Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods (8 page)

             
                                                        -Zeke

p. s.  I left your derringers by your bed.  They
’re not much, but keep them with you in case of trouble.

              She winced.  Ingredients in the lower city were hard to come by.  Flour, eggs and honey did not tend to make the best meal, especially with Zeke at the stove. 

             
She looked at the note again.  Gone training.  She thought back to Micah’s words from her dream.  Even the least powerful things can be capable of destroying a man.

             
“Be careful,” she said to herself.

              The militia transport sparked to life.  Jae-Ho radioed a small guard post for clearance to open the gate. 

             
The city’s outer defenses opened, one by one. 

             
First was the thick plexiglass door.  Part of a ten-meter high wall surrounding the entire city, this was more for the defenses of careless citizens who might wander too close to the perimeter. 

             
Next came their most intense defense—three layers of electrified fence, each one with the power of 10,000 Volts.  These fences also surrounded the entire city, stretching on for miles.  The engineers who built the fences had a difficult time keeping them up—with so much power running through them they had a tendency to melt under the heat generated by the electrical resistance. 

             
But no one wanted to risk lowering the voltage.  Not with the draugr running around outside. 

             
The fence, like everything else in the city, was nuclear powered.  Tiny nuclear reactors ran through the upper city, with electrical lines and steam tunnels built into the plate, connecting them all.  At the center of it all was the main reactor, the largest generator in the city and the main control board for all the others. 

             
It was another reason Zeke didn’t like living under the plate.  The power of the atom ran through the entire city.  If anything damaged this network . . . 

             
The guards radioed back.  “Second defense south gate service entrance deactivated.  You have a three minute window.”  The mechanical gate in the fence slid open.  The car sped through.  Zeke shuddered at the thought of passing through such an intense electrical field.  He knew it was harmless, but it still disturbed him. 

             
Next came the first defense perimeter, a forest of razor wire, ten meters thick. 

             
Draugr were difficult to keep out. 

             
Gates began to pop open one by one, allowing the car to pass.  Leaving the city seemed to take ages, but finally Smalls called out, “We’re clear of that hell-hole!  Let’s hit the open road.” 

             
The open road, of course, was the reason for the tank treads on the jeep.  Until the draugr appeared, plenty of people lived normally in towns and villages, far from the sight of any plate city.  Malak attacks were rare, so people were generally happy.  When the draugr appeared, that all changed.  The plate cities became the only places capable of defending the population, so outside establishments were abandoned seemingly overnight. 

             
Nothing had been maintained in the past eight years.  By now, the roads were nothing but a long expanse of broken rocks.

             
Zeke, not as enthusiastic as Smalls, quietly turned back to watch the fortress of Nifelheim slowly grow smaller.  It took a long time.  Something as frightening as a plate city doesn’t vanish in a few moments. 

             
Charlie, on the other hand, was being a bit more social.  He noticed Jae-Ho clicking buttons on the transport’s navigation display and leaned forward to talk about it.  “Ain’t that jazzy?  You get TV on this thing?” 

             
The small man laughed quietly.  “Well, not officially.  The militia likes to keep its members in the dark ages as much as possible.  We get some privileges, but we’re still essentially second-class citizens.”

             
“Jae-Ho’s all-business here,” chimed in Smalls.  “He’s actually pretty good with rigging these suckers.  I had a date once and I managed to squeeze one of these babies from the auto-pool.  Jae-Ho tapped into the upper city’s satellite network and set us up with some prime entertainment for the evening.” 

             
Charlie snickered.

             
“Only saw about a half hour of it, though,” Smalls added. 

Charlie broke into a full laugh. 
“Good for you!  I gotta hand it to you, sticking in to the government like that.” 

“
It wasn’t the government I was interested in sticking.” 

The giant guffawed loudly and slapped Smalls on the back. 

Zeke stayed quiet.  “Calm down.  We’re here on a job, not a social event.” 

“
Come on,” he pleaded.  “These guys are all right.” 

“
They’re still G-men in my book.”

“
Here we go,” said Smalls, rolling his eyes. 

