Act XXII
#23 of The Chess Master
This is the Chess Master novel, a work in progress. I've been working on this since March 16th, 2003. Unlike all of my other stories, I only added my name on the prologue. I even worked up a cover for the novel back then.
Warning: The Jansen Tanner parts of the novel are written in "first-person."
Act XXII: We Three Kings of Glory and Fire
It took me a few days to write up all of the reports. These were the longest few days I'd ever spent to fill out a report, let alone, two reports. But I wanted to get the information right, plus, Luke had to verify everything I wrote this time. Collaberated report writing was one of the main reasons I sort of disliked working with a partner. Fortunately, it was Luke, and he was pretty agreeable with me. I was glad we were best friends.
Another thing that bothered me this time was that the headquarters was about as quiet as a tomb. That really put me on edge. An empty headquarters was a bad sign. But Danath was still here, and he was scary enough.
Little did I know what kind of day this was to become.
Luke and I had just barely handed in our dual report, and Danath had turned to file it away, when suddenly... There was an explosion so powerful in Danath's office that it threw Luke and I out into the hallway. We both used our training to roll and turn toward the office.
Standing in the center of where Danath's desk used to sit, was a mighty giant-like Viking warrior with short golden hair and a beard. At least, he stood for all of a few seconds... then he buckled over and fell forward.
Luke and I rushed back into the office to locate Danath.
Danath Gaul has to be one of the luckiest men ever. He was unharmed behind the filing cabinets, just restanding when Luke and I re-entered Danath's office. Luke and I examined the Viking warrior. Then, I rolled the Viking over.
Danath nodded his head when he saw the face.
"Lord Frey. Jansen, Luke... help me get him down to sick bay."
It must have been god day. We had barely gotten Lord Frey into a bed, when there came another sudden bolt of lightning, as one of Odin's valkyrie maidens, as well as her winged stallion, appeared in the sick bay.
"Hand him over, Danath Gaul."
Danath just folded his arms and stood in front of Lord Frey.
"I think not."
The valkyrie stepped forward, and Luke had his gun pulled and leveled at the valkyrie's chest. Danath also had his gun out and aimed. The valkyrie eyed me curiously. I was the only one who hadn't pulled a weapon.
But I was still there.
The valkyrie looked me over, then asked,
"Why are you not armed like the others?"
The definitive answer. Danath and Luke knew what I was about to say. They both grinned as I replied.
"I am a Tanner."
The valkyrie seemed taken aback by that reply.
"Should I have reason to fear you?"
I unfolded my arms.
"Unlike my allies, it is in my opinion that people who have to hide behind a weapon are cowards... Unless your name happens to be Jocelyn Tanner or Sheridan Wayne."
The valkyrie's expression seemed to change. She put her battle spear away.
"How about now?"
I grinned.
"Are you challenging me?"
The valkyrie stepped back to her winged stallion.
"Come with me to Gladsheim. We will compete there. If you best me, I will become your own personal valkyrie. If I best you, you will serve me for the rest of eternity."
I grinned and spoke up.
"...And no cheating."
The valkyrie was about to mount back up into her winged stallion's saddle. My statement stopped her cold.
"What do you mean by that?"
I walked up to the valkyrie.
"What is to prevent you from cheating by using your, what your people might call, natural abilities, that I, as a human, will not have access to? The challenges would not be fair unless I faced an opponent of equal power and status. Otherwise, it will simply be the power of the gods versus the power and cunning of a mortal."
Danath smiled when I said that.
"Jansen Tanner is correct, valkyrie. In Gladsheim, you would be a hundred times more powerful than Jansen, and every challenge would be unfair."
The valkyrie hummed at this.
"I will remove my bracers, thus becoming a normal female Asgardian mortal for the challenges. If Jansen Tanner wishes, he may hang on to them to assure that I am not cheating."
Luke spoke up at this point.
"Oh sure... you'd hand your bracers to Jansen, and then, he'd be arrested for robbing you of your property, entrapping him in Gladsheim for all time."
Danath was grinning again.
"Luke Masaki also has a point, valkyrie. The laws in Gladsheim are very strict regarding theft."
I then spoke up.
"The Lady Frigga, Odin's wife, is a righteous and fair goddess, is she not? Have her preside over our challenges, as a non-involved observer. Frigga can hold on to your bracers until the challenges are completed."
The valkyrie smiled.
"That is a wise idea, Jansen Tanner. Come, we will both ask Frigga this second."
I turned to Danath, briefly.
"I will give you a full report on the event... even if I lose."
Danath didn't reply. The matter was evidently out of his hands. This was, as I would later learn, a type of mission that the Chess Elites were often assigned to. The only difference now was that I was assigned to this one, with no back up at all. I was on my own.
The ride to Gladsheim was different, to say the least. It might've been my imagination, but the winged stallion seemed to like me more than his mistress. It must've been another Tanner thing.
