The Final Chamber

The walk into the final chamber had been a rather silent affair. Shortly after Mavis had rejoined Talia and John, Skriskrueel walked up to them and told them to go wait in a small room connected to one of the hallways leading to the arena. Once inside, they barred the door in case of angry skaven and then John proceeded to tell them about the strange old woman. Talia hadn’t recognized her based on her description, and Mavis said she wasn’t familiar after looking through John’s memories. Even the coin was offering no hints either. John wanted to take a snapshot of it and post it on reddit, figuring he could probably pass it off as a fake and inquire as to what the symbols meant. However, he had learned that they were deep enough that his phone no longer received internet. This did prompt a question to Talia of how his phone worked in the first place if he was on a different world than his Midgard, where Talia had informed him that the satellites and towers used for internet in Alfheim had been designed that they would be able to transfer the signal between worlds.

They then went on to praise Mavis on her skill in the battle, to which John mentioned that he was astounded how quickly she dispatched with Thrueetch. She told them that it was nothing, and then shared the secret to his quick defeat, “The fastest way to defeat an opponent's spirit, and the opponent as well, is to ensure that the battle is in your control. In his case, he wanted a good show to give so I took control by not giving them one.”

They then returned to the original question of who the mysterious woman was. They were able to determine that she was probably not Norse, as she claimed to be a foreigner in these lands and that Mavis had met a good majority of Nordic gods, and none of them matched her description. “Well, maybe Ran on a bad day, but she usually sticks to the ocean with that creepy net of hers.” Before they could discuss other possible mythologies she could be a part of, a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Man-Thing, Elf-Thing, Sword-Thing. It’s Skriskrueel. I’ve got skaven-clan calmed down, but only for short time.”

They looked back at each other and nodded, quickly disassembling their barricade and opening the door only to be met with a very angry looking Skriskrueel. He leaned on his spear, as if the sheer effort of standing up was too much for him. He wore a scowl, and his nose twitched in agitation.

“Come. I will honor dead-king’s agreement and take you to chamber. Then you leave and never return.” He turned and proceeded to quickly walk down the hall. John and Talia shared a look, wondering what was the problem. Mavis, however, seemed not to care, electing to shove her hands into the pockets of her jeans and follow Skriskrueel. John and Talia quickly followed, noting that the opposite direction in the hall had several guards who were acting as a barrier between them and several angry skaven. John felt secure for a moment before noting that any of the guards that turned back to look at them seemed to have a hungry and eager look on their faces, the exact same look John would expect if they knew of a trap that John and his party didn’t know of.

‘Shit, John thought. ‘This must have been what the old woman was warning me about. Skriskrueel betrayed us.’ He quickly walked up to Talia’s side, as he had fallen behind, and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him, and he gave her a signal of a nod of the head and a finger across the throat. They had all been worried that Skriskrueel would betray them in the end, and figured that if any of them had picked up on the scent of treachery, they should signal the other two so they could deal with it together.

John was about to walk up and signal Mavis when a familiar voice rang out in his head.

‘Yeah, I think he might be betraying us too,' said the voice of Mavis.

“What the..”

‘Keep it quiet, dork. I’m talking with you in your head. Just think what you wanna say and I can hear it.’

John gave Mavis a puzzled look, who hadn’t looked at him once this entire time, but tried his best to comply. ‘Uh… okay?’

‘Yep. Just like that. Perks of having your soul bonded to a weapon is that we can share private conversations.’

‘That’s… pretty nuts. And kinda scary. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with you reading all of my thoughts.’

‘Relax. First off, I would probably see said thoughts later in your soul room anyway. Secondly, you can order me to stop and I have to comply, but it’s far more convenient to do this than talk aloud. Now, as I said I have to agree that Skriskrueel might betray us. Maybe.’

‘Maybe? The other skaven clearly expect to be feasting on our bones soon. I have no doubts that he is leading us straight into a trap.’

‘Sure, but I’ve known him for a while. He may be a dirty rat man, with an ego too big for his little skull, but he is loyal, at least to me.’

‘Yeah, he was loyal to his king till he got us in here to **** him.’

‘Which is why the betrayal is a maybe. Could be that he is playing the skaven and trying to look like he’s not on our side. Either way, when we get into whatever chamber he leads us into, just have a spell ready. I’ll keep you and Miss Cute-Ass protected the best I can.’ John then noticed Mavis’ arm was turning a shade of black and red, its shape slightly deforming.

‘Wow,’ John thought.

‘What?’ Mavis thought back.

‘It’s just… I’m a touch surprised and honored how loyal and protective you are.’

