Sea Combat

—We found this girl wandering our lands— Dzelarhons mentioned moments ago when the day's Potlatch combat was beginning. The goddess was standing next to the post where Epona was tied and unconscious.

Thor's face twisted when he saw her, but he kept silent. However, this grimace couldn't avoid being seen by the Haida goddess.

—Such fair skin and golden hair as yours, they do not occur in this part of the world— the goddess continued in the divine language. —I can assume you know this girl, right?—

—I have never seen her in my life— Tyr responded immediately.

—Then, can I assume you will not worry if we kill her?— the Haida goddess asked again.

—Not at all— Freyja answered without flinching, but was quickly grabbed by the shoulder by Thor.

—Wait a minute!— the thunder god shouted. —Are you looking to kill innocents in these lands? I expected you to be better than the barbarians we know from the other side of this world—

—What the hell are you talking about, Thor?— Freyja asked almost whispering. —Since when do you care about the lives of strangers?—

—I agree with Little Thor here, we will not allow the blood of a poor innocent girl ♬— added Freyr, also shouting at the Haida goddess.

Dzelarhons began to laugh and turned to look at her lord Y'aahl. After a brief conversation, the goddess turned back towards the Norse gods and then, speaking in her native language, she addressed the entire audience watching the fight.

—My esteemed subjects and Haida silbings— the goddess declared with her voice raised. —We found this witch in our territories, cursing our sea so we cannot fish anymore, so we decided to execute her—

—As you can see, she belongs to this group of demons who have proven to be stronger than we believed. But this time, we will destroy the morality of these people, ending their ally in front of their eyes after this event— the Haida goddess concluded.

The audience began to hurl insults and shouts at Epona, who could not hear them because she remained unconscious.

—I can't understand a damn thing they said, but I assume they'll want to kill that girl if we lose this fight— Tyr said with a completely stoic attitude.

—But this will be the final event, after today, the demons will die when I personally, in conjunction with the three most powerful Haida gods, defeat these cursed demons— Dzelarhons yelled, and the crowd began to cheer and shout in jubilation.

Many had started to lose hope of defeating them, as the Norse gods were very strong, even having defeated Haida gods without much difficulty, despite the divine barrier.

—Kaiti, my husband and the great warrior bear!— Haida goddess shouted. The god appeared on the platform where the goddess and Epona were tied. The man raised his arms and roared like a bear, making the crowd go wild.

—And on the other hand, the death brothers gods, T'axet and Tia— Dzelarhons continued, amidst the roars of joy and excitement from the Haida public.

—Those guys... seem strong— Freyja said, surprised, seeing the three men displaying themselves on the altar where Epona was tied.

Dzelarhons gestured to the translator man, and he peered over the railing where the gods were.

—Finally, they're going to translate what they're saying ♬— Freyr commented cheerfully.

—The final event will take place on the sea, we will create a lake in this area, and each one of you will build a ship and choose your soldiers to defend it. If the demons' ship is sunk, they will lose and will be sacrificed after killing the girl— the Haida goddess exclaimed while the man translated it to the Norse gods.

—Of course, there will be no other option because today these demons will lose and die at our hands. If our ships were to sink, we would lose, but that will never happen— she concluded with a hint of laughter.

—Build a ship? Does anyone know how to do that?— Thor asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

Then, a group of people threw several pine and oak logs along with ropes at the Norse gods.

—Demons!— the Haida goddess continued, but in the divine language. —Use those logs and build your ship, so you can see that we are fair in our fights—

Thor and the others approached the logs and ropes thrown by the men, and as best they could, began to build a boat, using their hands and fists as saws and hammers. In the end, they created a flimsy raft with a poorly made dragon face. The entire audience began to laugh at their poor attempt.

At that moment, the entire square began to flood, water emanated from under the ground very quickly. The Norse gods jumped onto the poorly constructed raft immediately. In a few minutes, a lake had formed where the gods were fighting.

The men, at the top, began to beat their drums, and four Haida ships appeared with fully armed men rowing. In addition, they had a group of archers each.

They were elongated boats with a bow painted with a red and black face trying to mimic a raven. Each of the ships, on the bow, was commanded by one of the gods mentioned, and they quickly circled the small Nordic boat.

—And they really still believe this game will be fair?— Freyja wondered, bad-tempered, while the other gods placed themselves at each of the corners of the boat to defend it.

Then Y'aahl, who was still seated on his throne, raised his hand, and the men with the drums began to hit violently.

