Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2019 20:23:17 -0500
From: Purple Jubliee <purplejubilee17@gmail.com>
Subject: After Earth Went Dark; Part III: Chapter 2

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After Earth Went Dark: Part III
Chapter 2

       An ominous silence fell over the camp as people slowly began to
realize that something was amiss. The man standing on the table had drawn
quite a few eyes to begin with. His shouted declaration of a word that none
of them recognized had gathered the rest of the group's attention. Everyone
had seen Tyr's reaction, and everyone had seen the man easily catch the
projectile as if they had been playing a game.
       "You're letting your guard down, boy." The man claimed boastfully,
twirling Tyr's knife expertly in his fingers. A grin crept over his
face. Elliot remembered the friendly way that Hermod had acted just before
trying to murder Tyr. This felt very similar. "And you need better
sentries." The stranger pointed out with a chuckle.
       "What did you do to them!?" Marcel demanded, rising from where he
had been sitting.
       The blonde man shook his head chidingly. "Ignored them. They pose a
threat to no one."
       "You made a mistake coming here, Ullr." Tyr said coolly. "I made it
clear with Hermod, I'm not going back. You should have tried to kill me
alone."
       "Ah, Hermod..." The man's face softened for a moment. "He was good,
but you were always smarter. In a way that couldn't be taught. I told them
sending him after you was foolish. You'd either convert him or kill
him. The later must have been difficult, I remember how close you two
were."
       Elliot saw Tyr's jaw set, but he ignored the sentiment. "His death
was unavoidable. As yours will be if you don't explain yourself."
       The man that Tyr had called Ullr scoffed. "I have no fear of death,
Tiwaz. You know as well as I do that they took that from us... Although..."
He gave a knowing smile. "I get the impression that maybe you don't feel
quite the same anymore. I heard rumors that Iduna was in this area as
well. Maybe you found something worth living for after all?"
       "Enough." Tyr stated firmly. "What is your purpose here, Ullr? These
people don't need to be involved in Aesir's squabbles."
       Ullr sucked in a breath. "Unfortunately, you're wrong. However, I
have no desire to harm you now. Perhaps you and the leaders of this
little..." He looked around while making a circular motion with one
finger. "...party... would like to talk. I have some information you might
find worthwhile."
       Tyr exchanged a wordless conversation with Marcel. Elliot could tell
that Marcel didn't much like the way the conversation had gone. Eventually
however, he nodded and turned his attention back to the bearded man.
       "We will hear you out. Carlos, Jay, please see to making sure
everyone has their rations for the evening." Marcel instructed before
raising his voice for everyone to hear. "It is a simple misunderstanding
that we will clear up quickly. I will make an announcement this evening for
any that are curious to hear about our discussion."
       Marcel was always like that. He was open with the people but still
able to phrase things in a way that made it seem like everything was well
under control. Even though Elliot knew that behind the scenes Marcel was
nearly tearing his hair out trying to keep things in hand. It was part of
what made him such a good leader.
       Elliot made the decision right there that he would try to eavesdrop
on the conversation. He knew that Tyr would likely notice him, and maybe
this Ullr character too, but he hoped they wouldn't say anything.
       As soon as the three of them were out of sight, Elliot slipped away
unseen into the shadows. It was fairly easy to follow someone
inconspicuously in a camp like theirs, especially at night. The rows of
tents provided cover for someone stealthy to easily slip in and out
between.
       Marcel led them to his private tent and Elliot took up a position
just on the other side of the fabric wall. He made sure to choose the side
that had no backlighting so that he would not cast a shadow on the tent.
       "It is good to see you again, Tiwaz." Was the first thing that Ullr
said when they were inside.
       "It's Tyr." Tyr corrected.
       Ullr chuckled. "Of course, my apologies. Old habits. You more than
earned your name."
       "What are you doing here? Does Ymir know you're here?" Tyr demanded.
       "Of course not." The other sounded surprised by the question. "If
Ymir knew exactly where you were, you would have the entire North Military
in these mountains."
       "What then?" Tyr asked, his tone softened but only slightly. "I
doubt you just stopped by to catch up."