Mavis turned back to him, her gaze neutral for a moment or two before a smile spread across her face and she gave a small laugh. ‘Of course I am. You two are adorable together and are also my ticket out of here. Plus…’ John suddenly had an image flood his mind, one of Mavis, Talia, and himself cuddling in a bed with Mavis in the center. John was nibbling softly on her ear, with one of Mavis’ hands running through his hair, and Talia was kissing her neck while Mavis’ other hand tugged at her hair as well. He shook his head to dispel the daydream only to notice that Mavis had turned beet red.

‘SHIT! WE AREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO SHARE IMAGES YET! WE JUST SOUL BONDED!’

What followed was a stream of apologies from Mavis, saying how she didn’t want to impede on John and Talia’s budding relationship and she was just daydreaming and she understood if he didn't want to take her to bed considering she wasn’t actually alive like them. However, all of those protests stopped with a single thought from John.

‘Mavis, I am sure Talia would love that just as much as I do. Trust me, I would love to be able to do to you what I did to Talia last night. And as long as she is okay with it, I will.’

A few images popped into John’s head after that, ones from last night and a few that were the same scene but with Mavis getting fucked rather than Talia. He could see Mavis’ face turn redder before she turned to him and said, “I’d like that.” She and John shared a smile before the moment was broken by Skriskrueel’s voice.

“We’re here.”

Sitting in front of them was a wall, about 30 feet high, built from differing stone than the cavern that surrounded it. Depicted across its dark grey face were visages of the various Norse gods all charging into battle, the center of the piece being Odin riding on Sleipnir, his famous spear Gungnir pointed directly at the group with war face permanently etched into his features. To his side was Thor, lightning blazing around him, with an expression of joy as he joined his father in battle. On Odin’s other side, oddly enough, was Loki. Fire whipped around the jotun, a knife between his teeth and two other blades gripped in his palms.

“Why is Loki there?” John asked softly.

“Because he wasn’t always a bad guy,” Mavis answered, having stepped up next to him. “When I was made, everyone knew that Loki was a prankster but he was also a trusted ally. Sure, he made a mess of things from time to time, but he usually did right by the end.”

“It’s true,” Talia said, having come up on John’s other side. “We are taught in school about the various gods, and our teachers do point out that Loki was the most cunning of all the gods and that is a trait to be admired. The rest of him wasn’t, but he often used his brain to get out of situations that gods like Thor or Tyr would have tried to muscle their way out of. It’s through his cunning that Mjolnier got made in the first place.” Talia then had a look of realization come across her face as she turned to look at Mavis. “Say… if it wasn’t for Loki, YOU probably wouldn’t have gotten made either.”

Mavis turned away from them, her body posture guarded. “Yeah. I guess.”

Talia gave her a puzzled look, turning to John and mouthing, “What’s wrong?” John shrugged, but guessed that Mavis didn’t like being reminded of her big link with Loki. A cough in front of them reminded John why they came here in the first place, as Skriskrueel was standing in front of the doorway that had been barricaded by the skaven.

“Lemme guess,” Talia said with a deadpan look on her face, “there is some boss thing in there that the skaven couldn’t deal with, so now we have to deal with it.”

Skriskrueel gave them a knowing smile. “I suppose that is for you to find out.” He walked forward and with a quick swing of his spear, destroyed the barricade. He then slowly opened the stone door, before stepping aside and making a small showy gesture. “After you, man-things.”

John turned to Mavis and then to Talia, giving them small nods. He then slowly walked forward, keeping his hands at the ready to cast a spell as Talia followed him with her sword in her hands. Mavis kept a close eye on Skriskrueel as she brought up the rear, all three of them being followed in by the skaven in question. Mavis turned one of her arms into a blade while John illuminated the way ahead of them with a quick casting of Kenaz.

The torch rune worked quickly, lighting up the room rather well. They found themselves in a decent sized chamber, about the size of the room where they had fought King Agviðr. The walls were carved in a similar manner to the door; however, the images this time were the gods in more everyday states. There was Freyr, seeming to be exploring through the mighty growth of a great pine forest. One had Thor riding his goat-drawn chariot, another had Hiemdallr looking out over a cliffside to an expansive sea, and another had Loki reclining on a stone dias laughing along with a woman to his side. The centerpiece, however, was clearly the stonework opposite the door they just walked through. Carved onto it was Odin and his wife Frigg, along with Odin’s wolves at his feet and his ravens at his side. Unlike all the other carvings, this one was fully painted and seemed to have a slight glow to it. The eyes of the ravens and wolves seemed to follow John and his crew as they slowly walked in, and the one eye of Odin looked so realistic that John wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it was secretly a frozen giant’s eye. He took a few short steps towards the wall, mesmerized by its beauty, when a cough behind him broke him out of his trance. He quickly turned to see both Talia and Mavis staring at him, weapons at the ready, and gesturing to Skriskrueel who was busy closing the door. He nodded with them, raising his hands and taking a few slow steps towards the rat.

