The Call Of The Mountain - A Viking's Quest

The sun moved slowly across the evening sky. It paid no attention to the rumblings from the belly of the earth.

"Quickly, Hugo, come." Aryuna beckoned several times for her husband to abandon his labor. She pulled him close and hid her face in his arms.

"The mountain behind the forest speaks again. Do not be troubled. It will not harm us." Hugo felt her trembling as he held her face away from the glowing rock.

The day was long. His work by the shore was not yet finished. Hugo looked toward the village. On the outlay of the forest, he felt proud of his people and their accomplishments.

With the mountains in the background, their people lived a harsh, but satisfying life. They asked for nothing from the new land but to be left alone to dwell in peace in the Kingdom of Staros.

The longhouses held up well and served their needs. His father taught the villagers some of their foreign ways of the sea. Along the wall, wooden beds lined with straw and animal skins were constructed near the fireplace. Their furniture was of modest but crafted wood.

Sleep would not visit that night. He lay staring at his roof which was half covered in dirt woven through grass. He could no longer ignore his dreams.

As thunder roared in the distance, his heart beat faster. The hours passed until the mountain feel asleep. Only then could he do so.

The morning was quiet. With weary eyes, Hugo's taunt body readied the meats for the festival. He did not want to worry his wife. The feeling that all was not well stirred in him.

Hugo remembered his father's tales of sea ventures. The breeze from the water waffled through the air as he packed the fish. The smell of the ocean stirred in him. A longing he could not understand.

Liam greeted him. As young children, they had grown up together. Although Hugo knew that Liam was not of his heritage, he only thought of him as a true friend. Their attitudes were of like mind. Kindhearted and willing to help his brethren.

The feast spread was hearty. Cured meats and fish. Hugo was proud he could contribute his portion of fresh fish from his day's catch.

For a while, Hugo cast aside his dreams and the longing for the sea. He laughed as the village children played. Women danced in a circle. Men sang their songs of old.

Without warning, the mountain roared. This time, it would not stop.

The ground trembled. Food and drink spilled as feast tables tumbled. The villagers gathered their children and rushed to their homes.

Hugo was weary. He felt as though he could not keep pace with the others as they ran from the glow in the sky.

Suddenly, he froze. A strange feeling overcame him. He turned back toward the mountain. He opened his hand and let go of his wife's grip.

"Aryuna, I must go see what is wrong. Why the mountain is upset with us." Hugo's voice carried above the thunder. Several of the villagers overheard him.

"Then I will go with you." She reached out to grab his hand.

"No, this I must do alone." Hugo searched the crowd for Liam. He thought she would understand.

"Hugo. The evil spirit that dwells in the mountain will destroy you. Come, let us get to the shore. Surely we will be safe there." Liam pulled Hugo's arm. His friend had been not himself of late, he could feel.

Another villager spoke loudly to the crowd who had stopped to see what was happening.

"No, let him be destroyed. Others may have forgotten, but my family has not. My ancestors in this country suffered because of these foreign people. We have never known where they came from. The King has never forgiven them for bringing the disease and displeasure of the mountain upon us. He and his kind are foreigners in our land. The mountain did not shout to us until they came to live among us. Our ruler should have destroyed their kind in the beginning. Our peace within this country is fragile because of the foreigners. King Gustav has cut off our share of resources. Now, we are not allowed in the castle. We have been left to survive on our own, scratching out an existence near on these shores."

Liam shouted back toward the other villager. "Hugo, my family never blamed your people. It is not your fault."

"You don't understand, Liam. The mountain is upset with me. I dreamed of it calling me to come hear its anger." Hugo had already made up his mind the night before.

The villagers stood and stared at Hugo. They couldn't believe he was going toward the rumbling mountain.

Slowly, Hugo turned and headed in the direction of the mountain. He found it was farther than he first thought.

Upon reaching its face, and opening appeared. He thought he was imagining this. The opening was only wide enough for him to enter. The passage appeared dark and grimy.