       Ullr snorted. "Sarcasm now Tyr? My, you have changed since you've
been gone. It's good though. You were always far too serious." Elliot could
almost feel Tyr's raised eyebrow in the silence that followed. Ullr
continued. "You're right of course. Ymir sent me north, though not to come
after you specifically. The powers that be are becoming confident with
their plan. Everything is falling into place almost perfectly."
       "You're talking about the people overseeing Ymir and all of Aesir."
Tyr noted. It was not a question.
       "Correct. You remember the name that I gave you?"
       "Schneider? I remember. For all the good it's done me." Tyr
commented dryly.
       "Well I have more names now." Ullr's voice had a hint of knowing
humor. "Many more. People with reach that you would not believe. These are
the people that are beginning to take Aesir seriously for the first
time. They've taken to pimping out Aesir soldiers like mercenaries to all
these various warlords that cropped up after Ragnarok."
       "How many more of you are there?" Marcel interjected with a note of
disbelief.
	"Ten thousand children entered the Aesir program." Ullr's voice
took on a far-away almost regretful tone. "I assume Tyr has told you
something about it?" Marcel must have nodded because Ullr continued shortly
after. "Ten thousand children entered. Less than a hundred survived the
training."
	Elliot had heard Tyr mention how rigorous and dangerous the Aesir
training had been, but the numbers were staggering.
	Marcel must have felt the same way because his outburst was
immediate. "How is that possible? Who would have allowed that?"
	"People with one goal and no care for anyone that gets in the way."
Tyr commented.
	"It's worse than that." Ullr said. "Worse than even I was
aware. Another Aesir project was greenlit in the west sometime after ours
began. What their numbers are, I couldn't tell you."
	"Another project?" Tyr sounded startled by this revelation.
	"Indeed." Ullr confirmed. "They are very close now. Close to
beginning the next phase of the plan. That is why I am here."
	"You're telling us this, and you haven't tried to kill us yet."
Marcel pointed out. "So, am I to assume that you don't mean us harm?"
	"Never assume that." Ullr countered with that trace of humor
returning. "In truth, I'm not sure yet myself. I was sent north to open
communications with this New State faction that is on the rise around
here. Ymir wants to know if they'll play ball."
	"And you know of course that we're fighting against them." Tyr
finished.
	"Fighting? Looks more like hiding to me." The other quipped. "But
yes. I'm aware. I thought I'd scope out the competition and see which side
I like better."
	"And what have you decided?" Marcel asked.
	Ullr barked a laugh. "Smart money is on these militia boys. They've
got numbers and they've got resources. You've got some half-starved
farmers." He paused for effect. "But if history can teach anything it's not
to discount the half-starved farmers."
	"That isn't an answer." Marcel pointed out with some annoyance.
	"No, it's not." Ullr agreed. "As I said, I haven't made up my mind
yet. When I do, you'll know, one way or the other."
	"Should we let him leave?" Marcel asked Tyr.
	Ullr snorted in genuine humor. "You wouldn't be able to stop me if
you wanted to. Don't worry, I don't plan to run off and tell where you're
cowering. Though I suspect they're on your doorstep as it is. We'll see
each other again soon Tyr. Regardless of which way things go down, I
decided to leave you a gift. For old times' sake. It's buried near your
western sentry's post. Poor kid was asleep the whole time."
	With that, Elliot heard some stirring within the tent as the flap
was pushed back and Ullr marched purposefully out. Elliot waited in the
shadows as the tall man took a few steps then paused.
	"I'd advise against following me, boy." He spoke to the shadows,
but loud enough that Elliot was sure Tyr and Marcel would be able to hear
him. "You're a decent sneak, I'll give you that, but stay in your lane."
	Elliot froze in place. It was obvious that Ullr had been talking to
him. He had no response however, and after a moment the tall man continued
on his way.
	"Elliot. Come inside." Tyr's voice drew him away from watching Ullr
disappear. The feeling of being caught intruded into his mind and made his
face flush red as he entered the tent.
	"You were listening out there?" Marcel asked in shock. To which,
Elliot nodded in embarrassment.