The translator who was still on the platform shouted: —Forward!— in Haida, and at that moment the entire audience began to shout in unison.

—Well, it's time to stop playing and use our totemas— Thor shouted, and the Norse gods nodded.

Thor, Freyr, Freyja and Tyr, all four, invoked the power of their totemas, which caused a blinding light in the entire improvised circus and caused waves in the lake. Dzelarhons, seeing this, understood that the gods would use their power to the maximum, so she ordered her men to sink the ship immediately.

Instantly, the men on the boats began to attack the flimsy Nordic vessel with arrows, while the rowers threw enormous rocks tied with ropes to destroy it. But, both Thor and the others, now wielding their totems, began to hit the stones and shake off the arrows to prevent their boat from being destroyed.

—Thor, when you said that girl is from Athena's group, were you referring to Orniskem?— Tyr asked.

—Indeed, Athena promised Loki and me to support us in this quest— Thor replied.

—I know about that, but I thought they had abandoned us— Freyja added.

—However, that girl doesn't seem very strong to me, Little Thor. Can we really trust a little girl who couldn't handle a few simple Celtic gods? ♬— Freyr asked.

—Honestly, I don't know, but if we rescue her, we may learn more about what's happening— said Thor.

With that, the thunder god raised his hammer, Mjolnir. —Do it now, Freyr!— he yelled.

At that moment, the rocks hit the boat and destroyed it while the gods leapt high into the air. As the fragile construction of the Nordic boat broke apart on the lake, a massive vortex appeared below.

—By the raven, what is that?— Dzelarhons asked in surprise, watching the enormous whirlpool in the sea, pushing the boats and causing them to lose their balance.

Freyr, still in the air, recited the mantra: —Sigl Skídbladsins—

Then, out of the whirlpool appeared a gigantic boat with a dragon's prow. The boat was so large that the four Haida boats could fit inside it. The boat was entirely golden, and on the sail was a Nordic image of a boar. On port and starboard, a set of shields shone like mirrors, and the dragon on the prow was red with very penetrating blue eyes.

The four gods landed on the boat, and then in unison, they began to attack the tiny Haida boats with their abilities.

Thor dropped a lightning bolt on one of the boats, destroying it. Freyr cast a beam of light that burned another. Freyja created a spear of light and destroyed another. Finally, Tyr cast a red beam from his sword Tyrfing, sinking the last boat.

—We are the gods of Asgard, Haida people, remember our faces because we will be your new masters!— Thor shouted at the top of his lungs, as the enemy boats fell apart in the lake and the men escaped by swimming away from the disaster.

However, the four Haida gods: Dzelarhons, Kaiti, T'axet, and Tia, jumped from the water onto the boat, ready to fight.

—That was forbidden! The boat had to be built only with the materials we provided— Dzelarhons angrily shouted, while threatening the gods with a staff ending in a frog at the top.

—Really? Those instructions weren't very clear—Thor said sarcastically.

—'If the demons' ship is sunk, they will lose and be delivered in sacrifice,' those were your words, Miss Dzelarhons ♬— Freyr explained.

—The boat that sank was pourr backup boat, this is pourr real boat— Freyja added.

—Alright then, we will destroy this boat and you will lose— Dzelarhons shouted.

—Again, that would be against the rules ♬— Freyr added, —'If our ships sink, we would lose, but that will never happen,' those were your words ♬—

The goddess was furious, but the god in the bear robe calmed her. —There's no point in getting angry about it, let's finish this scum right here— he said.

At that moment, the god turned into a gigantic brown bear. It was much larger than the bears the Sgana quedas transformed into. It stood on two legs, its eyes emanated violence and drooled a lot of saliva from its jaws. It had huge claws and painted patterns on its body of red, orange, and black, classic Haida patterns.

—The bear is mine— Thor indicated while pointing at the enormous animal with his hammer. Everyone nodded.

—I'll take care of that witch who has been annoying me since we met her— Tyr commented, raising his bloody sword to the sky while looking at the Haida goddess with his diabolical eyes.

Meanwhile, the two death gods positioned themselves behind Freyr and Freyja, as if they had teleported.

—My name is T'axet and I am the god of violent deaths— said the first one, who only differed from his brother by the color of the eyes of his possum mask; his were red.

—And I am Tia and I am the god of peaceful deaths— said the other brother, whose mask's eyes were blue.

