Valhalla’s banquet hall was a colossal, awe-inspiring chamber—packed with golden pillars and long rectangular oak tables dressed in deep red cloths and gilded ornaments. The ceiling was so high it couldn’t even be seen; a pale mist hung up there instead, smelling like a forest after rain—pine, moss, and something sweet and wild.

  On every pillar stood a Valkyrie statue holding a flaming lamp, lighting the vast hall in warm, flickering gold. There were so many tables they blurred into the distance; the walls and the far end of the room couldn’t even be made out. Each table could seat a hundred diners with room to spare.

  Rodrigo and the others sat on the left side of one table, while Thrúd sat on the right with Magni and Modi. More figures arrived—men and women Rodrigo guessed, correctly, were Norse gods.

  Valkyries came in carrying enormous jugs of beer, mead, and wine. Another hauled in a gigantic roasted boar still skewered on the spit and slammed it down in front of the Norse. Thrúd, cheerful as anything, tore off a leg and started gnawing on it with zero grace. Modi and Magni drank beer from huge cups like they were trying to drown the world—loud, sloppy, and proud of it.

  The hall filled with laughter, shouting, bawdy songs—like a filthy tavern, except the place itself was magnificent. Most of the diners Rodrigo saw looked like northern warriors: helmets, chainmail, weapons on their backs. They ate, drank, and sang as if war was their only language.

  But it was obvious the Orniskem group felt out of place. They weren’t used to such rough, heavy air. Epona mostly just dipped bread in oil and ate quietly, since nearly everything on offer was meat. And even though Ana and Epona were known for drinking hard and enjoying parties, the mood here was so thick and brutish they didn’t feel like joining in.

  A few men started wandering over toward Orniskem’s goddesses with hungry looks—too close, too bold—when a woman across from Rodrigo suddenly stood and slammed her beer mug down on the table.

  “Piss off, you filthy dogs!” she barked. “Those lasses are our guests—don’t you go botherin’ ’em!”

  The men scattered.

  “Sorry ’bout our Einherjar,” the woman said, calmer now. “Most of ’em only know how to fight. Been swingin’ steel since they popped outta the womb.”

  She was tall, with long blonde hair and sharp green eyes.

  Tania started to answer—“It’s alright, miss…”—and then froze, realizing she didn’t know the woman’s name.

  “Frigg,” the woman said plainly. “Queen o’ Asgard. Odin’s wife.”

  Rodrigo blinked. He’d expected the queen to be on a throne somewhere, guarded and distant—yet here she was, on a plain wooden bench like everyone else, sharing a table with the crowd.

  “Lady Frigg, it’s an honor,” Menrva said quickly, giving a small bow.

  Frigg scowled and stood up. “Don’t do that bowin’ crap in my hall. This ain’t some prissy court. Sit yer arse down.”

  Menrva flushed and sat immediately.

  Frigg then turned toward the others, presenting them like they were just neighbors at a rowdy family dinner.

  “You already know Thor’s brats: Thrúd, Modi, Magni.”

  Thrúd lifted a hand without stopping her savage chewing. Modi and Magni kept drinking and only nodded.

  “Nice meetin’ you, Orniskem,” said a smaller woman beside them. “I’m Sif—Thor’s wife, mother o’ these three. Hope my kids ain’t given you too much trouble.”

  “They didn’t cause trouble,” Tania replied with a polite smile.

  “What d’you mean we didn’t?” Modi snapped, offended.

  “She’s callin’ us weak!” Magni growled.

  “I didn’t mean that—” Tania started, embarrassed.

  “That’s fightin’ words!” Modi shouted, and Magni whooped like a madman.

  The whole hall erupted at once:

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

  Beer mugs and swords shot into the air. Tania went stiff as the room roared for blood, while Modi summoned his axe and played to the crowd like a showman.

  “I knew it—this is a trap,” Epona muttered, watching Einherjar raise spears, axes, and blades like they were seconds away from tearing the place apart.

  But then—like thunder cracking right over their heads—Frigg slammed her mug down again.

  The impact was so violent the entire hall trembled. A brutal boom rolled across the room and everything went dead silent.

  “Sit. Down.” Frigg snarled, her voice like iron. “You drunken, piss-brained idiots. Our guests ain’t used to your dumb brawls and your hog-brained nonsense.”

  It felt like lightning had struck. Everyone shut up instantly.

  Yep. Queen of this place, Anpiel thought, stunned. They all fear her.

  Sif leaned toward Modi with a gentle voice that still carried an edge. “Modi, honey… you wanna come sit down now?”

  “Yes, Mother,” Modi mumbled, embarrassed, returning to his seat.

  “Right,” Frigg continued, as if nothing had happened. “Now—other folk at the table. This one’s my grandson, Forseti.”

  She rested her hand on the shoulder of a blond god with a neatly trimmed beard and a white tunic.

  “It is an honor to welcome Orniskem,” Forseti said politely.

  Frigg stepped to another figure—a boy who looked barely fifteen. Long orange hair, green eyes, freckles sprinkled across his face.

