Chapter 6
He thought for sure his heart would burst, never before had he seen such a beautiful woman in his entire life. Becoming a hero be dammed and to hell with all of his one-time wants and dreams, he would give it all up to stay and build a life with her. The first time she spoke it was music to his ears, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his life. Kol was positive that she would never even look twice in his direction but not only did she look but she came over and talked to him.
“Fair day sir.” She whispered in her musical voice.
In a matter of seconds he ruined his chances with his response, something along the lines of. “Umm…ahh…me Kol hi.”
“He means fair day to you as well and that his name is Kol miss…?” Smiles Hagar.
Without taking her eyes off of Kol she responded kindly. “My name is Sig, would it be terribly inappropriate if I asked you to take a walk with me so we can get to know each other better?”
Still dumbfounded by the fact that she was talking to him Kol just stared blankly at her in silence.
Punching him on the arm Hagar wakes him up from his dreaming “Go ahead Kol we’ve got some time to spare before Bjorn gets back.”
Shaking his head to clear the fog from it Kol smiles from ear to ear. “By all means Sig I’d like nothing more than to spend some time with you say the rest of our lives?” He jokes nervously.
“If the Norns deem it so fair one.” She blushes.
Turning the same color as Sig he slowly stands up locking eyes with her. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life.”
“Thank you.” She whispers turning to head towards the door.
Following eagerly Kol smiles questioning the beautiful woman. “So where are you from?”
“I was born and raised here, what about you?” She asks leading him to the hills overlooking the city.
“I was born in Skaalholt, or so I was told, I don’t know for sure because my mother died giving birth to me. I grew up on the streets and in the gutters.” He says bitterly. “Hardly befitting of a beautiful maiden such as you.”
Touching his arm in comfort Sig stares at him with a look of genuine concern. “Nonsense Kol that life must have been hard, I’m sorry that you went through that. What about your father?”
“My father…wasn’t around.” He replies quietly.
“But things have looked up, after all the Norns led you to me.” She beams.
“The best day of my life.” He smiles back. “So what do you have planned for the future?”
With a small laugh she looks at him then back at the city frowning for a moment.
“The future is always changing, I thought that I’d meet a nice man and marry him raising a family here continuing on to see my grandchildren, but the gods and Norns don’t always allow such things, what of you Kol?”
“I plan to travel through the Norse lands making my way until I reach Greece, it is my dream to become a hero of renown throughout the world where my name is on the lips of the gods themselves, but…” He says turning to face her and taking her hands in his. “I would give it all up and stay here with you to fulfill your dreams.”
Looking at their hands she whispers. “You are a kind and good man Kol, I could see myself happily with you forever. May I ask you, do you think I am really pleasing to the eyes?”
“You are beautiful both inside and out from what I can tell.”
“But would you take me and consummate our union right now, promising yourself to only me forever?”
Stunned Kol looks around before answering. “Truthfully, I feel like I will die if I can’t have you in every way, I want to make love to you, to marry you and have children with you. If I can’t have you I feel like my soul will rip in half, it literally hurts thinking I might not be with you in every way.”
Sobbing a little she looks towards the sunset.
“Please tell me that those are tears of joy.” Begs Kol severally worried.
“Let’s go to the inn.” She says forcing a smile.
Together the two of them hold hands nearly running to the inn and for a moment Sig realizes that she actually likes Kol and were things different she could easily see herself with him.
Five minutes later the two of them enter Kol’s room with Sig locking the door behind them quickly. Slowly he strips off her clothes little by little until her perfect body is naked in full glorious perfection, then in return Sig slowly strips him down tracing her finger over the perfectly defined muscles on his arms and chest before heading to the bed and laying down in wait.
Timidly Kol goes to the bed positioning himself over her but before he can go any further she puts her finger on his lips signaling for him to wait.
“There is something I must tell you Kol.” She whispers beginning to tear up again.
“You can tell me anything what is it my fair one?” He questions happily.
“I…I am married, I’m so, so very sorry my fair one. I don’t mean to hurt you or make anything difficult for you but I need you to know the truth before anything can happen, if you don’t want to be with me because of this I understand. Likewise, if you wish to continue with me I will understand that as well.”
Kol would have rather been sent to Helheim and face its tortures, he would have rather been beaten and raped over and over by Ragnar than hear that the woman he now suddenly loved was married.
“Why?” He questions frozen in place. “Why did you come to me?”
“I had to, I’m sorry Kol. What will you do now? Will you make love to me as you so desperately wanted to or will you send me away back to my husband?”
Getting up off of her and putting his clothes back on quickly Kol stares out the window with his back to her.
“Get dressed and go back to your husband fair one, we are done. I would not take another man’s wife, had we met when you were single things may have been different.”
Crying Sig gets up putting her clothes back on “You are a good man Kol, part of me wishes that we had met sooner.”
“Is your husband a good man?” He questions without looking at her.
“Yes.”
“Then why would you do this?” He says with anger creeping into his voice.
“I…cannot say Kol, I wish I could tell you but I can’t. Just know that I have the greatest respect for you and I will always have a place in my heart for you.” She says running out of the room.
In the hallway Lofn and Thor look at one another.
“He passed the test.” Says Lofn furiously.
“So he did, but there are many trails to come.”
“Mark my words; I will have him turn to my cause Thor. Wait and see, by the time he has finished his…”
Before she can finish a scream erupts from Kol’s lips blowing apart the room and sending both Thor and Lofn flying through the walls of the inn to the ground outside. Then just as quickly and fully as it was destroyed it flies back together like nothing happened.