Suddenly he felt as though someone had taken hold of his arm and pulled him forward.

He came to an immediate halt. To his astonishment, a large object glowed silver as it rested against the rocks. Flames poured from the center of the shield.

Hugo advanced with caution. A calmness enveloped him. He didn't know why he was unafraid of the flames. As he neared the object, the fire within the center died down.

He stood before the object. It looked like a shield he had never seen before. He extended his hand. Cool to his touch, Hugh raised the shield high in the air with his two hands. It glistened. He smiled, as a name unfamiliar to him was etched at the bottom.

Brynjar, the Armored Warrior.

He made his way back toward the opening of the mountain. Once outside, the opening closed shut slowly.

Hugo told his wife of his adventure and the shield. He then placed it away under his bed.

That night, the rumbling in the mountain ceased. Hugo slept as he had not done that past year.

The next morning, word came from beyond the forest that King Gustav of Staros would finally do what his ancestor was unable to accomplish. He would drive the foreign people from his land.

He hated that many of his own people joined in with the foreigners. He could not understand their reasoning. However, King Gustav was determined to rid his country of the foreigners. He would not tolerate his own people turning against him.

He considered the foreigners evil and ungrateful. His ancestors had welcomed them into his country. They were never willing to share their craft of how they conquered the sea.

The Kingdom needed to expand to other shores. King Gustav desired wealth just as his ancestors craved. He had to look away from the forest and to the sea for his people's existence. To do this, he needed to navigate the sea.

Hugo knew that King Gustav disliked his people. Hugo's grandfather tried to keep their heritage a secret.

The village was in terror. Their only crime was aligning with the foreigners. Their punishment was death. A new case of the disease not seen in many years had erupted in the Kingdom.

As villages prepared to leave. They realized they had nowhere to run. Huddled together in their homes, they waited.

Facing them farther inland toward the other side of the forest. There the King dwelt in his castle.

Behind them was the sea. They would surely perish.

King Gustav's army stood ready to make their way to the outer shores of Staros. But first, they had to navigate through the dense forest.

Fearful for her husband, Aryuna tried to reason with him.

"Hugo, it is time. Your father's Saga waits. Remember upon his bed where you held his hand and released him to his ancestors. He spoke to you then of your heritage he left for you to read upon your coming of age. You have yet to open it." Aryuna removed the papers formed into a book from the wooden chest.

Hugo sat reading by the fire way into the night.

Freyja - The Viking Goddess of War

The following morning, Hugo sought out his friend, Liam. He confided in him his heritage as told by his father.

Liam gathered the people of the village so they could hear Hugo's story and perhaps have hope.

"Hugo-Brynjar, my friend, it is time to reveal all in truth so that our people will know what they now face to be true. My people, greet this man with love and respect as you would of any of our people for he has called his ancient ancestors to our cause and pledged as an ally before our time."

Hugo stepped forward. He began to speak slowly.

"I know you are a proud people. My people are also proud. My true name is Brynjar. I am of the people from the North. The Vikings.

We worship the supreme god, Odin. He rules the realm of immortals and immortals. Just as Odin is the god of war; Freyja is the goddess of war. She is also Odin's wife. ¹

Let me tell you the story of Freyja. She is the goddess that we know who is the epitome of love, beauty, gold, and fertility. She is also the goddess of war, a fierce woman warrior. It is said that she cries tears of gold. Her compassionate love of felines warms the hearts of little ones in fireside stories. ¹

Freyja is also the ruler of the Valkyries. These spirit women are winged goddesses. Not only are they powerful, but also half-gods as they help brave warriors who have fallen on the battlefield on their journey from mortality to immortality. ¹

The Valkyrie are the spiritual vessels by which travel of the warrior's soul to seek rest is granted. ¹

You see, my ancestor is Freyja sister, Freyr. It was forbidden for a goddess to fall in love with a human. Another god had already been suited to her.

But Freyr was fierce. Her passionate love for a human drew outrage from the immortals.

