For Odin, for Thor, for Asgard Page 12

  Odin had indeed “died” as mortals and even some gods understood the term. Yet distant pantheons, with an interest in such matters, had moved to recreate him. Then, in time, as Lord Thor had thwarted the plans of “those who live above in shadow” and taken his long respite – the Allfather had reclaimed most of the Odinpower. It should never be thought, however, that Odin was nothing without the Odinpower – far from it. The Odinpower is only an aspect of Odin, possibly one upon which he had at times been over reliant. During its absence other aspects of Odin’s nature came to the fore.

  After his “recreation” Odin had stayed for a time as the guest of the gentle Aaleytians. Though they were not known as the gods of wisdom without good reason, still they had learned from him as he had from them. Wherever he now was the former Lord of Asgard would no doubt be greatly angered by their demise. After his time with the Aaleytians passed, Odin moved among other distant pantheons. He was respected and his knowledge sought wherever he went. Until the time came to move on.

  Orikal did not lie to mighty Thor. At the time when Thor had asked him Orikal could not in truth detect Odin on any plane of existence. When Orikal later became aware of Odin’s distant existence he simply chose, for reasons best known to himself, not to divulge this information to anyone.

  On reaching the very end of the barely perceptible interdimensional trail left by Desaak and others Beta Ray Bill and Heimdall chose to take stock of their unusual environment. It was beyond anything that either had experienced. Dormammu’s dark realm was cosy by comparison. Heimdall used the full extent of his sensory capabilities backed by every ounce of the residual Odinpower he could gather. At first he was unable to detect either Desaak or more importantly any direct trace of Odin. Then he sensed the residual Odinpower growing within him. “Perhaps it is Odin’s indirect way of assisting us” thought Bill.

  In a dimension as far removed from our own as it was possible to be, an invigorated Heimdall felt the Odinpower build within him. He rejoiced in it, taking it as a clear sign that Odin himself was at hand. As the build up continued Heimdall felt some discomfort. Long ago when he had briefly exercised custodianship over Asgard a portion of the Odinpower had been bestowed upon him. More recently he had received the merest residual thread of the Odinpower. Now he was apparently to receive it all, something totally beyond his experience.

  “It must be Odin” exclaimed his companion Beta Ray Bill “there is no other explanation.”

  With that exclamation the semi-darkness of the bleak and barren dimension lifted and their environment took on a lighter, warmer and much more comforting aspect. From some indefinable point Odin appeared walking towards them both. Outwardly it seemed to be the Odin of old. The Odin that had walked among gods and at times among men over millennia. Odin whose name was spoken in whispers across the Multiverse. A force for good, feared by many, respected by all. But then appearances can be deceiving. “If anything he seems even more regal” thought Bill.

  As the Allfather moved to speak, Desaak and the all dark gods entity teleported into the dimension. With them was the designate now exposed as the true manipulator of events. It was the designate as never before seen - fully matured but bitter and twisted as her manifold destiny had not come to fruition. What stood before them now was an entity with the full power of the mature delegate but embracing a dark side previously unknown. Clearly she continued to sponsor Desaak. Her very maturity suggested that this version of the delegate now present may have come from elsewhere in the time stream.

  Desaak, smiling contemptuously, rushed at a Heimdall who was still coming to terms with the enormity of the Odinpower thrust upon him. Heimdall was off balance as Desaak swung his axe at Heimdall’s head with a blow clearly intended to decapitate the guardian. Heimdall dodged just barely.

  The huge all dark god entity swiped Beta Ray Bill aside as if he were less than a rag doll and reached out with the intent of crushing the Allfather in it’s grip. Odin struck with a single bolt of pure elemental energy that shattered the cohesive bonds holding the dark god entity together. With that all of the dark gods seemed to spill out of the entity, Cellestion Zheillia, Perrikus, and all the other contemptible entities. This event seemed to momentarily confuse them. It was not a moment that Odin needed. Before the designate could intervene Odin lifted one hand and scattered the dark gods or rather their sub-molecular component parts to all four corners of this dimension. The look on the face of Cellestion Zheillia, leader of the dark gods, the moment before she was despatched was one of unadulterated hatred. At that moment she knew this was no mere battlefield removal that her brood might live to spread their evil again. No this was a permanent solution to a narcissistic evil that had hung over the pantheon gods for at least as long as Asgard had existed. Odin added a strange irony to this final justice visited upon the narcissists. The dark gods were at their most comfortable in filth and squalor and in the anguish and pain of their victims. Their component molecules had been dispersed to an environment, though bleak and barren, that was as sterile and pristine pure as it was possible to be.

  Meanwhile Heimdall did not make the mistake of striking Desaak with an energy attack that the god slayer would simply absorb. He knew full well the consequences of that – the god slayer fed on god energy. As Heimdall now enjoyed the Odinpower in its fullest measure he might as well use it but in a different way. As Desaak swung again with his axe Heimdall grabbed the blade and ground it into metallic dust as Desaak watched on in disbelief. An enraged Desaak a skilled close in fighter by any standards gathered Heimdall; much to the latter’s surprise, in a reverse bear hug.

