"You're kidding right?" Asked Death.
I guess it was a normal reaction to my question. The creature in front of me neighed and I could hear it speak in my head, confirming that it was horse.
'Do I look like a plant to you?' It said in my head. I could literally feel the sarcasm in its thoughts.
"Do you want my honest opinion?..." I trailed off, rubbing the back of my head nervously. I didn't need an angry immortal horse after me.
I also needed to think before I speak.
'Honestly master...this idiot is the one to stop the apocalypse?' The horse neighed, stomping its hooves to the ground. So apparently, I'm not the only one who could hear him...good.
"I know. I don't understand what Lucifer was thinking" said Death in an annoyed manner. Didn't they know I was here? Or were they doing this just to spite me.
"Hey hey hey! You can complain about me later. We're on a clock here" I said before remembering something. Lucifer said I had two days time to close the pit. I didn't have the key but I had to find some other way.
"Tell me something... how long was I out?" I asked in concern. Death picked up on that and let out a small chuckle.
"A week. But don't worry. The dragon was crucial in supplying power to my siblings. Your little quest for the key to the pit ended in defeating him, buying you more time. I'd say you've a week before War has enough power to free Conquest." She said with a sad smile.
"That's good to know" I said sarcastically. I had to get out of here. This place was driving me crazy. Not to mention the growing impulse to kill myself because of Death's aura.
"Well, let's get going..." I said. I then mounted the horse, despite the many curses that it shouted at me. I needed to introduce him to Arion sometime.
That would be an interesting exchange of words.
Without any warning, the horse started running. The horse, who I'm gonna call Max, kept speeding up while flapping his wings. Space started to bend around us, like the time when I rode with Chiron. It was like warping from Star Wars.
A bright light appeared somewhere a mile ahead of me. Max sped into the light and I closed my eyes, preparing for whatever was on the other side.
The next thing I know, I'm standing in front of an eight storey building of white and gray stones. Max was nowhere to be seen. I looked at my palm to see a glowing green necklace in it that had a horse symbol inscribed within it. I put it around my neck and made my way towards the building.
It had two dark, wooden double-doors that were bound by iron. As I walked, I looked back to see a huge wall. You could not see past it and as far as I could view, there was no entrance. I came across a huge birch tree that somehow had golden leaves.
I didn't even bother to think about how the leaves transpired with golden stomata.
Next to it was a bronze tablet. There were inscriptions on it. I recognised the English inscriptions but there something else written in another language.
It said:
WELCOME TO THE GROVE OF GLASIR.
NO SOLICITING. NO LOITERING.
HOTEL DELIVERIES: PLEASE USE THE NIFLHEIM ENTRANCE.
Niflheim?...where had I heard that before. It has something to do with the Vikings I think. Then I remembered...Magnus.
I groaned as my mind made the connection. Though it was not completely definite, with my luck...I was in Hotel Valhalla.
THE Hotel Valhalla.
The doors swung open and out walked an ox of a man. He wore a green jacket that resembled that of a doorman's. His face was full of warts and ash. His eyes were blood red and on his side, was a double bladed ax. He inspected me carefully before getting in a fighting position and taking out his axe.
He pointed it at me and spoke in a gruff voice. "What is your business here? You aren't Norse!" He said, well...more like yelled. He gave off a smell of burning meat. It was really hard to take him seriously when he was wearing a doorman's uniform.
I didn't want to linger any longer than I wanted to. All I had to do, was find the Wandering Jew. And the fastest way to do that would be to speak with the one in charge of this...hotel. If I remembered right, that someone was Odin.
"I need an audience with Odin!" I yelled back at him. "Odin isn't someone you can summon at will. He is the all-father! Now go, before I raise the alarm!" He said, trying to sound intimidating.
I rubbed my forehead in irritation and summoned the Sword of Eden. The power that the sword gave off made the doorman a bit nervous. Unfortunately, he took it as an act of war and pulled out some sort of button device from his pocket. He pressed it and I heard a really loud alarm-like sound ring from inside of the hotel. I sighed and threw my hands up in exasperation.
"Fine, have it your way. I'm here for allies, not enemies. Before we battle, may I know your name?" I asked, trying to be polite. I'll admit it, I half expected this to be some sort of joke. I really hoped someone would say:
'Cut! Very good! The book is done. You can now go back to your life'
No one jumped scared me and announced retirement, no one said 'ha! Got you' and no one said 'remember to vote in the chapters'. Well, it was a silly longing anyway.
"My name is Hunding. I wish you die with honour." He said and I heard the sound of thousands of footsteps. From behind him marched rows upon rows of soldiers, all dressed in Viking-like battle armour.
When they finally assembled, they were around a thousand of them. All of them looked to be in their thirties. Some looked excited while some others looked relieved that they would be able to battle. One of them stepped forth and spoke.
"This is a tiny portion of our einherjar army! Surrender now and we might show you mercy!" the person, who looked like one of the commanders of the army, shouted. This was a waste of time.
Somehow, I knew that since we were inside the borders of Valhalla, the soldiers would get resurrected if they were killed. That made my task easier.
With a flick of my hand, the skies darkened. I lifted my hand upward and willed the surrounding elements to my aid. I brought my hand down and massive bolts of lightning struck the army, electrocuting and vaporising many.
With another motion with my hand, a huge tsunami of a wave of water formed out of nothingness and swept away a large part of the army.
I then placed my hand on the ground and a huge crack emerged from it, swallowing a few unlucky 'einherjar', as they called themselves.
Out of the crack on the ground, came out hundreds upon hundreds of skeleton warriors. They were armed with Stygian iron swords and wore armour. They attacked what was left of the army until the only one to remain was Hunding, whom I ordered the skeleton soldiers not to attack.
[[{ I'm sorry that I'm being so mean to poor Hunding. It will change later, I promise:) }]]
I approached him and looked him directly in the eye. I spoke in a low, infernal voice that sent chills down the spine of anyone who heard it.
"Get...Me...Odin"
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