When we arrived, the valkyrie guided us to Frigga's summer estate where we both dismounted. Sitting on her summer throne, Frigga examined a golden thread. On either side of her throne, sat the two largest wolves, to date, that I had ever seen. I knew immediately that they had to be Freke and Gere, Odin's faithful companions. Yet they sat here with Frigga.
After the valkyrie introduced me to Frigga, the two females departed to talk. This gave me an opportunity to convey some diplomatic protocol. I bowed to the two wolves.
"I am Jansen Tanner of Chess. I present greetings to you both on behalf of his lordship, the Baron Gott'schlecht, of whom, I am sure you both can detect, has en gifted me, and so light a gift would not have been given to an unworthy human."
Freke and Gere both got up, and encirlced me, sniffing me entirely. Then, Freke whispered to me.
"It is true that you seem to hold friendships with wolves. Does the valkyrie know about this?"
I shook my head.
"She never asked. As a Tanner, it is not for me to volunteer information to those who may not have earned it. Would you want me to share such wolven knowledge with an unworthy person, be it divine or mortal?"
Gere grinned, giving a soft wolven laugh.
"Aye, my brother in fur. This human has a point. But tell us, Jansen Tanner... what brings you to Gladsheim? Your version; not the honeyed words that the valkyrie is using with Frigga."
I had nothing to hide, so I told them both about Lord Frey's condition on Earth, and how this valkyrie came to take Lord Frey away, which would normally had been okay, but she had her weapon at the ready, and that set off the good old Tanner inner alarm.
Freke and Gere both looked amused. Freke hummed, then exclaimed.
"We will stand with you, brother Jansen. We will be as three kings of glory when we help you confront Frigga with your version of the events."
That surprised me. Freke was calling me his brother. But... never look a god wolf in the mouth. Just accept what they offer. Speaking of god wolves, how is Ding-dong doing? He has a name, you know. Joe ShadowWing? Owner of the Come As You Are Bar?
She sat back in her chair and made a face.
"Hush, you! Just please get along with the history!"
When Frigga returned with the valkyrie, the expressions from Freke and Gere were pretty frightening. Freke spoke up first.
"Lady Frigga. The noble Jansen Tanner has something he needs to tell you. And you will listen or we'll summon Odin back from the battlefields to take precedence."
Frigga nodded her head and turned to me, motioning for me to speak.
I then repeated my version of the events. The valkyrie seemed quite visibly shaken. She was even more shaken when I revealed my relationship with Baron Gott'schlecht. I never saw Frigga actually move her hands, but the valkyrie suddenly blinked out of existance, her clothing, armor and weapons clattering to the ground.
That put quite a surprising shock in me, as well. Frigga was indeed a goddess, after all.
Frigga then looked at me.
"Lord Frey is recovering on Midgard?"
I nodded my head.
"Danath Gaul, my employer in the Chess organization, is personally seeing to Lord Frey's needs."
Frigga hummed, then glanced to Freke and Gere.
"Escort Jansen Tanner to the borderlands of King Surtur's realm. If Jansen wants to prove himself worthy, he must steal the helmet off of a fire giant's head and return that helmet to me. You both may help him carry it, but it must be his hands that acquires the helmet."
Freke and Gere grinned at me, then led me back to the winged stallion. Gere then said.
"You ride this stallion. We will run along beside you."
I mounted up into the saddle. The winged stallion seemed even more taken to me than before.
We were then underway. While we were traveling, I voiced a question aloud.
"What is Danath Gaul to Gladsheim?"
I heard Freke's voice reply first.
"He is one of Odin's sons. He chooses to live in Midgard, though only he and Odin know why."
That didn't really surprise me, but it shut me up for the rest of the trip.
We arrived in the borderlands just after sunset. I suppose it could have been easier to just grab a helmet lying on the ground, but Frigga specified one from a fire giant's head. I then scouted around for a good helmet to snatch. It took me several hours, but I finally found one that looked, to me, to be more than suitable. I plotted with the winged stallion to fly an unusual maneuver over the fire giant's head. We were going to attempt to fly upside down, over the fire giant's head and I would grab the helmet as we passed over.
It was a pretty good plan. And most plans work pretty well... this time... a last minute unpreventable event occurred. Just as the winged stallion and I were making the maneuver, King Surtur, himself, pushed the other fire giant over on his buttocks and accidentally placed himself right in our flight path.
As we passed over King Surtur, my hands grabbed his crown!
He noticed immediately, as the winged stallion and I rolled over in midair and proceeded to fly off with the crown with all due haste. It had been an accident and Surtur was MAD. He was definitely coming after us. I noticed Freke and Gere running along below me, seeming to guide our flight escape route. That's when I saw why...
Our flight path took us directly over Odin's battle encampment. And the Asgardian Army were not slackers, either. The moment they saw me and the winged stallion carrying a fire giant's crown, followed by Freke and Gere racing through camp, their defenses raised immediately. Surtur barely stopped himself in time. Fighting the Asgardian Army was not on his agenda. Surtur shouted something vulgar at me, then turned and fled back across the border.
