Pantheology

Page 2

“Since when have we needed advice from those beast-headed bastards...”

“I was not referring to those accursed animals in Egypt,” Zeus cut Ares off in mid sentence, ready for such an outburst, “I myself long await the day of the great battle between our nations, when we can engage their pathetic pantheon in celestial war as our mortal armies clash below. I speak of the Norse gods.”

“The Aesir are noble enough,” A hush spread over the hall as the lord of earthquake spoke. He was always well respected amongst the Olympians, and was one of the few gods who had knowledge of the gods of the north lands, through his contact with their gods of the oceans. “But they are a war orientated people, perhaps not suited to give advice such as this.”

“I spoke once to their own chief god, Odin, at the time when I flooded the world. I had to allow him to see that the lands under his command would not be effected. He had given one of his eyes for wisdom, and so he has knowledge that surpasses my own. And over the centuries I know that his mortals have remained loyal to him, and so I deem him very suited to give us advice. But my brother is correct,” Zeus nodded towards Poseidon, who returned the gesture. It was traditional for the three brothers to show respect for one another, as an example (albeit a seldom followed one) to the younger generation. “The Aesir respect power in the arts of war above all else. That is why I have chosen Athene and Ares to be our envoys to the plane in which they dwell.”

As soon as these words left his lips, Athene and Ares each erupted, protesting not at their allotted quest, but at their assigned company.

“How can you expect me to undertake a diplomatic mission with that butcher?”

“I can’t travel to dangerous unknown lands with this whore! She’s nothing more than a liability!”

“Liability! Remember Troy? I knocked the consciousness out of your body and left you lying on the ground in pieces!”

“You blindsided me with a boulder! Try that now!” Ares vaulted over the table and advanced towards his sister. The bright-eyed goddess rose from her chair and strode to meet him.

Zeus groaned inwardly as this back and forth was going on. Why couldn’t he have nice quiet kids like everyone else? He doubted that mortal children were this much trouble. In the end he took a deep breath, and decided that he would have to exercise discipline. The sibling rivals each leapt backwards as the thunderbolt exploded between them in a shower of blue electricity.

“Enough! This hall is not for your petty squabbles! If you can’t behave sensibly in this place, you won’t be allowed here at all. I’m sure some of the lesser gods would love to be given your council seats!” If looks could kill, then the combined gazes of Ares and Athene would have caused Zeus to spontaneously combust. But nevertheless, they ceased their protests. “You have the power to move between planes, as you have done in the past to reach Earth. It won’t be difficult for you to do the same to find the home of the Aesir. Leave and arm yourselves well, for many of the other denizens of the Aesir’s homeland are hostile.

A short time later, Athene, with her aegis draped over her shoulders and her spear in her hands, and Ares, with his gleaming breastplate (on which was depicted gruesome scenes from all the battlefields of the world) and a pair of swords sheathed at his belt, soared through the ether that separated the worlds, and came to land on a desolate and dust covered plain, marked only by gnarled and leafless trees. A faint mist hung in the icy air, and the darkness seemed almost tangible.

“I don’t think we’re in Olympus anymore.” Mist formed as Athene mouthed these words, and rose into the night sky as if the breath was glad to leave this godsforsaken place. Ares growled, and took in the surrounding area.

“This is the realm of the Aesir. There’s Bifrost.” Athene’s eyes followed the direction of the blood lord’s pointing finger, and saw the rainbow bridge rising out of the mist in the distance, its vibrant colours a great contrast to the forlorn plain on which the two gods stood. They turned towards the distant arc of colour and walked towards it silently, each feeling that their very words would be trespassers in this macabre place.

As the rainbow grew closer, Athene suddenly jerked to a halt and assumed a fighting stance, her catlike reflexes sensing the two figures, even before they loomed out of the mist. Each leather-armoured form towered head and shoulders above the Olympians, with greasy lengths of hair falling below their broad waists. Their arms resembled bags of boulders, clutching huge studded clubs that looked like uprooted trees. The twisted and malign grins that adorned their faces boded ill.