New challenges

Thor took a swing of his beer.

"What is this challenge that can't be fixed with a whack of my hammer?" he asked.
Odin replied: "Loki has brokered a deal with Ivaldi, the king of the Dark Elves. Ivaldi is no longer neutral. He's siding with the Jotuns, and this brings Ragnarok a lot closer."
"And what exactly is he going to do. Dark Elves aren't known for their fighting skills, are they?"
"No. But they are the greatest engineers in existence, and Ivaldi has promised to furnish Naglfar with the latest and greatest in weapon technology. Loki's demon ship will not only be cloaked by magic, but it will also be fitted with weapons so powerful that they will rival your hammer Mjolner, and maybe even render your hammer useless."

Thor slammed his goblet down on the table. "He can't do that!"

"Of course, he can. How are you to stop him?"
"I'll zip down to Nidavellir and bang him on his head with Mjolner."
"You're forgetting that Mjolner was built by Ivaldi & Sons. You can't use it against them because it's designed not to function against Dark Elves."
"Okay. I'll go down there, find the guy, and rough him up until he changes his mind."
"You won't find him. But if you do, he'll be so well protected by technology that you won't be able to touch him. You see: This is a problem you can't solve on your own."

Thor leaned back in his chair. Then he had a thought: "But wait a minute... Idun is Ivaldi's daughter, isn't that so?"

Everyone turned to Idun.

"That's right. But there's no talking him out of this. I've tried but to no avail."

There was a moment of silence with everyone trying to come up with an idea or other.

"You look nothing like a Dark Elf," Dreufey said for lack of anything else to say.
"That's because my mother was an Aesir Dis."
"Really? And she was married to Ivaldi? That doesn't sound like a good match."
"It wasn't. She divorced him shortly after I was born. She moved back to Asgard with me and my brothers when I was a baby. That's why I don't have much leverage with my father."
"So, your brothers are the engineers working with your father in his company?"
"No. My father married again. This time with a Dark Elf, so the engineers are my half-brothers."
"And you don't have much leverage with them either?"
"None whatsoever. It's hopeless. I can't do anything to change their minds."

Dreufey looked around the table. Nobody seemed to have any good idea as to what to do.

"But what's Ivaldi's motive?" Dreufey wondered. "Won't Ragnarok bring on his own destruction?"
"He's convinced that he has the technology to protect Nidavellir from Surtr's flaming sword, so he's not worried about Ragnarok. On the contrary, he sees Ragnarok as an opportunity for himself to become the next king of the universe. If Ragnarok takes place before Odin's brothers, Vili and Ve, manage to complete Gimle; that's their stronghold in Alfheim, then Valhalla and Gimle will both fall together with Sessrumnir. With Nidavellir intact, and everywhere else but a smouldering ruin, Ivaldi can take control of everything."
"But if he's wrong. Nidavellir too will be a smouldering ruin, and the only ones who will thrive in such an environment will be the Jotuns."
"That's right. But my father thinks himself smarter than any Jotun, Loki included."

Dreufey turned to Odin.

"Why not destroy Naglfar before it's finished?"
"We've tried that, but Naglfar is so well protected by magic that it's impossible to find, let alone destroy. Naglfar is being assembled in one of Utgard-Loki's great halls on his fortress planet Utgard in Jotunheim. Our only option is to intercept deliveries to Utgard-Loki's shipyard, but even that is close to impossible."
"Utgard is a weird place," Thor added from his side of the table. "I was there once with Thjalfi and Roskva, and it's total chaos. Nothing is what it seems. There's no way I'm going back there. Way too much magic and weird stuff going on. It's so confusing, we were unable to find our way out of the place. Had it not been for Utgard-Loki himself letting us go, we might have been stuck there for ever."
"He let you go. But why?" Dreufey asked.
"I don't know. He treated us well in the end. But we were warned never to return."
"He let you out to tell the rest of us how powerful he is," Freya said confidently. "And he didn't want you to go bananas in Utgard. That would've been a little much even for him to keep in check."
"You think so?"
"Trust me, I know."