—Freyr, leave the violent one purr meow— Freyja said, licking her left hand. The god of light nodded.

Y'aahl watched the fight from his throne, but he was so focused on the fight that he didn't notice Epona opening one of her eyes, and then closing it again.

Thor threw his hammer towards the great bear, shouting: —Mjolnir leggja—

But the hammer was stopped by the claw of the gigantic animal, causing it to return to the thunder god.

The god Kaiti, then, hurled himself with both claws open towards Thor, but the god quickly dodged the attack, causing the great bear to crash into the ground. The boat suffered no damage.

Kaiti got up again, and his claws lit up as if they were on fire. Then, the huge bear shouted: —Káajaaw gyáagan st'áang—

With those nails, he hit Thor, who managed to defend himself with his hammer. But the great bear quickly caught the Nordic god.

—This is exactly what I was waiting for, a fight with someone as powerful as you— the god said, panting, and after a struggle, Thor managed to wriggle out of the bear's claws.

Taking advantage of the great bear's lack of balance, the thunder god jumped towards the gigantic animal's face and shouted: —Tanngrisnir aen Tanngnjóstr—

Thor, then, created a gigantic electrical attack in the shape of two goats, which hit the large bear head-on, throwing it off the boat.

Freyja jumped back, avoiding a shower of dark arrows, which emanated poison. The god T'axet conjured weapons behind him: Arrows, spears, clubs, all poisoned, while vociferating: —Tláawaa áaniigaay —. But the goddess evaded them with great elegance, leaving a trail of movement in front of her.

—It's impurrssible to hit meow, meow senses are at their maximum level at these meowments— commented the goddess Freyja as she continued to move with great elegance doing her technique: 'Kattagangur '.

—I see you're very agile, so I'll catch you with my final technique— said the god of death as he invoked: —Ga áahljaaw—.

The entire area behind the god darkened, and grotesque images of human heads and skulls appeared behind him.

—When this cursed cloud touches you, it will be your end— he said.

—Your art skills are very subtle, purr I am able to destroy the darkness with meow parade of flower— shouted the goddess at the same time saying also: —Freyjulundr—

A huge field of roses and flowers appeared as an illusion in the area where she was. The air of the flowers then drove away the dark cloud that the god of death had invoked.

—Without this suppressor of energy, the whole area would have turned into meow meadow, but I can't complain— said the goddess, just as she made a huge lance appear in her right hand, and valkyries began to appear behind the goddess.

—Valfreyju stafr— Freyja shouted, and threw her spear as if it were a light arrow, which pierced the chest of the god of death, while valkyries dragged the wounded body of the haida god and threw him into the water.

The meadow and the valkyries disappeared, and Freyja licked her face as if she were a cat. —Excuse meow, for just playing with purr— she said with a smile.

Freyr, wearing his imposing armor of the boar Gullinbursti and his sword Hornsverd, had fallen asleep with the attack of Tia called: 'Kánga tlagáay'.

—You who looked the most imposing with that grotesque armor, ended up being the easiest to defeat— Tia laughed. —Now you will sleep forever until your heart stops—

But at that moment, Freyr's body began to glow very potently, and its size changed considerably; it was about half as tall as it was without a totema. When the light dissipated, there was the figure of a small magic elf. He had green clothing and blue pants, plus a long blonde beard.

—I'm sorry, sorry, but I had to take this form to counteract your sleep magic— said Freyr turned into a gnome, making a very childish and squeaky voice.

—Even though my appearance is funny, now I am the being with the greatest magical power in the world— he added.

Tia began to laugh.

—Dwarf, I could crush you with a stomp— he said.

—I recommend that you prepare better, because in this state I am not as lenient as when I have the appearance of a boar— Freyr replied.

—Álfaskot— Freyr invoked, and a bow of light was placed next to the god. The bow had an arrow pointing at Tia, who couldn't stop laughing.

—Is that all? Is your great magic a bow and arrows?— Tia continued laughing.

But Freyr pointed his index finger at the haida god, and the arrow, as if it were a blizzard, immediately pierced Tia, making a huge hole in her right shoulder.

—That power was terrible!— Tia yelled as she saw the bow was ready to attack again.

—Now you will disappear!— Freyr shouted, and hundreds of blizzard arrows collided with Tia, but to Freyr's surprise, corpses appeared in front of the god of death.

—For the haida, to die without a war is cowardly, so those who die peacefully must wander in the Sçáan Tlagáa eternally— said the haida god, as these putrefied corpses slowly approached Freyr.

