The Hunt (Tales Of Midgard)

[Seck Jervanus]

'GRRRAHHH!' The creature, whatever it was, towered over Seck, looming awkwardly with the great double handed axe twice the size of Jervanus himself. It was humanoid yet built to be alien to a human body.

It stood nearly at 12 feet tall. Its structure was one of pure muscle, its flesh bulged with the very strength it so clearly had within its power. Its skin was hard like iron, one could strike at it with anything, even fire and the flesh would not break.

It was a massive hulk, one that could so easily crush the normal humanoid.

" I will not be sent away by your vile appearance you beast!"

Seck yelled valiantly, his sword raised into a position of defense.

"You will not stop me being"The One" Montoyus, you shall not stop me!"

The monstrosity of the hulk did not retort in word, but in strength. The axe he weilded came crashing down upon Seck like hell was being brought with it. Seck rolled left quickly, avoiding the razer sharp edge to the monsters weapon and the axe dug hard into the cathedrals floor, the ground shook with the impact, windows smashed, wood tumbled down.

Seck's sword swiped left towards Montoyus' lower calf in mid roll, it dug sharply into the monsters skin, but did not penetrate. The hulk tugged hard at the axe but it had been lodged so hard into the ground of the sacred building it did not move even with the monstrous strength of the beast.

"HA HA ! see sometimes strength is overrated my friend!"

Seck collected himself from his failed attempt at hurting the creature. Jervanus stood up right once more to look the creature in the eye, so to speak.

" You were never much of a right hand to him were you?"

" You are nothing to me mortal, be gone!"

" Nothing? it seems you are in a worse situation than i does it not?"

"You are after the stone arn't you mortal? Seck?"

"Who says im mortal?" Seck asked, avoiding the creatures question. His purpose were none of the creatures right to know as far as he was concerned.

"You are scared, thus, you are mortal" The giant said, his deep voice almost boomed through the cathedral. " You know as well as i do, you are not to have the stone"

"Do you judge a book by its cover, beast?"

" No"

"Then do not judge me Montoyus!"

Suddenly the hulk of a monster leaned back, arching himself over. He roared, louder than Seck had ever remembered him doing so. Montoyus' mouth was not human at all, it was spilt four ways infact, so when he opened it it not only opened vertically but horizontally also.

Seck was back on his toes again, his sword was at the ready. The creature suddenly gripped the fixed axe, yanked harder than before and it was free of its hold.

The fight would continue.

[Seck Jervanus]

The monster swung his axe outward across his chest, with instict more than skill Seck narroly avoided having his head slashed open by the razor edge of the gaint weapon, his life in toe. However in a second attempt to hit the human, Montoyus drove the butt of the axe into the chest of Seck sending the man flying head over heals like a rag doll into the air.

For a moment the pain was to great to handle, it seemed as if this hit, this slam would finish Jervanus off for good. Everything in the hurling spin seemed to slow down, slow motion. His eyes glazed over, his heart seemed to stop beating for thoughs fast few moments, twisting and spinning without any control. And then suddenly it sped back up again, his pain supressed, numb, feelingless. With luck the hhuman landed back upon his feet, but still sliding on the shiney floors of the tiled cathedral.

Seck outstreched his still gripped sword, placed the tip upon the ground and applied presure, sparkes flew but slowly and surely Seck came to a hault his sword now outstreched. Montoyus swung his axe behind him which dug once again into the sacred ground of the cathedral and roared loudly again, arching his back in perhaps triumph. But it was short lived. The two enimies looked at eachother for a moment, there eyes locked.

Somone would have to make a move.

It was seck

Seck started his attack, he started the sprint towards to monster, his legs moving uncontrollably fast. The beast suddenly started his run toward seck to dragging the axe behind him, sparks flew from the metal in a blaze of light. Seck placed both hands upon the sword handle ready for the clash, a collision course to blood,sweat and tears. The giant also gripped his axe, swung it up in mid run, seck lifted his sword into a defense position, the light hit his eyes, Secks heart jumped...

"RAHHH!"

"GRAAAAHHHH!"

...and then like two bulls heading strait on in a mad furey, they collided.

[Seck Jervanus]

The hulks axe crashed down with one mighty swing while Secks sword was placed upwards to defend against the blow. A mighty smash of metal sounded in the ecoeing deep of the cathedral as the two weapons clang together. The ebat once against went to shove the butt of the axe into the chest of Sec, but the human was more ready this time.