Secretly, they married. Freyr knew her human husband's life was in danger. She arranged for him to take their children far away from Viking lands to protect their son from vengeance. They traveled ss far south as they could.

The mighty god Odin is said to have given the ability of sight to his ravens, Hugin and Numin. He would then send them out to scour the Earth to see where all humans lived. They returned and informed him about the country of Staros. ²

Once the betrayal was discovered, Odin commanded his two ravens take to the skies to locate the betrayers. He did not want humans who were half-gods roaming freely over the world not subject to his rule.

In the forest of Staros is where Hugin and Numin discovered Freyr's family.

At first King Melker was kind. However, he needed ships and men to sail the seas on his behalf. He wanted to conquer other lands like the Vikings.

The Vikings were fearful that they sailed to this land only to be infected with a mysterious ailment.

The Kingdom of Staros was ruled at the time by a ruthless leader. He envied the extraordinary ships and shipbuilding abilities. Word spread of a people called Vikings.

King Melker, known as Stoneheart, heard that the Vikings used their ships to raid and conquer other countries. Word also spread that those people were mighty warriors and would one day sail to the shores of Staros and declare their king bow down to them. He vowed he would be prepared if they set their feet on his Kingdom's shores.

His scheme was to meet them on the sea. The only problem was that he had no ships, nor were his people knowledgeable in shipbuilding.

The small fleet he managed to acquire was given to him from another country.

Word spread the Vikings were headed their way. His plan was an ambush once they came ashore. They would pretend to greet them to lure them into the lush forest. There, they planned to ambush them, capture their ships, then unleash their most deadly and venomous creatures.

But the ambush did not go as planned.

It was Freyja, goddess of war, who sent the gift of magic on my ancestors' weapons so that they would be victorious in battle.

King Melker was ill-prepared to battle the Vikings, he soon learned. The defeat he suffered was a massive blow to his Kingdom.

However, the Viking warriors suffered after falling ill from a mysterious disease. They returned home where many warriors died. They vowed never to return to Staros.

That was when Freyja cursed the Kingdom of Staros.

People of Staros, I tell you that one day when the mighty rumbling comes, a battle unlike none that has ever been fought will take place. No one will be able to stop it. For the battle has already been foretold.

We call this day 'Ragnarok'. ¹

All will be revealed in truth. Those that are worthy to move beyond will walk in a new light and in a place of peace.

But before the great battle, there must be a purge."

Hugo-Brynjar then unwrapped his weapons from the cloth. His shield he held high.

The villagers of Staros stared in wonder at the massive shiny armor.

"I will never forget my heritage," he shouted.

"People of Staros, we are on the verge of war. Trouble is not on the horizon, it is here. King Gustav will not accept defeat. His thirst for revenge will destroy us all."

"That we will be attacked is for certain. King Gustav has gathered fighters from many countries who are his allies."

"But Gustav underestimates the Vikings. He does not know what we are capable of. He do not have favor with the goddess of war. We do!"

"For last night, I have prayed to the goddess, Freyja. And, she heard my prayer."

"I am willing to fight for your right to live in peace. I am willing to defend my ancestors who were also wrongfully accused of bringing a plague upon the Kingdom of Staros."

"With Frejya and the Viking warriors as our allies, are you willing to fight?"

Hugo-Brynjar searched the crowd. All was quiet.

He then shouted, "my true Viking name is "Brynjar". It means 'a warrior that is armored'. I am ready for battle. Are you?"

A massive roar erupted with shouts of "Hail to Hugo-Brynjar. Hail to the Vikings who will stand with us!"

And hail to the goddess of war, Frejya who will help protect us!

Hugo-Brynjar stepped back.

Liam addressed the villagers.

"We must ready ourselves for the arrival of King Gustav's army. We are not soldiers. We are not warriors. We are simply villagers who have been wronged. Let us not forget what brought us to this place, the sacrifices we made, and hardships we endured to win our right to exist in this land. We are King Gustav's people. But he does not treat us as such."