Laughing hysterically Lofn jumps back up to her feet. “Now that is more like it, I can’t wait to see what happens when he loses it completely, after all he is the son of the god of mischief and evil, it’s only a matter of time.”
“It does not mean he will be like Loki, after all, he is only half Loki. He has his mother in him as well.”
“And what does that matter? We don’t even know who his mother was but any woman that attracts Loki’s attention can’t be that great a person.” She smirks heading back into the gathering crowd.
“Indeed, but I remain unconvinced a man is not ruled by who his parents are but by the choices he makes.” Says Thor pulling the cloak back over his head as he turns to see Bjorn running toward them.
Running through the crowd Bjorn pushes his way to the door of the inn running into Hagar full force.
“What happened?” Questions Bjorn concerned. “Are you boys okay?”
“I’m fine, I don’t know about Kol though. He disappeared upstairs with some girl he met
and a few minutes later the room exploded and then reformed itself.”
“Hey are you and your boys the cause of this?” Questions the inn keeper charging towards Bjorn with a battle axe.
“I don’t have time for this!” Sighs Bjorn pulling out his sword and disarming the man in one motion. “If we were the cause I would have not stopped with a single room now get out of my sight letch.”
The inn keeper drops his eyes looking at the axe in fear trembling for a moment. “I’m sorry sir I didn’t know it was you. I thought you were someone else I didn’t know you were back in town much less looking like this, you…”
“That’s enough! I want this place cleared out while I check up stairs to find out what happened.” He snaps heading towards the stairs.
“I will guard down here father should anyone try to evade you.” Questions Hagar drawing his sword.
“Excellent son.” Smiles Bjorn heading up the stairs cautiously.
As he nears the top of the stairs he can hear light sobbing coming from their room confusing him. Slowly he pushes open the door to find Kol on the bed with his head in his hands crying.
“Kol?”
“The Norns are cruel Bjorn, perhaps I am cursed for being a child of Loki. Maybe I should forget about this whole hero thing.”
“What happened Kol? Hagar said the room exploded and then put itself together again, did someone attack you?” He questions looking around. “Where’s the girl you brought up her with you?”
“She left back to her husband taking my heart and soul with her.” He snuffles glowing with power for a second again.
“Your heart? How could you have fallen in love with her so quickly? You just met her.”
“The moment I saw her I knew she was the perfect woman for me, I fell in love with her on sight, Sjofn worked her power on me and I was powerless against it.” He sighs.
“This may not sound genuine but I assure you it is, I’m proud of you for doing the right thing.”
“Cold comfort Bjorn, it doesn’t help me stop hurting. All I keep thinking of is how angry I am and how badly I just want to destroy everything around me.”
“Hence the room, but the fact that you rebuilt it tells me that you are not consumed by the hurt, it may not seem like you are going to get over this but trust me you will. We will focus on our goals and what must be done for you to become a hero.” He says flatly.
“Focus on work is that it?”
“Trust me I’ve been there it’ll help.” He sighs.
Suddenly jumping up from the bed with his hands glowing Kol puts Bjorn on his guard instantly facing him with his sword at the ready.
“What are you doing?” He snarls staring at Kol’s hands.
“Something is coming.” Answers Kol sniffing the air.
The goddess Eir swiftly appears in the room with a glow around her. She is exquisitely beautiful with purple colored eyes and auburn hair hanging slightly in her face. Her tight fitting clothes hug her perfect hourglass form making both men stare in awe. Immediately both of them fall to their knees in reverence.
“Goddess Eir, what can we do for you?” Questions Bjorn with his head bowed.
“Rise both of you, I come as a friend. First, dear Kol, worry not about what happened. I will heal your hurt, bare Sig no ill will for what happened was not her fault nor was it yours. I cannot tell you more than that. Just know that the gods are watching your every move to see what kind of person you become. As such, Odin has sent me to help you in this difficult time and deliver a message.”
“Thank you and the all father for your kindness.” Says Kol kneeling at her feet.
With a smile she places her hands on his head, light flows from her touch encompassing Kol’s entire body until he glows like a miniature sun. Then just as quickly as it came it disappears, slowly Kol stands smiling once again.
“I will forever be in your debt.” He smiles.
“You may not think so when you hear the message I bring you. Odin has charged you with three quests; first you must find the god Od who has been missing for ages. Secondly, you must travel to Asgard and take back the hair Loki cut off of Sif and return it to her and Thor. Should you be successful in those quests you must join the Greek demigod Vasos and together you will complete two more nearly impossible tasks, you will have to journey to Tartarus and retrieve Kronos’ sickle. Then, you must travel to Helheim and retrieve Surtr’s flaming sword.”
“And what of us?” Questions Bjorn.
“You may help him along the way during his first two quests but once he meets up with the other demigod, the quests are theirs alone.” She says frowning at him. “You have till then to train him.”
“I see. I will use my time wisely then.” He says bowing once more. “Thank Odin for me.”
“I will…Bjorn. Now fair thee well, both of you.” With that Eir disappears leaving them with their thoughts.
“Looks like the plans to go to Greece will have to wait unless you want take your chances and defy them.”
“No, I want to be a hero and undertaking quests from the gods will help me to achieve that.” Smiles Kol happily.
“Fair enough, but I will tell you that anytime the gods give you a quest there is more to it than a simple mission. They always have another agenda in mind.” He says darkly.
“Be that as it may I must try. If I don’t, what kind of man would that make me?” He questions rhetorically strapping on his weapons.
“I understand, so the choice is made, tomorrow we begin our journey. Get a good night’s sleep I have a feeling you’ll need it.”