00165. The first signs of rebellion?

After Hela gained over a year of live combat experience with the Einherjar, she ended up back in Asgard to undergo more training. She still trained in combat with different weapons each day. But the bulk of her time was split between magic lessons, military operations planning, strategy lessons, battle tactics, leadership classes, learning to control her innate abilities and much more.

Apparently the goal was to turn Hela into a formidable commander and fighter who could lead the charge in battles. Her lessons were long and she normally collapsed into bed each night when they were done, only to wake up within a few hours to start a new day. That lasted for almost five years until she was finally summoned before her father again.

Hela arrived in the throne room and couldn't help but think of the last time she was there. It was when her father sent her off to fight with the Einherjar over six years ago. Was that why she was asked to come again? Was she going back out to fight again? Hela's mind raced as she dropped down onto one knee in front of the steps leading to her father's throne.

Odin studied Hela for a while before he said, "Your teachers informed me that you finished all of your lessons and they have nothing left to teach you."

Hela almost responded, but stopped herself. While she wanted to be praised by her father, she held back since he only made a statement and didn't ask a question. It was something drilled into her by her teachers over the years, since she always liked to ask questions. She still did it, but it wasn't as often as it used to be and now she at least waited till it was appropriate to ask.

After a few more seconds Odin said, "From now on you are to join the official ranks of the Einherjar. You will start with no rank and your only goal is to put the knowledge I gave you to practical use. Is that understood?"

"Yes, father." Hela said with her head bowed.

"Good, now go report for duty and don't disappoint me. Prove to me that you are worthy of everything I've invested into you."

vvvvv

Hela glanced around for a moment through the smoke filled air. The sound of battle was all around her, while the stench of blood hung heavily in the air. If a normal person was here they would most likely collapse from fear at what was happening around them. But for Hela, this was her life. For the past five years, this was all Hela knew.

Hela breathed heavily as she pulled her sword out of her opponent's chest and glanced around again. She quickly assessed the fighting around her before she charged to a weak spot in the enemy's defensive line. She arrived within moments and slashed her sword down on the nearest enemy.

Her attack was swift and deadly as the man's head separated from his shoulders. Hela instantly pivoted, pointed her hand towards another group of people and used her powers. Out of the air black swords appeared and took flight before they impaled over ten people in the chest.

With that simple, yet deadly attack, the enemy troops broke ranks and their formation quickly collapsed. Hela watched for a moment before she raised her sword in the air and yelled out, "Charge, don't let any of them escape! For Asgard!"

"For Asgard!" The warriors around her bellowed as they raised their weapons into the air.

Hela didn't wait for anyone else and directly charged into another group of people. She didn't aim to kill this time, but attacked the opponents legs. They could always use more intelligence, so now that they started to retreat it was the best chance to capture people.

Every move Hela made was calculated, she would cut a person down before she kicked them in their head. While it took a few extra seconds, it ensured the person was either knocked out or dead. Hela wanted to ensure that no one behind her would be able to threaten her.

Over the next hour Hela led a large group as they picked off all of the retreating enemies. Once finished with her task, Hela and her helpers collected anyone still alive as they headed back to the main force. When they returned, they were greeted by a temporary base camp being set up.

Hela left her prisoners with the other soldiers before she split off from them and headed towards the commanding officers tent. At the front of the tent stood two powerful guards who moved aside to allow her to enter. As she entered inside she saw the army commander and a handful of others gathered around a hastily set up table.

The commander noticed Hela first and asked, "Were you able to capture anyone important?"

Hela stopped in front of the table as she said, "I caught their second in command. I almost had the leader too, but he decided to kill himself rather than be captured, sir."

"That's unfortunate, but still a great job as always, lieutenant."

Hela nodded her head slightly before she glanced down to study the map. As she did the commander pointed at a spot and said, "Unless we get actionable intel from the prisoners, this will be our next target."

Hela frowned slightly before she asked, "Sir, isn't that just a farming community?"

"It is, but it's also one of their main food production areas, so it needs to be destroyed."

Hela glanced up at her commander as she asked, "What about the civilians living there, sir?"

The commander looked up at Hela and locked eyes with her before he said, "There are no civilians this time, everyone is to be killed by order of the king."

Hela stiffly nodded before she said, "Understood, sir."

"Good, now go get some rest."

Hela left the tent and headed towards a bonfire some troops were using to cook with. As she walked the only question in her mind was why her father wanted the civilians killed this time? Through all the campaigns she fought in, this was the first time something like this was ordered by him. It was strange, but it was her father and she was sure he had his reasons.

vvvvv

Hela's legion of troops were tasked to enter the city and destroy it, while the rest of the army surrounded the area. Their main job was to destroy the farm lands and kill anyone who escaped from the city. Since the commander wanted everything to go smoothly, they started the operation early in the morning hours while it was still dark outside.