Zeke looked confused.  Daniel leaned towards him and said,
“I briefed them on you.” 

Jae-Ho started. 
“Just because we work for Dumah doesn’t mean we have any love for the Karellan.  You’re not the only one who hates the guy.” 

Smalls was next. 
“Hell, I joined the militia hoping it would help get me promoted to first-class citizen—you know all the work the Supervisor does with the Church.  But instead they got me doing grunt work for the last six years.”

Jae-Ho
’s turn again.  “I can’t stand him for personal reasons.  My family has lived in Seoul for thousands of years.  Then the Karellan moves in, makes it his capital, and suddenly we’re all second-class citizens.  Living in the slums.  Then he goes and changes the name to that stupid jazz we call it now.” 

“
So why you workin’ for him then?” asked Charlie. 

“
We’re not,” stated Smalls.

“
We’re working for the Supervisor.” 

Zeke leaned back, bored with the conversation. 
“The lesser of two evils is still, by definition, evil.”

Smalls
’ cheery demeanor seemed to droop for a moment.  “He’s not as bad a guy as you might think, you know?” 

“
Not my concern.  I’m here on a job.  When it’s over, it’s over.  I’ve got nothing more to do with the government after that.” He closed his eyes for a moment, but it wasn’t long before an earth-shaking noise woke him up.  Everyone looked out at the source of the noise.  The air above them was distorted with heat. 

A massive ship, the size of a small city, soared high above them.

“The in God’s name is that thing?” asked Charlie.

“
The Muselheim,” said Daniel.

“
What?”

“
A carrier-class airship.  Largest of its kind.  The Karellan’s personal flagship.  It’s outfitted with enough firepower to demolish an entire plate city.  Fifty manual guns and six photon cannons, collectively known as ‘The Dragon’s Breath. ’”

A few of them shot curious glances at Daniel, surprised at the sudden lesson on airships.  He seemed to know what they were thinking because he said,
“Kind of a hobby of mine,” and this seemed to satisfy them. They turned back to the ship, which was already disappearing beyond their sight.

“
It’s huge,” said Charlie. 

Smalls seemed irritated. 
“The Karellan has enough power to raise an entire city into the air, and we gotta live in the dirt?” 

Zeke wasn
’t listening to any of them.  He was fascinated with the ship, now a mere speck in the sky.  “The Karellan’s on that thing?”  He said it to himself, but everyone heard it. 

“
Probably not,” said Daniel.  “He doesn’t leave Nifelheim that often.  If he does, it’s usually by himself.  He’s kind of reclusive.”

Not that it mattered.  The ship was already gone.  It didn
’t seem interested in the tiny jeep at all. 

Far ahead, the Muselheim picked up speed. 

Men worked at the bridge. 
“Mr.  Hugin,” said one, “we’ve spotted the pirates, due south.  Just off the coast.

“
Excellent,” said the ninja.  He stood, gazing out the window at the ocean before him.  He couldn’t see much.  The ship was so big that the navigation instruments provided the only clear view. 

“
We’ve caught a strong tail wind.  It shouldn’t be long now.”

I
’m disappointed, Joel, thought Hugin.  You’re making this far too easy. 

“
Fire as soon as we’re in range,” he commanded.

Wind blows across the deck of the ship.  The man, Joel, waits with his crew. 

They watch the Muselheim approach.  It appears out of nothingness and grows quickly to a formidable size. 

“Come on men!” the pirate lord shouts.  “Let’s give them a good show!”

They are sitting on the open ocean, what was once the Sea of Japan.  Three small ships.  It
’s risky, but Joel relies on his agents.  Men who intentionally leaked false information to the government. 

He personally attends to the decoy. 

Sailors run around the decks, doing busy work.  They strain the cannons to point to the sky.  They fire.  Most shots fall short of the Muselheim, landing in the water.  A few bounce harmlessly off the airship’s hull. 

“
Come on, Hugin!” shouts Joel.  “Take the damn bait!” 

A large photon cannon emerges from the bow of the airship.  Its pistons begin to pump.  The charging capacitors glow.  The engines scream.  Electricity cracks. 

