Treachery : book 2 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Present Time: Asgard

The golden hall of Fensallir once belonged to Odin's first wife Frigg. She was a goddess of earth and nature, all manner of beautiful and exotic plants had grown in and around the hall. When Frigg's son, Balder had been killed by his blind brother Hod. Frigg had gone mad with grief, she cast out all of her servants and barricaded herself inside Fensallir. There the goddess dwelt in isolation and slowly decayed until her eventual death. All the plants and beauty withered and died with her, the hall fell into decay and ruin.

At the constant urging of his second wife, Freyja. Odin eventually forced his way into the ruined decay of Fensallir and laid the remains of Frigg to rest, giving her the proper burial she deserved. The hall was rebuilt and converted into a mausoleum. A magnificent marble sarcophagus was built in an exact likeness of the goddess and placed in the very centre of the hall, beautiful flower gardens were replanted all around her tomb.

Jason Redfield stood beside the sarcophagus, he gently traced a hand over one of her smooth cheeks. The sarcophagus looked so lifelike. Frigg looked at peace, her hands folded over her chest clutching a bunch of flowers, her hair was fanned around and tumbled over the sides of the sarcophagus. The sunlight flooding through the skylights gave the stone hair a golden and lifelike appearance.

Over time, the hall had become a grave yard to all the other Aesir gods. Jason moved on and looked at the other lifelike statues dotted around the place, he was lost in very deep thought. Odin had told him that these statues were actual gods turned to stone. Only the three in the very centre of the hall were just plain statues. Balder and his wife Nanna stood sentinel hand in hand besides Frigg's sarcophagus.

Jason was completely startled out of his thoughts when one of the statues nearby spoke to him

"Once again I find you skulking around on your own. Got bored of libraries have you? Finding grave yards more appealing now?"

Jason realised it was not a talking statue but Kvasir. The ancient god was dressed all in grey, with his pale skin and grey hair he did have a statuesque appearance, the god had been standing perfectly still and silent for some time as he watched Jason.

"I am not skulking! I am thinking!"

"Yes you do seem to do that quite a lot and always on your own, unless of course you are having secret meetings with princesses of Hell"

Jason raised an eyebrow, how did Kvasir know about that? Before Jason could ask or pursue this further Kvasir changed the subject

"Have you made peace with Eva yet? How do you think she would feel about your secret library meetings?"

Jason growled deep in his throat

"First of all it was only one meeting! She just happened to find me there. As for Eva, no we haven't made up. I don't want to fight any more. Especially if it is the wrong fight! I just want to be left alone and live my afterlife in peace!"

Kvasir nodded gravely, his deep sunken eyes seemed to glow with a hidden power

"That has to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard! Believe me, I have lived long enough to have heard plenty of stupidity. Do you honestly believe the words you just spoke?"

The ancient god's words hit Jason like a hammer blow, he staggered back a step as if he had actually been hit.

"It is not stupid to want peace! It is not stupid to want the fighting to end!"

Kvasir shook his head sadly

"You are a fool and a stupid one at that! The end of days is coming! All worlds will be dragged into the final conflict, you cannot escape it or hide from it. You have been marked by the god's and will be forced to fight for evil or good in the end. You know all this, this is your fate!"