Sacrament

Chapter III: Nidhogg Demands Sacrifices!

Today, Nova summoned Nidhogg and said: "My servant demands sacrifices. I remember that in the past, humans made countless sacrifices to the Celestial Sages, but, now, since we have lost our authority and faded away into oblivion, almost no one wants to make sacrifices to us. Despite this, I will not let Nidhogg starve. Do any of you know where to find beasts? Nidhogg can eat any beast, ranging from squirrels to whales." Zeneca said: "I know. There are falcons trained to defeat armies of doves, crows, and other such birds who damage architecture with their bio-waste. Nidhogg can fly, right? Maybe, we could ask the falcon trainer if Nidhogg could do the falcon's job for a while?" Nova replied: "Haha. Thank you for the advice. Nidhogg, you are getting the sacrifices you demand. Follow me."

We went to the town square, where there were lots of architectural monuments, such as buildings built in the past few centuries. Fat doves were flying around and leaving excrement everywhere. We saw a man with an injured falcon nearby. Nova approached him, and he said: "Hello, ma'am. Marcus has got hurt, and he can't catch the doves. The other falcons are sick as well, so, there are these doves shitting on everything. We have absolutely no idea what to do." Nova replied: "Do not worry, sir. Nidhogg can perform the falcons' duty. Even though he is a serpent, he can fly, and he will exterminate the flying vandals." The falcon trainer was relieved. He said: "Thank you for agreeing to help, ma'am. Although I doubt that the giant snake can fly, if it can fly and catch the doves, I'll be very happy." With that, Nova ordered: "Fly forward, my servant! Devour all the winged miasmas! The sky is yours to take!" Nidhogg ascended into the skies, even though he had no wings, and ate all the doves one by one. After eating all the doves, he descended down and also ate a bunch of flowers laid down at a nearby memorial. After that, he came back to Nova. The falcon trainer was applauding. He said: "You did a great job, ma'am! Your flying snake eliminated all the doves with no troubles! But, one question: if he has no visible wings, how can he fly?" Nova replied: "Nidhogg can fly using magic, as he is no ordinary beast. He is a harbinger of death, a child of chaos. After centuries of serving the Senate of the Dead, he gained incredible power. Through devouring the souls of the saints, he gained the power to conquer the skies. Long, long ago, he was nothing but a larva the size of an earthworm. However, now, he is a soul-devouring dark god who tears apart the enemies of the Celestial Sages and has every mortal trembling in fear at the sight of him." Marcus said: "Coo-coo..." and looked as if it wanted to cry. Its trainer said: "Don't worry, Marcus. This big guy isn't going to harm you." Marcus calmed down. We said goodbye to Marcus and his trainer, and left.

As we were walking through the streets, Astra asked: "One question, Nova. Is there anyone with power equal to Nidhogg, or is he unrivaled?" Nova said: "There are many legendary beasts with power equal to my servant. One of them is Thor, the golden dragon of the skies. I'd say that Thor is even more powerful than Nidhogg, and could defeat him with a few swipes of his mighty claws. Most of the Faeries are also equal in power to the legendary serpent. The others are the guardians of Valhalla and Jormungond." All of a sudden, we saw smoke coming from far away. There was a fire! I said to my friends that we should call the fire department, however, before we could do so, a woman with a fishtail descended from the skies. She used her magic staff to summon a powerful water blast. She finished off the fire with a magical rainfall. After the rain stopped, a rainbow appeared in the sky. She said: "I am Eurydice, 7th of the Celestial Sages and the guardian of Jormungond. I missed you, dear twins, and I missed you too, Lady Nova. I descended from the Celestial Palace upon hearing that you did so as well, since I wanted to see you again. It was simply a coincidence that the flames of hell invaded the mortal world, and I had to quench them. Now, can I kindly ask where the Helios is?" Zeneca explained everything. Eurydice said: "I am very happy that the Helios is safely resting at an airport. Now, I will return to the Celestial Palace. Goodbye for now, dear Sages." And, with that, Eurydice flew away. We went back to the Helios and slept there once again. That was an epic day!