wielding the same personality or power, he ventures into this world and finds it is a dystopia. Clans struggle to survive under the might of powerful clans, inspiring him to change his name into Osmund, meaning God of Protection. He was the most powerful by far among the Saga of Gold and arguably the most powerful Prime Titan among the Yggdrasil next to Agmund.
Today, he leads the Yggdrasil Family from the background and watches the events of the Nine Worlds unfold from his home, Valaskjálf (High Home of the Slain) within Valhalla, Asgard. He sits upon his throne, Hlidskjálf (Highest Throne), discerning and understanding all that is happening and moving events along with his power over Seidr.
Appearance:
Osmund retains the signature blue hair and gold eyes that most of his past lives have had. His hair was much longer than before, nearly down to his waist, and was generally left unkempt. He looked older, his face more toned, defined, and handsome; signifying his mental and physical growth as a person. His body was taller and defined with his muscles. Upon entering the new world, he no longer needed to carry around his Al-Vaepni, which was golden and, like his stature, more defined. It boasted ornate runes along the cuffs connecting each plate and a jewel between his breast plates. Osmund decided to leave out his Al-Vaepni from his general appearance and would wear a black robe that flowed along the edges with raven feathers, trimmed in a deep purple, usually adorning himself with amulets and bracelets of silver and gold.
After he sacrificed his immortal life-force to acquire the full power of Gungnir, Osmund's hair lost the blue luster it once had and instead became a pale blonde. After leaving Arda and moving to Asgard, Osmund would go on to trim his long hair in favor of a more practical shoulder-length hairstyle whipped back and would grow a beard on his wrinkling face, resembling his father-in-law Odin, something that would be accentuated even more when he sacrifices his left eye for absolute command of the runes and his Bileyg Heiko.
While his bearded and pale blonde hair would become his standard appearance, the Triple Goddess version of himself would complicate his appearances even more. His Maiden Osmund form would appear very much like when he was Asier, except younger and shorter, but incredibly saturated blue hair and golden eyes. His Mother Osmund form would have golden hair and golden eyes, appearing like a younger Osmund in his regular form. His Crone Osmund form would have ashen white hair and eyes of silver, appearing as Osmund does now except much more ancient.
Personality:
The events of the Jotunn Civil War changed Osmund as a person. He had left behind a nation he would have died for and whom to their eyes he likely betrayed by trapping all of them in the Super Cell and having the aid of the God Clans on his back. Most of all, there was sorrow in his heart for the loss of his love, Frigga, and his eldest son, Baldr.
To those that followed him, he was described as a man who made you feel safe being near him, who radiated a powerful passion, and who would always lift you from depravity. He displayed a kind heart to those in need and was always willing to give people opportunities to display their talents and intelligence. Osmund would always be the calm and assuring voice among the crowd and his presence was forever noticeable wherever he roamed.
To his enemies, he was stoic, cold, unnerving, stubborn, and filled with wrath. He could not be moved and he would use his aura of passion to weigh down on his opponents into agreeing with him to where he rarely lost an argument and, if he did, his logical personality would allow him to see his wrongs and give in. He would go on to state that the reason he would sometimes choose to be extremely callous was because of his past life as Wulfric, who lacked honor and the nerve to be a leader.
Despite these inconsistencies in character, his general personality is genial and charismatic. He has a deep love for family, brotherhood, and comradery, calling it one of the most important points in life. It's easy for him to like someone as he notices and appreciates the smallest of positive characteristics a person has and makes it his commitment to make the insignificant grow. However, it is just as easy for him to become what his enemies see in him if someone were to break his codes such as breaking an oath, betraying someone's loyalty and trust, or reveling in sadistic behavior. He himself doesn't like such sadism, believing a fight should be only to prove one's strength and gain glory as well as protecting those one loves. Most of Osmund's nature is the opposite of what Wulfric was early on before he met Frigga, who held a significant impact in life and in death. It is why he chose to rename himself Osmund in memory of her to preserve the honor she strove for.
Abilities:
-Primordial Level of Energy: His energy reserves are colossal and are vague to measurement. He's the first of the Legacy of Gold to have a truly golden color of energy. His feats of power are to be able to utilize the Eternal Weapon of Ragnarok, the weapon of Destruction, for hours without dying, and living long enough with its effects still in his body to survive. Originally possessing Omega Level Energy, his hibernation within the mighty Yggdrasil gives him infinite amounts of energy as the energies of the worlds constantly flow around and through him.
-Transcendent Physiology: Osmund is able to perform great physical feats with his body. His speed is seemingly unrivaled and he's able to perform incredible feats of agility and strength.
-Transcendent Will: The strength of his will is enormous to where almost no mind ability used against him is useless. The vast level of his energy plus the wisdom he holds from his long life allows him to discern between reality and lies.
-Energy Manipulation: He was able to manipulate all energies and create unimaginable techniques of high power. His
-Yggdrasil Family Abilities: He held all Yggdrasil Abilities such as Equilibrium Body, Vaerne, Vaere, Aether, etc.
-Divine Plane: The Divine Plane is the plane of Heroes, Justice, and Courage. Only people who have been blessed by Messiah himself are capable of awakening this plane. So far, only inhabitants of the Saga of Gold are capable of using this plane, making it their signature technique just as much as the Titan Plane is the signature technique of the Saga of Black. When awakened, users gain a golden tint around their form and a raging gold aura surrounding their bodies. Their bodies begin to turn into energy itself, making them faster and able to control their energy to a greater perfection. Pure energy around the area of effect is harvested and transformed into Aether, which only people with Aether Manipulation are capable of harnessing.
-New Awakening (25%): The area of effect in New Awakening stretches throughout the area. Users begin to turn into energy itself, but not completely. Their bodies are able to withstand tremendous amounts of damage without leaking out energy, meaning they can move at outstanding speeds and display incredible agility. They're quicker in creating and manipulating techniques, displaying powerful techniques which would normally be considered simple. Pure energy around the area of effect turns into Aether energy at a gradual rate, unable to be harnessed just yet. Since users are able to control their energies to a greater height, mind tricks (illusions, emotions, etc) are unable to affect them. Another reason for why mind tricks cannot affect them is because the illusion energy being shot out at the Divine Plane user would be neutralized due to the constant aura and constant exertion of energy.
-Waxing Awakening (50%): In this stage, the area of effect bolsters until it covers miles around the user. Now, users are almost entirely made up of energy, but still not complete. Their bodies feel no physical pain, making them able to move to even more transcended heights without fear of taking damage. Techniques that were once simple are now to an extreme. The aura surrounding their bodies begins to solidify as Aether is almost completely harvested and pure energy converted. Mind tricks are almost entirely useless due to the new incredible energy being shot out and the powerful aura surrounding the user.
-Glæsis (Glittering): A technique is harnessed to where users are able to manipulate a golden lightning/electricity. This lightning vaporizes objects not into ash, but into pure energy. The more powerful an object once was, the more satisfying the harvest will be. Glaesis has been seen to be able to turn mountains and even landscapes into pure energy with a single powerful bolt. Glaesis is used via the aura, making it physical and charging out the bolts. Its physical traits are: super charged, golden tint, near-instantaneous speed, heavy radiation, and sharp enough to pierce through other elements, turning them into pure energy.
-Waning Awakening (75%): .
-Full Awakening (100%): .
-Jotunn Abilities: The Jotunn are a species of giants with Elemental capabilities as well as energy capabilities. Each Jotunn is different in size, shape, and appearance. The thing that defines a Jotunn is their unnatural appearance. They can either be stunningly beautiful or horribly grotesque. Their size can be tremendous (a prominent Jotunn being longer than the Earth) or just regular human sized. Jotunn are incredibly intelligent, physically powerful, and spiritually powerful. They were said to be able to destroy and topple mountains with their bare hands, flatten forests with a sneeze, and change the very shape of the land during brawls. The thing that separates a Jotunn from other species are their intelligence and pursuit of knowledge. They were often enslaved by the Æsir for their vast knowledge. Jotunn are separated by their elemental type, as well as species type. There are Spirit Jotunn and there are Chaos Jotunn. Originally, there were only 4 primary Jotunn Elements; Mud, Fire, Frost, and Wood. The Elements were expanded based on the abilities shown by all Jotunn and generalized into one.
As a Jotunn, Osmund was once a prince and a king. He started off with the element of lightning and perfected it to where no one was able to rival him with its usage. He was capable of absorbing any form of lightning and was immune to its effects, no matter the power due to his body being made of primarily lightning. After having mastered the element of lightning, he mastered all other elements. Even with his opposite element, Wind, he was considered in a tier of his own. Whenever he fought, he would be seen using the basic elements and defeating opponents who would using esoteric-type abilities. The physical capabilities he wielded were rumored to be so powerful that he could stand next to an exploding star and walk out with so much as a tan.
-Kvelda Heiko (Evening Draws In): The Heiko Ignatius had carried onto Osmund and he was able to utilize its same abilities to a greater extent than before. With his Kvelda Heiko, he was able to enslave any energy and enforce the Kvelda Heiko into that energy. From there, he could choose to either seal, entomb, empower, or utilize the energy that was directed at. Not only that, but Osmund was capable of influencing other energies without needing to enslave them just by directing Heiko energy towards them. This allowed him to easily gain control of someone without taking them against their will, rather the being thinking they're doing it in their own free will. Osmund took this to an even greater extent by being able to sway the movement of pure energy and choose how it cycles. Also being able to choose what type of pure energy can form in the area or influence more of one specific pure energy (e.g summoning more buddhaic pure energy than physical pure energy).
-Glasir Heiko (Gleaming Tree Grove): The Glasir Heiko's abilities allow Osmund to manifest pure energy and to make it physical. Since pure energy is everywhere, this proves to be a formidable ability. From the manifested energy, he can create constructions out of seemingly thin air and near instantaneously. Mixed with his Osaett Heiko, Osmund can mix pure energies together before they even properly form to create new forms of energy. The Glasir Heiko also serves as a healing factor, allowing Osmund to heal himself using those pure energies. Since the Glasir Heiko has influence over pure energy, breathing it in increases the capabilities of his Vaesen, giving him a finer tune to energies around him.
-Glasislundr (Glasir's Grove): Once a manifested energy forms, Osmund can use this technique to have this single point of manifested energy reproduce and manifest the other pure energies. The single point growing as pure energy manifests itself throughout the area and beyond, all of it under Osmund's control. To the eye, it would look like the air was filled with colorful gases. To a more in tune eye capable of seeing energies even when not manifested, it would look like a haze of complete white that cannot be penetrated. For those with a heightened use of senses, the grove of energies would cloud their senses, so they would only be able to sense the manifested energy and not the hidden Osmund's.
-Údáinsakr (Deathless Grove): After having used up all of the pure energy around the area, the landscape would feel empty and reek of death. Osmund now has two choices to go with after this. Nether will begin seeping into these empty cracks to replace Aether without being neutralized and Osmund can simply use his Valfothr Heiko to manipulate the Nether. Or he can replace the empty cracks himself with his own energy, meaning he'd have complete control over the landscape and can simply one shot his opponent by manifesting the pure energy inside of them and the pure energy around them.
