The Worm and the Root.

The savory powers of the god cheese are well contained inside the chest of wonders. The chest had been the prototype to Pandora’s Box. It was strong enough to hold back so many deadly strifes, thus it could easily cover the delicious scent of the god cheese.

Once the cheese has been released from its prison, its aroma will attract all living creatures. Even the gods are not immune to it, it makes them salivate. When something that smells so good that even gods will drool over it is released, pandemonium will ensue.

Charles had seen it in the last race. One of the teams managed to complete a domain task and opened their box. They were immediately attacked by every living creature within a hundred mile radius. Nothing was immune, even other participants lost their minds.

It was just that Gouda.

______

The sun rose and the mist was banished by a morning breeze.

My crew was all ready to go. Debra stayed behind to look after the ship in case of emergencies.

Egg took with him a large machete and a backpack full of necessities. Things like first aid kits, pots and pans, matches, rope, and a compass.

Jobs took with him a large backpack of jars.

“I need to collect rare samples,” He smiled. “Some of the fauna in this domain are something I have never seen before.”

Rigor had with him a suitcase of surgical supplies. Egg helped carry most of the other heavy things.

Beatrix carried nothing but her ax.

The rest of the crew took nothing but essentials.

We set off, slowly and carefully, trodded down the mossy root where the Sinclair Jr. was parked.

So far, nothing had attacked us. There was an eerie silence.

“Captain, I think the fight yesterday scared away most of the wildlife.”

“It would seem so, Egg.”

It rest of the trip was completely uneventful. Where did my adventure go? Where was the excitement?

By the end of the day, a gloomy cloud floated above my head.

Everyone was relaxed. Jobs was chatting with Rigor about some scientific mumbo jumbo.

“Have you seen that purple plant we passed?”

“Yes, it was giving off an awfully strong aura of death.”

“Of course it was, that thing is poisonous enough to kill an entire species!”

“I wonder how it tastes.”

“I swear Rigor if you weren’t a ghost, you would have died so many times due to your curiosity by now.”

Egg was trying to avoid Beatrix’s plans to extort more ale from him.

“Come on Egg, just one bottle?”

“For the fiftieth time, NO!”

“Come onnnn, just one?”

“For god sakes, Beatrix, act your age.”

“If I acted my age I would be dead.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you tell me to go die?”

“……”

I took off my hat. A single tear fell from my face. Rest well, my dear friend.

“C-captain, w-what are you doing?” Egg panicked. “I ain't dead yet!”

“Ah, what a quiet little hike we had,” I said. “Totally nothing is going to suddenly jump out at us.”

“I don’t think jinxing it is going to work this time Captain.”

“Dammit,” I sighed. “It’s so boring, though.”

“Just take in the sights Captain,” Egg replied. “It’s not every day you take a stroll through another domain.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Then I tripped and fell flat on my face.

Everyone stopped.

“You OK, Capt.?”

“Mfffhmmfm,” I lift my head out of the mud. “I’m fine.”

I looked down at what tripped me.

“Hey, isn’t that-“

It was a box. The same box we have hidden deep on the Sinclair Jr.

“It is, Captain, your blind luck has done it again,” Egg smiled. “It’s a box of god cheese!”

“But how? Is it a trap?”

“I don’t sense any aura of death coming from it.”

“Perhaps it got left behind after all the carnage the fight yesterday brought about.”

“Still, just to make sure it’s not a trap, Beatrix will you do the honors?”

We needed someone who can take on an explosion that could destroy a city and still brush it off like a popped balloon.

“Sure Charles, just know you owe me for this,” She smiled. Always looking to get a favor huh?

She picked up the box with one hand. Nothing happened.

“All good,” she laughed.

“Just what is this Deus Ex-Machina bull crap?” Jobs complained.

“Hey, it’s just Captain’s stupid luck,” Egg replied. “The man can win the lottery without him even knowing he entered it.”

“Why can’t he send some of that luck our way?”

“You want to rub him for good luck?”

“God no, don’t even put that image in my head.”

“Guys I’m standing right here you know?” I cried.

“So he is,” Egg smiled. “I must have mistaken his mud-covered self as a dirty swine.”

“Egg...,” I lamented.

______

“Did they take the bait?”

“Yes, Sir. They took it.”

“Good, keep an eye on them.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The shadowy figure left. The man in the dark hood remained. His face was covered in scars and his unkempt beard hung from his chin like a fake toupee.

“Ahahaha, foolish Captain Brie. Your entire crew will die to that monster. And if you do happen to defeat it, we can swoop in and just finish you off.”

The man rubbed his hands greedily.

“That will teach you to mess with me! The great pirate Edgar Stilton!”

