Arrival

The golden bright light engulfed Kratos and his companions, as they were pulled into the wider cosmos. The feeling was quite like feeling the pulse of the BiFrost at Tyr's temple. But only this time, it was a blind trip through the realms to a land unknown to all of them.

They had no particular destination in mind, their only desire was to venture forth to a distant world. After Atreus had left, Kratos had been instrumental in brokering peace between the Aesir, the Vanir, the Dwarves, and the Elves. He had helped the Aesir settle with the midgardians, in lasting peace.

But the peace and the calm that came with it made his mind wander to his wayward son. The longing due to those memories brought with them pain, that proved too heavy for him to bear, for unlike before his son was alive, and thriving out in distant worlds, but far away from him. This pain was different from the one he was used to.

He did not know for how long they had been wandering in the golden halls of the empty cosmos, silently observing the various planes of existence when the light that he had entered seemed to engulf them again, lifting them in the process to where they knew not.

And in an instant, the light subsided and they found themselves in an open snow-covered field, at the side of a giant ashen white tree with blood-red leaves. At the center of its ashen white bark, was a face carved to make it seem it was mourning. Bloody-red tears were flowing out of its eyes that gave an ominous effect. Around them, a few feet in all directions, snow-covered trees formed the perimeter of the opening, behind which the group could clearly see a chilly, misty and dreary dark forest.

"Well, that was an experience," Mimir commented. "Tyr certainly had an interesting way of traveling to different lands."

"If only his memory was not tarnished by Odin." Freya added as she observed her surroundings intently "Niflheim had reduced him to even worse than I could have imagined, but he did work well to distance himself from the image Odin had created for him."

"Tell that to Sindri, my lady." Mimir commented softly "Though, Lunda did manage to pull him out of the hole he had lost himself in, he never did manage to look at Tyr the same way again. Or us for that matter."

"It is not easy forgiving someone for the pain they have caused you." She said as she circled around the tree observing the intricacies and the divine effect it emanated. "Especially when their actions cause you to lose your blood."

"You did," Mimir pointed out.

"Yes," She commented as she joined Kratos again "but I was able to accept my selfishness in wanting to protect my son, and understand the blame did not lie in Kratos' hands. Sindri needs to face Atreus to understand that. And in time, he will. But, enough of that, there is a face carved on the tree here, do you think it is of one of the gods of this land?"

Kratos grunted and turned to observe the tree after he was satisfied that they were truly alone and no one was observing them in the woods.

He noted the sorrowful face carved into the tree, and he could feel a presence emanating from it. One that did not feel to have a physical presence to explain it.

"Whatever it is, it is not hostile. Just curious." He observed.

"Aye, and it feels faded as well," Mimir added. "But it would do well to leave the place as soon as we can."

Kratos nodded and looked to Freya "Can you scout a river nearby, we will hunt for food, for now."

Freya nodded "I'll be back in a few minutes. Fálki!" she said and assumed her Falcon form and flew away.

"Well, are we just waiting here then?" Mimir asked.

Kratos grunted and sat down using the bark of the tree to rest till she returned.

"Very well then," Mimir said. "Brother, what do you think awaits us in this land?"

Kratos sighed "I do not know. I once went on a similar journey before I arrived in Midgard. There is serenity and peace in a journey without a clear end. It helped me distract myself from my suffering before, I wish it may do so again. For all of us."

"Where did you go, if I may ask?" Mimir questioned.

"It was a land of people that worshipped the crocodile god, Sobek. Though I never crossed paths with Sobek, it was a journey that helped me accept that my blades were never leaving my side." Kratos answered, his deep voice softer as he wondered about his past.

"Aye, I have heard of that land. I've never been myself. But I heard that Amun-Ra ruled with an iron fist. A right cunt that one. Had anyone that ridiculed him killed." Mimir commented "Well, apart from Apep that is. Never really could get to him. It is ironic that you would find some peace there of all places. Even Set was a right bastard, as far as Odin knew, killed his brother Osiris, because he married his sister while Set himself couldn't, and then he chopped Osiris into fourteen different pieces and spread each all across the different parts of the land."