“Now!”  screams Joel.  Sailors leap into the water.  The cannon’s pistons go taught.  The sound dies for a moment. 

The gun fires. 

A massive beam of light hits the boats.  The wooden ships incinerate instantly under the heat.  Wood explodes.

Water near the boats boils.  Some sailors scream.  Currents form.  The other sailors are caught in the spinning water.  Clouds of ash and splinters of wood rain down on the scattered crew. 

The radio on the bridge crackled to life.  It was the ship
’s gunner. 

“
Direct hit, Mr. Hugin.  The fleet is sunk.” 

Hugin let the radio die.  There was no need to respond. 
“That was no fleet,” he said to himself.  “Really, Joel.  You disappoint me.”

The navigator turned to his commander. 
“Shall I set course for Nifelheim, sir?”

Hugin scowled. 
“No.  We have to play mailman for Dumah first.  We’re making a brief stop in Pusan.” 

Chapter Six: Pusan

              “What is this place?”  Smalls sounded worried.  Surprised. 

             
The jeep pulled up to their destination—an abandoned complex near the city of Pusan.  The
former
city of Pusan.  It had hardly been anything for eight years.   The whole place was in shambles.  Only a handful of buildings were still standing, most of them with broken doors or windows.  Rubble littered the street.

             
In the setting sun, the place looked like Hell.

             
“Ain’t no hospital, that’s for damn sure,” said Charlie.

             
“Looks more like a prison.”  Daniel pointed at the buildings.  “See, that tower over there?  It’s sturdy, tall.  No windows.  Like a guard post.  Over there, that building that has taken a lot of damage looks like a dormitory.” 

             
The others agreed.  They were all silently unnerved about being sent to a prison.  After a long silence, Jae-Ho spoke.  “Well, we gotta get out and start looking.  We’re not going to find anything sitting in the car.”  He reached for the door handle. 

             
Zeke’s hand shot forward to stop him.  “Wait,” he said.  They paused, waiting for an explanation.  He didn’t speak. 

             
“What is it?” asked Daniel.  “You see something?” 

             
“Just ahead.  In the rubble.”  He pointed. 

             
A small monster shambled out of the rubble.  He pushed a sheet of metal off his hiding place.  Rocks slid noisily off the sheet. 

             
“Holy shit!” shouted Charlie.  “Draugr.”  The monster walked around, sniffing the air.  It scratched at the rubble with a single claw. 

             
“Looks fast, too.  Probably intelligent.”

             
“Shit, there’s another one!” shouted Jae-Ho.  “Coming up on our right.” 

             
They looked.  A larger monster ambled slowly toward the first.  It was slow.  Zombie-like.  Both its hands had massive claws, but they were heavy.  Clumsy.

             
They heard the first draugr scream, and they all looked back.  A third draugr had wandered over.  The two of them were fighting over the body of a squirrel. 

             
Charlie remained confident.  “Three of ‘em.  Big deal.  We can take ‘em.” 

             
“Daniel, think you can get a shot of them?” asked Jae-Ho.

             
The gunner stood up and unzipped the canvas roof of the jeep.  “They’re out of range.  I might be able to hit them with my pistol.”

             
“Just use the damn rifle, hot shot,” Smalls protested. 

Charlie ripped the lid off one of the crates and handed the gun to Daniel. 
“Better take out that speedy little bastard first,” he advised. 

“
I’ll give it a shot.”  He raised the gun. 

Zeke smelled the stench of death.  He panicked.  Something was wrong
—the smell was too strong.  “Stop!” he shouted, pulling Daniel hard back into the car.  “We’ve got a few more than three.” 

They sat still as hundreds of draugr poured from every crevasse in the ruins.  Hoards of them, all coming out for the hunt.  They smelled blood.  Fresh blood. 

Human blood. 

“
God damn.” 

“
I’ve never seen so many in one place before,” Jae-Ho remarked.

“
Well,” said Zeke smugly, “I’ve heard rumors.” 

Daniel missed his comment. 
“Uh, guys, I hate to interrupt your awe inspired stupor, but how about we find a new hang-out.  Preferably one without canvas walls.” 

