Freyja twitched the reigns of her chariot and her lynxes landed smoothly in a field on the Galo Peninsula south of Stockholm. She glanced at her mortal friend Marja as they both hopped out of the chariot.
“You look nervous.”
“That’s because I am nervous. The last time I saw Odin he said he’d kill me. This from a God that could kill me by accidently coughing on me.” Marja scratched the two oversized lynxes behind the ears when they started to butt their heads against her.
“Relax.” Freyja reassured Marja as she looked up at her Valkyrie patrolling the sky. “You’re with Freaking Freyja and this is my country.”
Sweden was very much Freyja’s country and so were all the Scandinavian countries. The ‘Freaking Freyja’ nickname had started when her little man (as she liked to call Olsson) had begun to refer to her in that way.
There were a number of reasons why she had become so popular. She was a nature Goddess and environmental issues were important to most of the Scandinavian people. She was a Goddess of love and sex before she was a Goddess of war and the Norse countries of 2026 had no interest in conquest, only in self defense. Marja believed the biggest reason for Freyja’s popularity was she was a lot of fun in her own crazy way. It was hard not to like her.
“Is India still behaving itself?”
“Yup, they don’t want another visit from you.”
Freyja grinned. “Too bad that was a good time. Next time I’ll bring along some of my Valkyries so they can get a workout.” Freyja’s good time had been trashing India’s Parliament House when the government of India had been dragging their feet on lowering their emissions for their coal powered generating plants. It was Marja’s job to decide how to steadily improve the environment but if governments didn’t want to cooperate they would get a visit from Freaking Freyja.
“Here they come.” Marja squeaked when Thor and Odin materialized above them with a boom. Thor landed first in a chariot pulled by his goats Gnasher and Grinder. The usually half-rabid goats looked as nervous as Marja when they saw Freyja’s hissing lynxes and the much more dangerous Freyja. Things had not gone well for them last time they encountered the Goddess.
Thor was annoyed by their timidity and pushed them roughly aside as he approached Freyja. “Father’s in a mood.” He warned her as they both watched Odin’s horse land on its eight legs.
She nodded her thanks for the warning but it was no less than what she expected. Odin slid to the ground from Sleipnir’s back and approached the other two Gods. You would think Odin was the God of Thunder and not his son Thor based on Odin’s stormy expression.
Freyja gave both Odin and Thor appraising looks. The father and son were usually such a cohesive unit that it was obvious to her how much damage Odin had done to the relationship with his son because of his monotheistic ambitions. It was also obvious that Loki had been doing everything he could to widen the gap.
“Where’s Loki?”
Odin looked pleased to find something different to be angry about. “I don’t know. He told me he was busy trying to bribe some generals in the German army but he was probably lying. He has been disappearing a lot lately and it is getting on my nerves.”
“So what else is new?” Freyja responded with a shrug. “Do we have a deal?”
“Why should I make a deal with you? Sweden stabbed me in the back. My people! My own people!” He thumped himself angrily in the chest.
“They didn’t betray you.” Freyja paused as if she was enjoying the moment. “They rejected you.”
Odin’s face turned purple with anger but he didn’t disagree with her. He looked at where Marja was standing beside Freyja. “Mortal, tell me true. Tell me why my people have turned their back on me?”
Marja looked up at the mightiest Norse God of all and wanted nothing more than to be on the other side of the world but something in his expression compelled her to answer. Odin was a murderous powerhouse but she heard the plea in his voice. He was upset, he was genuinely hurt.
“We know you unleashed the trolls on the Scandinavian countries. They killed thousands of people. Why would we choose a God who did that?”
“I needed to harden my people for the battles to come. You have become fat and soft over the centuries.”
“Harden us up for what?”
“To rule. To be strong.” Odin hooked his thumbs in his belt and gave Marja the rare gift of his full attention. “I am Odin and this I know. You are either predator or you are prey. You may think me cruel but I do what a God must do. Only the strong survive and my people are strong because I am strong.”
“Let me tell you something that this weak little woman knows.” Freyja was amused when Marja stepped toward Odin but she also gave Odin a warning look. “I’m weak but I deserve to live.”
Odin’s eye started to smolder as he glared back the bold mortal. “No one deserves to live. You earn the right to live by being strong.”
“That’s easy to say when you’re the one doing all the killing. You think mercy is a weakness but look at you now! Crying like a baby because your people don’t want a God that kills them. You’re a hypocrite!”
Smoke started to drift out of Odin’s empty eye socket and Freyja stepped protectively in front of Marja but she was on a roll and still had more to say.
“I’ll tell you something else. Over there waiting in that battlefield is a biker called Sedrick who’s willing to fight you with all of his rough, tough biker friends. He’s one of the so-called ‘strongest’ guys I know but he rejects you because when you keep shouting ‘only the strong survive!’ all he hears is ‘the weak deserve to die.’ He’s got a son with Down’s Syndrome, does that mean his son has to die to fit into your new world?”
Odin was ready to give her an angry, self-assured reply but his eye fell on Thor and he seemed to wilt. “His son? No, that doesn’t mean … ” His voice trailed off and he became lost inside himself.
Thor gave his father a measuring look before speaking directly to Freyja. “The mortals beat the troops we left behind and have earned their right to determine their own fate on the field of battle.”
