To Constantinople
Within heaven, sits Archangel Ezekiel, reading a story to his son, Erik.
Erik has loved it when his father reads stories and would listen to every word when his father read.
Ezekiel finished the story and that was when Erik seemed sad.
" What is it, my son? " said Ezekiel concerned.
" It is just that the story is finished and I have to leave…. " said Erik saddened that he was going to be apart from his father.
Archangel Ezekiel now smiled and held his son close to his embrace.
" My son listen, when one story ends, another begins, and know that wherever your story takes place, I will be their watching over you, giving you strength " said Ezekiel doing his best to hold back his tears.
Father and son hugged each other for awhile.
Erik now stood up and was ready to leave, but his father had one last gift for his beloved son.
From thin air appeared the alive and bloodthirsty spear known as Areadbhar.
Areadbhar was floating next to Erik.
" Take this my son, and know that it will protect you in my stead " said Ezekiel now sure that is son would be safe, even though Erik was a Nephilim.
Erik said nothing, he instead ran over and gave his father a big hug and then said
" I love you, father "
A single tear now ran down Archangel Ezekiel's cheek.
Erik, alongside Areadbhar now vanished from heaven, and Ezekiel could now cry tears of loneliness, until his fellow Archangels came to cheer him up.
The year is now around 540 c.e
Emperor Justinian the great, rules over Spain, north Africa, all of Italy and most importantly, Constantinople, and all this has been made possible thanks Justinian's most trusted and most loyal friend, the genius general Belisarius.
For those wondering, The Plague had Indeed attacked Emperor Justinian's people, but thanks to the help of a "man" from a far off land, who had a cure, the Plague was no more and the people healed alongside their kingdom, the man's name was Ullr, who became Emperor Justinian's head physician.
All seemed to be going great for Emperor Justinian, who most importantly had Rome back under his control, but Emperor Justinian did not live in Rome, the Emperor instead lived in Constantinople alongside his Empress, the beautiful and clever Theodora.
The glory of Rome seemed truly to be eternal.
Erik found himself within Constantinople.
Erik was inside a alleyway, where no one could see him.
Areadbhar was still floating by his side.
" Areadbhar listen, fly into space and come when I call " said Erik, and just like that, Areadbhar flew into space, awaiting Erik's call.
Erik now walked out to the streets of Constantinople, but to Erik's surprise, the streets were empty.
" Where is everyone? " said Erik surprised.
Erik could then hear sounds of cheer coming from the nearby Hippodrome.
Erik now walked over to the Hippodrome.
Erik entered the Hippodrome where a large crowd had gathered.
Erik looked and now saw what they were cheering for, there was a chariot race taking place, between the blues and the greens, and one of the participants was Ullr himself, racing for the blues.
Erik looked and saw, sitting on golden thrones, was Emperor Justinian alongside his Empress Theodora.
Erik looked back at the game, but to no one's surprise, Ullr was the one who won it for the blues.
The crowd cheered like a baby about to be fed.
Erik walked closer to Ullr.
Erik was now a few feet away from Ullr.
Erik could see that Ullr was sweating, so Erik took a glass of cold water and held it towards Ullr.
Ullr finally noticed the boy holding the glass of water.
Ullr walked over to Erik and took the water with a smile.
" Thank you my boy, what is your name? " said Ullr.
" Erik, good sir "
" Erik " said Ullr as if he had heard that name before.
Ullr and Erik talked for a while, and it was then, that Ullr learned that Erik was in a similar situation that Ullr was once in, coming to a strange land and not having a place to call home, so Ullr offered Erik to stay with him, as his apprentice, but what Erik was about to learn was that Ullr had another apprentice who was a spartan boy known as Pleistarchus.
Ullr and Erik walked into Ullr's room within the palace of Emperor Justinian.
In the room, Erik and Ullr noticed that Pleistarchus was doing push-ups.
" Pleistarchus, take a break and say hello to our new friend " said Ullr.
Pleistarchus stopped, stood up and then looked at Erik.
" Hello there " said Erik with a smile, but as I mentioned, Pleistarchus was a spartan boy, and one of the only things that the spartans believed in, was strength.
Pleistarchus walked over and shoved Erik, but, what Pleistarchus was about to find out, was that Erik had inherited his father's strength.