-Bileyg Heiko (Father of the Slain): The Valfothr Heiko holds the ability to manipulate lost pure energy. There is Aether pure energy, which encompasses everything that's visualized in existence, thus the 9 Planes of Existence. Then there is Nether pure energy, which is an entirely different existence and what is meant when pure energy is "lost." For mortals, the definition of dead is when you pass on from the Physical Plane into the Astral Plane, but that is not death. That is evolution, when energy converts and cycles through it until it comes back around to the Physical Plane. When energy can evolve and change, it is alive. When energy cannot evolve and cannot change, it is considered dead or lost because it can never cycle. That is what true death is and the concept behind the Valfothr Heiko. The Valfothr Heiko uses the Nether Planes of Existence; Emanation Plane, Necro Plane, and Titan Plane, to animate constructions (Emanation Plane) that cannot die (for they are already dead), can never lose energy (can never change state or evolve-Necro Plane), and are already at a constant titanic level of power, radiating evil (Titan Plane).
-Osaett Heiko/Gudoje (God Ancestry): Asier was the first to awaken the final version of Vaere known as Gudoje. The Gudoje, later renamed the Osaett Heiko, carried on down through the generations and into Osmund. Osaett held the ability to concentrate all energies into one similar to Aether, except Osaett could both create and destroy energies. It could manipulate any energy no matter where it came from and reduce them to any energetic state or alchemically turn a type of energy into another type. It utilized the energy of Ether to be able to create and destroy energies, being able to manipulate lost pure energy and normal pure energy. It holds connections to all Planes of Existence, whether it be Nether or Aether. The primary ability of Osaett is being able to manipulate the energy of the user to all extents.
The Osaett Heiko cannot be bestowed upon, only evolved. It cannot be used in conjunction with other Heikos since, when activated, it travels through every single nerve, organ, and cell of the Yggdrasil's body. If evolved prematurely, the Osaett Heiko would burn these parts of the body like fire on human skin if left open for just a few minutes. The reason behind that is because the Heiko and the Equilibrium Body need to be in balance. The Heiko might be able to sustain damage, but the Equilibrium Body would not and it would fall apart, destroying the Heiko with it. The Osaett Heiko has Ether Energy traveling through the body, something that a premature evolution would not be able to sustain.
A proper and mature evolution would be when the Yggdrasil Member has dabbled in both the Aether side of energy completely and the Nether side of energy completely. When that happens, both energies will run through the body at a balanced rate and the Equilibrium Body would not reject both energies when they try to combine into Ether energy.
-Eternal Weapon of Messiah: .
-Eternal Weapon of Gaia: The Eternal Weapon of Gaia is the energy of the Mother Eternal, Gaia. This weapon, green in color, embodies the energy of the world: nature. It is among the most effective of all Eternal Weapons due to how easily it is to pick up on and how it possesses passive and aggressive affects on both the user and opponent. When using this weapon, the forces of nature bend to the will of the user easily and the body of the wielder's own natural state increases by unimaginable levels. This weapon possesses 4 levels like any other weapon and, between each level, an evolution occurs, making both the power and the wielder more complex. What's unique about Gaia is that the first level characterizes how the next evolution will be and capitalizes on what you used the most in the level before by increasing its power in the next.
-Level 1-Natura: .
-Level 2-Terra Natura: .
-Level 3-Maga: .
-Level 4-Maga Terra Titanes: .
-Eternal Weapon of Phanes Acmon: The Eternal Weapon of Phanes Acmon is the energy of the Eternal, Phanes Acmon. This weapon, blue in color, embodies the energy of Ether; Aether and Nether perfectly mixed. The Weapon of Phanes Acmon is the most powerful among all Eternal Weapons due to where it comes from. It possesses absolute amounts of energy when pushed into its fourth level. In order to even wield this weapon, one needs a connection to the Divine Plane. After using this weapon, the wielder's energy levels have been pushed beyond what their bodies are capable of wielding and are in danger of eradicating themselves if they cannot properly control it. Thus, why only wielders of the Osaett Heiko are capable of pushing into its third level due to being able to control their own energy perfectly.
-Ether Energy Manipulation: Although similar to Twilight, Twilight is what exists between Aether and Nether and what you get when both of these energies touch, while Ether is what you get when both energies coexist with each other without negating. Ether, to put into words, is existence. It is the fabric of reality and what causes energy to move in its waves. Without Ether, pure energy would not move or flow as it does. Ether takes on two different states, and they are as follows:
-Ash Ether (Unlocked Level 1): This form of Ether takes on a silver energetic form and basically control reality (also known as the Yggdrasil Branches). One manipulates the Yggdrasil branches and makes them take proper form and have others be able to even gaze at them. The branches are made of an ashy substance that draw energy to it, absorbing and making the energies coexist, and giving itself even more of an appearance of a tree until it reaches its proper form. A branch of wood with dew studded across it. The power and durability of these branches depends on the user.
-Dew Ether (Unlocked Level 2): A heightened version of Ash Ether, Dew Ether is what you get when the energies have perfectly coexisted with one another. Dew is water in the form of droplets, but dew can attach itself to any surface and branch along. Basically, what you get is a branch of wood with branches of water along its surface. Dew Ether branches along pure energy, growing until you're able to manipulate that pure energy itself. So much so that one looks as if they are turning the very air into waves of water with thick branches of wood at the epicenter of that wave. Whenever the wielder uses these waves, they manipulate them with Ash (the branches of wood) so it would look as if the branches were throwing these waves of water and not the user.
-King Vessel - Djinn Equip: .
-Energy Radiation Type: .
-Energy Color: Gold
Items:
-Gungnir
-Abendrot
-Meistari
-Myndasól
-Ragnarok
Techniques:
-Skoll and Hati (One Who Mocks and One Who Hates): .
-Avatar of the 9 Planes: .
-Awoken Osaett Heiko: .
-Divine Avatar of Aether-Seraphim: .
-Triple Goddess-Mother, Maiden, Crone: .
-Wotan's Spirit Creature of the Slain: Valknjöggr: .
-Os Innangard, Rísa Utangard (The God Within the Enclosure, Rise Beyond Enclosure): .
-Móðr af Os, Til Allr þess (Wrath of God, In All Its Fury): .
Story:
Chapter 1-The World of Lawless Order
After his journey of self-awareness and meaning, he came upon an esoteric world of powerful beings he had never encountered before; some who could even rival the power of an Ethereal Titan. There was no formal name to this world, being known as simply "The Clan World," but to Osmund, he had come upon the world below Urd's Well. A place unique in that it was free from the bonds of fate yet still a part of the World Tree. Not even, he, the great god Odin traveled this far and neither had his eye lay upon this land.
Osmund came to realize that this land lay beyond Mímisbrunnr, which was once a part of Ginnungagap. The beings inhabiting these lands had gotten their power directly from Ginnungagap, it was the source of their incredible powers and he began to sense one being held far more power than the rest. The lawless order in this world sparked Osmund's curiousity and he ventured forward towards this world.
The world truly was chaotic, there was no sense of order and stability. It was a world where beings came together to form small factions and make the attempt to survive in this cruel world, while other powerful clans annihilated these lesser beings. It was an axe age, a wolf age, an age laden with strife where brothers turned on each other without remorse. Some of these beings remained alone, with what little family they had and trusted as to not strike attention, but it was inevitable that they would meet friends along the way and form a faction without meaning to. When this happened, their worst fears came to light as the clans who hungered for dominance and power struck down any potential rivals.
As Osmund inspected this world, he stumbled upon a small "kingdom" that was managing to scrape by. Even when on the verge of collapse, the faction remained loyal and alive. For it was being pulled apart by the most dominant faction and the epitome of what a powerful clan was during this age of strife, Daybreak.
Daybreak was led by a man known as Nikku Tsuyoi, who bore a considerable amount of power from the Ginnungagap, but was not the source of the immense magical power Osmund sensed before entering this world. Daybreak was comprised of powerful warriors who were skilled in the arts of combat and war. To them, they fought for peace and wanted to bring an iron order to the world. The imperial family they had was the Tsuyoi, a family who, in legend, extended to one ancestor known as El Diablo. Their beliefs were that each Tsuyoi must sacrifice someone for his glory, preferably their friend...leading to the slaughter of many clans.
Osmund learned all of this information simply by skulking back and listening to the conversations of the inhabitants of the kingdom. At first, Osmund suspected Nikku to be the source of this power, but did not know where he was, for the world was clouding the ability to sense power from the Ginnungagap. Osmund needed to investigate and get close to determine who was the source of this enormous amount of power. The king of the kingdom was a man named Itami, strangely bearing the last name Tsuyoi.
The land was laden with chaos and each clan tried to get enough distance from each other as to not be attacked. Osmund explored the world for a year, studying the clan's behaviour, but finding no sign of the infamous Daybreak. There was no evidence of ancient civilization, it was almost as if this world had appeared from nothingness...."Nothingness...." Beings with powerful abilities that were gained from Ginnungagap, a world torn by chaos, and no signs of predecessors.
"So it is true that He exists...." Osmund thought to himself, staring up at a sky with no stars.
There could only have been one explanation as to how this world came to be. It was the world created by Ouranos, the Titan of Void, an entity unknown to almost all. For what purpose? Osmund didn't know, but he knew that this world must be repaired. This world must be connected to the Yggdrasil in order for Ouranos to lose its steel grip upon this world. Osmund, the Champion of Heroes, had to thwart all malicious Titans from achieving their goals. To thwart the greatest of them all was to be the greatest of all victories.
Chapter 2-Homunculi
Osmund returned to the kingdom to see the castle decimated, the land burned, and corpses littered along the castle walls. His Heiko senses could tell what had happened, reimagined in his head, watching men with masks and long robes slaughtering the people of this kingdom. Daybreak had struck once more and had finally destroyed a struggling faction. Inside the rubble of the castle was the body of Itami, still alive, but heavily wounded. He was perched up against a wall, swords impaled against the ligaments of his limbs, watching, through coughs of blood, the fire consume the bodies of his people and his castle.
With his power, Osmund freed Itami from his bondage and escaped the crumbling castle with him. He ran with him over his shoulders, stopping only to heal Itami. After this gesture, Itami felt he was in debt to Osmund for saving his life, but was devastated at what had happened. For nights, he sat in silence inside the fjord of two mountains. They had already introduced themselves, but knew nothing about each other. All they knew was that they were both alone in this world, abandoned by family, forsaken by fate, and held the goal to destroy Daybreak, both with their own reasons for it. Itami and Osmund became companions, referring to each other as mates.
Their companionship began with venturing the world as medics, healing those in need, and gathering the favor of the people. Those who they could not save or were already dead had their soul collected, seeing as there was no other place to go. This world had no concept of Aether and Nether. Those that died lingered, waiting for a miracle that may never come.
Quotes:
-"My people hail from an ancient dynasty of warriors. Your people have barely seen the light of day and this showing is you simply kicking and screaming like infants...I will show you the harsh realities of this world and teach you to respect those greater than you." Osmund to Waru on their first encounter.
-"Your pride should not be reserved to you, but for the people willing to stand with you." Osmund to a young Ryuu during their training.
-"If you intend to attack the pack...you need to start with the alpha...." Osmund to Akatsuki upon returning to find his family being attacked.