  As the Delegate moved to confront Odin, Beta Ray Bill rushed to Heimdall’s aid striking Desaak a mighty blow with his fist in the side of the god slayers head. It was sufficient to cause the Desaak to release his grip on Heimdall. The duo then gathered in Desaak each physically restraining him with their combined efforts. Still Desaak sought to turn this encounter to his advantage trying to absorb Asgardian energies from his close physical contact with the duo. He sought first to draw forth the essence of the god power within Beta Ray Bill. And received a most unwelcome surprise. He was not able to absorb some of the energies within Bill and instead lay writhing upon the ground, as much in surprise as in pain, after Bill sent the power cosmic crackling through him.

  Heimdall recalled a time in Asgard when Bill lay dying and was tended to by both Odin and the Silver Surfer. He surmised that by some means or other Bill must have retained some of the power cosmic passed on to him that day and that Desaak was now the unsuspecting recipient of those energies.

  The Delegate did not hold back in confronting Odin, there was no reason to do so. She gathered him in a grip that seemed a strange mixture of a lover’s embrace and an attempt to crush the life out of him vast energies coruscating about them both. She was surprisingly strong and for just a moment she seemed to hold her own against even this version of Odin. The Allfather could have dealt with her in a variety of ways but he saw her for what she was - a creature in torment and out of her time. He touched her briefly almost gently on the forehead and it seemed to ease the torment within her. Odin then sent her back to that part of the time stream whence she came with all knowledge of recent events. It was indeed unfortunate that the delegate would not achieve her prophesied destiny but perhaps at least she would now know some release.

  Odin stepped forward as Desaak, shrugging, regained his feet and his composure. If he was in any way concerned at being outnumbered by this most formidable trio he did not show it remaining typically defiant. “What are we to do with you god slayer” said the Allfather “forbearance and a slap on the wrist as I used to treat my once stepson are not for one such as you.” “I know of your origins which in part explain the way you are but I can no longer allow you to menace the pantheon gods.” continued Odin. “Whatever the original wrongs against you, your own evil actions have more than outweighed this.” “Desaak you must die this day” said Odin “and know that I take no p
leasure in the fact that bringing about your death is my last act before returning forever to a higher existence.”

  After the long overdue demise of Desaak, Odin, or at least that which was once Odin, did not tarry. Heimdall now acted as a repository for the Odinpower and on his return to Earth/Asgard would relinquish it to the mighty Thor. The former Lord of Asgard said his farewells of both Beta Ray Bill and Heimdall and asked to be remembered to his wife and son and all of those now slowly returning to Asgard on Earth.

  Will we ever see his like again?

  End

  Right to Exist

  Asgard

  Time Unknown

  In his wisdom Allfather Odin had foreseen interference in the history of the nine worlds. He foresaw that some might seek to prevent the gods of Asgard from ever having been created. To deny them, retrospectively, the right of existence.

  As the sorcerer supreme of the Asgardian dimension great Odin long ago put the mystical spell in place. A spell to warn him or his successor of any tampering with Asgard’s past.

  From the high place at Hlidskalf located in Valaskjalf, Odin could see all things past and present and much of the future. Warned by his ancient spell the Lord of Asgard and the mighty Thor cast their eyes back to two separate times of creation. With Odin and Thor at Hlidskalf were Balder the Brave, Heimdall, the Lady Sif and the warriors three.

  In one scene they witnessed as if it were happening now the Demi-Urge himself seeding life upon the Earth. In another scene they witnessed the meeting of fire and ice, fearsome heat and mind numbing cold in that crucible of Norse creation that lies twixt the ice realm of Niffleheim and fiery Muspelheim. The place known as the Ginnungagap.

  Both were sacred events. It was beyond belief that anything might seek to interfere with them.

  Yet through the steaming mist, meltwater, ice and fire stood the unmistakable form of a space god, one of the race known as the Celestials. The lone behemoth levitated completely unmoving and seemingly oblivious a little above the Ginnungagap. Elsewhere and elsewhen what appeared to be the very same lone Celestial occupied a stationary orbit on the other side of the Earth from the Demi-Urge as it began the process of creation of life on Earth.

  It did not matter that the Celestial took no action as the events of creation unfolded. There was simply no justification for its being present at either time and place.

  Odin’s original spell continued its work. As the Celestial stood impassive and unmoving the energies of creation began to swirl about it. There were primordial forces at work at the Ginnungagap that commanded respect. Even from a Celestial.

  Though small in size compared to the Celestial, father and son were a picture of majesty as they arrived down time streaking above the Ginnungagap. Odin on his eight legged steed Sleipner and Thor in his chariot pulled by his goats’ toothgnasher and toothgrinder. Both wore full battle armour. Elsewhere and elsewhen Odin and Thor were an equal picture of majesty as they streaked past the Demi-Urge and encircled the Earth to engage the Celestial.

  The god of light and his noble companions looked on from Hlidskalf completely in awe as Lord Odin and Thor the mighty confronted the same Celestial in two separate times and places. Seemingly at the same moment.

  Time and Place: Ginnungagap

  It says something of the confidence and the power of Odin that in neither time of creation did he see the need to increase his physical size to match the gargantuan Celestial. Though he could easily have done so.