	"He has a habit of doing that." Tyr said pointedly, giving Elliot a
look. Elliot knew that Tyr wasn't mad at him. He would have known
immediately that Elliot had followed them. But it was still humiliating to
have been noticed.
	"What did you hear?" Marcel asked.
	"All of it, most likely." Tyr answered for him. "What do you think,
Elliot?"
	That was unusual. Tyr didn't usually ask for his opinion on these
sorts of things. After a moment of confusion, he found his voice.
	"He seems very dangerous."
	Tyr nodded. "You're right about that. He's the one that taught me a
great deal of what I know."
	"Do you think we can trust him?" Marcel asked seriously.
	Shaking his head, Tyr gave a brief slight smile. "No. I don't think
we need to worry about him giving away our location. But I would not say
that we can trust him."
	"He's going to try to fight you. Like that Hermod guy did. Isn't
he?" Elliot voiced the fear that had been rising inside him since he had
first seen the Aesir tattoo on Ullr's arm.
	Tyr sighed. "It's very possible. If he chooses to stay true to
Aesir then we will have no choice."
	"If?" Marcel pressed the point.
	"You heard what I heard." Tyr replied. "He must have doubts, or he
would not have talked with us. We have a history as well that I hope will
work in our favor."
	"Was he your friend?" Elliot remembered how far friendship and
`brotherhood' had gotten Tyr with Hermod.
	"Not exactly." Tyr shook his head. "He was a mentor. One of the
original Aesir prototypes. I was one of his students."
	"Well he said that he left you a gift." Marcel pointed out. "That
must be a good sign at least."
	Tyr snorted a quiet chuckle. "A `gift' from Ullr could mean any
number of things."
	"Something dangerous?" Marcel asked.
	Tyr nodded but then shrugged. "Could be. He was always difficult to
read."
	"So, you learned well I guess." Elliot did his best to inject some
humor into the conversation.
	A half-smile from Marcel was all that his quip earned him.
       "Whatever it is, I should go track it down before someone else
does." Tyr said as he made for the exit.
       Elliot knew that this was more important, but he couldn't help
feeling a little bit cheated by Ullr's sudden appearance. Cheated out of a
night alone with Tyr.
       "Can I come too?" Elliot asked. It wasn't as good as spending their
evening in the tent together, but just tagging along would be better than
nothing.
       Tyr nodded. "Be very careful. I have no idea what he could have
hidden out there or why."

       Elliot and Tyr made their way to the outskirts of the camp while
Marcel stayed to deliver his address to the rest of the group about the
events of the evening.
       Just as Ullr had said, they found the sentry asleep under a
tree. The man, probably in his mid-thirties, jumped violently as Tyr shook
him awake. Tyr gave the embarrassed man a stern scolding before sending him
back to the camp. Sure enough, after he had gone, they found a patch of
dirt that had been recently disturbed nearby.
       Using the back of one of his axes, Tyr dug carefully at the patch of
fresh earth. Elliot looked on curiously as an outline began to appear. He
got a quick glimpse of something flashing red before Tyr suddenly whirled
and pushed him away hard, causing him to fall over backwards almost two
yards away.
       "Stay back!" Tyr ordered. "It's a bomb."
       "A bomb!?" Elliot scrambled to his feet. He wanted to rush forward
to pull Tyr away too, but Tyr held up a hand to stop him. His other hand
was pressed hard against the device in the ground.
       "Pressure activated." Tyr stated grimly. "Removing the dirt took the
pressure off of it and began the countdown."
       Wide eyed, Elliot took two steps closer to see that there was a red
flashing timer on what looked like a large box. The timer was not counting
down but continually flashing on the number one.
       "What does it mean?" Elliot asked in fear. "Why did it stop?"
       Tyr gestured toward his other hand that was pressed firmly down on
top of the device. "If I release the pressure, it will go off."
       Elliot's mind raced. "What can we do? Can we rebury it?"
       Tyr shook his head. "Too risky. Even the slightest change in
pressure could be enough to restart the clock."
       "Can you stop it somehow?" Elliot searched for every solution he
could think of.