Erik now shoved Pleistarchus, and the force, that Erik put into his hand was just powerful enough to send Pleistarchus to the other side of the room, for Erik did not wish to kill the boy.
Pleistarchus, while picking himself up, just looked at Erik, Pleistarchus then smiled and walked back over to Erik.
" Welcome to the family " said Pleistarchus with a smile extending his hand.
Erik shook Pleistarchus hand and then said
" I am happy to be part of the family "
Ullr just looked at his two adopted sons, with a father's smile on his face.
" Alright boys, first we train and then we eat! " said Ullr.
Far off, on the mediterranean sea, stood a mysterious figure, overlooking Constantinople.
" You shall all soon be caught in my net, where I shall drag you all to the dark depths of the sea " said Rán, the goddess of the sea and death.
Rán now returned to the depths of the sea.
The god of War
Erik is walking through Constantinople, after having finished his morning training with Ullr and Pleistarchus, but then again, Pleistarchus is still training, well, he is a spartan boy.
While Erik was walking through the busy streets of Constantinople, he could not help but notice the cheerful looks on everyone's faces, these people have been through a lot, but thanks to their Emperor and Empress, Constantinople and her people finally know peace and tranquility, but then Erik noticed someone who did not look cheerful, that someone looked like a man sitting by a water fountain, the "man" looked like he had no reason to exists.
Erik walked over to the man.
" Excuse me sir, are you okay? "
The man looked at Erik.
" You know, it was beautiful once…. " said the man in a tone filled with despair.
" What was once beautiful? " said Erik confused.
" This city…. " said the man even more depressed.
Erik looked around and noticed that wherever he looked, people were happy.
" Uhm sir, I think that the city is more beautiful than ever " said Erik.
The man now stood up and towered over Erik.
" Well YOU'RE wrong! I remember when there were riots, glorious conflicts, glorious WAR! " said the man.
" War? " said Erik confused " Sir may I ask your name " continued Erik.
The man turned around, looked at Erik and then said
" I am Ares, the god of war "
Erik's eyes widen, Erik then said
" It is a pleasure to meet you, oh god of war "
Ares looked rather curiously at Erik, Ares then said
" The pleasure is all mine "
Erik then blinked just for a second, and that was when Ares was gone.
" Where did he go? " said Erik looking everywhere.
" Nowhere " said Ares from within Erik.
" You are inside me? " said Erik confused.
" I have inhabited your body " said Ares calmly.
" Why? " said Erik.
" I have nothing better to do " said Ares again calmly.
Erik thought about it for a moment and then said
" Fair enough "
Erik then went about his day.
The eternal city
Rome, it is said that Rome is the world, and as long as the colosseum stands, so will the world.
Erik, Ullr and Pleistarchus have all three traveled to Rome, on a small vacation, or so you would think, but Pleistarchus is still training, just like a spartan.
Erik walks within the eternal city where many legends have walked before him.
" This place is amazing " said Erik while being kept breathless by the eternal city that was Rome.
" The only good thing about Rome is the colosseum, let us go there and watch men fight for their lives! " said Ares.
" Let us not, and I heard that not all matches in the colosseum ends with someone dying " said Erik.
" Boring….. " said Ares bored.
Erik then noticed a woman, who by all accounts almost made Erik a man, a little too soon.
" I can hear your heart pounding for this beauty, but what if I told you, that the woman who has caught your eyes, was not really a woman, but a goddess " said Ares.
" What do you mean? " said Erik confused.
" The woman before you is known as Roma, the incarnation of Rome itself " said Ares.
Erik had no reason to doubt Ares, but he had to make sure, so he decided to ask the "woman" herself.
Erik walked over and then asked.
" Uhm excuse me, are you Rome itself? " said Erik.
Roma kneeled down towards Erik , and then said with a smile on her face
" I am Rome itself, my name is Roma dear child "
Erik's heart was now beating even faster.
" Easy there boy, goddess like her are Indeed beautiful, but they can also be quite dangerous, And I speak from experience " said Ares.
Erik did not believe what Ares had to say, but even Erik could not deny that Roma was just as gorgeous as her city.
" Uhm, may I ask what you are doing at the moment? " said Erik while stuttering through his words.
Roma hesitated a moment before answering.
" I am here to watch over my city and my people, and yet….. "
" And yet? " said Erik worried.
