Chapter 6: What Dreams May Come

            Still blackness. Silent. Fury. Flashes of gray filled his mind. Unable to focus his mind's eye, Wade found a simple object through the blur to focus on. A long black line through the gray. Muddled. Unclear. With all of his might, Wade tried to focus. Red. At the base of the black line was a blotch of red.

            What is this thing? Wade asked himself.

            The shrill sound of a woman screaming rang in his ears. Looking down, the image cleared. A young man collapsed on a stone path. A large arrow protruding from his heart. A woman cradling his head. Looking around, Wade could see more and more. The stone path led to an enormous hill, difficult to see past the thick dropping of large snow flakes. At the top was a large wall made of sharpened logs. The wall surrounded a large stone and wood building, seemingly a dining hall, with a plume of smoke coming from the center of the wood and thatch roof, daring the snow to stick to it.

             Looking back to the man on the ground, names began to come to mind.

             Baldur. Wade recollected.

             Studying the woman over the man, Wade began to remember.

             Frigg. Wade began to panic. This is when my son was murdered. This is when my son Baldur was murdered.

             As if reliving the horrible nightmare, Wade looked back to the walls on top of the hill. A closer studying look revealed one more truth. A man holding a bow. Another man, aiming the bow for the other.

            The overwhelming memory through him back in the shoes he had worn countless years prior.

            “Loki!” Wade screamed. “Get down here and face me you coward!”

            The fury rose deep within him when he had realized who the man with the bow was. Dropping to his knees, Wade placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. A woman, strikingly beautiful even through her grief, rocked the head of her son. With her long brown hair draping her sons face, she screamed in agony once again.

            “Frigg, my love, our son is dead.”

            Frigg looked up to Wade. With no words sneaking past her sorrow she reached her head to Wade's arms, never letting go of her murdered son who lay dead in the fresh snow.

            “Our son is dead and the murderer is our other son.” Wade finished.

            Looking back to Loki and Wade's son, Hod, he swore to avenge Baldur's death.

            Another time. Another place. Flashes of light filling the night sky. A low rumbling behind him. Wade turns to find himself followed by an entire army praising his name. Feeling of pride filled him as he looked down to the staff in his hands. Lightning. Electricity flowed through the staff and discharged in all directions. Below him at the base of the tall hill he stood on, his enemy ran in desperate fear. Fear that the god would strike them down. Taking a deep breath to ease the energy flowing from him, Wade turned back to his captains and winked. With a single wink, Wade disappeared from their sight. As if the surroundings were warping out of focus across his eyes, simply focusing on a specific place would allow him to travel there in a matter of seconds. Arriving in front of a fleeing enemy army, Wade had demanded their loyalty. A crowd of a thousand hardened soldiers dropped to their weakening knees and bowed their head to their new god. Odin. Odin accepted their loyalty by demanding a challenge with their best warrior.

The very ground shook when the massive man stepped through the frightened crowd. Armed and prepared to die, the mammoth of a man stood patiently with sword in hand waiting for their new god to smite him. Wade walked slowly to the man, his own hair blown in the wind covering his aging face. Purposefully lifting his staff above his head, Wade shot the man down with lightning. Collapsing to his knees, the giant had fallen. Wade stared intently at his new followers and exclaimed.

            “I am Odin. Your mightiest warrior has been granted an afterlife with champions. His courage has led him to a warriors death. Celebrate your man, for I have given him an eternal life surrounded by the proud and brave.”

            A single auditory gasp was shared by all but one who witnessed the god.

            A skinny soldier stood and shouted.

            “My Lord! Wait!”

            Wade turned to the soldier, unamused.

            “I wait for no man!”

            The soldier removed the heavy helm and looked past striking blond hair. Her eyes were a shade of blue worthy of the skies. She dropped to one knee and begged.

            “My Lord. I am no man. I am the wife of the warrior you just claimed. I beg you to show this man mercy and let him raise his sons before returning to Valhalla.”

            Wade, moved by the bravery of the woman, walked to her and gently lifted her head up by her chin.

            “Your courage has impressed me.”

           Grasping her hand, Wade lifted her to her feet and guided her through the crowd to her husband.

            “Take a breath, you are about to follow me to my domain.”

           With a deep breath, the woman closed her eyes. The crowd watched as Wade, the woman, and the warrior disappeared with a flash of light.

           When the woman opened her eyes, she was standing beside her husband on top of a large mountain. Wade turned to her and stated simply.

           “I guide the fallen to Valhalla. I do not bring them back. If he has accepted his new home, he will not return. Do you understand?”

           The woman nodded, not understanding at all.

           Wade placed his staff on the man’s chest and focused the electricity down the staff and through the man’s heart. Kneeling down, Wade intently breathed life back into the man.

Coughing and gasping for air, the giant looked up at Wade with confusion. Searching for his sword, the giant man only found his wife’s hand. Turning his glare from the god who killed him, his eyes locked with his wife’s. The man grasped the back of her blond locks and kissed her. She pulled away with tears of gratitude only to find Wade vanished.

  

           Pitch black. A sensation of spinning sent Wade to another place at another time. Quiet and peaceful, his mind's eye had focused instantly on an expansive field of grass, brown from the coming cold. Climbing the short hill in front of him, Wade looked upon a sea so vast, his only desire was to devote his life trying to cross it. Turning his back to the sea, his eyes met level with a large wolf. Slowly reaching for the blade at his side, Wade locked his eyes on the beast, daring it to move. With a sudden pounce, the massive wolf threw Wade to the ground. Teeth gnarling, like salivating daggers, the wolf buried his fangs into Wade's right shoulder. As if exerting no effort, Wade felt his collar bone snap in its place.

           A deafening howl let loose from the beast as it raised its head from Wade. Gurgling from the blood in its lungs, the wolf fell to the side. Wade fought his way from under the massive creature and pulled his blade from the side of the beast. Grasping his shoulder gently, Wade turned to find a man and his son hunting for game. Awestruck and bewildered, the man pushed his son to his knees and began begging the god to forgive their trespass. Wade studied the man and beckoned for him to come to the beast.

          The scrawny farmer stood from his knees and hesitantly approached the father of all gods. Wade simply handed the man the blade and gave him simple instructions.

          “My son. You are not trespassing on land that I have given you. In exchange for this land I simply ask you to tell others of the beast who has been slain by my hand. Let the others know that it is by my will and my sword that your village is safe. If it weren't for your gracious loyalty, I would have let loose this beast on you. Take this blade. Take this beast. Mount the hide in your hall and tell this story so my children may know my careful watch on you all.”

          The man reluctantly took the sword from Wade and nodded graciously.

          Wade turned back to the coast and simply watched the waves break while the man and his son skinned the trophy of a god.

         

          Wade shot up from his bed looking around for armies, wolves, and his sons. His eyes only found Margaret sleeping in the chair beside him. Wade dropped his head back to the warm pillow.

          Were these dreams or... Wade knew full well what the flood of images were.

          Memories.