Final Hour

This flash piece is a rough draft of a scene from the prequel novel of The Prophecies of Ragnarok, a Norse mythology based new adult series I'm currently writing with Meri Benson. It may or may not end up in the final version of the novel. This was also written in response to 8Letters' #31Letters challenge, an invitation to write every day for the whole month of January.

Here are the shorts we've written so far for the prequel, in chronological order:

• Birthright
• Ice Queen
• Brother's Keeper
• Final Hour (this story)
• Resistance and Steps
• Forsaken
• Goodbye, Good Friend
• Inheritance
• A Winter's Bargain
• Death Finds All
• Homecoming
• Reconnection
• The Hour of the Wolf

Hotel Fen, the first published book of the series, follows after this point.

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In Norse mythology, Hel is said to preside over an underworld realm where she receives a portion of the dead. She is referred to as a daughter of Loki, and is described as having been appointed by the god Odin as ruler of a realm of the same name, located in Niflheim. Her appearance is described as half blue and half flesh-colored, and further as having a gloomy, downcast appearance.

Hodr is the blind son of Odin and Frigg, who is tricked and guided by Loki into shooting a mistletoe arrow which was to slay the otherwise invulnerable Baldr, his twin brother.

(Wikipedia)

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This scene was written with Meri. There's nothing graphic in the text, but a warning all the same for domestic violence, family dysfunction, incarceration, war/invasion, injuries, murder, and death/capital punishment.

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It takes some persuasion to get Odin to allow Frigg to visit her son in the dungeon, but she's always been willing to do anything for the twins, even at her own peril. It's nearly dawn when she makes it to Hodr's cell, her movements more sluggish than usual, her hair a mess and a dark cloak hastily thrown over her clothes.

She gets the guard to step away for some privacy, but not to leave them alone entirely. For now, it will have to do.

She knows it's bad the moment she steps into the cell. Baldr had warned her, but she still isn't prepared to see her own son beaten and chained like a petty criminal. It's not just his hands chained in front of him, but there's also a thick collar around his throat with runes carved on them to restrain his magic. It'd be nothing if he could freeze the metal and shatter it to escape, after all.

"My son." Kneeling in front of him, she gingerly brushes her fingers over a wound on his face — which is still bleeding, and isn't the only one. Odin had never been kind, not even to his children. "I'm sorry."

His eyes are dark, almost feral, yet they soften as he recognizes her. One eye is almost swollen shut. "You didn't do this," he tells her, his voice hoarse. She doesn't want to imagine how badly he'd been screaming.

Tears glisten within her eyes. She might not have done this to him, but she hadn't been able to stop it from happening, nor can she help him recover. The runes on his shackles wouldn't let her, and Odin would know if she'd attempted to use any healing runes. After everything, all he'd allowed her was to visit and talk, nothing more.

But talking helps. There are no ravens this deep in the dungeons. A gross oversight on Odin's part, not that she'd ever bothered to point it out.

"He didn't hurt you too, did he, Mother?"

What is there for her to say? They both know what she's done. While she appears to favor his twin brother Baldr more, this is hardly the first time she's shielded Hodr from his father's displeasure. Odin had always found it so easy to blame him for things.

"It's nothing, dear boy. But I'm afraid I cannot help you if you do not tell me what truly happened. You know how it looks, don't you? You abandoned your mission in Alfheim, ran off with her to Jotunheim, and declared yourself King."

Hodr had never been one to scheme. But Loki's daughter...

The accusations only make him laugh, though it soon dissolves into a coughing fit that forces him to lean back against the wall to settle his breathing. She pulls out a small waterskin from under her cloak and, drawing herself up to hide what she's about to do behind her billowing cloak, she makes him take a few sips.

"He didn't tell me about the children," he answers, his tone icy. "We... Geiravor and I... we couldn't let him take the children." He stares at her, hoping she would understand.

Pain is not all she reads in his eyes. There's rage, too, enough to fan the flames of vengeance. And something else she's not surprised to see: love. Odin hadn't been wrong — Hodr would follow that girl to the ends of the worlds no matter how angry it would make his father, regardless of what punishment it might earn him. She's proud of him for that, but she fears for him just as much.

"It's true that you married her, then?" Her tone is fond this time, and she has a small, proud smile for him. In spite of everything, he is nothing like his father.

The question actually surprises him. "I... Yes." Even in the dark, his eyes shine with devotion. "She has always been my heart. She saw me when no one else did. I will do anything and everything to protect her, Mother."

Anything and everything. Oh, how her heart breaks for him.

"Then you will die, my sweet boy. Your father has sworn you will never be together. And you will never let her go." She turns her head away, unable to bear letting her son see her tears. She knows he has made up his mind. She can see it in his eyes. And all she can do is grieve.

His hands find their way to hers, because he can see that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "I let her go once before." He releases a shaky breath, like it's physically painful to even think about it. "I can't lose her again. And my brother will never stand up against him, not for this. Not for me."

"No, he will not." Baldr was the heir to the throne. He might be practically invincible, and had real power and influence to go against Odin, but he had the rest of the worlds to think about, not just his family. She knows her other son wouldn't risk his position for his little brother's trivial pursuits. "What does he know? He has never lost his heart before."

They’ve rarely ever talked like this. Baldr had always been more open with her. Hodr preferred to keep his thoughts to himself; she’d seen him grow up assuming everyone would only dismiss what he had to say. Odin certainly did. But now she speaks with him like they’re friends sharing secrets. They have an understanding on this topic at least. She loved his father once, after all.

He squeezes her hands suddenly.

"Please don't let him do this..." Hodr never liked asking for help. Hodr never liked to beg and bargain. Odin had drilled into his sons’ heads that such things were beneath them, that those were signs of weaknesses. They were to take and demand and command, not to compromise and cooperate and give their lives for others. But he's pleading now. "There has to be something, anything, you can do to stop him from killing us both..."

She faces him then, a tear streaming silently down her cheek. He’s asking for the impossible. She might be Queen of the Realms, but in truth, she only has so much power and influence. Especially over his father. If she dares to act against Odin, they will both be dead. And the girl, well, she was already a lost cause.

But, for the very first time, she sees something in this equally unconquerable son of hers break. Hodr might never have had Baldr's natural talent for... well, everything, yet he'd always had a good heart. It was the sort of strength that his father and brothers could not possibly understand.

"Mother, please..."

Slowly, carefully, she draws her hands away to put her arms around him instead. He’s rarely let her hug him. But tonight she doesn’t give him a choice. "You ask for what I cannot give, my dear boy." There’s no stopping her tears now, her voice thick with regret and resignation. They both know this is goodbye.

He doesn't sob, or unleash a cry of anguish or rage. But he practically collapses into her hug and buries his face into her shoulder to hide his tears. Were his powers not blocked, she knows they'll be in the middle of a blizzard now, but for once his magic can't give away his emotions as his last ditch effort to find a way to save the woman he loves dies with her answer.

"Then tell her I am sorry, and that I love her."