Just as Fenrir had stated, as soon as Twilight left the island of Lyngvi, the powers of the Æsir left her. For that at least, she was grateful. Having the flames of Sól burning within her, it felt like a high, and she knew that if she kept them for far too long, she would go mad from the power, and not want to give up the celestial created flames.

As she flew on back into the torrent, she set about on thinking how to kill Sköll, or at least recapture him. Without the flames of the goddess which he so chased fervently by her side, it would be an arduous task indeed for Twilight.

For that matter, she wondered if Fenrir really was an evil being as all the myths said he was. Sure, he was frightening as all of the Nine Circles of Tartarus, but Twilight knew very well the legend. Loki and Angrboða, they bore three children. One, Hela who would later be cast into Niflheim and given all the powers needed to be able to rule over her domain. The second, the World Serpent, Jörmungandr. And finally, there was Fenrir or Fenris depending on your preference. To be fair, a fair few of the Norse myth characters had multiple spellings.

And what did all of these siblings get upon the Gods learning that Loki’s children may possibly -emphasis on possibly- bring on Ragnarök? Well, Hela as aforementioned was tossed into the land of mists, and Jörmungandr got tossed into a great sea, impossible to comprehend in size in hopes of drowning him and Fenrir was chained away on the island of Lyngvi.

So, it seemed the Gods were acting on fears of what-ifs and possibilities that may have never come to pass if they didn’t pull this. To be somewhat honest with herself, and maybe Fenrir’s silver tongue had gotten through to her more than she’d have cared to admit, but perhaps the Æsir brought Ragnarök on themselves. If Twilight’s father had been an abusive bastard like Odin was -And abusive was only the start of it really, given he was known to rape at least one Goddess at one point, a woman named Rindr- she might have wanted to eat him as well.

Storm clouds crackled with lightning high above her, and a bolt just nearly cinged one of her wings as if Thor himself was displeased upon Twilight’s thoughts of heresy against his dear old daddy. But what of Fenrir’s children, his son Sköll and his daughter Hati Hróðvitnisson? Yes, they chased the sun and the moon and were destined to catch up to them, swallowing them whole and that would somehow free their father, but what if they were just playing old predetermined roles given to them? Of course, it was also entirely possible they were getting vengeance for the misdeeds done to their parent by Odin by paying evil unto evil. Swallow some of Odin’s relatives, see how he liked that when he lost a relation or two.

It was impossible to tell really, Twilight mused, as more thunder rolled in the sky above. The rains had finally stopped falling, and Twilight was dodging and weaving about some tall rocky crags jutting up from the sea. As she continued to fly, her thoughts ran wild. On clear nights, she mused, she vaguely remembered seeing how certain galaxies and collections of stars looked like branches. Perhaps these were the branches of the ‘world tree’ Yggdrasil as it was so named. But what did that make Níðhöggr? He was supposedly this great dragon who sat at the base of the world tree gnawing at its roots, but if the world tree was in fact branches of stars and galaxies where were it’s roots and what exactly was Níðhöggr? Was he a dragon, or was he something more? And was he a necessary evil, just gnawing away at the roots to make sure they didn’t overgrow? It was an interesting set of questions, and ones Twilight didn’t want to think too much on unless she actually wanted more of a headache than she had already.

Folding up her wings for a brief rest, she landed on a small isle and used her rib bone turned knife to slice away at a yak. With a groan and a loud thud it fell to the island’s grass beneath it impaling itself on a rock. Twilight with a little bit of effort removed the yak from the rock before she began to feast on it’s remains tearing away at flesh and using the knife to skin away the thick heavy fur coat.

Ripping and tearing away at the massive felled beast, soon she had a full stomach and her pride as a dragon had been restored. Eating away at fruits was not how she should have lived to be honest. It was unsightly for her.

“Thinkin’ on Götterdämmerung huh?” a scratchy voice commented as Twilight heard the flapping of feathered wings from somewhere above her, and looked upwards to see this mostly brown furred and feathered griffon, with a white head like that of a bald eagle’s. “And doing it while snackin’ on yak chow eh?”

“How did you know I was…?” Twilight trailed off, her head looking directly at the unknown griffon with her blood-caked maw making it a rather eerie sight to say the least of it.

“Yeah, might have been yammering on about figures like Níðhöggr and Fenris. Aloud to yourself at that, hard not to want to pay attention when you hear someone commenting on how much of a bastard the Allfather might have been. Gotta say, you’re up for some pretty wild -And in this part of the world, downright blasphemous even!- thinkin’!” the griffon remarked.

“Well, call me naturally questioning,” Twilight remarked continuing to tear away at the yak’s flesh and eating what she could. She coiled around her prey protectively, letting out a small snort of orange flame to tell this griffon to back off. Taking the hint, the griffon did so.

“Relax, Purplesnort,” she said with a dismissive wave of her claw. Twilight tried not to look indignant at the little nickname given to her. “Wasn’t even thinking of trying to go after your kill. One, not foolish or suicidal enough to do that, and two already had lunch earlier. Name’s Gilda.”

Twilight noted this griffon had one gold eye, the other silver. It was a curious aspect really. But upon another look, both of these eyes were just a normal yellow shade.

“You’re a bit far from home aren’t you Gilda?” Twilight commented. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t griffons Greek creatures?”

“Well, someone’s been studying their books! Hoo-ray for you, I oughta give you a gold medal!” Gilda stated in a sarcastic tone. “Newsflash, been spreading out as of late. Greece got rather boring really after some certain Gods up and left for Rome when times got tough several thousand years back. The fire of western civilization is moving, and so we move where the Gods do. Well, most of us. Me, I’m more of a free spirit, I just go where I want. So, here I am, out in the middle of bloody nowhere. Good enough of an answer for ya Purplesnort?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “...I suppose.” she conceded.

