The Plan

A Chapter by One But Other

You just don't give up, do you...

Shay shuddered as the large wooden door creaked open, as if some completely out of place wind had swept through the building. Freya was never one for cleanliness, and therefore there were papers, clothes, jewelry, and Gods know what scattered carelessly around the small room. An unmade canopy bed was placed in the center of the nonexistent floor, and a mahogany vanity sat in the far left corner.

Freya was sprawled across the bed and from Shay's angle she looked like a cadaver. She might as well have been for all Shay cared, but she pushed those thoughts aside because she had more important things to worry about, for example not leaving this room in a body bag.

The goddess rolled over onto her stomach, glancing up at the nervous Valkyrie fidgeting with her jacket sleeve. Her golden hair fell over her face and she brushed it away with a slender hand. Her blue eyes pierced through Shay and only made her feel more uncomfortable.

''You know, I don't bite... women." She began. ''Come sit by me, Shay. We're all friends here." That was the biggest lie Shay had heard in her entire life, but nonetheless, she sat down. ''Now, let's get down to business, shall we? I heard that you went out on your own, without a partner like I specifically asked, and fought a soul. You're lucky you're even alive you know. You not only put yourself in danger but you also brought Hex into it. Do you realize what would have happened if he died?” She raised a questioning brow.

''Yes ma'am... I know." Shay lowered her gaze and pretended to be extremely interested in a golden sandal that was wedged tightly between a book (that Freya had most likely never even opened) and an old spy glass. “I did defeat it though..” She looked up at the scowling goddess. The Lady, as she was often called, was the goddess of love (among other things) but at the moment she wasn't exactly radiating with it like she did most other days.

''I'm very disappointed with you, Shay. I didn't raise you to defy me." Yeah, you didn't raise me at all... Shay thought. ''Luckily for you, I have come across an opportunity for you to redeem yourself." Freya flicked some hair off of Shay's shoulder and smoothed out her own. ''You remember Fenrir, don't you?"

The young Valkyrie froze. She hadn't heard anyone speak of the great wolf Fenrir since... well... his binding thousands of years ago. “Is he still... you know... bound? I mean, is the Gleipnir still-"

''Holding him? Yes. Trust me, Fenrir wants all of our heads just as much as we want his, so we would know if something was wrong. That's besides the point. What I want you to do is seek out his sons Skoll and Hati."

A small smile appeared on Shay's face. She remembered the twins whom she had spent her childhood with when they were mere pups, chasing the sun and moon alongside the twins. Fenrir disapproved of their friendship, though, seeing as Freya was among the many gods who had bound him to the stone Gioll deep inside the earth. Because of this, he had banned his sons from ever seeing, speaking, or interacting with any god or their creations, this including the Valkyries and Shay.

“But he banned us from ever-”

“Yes, I know, interacting. That is why you must speak with Tyr first, and ask him to keep Fenrir preoccupied while you visit those mutts.” Tyr was Fenrir's 'keeper' of sorts, and he was the god responsible for feeding the massive beast. Shay noticed that Freya hadn't yet mentioned Loki, her sworn enemy, who was the father of Fenrir. Speaking to Loki himself would have been the most logical plan, but Freya's wish was the Valkyries command, whether it was logical or not.

A question arose inside Shay that she felt dumb for not having asked before. “Why do we need Skoll and Hati?”

Freya smirked mischievously and crossed her arms. “I need you to convince Hati to stop chasing the moon for a three days, which would give us just enough time to swoop down to earth and round up all the remaining souls. They would have nowhere to hide if there weren't any shadows.” For once it seemed that she had had a decent idea, but the proof would of course be in the pudding.

“That's impossible. Hati and Skoll are the most ravenous and greedy wolves I know, and would never agree to give up a good chase, even if it was only for a short period of time.” Shay protested.

The goddess rolled her eyes, as if bored of the conversation. “That's why you have to steal Sleipnir. The only problem I see here is how you're going to get past Geri and Freki, but that's for you to figure out. Now leave. I'm exhausted and need some rest.” She flicked her wrist in the direction of the door, and laid down, not even bothering to glance over and see if Shay had already left.

Tiptoeing out of the room, Shay began to formulate some sort of solution to this issue. Geri and Freki were not easily tricked, and there was no way she would be able to just stroll out of Odin's temple with Sleipnir. Yet again, the goddess was asking more from her 'minions' than they had signed up for.

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