Olympnomachi Book 11: The Alliances forged by Meili & Zisa

Victorious, and with the great western Pantheon destroyed, with but three survivors to its name, the warriors of Olympos returned east, to the great Mount whence they had cometh. Great was the Triumph they held, still greater was the mighty feast that they had, to their own glory. Ambrosia flowed, whilst the gods feasted with such vigour that, the entire mountain shook and all knew the might and majesty of Olympos.

This state of affairs could not go on forever, with Dionysus leading the revelry, followed by his great-father, half-brothers and many of his half-sisters.

While the gods atop the great Mount revelled, those who rebelled against their authority, consulted with one another. Ve continued to be missing, as was Orcus, and their numbers remained few. It was in this spirit that, Meili departed south, to speak to Amun-Re, of their plight and of the cruelty of the Olympians. While he departed per Zisa’s counsel, the daughter of Tyr returned north, to recruit gods from the Æsir.

Left alone, with but some of her father’s old supporters to maintain an eye upon her, those who had welcomed her friends into their midst, the goddess rapidly grew bored. Whereas she preoccupied herself, with little more than judging the souls, of the deceased her sworn-sister Zisa, entered Asgarð.

It was she who found herself, a place in the vast fields outside of her grandfather’s grand hall, to speak to all assembled. Her intentions, were not unknown to old One-Eye, who chose to depart thence, for Jötunheimr saying all was settled and at peace for him to do so. Having no wish, to be left behind, Freyja had swiftly joined him, leaving the Æsir under the command of Tyr, who was wracked with indecision at the sight of his daughter, speaking out against Olympos.

At first, the war-goddess spake of the great violence, inflicted upon the mortals of Miðgarðr, of those who were guilty of little more than boastfulness. She reminded them, of the great beauty of the Stjárgamen, stolen at Loki’s encouragement and of the trickster’s involvement in Balðr’s death. Of how, it was he who had betrayed them time and again, and of how he had been welcomed into the halls of Zeus. By then, she had the attention of the majority of the young Æsir, who brayed and complained noisily about the upstart Olympians.

Pleased, Zisa proceeded with even more fury. “Was it also not, we and our forefathers, who fought hardest, in the battles of the Titannomachy? Wherefore the Olympians hath since behaved themselves with all the fidelity of Giants rather than, that befitting friends and allies of Asgarð. To which, we must henceforth ask; are we their vassals? I say nay, therefore if we be not friends, nor vassals we must thus be enemies. Only, they know this, and now so too do we, the heirs of Oðin, and his noble brothers. Brothers who hath sought out the Olympians, one to be their King the other to avenge the former, with both chased out as though prey, by them. What is worst, is the cruel and most unjust murder, of our dear friend Prometheus, who gave us the great gift of our greatly favoured followers; men. Who hath cried out, against time and again, for liberation yet we hath ignored them. Why is this, my brothers? Are we afraid? Are we cowards, and thus unworthy of the great legacy bequeathed to us, the youngest of the Æsir and Ásynjor? I say not, what do thou sayst o mighty sons of the highest, mightiest of all the gods?!”

The great bellow that echoed, across the heavens made all the godly realms tremble and shake, as with thunder, as a great many warriors went home at once. Each of them, keen to sharpen, to polish and to prepare their arms and shields, such was the keenness of the war-gods of the north. None more excited than, battle-hardy Baduhenna the Spear-Thrower, or the sisters Vár and her twin-sister Vör, Tamfana the Brave, Snotra and Saga the wise-sisters. Hermóðr also joined, it was his desire and that of Baduhenna that, inspired many of those ladies to join, though many joined to impress him also. Since the deaths, of his brothers Balðr and Hoðr, his had been an angry soul, one who hungered for the blood of Loki and who now found, repose only in battle.

They joined, in spite of Lofn’s warnings, a gentle goddess she worried about so many of her Ásynjor sisters joining in the war, and of course, noble Hermóðr with most laughing off her warnings. Baduhenna most of all, for she was always wont to laugh, be merry and mock the lack, of courage of others, most especially her cousin Tamfana, who hesitated then if briefly.

“Now let us vow, to not let any halt us in our goal; not gods, not men and certainly not demons or Kings of gods. We must swear this, upon the Styx and Gungnir, to tear down from his throne, the King Zeus and throw him down, as we did in the days of yore, when Hel and Loki sought that of our good King!” Zisa thundered to all, swept away by the fervour of her own words, as was her way, with this last part worrying Lofn and Hulda, Zisa’s mother most of all. Both ladies warned that, such oaths ought not to be taken lightly, with Tyr also warning against it.

Still, the war-god’s daughter listened not to their wise counsel, and neither did any of her recruits, with Hermóðr forbidden from joining, by his war-wise adoptive brother. Yet he was ever swift on horse-back, and far more intrepid than all the other Æsir, even fearless Thor.

As to that noble if sly speaker Meili, he arrived in the realm of the Netjer gods, where he was coldly welcomed, not that he paid any mind to this. He pretended cleverly to be his father’s representative, to which he was nervously received by Osiris. King in Amun-Re’s absence, as that King had already fallen, to the trap laid by treacherous Isis.