“So, you gotta find Sköll huh? By and by, protip, don’t think aloud especially in these parts unless you want to get struck down by lightning. Hammer of the Gods and all that.” Gilda advised.

“Noted…” Twilight trailed off in a worried tone, casting another glance to the broiling skies above her.

“Anyways, finding Sköll. Well, suppose you probably should first start -No, we should first start- by finding Sól I should think,” Gilda suggested. “Must be awfully confused that Sköll’s gone on a dereliction of his duties. Or relieved really, considering he wanted to eat her.”

“How do you find the goddess of the sun?” Twilight asked. “Or catch up to her, depending on if you find her?”

“Well… That’s sorta the thing,” Gilda commented. “You sorta don’t. You have to make Sól come to you really…”

“Okay, but-” Twilight started before realizing something. “Hey, wait a moment. Wait just a moment. Who said anything about ‘we’? Who said you get to tag along on this little quest?”

“I said, so I go. Plus, questing’s always better with someone in tow to help you out. Dragoness or not, you’re hardly invincible. And Sköll? Son of Fenris remember? Hugely powerful. He’s practically a god himself!” Gilda explained.

“Point taken…” Twilight murmured, suddenly losing her appetite upon the thought of becoming chow for this massive wolf who was supposed to be able to swallow the sun like his sister was able to swallow the moon.

“Sorry,” Gilda apologized. “But I suppose I had to break the truth to ya somehow, knock some of that stubbornness out of your scaly head.”

“...Hey, how do you think whoever gets to be the Sun God or Sun Goddess is figured out? I mean, there’s tons of them in myth and legend, and only one sun! I mean, what’s going on here? Do they play soccer or something to determine who gets to be the Sun’s embodiment for the next millennia or so?" Twilight rambled, Gilda having tuned her out about halfway.

Gilda had used her claws to rip off some bark from a tree, and then grabbed some blood from the yak’s corpse to paint out the words: “Sól, please land here! We need to talk!”

Needless to say, after this display you’d probably take notice. Especially when you were being called out. And Sól, pulled on her chariot with her flaming horses cooled by bellows below their shoulders did, in fact, take notice of all this. Breaking through the cloud cover as her horses whinnied and snorted out flame, her figure became clear. A woman, bursting with solar flares all over and nearly blinding swooped around the island before touching down, intense waves of heat emanating from her form. Her steeds, Árvakr and Alsviðr just chewed on some nearby bushes which, of course, burst into flame upon the touch.

“Geez lady, can you turn it down, just a tad?” Gilda requested, showing no such respect that befitted a goddess at all. Twilight seemed understandably nervous at this and braced herself for a good old fashioned smiting. Angry goddesses, especially ones related to the sun you did not want to be around. Thankfully, it seemed Sól was in an even-tempered mood and did no such thing, and actually followed through on Gilda’s request, some of the blazing infernos that made up her celestial form subsiding.

“Apologies, it’s been so long since I’ve had the ability to land somewhere I’d almost forgotten I could do that,” Sól sighed before conjuring up this metal lawn chair and laying back on it as if trying for a tan. “Being chased by a wolf out to eat you whole will do that.”

“She’s… surprisingly cool about this whole thing, not even a small pint of annoyance at a wolf hunting her down,” Twilight thought to herself in surprise even as Sól drank a glass of lemonade. “Then again, suppose she got used to it over the millennia.”

“Anyways, you rang?” Sól asked.

“Yeah, suppose we sorta did…” Twilight muttered. “See, we’re trying to find Sköll,” she explained, quite content to leave out the fact that Sköll’s father had requested this figuring Sól didn’t want to know Fenrir himself was involved. “And going to either kill him, or return him to you to set the natural order back in balance. ...Well, the natural order of the gods anyways. Sorry if we have to return the guy who wants to eat you alive to you.”

“Oh, it’s fine! Totally cool!” Sól said with a dismissive wave of her hand. At this, both Gilda and Twilight stared at her.

“But I thought he wanted to… Y’know, devour you whole. And you actually want us to return him to you?”

“Oh, he wants to devour me, but not in the way you think,” Sól remarked with a knowing grin, and Gilda was rendered speechless for the next few moments. Twilight, on the other hand, muttered something to the effect of the philosophers sure as hell not knowing about that side of the story. “Basically, we had a little lover’s spat, and wolfy left in this huff.”

“Fenrir’s certainly out of the loop then. Then again, he probably doesn’t get many visitors…” Twilight thought to herself.

“Wait, so you’re saying you get hot inside, metaphorically anyways because you and Sköll have this whole thing going on,” Gilda sputtered out in disbelief. “This whole predator-prey fetish thing?”

“That’s about the size of it, yes…” Sól said, and at this Gilda fainted dead away.

Twilight, on the other hand, muttered: “Good grief…”

Now how could she break it to Sól that her lover was out killing mortals? ...She seriously wished she was a goddess herself about now. Might have made what probably came next hurt a bit less really, she mused.

Author's Note

See, this is me, taking myths and flipping them on their heads. If you know the legends of Sól and her pursuer, toss them out now. (Really wish there was an add umlauts key) Also, yeah. Gilda. Realized that most myth characters were only going to be around for several chapters or so, so Twilight would need someone to talk to, someone to bounce dialogue off on a consistent basis. So, that's why she's a character in here now. Plus, a griffon and a dragon. What could go wrong?

Feedback and thoughts on how this story's going are welcomed.