______

By the time we finally reached the town, the sun was high up in the sky. Although blindingly bright, it gave off little heat. It was still quite cold.

“Rigor, you think you can ask the locals? They seemed to open up to you easier.”

“Sure thing Captain.”

He returned quickly.

“The locals said there’s no possible way to enter the roots of Yggdrasil.”

“That’s all they said?”

“I asked a little more and all they said was that there was one way, but it was just plain suicidal.”

“What is it?”

“The dragon Nidhogg chews on the roots of Yggdrasil constantly. It’s a passageway that is always opened and closed daily. We just have to get past Nidhogg.”

“That’s more suicidal than facing the serpent,” Egg said. “There is no way we are going to make it.”

“We don’t have to kill the dragon,” Jobs replied. “We just have to either sneak past it or lure it away.”

“You got a plan?”

“Didn’t we find that box of god cheese earlier? Why not use it to lure Nidhogg away?”

“But it’s encased in the box, it won’t be able to smell it.”

“It’s a dragon, right? So it should have some semblance of intelligence. Make it an offer it can’t refuse.”

“Would you really trust a dragon?” I asked Jobs.

“Of course I wouldn’t,” Jobs laughed. “But we can lure it away long enough to enter the root.”

“Wouldn’t that mean someone would have to stay behind?”

“I could use one of my automatons.”

“Wouldn’t Nidhogg get suspicious?”

“I purchased some books about the domain from the locals. Apparently, there is a metal dragon Fafnir that lives in this domain as well.”

“Fafnir?”

“The son of a Dwarven king cursed to become a dragon. Some say he will be slain one day by the hero Sigurd.”

“How do they know all this?”

“The gods planned it all out. Fate is a powerful thing, Captain.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So, Captain, we can disguise the automaton to be a messenger from Fafnir.”

“That just might work.”

We plotted and planned until the final details of the plot were complete.

“Let’s head back to the ship before nightfall.”

“Yea, I don’t want to get caught in another brave fool and their attempt at killing that serpent.”

“Oh, Jobs, did the book say anything about that serpent?”

“Only a nickname Captain. They call it a World Serpent.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“It certainly does.”

We had a light meal and started the hike back. The mist was slowly returning as the sun fell below the horizon.

“Be careful, I can sense something out there,” Rigor said.

We walked in a circle formation with Egg and I covering the front, Jobs, and Rigor covering the sides, and Beatrix covering the rear.

A low growl came from the mist.

“Enemies on our left,” Rigor said. “Sounds like some sort of dog.”

A couple pairs of red pupils glowed in the mist.

“I think they are called Garms,” Jobs said. “They are the offspring of the main guard of Niflheim.”

“There’s a lot of them.”

“Get ready to fight!” Beatrix lifted her ax. “My baby has been thirsting for blood lately.”

The wolves attacked. Two of them leaped from the mist, jaws wide opened. Beatrix swung her ax and it bisected one of the wolves. She slapped the other midair. One dead, one dazed.

Perhaps realizing immediately that Beatrix was a treat, the wolves avoided her. Some taunted her, trying to lure her away.

They wanted to separate our group in order to pick us off one by one.

“Stay together now.”

My rapier was already out and I was brandishing it like a hurricane.

Egg was protecting Jobs who didn’t fare so well in hand to hand combat. Wolves who attacked were knocked down to the ground and impaled by his machete. The wolves ignore Rigor as if he didn’t even exist. Apparently, they do not attack the undead.

Being offsprings of Garm, the protector of Niflheim, the wolves co-existed with the undead.

A loud howl resounded through the mist as the attack wolves backed off.

“Oh, no.” Beatrix smiled. “You puppies aren’t getting away.”

She chased after them.

I sighed. Even though she was a member of my crew, I really had no control over her.

“Make sure you return by sunrise!” I yelled out into the mist, praying that she heard it.

“Let’s hurry,” Egg said. “Before more creatures caught the scent of blood.”

It seemed Egg understood what Beatrix was doing. She killed the most number of wolves, perhaps the smell of blood on her was greatest.

I nodded.

We hurried back to Sinclair Jr.

“Welcome home guys, how did it go?” We were greeted by Debra once we boarded.

“We got a plan, but it’s dangerous,” I said. “Jobs got a plan, though.”

“Really? That’s great,” She smiled and looked towards Jobs. “Do you need my help?”

“Yes, I need to get one of the experimental automatons running by tomorrow.”

“Oh, one of the Z-series?”

“No, no, those are too valuable to be disposable. I’m talking about the O-series.”

“Ah, I see. OK, Jacob dear, I’ll go get things ready,” She said after hugging the calculating Jobs.

“He just ignored it,” Egg said.

“Sometimes I wonder if he’s more machine than the things he makes,” I sighed.