-"The scars you bear should be worn with pride. You have felt the harshness of life and have only become all the more stronger for it both in mind and body. They are but a memory of the trials you faced...wear them with pride." Osmund to Vanguard.
-"Before long, you will know everything. The people's death, their irrational unhappiness and misfortune. That is not part of a karmic cycle or a retribution that someone gave them. It is just the flow of destiny, that everything has already been decided...With this too, I will become one with him after all. It really took...a long time." Osmund to a bewildered Aldegund as they stare at the Crypt of Morrigan, where Agmund sleeps.
-"I can hear his call above the trees, I can feel the chill of winters breeze. The snow falls from his wings, the hallowed wind of winter sings. As winter's icy grip takes hold, the white raven brings the deathly cold." Osmund to Aldegund as they stare at Yggdrasil, its breaths becoming deeper, frost coating its branches.
-"My child....The road might be long, the journey may be challenging and full of dangers. Take rest if you must, but never turn back; for your next step could be your moment of triumph, your very next battle could be your greatest victory, your next day more glorious than the last....With pride on your shoulders, march on." Osmund to his son, Athanasius, after the breaking of ties with his children.
-"And the danger is that in this move toward new horizons and far directions, that I may lose what I have now, and not find anything except loneliness." Osmund to himself after facing heartbreak, where he rose from his pit to continue leading his people.
-"Being his eldest brother, he may have felt that he lived under my shadow. But he never had, for I lived under his glow." Osmund to Ryuu upon Ryuu's farewell.
-"My power does not come from my capability in combat. It comes from my capability to make the judgement that will raise you from the ashes more beautiful than you were before...or allow the winds of fate to rend you for an eternity." Osmund to shade.
Osmund comes to be after the fall of the Jotunn Empire and the parting of ways in the Barbaric Age. Having taken Fenrir into his body, his body as Wulfric began to degrade and it forced him to evolve. Thus, Wulfric the Warrior became Osmund the High King. Spending years in solitude, he began harnessing his powers and finding new ways to utilize them. He journeys through worlds in search of meaning with his children until he stumbles upon a strange new world within Midgard. A strange assortment of entities and beings inhabit this world, but all of them were even more powerful than most of the beings he had encountered thus far. Still under the name of Wulfric at this time, but no longer wielding the same personality or power, he ventures into this world and finds it is a dystopia. Clans struggle to survive under the might of powerful clans, inspiring him to change his name into Osmund, meaning God of Protection. He was the most powerful by far among the Saga of Gold and arguably the most powerful Prime Titan among the Yggdrasil next to Agmund.
Today, he leads the Yggdrasil Family from the background and watches the events of the Nine Worlds unfold from his home, Valaskjálf (High Home of the Slain) within Valhalla, Asgard. He sits upon his throne, Hlidskjálf (Highest Throne), discerning and understanding all that is happening and moving events along with his power over Seidr.
Appearance:
Osmund retains the signature blue hair and gold eyes that most of his past lives have had. His hair was much longer than before, nearly down to his waist, and was generally left unkempt. He looked older, his face more toned, defined, and handsome; signifying his mental and physical growth as a person. His body was taller and defined with his muscles. Upon entering the new world, he no longer needed to carry around his Al-Vaepni, which was golden and, like his stature, more defined. It boasted ornate runes along the cuffs connecting each plate and a jewel between his breast plates. Osmund decided to leave out his Al-Vaepni from his general appearance and would wear a black robe that flowed along the edges with raven feathers, trimmed in a deep purple, usually adorning himself with amulets and bracelets of silver and gold.
After he sacrificed his immortal life-force to acquire the full power of Gungnir, Osmund's hair lost the blue luster it once had and instead became a pale blonde. After leaving Arda and moving to Asgard, Osmund would go on to trim his long hair in favor of a more practical shoulder-length hairstyle whipped back and would grow a beard on his wrinkling face, resembling his father-in-law Odin, something that would be accentuated even more when he sacrifices his left eye for absolute command of the runes and his Bileyg Heiko.
While his bearded and pale blonde hair would become his standard appearance, the Triple Goddess version of himself would complicate his appearances even more. His Maiden Osmund form would appear very much like when he was Asier, except younger and shorter, but incredibly saturated blue hair and golden eyes. His Mother Osmund form would have golden hair and golden eyes, appearing like a younger Osmund in his regular form. His Crone Osmund form would have ashen white hair and eyes of silver, appearing as Osmund does now except much more ancient.
Personality:
The events of the Jotunn Civil War changed Osmund as a person. He had left behind a nation he would have died for and whom to their eyes he likely betrayed by trapping all of them in the Super Cell and having the aid of the God Clans on his back. Most of all, there was sorrow in his heart for the loss of his love, Frigga, and his eldest son, Baldr.
To those that followed him, he was described as a man who made you feel safe being near him, who radiated a powerful passion, and who would always lift you from depravity. He displayed a kind heart to those in need and was always willing to give people opportunities to display their talents and intelligence. Osmund would always be the calm and assuring voice among the crowd and his presence was forever noticeable wherever he roamed.
To his enemies, he was stoic, cold, unnerving, stubborn, and filled with wrath. He could not be moved and he would use his aura of passion to weigh down on his opponents into agreeing with him to where he rarely lost an argument and, if he did, his logical personality would allow him to see his wrongs and give in. He would go on to state that the reason he would sometimes choose to be extremely callous was because of his past life as Wulfric, who lacked honor and the nerve to be a leader.
Despite these inconsistencies in character, his general personality is genial and charismatic. He has a deep love for family, brotherhood, and comradery, calling it one of the most important points in life. It's easy for him to like someone as he notices and appreciates the smallest of positive characteristics a person has and makes it his commitment to make the insignificant grow. However, it is just as easy for him to become what his enemies see in him if someone were to break his codes such as breaking an oath, betraying someone's loyalty and trust, or reveling in sadistic behavior. He himself doesn't like such sadism, believing a fight should be only to prove one's strength and gain glory as well as protecting those one loves. Most of Osmund's nature is the opposite of what Wulfric was early on before he met Frigga, who held a significant impact in life and in death. It is why he chose to rename himself Osmund in memory of her to preserve the honor she strove for.
Abilities:
-Primordial Level of Energy: His energy reserves are colossal and are vague to measurement. He's the first of the Legacy of Gold to have a truly golden color of energy. His feats of power are to be able to utilize the Eternal Weapon of Ragnarok, the weapon of Destruction, for hours without dying, and living long enough with its effects still in his body to survive. Originally possessing Omega Level Energy, his hibernation within the mighty Yggdrasil gives him infinite amounts of energy as the energies of the worlds constantly flow around and through him.
-Transcendent Physiology: Osmund is able to perform great physical feats with his body. His speed is seemingly unrivaled and he's able to perform incredible feats of agility and strength.
-Transcendent Will: The strength of his will is enormous to where almost no mind ability used against him is useless. The vast level of his energy plus the wisdom he holds from his long life allows him to discern between reality and lies.
-Energy Manipulation: He was able to manipulate all energies and create unimaginable techniques of high power. His
-Yggdrasil Family Abilities: He held all Yggdrasil Abilities such as Equilibrium Body, Vaerne, Vaere, Aether, etc.
-Divine Plane: The Divine Plane is the plane of Heroes, Justice, and Courage. Only people who have been blessed by Messiah himself are capable of awakening this plane. So far, only inhabitants of the Saga of Gold are capable of using this plane, making it their signature technique just as much as the Titan Plane is the signature technique of the Saga of Black. When awakened, users gain a golden tint around their form and a raging gold aura surrounding their bodies. Their bodies begin to turn into energy itself, making them faster and able to control their energy to a greater perfection. Pure energy around the area of effect is harvested and transformed into Aether, which only people with Aether Manipulation are capable of harnessing.
-New Awakening (25%): The area of effect in New Awakening stretches throughout the area. Users begin to turn into energy itself, but not completely. Their bodies are able to withstand tremendous amounts of damage without leaking out energy, meaning they can move at outstanding speeds and display incredible agility. They're quicker in creating and manipulating techniques, displaying powerful techniques which would normally be considered simple. Pure energy around the area of effect turns into Aether energy at a gradual rate, unable to be harnessed just yet. Since users are able to control their energies to a greater height, mind tricks (illusions, emotions, etc) are unable to affect them. Another reason for why mind tricks cannot affect them is because the illusion energy being shot out at the Divine Plane user would be neutralized due to the constant aura and constant exertion of energy.
-Waxing Awakening (50%): In this stage, the area of effect bolsters until it covers miles around the user. Now, users are almost entirely made up of energy, but still not complete. Their bodies feel no physical pain, making them able to move to even more transcended heights without fear of taking damage. Techniques that were once simple are now to an extreme. The aura surrounding their bodies begins to solidify as Aether is almost completely harvested and pure energy converted. Mind tricks are almost entirely useless due to the new incredible energy being shot out and the powerful aura surrounding the user.
-Glæsis (Glittering): A technique is harnessed to where users are able to manipulate a golden lightning/electricity. This lightning vaporizes objects not into ash, but into pure energy. The more powerful an object once was, the more satisfying the harvest will be. Glaesis has been seen to be able to turn mountains and even landscapes into pure energy with a single powerful bolt. Glaesis is used via the aura, making it physical and charging out the bolts. Its physical traits are: super charged, golden tint, near-instantaneous speed, heavy radiation, and sharp enough to pierce through other elements, turning them into pure energy.
-Waning Awakening (75%): .
-Full Awakening (100%): .
-Jotunn Abilities: The Jotunn are a species of giants with Elemental capabilities as well as energy capabilities. Each Jotunn is different in size, shape, and appearance. The thing that defines a Jotunn is their unnatural appearance. They can either be stunningly beautiful or horribly grotesque. Their size can be tremendous (a prominent Jotunn being longer than the Earth) or just regular human sized. Jotunn are incredibly intelligent, physically powerful, and spiritually powerful. They were said to be able to destroy and topple mountains with their bare hands, flatten forests with a sneeze, and change the very shape of the land during brawls. The thing that separates a Jotunn from other species are their intelligence and pursuit of knowledge. They were often enslaved by the Æsir for their vast knowledge. Jotunn are separated by their elemental type, as well as species type. There are Spirit Jotunn and there are Chaos Jotunn. Originally, there were only 4 primary Jotunn Elements; Mud, Fire, Frost, and Wood. The Elements were expanded based on the abilities shown by all Jotunn and generalized into one.
As a Jotunn, Osmund was once a prince and a king. He started off with the element of lightning and perfected it to where no one was able to rival him with its usage. He was capable of absorbing any form of lightning and was immune to its effects, no matter the power due to his body being made of primarily lightning. After having mastered the element of lightning, he mastered all other elements. Even with his opposite element, Wind, he was considered in a tier of his own. Whenever he fought, he would be seen using the basic elements and defeating opponents who would using esoteric-type abilities. The physical capabilities he wielded were rumored to be so powerful that he could stand next to an exploding star and walk out with so much as a tan.