The draugr were advancing on the transport.

“You’re right.  This won’t hold them back.  We might as well be hiding behind a newspaper,” said Zeke.  He turned toward the crates. 

“
We can fight the dumb ones easily enough,” suggested Charlie.

“
And the fast ones?”

Jae-Ho stepped in. 
“We gotta do something.  We’re going to end up fighting some of them, at any rate.” 

“
So any plans?” asked Daniel. 

An explosion sings just outside the car.  Bloody shreds of draugr slap against the window.  The rest of the monsters scramble away.  The four men see Zeke jump into the clearing.

“Make for the buildings!” he shouts.  “I’ll try to distract as many of these bastards as I can.”  Sword drawn, he dashes away.  A mob of draugr follows him.

“
One problem solved,” says Daniel.

Claws tear through the canvas.  Smalls punches through the hole, knocking back the draugr. 
“What’s say we get out of here?” 

Charlie tosses him a rifle. 
“One step ahead of you.  You and I blast out a path in front of us.  Jae-Ho, Daniel, watch our backs.  We stay together and make for that building.”  He points to a nearby office.  “It don’t look in too bad a shape.” 

The car begins to rock back and forth.  They hear gurgling from the bloodthirsty monsters outside. 

“What about the bombs?” asks Daniel. 

A corpse-like head pushes through the canvas and hisses terribly.  Charlie
’s gun fires.  A brown mess explodes in the car.  Ears ring from the deafening blast.  “No time!  Let’s go!”   He jumps out of the jeep, shooting into the crowd of draugr. 

Smalls follows suit. 
“These guys are pansies!” he shouts over the rifles.  “Won’t even need the grenades!” 

“
I’ll ask for scarier monsters next time.  That okay?” Charlie answers.  They both fire madly into the hoard.  The building is up ahead.  Zeke thinned out enough monsters that they can reach it easily.  Jae-Ho and Daniel leap out of the jeep, landing in the small clearing cut by the other men. 

Felling monsters, like demon lumberjacks. 

The two big men begin advancing toward safety.  The others stay back and pick off draugr at a more relaxed pace.  Just enough to keep them at bay. 

But it
’s not enough. 

More and more draugr crawl out of the rubble.  Charlie nears the building, Smalls close behind him.  Daniel is a short distance away.

But Jae-Ho falls behind. 

More and more draugr pop out at him.  A large, quick one darts out in front of him.  It grabs his throat.  Its hands are clawless, but strong.  It has long, human hair, but a grotesque, monstrous face.  One eye, the other swollen closed.  No nose to speak of, and teeth that seem to leap out of its mouth.  Jae-Ho looks into the dead face.  He panics and fires his gun below him.  It knocks out the beast
’s lower torso. 

Unhindered by the injury, the monster grabs his boot, tripping him as he tries to dash to safety.  He lands hard.  A heavy weight pushes into him. 

Another draugr.  Large.  Slow.

It claws at him.  The first bites into his legs.  Jae-Ho screams. 

A bullet explodes and the weight is lifted from his back.  Another shot crashes into the monster near his feet. 

He doesn
’t feel anything this time. 

Daniel stands over him. 
“Can you walk?”  He keeps his attention on the encroaching monsters. 

He glances down at his bleeding legs.  No pain. 
“I’m no doctor,” he says trying to be calm.  Instead he sounds terrified.  “But I’d have to say, oh . . . not at all.” 

“
Then let’s get a second opinion.”  Daniel shoots a quick burst to scare away nearby draugr, then quickly bends down to give Jae-Ho some support. 

They begin to limp towards the building.  Charlie and Smalls defend the doorway to buy some time. 
“Damn!  There’s no end to these smelly jerks!” calls one. 

“
Hurry up!” calls the other. 

Progress is slow.  Demons attack from all angles.  Daniel struggles. 

Click
. 

The bullets stop coming out.  He flicks a small switch on the rifle. 

Charlie and Smalls see nothing more than the ball of fire exploding in the road.

