Blood Feud

Darkness.

Ravens cry, wolves howl,

Thunder erupts from deep within the clouds.

***

Lightning cracks,

Illuminating the sky,

And with it,

The intent to kill glistens along the edge of my blade.

***

Sulphur,

I smell sulphur.

Deep and rich,

Conjuring memories of her in the springs.

Or are they visions?

Visions of hope for what comes after?

***

Crack!

Thor beats his hammer once more,

And in the brief light I see the figure rush toward me.

His strike comes from the shadows,

Axeblade shrouded in smoke.

***

Instinct,

Deflect,

The clash of steel on steel roars louder than the world-serpent in my ears,

Like a thousand times before.

***

I want to live.

I need to live.

Love begs that I not fail,

Not so soon after opening to it.

***

I see her in my minds eye.

Hair flowing,

Golden as the treasure I’ve courted,

Flickering in the embers.

***

Another strike.

This one finds flesh.

His, not mine,

My blade thirsty for blood.

***

A taste for it,

A hunger for more.

Hatred.

***

Anger swells,

The world grows red,

Before me he stands, dripping in scarlet sweat.

***

Rage bubbles from deep within, summoning growls from my chest,

Erupting in a roar of my own,

Louder,

Angrier,

More furious than Fenrir himself.

***

Boom!

From the mountain spews sparks and flame,

Molten rock pouring out from its gaping mouth against the blackness of the sky.

***

Along it’s eruption I too explode,

Slicing out with the sword my father left me.

It tears muscle,

Severs ligament.

Blood spews from the jugular.

***

Calm,

Peaceful.

He drops to his knees.

A life of anguish extinguished in a moment.

***

A flame grown cold against the heat of battle.

***

Blood,

Everywhere.

It swells beneath my feet,

Drips from our blades,

Forms pools in the warming rock beneath his lifeless body.

***

I breathe.

It’s done.

The feud is settled.

***

In my mind I see her eyes,

Her perfect nose,

Her smile.

That golden hair flows in the breeze,

Her hands brush wildflowers as she glides toward me in the morning sun.

***

I fall to my knees.

Her weight between my arms fades to emptiness,

Her aroma replaced with the metallic scent of war.

***

From my heart rests the blade of his axe,

From the wound pours all my love along a stream of blood.

Heat burns my lungs as I breathe my last breath.

The world fades to black behind my tiring eyes.

***

Now it’s done.

Now the feud is settled.

Now my family are safe.

***

Their futures unfold before me as the Valkyries summon me home.

Carrying me to the gates of Valhalla atop winged horses,

Where Odin awaits watchfully in his grand hall.