Kratos grunted "I stayed away from most civilization then, and away from the Gods as much as I could. Now, I would like to know what you know about this land. Where has the cosmos deemed to send us?"

Mimir chuckled nervously and replied "Frankly, I do not know. The divinity outside of a few lands rarely if ever interacts with one another. Your story is one of the few that made it to any other land."

Kratos nodded, he had already assumed so.

"Well, on the bright side, there is an adventure to be had, in braving the unknown brother," Mimir added.

It was then that Freya flew back into the clearing, her falcon form gliding majestically into the clearing from the West. She made her way swiftly to a few feet above the snow-covered ground before she transformed back into her natural form and walked up to her friends.

Kratos quickly stood up, and looked askance at her, silently telling her to guide them.

"There is a river southwest of here, we will find animals around its coast. It merges with another downstream south of it. I could not spot any settlements, the tree cover made it difficult to do so, though I imagine whatever people we may encounter they will either be hunters, or nomads. There is little chance of us crossing paths with any actual civilization for miles based on the denseness of the forest around us." Freya informed them quickly as she started to lead them out of the opening and into the woods.

Kratos absorbed the information, "It is for the best. First, we hunt, and then we look to find out more about the lands." He said as he followed closely behind her.

The pair, with Mimir's head dangling off the hips of the God of War, slowly made their way as the lightly dusted snowy floor of the forest softened their steps for them from the creaking roots of the trees that would have laid exposed underneath.

Freya noted that the flora of the forest was unlike that of Midgard or Vanaheim, with fir trees, ash, pine, and oakwood being the predominant species of trees around them.

It took them a while to make their way through the dense forest, as they avoided the fauna that must have resided in the woods when the clear noise of flowing water reached their ears.

"There are deer tracks on the floor, in the distance, under the small clearing there" Freya commented as they approached said opening, as the sound of the flowing river became clearer to them, coming from their south. The light snow covering the forest floor made the distinct cloven hoof tracks of deer easier to determine. "It is leading toward the river. We must be close."

Kratos hummed, as he nodded at her observation, more comfortable following her lead. She followed the tracks of the deer, as it winded down southward to the banks of a slow-flowing river in the distance. There in the clearing was a magnificently large and healthy brown-furred deer. Its tail was tipped snowy white, as it waved lazily behind its hind legs. The lightly white spotted deer raised its head, as it tasted the air to glean its surroundings.

Its hunters were lucky to be on elevated lands, as the chilly wind blew and it did not betray their presence.

Kratos' right hand outstretched, as the runes inscribed on the ring on his ring finger, glowed a dazzling gold, after which with little fanfare apart from soft swoosh, and golden sparks a magnificent gold-tipped spear rested in his hand.

Freya watched as Kratos readied his spear and raised it to his shoulders, as he aimed his shot. He waited a few seconds and threw the spear at his target. The spear sizzled through the air and landed true, piercing the heart of the large deer, killing it instantly.

They were just about to make their way to the blood-stained banks of the river when from the other side of the clearing, a fur-cloaked man stumbled out. He was panting heavily, a hilt of a sword in his right hand clutched tightly in his hand, the blade missing. He did not spot them, as his fear-filled eyes, darted behind him. He made to run again, as he caught his breath but stumbled on a slightly large rock.

The sword hilt fell from his hand, and he scampered to get hold of it again, its presence seeming to give him a sense of hope. But, it was of little measure as a dozen fur-clad clumsy figures slowly waddled out and stepped into the river.

Their eyes, transfixed at the frightened man as Kratos and Freya stood atop the opening watching, were clear, like two blue stars, shining in the dark, lightly illuminating their cold pale flesh.

And behind them, followed what Kratos and Freya could only describe as three Hel Walker. Their ice-like features were eerily reminiscent of the Hel Walkers they had fought in the nine realms. The only difference was the size and surprising intelligence that Kratos could see behind the pale eyes, as they looked at the man lazily like he was their prey.

A/N

Hello! I hope you like this story. I want to know what you think, and where you think I am going ahead with the story.