-Kvelda Heiko (Evening Draws In): The Heiko Ignatius had carried onto Osmund and he was able to utilize its same abilities to a greater extent than before. With his Kvelda Heiko, he was able to enslave any energy and enforce the Kvelda Heiko into that energy. From there, he could choose to either seal, entomb, empower, or utilize the energy that was directed at. Not only that, but Osmund was capable of influencing other energies without needing to enslave them just by directing Heiko energy towards them. This allowed him to easily gain control of someone without taking them against their will, rather the being thinking they're doing it in their own free will. Osmund took this to an even greater extent by being able to sway the movement of pure energy and choose how it cycles. Also being able to choose what type of pure energy can form in the area or influence more of one specific pure energy (e.g summoning more buddhaic pure energy than physical pure energy).
-Glasir Heiko (Gleaming Tree Grove): The Glasir Heiko's abilities allow Osmund to manifest pure energy and to make it physical. Since pure energy is everywhere, this proves to be a formidable ability. From the manifested energy, he can create constructions out of seemingly thin air and near instantaneously. Mixed with his Osaett Heiko, Osmund can mix pure energies together before they even properly form to create new forms of energy. The Glasir Heiko also serves as a healing factor, allowing Osmund to heal himself using those pure energies. Since the Glasir Heiko has influence over pure energy, breathing it in increases the capabilities of his Vaesen, giving him a finer tune to energies around him.
-Glasislundr (Glasir's Grove): Once a manifested energy forms, Osmund can use this technique to have this single point of manifested energy reproduce and manifest the other pure energies. The single point growing as pure energy manifests itself throughout the area and beyond, all of it under Osmund's control. To the eye, it would look like the air was filled with colorful gases. To a more in tune eye capable of seeing energies even when not manifested, it would look like a haze of complete white that cannot be penetrated. For those with a heightened use of senses, the grove of energies would cloud their senses, so they would only be able to sense the manifested energy and not the hidden Osmund's.
-Údáinsakr (Deathless Grove): After having used up all of the pure energy around the area, the landscape would feel empty and reek of death. Osmund now has two choices to go with after this. Nether will begin seeping into these empty cracks to replace Aether without being neutralized and Osmund can simply use his Valfothr Heiko to manipulate the Nether. Or he can replace the empty cracks himself with his own energy, meaning he'd have complete control over the landscape and can simply one shot his opponent by manifesting the pure energy inside of them and the pure energy around them.
-Bileyg Heiko (Father of the Slain): The Valfothr Heiko holds the ability to manipulate lost pure energy. There is Aether pure energy, which encompasses everything that's visualized in existence, thus the 9 Planes of Existence. Then there is Nether pure energy, which is an entirely different existence and what is meant when pure energy is "lost." For mortals, the definition of dead is when you pass on from the Physical Plane into the Astral Plane, but that is not death. That is evolution, when energy converts and cycles through it until it comes back around to the Physical Plane. When energy can evolve and change, it is alive. When energy cannot evolve and cannot change, it is considered dead or lost because it can never cycle. That is what true death is and the concept behind the Valfothr Heiko. The Valfothr Heiko uses the Nether Planes of Existence; Emanation Plane, Necro Plane, and Titan Plane, to animate constructions (Emanation Plane) that cannot die (for they are already dead), can never lose energy (can never change state or evolve-Necro Plane), and are already at a constant titanic level of power, radiating evil (Titan Plane).
-Osaett Heiko/Gudoje (God Ancestry): Asier was the first to awaken the final version of Vaere known as Gudoje. The Gudoje, later renamed the Osaett Heiko, carried on down through the generations and into Osmund. Osaett held the ability to concentrate all energies into one similar to Aether, except Osaett could both create and destroy energies. It could manipulate any energy no matter where it came from and reduce them to any energetic state or alchemically turn a type of energy into another type. It utilized the energy of Ether to be able to create and destroy energies, being able to manipulate lost pure energy and normal pure energy. It holds connections to all Planes of Existence, whether it be Nether or Aether. The primary ability of Osaett is being able to manipulate the energy of the user to all extents.
The Osaett Heiko cannot be bestowed upon, only evolved. It cannot be used in conjunction with other Heikos since, when activated, it travels through every single nerve, organ, and cell of the Yggdrasil's body. If evolved prematurely, the Osaett Heiko would burn these parts of the body like fire on human skin if left open for just a few minutes. The reason behind that is because the Heiko and the Equilibrium Body need to be in balance. The Heiko might be able to sustain damage, but the Equilibrium Body would not and it would fall apart, destroying the Heiko with it. The Osaett Heiko has Ether Energy traveling through the body, something that a premature evolution would not be able to sustain.
A proper and mature evolution would be when the Yggdrasil Member has dabbled in both the Aether side of energy completely and the Nether side of energy completely. When that happens, both energies will run through the body at a balanced rate and the Equilibrium Body would not reject both energies when they try to combine into Ether energy.
-Eternal Weapon of Messiah: .
-Eternal Weapon of Gaia: The Eternal Weapon of Gaia is the energy of the Mother Eternal, Gaia. This weapon, green in color, embodies the energy of the world: nature. It is among the most effective of all Eternal Weapons due to how easily it is to pick up on and how it possesses passive and aggressive affects on both the user and opponent. When using this weapon, the forces of nature bend to the will of the user easily and the body of the wielder's own natural state increases by unimaginable levels. This weapon possesses 4 levels like any other weapon and, between each level, an evolution occurs, making both the power and the wielder more complex. What's unique about Gaia is that the first level characterizes how the next evolution will be and capitalizes on what you used the most in the level before by increasing its power in the next.
-Level 1-Natura: .
-Level 2-Terra Natura: .
-Level 3-Maga: .
-Level 4-Maga Terra Titanes: .
-Eternal Weapon of Phanes Acmon: The Eternal Weapon of Phanes Acmon is the energy of the Eternal, Phanes Acmon. This weapon, blue in color, embodies the energy of Ether; Aether and Nether perfectly mixed. The Weapon of Phanes Acmon is the most powerful among all Eternal Weapons due to where it comes from. It possesses absolute amounts of energy when pushed into its fourth level. In order to even wield this weapon, one needs a connection to the Divine Plane. After using this weapon, the wielder's energy levels have been pushed beyond what their bodies are capable of wielding and are in danger of eradicating themselves if they cannot properly control it. Thus, why only wielders of the Osaett Heiko are capable of pushing into its third level due to being able to control their own energy perfectly.
-Ether Energy Manipulation: Although similar to Twilight, Twilight is what exists between Aether and Nether and what you get when both of these energies touch, while Ether is what you get when both energies coexist with each other without negating. Ether, to put into words, is existence. It is the fabric of reality and what causes energy to move in its waves. Without Ether, pure energy would not move or flow as it does. Ether takes on two different states, and they are as follows:
-Ash Ether (Unlocked Level 1): This form of Ether takes on a silver energetic form and basically control reality (also known as the Yggdrasil Branches). One manipulates the Yggdrasil branches and makes them take proper form and have others be able to even gaze at them. The branches are made of an ashy substance that draw energy to it, absorbing and making the energies coexist, and giving itself even more of an appearance of a tree until it reaches its proper form. A branch of wood with dew studded across it. The power and durability of these branches depends on the user.
-Dew Ether (Unlocked Level 2): A heightened version of Ash Ether, Dew Ether is what you get when the energies have perfectly coexisted with one another. Dew is water in the form of droplets, but dew can attach itself to any surface and branch along. Basically, what you get is a branch of wood with branches of water along its surface. Dew Ether branches along pure energy, growing until you're able to manipulate that pure energy itself. So much so that one looks as if they are turning the very air into waves of water with thick branches of wood at the epicenter of that wave. Whenever the wielder uses these waves, they manipulate them with Ash (the branches of wood) so it would look as if the branches were throwing these waves of water and not the user.
-King Vessel - Djinn Equip: .
-Energy Radiation Type: .
-Energy Color: Gold
Items:
-Gungnir
-Abendrot
-Meistari
-Myndasól
-Ragnarok
Techniques:
-Skoll and Hati (One Who Mocks and One Who Hates): .
-Avatar of the 9 Planes: .
-Awoken Osaett Heiko: .
-Divine Avatar of Aether-Seraphim: .
-Triple Goddess-Mother, Maiden, Crone: .
-Wotan's Spirit Creature of the Slain: Valknjöggr: .
-Os Innangard, Rísa Utangard (The God Within the Enclosure, Rise Beyond Enclosure): .
-Móðr af Os, Til Allr þess (Wrath of God, In All Its Fury): .
Story:
Chapter 1-The World of Lawless Order
After his journey of self-awareness and meaning, he came upon an esoteric world of powerful beings he had never encountered before; some who could even rival the power of an Ethereal Titan. There was no formal name to this world, being known as simply "The Clan World," but to Osmund, he had come upon the world below Urd's Well. A place unique in that it was free from the bonds of fate yet still a part of the World Tree. Not even, he, the great god Odin traveled this far and neither had his eye lay upon this land.
Osmund came to realize that this land lay beyond Mímisbrunnr, which was once a part of Ginnungagap. The beings inhabiting these lands had gotten their power directly from Ginnungagap, it was the source of their incredible powers and he began to sense one being held far more power than the rest. The lawless order in this world sparked Osmund's curiousity and he ventured forward towards this world.
The world truly was chaotic, there was no sense of order and stability. It was a world where beings came together to form small factions and make the attempt to survive in this cruel world, while other powerful clans annihilated these lesser beings. It was an axe age, a wolf age, an age laden with strife where brothers turned on each other without remorse. Some of these beings remained alone, with what little family they had and trusted as to not strike attention, but it was inevitable that they would meet friends along the way and form a faction without meaning to. When this happened, their worst fears came to light as the clans who hungered for dominance and power struck down any potential rivals.
As Osmund inspected this world, he stumbled upon a small "kingdom" that was managing to scrape by. Even when on the verge of collapse, the faction remained loyal and alive. For it was being pulled apart by the most dominant faction and the epitome of what a powerful clan was during this age of strife, Daybreak.
Daybreak was led by a man known as Nikku Tsuyoi, who bore a considerable amount of power from the Ginnungagap, but was not the source of the immense magical power Osmund sensed before entering this world. Daybreak was comprised of powerful warriors who were skilled in the arts of combat and war. To them, they fought for peace and wanted to bring an iron order to the world. The imperial family they had was the Tsuyoi, a family who, in legend, extended to one ancestor known as El Diablo. Their beliefs were that each Tsuyoi must sacrifice someone for his glory, preferably their friend...leading to the slaughter of many clans.
Osmund learned all of this information simply by skulking back and listening to the conversations of the inhabitants of the kingdom. At first, Osmund suspected Nikku to be the source of this power, but did not know where he was, for the world was clouding the ability to sense power from the Ginnungagap. Osmund needed to investigate and get close to determine who was the source of this enormous amount of power. The king of the kingdom was a man named Itami, strangely bearing the last name Tsuyoi.
The land was laden with chaos and each clan tried to get enough distance from each other as to not be attacked. Osmund explored the world for a year, studying the clan's behaviour, but finding no sign of the infamous Daybreak. There was no evidence of ancient civilization, it was almost as if this world had appeared from nothingness...."Nothingness...." Beings with powerful abilities that were gained from Ginnungagap, a world torn by chaos, and no signs of predecessors.
