Octavian-centric drabble, based on a prompt Kira gave me.
I don't like ending but I had to cut it off before it became overly long.
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"Don't you think we should go back now? Mother will be worried."
Fricka gave Ox, the gentle Fjord, a nudge to the left and shook her head vehemently, "Da can find us if they worry. We've come this far, we're not going back yet."
Octavian heaved a sigh and glanced around worriedly at their current surroundings before resting his head on his sister's back. They had since left the lush cedar forest and alpine groves and were now wandering aimlessly through dead, blackened timber stands, sprinkled with boulders and oozing seeps. Frankly, he didn't know where they were and he was sure his overly confident twin didn't know either. They were, in a word, lost.
Fricka was not one to concede defeat however and saying his thoughts on the matter would more than likely get him tossed off into a bog and left. So, he tightened his arms around her waist and closed his eyes.
"Haven't you ever wondered what was on the other side of that valley? Your sense of adventure is really lacking, you know that right?" She nudged Ox into a faster walk as they crossed a stream and meandered up a narrow valley, towards a conical peak, similar to the volcanic core Kasbaarg was built on.
"I left it at home by the fireside with my hot tea, until someone decided to get mad at the world and drag me away from it. It is still there, waiting for me to return." Octavian snapped irritably as his stomach gave a rumble.
"Gods how are we even related."
Ox gave a snort and side stepped, then balked, wheeling on his haunches. He wasn't a war horse by any means...just a gentle beast Alek had brought home for the twins...smaller than the war horses so that they could manage him but still sturdy and capable for all their excursions away from home. At his wheel, Fricka stilled him with gentle words and then dismounted as Octavian gave a soft groan and looked down at her.
"What are you doing? Let's just turn around and go home and for once, not investigate." She had that spark in her eyes; the one that always made his nerves run screaming and his warning bells start going off.
She looked up at him with a wide grin, "I don't see or sense anything weird...he probably smelled something off. Come on, I want to see the other side of this ridge."
He scowled at her and folded his arms. No he didn't...he sensed something evil and you do too and damn your curiosity and damn the fact that we're twins and it would kill me to let you go alone. Huffing, he slid off and tied Ox to a branch, then motioned for Fricka to lead on.
The narrow ravine wasn't anything special; dark gray shale was in over abundance and here and there a wind battered, thorny plant stood bravely amongst the rocks. Clouds scuttled across the sun and the wind whipped and tore at their clothes. Fricka was right of course...he didn't really sense anything unusual but she had a penchant for trouble and he rested his hand on his dagger just in case some crazed creature leapt out of the ground at them.
Fricka bounded over the rocks with the enthusiasm and agility of a mentally unstable mountain goat and Octavian followed at a more sedate and normal pace, keeping an eye on her while glancing up at the sky....it appeared that it might rain.
Abruptly the scenery changed, so suddenly it took his breath away as he found himself standing in a lush, grassy meadow. A sparkling lake stood in the distance and on the far shore, rose mountains that were dusted with snow and so steep it made his heart pound. A voice seemed to call him from behind but the words he did not understand and he turned to find a golden maiden, leading a white horse, walking towards him, hand outstretched.
His breath caught and he looked down as a blush spread across his face, then back up as she reached him, "Is....is this Paradise?"
"It is. Valhalla and the Golden Hall awaits you." The Maiden made a sweeping gesture behind her and he looked into the distance, catching sight of a great gold and white Hall, glimmering like a jewel.
"But...I am neither warrior nor did I die in battle." He paused. "....Am I dead?"
She took his hand and led him to the water's edge, motioning that he should look into it. "This is a vision of things that will come to pass and these...are things that have not yet come but that you shall never see."
The water turned crimson as she touched it with her sword and images of war horses, flying the Kasbaargian Banner, appeared, followed by wars and more bloodshed than he thought possible. He saw the Arnulfa being wielded, cities being laid waste and burned, armies crushed, battle fields of corpses being fed upon by the birds and beasts and a faceless and shapeless leader at the head of it all.
"Who....who is responsible for such....destruction?" he asked, taking a step back and looking at the Maiden despairingly.
"You already know, in your heart."
"...Are you saying that....that I'll die and Fricka...Fricka will do these horrible things? Why? I don't understand!"
"She will do it because her grief will overcome her. She will do it for revenge. She will do it to feel. But most of all....she will do it for you."
Octavian slumped onto a rock and looked up at her with wide eyes, heart pounding violently against his ribs as if it would break free. This had to be a nightmare...but this place was so beautiful...was it really Valhalla?
"Come, Octavian Kasbaarg. Eat and drink your fill and wait with the warriors of old for Ragnarok."
"I...I can't. I have to go back. Can I go back? Please....I can stop her, I can change this..."
"The future cannot be undone and that which is written, cannot be unwritten. The Fates have decided."
He clutched his hands to his head and bowed over as a scream pierced his mind and he was consumed by utter blackness, thick and heavy and smothering. Pain shot through his shoulder, then his side and he realized the scream was his own. What had happened? In the blackness he felt another presence and he knew it...he knew the quiet seething aura and the scent of blood.
Her blood.
His soul screamed in anger and hers answered before suddenly an over powering aura was felt and the blackness faded after a moment...Octavian sinking to the ground with a whimper. He could heard the wolves attacking and swords clashing together but he didn't want to open his eyes until he felt the big warm hand of his Da and the scent of blood rushed his brain, forcing his eyes open.
"Congratulations. You wandered into Jaroslav's territory." Alek chuckled softly before lifting Octavian upright and checked his wounds before hoisting him onto Ox.
"...." Octavian looked around groggily and fell forward onto Ox's bushy mane, slurring a question. He felt generally numb and sluggish but the memories in his mind of the Shield Maiden and what he had seen in the water was still with him.
"Hans has Fricka. She's not hurt much more than you." Alek replied, answering the slurred question as he took Ox's reins and vanished them back to the castle.
Octavian fell asleep at some point but when he woke up, he was bandaged and in his own bed, Fricka cuddled against his back in a ball and his wolf pup curled at the end of the bed.
Paradise...
