Hammer of the Gods

Chapter 26

“That seems rather harsh.” Nanuk interjected. The stocky, Alaskan native man, rarely spoke openly except to his sister and even then only in the Inupiaq tongue.

Gabriel tried to explain, “You must understand, that Eternal is one of God’s names, so when one is to receive Eternal punishment, that cleansing or imprisonment shall go on as long as our Father deems it to be necessary in his infinite wisdom.”

“I guess I have never thought about it like that,” Nanuk admitted.

“Let us continue our history lesson. Safriel had two sons whom he and his wife named Dveorger and Zwerg: They were both short, but Zwerg, was smaller than his older brother. In time Safriel was missed, and when I discovered he had broken his vow, I imprisoned him where the Watchers are kept. He had been witness to their fate and was present when the commandment was given that none of the heavenly host was permitted to take a human husband or wife nor have s****l relations with mortals.”

“Dveorger was firstborn, and so his mother promised the great gem to him when he came of age, thinking that it is what their father would have wanted. However, Nancy died before her boys reached adulthood. Then, the half-angel lads came into the care of their uncle, John.”

“Dveorger and Zwerg each had children born by mortal women in Britain, and their descendants all inherited the stunted trait of their fathers. The brothers and their descendants were outcasts, and feared by locals for their great strength and what seemed to be magical abilities. They did not seem to age, or the passage of time moved more slowly for them. After the deaths of their wives, they sought a new life away from the sad memories of their loved ones lost. They left their sons, daughters, and grandchildren in Britain and went by ship to seek adventure. Over many years they sailed around the new world and stayed for a time in Hawaii, where they fathered sons and daughters who became the Menehune.”

“Menehune? I have heard of those legendary little people from the Hawaiian isles. It is said that they can turn invisible and can build great structures in but a night,” Jonah commented.

“Yes, there are some kin of Atungitok and Festok that yet dwell there, though they are but a myth amongst the humans, other than with children whom they sometimes befriend,” Raphael said.

Gabriel continued, “Eventually, they left paradise after the deaths of their second wives, and they sailed off again heading north taking the gem with them. Their ship was caught in a storm that was crafted by Satan and it was wrecked near what became known as Nome. As fate had it, they had each been holding the Heart when they prayed for deliverance. The stone came to light and shot a beam down into the depths of the sea where it awoke our brother, Poseidon. That is what you would call him, but in heaven he is known as Jophiel. The Lord of the Seas saved them from the Devil. After he drove off Lucifer and Leviathan, the dragon of the oceans, he gifted both Dveorger and Zwerg an enchanted weapon. Aternerk Sangliak’s sword, and the Dwarf King’s mace. This experience is why your peoples turned to the worship of the Poseidon in the time when they yet dwelt upon the surface world. I am sure that our brother never would have encouraged the worship of your peoples. Although Satan desires dimension over all. I believe Poseidon has remained true to his covenants and loyal to our Father.

“So we shouldn’t worship him?” Hammerhand asked.

“There is but one God whom you should worship, our Father which dwells in heaven. Now the sons of Safriel had been blown far off course, and even had they the tools to build another ship, would not likely to have found there way back to their children in Hawaii or in the British Isles. In time they found love once more and they took wives among the Inupiaq. These peoples had some among them who also shared angelic blood, but not that of Safriel. Nanuk and Lorne are two of those, and their shape-shifting abilities derive from a union of an angel and mortal, but who it was who disobeyed our Father’s command we do not yet know.

“Wow! Then that is why you called me a Nephilim upon the bridge,” Lorne said with a bewildered look upon her angular face.

Gabriel continued, “As Dveorger and Zwerg grew old debate arose at the fate of the great ruby of their angelic father. The oldest male child of the brothers was Dveorger’s, but he was still back in Britain, while in Alaska, it was Zwerg who had the eldest son. Before the debate could be settled, Dveorger died at five hundred years of age. After a time of mourning, Zwerg continued his argument that since his eldest nephew, Severus could not be present that it was his first born son, Sangliak, who was born in Alaska that should inherit the gem. His brother’s eldest child in Nome was a daughter named Lusa.”

“Lusa means midnight. It is a revered name amongst my people, but the reason for this was lost to us,” Lorne interjected.

“That is correct Lorne. But in those times it was the eldest male child who would inherit land or wealth or a chiefdom. The second born child of Dveorger in Nome was Miki, which means small. He refused to take part in the strife with his uncle and wishing to have peace in lands of his own he took some of his people and they departed northwards until they reached the Wrangle Mountains where they yet reside,” Gabriel said.

“The Wrangle Mountain dwarves. Miki took a daughter of Zwerg to wife it is said and though they be of near kin, there are some who still look down upon the Miki dwarves. Long it has been since we have spoken with them after the entrance to Midgard was blocked by the treacherous gnomes,” Festok said with irritation in his voice. “Once we would send a child from the royal house to marry with our kin to the north, and so in time most of the rotten gnome blood was bread out, yet on occasion it is said that invisibility may still manifest itself amongst some of the shorter of their people,” Hammerhand said.

“Watch it dwarf,” Atungitok pursed his lips as he scowled at the red-headed prince.

Gabriel pushed on before the debate could grow heated, “Yes, well that leaves the third child of Dveorger in Alaska who was named Tikasuk. He it was that was in a heated disagreement with Zwerg the night of Dveorger’s death and thereafter their peoples were estranged.

“The debate was unsettled until Zwerg died, two years later. That night, Sangliak, fearing what actions his cousin might take, secretly took the gem, using his gift of invisibility. Stealthily they traveled north of town with his children and grandchildren into the mountains where he had previously found the caverns beneath Gnome Mountain. He was pursued by Dveorger’s children.

“In time, Dveorger’s descendants, being larger of body, were called dwarves, while Zwerg’s children and grandchildren being smaller, and inheriting an ability to become invisible, became known as gnomes. Ever after the two peoples were divided and at war with one another over the King’s Heart as it might be more appropriately named.”

Hammerhand and Atungitok, stared for a while at Gabriel and then at one another.

The redness faded from Atungitok’s chubby cheeks. “And to think I had such a prize in my possession and passed it on to the Dwarf King,” he said, almost to himself.

“You gave it freely, and for good cause, Atungitok. Many lives may have been lost having to force our way past the dwarven defenses and you may have died had you given in to greed. I fear that King Grumblemace will not have the chance to use the gem, however,” Gabriel said, solemnly.

“What mean you by this?” Hammerhand asked with a look of concern on his face.

“It is a premonition only, a prick of the Spirit I felt when Atungitok handed the gem to your uncle. I saw the crazed lust in the eyes of Aternerk Sangliak, and I knew that he would not stop his assault, to recover the stone for any price. I also noted in your uncle’s eyes, that although he is a good King, that once he took possession of the Heart, that his kingdom would fall before he would relinquish it back to the gnomes. The future is uncertain, Hammerhand. That which is to come is fluid, and is based on the choices made by mortals and angels. Our Free Agency is the greatest gift bestowed by our Father since before the creation of this world. Only he knows the future for certain,” Gabriel answered.

The party led by the archangels, journeyed through the cold dark uneventfully for the next week, stopping only to eat and rest. Gabriel and Raphael would stand guard while the others slept as they showed neither signs of weariness nor fatigue.