Chapter 7: Jotunheim

"Entering Jotunheim's Atmosphere. Scanning for a suitable place to land." The ships AI called out.

The ship seemed to really absorb the force of the atmosphere. We couldn't see out of the ships main view due to the heavy snow clouds. We sat back in our seats and allowed the ships AI to guide us. We had a slight issue with turbulence, which caused a little bit of nausea for myself. Fjorn stared wide eyed with a smile on his face. We broke through the clouds and peered onto the snowy landscape.

"Preparing for land.... Evasive maneuvers!" The ships AI called out loudly.

Our seatbelts clasped harder against our bodies, like a defense mechanism installed for such events. We looked around the view and saw nothing but could see the ship was bobbing and weaving through the sky. We gained speed and lowered closer to the ground. Then something had hit us. Wait, not hit. Grabbed us. The giant had turned the ship so the cockpit had a full view of the giants face. His purplish red skin held many scars and ice crystals formed in the shadows of its skin. It looked angry, and it gritted its teeth at the sight of us.

Its loud voice boomed through the ship. "You dare return here after you stole from us?!"

"Fjorn, what is he talking about?" I asked.

"Boy, how the hell should I know?" Fjorn replied.

The giant swung the ship and tossed it like an annoying bug to the ground. The ship smashed and rolled multiple times.

"Hulls integrity, seventy three percent." The ships AI called.

"Boy, you need to get out there and explain, unfortunately, he would squash me or not even see nor hear me." Fjorn said.

Thankfully the ship came to a standstill and was still upright. I unclicked from my seat and walked back to the cabin and grabbed my sword. I hit the release button and the side hatch lowered for me to descend to the icy tundra below. My boots sank into the centuries of piled snow and ice. The giant took massive steps that shook the ground and almost made me lose my balance. I attempted to run away from the ship and get to a clearing, just in case the beast decided I was an enemy and damaged the ship further. I had a hard time finding my footing, luckily the giant had grabbed me and lifted me to his face. His massive hands covered my entire body, allowing just my head to show above.

"I swear to it, we don't remember anything!" I shouted.

"Lies!" It yelled back. It tossed me against a mountain. I slammed hard into the rock barely cracking the icy layer that covered it. "Where is my hound?!" It shouted once again.

The force of the collision wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been if I didn't undergo my transformation into what I was now. I slowly gained footing on the mountain side.

"I told you, we don't remember anything and we took nothing from you!" Yelling seemed to be the only way for him to hear.

The giant roared loudly, the force of it actually started to split the cloud cover above. He lifted his massive foot high from the ground and thrusted it towards me. It was too wide and long for me to dodge. It smashed against me and the mountain. This definitely broke the barrier of ice and forced me deeper into the mountains side. Rocks shifted after centuries of being undisturbed. The kick seemed to have given the mountain side a cavern. I walked back to the edge, seemingly unharmed from the attack.

"Does Zeus once again see to betray our trust?! Sending more to steal our hounds?!" The giants eyes were beginning to glow red.

"We do not seek to steal from you. And we are not followers of Zeus. I swear to it, I will defeat him." I said, begging for this conflict to end. There seemed to be no winner if we did fight. He would destroy mountains trying to kill me and my sword couldn't even penetrate his skin. According to the ships AI of course. But I am not here to start that war. I am here to find missing pieces of my past. Then something hit me. If giants do not posses any means of intergalactic travel, and Zeus himself has no ship, how the hell did he get a hound from Jotunheim?

"Listen, I think your hound may not have been taken from Jotunheim. But merely stowed." I said, hoping to garner his attention.

The giants face became stoic. As if pondering that thought for a moment.

"Where?" It spoke slowly.

"Take me to Aldonis, and I will help you find your stolen hound." I replied.

The giant hesitated and then nodded. "If you lie, I will destroy your ship and then you." The giants threat did not feel empty.

He held his palm towards me. His smallest finger was easily three of me. I stepped onto his hand and sat. He carried me as we walked a reasonably long distance in a short amount of time. I felt this story would carry on for ages and still held a little embarrassment that I was stuck in the palm of a giant. As we pasted a few mountains that ranged significantly higher than the one we destroyed, I started to notice a circle of mountains with carved out centers. By what I could tell, they used them as shelters.