Idun had a suggestion: "How about intercepting Naglfar on delivery? Surely, it's not going to stay in Utgard-Loki's shipyard for ever."
"It will be delivered to Muspell in Muspelheim," Odin said. "But there's no way we'll be able to stop that delivery. Remember, the ship will be the most advanced ever built. It will be protected by powerful magic and technology."
"So, our only option is to intercept deliveries of parts as best we can?"
"We will also try to change your father's mind or distract his sons from their work."

Odin turned to Dreufey. "This is where you come into my plan."
"Is that so?" Dreufey asked.
"Yes. You're by far the best of Freya's agents, so we've been thinking, Freya and I, that you should go to Nidavellir, either to change Ivaldi's mind or distract his sons in some way or other."
"How many sons does he have?"
"I have eleven half-brothers," Idun replied.
"That's a football team. Do you really expect me to seduce them all?"
"Who said anything about seduction?" Odin asked.
"In what other ways am I to distract those guys?"
"I'm sure you'll think of something."

Thor rolled his eyes. Then he leaned forward. "I seduced Trym. I was dressed up as Freya in a wedding gown. Remember? If I can do that, then you can take on a few engineers. Just pucker your lips like this and..."

Thor leaned in over the table with little kissing noises towards the ladies and his father.

Idun laughed, but Dreufey wasn't very happy with Thor's joke.

"Yes, I get it. Are you coming with me, since you're so good at this seduction thing?" she asked.
"No. I'm afraid you have to go there alone."
"Really? Why?"
"I'll be too busy intercepting deliveries to Utgard."

Dreufey turned to Odin.

"Are you coming with me?" she asked.
"I'm off to Gimle to talk things over with my brothers, so you'll have to go to Nidavellir on your own, I'm afraid."
"And how exactly am I going to do that?"
"Freya will lend you her falcon cloak, isn't that so Freya?"
"That's right," she answered.

Dreufey was reminded of the day Freyr departed from Munich as a falcon.

"The cloak Freyr used?" Dreufey asked.
"Yes. He uses it all the time. It's his favourite mode of transportation."
"But he's not using it now?"
"No. He's currently with his ship, Skibladnir. I got my cloak here at Sessrumnir, and you will get to use it if you accept this mission."
"How can I say no?"
"How indeed?

Everybody's eyes were on Dreufey. She could feel the pressure.

"But I don't know where Svartalfheim is located, much less Nidavellir, or Ivaldi and his sons," Dreufey protested.
"That's not a problem. As long as you know someone or something present at the destination, my falcon cloak will guide you. Just think of your target and you'll immediately sense where it is and what direction to fly."
"But I don't know anything or anyone in Nidavellir, so I can't use it."
"You know Freyr."
"Yes. Of course. I was with him in Munich."
"He's in Ivaldi's city on planet Nidavellir in Svartalfheim. You only need to think of him, and you'll know where to go."

The thought of meeting Freyr again made the idea of going to Nidavellir a whole lot less daunting.

"And he'll be there to show me around like he did in Munich?"
"He'll be there waiting for you, ready to show you around and give you a few leads. You know how it works."
"I do."
"We'll have to dress you up correctly, like we did when you went to Munich. We can't have you there in Ivaldi's city looking like you just stepped out of Sessrumnir. With Ivaldi now allied with the Jotuns we can't have you look like a Vanir or Aesir. We need to dress you up like a Dark Elf."

Freya got up from her chair, pulled a sketchbook from the shelf above the fireplace, and gave it to Dreufey to look through. She also took a small red flask, which she set on the table next to her goblet.

"These are sketches of what we have in mind for you," Freya said as she sat back down in her chair.

Dreufey leafed through the sketchbook. There were several alternatives. All a little masculine for her taste. Pantsuits, blazers, and skirts in such thick fabrics that they could've been worn by men. But her main issue was with the shape of the model depicted.