"Tonight, we celebrate our freedom and feast to our victory ahead. Tomorrow we ready for battle."

They prayed, then returned to their homes.

Into Battle As One: The Viking Allies

They were not frightened of the battle ahead. Five days later, Hugo-Brynjar stood upon the cliff waiting for the arrival of King Gustav's army.

He turned and gazed out over the sea far into the horizon. Upon his father's written word, he had followed his directions in the Sagas. He sent word by raven to his uncle. His father was the human son of Freyr. His half-brother was also the son of Freyr by another husband. Freyr was his grandmother.

Her sister, Freyja promised Viking warriors would come. They would come with her blessings on their swords.

Hugo-Brynjar could not yet see his Viking brethren, but the sounds from their horns announced they would soon join him.

Suddenly, he felt the presence of Freyja, the goddess of war nearby. Smiling, he waited for his father's half-brother, Daayn. He was his uncle. He had risen in ranks to become the leader of the Viking warriors who had pledged to come to the aid of the villagers of Staros.

The Viking warriors did not hesitate to travel to reach the shores of Staros. It did not matter. Daayn was anxious to see his Viking nephew.

Their ship was steady on its course. In the distance, a drengr stood. Its lone presence in the midst of the violent waves solidified their mission. The rock of strength gave them courage. They would forge ahead.

Hugo-Brynjar smiled broadly as Daayn's ship drew closer. A fierce Viking warrior, he had heard stories of his brother's leadership on the battlefield.

Daayn stepped down from the ship. The shoreline of Staros was indeed foreign land. He had not traveled this far South before. But he had no time to marvel at the many sites and sounds in the distant forest.

He stood taller than the rest of the Viking warriors under his command. From the look of Daayn's shield, it was clear this armor had only known times of conflict. Its scars were many. But it had held its own and proved worthy numerous times.

"Nephew, the battle is at hand. Ready your warriors." Hugo-Brynjar clasp his uncle's hand tightly, then embraced him.

"I must meet these foreign people favored by Freyja. I need to see for myself this person who is worthy of my sword and shield." Daayn turned to follow Hugo-Brynjar.

Liam gathered his people again. His desire was to introduce their Viking allies.

Liam stepped forward. He was unafraid of Daayn's size and strength. He looked Daayn directly in the eye, then reached for his hand.

Daayn instructed his warriors to rest for the night. He followed Hugo-Brynjar to his home.

At daybreak, on the opposite edge of the cliff facing the forest, Hugo-Brynjar spotted King Gustav's army riding fast.

It was time.

Hugo-Brynjar pleaded with his wife to remain behind. She would not.

Hugo-Brynjar returned to the cliff facing the sea. Looking down, he had never seen so elegantly clad men as the Vikings warriors. The warriors were of strong build, working manual labor from an early age. Their immense strength was due to the harsh winter environment.

Armed with metal armor made of chainmail or iron plates sewn together. Other warriors were adorned in quilted cloth to protect their bodies.³ These men stood tall in their tunics. Their expressions blank. They came with a mission.

The Viking warriors rushed from the northern-most area of the shore.

With cloudy skies overlooking the mountains in the background, Daayn gave the signal to his men to hold the line.

They stood together, high-ranked and lower status warriors. The elite Viking warriors sat high on horseback. No words are spoken. The ranks were filled with foot warriors.

Daayn pointed his sword at Liam, then nodded. "It is you, not I, who must give the battle command."

Hugo-Brynjar stood by Liam's side with his wife, Aryuna.

"Today, we must go to battle. Many of you will not see the tomorrow's glorious sunrise. Love thy neighbor was given to me. King Gustav's army came to conquer. I do not want to harm the people of Staros. I have no grand reward to give you good villagers but the promise of peace.
"With me As One!"

The village men stood tall facing their Viking warrior allies. They did not want this conflict. However, seeing the Viking warriors fighting on their behalf, they forged ahead swinging their new swords.

Daayn signaled to Hugo-Brynjar, then shouted to his warriors, "by the power bestowed upon me, the goddess of war watches over us. On toward battle!"