“So we have a deal?”
“Loki tells me that the Swedes have 10,000 warriors. Is that right Freyja?”
Freyja bobbed her head from side to side as she considered the figure. “Close enough.”
Odin roused himself and rejoined the negotiations. “Then since we agreed to a 20 to 1 ratio they will meet 500 of my troops in the field of battle tomorrow. This will be a waste of time Freyja.” He cautioned her. “These mortals may be brave but they don’t stand a chance.”
Freyja glanced at Marja and they both smiled enigmatically. “We’ll find out tomorrow. By the way Odin, Oliver says hello.”
“Oliver!” Odin’s beard bristled and it looked like he was chewing on rancid meat. “That little turd!”
“Oliver! Are you with us here?”
Oliver lowered his binoculars from watching the far away Gods bargain for the future of the Norse countries. He and the Swedish military leaders were in the office building for one of the camping sites on the Galo Nature reserve. “Sorry what did you ask me?”
“What if Odin or Thor decide to join in on the battle and attack us Oliver? What if they break the deal?”
“Freyja told us not to worry about it.” Oliver reassured general Wallander. “This is a deal between Gods. There will be severe consequences if any God from either side takes part. It could trigger another Ragnarok and nobody wants that.”
“I was talking to her just last night.” Colonel Olsson said as he turned away from the same window Oliver had been using to look outside. He had been watching his armoured forces deploying and didn’t look very happy.
Oliver and Wallander glanced at each other. They could tell by how Olsson was painfully limping that more than talking was going on last night but they wisely said nothing.
“There’s been a power shift among the Gods in the two months since they’ve shown up. Power has shifted away from Odin and toward Freyja. In the Scandinavian countries Freyja is actually stronger than Odin now. In Sweden Freyja could kick Odin’s ass and she would like to.”
“Thanks Olsson that gives me hope. I had a nightmare last night of Odin tearing our men to pieces.” Wallander had deep bags under his eyes from the stress of trying to coordinate all the disparate forces he would be commanding tomorrow. He had a proper staff and communications now but the heavy responsibility was aging him. He looked up from a page of notes he made before the meeting. “Sedrick where are you?”
“Back here.” The biker raised his hand from where he was leaning against a wall and drinking coffee.
“Oh good, thought I lost you. We’re facing a lot of Berserkers tomorrow and they’ll be Asgard’s best. They’ll be a lot tougher than Stannis and his gang of goofs so be ready for that.” He pointed at the odd looking crossbow the president of Thor’s Disciples MC was carrying. “Is that one of the new crossbows? I haven’t even seen one yet.”
“It is.” Sedrick stepped forward and laid it on the table so the soldiers could get a good look at it and satisfy their professional curiosity. “500 feet per second and 420 foot pounds of kinetic energy. They’re slow to reload but they’ll penetrate even the toughest Berserker hide with the right arrow. Production has outdone themselves. I’ve got two crossbows for every biker.”
“You’ve tested them out?”
“Better than that. Stannis and his immortal morons keep trying to kill us every day so we’ve been using the crossbows to kill ‘em off. Stannis caught us napping the first time but now we use him and his boyfriends for target practice.”
“Good to know that even a shitheel like Stannis has a purpose in the grand design. Are you all right working with Olsson and his armoured group?” Wallander looked back and forth between the biker and his irascible colonel.
“No, he hurts my feelings. He always swears at me.”
“Fuck you and the two wheeled piece of crap you ride on Sedrick.”
“Fuck you right back you male prostitute.”
“Good to know you’re on the same page then.” Wallander rubbed his hand briskly on the back of his close cropped head and addressed all of the senior officers around the table. “A lot of tomorrow’s battle will depend on timing so keep your ears open for your radios. These damned Einherjar are so fast we won’t get any second chances. Frankly they scare the hell out of me and we’ll be facing 500 of their best.”
“But not under the command of Odin.” Oliver held up a finger as he made his point, making him look like the professor of archeology he was. “I’m sure the Einherjar commander will be good but nobody is as good as Odin. A lot of the sneaky crap we’re going to pull tomorrow I would never dare to attempt with Odin commanding.”
Wallander folded his arms and looked out the window to watch the sun lowering on the field of battle where the fate of his country would be decided tomorrow. “Sneaky works for me.”
“Remember that little turd is sneaky.” Odin warned Konrad. “Expect traps, expect surprises. Be ready to change your plans.”
Konrad sucked on his teeth as he watched his enthusiastic troops deploy on the peninsula. The Vikings were eager to avenge the first loss that Valhalla’s warriors had suffered on Midgard, even if it had been a treacherous ambush. “This isn’t exactly my first battle All Father but don’t worry, it will be the mortal’s last one.”
Konrad had a well balanced force of 500 immortal warriors from Asgard. 50 of Odin’s lethal Valkyrie patrolled the skies for air cover. 100 fast and specially trained Berserkers were tasked for anti armour duty and 350 of his heavily armoured Einherjar were the sledge hammer he would use to crush the 10,000 mortal troops.
These humans had done well with the element of surprise against mostly raw recruits. Tomorrow the elite of Valhalla would drink from their skulls.
Thank you for the restack J.A.