"This isn't what I look like," Dreufey protested. "This is a tall, dark and skinny girl with tiny tits and short black hair. And she has green cat eyes. That's not me."
"This is what an attractive woman looks like on planet Nidavellir, so we'll have to make you look like this as much as possible."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"That's easy. We'll provide you with cat's eye contact lenses. Your hair will be cut into a bob that we'll dye black, and we'll shampoo your hair with a product that keeps your hairs dark as it grows. I'll give you the recipe so that you can make it yourself in Nidavellir. The shampoo will double as body soap to keep your complexion dark as well."
"You have it all figured out; it seems."
As always... and I also have a love potion that you might find useful."

Freya pushed the red flask she had put next to her goblet over to Dreufey. "Take a whiff of this. Tell me what you think."

Dreufey opened the flask.

"It's a nice perfume," she said.
"Per-what?"
"Perfume."
"That's what they call this in Munich?"
"Yes."
"Well. Here in Folkvangr, we call it by its proper name. It's a love potion, and this one is particularly potent. Why don't you let Thor have a whiff. He seems eager to sniff it."

Dreufey handed the flask to Thor. He smiled. "I love this kind of stuff."

He opened the bottle and smelled its content. "Oh my! This is nice stuff. Do you have a bottle like this I can take home with me to Sif?"
"But of course," Freya replied. "There's nothing like a little gift for the wife when coming back from business travels, isn't that so? I'll have a flask ready for you before you leave tomorrow morning."

Thor handed the flask to Idun, who absolutely loved the smell of it.

"Can I have one too?" she asked.
"Yes. Of course," Freya replied. Then she turned to Odin.
"How about you? Do you want me to prepare one for Frigg too?"

Odin wasn't so sure. "I'm off to Gimle. Do I really want to carry a gift for Frigg all the way there and then back to Asgard?"
"Come on! Don't be mean," Freya protested. "Frigg deserves it. She has to put up with your constant travels. It can't be easy for her."

Odin had to agree, and this put a smile on Freya's face. She was pleased with the facts that all the gods would go home with a little gift from her.

"But remember," she said as a word of warning. "This is potent stuff. They may call it perfume down on Earth, but this is much more than just a pleasant smell. This is magic."

*

Meanwhile in the realm of Asgard, far away from Sessrumnir, Loki was having a meeting of his own in his chamber in Valhalla.

Sagnar was there with Loki, ready to report on what he'd discovered in Munich.

The two were smartly dressed in Jotun fashion.

Loki was wearing a black suit with a black belt, a black shirt, a black tie and black shoes. This made him look taller and slimer than he already was. He also wore a black cape that draped his body in such a way that he looked like a tall classical pillar hewn in black rock. His straight jet-black hair was long and combed back away from his face. His sharp nose, and correspondingly sharp jawlines defined his face. His eyes had the same intensity as those of Sagnar, and were of the same colour.

Sagnar on his side wore a dark brown suit, white shirt and green tie, black shoes and a green cape that matched his tie.

There was only one lit lamp in the room. It hung above a table in a corner where they sat down to talk things through.

"I figured it all out in the end," Sagnar said with an air of satisfaction on concluding his report to Loki. "Your plan was foiled by either Odin or Freya. That's why the war you planned for humanity never happened."
"You seem happy about it," Loki said, eying Sagnar with suspicion.
"It's always refreshing to figure things out, even if the findings are not to my likings."
"I see... And this Eva. Tell me about her. Of what race is she?"
"She's a Vanir by the look of her."
"So, she's one of Freya's agents. Any idea where she might be now."
"In Sessrumnir, no doubt."
"If you ever see her again, promise me this: You kill her."

Loki said this with such calm and deliberation that even Sagnar found it eerie.

"But there's no point in us deliberating any more over this failed project," Loki continued. "I have a new task for you. I have brokered a deal with Ivaldi in Nidavellir, and I want you to go down there and make sure no-one messes this up for me. If anyone tries to change Ivaldi's mind or distract his sons from their work, you are to intervene and fix it. Eliminate anyone that gets in their way."

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