"So it is true that He exists...." Osmund thought to himself, staring up at a sky with no stars.
There could only have been one explanation as to how this world came to be. It was the world created by Ouranos, the Titan of Void, an entity unknown to almost all. For what purpose? Osmund didn't know, but he knew that this world must be repaired. This world must be connected to the Yggdrasil in order for Ouranos to lose its steel grip upon this world. Osmund, the Champion of Heroes, had to thwart all malicious Titans from achieving their goals. To thwart the greatest of them all was to be the greatest of all victories.
Chapter 2-Homunculi
Osmund returned to the kingdom to see the castle decimated, the land burned, and corpses littered along the castle walls. His Heiko senses could tell what had happened, reimagined in his head, watching men with masks and long robes slaughtering the people of this kingdom. Daybreak had struck once more and had finally destroyed a struggling faction. Inside the rubble of the castle was the body of Itami, still alive, but heavily wounded. He was perched up against a wall, swords impaled against the ligaments of his limbs, watching, through coughs of blood, the fire consume the bodies of his people and his castle.
With his power, Osmund freed Itami from his bondage and escaped the crumbling castle with him. He ran with him over his shoulders, stopping only to heal Itami. After this gesture, Itami felt he was in debt to Osmund for saving his life, but was devastated at what had happened. For nights, he sat in silence inside the fjord of two mountains. They had already introduced themselves, but knew nothing about each other. All they knew was that they were both alone in this world, abandoned by family, forsaken by fate, and held the goal to destroy Daybreak, both with their own reasons for it. Itami and Osmund became companions, referring to each other as mates.
Their companionship began with venturing the world as medics, healing those in need, and gathering the favor of the people. Those who they could not save or were already dead had their soul collected, seeing as there was no other place to go. This world had no concept of Aether and Nether. Those that died lingered, waiting for a miracle that may never come.
Quotes:
-"My people hail from an ancient dynasty of warriors. Your people have barely seen the light of day and this showing is you simply kicking and screaming like infants...I will show you the harsh realities of this world and teach you to respect those greater than you." Osmund to Waru on their first encounter.
-"Your pride should not be reserved to you, but for the people willing to stand with you." Osmund to a young Ryuu during their training.
-"If you intend to attack the pack...you need to start with the alpha...." Osmund to Akatsuki upon returning to find his family being attacked.
-"The scars you bear should be worn with pride. You have felt the harshness of life and have only become all the more stronger for it both in mind and body. They are but a memory of the trials you faced...wear them with pride." Osmund to Vanguard.
-"Before long, you will know everything. The people's death, their irrational unhappiness and misfortune. That is not part of a karmic cycle or a retribution that someone gave them. It is just the flow of destiny, that everything has already been decided...With this too, I will become one with him after all. It really took...a long time." Osmund to a bewildered Aldegund as they stare at the Crypt of Morrigan, where Agmund sleeps.
-"I can hear his call above the trees, I can feel the chill of winters breeze. The snow falls from his wings, the hallowed wind of winter sings. As winter's icy grip takes hold, the white raven brings the deathly cold." Osmund to Aldegund as they stare at Yggdrasil, its breaths becoming deeper, frost coating its branches.
-"My child....The road might be long, the journey may be challenging and full of dangers. Take rest if you must, but never turn back; for your next step could be your moment of triumph, your very next battle could be your greatest victory, your next day more glorious than the last....With pride on your shoulders, march on." Osmund to his son, Athanasius, after the breaking of ties with his children.
-"And the danger is that in this move toward new horizons and far directions, that I may lose what I have now, and not find anything except loneliness." Osmund to himself after facing heartbreak, where he rose from his pit to continue leading his people.
-"Being his eldest brother, he may have felt that he lived under my shadow. But he never had, for I lived under his glow." Osmund to Ryuu upon Ryuu's farewell.
-"My power does not come from my capability in combat. It comes from my capability to make the judgement that will raise you from the ashes more beautiful than you were before...or allow the winds of fate to rend you for an eternity." Osmund to shade.
Chapter ?. Pride of the Pack
Heroes call 'glory to the pride of a pack!',
Chant songs of freedom upon High King's back/
With valorous pinions waving flags of victory,
'A saga mightily spun!' sung for history.
.
Osmund leaned on his sword, gripping the side of his waist in pain, golden blood sliding between his fingers to spill on the ground. The Dragon of Malice, Nidhogg, had taken a deep bite right through his gleaming armor. It circled far in the horizon, a massive sight to behold as one wing sunk beneath Jotunnheim's horizon while the other draped the valleys in shadow. It roared in hunger, like a sharp scream that rattled through bone and pierced flesh, eagerly awaiting the next attack to feast once more. Osmund gritted his teeth in anger, his left hand clutching tightly around the axe, Azram, that had just hours ago been held by his old friend.
Far away, beneath the shadow of Nidhogg, the mountains taller than moons crumbled, letting out a deep rattle through the air, followed by a tremendous shock-wave that further cracked the beaten ground. Gibborim shot out from the rubble, landing at the edge of the fallen mountain's debris. His armor was such a deep black, details and volume could not be made out, made all the more difficult to discern beneath the shadow of Nidhogg. What could only be made out was the constant hot red outline around the armor, his scarlet hair waving in harsh winds like wildfire, golden eyes burning with fury at having been beaten into a mountainside. His head turned quickly to Osmund's side as three brilliant lights flashed into view, surrounding Osmund.
Three women materialized from the light, one in front of Osmund and the other two at each side of him. The one in front of Osmund was of his height, golden haired with wings on her back whose feathers were coated in fire. Her armor was light around the legs, only wearing chrome boots that reached up to her knees decorated with golden wings. Around her waist was a thick, white pelt of wolf's fur held in place by a belt with the mark of a phoenix on the buckle. Everything above was thick armor of golden leather and metal up to her shoulders. A crown of two golden wings lit aflame adorned her head. Her arms were littered with fresh cuts and through her right gauntlet was a rather bloody stabwound, but she was unfazed.
Osmund spoke to the valkyrie in front of him, "Brynhilde, what are the three of you doing here?"
She turned to Osmund, a grim look in her eye, speaking in her low, resonant voice, "They started moving in this direction."
She nodded behind her to the horizon and indeed the four Warlords - Angrboda, Triam, Jarnsaxa, and Garmr - were now joining Gibborim and Nidhogg across the battlefield.
The older, black-haired valkyrie to Osmund's right stepped toward him, placing her hand on the deep gash on his waist while he tried to push her off muttering, "I'm fine, Róta." But she was not having it.
"You have venom flowing through your veins, Pup," Rota said rather angrily, her wrinkles becoming more prominent through her scowl, her hand gripping tightly against the wound, making Osmund wince, "Stop being such a baby! You recognize what venom flows through you! I will heal you as I have before." Róta was an old valkyrie, completely fortified in black armor with no skin to show, her wings an onyx shade and appearing much like a raven's wings.
The younger, white-haired valkyrie to the left of Osmund smirked as Róta's hands illuminated in a green tinge, the blood along the outside of his wound receding. This valkyrie's armor was lighter in weight, but otherwise exactly like Brynhilde's with purple trims instead of gold, her wings charged with electric power. Osmund noticed her smirk, chiding her, "Don't laugh, Skögul. It seems you're in need of a checkup too with those stabwounds on your legs and stomach. Still don't know how to defend?"
Skögul's face fell, immediately twisting into a grimace as she hissed back, "What good is defending if I can't hit them? Triam only ever attacks and attacks..." her voice trailed off, fuming under her breath as she looked away, Osmund only catching the words, "...big oaf...thinks he's cool...wish I never met him...."
"Brynhilde, how does it look down below?" Osmund asked.
Brynhilde's eyes narrowed at the massive crater to the west, so fathomless it disappeared into impenetrable darkness. She chuckled with a large smile on her face, "You think the dwarves can't take the Jotunn? Even leaderless, the dwarves are the most powerful military force in the universe and it's always easy to defend rather than conquer."
Osmund sighed with relief, "That's good to hear....Even so, I could not save Grimnir." He looked toward the dragon, circling over the horizon still, an expression of guilt on his face. "In his last moment, he threw his axe toward me so I could cut off Nidhogg's tail, knowing what would happen...and he was gone to the jaws of the dragon the next moment."
Brynhilde nodded somberly, "A death worthy of a hero such as him. He is in Valhalla now."
A deep, booming voice echoed behind them, eerily soothing as it passed through them, "And we must hope we do not meet the same fate...."
They looked behind them to see a titanic wolf on all fours walking towards them, each step making the ground tremble at his passage. His fur was pitch black like the night, a hint of violet at the edges only visible through the light emanating from the three valkyries and Osmund's armor. His head pierced through the heavens and each leg was a mountain, thicker than any tree or structure and extremely muscled. What was most striking were his eyes, six piercing red eyes of three sets like burning horizontal lines with a golden orb in the middle, giving his eyes the appearance of the sun bleeding into an evening horizon. He was grinning, showing ravenous yellow teeth bigger than a giant. The great wolf smelled of forests and earth, a subtle tinge of dry heathers present.
Osmund's face immediately lit up, exclaiming, "FENRIR! How have you been you old dog? Tell me about your journeys!"
Rota, who was still healing him, pushed him back down as he had tried to get up in his joy, reprimanding him with a painful grip on his wound, "Not the time, you fool."
Fenrir let out a torrent of low breaths, which would easily be mistaken for angry growling, but his lips were curled in a smile as he continued to chuckle, "Your appearance may change, but that stupid upbeat attitude never changes." He surveyed the field, looking at the Warlords and Titans on the other side of the battlefield, baring his teeth in menacing disgust, "Aldegund's forces sicken me. Is this all of us?"
Brynhilde responded, not looking up from sharpening her sword with a silver whetstone, "No, Vehuiah Seraphim should be here any second now."
Osmund perked up once again at the name, "Oh he's arriving as well? This is just like old times!"
Skögul huffed, "Old times? You mean when we were battling this mut of yours? You call those fun times?"
Fenrir bared his canines at Skögul, "Careful talking about the past, young valkyrie....I doubt you'd want us talking about yours now, would we?"
Skögul's cheeks burned red, her eyes like daggers as she and the wolf stared each other down.
Osmund stood up suddenly ("AGAIN? Stand still or else the venom won't properly come out!"), looking towards the Titans and Warlords with a face of alarm. He spoke with a voice unnerved, "I recognize that presence...."
Brynhilde was also looking towards the source, "You recognized it too....What's worse is there's powerful presences behind him as well."
Fenrir began growling, the air crackling with popping sounds and heat from his low snarls, flames curling between his bared teeth, "I can see him from here....Aldegund marches with the other five Warlords."
In the distance, the shape of a figure flanked by five others were walking to meet between Gibborim and the other Warlords. From left to right, all the Warlords stood in a line. Thrym the Warlord to Hrungnir, Triam the Warlord to Nidhogg, Farbauti the Warlord to Surtr, Utgard-Loki the Warlord to Ymir, Angrboda the Warlord to Hela, Ostara the Warlord to Loki, Jarnsaxa the Warlord to Gibborim, Aegir the Warlord to Jormungandr, and Garmr the Warlord to Fenrir.