He avoided the blow easily, Seck was fast while the monster with such towering strength was slower in his abilities. The human retorted to this move with his own, his sword was driven hard into the belly of the beast, so hard infact that the impact against the skin of the monster even hurt Seck in recoil.

Clearly it rang true this time, the skin was breached and blood spat from the open, gushing wound like a bloody waterfall from a hillside. Montoyus wailed terribly but it was to late to wail, the monster sank to his knees, letting go of the axe which clanged to the floor. Montoyus slowly looked down to the hole which had been opened within his gut and then back to Seck.

"Y...you are a mighty warrior Seck, always have been!" The monster struggled to talk, but with his last amount of limited energy he spoke. " You wish of something so powerful, so great that even 'The Master' cannot use?, you are a brave sort, one that i should have known i could not defeat!"

Seck looked now into the eyes of the creature, pity flowed through him as if he felt sorry for the hulk of strength. These two had fought many times before, but one had never defeated the other, it was if an end to era had finally come through the years of bloodshed, in essence the two had always been...distant friends as well as rivals.

"You to were a match i should not have beaten Montoyus, you will have my respect and my honor. A long time you and i have battled, but i never expected it to end, forgive me!" Seck bowed his head and placed his hand, seemingly tiny on the gigantic shoulder of what was in front of him.

"Do away with me human, finish me!"

Seck looked up into the eyes of Montoyus, and then back down in grief. "DO IT!" Seck stood strait, raised his sword, looked into the eyes once more of the creature and then gave one last swipe down upon the head of Montoyus, the blade cut gruesomely through the neck of Montoyus and the former monster fell finally to the floor, his head rolled to a stop not far from its detached owner.

"May you rest in Valhala....fallen friend..."

Seck sheathed his sword within its holster across his back, looked up towards to two massive double doors the Montoyus had been guarding and started his journey toward them.

[Anubis]

Anubis tilted his head back as he drank the blood from the freshly torn heart of the slave. How refreshing was the taste of blood when the man had given such a struggle before dying. Two women daintily robed in black and red silk held the body before the throne until Anubis dismissed it. They moved to the side and tossed the body on a spike on the left wall. The still bleeding body joined numerous others within the large throne room; the left wall stained red and the glass of the windows dimmed and covered in the rust of dried blood.

The women turned back to their master with devilish grins, adorned in metal plates that fit to their form almost too well. They returned to their places beside the throne on each side, grasping their scythes in one hand and their other arms resting at the feet of Anubis.

Several robed figures stood underneath the arches along the sides of the throne room. They murmured in low voices a chant to Anubis, the Demi-God of Rage, son of Freya, Goddess of Fertility and War. He was half human and half Asgardian, blessed with divine powers and yet lesser in the standing of the Gods with the blood of Midgard running through his veins. But nonetheless, he was the son of Freya and the Demi-God of Rage, he would not be denied what glory was his. He was the driving force behind the berserkers and the battle rage of the valkries. He fed off their rage and in the fury of battle he knew what a god he was.

He hissed now as he could feel a tremble, like a ripple in the air, as if the great tree Yggdrasil had fallen. Montoyus... had fallen? Anubis would not have it. His bodyguard was picked for such a reason and Anubis was not fully healed from his recent endeavor. He took a moment to examine the scars on his arms. His eyes flashed red, the irises turning in on themselves to be blood red.

"Free Me! I will not suffer this no longer!"

The memory was so vivid. His voice, such rage that Anubis could only dream of.

"Anubis! My Prison to be your victim!"

Almost like a dream had the rage been so sweet.

"Anubis! The God of Rage, free me and you shall know..."

Anubis withdrew within himself, the fresh blood drying on his chin and the spilled amount matting the back of his black hair to his neck. He closed his eyes as he sat on his throne.

[Seck Jervanus]

"NUHHH-ARRR!" Seck fell to his knees gripping his head between his hands, he had never felt so much pain in all his life. And so it began, a host of blues and greens flashed before him, one after the other in quick sucsestions, each flash pounded a soul cracking pain between his eyes, nerve breaking, brain crushing. Each as if a hammer had hit his head in full blow.

