before the sound of battle brought reinforcements. So Thor, with the speed of the tiger, ducks under the giant’s sword and steps in with both hands on his sword hilt, using all his might, runs his blade through the giant’s chest, the point sprouting out the monster’s back.
The giant groaned once then Thor pulls his sword free and steps aside allowing the giant to fall face down in the snow, liquid spread out from the body. But rather crimson, it was like liquid ice. Thor then rushes to Balder’s side but his friend is gone. He
draws Balder into his arms, tears start down his cheeks. Thor sat there holding his best friend for a long time and then Thor stood and bending down, lifted Balder’s body onto his shoulder and started for home.
The journey back was long and saddening, Thor did not know how to tell his parents, let alone, Balder’s mother. Thor knows his father will be angry with him, and he felt rightly so, for Thor blames himself for Balder’s death.
Seven uneventful weeks and four days later, Thor enters the gates of his village. People gather around as he heads for Balder’s home. Eric and Gretchen come to greet their son. They stop suddenly when they see the burden Thor carries.
“What happened?” Eric said. Thor, with sadness in his voice, answered.
“Frost Giants.” And that was all he said. Balder’s mother, hearing that her son had returned, went to greet him. When she arrived, Thor laid his body down. She knelt down and pulled him to her, wailing. Eric stepped over to his son and asked again.
“What happened?”
“We found the Temple of Odin.” Thor said. And as he began to explain, his father angrily interrupts him.
“By Odin’s thunder! You went into the land of the Frost Giants, by the gods, why?”
“When we reached the beginnings of Nordheim, we talked about finding the temple. Then a feeling came over me, as if some unseen force was drawing me deeper into the wastelands. As we got closer to the temple, the greater the pull drawing me to it.” Thor said.
“But how did you two run into Frost Giants?” Eric said.
“When we came out of the temple there they were, they attacked. I took one Balder took the other. It was a fierce battle. I could not keep watch of Balder and concentrate on my foe at the same time. Balder had killed the giant with two arrows, but not before he threw his spear. It hit Balder in the chest, and he fell to the bottom of the temple steps. After I killed my foe, I rushed to Balder’s side but he was dead.”
Several men attempted to pick up Balder’s body but Thor stepped in saying.
“No! I brought him this far, I will take him the rest of the way home.” Thor picks Balder back up and takes him to his home. There his mother made him ready for his funeral, dressing him in fine furs and his father’s mail. When she was done, Thor carried his friend and life long comrade, to the stack of wood and laid him on the pile.
Balder’s mother placed his father’s sword in his hands, Thor stood next to the pyre with a lit torch in his hand. Thor had been given the honor of sending Balder to Valhalla. He lit the stack of wood and steps back, watching the fire grow and felling alone in the world.
After the funeral was over, people went back to their daily routines, Eric started toward his son but Gretchen stops him saying.
“He has been punished enough.” So they both turn and walk away. Balder’s mother comes up to Thor and put her arms around him speaking softly.
“His death is not your fault, you were his best friend, he loved you as the brother he never had. I thank you for bringing him home.” Then she walks away. Thor stood
there till the fire burned down to ambers; a tear ran down the side of his face. He wiped it away then turned and instead of going home, headed up the mountain path. An hour later, Thor steps out onto the ledge overlooking the village. This is the place he would come too to dream and think.
Thor was looking to the horizon and the setting sun, but his mind was elsewhere. Then a voice of such vibrant tone brings him back to Earth.
“You are too young to have the weight of the world so heavily laid upon your shoulders.” Turning and drawing his sword, all in one motion, Thor stands facing the same snow tiger he had encountered almost three years ago. Shocked by the realization that the animal spoke to him, and in Asgardian no less, left Thor speechless.
“Now young one, I am not here to cause you any harm, but to tell you a marvelous tale.” The tiger said. Thor finally finds his voice and says.
“How is it that you speak?”
“I have always been able to speak to the kings of Asgard, my race was here long before man appeared in these lands. And when your people came, Odin commanded us to watch over and protect them. As the years turned into centuries and the Asgardians evolved, they built their great cities and we became their Royal Guard and advisors. My race sat beside Asgard’s Kings and Queens.” Said the Tiger King.
“What happened to the cities, to the people that lived in them?” Thor said, some of the shock wearing off.
“Hogan, the last king of Asgard, went insane. He accused all those that did not have golden hair and blue eyes of being inferior. He called them a blight, a stain on the pure Asgardian race and began a campaign of genocide.” The tiger said.
“What did the people do?” Thor said.
“They revolted, young one, and civil war broke out all across Asgard. Two factions clashed, those that chose not to fight, escaped into the forests forming the Deer, Bore, and Wolf Clans. The two warring factions became the Cave Bear Clans, who also live under the forest trees, and the Snow Tiger Clans, who make their homes in the foothills of the mountains.” The tiger king said.
Thor’s interest was pecked. He hung on every word of the tiger’s story, and then he asked.
“And what of your tribe?”
“Hogan would not listen to our counsel. We left, moving back up into the higher regions of the mountains, where we have lived and watched the Asgardians slip back into a more primitive, barbaric class warring amongst themselves. Each clan claiming a portion of Asgard as their own.”
“And what happened then?” Thor said.“ The Snow Tiger Clans hunted us for our fur and food, till they learned to farm and raise livestock. Look down at the village young one; they are just now starting to show shades of their former selves. The homes, the fields, we survived here in the mountains, living on the other animals that live here, while we watched and waited.” The tiger king said
“Watched and waited for what?” Thor said.
“Why for you, young warrior, for you.” The answer took Thor by surprise. But before the tiger could explain further, shouting started coming from down in the village. It was Thor’s mother, and she was calling for him. He answered then turned to the great cat before him and said.
“I must go.” He turned to start down the mountain then stopped, turning back, Thor asks.
“What do I call you?”
“Goliath, I am king of the snow tigers and one day your general.” Was the great beast’s reply. Thor turned and again started back down the mountain, more confused than ever, he could not fathom his role in this tale or even why this beast could speak Asgardian. So thinking out loud.
“I do not understand any of this.” While back on the ledge, the leader of the snow tigers watched the boy go and heard Thor’s thought and replying silently to himself.
“You will, young warrior, one day you will.”
To Be Continued
Author Biography
Daniel Ickes lives in North Carolina. He is attending Full Sail University and is enrolled in their Creative Writing for Entertainment BFA-Online. Mr. Ickes is collaborating with a comic book artist to produce a graphic novel. He is also working on a novel trilogy and an action/adventure series.
Daniel Ickes
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