Hermod could hear nothing but his own footsteps as he walked up the streets of Valhalla, the capital of Asgard, towards Valgrind, the royal palace. The streets were empty as usual. There was always a sense of misery in the air of Asgard. Valhalla was filled with architectural marvels but it having an elitist society, lead to the major cities being scarcely populated. Hermod wasn't quite fond of the fact that he always had to be the one to bear bad news. He was the herald of the Allfather, the Overlord of the Aesir, and the High Sovereign of Asgard. Despite being one of the Allfather's numerous offsprings, he held a relatively low position in the hierarchy.
Ever since the Bifrost had been shut down due to it exhausting the core's energy at a rapid pace, travel had become difficult, as it allowed rapid teleportation to other planets. Asgard was an empire, spanning numerous minor planets that had been conquered by the Aesir. The Norns, a trio of sister-godesses and the guardians of Urdarbunn, the Asgard core had warned them that the energy would run out soon if measures were not taken. The Norns were obsessed with the core, serving it as their religion. They were the only Aesir to not serve the Allfather. The conquest of the Midgard core needed to be completed with haste, but the Jotnar were unrelenting. Asgard had attempted to extract its energy with an extraction ray fired at the approximate location of the core, but they had failed. Since then, valkyries and einherjar were sent, but they had to face the troll hordes of the Jotnar there. The Jotnar, on the other hand, faced a similar peril. They had taken over the Jotunheim core after Mimir's betrayal. Mimir, a Jotun appointed as the guardian of Mimisbrunn, Jotunheim core, attempted to sell it out to Asgard. Thiazi, the then-king of Jotunheim, had him executed for committing treason. There were three natural cores in total, and an artificial one, planted in Midgard. The last of the natural cores, present in Niflheim, was yet to be located.
Hermod was greeted by a pair of valkyries guarding the main gates to the palace. The royal palace was the most opulent building in all of Asgard. The gates soon whirled open, releasing smoke, and then slowly slid apart. Hermod continued to walk inside with a nod to the two valkyries. The royal palace was also home to the sacred flora and fauna of Asgard. Two sacred trees Laerad and Glasir were located on top of the palace, and in the royal gardens, respectively. The gardens were also home to the goat Heidrun, stag Eikthyrnir, beast Saehrimnir, and the rooster Gullinkambi. All were highly sacred to the Aesir. He headed straight towards the Allfather's chambers. He wasn't allowed to see him. Nobody did. The Allfather only saw others when he wished to do so. In fact, he hadn't shown himself to anyone but the queen and the champion of Asgard for the past few centuries. Messengers were supposed to simply leave a note. Hermod however, being the his Allfather's, had the right to speak to him.
Hermod halted as he saw Frigg, the queen consort and the Allfather's wife, and Brynhilde, the commander-in-chief of the valkyries, engaged in conversation. Brynhilde was kneeling on the floor with her head down, while Frigg stood before her in a regal manner. They both stopped as they noticed Hermod.
"I shall depart, Your Majesty," Brynhilde addressed the queen and swiftly rose. "Sir," she addressed the other god. "Greetings, captain. I hope the news you bore was much worse than the one I do because it seems like it has become my sole duty to be the bringer of terrible news," Hermod spoke to her.
"I regret to inform you that we have suffered massive valkyrie losses at the hands of the humans. They have been rapidly killing our forces. I was merely informing Her Majesty the same," Brynhilde spoke plainly.
"Humans? What is that?" Hermod asked.
"The native population of Midgard, sir."
"Ah, those things. They still exist? I thought we decided it was time for them to go extinct a long time ago."
"That plan had been proposed, sire, however, the Allfather had ruled not to go forward with it."
"Is that so?"
"If that is all, I will take my leave now, Your Highness, sir," she addressed the two of them and left.
"Greetings, Hermod. What good news have you brought this time?" the queen spoke with sarcasm in her voice.
Hermod would rather report to the Allfather directly, but the queen had the highest authority in Asgard, after the Allfather himself. She was only inferior to him in the hierarchy, no one else. Hermod knew better than to argue with her.
"The Jotnar have fired core-powered ballistic missiles on the western provinces of Himinbjorg, causing casualties amounting to approximately a hundred thousand. We had not been anticipating the attack. It was assumed that we had a mutual agreement to not to cause direct damage to the other's territories. We should have been prepared, it was foolish of us to think the Jotnar would have any sense in their heads. They have basically declared war on us."
"What?" Frigg genuinely shocked. "How were they not spotted in Vigrid?" The Aesir metropolitan territories constituted a fortified empire. The lands of Asgard outside the fortification were known as Vigrid. They were plain fields. The sole purpose they served was to be war zones when the Aesir and the Jotnar had been at full-scale active war.
Asgard was divided into twelve administrative divisions called provinces. Each of these was under the administration of one of the twelve high gods. The twelve high gods were Aesir who formed the Allfather's cabinet. Himinbjorg was the province under the jurisdiction of Heimdall. There were also two autonomous cities: Valhalla, the capital, and the so-called center of culture, where the military of Asgard were based. The other city was Idavoll, the seat of the government. Asgard was an absolute monarchy and an empire.
"We are not sure. They may have been using cloaking technology. The valkyries stationed there were taken out very quicky. Heimdall took care of the threat swiftly, of course. He decided not to take prisoners, so now we have about a million Jotun corpses to get rid of."
"We have always been at war, but I was unwise to think Thrym would have any dignity in him, king or not. These insolent Jotun scum need to learn respect," Frigg spoke with anger in her voice. It was the first time in ages the Jotnar had directly attacked Asgard's territory. The defenses of Asgard had been created specifically to repel Jotun attacks.
"But wait, there's more. There are reports of a rebellion being planned by the sons of Ivaldi in Nidavelir."
"After all we've done for those dwarves, this is how they repay us?" Asgard was a technological marvel, but it had not been created by the Aesir. It was the dwarves who were responsible for its creation. Nidavelir had been under effective Aesir control for millennia, with its king Dvalin being a vassal of the Allfather. The queen clenched her fists, looking terrifying when she was enraged.
"Has Freyr dealt with the dark elves yet?"
"Well, we have another problem there. The Vanir have not been responding to our messages recently. Reports suggest Lady Freya specifically ordered for all recent Aesir requests to be ignored. Although, I don't think we need to worry about Alfheim right now. Lord Freyr is more than capable enough to deal with the issues there."
"Freyr is a lunatic. He'd rather watch his planet burn than interfere. He enjoys tormenting the elves."
"There really isn't much we can do right now."
"No, it is exactly the time to act. The Allfather is operating the Hlidskjalf as we speak."
"What? He hasn't used it in ages." The Hildskjalf was Odin's high throne, which functioned as a vast network of computers handled by an artificial intelligence system. The Allfather only used it when he intended to bring change. Gods were indifferent to change, it was something they despised. It was likely that this meant that the Allfather would make a public announcement very soon, adressing the Aesir for the first time in ages.
"Contact Hoenir and tell him to let Freya know that I wish to speak with her."
"Understood, Your Majesty. Will that be all?"
"No, I have one more task for you. I need you to go to Thrudheim."
"Is it that time already?"
"Yes. Awaken the thunderer."