       "Possibly." Tyr replied. "It will be very difficult with one hand
though."
       "I'll help!" Elliot immediately volunteered.
       "No." Tyr said firmly. "You need to get as far away as possible."
       Elliot scowled obstinately. "No. I'm not leaving. I'm going to
help."
       "Elliot..." Tyr's stoic voice carried a hint of worry.
       "Just tell me what I need to do." Elliot pleaded. "I'll do exactly
what you say, and you won't have to take your hand off it."
       Tyr obviously didn't like this plan, but eventually he let out a
breath and nodded. "Alright. But be careful. Try to uncover the rest of the
bomb. Do it gently and try not to touch it as much as possible."
       Elliot dropped to his knees next to Tyr and carefully used his hands
to scoop dirt out of the hole around the ominous timer. It was bigger than
he had thought at first. As he dug, he uncovered more of the device and
found a number pad along with several trails of wires.
       "Alright..." Tyr took a deep breath as he observed what Elliot had
unearthed. After a moment of thought he spoke again. "Press the star key
twice." Elliot did as he was asked. "Now enter the numbers, five, six,
seven, two, six, four, two, seven."
       Elliot typed in the numbers quickly as Tyr read them off. As soon as
he hit the last key, the device beeped loudly three times, causing Elliot
to recoil. He hadn't realized how tense he was. He forced himself to take
deep breaths.
       "Alright. Now there should be three sets of wires, two sets of three
and one set of four."
       Elliot counted and confirmed that Tyr was right.
       "Ok, you need to dig around and find where they connect on both
ends."
       It took Elliot some time to scrabble around in the dirt until he
found the end points of all three sets of wires. "Alright, got it!"
       "Good..." Elliot could see that Tyr was sweating from the pressure
and found that he too had to pass the back of his hand across his forehead
to keep the beads from dripping down into his eyes. "Now you have to be
very careful here. On the set of four wires, take the second from the left
and pull it out from both ends at the same time. Make sure it's the same
wire, and don't pull any others out with it."
       Elliot nodded and bit his lip. Seeking out the wire that Tyr had
indicated, Elliot traced it with his fingers from one end to the other,
making sure that he didn't jump from one to another in the tangled
confusion. Gently, he took hold of each end of the wire. "Ok..." He closed
his eyes to brace himself. "One... two... three!" He yanked on both ends
simultaneously, pulling the wire off the device. Immediately a long,
sustained beep sounded, and the timer numbers were replaced by dashes.
       When the beep finally stopped, Tyr nodded to reassure Elliot, who
had once again fallen backwards, startled by the unexpected noise. "Good
job." Tyr said quietly. "A little more to go."
       Elliot caught his breath before leaning in over the device once
more. "Now what?"
       "The set of three wires on the left." Tyr indicated. "Take the
right-most one and disconnect it from the end farther from the timer. After
that you have to be ready though."
       "Ready for what?" Elliot asked, knowing he wasn't going to like the
answer.
       "Once that wire is disconnected, you'll have about six seconds to
cut all the wires in the other set of three at the same time."
       "But... what if I can't?" Elliot worried.
       "You can." Tyr told him firmly. He picked up one of his axes and
handed it to Elliot. "Isolate the wires now on a flat surface. As soon as
you pull the first wire, chop down hard on the other three."
       "Ok..." Elliot took several deep breaths, gripping Tyr's axe
tightly. Mentally preparing as he moved the three wires he needed to cut
into a more convenient position. He pushed a flat stone underneath them to
give himself something to chop them against. "Is this it?" He asked
hesitantly.
       Tyr nodded. "If this goes right, the bomb should disarm."
       More deep breaths then a nod. Elliot grabbed the wire he needed to
unplug. "Here we go..."
       Tugging on the wire, it came free and immediately the device began
beeping rapidly. In a panic, Elliot raised the axe to chop down on the
other wires. As he did so, the head of the axe bumped into the trunk of the
tree he knelt by, wrenching it from his hand.
       "No!" He yelled as he scrambled to get the weapon back.
       "Do it!" Tyr urged.