  “And this one’s Vidar,” Frigg said. “One of Asgard’s little monsters—good kind o’ monster.”

  Vidar only nodded. Orniskem nodded back.

  Frigg sat again, planted her forearms on the table, laced her fingers, and stared Menrva straight in the eyes. Her gaze was steady and serious enough to make Menrva feel… watched.

  “Alright then, Menrva,” Frigg said. “Athena yapped plenty about you. Specially the part where you used to be one o’ Ares’ dogs before joinin’ Orniskem.”

  “My only loyalty is to the great Athena,” Menrva replied, chin lifted. “My past does not define my present, Lady Frigg.”

  “I ain’t judgin’ you,” Frigg said, not changing her expression at all. “I know you’re strong. Strong enough you could roll right over this wounded nation if you felt like it.”

  “I would never dare such a thing,” Menrva answered, still defiant.

  “I know. I trust Athena’s choices,” Frigg said. “Even out here, folks heard stories ’bout her back when she still lived in Olympus.”

  “Thank you for trusting my lady,” Menrva said, relaxing slightly.

  “I’m sayin’ it for a reason,” Frigg went on. “Vinland’s packed with war-gods. Like Asgard, only worse.”

  “We know little about Vinland,” Menrva said. “We want what you know—and whether you’ve heard anything about Thor and the others, and also about one of our own who entered those lands.”

  “Well,” Frigg said, “last word we got from Thor was this: they ain’t found a sniff of Odin, and they ain’t seen any sign someone new showed up in Vinland lately.”

  “Then…?” Menrva pressed.

  “Then maybe it was all Loki’s little trick,” Frigg said bluntly. “Maybe he shoved our warriors into a deathland for laughs.”

  “Excuse me, Frigg,” Ana cut in, “but we don’t believe that’s the case.”

  “And what proof you got?” Frigg asked, turning her hard stare on Ana.

  “I saw it in his eyes,” Ana said plainly. “He was sincere.”

  Frigg snorted. “Oh aye, sure. Loki—god o’ lies—went and got honest with you.”

  Then she ripped the boar’s head clean off and started chewing it like it was a chicken leg. Rodrigo and the others watched with a mix of disgust and disbelief.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Frigg said, talking through mouthfuls. “Thor’s as soft-headed as you lot, so off he went—him, Freyr, Freyja, Tyr—chasin’ that foolishness.”

  She kept chewing.

  “Shf I’d ’a been there, I’d ’a told ’im to shove it,” she mumbled, still eating.

  Rodrigo couldn’t help remembering Athena talking while eating grapes. Do these gods have not one scrap of manners? he wondered.

  “We understand, Frigg,” Menrva said evenly. “But we have orders from my lady to go to Vinland and find Odin—even if we must scour the whole continent. That was the agreement. We only ask for information.”

  “I’ve seen Vinland from space,” Menrva added. “It’s larger than Europe. Finding one person there is nearly impossible. Still—if Thor has found anything, or has maps, we would be grateful.”

  “Ain’t got maps,” Frigg said. “But Sedna—queen of Adlivun—she’ll sort you out.”

  “Anything else we should know?” Menrva asked, impatience creeping in. “Sedna’s alliances? And do you know anything about Mississippi and Tula—two kingdoms that seem the strongest?”

  “Only thing I know,” Frigg said, “is west o’ Adlivun you’ll hit Haida lands. Hard fighters. Mean as winter. If I know Thor, he’ll sniff that way sooner or later.”

  “I see,” Menrva replied, intrigued.

  “And listen,” Frigg added, “you’ll see giant totems all over Vinland. Those things were built to choke divine power. You won’t fly. Your power’ll be down in the dirt. No makin’ pocket worlds, no fancy little dimensions. So don’t get cocky—Vinland’ll kill you.”

  She took another bite, this time tearing an eye from the boar’s head and chewing it without blinking.

  “How are we meant to fight without alternate dimensions?” Tania asked, confused. “We could destroy a continent with a single blow.”

  “With your power choked?” Frigg answered calmly. “You’ll be lucky to punch down a tree.”

  “It’s a land where only the toughest live,” Thrúd added. “That’s why Lel’s kept its nose outta there so far.”

  “It seemeth a most excellent trial, doth it not, Rodrigo-san?” Susanoo asked brightly.

  Rodrigo, meanwhile, was trembling at the thought.

  “Their gods live among humans,” Frigg continued. “Gods help the humans fight wars, and the humans pay ’em back with inventions—tools, tricks, tech.”

  “But what really matters is sacrifice,” Frigg said, voice grim. “Human sacrifice is mad out there. In Tula, they say it happens every day. Their gods—even with Vinland’s chains on ’em—are still monsters.”

  “And with them chains on, they’re still nasty,” Thrúd added. “So don’t go thinkin’ you’re strollin’ into some easy hunt.”

  Einherjar are human warriors who live in Valhalla. When a Viking died fighting, he became an einherjar.

  Elyon — The Name of the Void!

  If you’d like to support the story, a follow or rating helps a lot.

  The next part will be released at 8 PM (GMT 6).