Reason Prevails

To the untrained eyes of uneducated earth dwellers, it simply looked like the gathering of storm clouds, and they would be partially correct. There was a storm brewing, but not the kind most people were expecting. This storm would determine the very existence of not only humanity but the Gods themselves. Since Earth was part of the nine realms, it was a given that what happened in another realm almost always affected this planet.

What appeared to humans as a dark, swirling cloud was actually Odin, the father of all the Gods, calling a war council. From Earth’s perspective, the towering cumulonimbus clouds were actually Thor, God of sky and thunder, Tyr, God of war, Aegir, God of the sea, the Aesir, a group of warrior Gods led by Oden himself, and Heimdall, guardian of the rainbow bridge Bifrost which links the nine realms. Even Loki, the trickster, answered the call.

Once everyone arrived, Oden called the meeting to order. He had just received startling information from his two ravens, Hugin and Munin, that Malekith, ruler of the dark elves, had devised a plan to rid the nine realms of Asgard and all the Gods that rule there. Once the gods were eliminated, it would be a simple task to enslave Earth.

What’s so special about Earth? It was the only place in all nine realms that contained an abundance of raw metals needed in the production of magical weapons, potions, and an easily controllable labor force. Humans were capable enough in battle, but they lacked the advanced weaponry needed to defend themselves from the inhabitants of the other realms. Earth also possessed one other feature that the other planets lacked, an energy source capable of bending wills. This energy was the real prize.

While the Gods met in council, and Malekith and the dark elves completed their preparations for war, the inhabitants of earth went about their daily business unaware of the great cataclysm that was about to disrupt their lives. Everyone, except for two teenagers, Ryan and Riana. Fate had chosen them to maintain the stability of worlds.

The two had lived next door to one another and were on again off again friends. What never changed was an unwavering passion for all things mystical. They read ancient manuscripts written by scholars from dead cultures and compared those findings with their own research. All the evidence pointed to one irrefutable fact. A great upheaval in the cosmic order was coming, and they had the power to stop it. All they needed was to locate the will-bending energy source and control it. Two tasks no one had accomplished since the beginning of time.

A massive rock plummeted through the atmosphere at supersonic speed, cracking the Earth’s surface and leaving behind a massive crater next to Ryan’s house. This was Malekith’s initial strike. Oden countered with a strike of his own on Malekith’s world. The war had begun.

Ryan spotted it first. A ray of light emanated from the crater made from the first strike. Riana identified it immediately from pictures in ancient texts. They had found the will-bending energy beam, now they needed to control it. Ryan nervously reached toward the light, tentatively placing his hand into the beam. Riana, not wanting to be left out, did the same. When both teenagers were fully encased in the beam, it changed from a stark white to soft pastel hues of blue and red. They were now one with each other and the light.

Now, with Ryan and Riana fully absorbed, the light streaked into the cosmos, then divided into two shafts, one heading toward Asgard, the other towards Malekith’s domain. Arriving at their destinations, the shafts of lights exploded into miniscule firefly-like particles that embedded themselves into the minds of every inhabitant of both worlds. Now it was time for Ryan and Riana to deliver their message.

“Continue this war and all that you seek will be destroyed. If you work together, the treasures of the universe will be shared by all. Find common ground. You are more alike than dissimilar.”

The teens came too, lying on the grass next to the crater. The clouds and the boulder bombardment had both dissipated. Now all that remained was the bright light of reason.