Hela used her magic to grant herself and her troops low light vision, before she said, "Remember, they're civilians. It's already bad enough we have to kill them. So do it quickly and as painlessly as possible."

After her troops nodded in understanding, Hela led them quietly into the city. Once there they started to separate into teams of two or three before they moved to different houses.

Hela moved alone to one of the houses and tested the door. It was locked from the inside with a timber beam, so Hela placed her hand on the door. She focused for a moment and under the force of her powers the door and beam behind it quickly decayed into ashes without a sound.

Once the door was gone, Hela stepped into the dark single room house and looked for the occupants. She found an older man asleep in a bed along with an older woman. Hela closed her eyes for a few moments to steal her resolve before she raised her hand at the couple and released her power. The couple were instantly killed as blood pooled around their bodies.

Hela glanced at them for a moment as she let out a sigh and thought, "How is something like this considered honorable?"

As Hela walked out of the house and towards her next target a scream ripped through the air before it was abruptly cut off. Hela frowned slightly as she rushed towards the next building. As she reached the door it swung open as a young man half dressed walked outside.

Before he even noticed Hela she already swung her sword and decapitated the man. His body stood there as his head fell towards the ground and Hela stepped past him into the building. Hela found a young woman inside in the process of putting on clothes. As the woman glanced up at Hela she froze in place and Hela used that split second chance to kill her.

As Hela walked out of the home the sound of battle filled the air along with screams of pain and yells of anger. That first abrupt scream seemed to have awakened the whole village and now chaos erupted as a result. Hela calmly observed the situation for a few moments before she charged to the area with the most resistance.

Hela appeared like a specter of death as she weaved through her troops and the desperate townsfolk who were trying to defend themselves. Every enemy she passed dropped dead a moment later and within a minute the only people left alive were Hela and her troops. She glanced at them all as she said, "Don't worry about the runners, just sweep the entire village and make sure no one is hiding."

Hela and her troops swiftly combed through the rest of the buildings and found a handful of people. Once they completed their task, they set fire to the village and headed in the direction where the villagers ran. Within twenty minutes of leaving the village they heard the sounds of people crying out for help.

Hela frowned as she sped up and within moments found a handful of women surrounded by another squad of troops. In a pile off to the side was the rest of the villagers that escaped. Only the men and some of the children were killed, while the rest of the people still alive were already half naked with their clothes being torn off.

The leader of the other squad of troops grabbed the loudest woman by her wrist and tugged her towards him, before he smacked her across the face as he said, "Shut up, no one is going to save you."

He shoved the woman back down before he said with a sneer, "Listen up all of you, because it's your lucky day. If you resist, you will find what happens next unbearable. But if you cooperate and possibly enjoy yourself, we'll let you live."

Hela stepped forward into the group of soldiers and asked in a commanding tone, "What do you think you're doing?"

The squad leader wore a slimy smile as he said, "I'm just letting my men blow off some steam."

Hela's gaze turned cold as she said, "You know what our orders are, stop wasting time and carry them out."

The man's face fell as he said in a condescending tone, "I know exactly what my orders are, 'Lieutenant'. But last time I checked, I still out rank you. So leave, that's an order."

Hela glanced at the leader for a few moments before she lifted her hand towards the women and children huddled together. A second later black swords flew out and stabbed into each of their hearts. As Hela lowered her hand she said, "Yes, sir."

Hela turned around to walk away as the leader roared out, "You stupid bitch, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Just carrying out my orders, sir." Hela said as she walked out of the circle of troops.

vvvvv

Hela wasn't disciplined for her act of defiance, a handful of squad leaders and other people made it clear they didn't approve of her actions. While Hela didn't care what they thought about her, she still took note of those people. She then used magic and other means to spy on each of them. Most of them were just upset she was disobedient towards a commanding officer, but others were like that squad leader.

Since Hela found people she deemed unfit for leadership roles, much less being in the Einherjar, she planned out how to eliminate all of them. It wasn't quick, but within a year over ten officers and a handful of others died in battle. Hela barely had to lift a finger to do it, just a low level spell here or there at the right time in the midst of a chaotic battle and someone would die.

Hela was extremely cautious with her actions and would always make sure nothing could point back to her. Another rule she decided on was to never target a person directly, but the area around them. It made it a lot harder for people to find out if there was foul play involved in the death. Even though no death in the middle of battle was ever investigated, Hela didn't want to leave any trace behind.

She also used each person's death to help improve her military career at the same time. She had to be near them to cause the accident in the first place. So she used those opportunities to personally dispose of whoever was lucky enough to kill who she targeted. Which made her look like a hero to a lot of people and helped her move up in rank a few times.