Daayn's mighty jaw thrust forward, ready for battle. While his face hardened and his eyes glistened in his reflection on his sword, he focused on the enemy.

^Source

The sound of a thousand warriors advanced as the ground trembled. Aligned as one, hooves pounded the sand and debris from the forest bed. Birds took flight and animals scampered to safety as the thunderous sounds grew near.

In an instant, armor met armor. Weapons met weapons.

The clanging overpowered all other sounds. Some fought atop their horses. Other Viking foot warriors dismounted to stand with the tribesmen. Well into the afternoon, the battle raged.

The warm, humid air, usually soft floating on a gentle breeze was now laden with the screams of dying men, both villagers and Vikings.

The air which would normally carry the sounds of birds, the river and wildlife was now heavy and thick with the scent of twisted bodies.

Men's faces, in King Kenai's army forced into a battle they did not understand, lay in heaps. The toll on Staros was severe. Only a few were left to return to their King and tell of the Viking allies. Those same allied, who were once friends of their country, had now defeated them.

The once beautiful shoreline of Staros was now strewn with helmets, metal armor, weapons, and bodies covered in death oil. Crimson, brown, blue, and black scattered from one end of the shoreline to the other, told of wealthy warriors, lower-status fighters, and tribesmen alike.

In the end, it did not matter. Viking men were never going to return to their wives or maidens. They were never going to father Viking offspring.

The scent of their blood was the same. The look of their blood was the same. The agony of death on their faces was the same. The families they left behind would all mourn the loss of their loved ones.

The conflict was now over.

Viking warriors who survived were anxious to return home. They shouted as the rush of victory coursed through each. They celebrated the defeat of King Gustav's army.

But the death toll was not to be celebrated.

Freyja looked down upon the shoreline. Viking warriors lay in heaps. They were, however, destined to be honored. The Valkyrie was on the way to reward them for their willingness to answer the call of Daayn.

Her keen eye rested upon her nephew, Daayn. "Who is this mighty Viking warrior?"

She turned to see Liam who had rushed to Daayn's side.

As Daayn lay dying, his eyes then searched the skyline for Freyja as he heard her speak. His smile widened. His eyes were glazed. His hands traveled the length of his chest.

In a weak voice, he answered: "They Call Me Daayn (Dan)."
"It is warm what I feel coursing through my body, unlike the trickling icy waters of the rivers in the North. A tingling sensation. My mind urges me to give in. My body urges me to sink deeper into the grains of sand. I lie here thinking of my wife's warm bed. I am not ready yet to join my brethren and feast in the halls of Valhalla.⁴ Yet, I'm weary of battle. In my heart, I know this is my final mortal combat. I die with the knowledge I have brought honor to my Viking country...To my god, Odin. Farewell, my nephew, Hugo-Brynjar. No matter where we dwell until Ragnorok. We will meet again on that battlefield. With honor, I leave you."

"Daayn, worry not. You will be highly honored. You will rest in the halls of Valhalla. You will feast with your brethren at the feet of Odin." She stood steadfast.

Frejya's falcon swooped down and caressed Daayn's shield. He collected his soul and joined Frejya in her chariot.

Freyja, who also rules over her heavenly field, Fólkvangr ⁴, looked down at Hugo-Brynjar. He lay dying with his face partially covered in sand.

"Liam, there is another Viking among your tribe. He bound himself to your village people's cause."

Liam responded quickly, "he will be at peace now. He was a brave warrior with a magical shield. He fought for us."

"Who is this human Viking Warrior?" Freyja smiled.

"It is I, Hugo-Brynjar. I am a descendant of your sister, Freyr. I await your decision whether I am to join my Uncle Daayn. But what is to become of my Viking warrior wife who fought bravely beside me? She is descended from a Viking shield maiden. She sacrificed herself to help the villagers also save the women, children, and elderly."

Ayruna spoke bravely. "My will is to be with my Viking warrior husband. Do not tend to my wounds for I will cross over into the fields of Freyja."