Just then, Skriskrueel turned and stared them all down. His hands were gripped tightly around his spear as he looked down the three adventurers who clearly were on guard and ready to fight if need be. For a moment or two, nothing happened as they all just stared each other down. Then, just as John was about to ask him why he was betraying them, Skriskrueel started to laugh. Now, this wasn’t a tiny “hee hee” laugh or just a basic case of the giggles. No, this was full out uproarious laughter, the kind that followed a perfect joke/pun being delivered at just the right time. This was the kind of laughter that came from pure joy and nothing else.

Obviously, the three of them were left completely confused as Skriskrueel began to roll on the floor in laughter, his tail wagging back and forth as tears streamed down his eyes. “John… did you secretly learn some sort of laughing rune when I wasn’t looking?” Talia asked, her sword dropping a bit as she cocked her head to the side in puzzlement.

“I’m fairly certain a rune like that doesn’t even exist,” Mavis said as her sword-arm returned to its original form. “Besides, I am fairly certain that John isn’t a powerful enough mage to cause anything more than a faint giggle.”

John walked up to Skriskrueel and lightly tapped his side with his foot. “Hey, you… uh… You okay there?”

After a few moments of Skriskrueel calming down his breathing and laughter, he nodded. “Sorry, it’s just… that was too perfect. Too long I have waited for king to be kill-murdered, and it went down in the most hilariously appropriate way possible!” He wiped one of his eyes as a small chuckle escaped his lips. “I was holding that in ever since Mavis killed him… I just couldn’t hold it back any longer.”

John raised an eyebrow, cocking his head in puzzlement. “You are laughing… at the brutal slaughter of one of your own. You… uh… you sure you didn’t get sociopathy from your god as well?”

“No no, he’s got a point.” Mavis said. “It was kinda funny.”

“Yeah, while I would love to take your opinion on that one, you are also a sword who has seen millions of battles. You being desensitized to slaughter was a given,” Talia interrupted.

Mavis chucked, at that and shrugged. “Got me there, I suppose.”

John turned back to Skriskrueel, who was slowly rising to his feet. “But seriously, you weren’t planning on betraying us?”

“Oh no. I am obligated to betray you. I would be lynched by the other skaven if I didn’t let them rip you asunder and eat your remains,” he said calmly, brushing dust out of his fur. “Hence why I have led you here.”

John was taken aback at the blatant reveal of his intentions, while Mavis reacted quickly. Almost instantly she had her blade tip to his throat. “You might wanna rethink who you want to be killed by. Either us, or your fellow skaven.”

Skriskrueel, however, remained rather calm. “Hold on, let me explain. See, I’m betraying you by leading my skaven brothers against you. I am not betraying you by first leading you in here, letting you get whatever you came for, and casually letting slip that in the back of the room there is a doorway to a hall that should lead you far away from any skaven and out of the barrow.”

John placed a hand on Mavis’ shoulder and pulled her back a bit. “Wait, you are and aren’t betraying us?”

Skriskrueel nodded. “I promised that I would help-aid you, and I am not changing that. I have no doubt that if I betrayed you, you all would find some way to slaughter-kill me and my clan. Sure, one of you might die, but I am pretty sure that with your magic and their swordsmanship, I would become ratfood before I could do a thing. So, instead, I help you all scurry out of the barrow, seem to stay on the side of my clan, and become the new king. Plus, I can use you all as a reason not to invade the surface world.”

This time, it was Talia who let out a bit of a laugh and a few claps. “Pretty sneaky, rat. But also pretty smart.”

Skriskrueel nodded, turning to face Talia. “Plus, if it is true that you are but a fledgling sword fighter, then I fear what the more professionals can do to my clanrats. Best to keep our invasion on permanent hiatus-wait.”

With that Skriskrueel turned around and slowly walked to the doorway. However, just as he was about to leave, John called out to him. “Hold on, you said that the reason the skaven blockaded the doorway was because of a boss you couldn’t handle.”

Skriskrueel turned back with a smile. “Oh yeah, that would be the ghost-man-thing who doesn’t like a bunch of skaven desecrating his tomb.” He gestured with his tail behind them. “But he might be more friendly with a fellow wielder of the sword of souls.”