  With one using spear and the other using hammer, father and son manipulated the more than compliant forces of creation at Ginnungagap. Directing them against the Celestial while adding touches of their own vast powers.

  Against such an assault even Celestial armour is not proof and the giant erected about its person a force shield of inconceivable power. Other than this acknowledgement of his vulnerability the colossus took no action.

  For a time the hulking form endured the growing assault. Slowly though it began to move backwards and away from the Ginnungagap. Steadily Odin and Thor reinforced the energies of creation with increasing amounts of their own power. Still the behemoth did not take the offensive against them.

  The Celestial sensed that other powers with interests in Asgard’s existence and the ability to view events through time were now watching on. Those very same powers watched also the confrontation elsewhere and elsewhen near the Earth.

  For his part Odin sensed a previously unseen hand in the conflict. A partial almost ethereal presence backing and possibly manipulating the Celestial. This allowed of few options. There were very few entities anywhere in the Multiverse with the power to manipulate a Celestial.

  The Celestial moved further back still now clearly reeling under the assault. Still it took no offensive action.

  Thor gathered unto himself some of the willing elemental forces of creation. They became almost as one with him and he allowed them together with his own godly life force to become as one with the greatest weapon of them all.

  Odin looked on staying his own might as he saw it would not be needed.

  Here was the potential for something never before witnessed. An Asgardian god blast of another order of magnitude from any heretofore seen.

  Thor began to release these energies as he could hold them in check no longer. Mjolnir itself threatened to shatter. Rather than release the energies in a single torrent, Thor did so in pulsating bursts each successive burst more powerful than the preceding one.

  The failing Celestial force shield collapsed completely and huge chunks of the giants’ armour were torn from it. The Celestial life force within spewed in all directions. However at what seemed to be the crucial moment of defeat, the Celestial regenerated its armour, re-established its protective fields and teleported from the field of battle. Though not before showing Odin and Thor a feral grin of pure evil that was most unlike a Celestial

  Place: Earth

  Event/Time: The initial creation of life

  The energies of creation unleashed by the Demi-Urge were not as amenable to manipulation by the two Asgardians as were the energies about Ginnungagap. Thus were father and son forced to draw more extensively on their own powers. Still as awareness dawned upon him so the anger of the Demi-Urge grew and he gladly proffered his help to the noble defenders of creation.

  The Demi-Urge sensed in Thor the power of the Earth mother yet to be and with Thors acquiescence Demi-Urge manipulated those powers to the nth degree. In the process raising Thor above his normal power level. Just as Thor had manipulated the energies of creation above Ginnungagap. There was no super god blast in this contestation but the result was the same with the Celestial increasingly yielding up ground before a superior aggregation of force. As at Ginnungagap the Celestial protective force shields collapsed and huge slabs of Celestial armour were ripped asunder before the same unseen force regenerated the Celestial and it teleported away from the field of battle.

  Odin had the same sense as at Ginnungagap that the Celestial was engaged in an internal conflict for nothing less than the control of its own mind

  Place: Asgard

  Time: Present Day

  As Heimdall watched the final moments of the two battles his ever vigilant, superlative senses began to tingle as never before.

  Even before the battles in the past were complete all of Asgard sensed a shaking of the great ash, the world tree Yggdrasil, that joins all nine worlds. As if a giant hand sought to pull it up by its roots severing the connection between the worlds of Asgardian cosmology.

  Towards the top of the world tree in Asgard itself the same Celestial as seemed to be battling Odin and Thor was clearly the author of Yggdrasil’s distress. Only now it was even larger, perhaps of Exitar class dimensions. Yet the titan seemed not like a Celestial at all. Where one of the space gods might have seemed emotionless, aloof and totally uncaring the behemoth before them seemed very animated, very emotional as if another quite different force had taken control of the Celestial armour.
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br />   In the mere moments before Thor and Odin returned to present day Asgard the Celestial, or whatever force now exerted control over it discovered a little known fact. One that historically seems to have escaped the attention of most of the enemies of Asgard. That Asgard without Thor and without Odin is not an entirely defenceless place. That collectively there is other power residing in Asgard besides the power of Odin and Thor.

  There are some lessons that can only be learned through experience.

  As the Celestial leviathan prepared to tear the world tree Yggdrasil away from its nine worlds base and cast the great ash into the heavens it hesitated. Perhaps because of its still unresolved inner conflict or perhaps it was bracing for what was a prodigious feat even by its own lofty standards.

  Balder the Brave sensed the giant’s hesitation. With Odin and Thor still absent the god of light gathered unto himself some of the ambient power existing within the very land of Asgard. Then the most intense light emanated from him as he took on the form of a very small but quite brilliant star. In this form he rose to eye level with the behemoth seeking to add to the giant’s confusion. By some unknown mystical means Asgard was spared much of the massive light output which was reserved almost exclusively for the intruder.

  Surprisingly Loki god of mischief rallied to the cause enjoining with the Norn Queen Karnilla to launch a combined mystic assault. The intent being to add to the Celestial’s confusion and delay it until Odin and Thor returned.