Aldegund's white hair shone in the twilight sun, his body fortified in onyx armor. He carried with him a black long-sword (Róta gasped, "Ragnarok!") with bloody runes running up the blade, the guard possessing a restlessly wandering eye constantly pulsating with a crimson glow and a black slit cutting through its core. He lifted it in front of him, pointing the black blade at Osmund and his company, declaring with hoarse words that echoed far, "I've come for my dog, the Titan of Fear! Come here Fenrir and I might not reprimand you for your insubordination!"
At his words Fenrir growled so fiercely the air began to quiver, smoldering heat waving along his face as sound-waves cracked around him, crimson flames rolling out from between his bared, trembling teeth. But before he could even utter a word, Osmund brandished his sword in front of him and pointed it at Aldegund, the edge of the blade an evening red that darkened to pitch black the further it got to the guard, the hilt a midnight blue. Osmund's face was contorted in rage, his chest huffed and beard shuddering, his voice booming and shaking the ground even more dramatically than Fenrir's snarls, "YOU SHOW YOURSELF ONLY WITH YOUR MEN AT YOUR WINGS? COWARD!" He swung his sword, Abendrot, to his side, the act bringing lightning to strike the ground in front of him, leaving a seething blue crater. An electric blue hue arose from his body, the charged power raising his long blonde-white hair up like needles, his words becoming low and resonant, words trembling in fury, "First you believe you could take Nidavellir, but now you believe you can take Fenrir? Such imperious nature. Your presence changes nothing in this battlefield. You will not take this realm nor will you take my friend. VEHUIAH, SHOW YOURSELF!"
Behind them, golden light showered them from the heavens, spilling throughout all the valleys with incandescent radiance and scattering all shadows from view. Bathed in this light, a man far taller than even Fenrir stepped out, but he was no man. His body was an ardent gold, the white light he radiated waving outward like tendrils, comparable to the corona of the sun. His golden wings stretched out further than Nidhogg's, composed of billions of burning angels packed tightly together in constant oratorio. His wings were open to show his muscled bare torso, three arms on each side of which each set was folded together. A longer pair of wings were wrapped around his legs and covered his lower half, while a shorter pair of wings covered his face.
When he spoke, it was a melodically baritone voice, "This atmosphere I have felt only once before at the battle at Asgard's gates. We have come to fight he who only knows hate, I imagine?"
Osmund continued to stare down Aldegund, who was glowering nastily across the battlefield, a smirk curling on Osmund's lips as he sneered, "No, not Agmund, but just his lackey and his lackeys."
"Don't get too excited," Brynhilde warned. "They're still three Titans and all nine Warlords. Our odds aren't favorable....Even so, I enjoy an underdog's fight." She stood up, flourishing her sharpened swords in front of her with a wicked grin on her face. Brynhilde knew today was the day in which sagas would be told, the kind she heard since she was little girl who stared up in awe and wonder as her mother, Hilda, would tell heroic stories of old.
"We're all probably going to die," Skögul added indifferently, looking between Vehuiah and Fenrir, "even with these two big oafs. But if you give me that big axe you got there, we might have a chance."
Osmund tossed Azram toward Skögul, laughing cheerfully, "Don't break it then." She caught it, admiring the rune-work along the pole, a mischievous glare alighting from her eyes that made Osmund regret giving it to her. He knew how carried away she gets during battle.
"We face death and you're all getting nostalgic? How inappropriate." Fenrir scolded.
Osmund patted Fenrir's leg, "It's because we would have it no other way than this. I will protect you, dear friend. I promise."
Fenrir scoffed at his words, but turned his head away without saying a word, a small smile on his face. There was relief in his heart, he knew Osmund would keep his promise just as he had before.
"Pup, you will need Myndasól back if you're facing up against Aldegund's blade." Róta barked at Osmund, producing a triangular shield from her back and tossing it at him. Osmund caught it, thanking her. Despite her brashness, she had always looked after him. If he ever had a mother, it was Róta.
"Give us a great old speech, my brother. You know you want to give one," chuckled Vehuiah. No one had known Osmund longer than him and he had been there since the beginning.
"There's no more words today, only action," Osmund declared, shaking his head. "There is only one thing we must do and that is not let them reach Midgard."
"Still thinking about that stupid world?" Skögul teased. "What was it again? Arda?"
"Always."
"Then I will speak," Róta droned. "Lo, there do I see my father..."
Vehuiah, understanding what was happening, spoke next, "...Lo, there do I see my mother and my brothers and my sisters."
Brynhilde followed, "Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning."
Skögul sighed, reluctantly continuing, "Lo, do they call to me."
Fenrir growled, "They bid me to take my place among them in the hallowed halls of Valhalla."
Osmund finished, "Where the brave may live to fight forever....We shall not weep nor shall we mourn, but rejoice for those that have died the glorious death for these..." He looked behind him at his comrades, a content smile on his face, "...are the pride of the pack....NOW! TO GLORY!"
Far away, beneath the shadow of Nidhogg, the mountains taller than moons crumbled, letting out a deep rattle through the air, followed by a tremendous shock-wave that further cracked the beaten ground. Gibborim shot out from the rubble, landing at the edge of the fallen mountain's debris. His armor was such a deep black, details and volume could not be made out, made all the more difficult to discern beneath the shadow of Nidhogg. What could only be made out was the constant hot red outline around the armor, his scarlet hair waving in harsh winds like wildfire, golden eyes burning with fury at having been beaten into a mountainside. His head turned quickly to Osmund's side as three brilliant lights flashed into view, surrounding Osmund.
Three women materialized from the light, one in front of Osmund and the other two at each side of him. The one in front of Osmund was of his height, golden haired with wings on her back whose feathers were coated in fire. Her armor was light around the legs, only wearing chrome boots that reached up to her knees decorated with golden wings. Around her waist was a thick, white pelt of wolf's fur held in place by a belt with the mark of a phoenix on the buckle. Everything above was thick armor of golden leather and metal up to her shoulders. A crown of two golden wings lit aflame adorned her head. Her arms were littered with fresh cuts and through her right gauntlet was a rather bloody stabwound, but she was unfazed.
Osmund spoke to the valkyrie in front of him, "Brynhilde, what are the three of you doing here?"
She turned to Osmund, a grim look in her eye, speaking in her low, resonant voice, "They started moving in this direction."
She nodded behind her to the horizon and indeed the four Warlords - Angrboda, Triam, Jarnsaxa, and Garmr - were now joining Gibborim and Nidhogg across the battlefield.
The older, black-haired valkyrie to Osmund's right stepped toward him, placing her hand on the deep gash on his waist while he tried to push her off muttering, "I'm fine, Róta." But she was not having it.
"You have venom flowing through your veins, Pup," Rota said rather angrily, her wrinkles becoming more prominent through her scowl, her hand gripping tightly against the wound, making Osmund wince, "Stop being such a baby! You recognize what venom flows through you! I will heal you as I have before." Róta was an old valkyrie, completely fortified in black armor with no skin to show, her wings an onyx shade and appearing much like a raven's wings.
The younger, white-haired valkyrie to the left of Osmund smirked as Róta's hands illuminated in a green tinge, the blood along the outside of his wound receding. This valkyrie's armor was lighter in weight, but otherwise exactly like Brynhilde's with purple trims instead of gold, her wings charged with electric power. Osmund noticed her smirk, chiding her, "Don't laugh, Skögul. It seems you're in need of a checkup too with those stabwounds on your legs and stomach. Still don't know how to defend?"
Skögul's face fell, immediately twisting into a grimace as she hissed back, "What good is defending if I can't hit them? Triam only ever attacks and attacks..." her voice trailed off, fuming under her breath as she looked away, Osmund only catching the words, "...big oaf...thinks he's cool...wish I never met him...."
"Brynhilde, how does it look down below?" Osmund asked.
Brynhilde's eyes narrowed at the massive crater to the west, so fathomless it disappeared into impenetrable darkness. She chuckled with a large smile on her face, "You think the dwarves can't take the Jotunn? Even leaderless, the dwarves are the most powerful military force in the universe and it's always easy to defend rather than conquer."
Osmund sighed with relief, "That's good to hear....Even so, I could not save Grimnir." He looked toward the dragon, circling over the horizon still, an expression of guilt on his face. "In his last moment, he threw his axe toward me so I could cut off Nidhogg's tail, knowing what would happen...and he was gone to the jaws of the dragon the next moment."
Brynhilde nodded somberly, "A death worthy of a hero such as him. He is in Valhalla now."
A deep, booming voice echoed behind them, eerily soothing as it passed through them, "And we must hope we do not meet the same fate...."
They looked behind them to see a titanic wolf on all fours walking towards them, each step making the ground tremble at his passage. His fur was pitch black like the night, a hint of violet at the edges only visible through the light emanating from the three valkyries and Osmund's armor. His head pierced through the heavens and each leg was a mountain, thicker than any tree or structure and extremely muscled. What was most striking were his eyes, six piercing red eyes of three sets like burning horizontal lines with a golden orb in the middle, giving his eyes the appearance of the sun bleeding into an evening horizon. He was grinning, showing ravenous yellow teeth bigger than a giant. The great wolf smelled of forests and earth, a subtle tinge of dry heathers present.
Osmund's face immediately lit up, exclaiming, "FENRIR! How have you been you old dog? Tell me about your journeys!"
Rota, who was still healing him, pushed him back down as he had tried to get up in his joy, reprimanding him with a painful grip on his wound, "Not the time, you fool."
Fenrir let out a torrent of low breaths, which would easily be mistaken for angry growling, but his lips were curled in a smile as he continued to chuckle, "Your appearance may change, but that stupid upbeat attitude never changes." He surveyed the field, looking at the Warlords and Titans on the other side of the battlefield, baring his teeth in menacing disgust, "Aldegund's forces sicken me. Is this all of us?"
Brynhilde responded, not looking up from sharpening her sword with a silver whetstone, "No, Vehuiah Seraphim should be here any second now."
Osmund perked up once again at the name, "Oh he's arriving as well? This is just like old times!"
Skögul huffed, "Old times? You mean when we were battling this mut of yours? You call those fun times?"
Fenrir bared his canines at Skögul, "Careful talking about the past, young valkyrie....I doubt you'd want us talking about yours now, would we?"
Skögul's cheeks burned red, her eyes like daggers as she and the wolf stared each other down.
Osmund stood up suddenly ("AGAIN? Stand still or else the venom won't properly come out!"), looking towards the Titans and Warlords with a face of alarm. He spoke with a voice unnerved, "I recognize that presence...."
Brynhilde was also looking towards the source, "You recognized it too....What's worse is there's powerful presences behind him as well."
Fenrir began growling, the air crackling with popping sounds and heat from his low snarls, flames curling between his bared teeth, "I can see him from here....Aldegund marches with the other five Warlords."
In the distance, the shape of a figure flanked by five others were walking to meet between Gibborim and the other Warlords. From left to right, all the Warlords stood in a line. Thrym the Warlord to Hrungnir, Triam the Warlord to Nidhogg, Farbauti the Warlord to Surtr, Utgard-Loki the Warlord to Ymir, Angrboda the Warlord to Hela, Ostara the Warlord to Loki, Jarnsaxa the Warlord to Gibborim, Aegir the Warlord to Jormungandr, and Garmr the Warlord to Fenrir.