"Aldonis, great one, please indulge me for a moment." The giants voice boomed over the village.

Multiple giants ranging in different heights and different shades of purple and red emerged from their caverns. Then the largest one had risen last. He had his stone plated helmet that covered the top half of his head, a roughly worn cloth toga that stretched to cover himself, and his right shoulder.

"Xander. You have returned. Did you find the signal?" Aldonis asked.

"Quite the opposite. I lost something here. And this giant tells me that you have lost something here as well." I said.

"Ahh yes, our hound. We suspected Zeus had stolen our precious hound for his masterful plan. If he returns, I will slaughter him myself." Aldonis said with rage filling his expression.

"And I have no doubt that you would. As I explained to this giant, your hound cannot be off world. Our spacecraft was the only one known for Zeus to even have possession of and it cannot hold two of your fingers, let alone a hound." I said.

"So, we are simply looking around Jotunheim." Aldonis said as if it was almost a question.

"Indeed we are. Do you know where Zeus might have hidden the hound? It might even answer what happened to my memory." I said.

"There is a mountain range. It is near where your ship looked to be descending from. He was in search of something there. He said it was his destiny. Before we knew it, he was gone and our hound with him." Aldonis said.

"I will not abandon Jotunheim until you have had your hound." I said. Hopefully I could make good on that promise.

"Gannd, make sure to bring Xander to this mountain range. When you have laid eyes upon the hound, return it here." Aldonis said.

Gannd nodded and proceed back the way we had come. I would love to say that Jotunheim was a site to behold. But in truth, it was just a simple planet of giants. They lived amongst an icy tundra that spread over the entire planet. It had very few water resources and food seemed to come from the beasts that lived alongside the giants. We had reached the mountain range in about an hours time. I could see two distinctive paths that seemed logical to check first. Gannd set me down next to the ship.

"When I return Gannd, I will hope to have news of the hound." I said.

Gannd seemed a little hesitant at my response. Partly in fact that he probably doesn't believe that I am an enemy of Zeus. I walked over the ice covered snowed back to the ship.

"Dammit boy, you two nearly took an entire mountain down in the matter of minutes. What did you say to them?" Fjorn asked, clearly worn out from working on the ship and the immediate threat of the giants.

"I said I could help them. They are missing a hound. We are missing our memories. We could finish both objectives, gain an ally for the upcoming conflict with Zeus and his horsemen, if they ever come back here. And remember what the hell even happened." I said, giving Fjorn a clear picture of what our mission was now.

I walked into the cockpit and spoke aloud to the AI. "Show me sensors of that mountain range. Do you detect anything that originates from Jotunheim such as a hound?"

"Sir, I detect two creatures deep inside the center cavern of the mountain range. I recommend you proceed with caution. Neither readings are from a beast originating from Jotunheim." The AI responded.

"Two? Maybe the horsemen are here already?" I asked. Then I remembered. Horseman of Death was here. "Fjorn, I need you to sit this one out buddy. I believe there is Death in that cavern. If I defeat them, and find anything out, I will come back to get you."

Fjorn simply nodded. Fjorn thinks of himself as a mechanical engineer, not a warrior. Although Fjorn does have a great battle axe in his possession given the armory here on the ship, I believe that is a last ditch effort.

"Listen boy, no matter what. You stay alive out there. Get what you came for and get the hell out. Our next stop is The Forge. I don't care enough about what we forgot here to risk our lives." Fjorn said.

I nodded. But I knew I wasn't leaving here until I had slain that horseman. I stepped outside and began my march towards the mountain range. Jotunheim seemed to never stop snowing, and the blizzard was only getting thicker. I was only about a thirty minute pace from the ship and lost vision of the giant Gannd already. I just knew I had to keep moving in this direction.

I had eventually reached a point in the march where I could see the base of the mountain. I walked around a few large boulders that blocked the view from most of the base. I saw a few paths cut into the mountain, but it didn't feel right to continue down them. Right in the center, there was a perfectly cut circle, outlining the cavern I was looking for. I hurried up the loose rocks and snow and made it to the mouth of the cave. Only a few feet from the opening I could see large golden doors that led inside. There were carvings on the doors. A being high in the clouds, holding his hands out wide. Below him were very primitive beings with spears and cloth garments. Then some script in a language I did not understand was engraved. The right doors engravings showed the beings drawn significantly bigger. There heads seemed to be caught in the clouds now.