**FLASH**

A image appeared, the pain supressed. The image was of a great hall filled with torches, chattering people, some clad in the most godly of metallic armors, some dressed in the finest robes. At the end of the glittering hall was a cell, though not with bars, but with red strips of light, almost like lightning.

Caged within, from what Seck knew, was Loki the trickster god, bound by Odin himself. As Seck parted the crowed to journey before Odin and his captee he saw Loki smile within his cage of lighting. How could he be happy there?

"SILENCE!" boombed Odin beside the cage. The room feel silent. Although Seck could not see Odins features or form as such, in a blur. The feeling of it being Odin, the power, the presence, it was most certainly him, the blured image was to keep his face unknown it seemed.

"Loki, the murderer of Balder shall forever remain within this giant cage, do not fear his escape, these bars i set by Thor himself, from fire and lighting they shall never break!" The chatter rised slighty in exciment and wonder of the capture of the giant, Loki.

***Flash***

Pain flowed through him once more and Seck awoke on the floor in a warm room, a hall it was with figures lining eath side, and before him woman with polearms as weapons, and on the throne, Anubis, Demi-God of Rage sat, A dream or reality? he did not know but it seemed real for the air was hard upon his lungs.

Secks weakness suddenly hit him, he could not rise from his crawling, almost begging appearence upon the ground, but his speech worked fine.

" Dream or not Anubis...Montoyus, your pet, is slain!"

[Anubis]

"Indeed. I'm afraid you are dreaming then Mortal."

Anubis didn't stand, nor did he open his eyes. But the smile upon his lips that Seck could not see from the floor told the others he would not need to.

"What has brought the mighty slayer of Montoyus to his knees? Did my PET prove such a challenge? No matter. You..."

Anubis tilted his head to the side as he scanned over the pain wrecked mind of Seck.

"...Seck Jervanus, are in no position of any sort at the time. Dream or not, Montoyus WAS defeated by your hands, no easy feet among the men of Midgard. You've earned at least this much, by my grace of course."

One of the women simply let her arm fall, the massive scythe cutting into the ground before the throne and letting sparks fly. She stood, holding the scythe with ease as she approached Seck. The murmuring chants of the robed men grew louder as she neared the warrior.

Anubis kept his eyes closed for the fact that the face and the voice would not leave his mind.

(("RELEASE ME!"

The Asgardians slept, the bodies of the Gods peacefully stretched across the halls of Aegir as Anubis neared the cage. The cage that called to him. The prison of rage that screamed for release, tormenting the demi-god until he almost mechanically left his lair to enter the hall of Aegir, under strict instruction of the Voice. Who else would be imprisoned in this Hall but Loki, brother of Odin and God of mischief.

Anubis had been told to obtain the sword Caldabolg, the sword the cleaved the land of Midgard and seperated Hel beneath the ground and Valhalla to the sky. The demi-god would not have been able to hold such a relic but for the ever flowing strength of rage emanated from the cage by Loki. But it had been no easy feat and Anubis' body was left with scars from fighting the ice giants guarding the sword. No one seemed to withstand the Rage.

Anubis approached the prison and with one exhausted thrust, he cut one bar of the cage, releasing Loki without giving any noticable sign. With that, Anubis passed out, his divinity spent to awaken before Loki, before Chaos itself. Rage would serve Chaos and it would know Godliness.))

He opened his eyes to look at Seck now, his bright blue eyes examing the body.

"You are offered a release from your mortal coil Seck. Whether you would continue to live or not, you will be released from your coil. A dream or a nightmare? Perhaps both. I'm offering you the blood of the Asgardians Seck. You have proven your valor and your honor and now you are offered a reward."

Anubis stood now, the woman by the throne stood, draping one arm over the shoulder of Anubis and the other arm tilted her scythe outwards. The Demi-god wore black plates of armor over his chest and on his shoulders. The plates ran along his back in a shelled look of his spine.

"You are offered... Divinity."

Anubis began to change, to metamorph to a more perfect state. As perfect as he would get. Even Freya, his own mother could not stand the bloodthirsty face of the Jackal that her son assumed. His height was little over eight feet and his arms were now covered in more black plates of metal. The demonic visage stepped down from the dias, the blue irises now glowing red. His tongue licked the dried blood from his chin as he pointed to Seck. The maiden by Seck pulled him up to his feet easily and held his head by the hair so that his eyes looked into those of Anubis.

