Part 9: Fire and Ice

 

 

Zane could feel the hot sun beating down on him.  It seemed so red and so much larger than usual.  He was beginning to wonder if he was even on earth anymore.  Why was that stupid butte so far away?  Did everything look closer than it really was in the desert?  Zane dragged his feet across the scorched sands.  At least there weren’t any of those fire geysers in this area.  He kept his pace, knowing if he stopped to rest he probably wouldn’t get up again. 

 

A few hours later he nearly collapsed with relief to see the butte only a few minutes away.  His eyes were bleary from the light, but he almost swore he saw people.  He’d been making ice to cool himself and provide water, but using his powers without the armor was physically and mentally taxing—especially in such heat.  Maybe they had water and shade they’d share. 

 

Yes!  There were people!  He held out his hands as he approached to show he meant no harm.  He could see them more clearly now.  They were…not human.  Four tall, bulky creatures lumbered towards him, bodies chiseled like grey rock.  They carried no weapons, but that didn’t make Zane feel at ease.  As they got closer he could see their jeering faces--sharp teeth bared in menacing smiles, narrowed red eyes.  “Oh, crap.”

 

Zane was exhausted, but he got into fighting stance.  He only hoped there weren’t any more of them lurking around somewhere.  They tried to slowly circle around him, but he kept backing up.  Zane wanted them to make the first move.  That way he would be sure of their intentions.  He didn’t have to wait long.  One of the creatures charged with an angry grunt.  It didn’t seem to move very fast, though.  Zane sidestepped it, kicking another one that was fast approaching.  The thing flinched, but did not fall or even double over.  He felt like he’d kicked a brick wall.  Their skin looked like rock—now Zane wondered if that’s what they were really made of.  Another one grabbed his bare arm.

 

“AAARRRRRRGGG!”  Zane fell to his knees.  The creature’s grip was like fire.  Zane formed an ice club with his other hand and slammed it down on the rock man’s wrist several times.  Its hand finally broke off and dropped to the sand, steam spewing from the wound.  Zane spun and smashed the hammer into its face, causing little chips of rock to break off.  The creature balled up on the ground, groaning in pain.  Zane looked at his arm to see finger marks branded into it.  The skin was red and starting to welt.  He couldn’t let them touch his bare skin again.

 

He didn’t know how many more hits his hammer could make before melting.  It was already dripping water on his hand.  He butted the head of the hammer into the side of one of his attackers.  Strangely, the blow sunk in rather than smack against rock-hardness.  The creature dropped to its knees howling.  Their sides!  Their sides were soft!  Zane spun to slam his hammer into the side of another rock person, but the thing turned at the last minute.  His weakened hammer shattered against its solid stomach.  He tried to reform it, but he didn’t have the strength to create something that dense again.  Zane put all his effort into making a spear.  He had to use it wisely because he didn’t think he’d be able to whip up anything else afterwards.  He rolled away from the rock man.  As it turned, its left side was exposed.  Zane rammed the spear into the vulnerable area, the spear easily going all the way in.  A surprised look on its face, the creature crumpled to the sand.  Unfortunately, the thing’s internal temperature was too hot for Zane’s spear.  When he pulled it out the end was melted.  He tried to fix it, but he couldn’t summon enough energy.  He still had one more to fight and only a spear shaft to fight with.  Zane was startled by a voice.

 

“Hold foul creature!  This one is not for you!”  Three men stood there with swords and spears.  They charged the rock man.  With an angry scowl, it turned to attack them instead.  One of the newcomers, a bear of a man, gripped the creature’s hands with his own gauntlet-covered hands.  For a few minutes they wrestled each other like that, neither one losing or gaining ground.  The man suddenly twisted to the side, forcing the rock man to the ground.  He swiftly drew his sword and skewered it through the side.

 

Zane exhaled with relief.  Maybe he could finally get some answers.  He walked over to them slowly.  “Thanks a lot.  I really owe you guys.”  The three men stared at him with cold eyes.  Maybe they didn’t get a lot of visitors here.