Frejya looked over at Ayruna. "She has suffered a noble death. I will grant her peace in my fields."

Suddenly, another Valkyrie appeared. She had came to take Ayruna to Fólkvangr.

"No! If my wife can not be by my side in Valhalla, then I forfeit my right to be in Odin's presence. I wish not to anger Him who bestowed this honor upon me. But my heart will forever dwell in heartbreak longing for my warrior woman. My warrior mate. My forever wife. For surely, I will be no good on the battlefield yet to come. Dishonor will lay next to my name for Odin at Ragnarok."

Odin heard Hugo-Brynjar's words through his lesser ravens.

Hugin-Vatt, known as the Spirit Mantle, was even wiser than his father. He was the son of Hugin. He flew with his father until he reached the age of maturity. Once Hugin was assured that his son could be trusted with the eye of Odin, Hugin-Vatt took up the mantle. He waited.

Numin-Astor, son of Numin witnessed this plea of the Viking warrior. Hugin, in his thoughts, extended his left massive wing. Hugin glided closer, linking his right wing of desire together with Numin-Astor. They forged their response to Odin. "Our spirits are as one. We witnessed and felt the great Viking warrior's thoughts and desire for his warrior wife, Ayruna. This is as it should be. For our master once knew a love so great that to this day he still mourns to have been separated from her."

Frejya looked down upon Hugo-Brynjar. "So be it. You wish has been granted. You will rest together in my field at Fólkvangr.

The falcons surrounded the vessel. High in the sky, they descended until the clouds parted. The magnificent chariot guided by cats descended alongside the ship.

Hugo-Brynjar and Ayruna's souls rose up. The chariot's door opened and welcomed them.

They looked back and smiled at Liam.

[the end.]

To complete the story, I utilized several programs to create the art projects.

Pure Fractals. I love creating fractals in the program Apophysis. This program is fractal rendering software. By rendering both fractals on a black background, I you can see the intricate details.

Stable Diffusion
Stable Diffusion is a text-to-image latent diffusion model released in 2022 and trained on 512x512 images from the LAION-5B dataset. The dataset is used to generate detailed images using text prompts. ¹ The text prompt is required, as it provide the software with a description of your desired image. You are limited only by your imagination.

Who created it?
Stable Diffusion was developed by the CompVis group at LMU Munich. The model was released by Stability AI, CompVis and Runway with support from EleutherAI and LAION. ¹

How does Stable Diffusion Work?
Stable Diffusion uses a “diffusion” process at runtime. Starting with only noise and a text prompt, the software gradually improves the image until it is entirely free of noise. Running their progression process creates the image from your text description.¹ I have discovered that the more precise my description, the better the results.

Who owns the creations after they are generated?
Through the AI Generated Art License at StarryAI, creations are made to be used freely by the creator. The license states that:

• You own the copyright to your creations;
• Commercial and non-commercial purposes are permitted; and
• No permission is needed (though attribution is appreciated. ⁵

The result of the stable diffusion descriptions indeed creates an ethereal imagery. Designing a stable diffusion image begins with the type of software, method used, and text descriptions.

For each art project, I will list the image and the sources I used to create them in order of occurrence in story.

TheyCallMeDan Sailing Into Battle

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Freyja Art Project
[Created in Starry AI Stable Diffusion Program. Blended project in Canva]

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Hugo-Brynjan's Shield
[Created in Night Cafe - A Stable Diffusion Program]

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Dan going into battle
[4 Images Created in StarryAI - A Stable Diffusion program]

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Freyja with cats
[Created in StarryAI - A Stable Diffusion program]

Canva design process

Utilizing Canva as my design program, I uploaded all images. The fractals were self-sufficient. I duplicated the diffusion images, where necessary, then positioned them to achieve a fuller design. In its place was a transformed version that looked like brain activity.

Next, I added my pure fractals to each stable diffusion image and blended each to create the various projects.

Thanks for taking the time to view my story.