The winged stallion and I landed in front of Odin's tent, right as Freke and Gere arrived to stand beside me. I sighed and said to the two wolves...
"That was NOT planned."
Then, I noticed that the wolves and the stallion were bowing. I gulped and turned that direction.
It was Odin.
Never let it be said that a Tanner cannot bow and scrape among the best of them. I showed my respect, as well.
Odin smiled when he saw the crown in my hands.
"Frigga has you playing a game, does she?"
I nodded my head, then performed Chess protocol, by showing him my badge.
"Jansen Tanner, White Bishop of Chess. Under the command of Danath Gaul in Athens, Greece."
Odin nodded his head, taking the crown from my hands.
"This will be returned to Surtur. Even an evil king should not be without his crown. So, you're Danath's best agent... You're not even carrying a weapon..."
I grinned.
"I am a Tanner."
Freke and Gere both chuckled in wolf fashion.
I then relayed Lord Frey's condition to Odin. Odin nodded his head as he listened to my tale. Then, Odin spoke with Freke and Gere in private, as well as saying a few words to the winged stallion. Finally, Odin turned to me once again.
"You seem to be a hero, but unlike any other hero who has ever walked before you. Danath must've pulled his hair out over your earlier stunts, in the beginning."
I grinned.
"It was close. But I always managed to succeed."
Odin laughed.
"Freke and Gere want to give you some special gifts, Jansen Tanner. As for me, no greater proof hath I seen that for when you and your winged companion brought Surtur's crown to me. You may keep the winged stallion. Besides, he seems taken to you now and deprogramming that trust would be very difficult. So, you may keep him as your companion."
I thanked Odin before he departed to parley with Surtur.
Freke and Gere escorted me and the winged stallion back to Frigga's summer estate, where they explained in detail what had happened. I blushed, of course. Snagging the crown had been a total accident; it wasn't planned.
Frigga was very pleased and praised me as well. The meal she served me was certainly unexpected. I couldn't turn it down for two reasons. One, she insisted. And two, I was hungry.
I was also expected to spend a night, as an honored guest. Again, I could not refuse. During the night, Freke and Gere granted me an extension to my wolf trick. They explained that I could now teleport to any wolf, kangaroo, rabbit, or unicorn on Midgard, but with limited planar teleportation only once per day to prevent the abuse of the gift. Then, the two wolves engifted me to be able to speak fluently with any animal I could teleport to. After the engiftments, we all slept on the bed, together.
The next morning, I bathed in a very ornate tub, then dried myself, redressed, and had breakfast with Frigga. Frigga slid a scroll across the table to me.
"That is for Danath Gaul's eyes only. And... this jar of healing ointment is for Lord Frey."
Frigga gave me the jar. I thanked Frigga for her hospitality, then saddled up on the winged stallion and took flight once again. As we made the crossing from Gladsheim to Midgard, I spoke to the winged stallion.
"I can't keep calling you winged stallion. Therefore, from now on, your name is Harvester."
Harvester smiled and whickered proudly. Evidently, when an Asgardian winged stallion gained a name, he became very important. And I had just named him.
Our reappearance in Chess headquarters caused quiet a stir. Danath pulled his gun on me. I gave him a hard glare.
"You better put that away before I call your daddy on you!"
I winked. Danath growled something pretty vulgar.
"Keep that to yourself, Jansen Tanner!"
I then got serious.
"This jar of healing ointment is for Lord Frey. This scroll is for you, from Lady Frigga. She said it was for your eyes only. I like living, so I didn't look at it."
Danath opened the scroll and laughed at the contents. Then, he hummed at something written at the bottom. Danath turned to me, once again.
"Luke will be kind of upset when he learns of this weird request from Frigga. She wants me to promote you to... *snickers* Wolf King... I also see that you befriended Freke and Gere, and they call you their brother. You're a lucky man, Jansen. They don't bond with just anyone. Therefore, because I have been out voted... and because you did so well with Merlin and Rosa Saturnyne... I am going to promote you to Black King. But don't let this go to your head! I will not so easily give you another rank the next time. Am I understood?"
I nodded my head, trying hard not to smirk. I exited Danath's new office, and proceeded to the storage and rank processing center. I noted that the Black King rank wasn't just a new jacket; it was a whole new uniform. I knew that now things were getting serious.
She hummed.
"So, you've actually been to Asgard! And you have a winged stallion? Jo will be sooooo jealous! And you are now also a Black King. Danath Gaul must be hating your guts."
She took another long drink of her soda.
"Speaking of black clad people, Gotaki Riverclaw certainly seems to do her job around the estate. I just hope that Ares doesn't show up and screw things up. It'd be kind of gross to see someone get castrated at a wedding."
She got up, making sure that the front porch light was on, then she once again sat down at her computer. She began to read some more of Jansen's agent history.