I pushed with all my might against the doors, the ice cracked and the doors bellowed as they slowly opened. The opening was just wide enough for me to squeeze through, so I did. The cavern walls had torches that were lit and ran a long distance. I had to be in the right place, I thought. I began walking at a faster pace. The heat inside the mountain was comforting. Just to be out of the snow was a blessing. As I traversed down the cave farther I noticed a large orange glow. I picked up my pace and was trying to hurry with a sense of caution. I know there are two different beings down here not of this world.

I had reached the glow that was coming from a large open room. It was almost as if the cavern was built in the mountain range after it was hollowed out. The walls glowed as they were filled with an orange essence and translucent little creatures flowing freely. There wasn't much but a few open caverns leading out of this center room and a large table with engraving. Then I heard clapping.

"Well, well, well. You have found this cavern much faster than I anticipated. Y'know, Zeus regrets not destroying that ship. He knew you two would come back here trying to fix what was broken in your little heads." The hooded figure spoke with an arrogance.

"You must be death." I said.

"Yes! Quite right my friend!" Death responded cheerfully, clapping his hands yet again but faster.

"Look. I know what its like to be deceived by Zeus. You don't have to do this." I said.

"You know, the giants were once very normal sized beings. They had a lot of potential to become a real civilized species and travel the stars like many." Death said, ignoring what I had said completely. "A god visited them. They showed nothing but savagery. Tribes slaughtering each other for sport. Women, children... It didn't matter to them at all. The god had revealed themselves and attempted to give them a purpose, to stop this madness. They merely regarded him as an outsider and sought to kill him. Of course, the god merely ignored this fact. But was greatly insulted by the rituals they performed without any thought of the wrath that would be bestowed upon them. So he cursed them."

"I don't have time for your folklore, horseman." I was cutoff.

"So, every season they grow. Taller and taller. Their once beautifully scenic world, with lush green fields, flowing rivers and livestock that would keep their bellies full for their entire existence, was wisped away. The god forced a never ending blizzard. Destroying their only means of food. Their comfort. Their world. Eventually, they grew quite big and began to starve. But the real kicker is, they were immortal!" Death was hysterically laughing now. He was definitely a lunatic. "So now, they will eventually reach heights clear into space and when they do, their immortality will wear thin. They will suffocate and die. They were given an opportunity for change. They denied it. The only thing that can kill them, is them and their little hounds." Death was holding back his laugh.

"What sick being would you refer to as a god that would do something so horrible?" I asked, but a pit in my stomach seemed to form, I think I already know the answer.

"Oh tisk, tisk, tisk. My sweet prince, that would be Zeus himself. You cannot deny the opportunity of strength and knowledge from a god. You will falter like the tribes of Jotunheim. Once this happened, the stories reaches all across Andromeda and those who were smart, greeted Zeus with gifts." Death looked high above in the cavern, letting his hood fall as though he was praising Zeus from afar. Deaths eyes were sunken into his skull. His skin was very pale and his cheek bones battled hard against his skin, wishing to be free.

"I need to know what happened to Fjorn and myself and if you know where the hound is." I said demandingly.

"Always so serious and to the point. So allow me to answer some questions for you. Yes, I have the hound. Yes, I am keeping the pieces of your souls. And finally, yes, I will kill you now!" Death said, the smile could be contained no longer. His skin stretched wide and his rotted teeth were revealed. "But one last thing, I am Death. So, I don't really care for the little shenanigans of fighting. It's boring. So, I would love to introduce you to my new little pet, Cerberus. Careful, he bites." Death said and lifted his hands towards another cavern opening.

A large three headed beast appeared from the darkness. Its eyes were all silver and glowing. Its skin was rotting but still held a certain thickness to it. It looked like a dead version of the beast depicted in the research library. All of the heads brandished teeth, foaming spit poured from the sides of their mouths. The beast without hesitation began to charge towards me.