A short distance away, Zeke struggles.  The pursuing hoard increases.  He’s running out of places to run, and getting tired fast.  He has to stop soon.  Any further and he’ll be running up the mountain slope.  In the other direction, lies the ocean.

The sun hangs low.  He squints. 
Can draugr swim? 
He wonders.  But there is no time to learn, and too much to risk.  He isn’t strong in the water. 

He spins, whipping his sword around.  The sudden change causes one of the draugr to impale itself on his blade.  He pulls the sword out of the corpse and attacks. 

Stepping swiftly, he evades their blows, but they’re fast.  The sword moves with him, and after a few minutes there is a mess of demon parts littering the ground. 

He tires quickly, but doesn
’t stop. 

There is a deafening roar.  The draugr tone down their attack.  A small, strong-looking beast steps forward.  The others form a ring, as if to let their champion match his strength one-on-one. 

Odd behaviour, but Zeke has no time to question it. 

The monster snarls.  It flexes thick, dead-looking muscles.  Blood drips from pointed teeth.  Zeke holds up his sword defensively.  The demon leaps.  Metal hits bone, deflecting a set of sharp claws. 

The draugr strikes again.  He blocks.  But the monster learns.  It catches the blade between its claws and twists.  The sword drops from his hands.  Without stopping to consider his foe’s intelligence, he steps forward and pounds the monster’s face with his fist.  The draugr falls back.  Zeke finds his sword. 

Another draugr, eager to take his comrade
’s place, rushes forward.  The blade plunges deep into its gut.  The strong draugr rises.  Zeke pulls his sword hard.

It doesn
’t move. 

He holds the blade and kicks the draugr off it.  The blade slides free, but he stumbles backward.  He collides with the strong draugr, knocking it over. 

Zeke regains his balance first. 

Standing quickly, he stabs down.  His sword runs through the draugr, then into the earth.  The monster gurgles and coughs up blood. 

Other monsters hiss and scream. 

He glances quickly down at the corpse below him, but doesn
’t take his eyes off the hoard for very long.  “How many of your rancid friends did you invite to this party?” he asks between breaths. 

Suddenly, a blinding light flashes in his eyes.  He pinches them shut for a moment, then opens them cautiously. 

Before him stood a large malak, glowing pale white and armed for battle. 

He was tall.  Humanoid, which was unusual for a malak.  And he had weapons.  The hilts of two broadswords stuck up behind his shoulders.  They were big.  The points stuck out far below the being
’s waist. 

The monster stood silent for a few moments.  Zeke still held his sword defensively, though he knew he could do nothing against such a monster.  The katana would pass through the malak like air.  The draugr also seemed unsure of this new entity, almost scared of it.  They circled warily, but did not attack. 

The malak turned to the hissing monsters around him. 

The tall being stretched out a ghostly white arm.  The wind, just a mere breeze, picked up to gale force in a matter of seconds.  The sound roared.  A whirlwind surrounded the malak.  The wind picked up the draugr as if they were paper, although Zeke held fast to the ground with no effort.  Suddenly the monsters began to scream.  It was terrible.  Zeke had personally done in many of the creatures over the years, but he had never heard a screech so ghastly.  They were being tortured. 

As they spun madly in the wind, their bodies seemed to expand.  They looked bloated.  The horrible screams became distorted, almost comical. 

Then they exploded into a cloud of fine, brown mist. 

The vortex narrowed.  The wind spun faster and faster.  Zeke squinted to see what was happening.  He felt the wind die down, as the vortex spun closer and closer to the malak’s outstretched hand.  Then the wind, draugr and all, stopped dead and vanished, as if it had all been swallowed by this creature’s palm. 

It turned back to Zeke. 

“A human with a sword?  Is he strong?”  No one had ever heard a malak speak before, but he was in too much of a panic to consider it.  He took a quick step back, still holding up his sword. 

The malak pointed his hand forward.  Once again, the wind rose from nothing.  Zeke
’s hair danced on his head, but he was otherwise unchanged.  “Get away from me!” he cried.  He swung the sword, which passed easily through the malak’s ghostly body.