       With a cry of desperation, Elliot found the handle of the axe and
slammed it down on the wires with all his might. A spark flew as steel
struck stone with a loud clang. Then silence.
       Elliot's eyes were screwed shut, waiting for a wave of heat and
noise. When none occurred, he cracked one eye open to see Tyr gradually
letting the pressure off the device with his hand, breathing hard.
       His breath caught in his throat as he began to consider the
possibility that maybe they had succeeded. As Tyr removed his hand from the
bomb completely, he looked to Elliot and gave him a brief nod. That was all
the encouragement Elliot needed. His face split into a shaky grin and he
let out a near hysterical bark of laughter. Trembling, he threw himself at
Tyr, hugging him tightly.
       Tyr hugged him back, holding Elliot against him. "I couldn't have
asked for better help." Tyr rubbed his back as Elliot continue to shake
from the fright.
       "But I almost..." Elliot couldn't bring himself to say it,
remembering those few tense seconds.
       "But you didn't." Tyr said comfortingly. "There aren't many who can
say they would do so well under pressure like that."
       Elliot didn't cry. Though the fear and adrenaline leaving his body
in a rush did give him the urge to as he felt the ultimate comfort of Tyr's
arms around him. He sat in Tyr's embrace, just breathing, happy to be
alive, happy to be with Tyr.
       "Your axe..." Elliot suddenly remembered the loud and harsh sound
when he had struck down on the rock. He picked the weapon off the ground
and examined it. With great disappointment, he saw that the head of the axe
was badly notched where he had hit the rock. As strong as the steel was, it
was not meant to cut through stone.
       "Don't worry about that." Tyr assured. "I have another one."
       "Why would Ullr do that?" Elliot asked, becoming heated. "He tried
to kill you!"
       With a sigh, Tyr shook his head. "I don't think so. I get the
impression it was a test."
       "A test?" Elliot wrinkled his nose. "A test where you die if you
fail?"
       "That's the way of Aesir." Tyr replied.
       "But why? What's the point?" Elliot looked down at the ugly device
in the ground.
       "I think we're about to find out." Tyr answered, returning his
attention to the hole. "There's a good deal of plastic explosive here that
we can find a use for. And there looks like there's something underneath
the bomb as well."
       "Another bomb?" Elliot asked sarcastically.
       "A suitcase or something." Tyr said as he began brushing dirt away.
       Sure enough, once Tyr had carefully excavated the bomb from the
hold, there was something buried underneath. Tugging it out, they found it
to be a small crate with a dirty envelope stuck to it.
       Elliot snorted a laugh as Tyr opened the envelope and pulled out a
tacky birthday card. "So... this was all a joke to him?"
       Tyr gave him a half-frown-half-smile. "Most likely." He flipped the
card open to read the message inside.
       -T-
       	Here is the hand you cut off to escape the wolf.
       -U-
       Elliot frowned at the cryptic message. "What's that supposed to
mean?" He looked at Tyr's hands just out of instinct and confirmed that
they were both solidly attached.
       "If it means what I think it does, Ullr might be sending us help in
his own way after all." Tyr answered, folding the card and replacing it in
the envelope.
       Elliot was about to inquire further, but the sound of rustling
leaves drew their attention as someone made their way loudly through the
dim forest towards them.
       Tyr was immediately on his feet, facing the potential threat. A
young man that Elliot recognized as one of Marcel's message runners
appeared out of the dusky twilight, breathing hard with a frightened look
on his face.
       "I was told you'd be here." He panted.
       "What's wrong?" Tyr demanded, picking up the crate and handing the
defused bomb to Elliot.
       "Carvers!" The young man spoke urgently. "Seen to the east. And
other men. Heading this way."
       Tyr cursed quietly. "Elliot, find Ida and give that to her." He
ordered. "You, tell Marcel I'll meet him at the eastern edge of camp."
       "Yes sir!" The young man nodded before dashing off noisily back into
the darkness.
       Frightened, Elliot looked to Tyr for assurance. The look he found
there surprised him. Tyr was looking down at the crate in his hands with
something Elliot could only describe as longing.