" And yet I find myself wanting adventure and excitement " said Roma with a smile.
Erik's heart was now beating faster then 8 horses pulling a chariot.
" Someone get some cold water, or else, this kid might hit puberty a couple of years too earlie " said Ares with laughter in his voice.
" I think that there is a way for you to find adventure and excitement " said Erik.
Roma just looked at the young boy, rather intrigued.
" How about you inhabit my body, and I promise to do my best to give you excitement and adventure " said the pure hearted boy.
" Kid, I think you said it in a wrong way, what you should have said was, I would like to have s- but before Ares could finish, Roma said
" I will take you up on your offer "
Roma now inhabited Erik's body.
" Oh, hello there Ares " said Roma.
" Hey there " responded Ares
Erik felt joy in his heart, for he now had two new friends, and he would now do his best to keep his promise.
But this story is not quite finished, just yet, for while Erik was sleeping within the eternal city, alongside his friends, yes even Pleistarchus was asleep, Erik was dreaming that he was on top the sky itself, Erik looked around and then saw a colossal three-headed dragon before him, Erik then, for some reason said " Zmij "
The dragon then bowed its heads and that was when Erik woke up.
The world serpent
Ullr has decided to take his two boys out fishing, so now, all three stood at the port of Constantinople.
" So Ullr, which ship will we be taking? " said Erik as he was looking at all the ships at the port.
" My ship " said Ullr.
" Where is it? " said Pleistarchus.
Ullr simply took out a piece of cloth out from his pocket, and then he threw it into the sea.
Erik and Pleistarchus were confused but all Ullr said was " Just wait and see "
The cloth then started to grow in size and changed shape and form, the tiny piece of cloth was now a full-grown ship.
Erik and Pleistarchus looked at the ship in disbelief.
" This is my ship, known as Skíðblaðnir " said Ullr with a smile.
Ullr now went aboard his ship, and after finally picking up their jaws from the ground, Erik and Pleistarchus also boarded Skíðblaðnir.
All of them now sailed deep into the mediterranean sea.
All three started now to fish and for a while all was quiet, but Pleistarchus got bored of fishing and now started to train.
" Seriously lad, I wish you would take a break once in while " said Ullr.
" I am a Spartan, thus training is me taking a break " said Pleistarchus.
Ullr just sighed while Erik was enjoying himself.
Erik finally felt that he had bite, Erik could feel that the fish had much strength and wanted to fight, but thankfully for Erik and unfortunately for the fish, Erik is the son of Archangel Ezekiel.
Erik gave one mighty pull and out from the sea sprang forth, not a fish, but a serpent, the one and only world serpent, Jormungandr.
As Jormungandr made himself known, it was as if mediterranean sea itself shook, which shook Skíðblaðnir.
Ullr, Erik and Pleistarchus all just looked at the enormous dragon-head of Jormungandr.
In that moment, all Erik had to say was " Zmij "
It was now, not just the sea that shook, but also the sky.
Everyone looked up towards the sky and now saw a gigantic three-headed dragon descend from the sky, straight towards Jormungandr.
" Erik! Call off your companion! " yelled Ullr.
" Zmij, stop! " yelled Erik.
Zmij stopped and was now flying in mid-air above Jormungandr.
" Ullr, what is going on? " said Pleistarchus.
" Jormungandr is not an enemy, he is my dear friend " said Ullr.
Erik and Pleistarchus were in shock and certainly surprised.
Ullr just smiled and said
" How are you my friend? "
" I am well, old friend, but I come with bad news " said Jormungandr in his dragon voice.
" Has she made a move? " said Ullr worried.
" Indeed, Rán is on the move, assembling all the creatures of the sea " said Jormungandr.
" Damn, this soon….. " said Ullr.
" Hey, what is going on? " said Pleistarchus.
Ullr looked at his two worried boys.
" I will explain later, for now, thank you my friend " said Ullr.
" It was nothing, if anything comes up, I will come to you in my cat-form " said Jormungandr.
Jormungandr then descended back into the sea.
Zmij was still remaining.
" Thank you " said Erik with a smile.
Zmij bowed all his heads and then flew back into the sky.
Ullr now set sail back to land.
" So, I see we have a lot to talk about " said Pleistarchus.
" Indeed we do, Indeed we do... " said Ullr.