Níðhöggr

The winds rolled through the fields of Ithavoll, gently silenced in the hush of the treeline. There under the dim light of the cosmos he slithered and crept into the deep quiet.

Through the brush came a howl, a cry, a little girl. She sat in the clearing of the forest upon an alter made from ash wood, where offerings were once received. She stuggled and writhed to crawl away but was bound by a thin chain like a silken ribbon. Her strength sapped away with each pull until finally she surrendered. She stared into the night and it stared back.

The night unfurled itself around her in a dark vortex, until he unveiled himself before her. Black wings splayed out into the sky faintly distinguishable from the stars. A serpentine tail wrapped itself twice around the clearing, spikes protruding like broken branches. His beastly head held a crown of long entwining antlers like carved lightning. As he edged slowly towards her, she could see into his glaring green glowing eyes, a three cornered iris, a triquetra.

Then Nidhogg called out, his voice rumbled with resonance. "Is this all the Aesir Tribe have to offer me?"

"This is all I have to offer you." A voice answered.

Nidhogg peered into the undergrowth. "Who dares call from the dark?"

Stepping out into the clearing stood an aged, tall trembling man protected with fine forged armour. Warmed with a dense silver beard and a well woven fur cloak. "Vili, Allfather of Asgard. Chief of the Aesir."

"Brother of Odin, my subjects bow before my presence. Are you not one of my subjects?"

Instantly Vili kneeled and bowed his head foward. "Forgive me. I did not wish to offend!" Then the child cried out, her small hands reaching out to the Chief.

Nidhogg towered over her. "Why have you offered me this small soul?"

Vili's glassy eyes looked over to her. "She is a Goddess of the new pantheon. Her gifts are not yet recognised but I am certain they will be provide you a great service. She is my only child."

"So what use is she to me?" Nidhogg asked disastisfied.

With open arms and his heart exposed, Vili concluded. "With her as your hostage there will be no uprising. She is a gesture from one King to another. She is a promise for peace."

The Beast bellowed a laugh at the offer. "And who would rise? I devoured all those who fell in your war, your Ragnarok. What is one more Goddess to me?"

Nidhoggs maw gaped open pulling a gust towards his inhale. Then the Beast spat a green beam of blaze directly at the bound girl. Vili's screams of protest were drowned out by the volume of such destruction. Nothing was left but fire and dust. Vili fell on both knees, sobbing inbetween his hands. The Dragon turned to the Chief with a grimmace "I've lost my appetite."

Gradually with great effort, the Chief found his footing and stood defiantly, casting a mighty shadow in the jade light. "You've made a martyr of my girl! As Allfather I-"

"You are renounced as Allfather!" Nidhogg snapped. "As you are Father of nothing." The Dragon crawled through the flames towards the Chief. "Your daughter is mine, Asgard is mine, Yggdrasil is mine. My hostage is the Nine Realms. Challenge my reign and I'll burn all that is left."

"If you burn the World Tree you'll have nothing to reign over!" The Chief spoke out.

Nidhogg thought carefully before he spoke again. Looking out into the gloomy woods he explained. "The cosmos is vaster than you could imagine. Yggdrasil: the World Tree, is but one tree in a forest." With that he spanned out his limitless wings into the night and gave a devious farewell. "There are always more realms."