Meili did not attempt to openly recruit, but rather once he had found the truth of this, he entered every house with the knowledge, with the awareness of it. He it was that, spake to the thrice-reviled cowardly Anhur, the war-god scorned by all the Netjer. He it was that, spake to others, but most of all, Horus the Eldest of the sons of Re.

Where Zisa had bent her silken words, to the mass of gods of the north, Meili plied all his luck and cunning towards that great falcon-god. Aware of the truth of all that had transpired, the travel-god hid what he knew, regarding Isis, Osiris and Amun-Re, from his host. This he did, so as to convince the greatest of the Netjer’s warriors to join him, thinking as he did so that, with him as their war-chief, not even Zeus could stop them.

Horus was the mightiest in arms (alongside his younger brother Set), the bravest and most noble of the southern gods. He it was, who took his obligations the most seriously, and he it was who had passed over the Kingship when Amun-Re had disappeared due to Apophis.

Ever suspicious of Zeus, for he knew better than any other god of the old King’s strange obsession with the goddess Macaria, and of the great disaster that had visited itself upon those he had previously meddled with. He began his investigation into what had happened to the old King, which soon attracted the ire of the goddess Isis.

It was she who had stolen him away, creating the old serpent Apophis with which she might learn the Pharaoh of Pharaohs’ secret name which would in turn grant her supreme power over him. Aware that she knew more than she let on, and that she had hidden away Amun-Re, along with the old god’s Queen Hathor, he sought in his desert vastness Set. It was there that he discovered not only Set but Horus the Elder, both of whom were greatly consternated at the disappearance of their King.

The three concocted together a trick that they hoped might yield from Isis the whereabouts of the old Pharaoh. This they accomplished by inviting her to a great feast, her and her husband, Osiris. This feast was one in which the couple were encouraged to drink ever more, with Meili swift on his feet and eager to distract them, feigned a great desire for the attention of Isis who always easy to flatter was keen for his attention. All the while, Horus refilled their goblets whenever they were distracted.

Because of this, the soon drunk Osiris drew offense at the company of Meili and sought to draw his sword against him. Isis quite embarrassed could no more reprimand her husband, than she could carry on with her previous drunken actions.

It fell upon Horus to draw his brother out from the chamber, for he was always the better tempered one of the three siblings. It was as she watched the seemingly equally drunk Set who snored thereupon his high-chair in the place of lesser honour to her own, that Meili set to work plying her once more.

Though he did not fray from his union with Astrild, the son of the Allfather trod very near to doing so, as he spoke to the goddess in beguiling terms. Such that neither his wife, nor even his beauteous mother Freyja of unrivalled renown had ever heard any man speak to them so. Isis soon fell once more into his trap, and could no more resist him than Astrild herself might well have.

“Tell me O Queen of Queens, how is it that you who are endowed with beauty as well as wits, have not yet been properly crowned Queen?” He asked of her in his honeyed voice.

The goddess, swept up by his silky words, along with the heady drinks that had been continuously refilled, soon replied. “O but I hath been, Meili the Far-Traveller!”

“Truly now?” Meili asked doubtfully.

His doubt angered her, for it seemed there that there was some sort of challenge there. Never one to turn away from any challenge, if she could help it Isis began to boast. “It happens Meili Road-Wise that though uncrowned at present, I hath however dethroned one nearly as ancient as thy own celestial father! I hath hidden him away of course, in the deepest of valleys where none may find him! Why hast he not escaped as of yet? Why it is because he hast been entrapped in the body of an old man whilst Apophis drips poison down upon him!”

It was the sort of boast that one might have expected from the likes of Loki that most malignant of demons. Such was the wickedness of this boast, the evil that was to be seen in her personage then, and in her voice that Meili could not speak.

It so happened that Set, never the best tempered of fellows, no less a warrior than Tyr, the adoptive-brother of Meili leapt thence to his feet. He might well have hewn her down then and there were it not for the better sense of the clever son of Oðin, who proposed that she tell them the location of where she had hidden away the Pharaoh.

This she did though not without some curses, that they silenced with the threat that they would tell her husband Osiris of her foul misdeeds. This quieted her for a time, until they had liberated from his torment Amun-Re, wherefore she took flight, turning herself into a great eagle and flying fast from that place.

Amun-Re though could not be freed quite so easily, and necessitated the creation of a new name if he was truly to reclaim his freedom. Taking pity upon him, Meili was to give unto him a new name. One that harkened back to the dawn of time, to the first days of Amun-Re’s birth, doing so with the aid of Thoth the wise-man of the Netjer gods.

This accomplished, he took his leave, secure in the knowledge that he had weakened the hand of Zeus’ ally in the south and secured for the burgeoning rebellion an alliance with the likes of Horus, Set and their mother Hathor. This last one was discovered imprisoned behind bars, in a cage near where Amun-Re lay prostrate before the wicked serpent, and for this reason she never did forgive Isis.