—Now, you will suffer the consequences of provoking me!— Tia shouted at the same time as she invoked her mantra: —Sçáan Tlagáa Ýaat'áay —

The ghosts turned into dark energy and hit Freyr, creating a huge explosion of fog. Incredibly, the ship was still unscratched. However, the attack had no effect on Freyr who continued with his bow raised.

—I understand that my arrows won't work because you'll stop them with your corpses— Freyr commented. —But you also can't defeat me now in this form, because I control the darkness and light at the same time—

—Darkness and light at the same time? What nonsense! No one can control both such complex elements at the same time— Tia replied laughing.

Freyr, then, created a sphere of light in his right hand and another of darkness with his left hand, while he prayed: —Andstaedingur galdra—

Seeing it, Tia paled, and his reaction was to run as fast as he could.

—It's true, they are two such advanced elements that controlling them at the same time can cause such a massive destabilization as this antipode— Freyr shouted.

At that moment, the clash of the spheres began to destabilize, and a huge explosion of light and shadow emanated from Freyr's hands, pulverizing Tia in the wake of its shockwave. This attack caused the ship to minutely tear.

Freyr had been left alone with his hands raised, while panting slowly. He had used so much power, he had lost the elven form and appeared again as a massive golden boar.

—Little Thor was right, if we had never trained here, I wouldn't have been able to use my elven transformation ♬— the god of light said to himself with a huge smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Tyr was jumping all over the ship's deck, while Dzelarhons invoked fire frogs reciting the mantra: —K'wáanda hlk'yáan k'ust'áan—.

The frogs moved at high speed towards Tyr, and when close, they exploded terribly, although none of those explosions caused any damage to the ship.

—Ever since I met you— said Tyr while avoiding the explosions. —I knew it would be me who would slit your throat—

—You talk a lot for someone who can't even get close to me— the goddess commented as more frogs appeared and exploded, injuring Tyr as he couldn't escape.

The god of war finally fell to the ground in a pool of blood, while Dzelarhons laughed.

—Now— said the goddess, —I will bury you with my explosive frogs—

Dzelarhons created hundreds of frogs and they all landed on Tyr and exploded simultaneously. But, when the dust cleared, Tyr was standing, wounded and covered in blood.

—Really what I intended is that there would be more blood in our fight, even if it was mine,— confessed the god of war, while looking grimly at the haida goddess.

Dzelarhons then invoked a gigantic frog that looked like it was made of magma, which immediately jumped towards the Nordic god.

Tyr, then, took his sword Tyrfing, which dripped a lot of blood as if it had bled out, and prayed: —Sjódandi Blódrista —

A huge blood slash cut the goddess's chest, while the giant frog was cut in half, and exploded in a noisy way. The goddess fell unconscious into the lake, while Tyr recovered, thanks to the accumulation of blood from his sword, the ichor he had lost.

—My only regret is waiting more than ten days to do something I could have done when we met— Tyr commented as he sheathed Tyrfing again.

The four gods reunited again after defeating the four haida gods. The Nordic gods were viewed with a look of disbelief by Y'aahl and the audience, who were still in denial as they watched their gods lose to these foreign demons.

When they finally acknowledged what had happened, the people began to run away as if a disaster was about to occur. It was obvious that the demons ended up being stronger than their gods. Not even the raven god could beat them.

—So, raven, who finally won the encounter?— Thor asked sarcastically.

Y'aahl then created an energy sphere and placed it in front of Epona's head. —One more step and I'll kill her— he said furiously.

But then, to everyone's surprise, Epona opened her mouth and ate the energy created by the raven god. Then she burped, and smoke came out of her mouth.

—What a sore loser you are, crow man!— Epona said, but her voice sounded just like Loki's. —The truth is, I only let myself be captured to see what those fools from Asgard would do—

At that moment, Thor and the others were surprised.

—Loki?— Thor asked in surprise.

Loki, still transformed into Epona, disappeared from everyone and reappeared next to Thor and company, already in his form of dark god and wearing his totema.

—Indeed, you abandoned me, but Orniskem decided to rescue me. How ironic is life, don't you think?— the dark god commented with a huge smile.

At that moment, from among the stands, Menrva, Ana, and Epona appeared and stood on the walls that divided the esplanade and the audience, who had fled.

—We are Orniskem— said Menrva. —And we've come to take these idiots—