 

“I know I’m in your debt, but could you help me with another problem?  I need to get back to Norway and…”

 

The tall blond laughed bitterly.  “We would all like to go to Norway, wouldn’t we my brothers?  But you’ve made sure that is not possible for us.  We will make sure it is not possible for you, either.”

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

The big man backhanded him hard.  Zane’s vision blurred as he hit the sand.  “Your games no longer amuse anyone, Trickster.  You thought to escape us, but Odin’s reach is long indeed.  Now you are here.  Here you will finally get what you deserve.”

 

“But…I don’t…”

 

The big man kicked him in the stomach.  The brown-haired man laughed and kicked him in the back.  They kept kicking him until he coughed up blood.  The blond grabbed the big man’s arm.  “Enough, Volstag!  We are to bring him to Odin alive!”

 

“Father did not say in what condition.”

 

“If you continue to beat him, he will be dead.  And very likely, you will soon follow him for depriving Odin of his pleasure.” 

 

The big man stared at him with narrowed eyes.  “Bah!”  He spit at Zane, but didn’t kick him again.  He pulled him up by the red-welted arm and slung him over his shoulder.  Zane mercifully passed out.

 

Zane felt cool shadows on his skin.  He opened his eyes to find himself strung up in a dimly lit room, chained to the wall.  A figure emerged from the darkness.  He was tall and broad-shouldered with long white hair that still had blond streaks in it.  He wore a patch over one eye, but the other was a piercing dark blue that seemed to burn through Zane.  The man paced back and forth, never taking his gaze off Zane.  He slowly walked over, his expression still a cold mask.  He stopped right in front of Zane, looking him up and down.  A low rumbling sound welled up from his throat that turned into an almost crazed laughter.

 

“Well, well, well.  It seems you are my prisoner once more, Loki.  It has been a long time.”

 

“What’s going on here?  Who are you?”

 

The man punched him in the stomach.  Zane spit up blood.

 

“You will not speak unless I demand it.  You never did know your place.  When Odin commands, all the gods obey.  But you were too good to live as the rest of our people.  All the time I was welcoming you into my home as an honored guest, into my family as a blood brother, you were plotting to take my place.”

 

“But I don’t…”

 

“SILENCE!”  Odin backhanded him.  Zane felt sick and dizzy.

 

“Father!”  The man with the long blond hair appeared in the doorway behind Odin.  “He has already been badly beaten.  If he is not tended to, he will die.”

 

“Balder!  You want to help this…this mongrel that has betrayed us time and again?  Have you forgotten he had you killed?  Then made sure you would be trapped in his daughter’s horrid land of the dead until the final days of our people, when all the fallen rose up to fight at Ragnarok?  You should be first in line to mete out punishment.”

 

“I want him to feel all the pain I have endured because of him.  I want him to suffer for his crimes.  But look at him!  He is near death!  If he is not treated, he will die and be beyond our power once again.  We have waited too long just to see him escape so easily.”

 

Odin looked at Zane’s welted arm, his badly sunburned fair skin, the many cuts and bruises on his face, the blood slowly dribbling from his mouth and nose, the feverish look in his eyes.  He turned away in disgust.  “Bah!  Take him!  He is your responsibility, Balder.  Do not make me regret giving it to you.”

 

Balder unchained him.  Zane fell to the floor like a ragdoll.  Balder gently tried to support him and get him up and moving.

 

Odin strode towards the door, but stopped to address Balder before leaving.  “Make him fit to face my judgment.  If he thought being chained to a mountain cliff with acidic venom dripping on his face was harsh, he will be surprised indeed by what I have in store.”

 

Zane shivered.  Acidic venom?  His voice was dry and raspy.  “The…snake.  The woman with the bowl.”

 

“I see that you do remember.  I have something better in mind this time.  And there will be no Sigryn there to help ease your pain.  I’ve had no wife to ease mine because of you.”  Odin stalked out.  Zane closed his eyes and drifted away.