Aldegund's white hair shone in the twilight sun, his body fortified in onyx armor. He carried with him a black long-sword (Róta gasped, "Ragnarok!") with bloody runes running up the blade, the guard possessing a restlessly wandering eye constantly pulsating with a crimson glow and a black slit cutting through its core. He lifted it in front of him, pointing the black blade at Osmund and his company, declaring with hoarse words that echoed far, "I've come for my dog, the Titan of Fear! Come here Fenrir and I might not reprimand you for your insubordination!"
At his words Fenrir growled so fiercely the air began to quiver, smoldering heat waving along his face as sound-waves cracked around him, crimson flames rolling out from between his bared, trembling teeth. But before he could even utter a word, Osmund brandished his sword in front of him and pointed it at Aldegund, the edge of the blade an evening red that darkened to pitch black the further it got to the guard, the hilt a midnight blue. Osmund's face was contorted in rage, his chest huffed and beard shuddering, his voice booming and shaking the ground even more dramatically than Fenrir's snarls, "YOU SHOW YOURSELF ONLY WITH YOUR MEN AT YOUR WINGS? COWARD!" He swung his sword, Abendrot, to his side, the act bringing lightning to strike the ground in front of him, leaving a seething blue crater. An electric blue hue arose from his body, the charged power raising his long blonde-white hair up like needles, his words becoming low and resonant, words trembling in fury, "First you believe you could take Nidavellir, but now you believe you can take Fenrir? Such imperious nature. Your presence changes nothing in this battlefield. You will not take this realm nor will you take my friend. VEHUIAH, SHOW YOURSELF!"
Behind them, golden light showered them from the heavens, spilling throughout all the valleys with incandescent radiance and scattering all shadows from view. Bathed in this light, a man far taller than even Fenrir stepped out, but he was no man. His body was an ardent gold, the white light he radiated waving outward like tendrils, comparable to the corona of the sun. His golden wings stretched out further than Nidhogg's, composed of billions of burning angels packed tightly together in constant oratorio. His wings were open to show his muscled bare torso, three arms on each side of which each set was folded together. A longer pair of wings were wrapped around his legs and covered his lower half, while a shorter pair of wings covered his face.
When he spoke, it was a melodically baritone voice, "This atmosphere I have felt only once before at the battle at Asgard's gates. We have come to fight he who only knows hate, I imagine?"
Osmund continued to stare down Aldegund, who was glowering nastily across the battlefield, a smirk curling on Osmund's lips as he sneered, "No, not Agmund, but just his lackey and his lackeys."
"Don't get too excited," Brynhilde warned. "They're still three Titans and all nine Warlords. Our odds aren't favorable....Even so, I enjoy an underdog's fight." She stood up, flourishing her sharpened swords in front of her with a wicked grin on her face. Brynhilde knew today was the day in which sagas would be told, the kind she heard since she was little girl who stared up in awe and wonder as her mother, Hilda, would tell heroic stories of old.
"We're all probably going to die," Skögul added indifferently, looking between Vehuiah and Fenrir, "even with these two big oafs. But if you give me that big axe you got there, we might have a chance."
Osmund tossed Azram toward Skögul, laughing cheerfully, "Don't break it then." She caught it, admiring the rune-work along the pole, a mischievous glare alighting from her eyes that made Osmund regret giving it to her. He knew how carried away she gets during battle.
"We face death and you're all getting nostalgic? How inappropriate." Fenrir scolded.
Osmund patted Fenrir's leg, "It's because we would have it no other way than this. I will protect you, dear friend. I promise."
Fenrir scoffed at his words, but turned his head away without saying a word, a small smile on his face. There was relief in his heart, he knew Osmund would keep his promise just as he had before.
"Pup, you will need Myndasól back if you're facing up against Aldegund's blade." Róta barked at Osmund, producing a triangular shield from her back and tossing it at him. Osmund caught it, thanking her. Despite her brashness, she had always looked after him. If he ever had a mother, it was Róta.
"Give us a great old speech, my brother. You know you want to give one," chuckled Vehuiah. No one had known Osmund longer than him and he had been there since the beginning.
"There's no more words today, only action," Osmund declared, shaking his head. "There is only one thing we must do and that is not let them reach Midgard."
"Still thinking about that stupid world?" Skögul teased. "What was it again? Arda?"
"Always."
"Then I will speak," Róta droned. "Lo, there do I see my father..."
Vehuiah, understanding what was happening, spoke next, "...Lo, there do I see my mother and my brothers and my sisters."
Brynhilde followed, "Lo, there do I see the line of my people back to the beginning."
Skögul sighed, reluctantly continuing, "Lo, do they call to me."
Fenrir growled, "They bid me to take my place among them in the hallowed halls of Valhalla."
Osmund finished, "Where the brave may live to fight forever....We shall not weep nor shall we mourn, but rejoice for those that have died the glorious death for these..." He looked behind him at his comrades, a content smile on his face, "...are the pride of the pack....NOW! TO GLORY!"
Final Chapter. A Saga Well Spun
...And the dread wolf shall devour the beloved stag, for the warrior might not but carry evening's flag/He shall wield forevermore his beloved's heart in war, and it is strife that warrior shall meet with true valour/High king of heroes shall warrior be known - to heed the call, bravely to a last battle with mighty death's blade at night's fall/Heart in hand to walk nine paces north to his love, heroes singing tales of a saga mightily spun in halls above.
The battlefield in Jotunnheim was a sight to behold.
To the east, blankets of crimson fire burned and raged, devouring forests and mountains alike. Its land crumbled, splitting and falling into a sea of flames created from brutal combat that razed the very face of the earth. Within the fire, what would easily be mistaken for a chain of mountains stirred, its evening red eyes opening. It was the wolf, Fenrir, bloodied and beaten. His eyes wandered to what lay in front of him. There lay an armless and legless valkyrie, peering at the sky with her eyes sunk, a smeared sword between her teeth. She was unrecognizable.
"Skögul...." moaned Fenrir.
To the west, the earth had been peeled to create vast new mountain chains and valleys, its cores spewing forth lava and ash. The skies were a dark plume that cracked with fierce lightning, its wild bolts striking the ground and splitting into the soil new craters. Against the face of these mountain chains, a wingless and trembling valkyrie stood with her head low, bloodied all over, yet unbowed. Róta's black feathers were littered all around her, rusty swords and broken axes like gravestones before her for the three corpses that lay splayed on the scorched ground.
To the south, there was nothing. The earth had been split and was gone, only a cliff-side opened up to a bright sky that plunged into the darkness below. At the edge of the cliff, another valkyrie stood with her two swords in hand. Her wings were gone, only the visage of burnt bones at her back. Long thorns and arrows littered her front, purple venom falling from their tips that stuck out along her back. She faced the edge, looking down at the darkness through gritted teeth.
"Nidhogg, Jarnsaxa, and Triam are gone now...you can rest," a melodic voice spoke behind her.
She turned to look at the voice, her golden hair whipping in the wind. "Good riddance," she spat before her tone changed to concern. "Vehuiah...we must heal the others."
Vehuiah was the size of a human now, his wings were gone and his golden radiance dulled. His three pairs of eyes studied Brynhilde, stating, "My angels are already on their way to each of them, however...." His voice trailed off as they both looked north.
To the north, a great anvil-like storm cloud hovered above. Thunder cracked within, rupturing air with electricity and rain poured heavily to fall on two men. Osmund had his sword, Abendrot, pierced into Aldegund's heart. He held it with his right hand, for his left arm was entirely gone. His golden armor had lost its luster, appearing as only dull silver metal of which only plates around his waist, right shoulder, and legs were left. The skin he showed had black veins protruding out along his skin, his skin was deathly pale and his blood now a regular crimson. His left eye remained fierce in their gold, his right eye shut while blood along his forehead trailed over and down his chin.
"You should have never followed in Agmund's path," Osmund grumbled, his words still firm despite his ghastly state.
Aldegund's weary silver eyes stared blankly at Osmund, a smile creeping along his cracked lips that were dry with blood. His armor was broken and his stomach caved in like a well from the many blows received. Fissures along his skin were agape, muscle and tissue visible.
"Even if it wasn't me, someone else would have ushered in this new age: the Age of Wolves." Aldegund uttered. "No matter how boldly you swung your sword," Aldegund brought up one pale hand to tap Abendrot, "you would have never been able to stop this. This was fated."
"No one will sing of you in this age," Osmund growled.
"I'll hear my praises sung in screams," Aldegund hissed. "Finish me....I will return regardless of what happened in this battlefield and join Agmund."
Golden lightning fell from the sky and struck Osmund's blade, immediately creating a wave of electricity that flowed outward. The vast electrical ocean swallowed Aldegund within, his wicked smile as he faded away burning into Osmund's memory.
Osmund leaned on his sword, shoulders collapsing from exhaustion. His breaths were heavy and pain filled his entire body like searing venom. His vision was fading by the minute and he looked toward the northern horizon where a golden sun was beginning to peer out along the Jotunn skyline. His body was cold and the warmth of the dawning sun was welcome. Sudden determination filled Osmund's body and he took one step north.
"I must get to Midgard..." he thought to himself. "There's still so much more I can do...."
Osmund took another step, staggering on his right leg from the stabbing pain. "The Vanguard...there's still enough time to assemble them...."
He took a third step as all watched on. Fenrir began to crawl toward Osmund slowly, following him in frustrated pursuit. Skögul was carried by a white angel, no expression on her face as she only stared at Osmund. Róta leaned on another white angel, tears in her eyes as she barked at Osmund, "DON'T FULFILL THE PROPHECY!" Brynhilde and Vehuiah only watched on, their faces doleful.
Heedless to them, Osmund took a fourth step north, still in his thoughts as he stared at the ground, "We'll be prepared this time....Everyone will be together...Kamkari, Valerian, Kouen, Kira...all in Council....My Wardens - Judal, Athaliah, and Judikael - will defend Arda and rally everyone, from Tano, Shizaru, Itami, and Misuto....Even Akatsuki."
Osmund took a fifth step north, "I'll get that bastard Madara back in action, together just as it was in Akatsuki....My brother, Eiko, by my side....We'll defend Midgard....The three of us...."
Osmund stumbled in the rain, nearly falling, but stopping himself on his sword. He took his sixth step, "My sons and my daughters will get to fight with their old man....Aegon...Lyanna...Jaeherys...Arthurius...Akina...Virgo....Balderich will be with us too...I'm sure of it....He'd bond well with Aemon....Our family with their children, Erik, Aegnor, and Nymeria....The glory of facing off a hoard...."
He took a seventh step and his vision faded even more as he looked toward the rising sun through gritted teeth, pleading, "I must see them again...Protect them....All of them....To return...."
On his eighth step, a terrible cold befell his worn body, a shiver running down his spine and rooting itself there. "A world of peace....A world with brotherhood and comrades who sing of sagas well spun....I can still see it....A world She would love...."
