Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods Read Free Page A

kahm.”
                  “Did I?” 
                  Daniel turned to drop his broken gun in his bag.  Otherwise, he would have seen the kahm land hard on Zeke’s head. 
                  Turning back to the swordsman, the boy decided to get to his point.  “Anyway, I’ve come to . . .”
                  “How many were there?”
                  “Excuse me?”
                  “The gunshots.  You were fighting draugr, weren’t you?”
                  Daniel was caught off guard by this sudden interest.  His nervousness about meeting the legendary ex-soldier faded.  “Uh, yes.  I was.”
                  “Well?   How many were there?”
                  “I don’t know.  I guess about six or seven.”
                  “Fast or slow?”
                  “I don’t know.  About normal, I’d say.  Why are you asking about this?”
                  “Just worried, that’s all.”  He seemed to relax, but Daniel couldn’t tell why.  Maybe he was convinced the boy wasn’t an assassin.  Or maybe he just wasn’t afraid.  “Some say the draugr are increasing in number.”
                  “Probably just rumors.”  The young fighter was eager to sound wiser than he looked.  “Few people want to get near draugr, much less study them.” 
                  Draugr had appeared on earth several years ago.  With the strength of monsters and near-human intelligence, they had proven a match for human civilization.  Only the best of fighters had ever returned from a one-on-one match with a draugr. 
                  “Nevertheless,” Zeke said, “I’m not taking any chances.  I still have to make my way back to the city.  I imagine you do, too.  Unless, of course, you’ve come to kill me.”  He raised his blade slightly. 
                  “No.”  Daniel instinctively took a step back.  “I haven’t come to kill you.  Why do you say that?”
                  “Agents of the Karellan are everywhere.”
                  Zeke had caught several government agents patrolling his neighborhood in the past month.  Such things were not uncommon under the Karellan’s leadership.  No one was protected unless the overlord declared it.  Spies were occasionally sighted throughout the cities, but lately he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. 
                  Of being stalked. 
                  Three days ago, he caught one of the Karellan’s spies watching him train.  Since then he decided to take his chances training outside the city. 
                  Draugr, he felt, were less dangerous than humans.
                  “Well, no.  I’m just a messenger.  Not an assassin,” Daniel explained.
                  “A message?   For me?”
                  “From the Supervisor.” 
                  He wasn’t interested.  The Supervisor was the Karellan’s sycophantic governor in charge of the slums of Nifelheim.  In Zeke’s eyes, he was no better than the overlord himself.  “Forget it,” he said.
                  “I’m afraid I have to tell you anyway.  He wants to see you immediately.” 
                  “Look.  I’m no fan of the Karellan, but if it’s possible I like his lackeys even less.  So you can climb down this mountain and tell that pompous leech to go . . .”
                  “Ariel,” he interjected calmly. 
                  Zeke stopped.  “What?” 
                  “The supervisor thought you might not want to come, so he told me to mention the name ‘Ariel. ’  Is she a girlfriend or something?”
                  “He wouldn’t.”  He unknowingly tightened his grip on his