[Seck Jervanus]

" Why me?" Seck simply asked, his hair nearly being torn out by that of the maiden. " I have done nothing but lead victory to those of the Midgard warriors, why choose me over them?"

Seck dared not argue more than he had, Anubis to the Norse Religion was a new god, a god apointed by Loki himself, and to anger Loki and his followers was not a well deed to do.

[Anubis]

Anubis' eyes slanted in contempt.

"Even the Norn's speak of your valor. That the three beauties would compliment a man of Midgard should be well enough for you, Mortal. What other honor than to join our ranks? What other honor than to further the victories in Asgard? What other honor than to serve Loki through victory?!"

A massive weapon that appeared to look like two zweinhanders with the same hilt levitated from behind the throne to Anubis' raised claw. Drool dripped from his snapping jaws as his black hair shifted with the movement. He grasped the weapon and brought the jagged edge to the throat of Seck.

"Would you really die now? At such a dishonor without your weapon and no strength in your body? Is this the end you would resign yourself when I ask if you would know service to Victory and Loki? I can give you either one, all on your answer."

The woman beside Seck strattled his leg as she pulled his hair harder and forced his neck against the deadly blade, small droplets of blood appearing to run down his neck. The chanting became a low wave of pressure within the throne room.

"Anubis... God of Rage... Son of War... Hand of Chaos... Anubis..."

[Seck Jervanus]

" I would rather die than serve a creature like you!" Seck shouted, his voice crackley and out of tune as if being strangled. He spat at the floor before the demi-god his rage more so than ever at the very nerve.

" What crusade is the great Loki under taking to require such men as me?" it was a dareing question, he knew hed be punished but it had to be said.

[Anubis]

The woman beside Seck tore violently at his hair for his incompetence. Her lips, full and black, were a hair away from Seck's ear.

"How dare you mock the Chaos, you mortal filth!"

Anubis stopped her with raising his demonic claw. He still held the blade to Seck's throat roughly but his other hand moved to Seck's face. One gnarled finger touched his forehead and Anubis' eyes locked to Seck's. The contact to his skin unleashed a flurry of enraging images.

--PAIN--

((The berserkers charged underneath the feet of the giants. The sign of Loki painted on their faces, armor, and weapons. Rain and sleet fell but it was hotter than midday in the desert. The sun could be seen when the clouds broke cover but it was eclipsed by the moon. The elements were so chaotic it seemed as if Ragnarok were happening inside Seck's mind.

On a floating dias, above the massive army that emenated darkness, Loki sat upon his throne, casual. He had no definite shape it seemed in Seck's mind. Seck just knew that the shape on the throne was Loki, godbrother of Odin. Beside him stood Anubis, cloaked in shifting shadows that spiked out in random places. There was nothing of Midgard in the vision of Anubis, merely a God.

And below the dias, at the head of Loki's army was Seck Jervanus. The man of Midgard who would overthrow the old order of the Gods and replace it with the new order of Chaos. The man who would actually have the chaotic ability to choose his future, his fate, and his destiny.

But in this vision, he was not just of Midgard, he could almost feel that of Asgard in his veins.

And Loki's voice, a calling that fed from Seck's rage and flowed from Anubis' powers,

"Come Balder and know your place in my unplans!"))

--PAIN--

Anubis snout was a breath away from Seck's face; the smell of death fresh.

"Well Seck? Do you see now?"

[Dax Sculder]

Outside the Temple stood the warrior Dax Sculder friend of Seck. He stood there visibly worried his friend had entered a while ago telling him he would be right back. They where in search of some relic of the gods as usual. He looked upon his soldiers and then back to the temple. It was time for action seck had been gone to long and there was no way that dax was going to be left out of the fight.

The young man still in his twenties with short brown hair and a beard seemed to have a death wish. He never liked being left out of something but seck always seemed to go off by himself telling Dax to wait behind. Every time he would have to rush in and save his friend seck from sudden danger. Again he looked to the temple and then back to the soldiers.

"By the gods!"

He cursed under his breathe these where the moments he hated the most having to wait on his actions. He slammed his fist with a gauntlet into a near by tree and then turned fully to his soldiers. All ten faced him ready for action in their full plate and sword in there hilts. Dax scratched his beard and looked at each one individually.

"Its time seck is taking to long! Lets go now!"

The band of men charged for the temple ready for anything that would come their way. The god of the dead would have run away screaming from this fearsome bunch.