He took a ninth final step, a golden ray of light beginning to shine on him from above. He looked up as the clouds opened to the skies above and all of his pain and sorrows washed away. Tears welled on his eyes as they fell along his cheek. He spoke with awe in his voice, "Frigga...?"
Those around him could not see what he saw, only looking on at him as he stared at the sky motionless. Fenrir stopped pursuing him and gazed at him, sobbing, "You see her now, do you, Wulfric?..."
Osmund stared adoringly at the glowing woman descending from the ray of light. She had high cheeks that pronounced her fair skin, lips of a soft pink. Her pointy elf-like ears pushing out against her long, blonde hair. She smiled warmly and lovingly at Osmund, his golden eyes meeting her electric blue eyes. Osmund reached his hands out to her and she fell upon them, her hands touching his cheeks and all the scars and wrinkles faded from him. His white hair being struck by sky blue tones, his beard disappearing as well. His face was youthful as they looked into one another and finally she spoke.
"You did it to yourself," she smiled, her voice as strong and sweet as he remembered it.
Osmund laughed through his tears, she wiped them away with her thumb, admitting, "Your intuitions were always right....There's so much I want to tell you, so much that happened."
She beamed at him, nodding behind her, "Then come with me and tell me, we all await you."
He took her hand and he felt himself lifted up to the sky as she guided him up through the clouds and he saw it; the sun as it rose above golden, wondrous halls. With one last twinkle in his eyes, he smiled and closed his tired eyes shut.
But his comrades saw none of it, they only saw the smiling old warrior, standing as he closed his eyes to never open them again.
They prepared Osmund's ship and Grimnir's ship. Two glorious vessels that carried all their belongings with them. For Grimnir, only his axe, Azram, was in the place he would have laid. They sent the two ships off to the sea, drifting off into the night's horizon. Thousands of ships swiftly followed them on their path across the sea, ships that carried the countless dwarves that gave their lives defending Nidavellir and Midgard.
The dwarves notched their arrows and sent them flying through the sky, twinkling in the darkened skies like stars until they fell like comets onto each ship, torching them. Brynhilde, Fenrir, Vehuiah, Róta, and Skögul stood together mournfully. Róta was fighting back her tears and Skögul, who had to make do with constructed limbs made of wood, looked down at the ground hiding her face.
Only Osmund's ship remained untouched by the arrows. Ravens had perched themselves along the edges of the ship. Brynhilde stepped forward, reaching for her bow along her shoulder and an arrow along her back. She lit aflame the arrowhead with the brazier in front of her and notched it on the bow, letting it free as it soared through the night heavens and onto Osmund's ship. Quickly, the vessel was consumed in flames and his body was no longer visible within. The ravens flew away as the ship began to break, sinking into the sea.
"Your journey begins with sword in the wind...." Brynhilde declared. "We will meet once again in the final battle, my brother."
They all walked away to go into their own halls where they would feast in their name, drinking in their honor, and sing tales of their saga.
To the east, blankets of crimson fire burned and raged, devouring forests and mountains alike. Its land crumbled, splitting and falling into a sea of flames created from brutal combat that razed the very face of the earth. Within the fire, what would easily be mistaken for a chain of mountains stirred, its evening red eyes opening. It was the wolf, Fenrir, bloodied and beaten. His eyes wandered to what lay in front of him. There lay an armless and legless valkyrie, peering at the sky with her eyes sunk, a smeared sword between her teeth. She was unrecognizable.
"Skögul...." moaned Fenrir.
To the west, the earth had been peeled to create vast new mountain chains and valleys, its cores spewing forth lava and ash. The skies were a dark plume that cracked with fierce lightning, its wild bolts striking the ground and splitting into the soil new craters. Against the face of these mountain chains, a wingless and trembling valkyrie stood with her head low, bloodied all over, yet unbowed. Róta's black feathers were littered all around her, rusty swords and broken axes like gravestones before her for the three corpses that lay splayed on the scorched ground.
To the south, there was nothing. The earth had been split and was gone, only a cliff-side opened up to a bright sky that plunged into the darkness below. At the edge of the cliff, another valkyrie stood with her two swords in hand. Her wings were gone, only the visage of burnt bones at her back. Long thorns and arrows littered her front, purple venom falling from their tips that stuck out along her back. She faced the edge, looking down at the darkness through gritted teeth.
"Nidhogg, Jarnsaxa, and Triam are gone now...you can rest," a melodic voice spoke behind her.
She turned to look at the voice, her golden hair whipping in the wind. "Good riddance," she spat before her tone changed to concern. "Vehuiah...we must heal the others."
Vehuiah was the size of a human now, his wings were gone and his golden radiance dulled. His three pairs of eyes studied Brynhilde, stating, "My angels are already on their way to each of them, however...." His voice trailed off as they both looked north.
To the north, a great anvil-like storm cloud hovered above. Thunder cracked within, rupturing air with electricity and rain poured heavily to fall on two men. Osmund had his sword, Abendrot, pierced into Aldegund's heart. He held it with his right hand, for his left arm was entirely gone. His golden armor had lost its luster, appearing as only dull silver metal of which only plates around his waist, right shoulder, and legs were left. The skin he showed had black veins protruding out along his skin, his skin was deathly pale and his blood now a regular crimson. His left eye remained fierce in their gold, his right eye shut while blood along his forehead trailed over and down his chin.
"You should have never followed in Agmund's path," Osmund grumbled, his words still firm despite his ghastly state.
Aldegund's weary silver eyes stared blankly at Osmund, a smile creeping along his cracked lips that were dry with blood. His armor was broken and his stomach caved in like a well from the many blows received. Fissures along his skin were agape, muscle and tissue visible.
"Even if it wasn't me, someone else would have ushered in this new age: the Age of Wolves." Aldegund uttered. "No matter how boldly you swung your sword," Aldegund brought up one pale hand to tap Abendrot, "you would have never been able to stop this. This was fated."
"No one will sing of you in this age," Osmund growled.
"I'll hear my praises sung in screams," Aldegund hissed. "Finish me....I will return regardless of what happened in this battlefield and join Agmund."
Golden lightning fell from the sky and struck Osmund's blade, immediately creating a wave of electricity that flowed outward. The vast electrical ocean swallowed Aldegund within, his wicked smile as he faded away burning into Osmund's memory.
Osmund leaned on his sword, shoulders collapsing from exhaustion. His breaths were heavy and pain filled his entire body like searing venom. His vision was fading by the minute and he looked toward the northern horizon where a golden sun was beginning to peer out along the Jotunn skyline. His body was cold and the warmth of the dawning sun was welcome. Sudden determination filled Osmund's body and he took one step north.
"I must get to Midgard..." he thought to himself. "There's still so much more I can do...."
Osmund took another step, staggering on his right leg from the stabbing pain. "The Vanguard...there's still enough time to assemble them...."
He took a third step as all watched on. Fenrir began to crawl toward Osmund slowly, following him in frustrated pursuit. Skögul was carried by a white angel, no expression on her face as she only stared at Osmund. Róta leaned on another white angel, tears in her eyes as she barked at Osmund, "DON'T FULFILL THE PROPHECY!" Brynhilde and Vehuiah only watched on, their faces doleful.
Heedless to them, Osmund took a fourth step north, still in his thoughts as he stared at the ground, "We'll be prepared this time....Everyone will be together...Kamkari, Valerian, Kouen, Kira...all in Council....My Wardens - Judal, Athaliah, and Judikael - will defend Arda and rally everyone, from Tano, Shizaru, Itami, and Misuto....Even Akatsuki."
Osmund took a fifth step north, "I'll get that bastard Madara back in action, together just as it was in Akatsuki....My brother, Eiko, by my side....We'll defend Midgard....The three of us...."
Osmund stumbled in the rain, nearly falling, but stopping himself on his sword. He took his sixth step, "My sons and my daughters will get to fight with their old man....Aegon...Lyanna...Jaeherys...Arthurius...Akina...Virgo....Balderich will be with us too...I'm sure of it....He'd bond well with Aemon....Our family with their children, Erik, Aegnor, and Nymeria....The glory of facing off a hoard...."
He took a seventh step and his vision faded even more as he looked toward the rising sun through gritted teeth, pleading, "I must see them again...Protect them....All of them....To return...."
On his eighth step, a terrible cold befell his worn body, a shiver running down his spine and rooting itself there. "A world of peace....A world with brotherhood and comrades who sing of sagas well spun....I can still see it....A world She would love...."
He took a ninth final step, a golden ray of light beginning to shine on him from above. He looked up as the clouds opened to the skies above and all of his pain and sorrows washed away. Tears welled on his eyes as they fell along his cheek. He spoke with awe in his voice, "Frigga...?"
Those around him could not see what he saw, only looking on at him as he stared at the sky motionless. Fenrir stopped pursuing him and gazed at him, sobbing, "You see her now, do you, Wulfric?..."
Osmund stared adoringly at the glowing woman descending from the ray of light. She had high cheeks that pronounced her fair skin, lips of a soft pink. Her pointy elf-like ears pushing out against her long, blonde hair. She smiled warmly and lovingly at Osmund, his golden eyes meeting her electric blue eyes. Osmund reached his hands out to her and she fell upon them, her hands touching his cheeks and all the scars and wrinkles faded from him. His white hair being struck by sky blue tones, his beard disappearing as well. His face was youthful as they looked into one another and finally she spoke.
"You did it to yourself," she smiled, her voice as strong and sweet as he remembered it.
Osmund laughed through his tears, she wiped them away with her thumb, admitting, "Your intuitions were always right....There's so much I want to tell you, so much that happened."
She beamed at him, nodding behind her, "Then come with me and tell me, we all await you."
He took her hand and he felt himself lifted up to the sky as she guided him up through the clouds and he saw it; the sun as it rose above golden, wondrous halls. With one last twinkle in his eyes, he smiled and closed his tired eyes shut.
But his comrades saw none of it, they only saw the smiling old warrior, standing as he closed his eyes to never open them again.
They prepared Osmund's ship and Grimnir's ship. Two glorious vessels that carried all their belongings with them. For Grimnir, only his axe, Azram, was in the place he would have laid. They sent the two ships off to the sea, drifting off into the night's horizon. Thousands of ships swiftly followed them on their path across the sea, ships that carried the countless dwarves that gave their lives defending Nidavellir and Midgard.
The dwarves notched their arrows and sent them flying through the sky, twinkling in the darkened skies like stars until they fell like comets onto each ship, torching them. Brynhilde, Fenrir, Vehuiah, Róta, and Skögul stood together mournfully. Róta was fighting back her tears and Skögul, who had to make do with constructed limbs made of wood, looked down at the ground hiding her face.
Only Osmund's ship remained untouched by the arrows. Ravens had perched themselves along the edges of the ship. Brynhilde stepped forward, reaching for her bow along her shoulder and an arrow along her back. She lit aflame the arrowhead with the brazier in front of her and notched it on the bow, letting it free as it soared through the night heavens and onto Osmund's ship. Quickly, the vessel was consumed in flames and his body was no longer visible within. The ravens flew away as the ship began to break, sinking into the sea.
"Your journey begins with sword in the wind...." Brynhilde declared. "We will meet once again in the final battle, my brother."
They all walked away to go into their own halls where they would feast in their name, drinking in their honor, and sing tales of their saga.