Children of Strength and Power
L. Shannon


In the beginning there was neither
light nor dark.  There was only a
great energy, a god who longed for
something more. So the god created,
using his own being to create other
beings. He brought forth children
with great strength and power.  Those
with great strength had some of the
power of magic.  Those with great
power in magic also had some
strength.

For a time, there was peace among
the children.  But this ended and they
began to quarrel over which was
better, strength or magic.  The quarrel
turned into a war, which brought
sadness to the creator.

But then there was hope. The creator found
a way to restore harmony to his children,
and once again there was peace. He chose
to tighten their bonds rather than to sever them. Young children would be exchanged and raised with the enemy so that they, instead, could be understood and became family.

One such ambassador was a clever boy of strength named Loki. He was adopted and called brother to a boy of power named Odin.  Together they grew and learned the ways power. (Read more about Loki in My Immortal and Immortal Flight.)

Loki married three times.  The first was a marriage arranged by his adopted family to a woman of power, but held little love. The second was an unapproved marriage to a woman of strength, together they had passion but this too lacked love.  Only in his third marriage did he find the love, passion and devotion that he had long sought.

Loki had children by each of his wives.  The first union was blessed with two beautiful daughters who grew up with the wisdom and compassion to understand both strength and power.

The second marriage produced three children, within each grew strength, determination and a yearning for power. The people of power grew to fear these children and cursed each of the three to keep them from ever gaining the power they sought. The first son, Fenrir, the wolf who grew to be giant and developed a foul temperament, was chained to control him.  Jormungand, their second son, grew to be a giant serpent, and was banished to the ocean to protect the people from him.  The last was a daughter named Hel, who was banished to the land of the dead where she reigned as queen.

Loki saw the treatment of his children as unfair, done simply because they were different from the people of power. He never saw the flaws within his children of strength. He grew bitter and malicious toward those who had been family to him. Although always considered a mischievous trickster, he now became spiteful and malevolent, going so far as to cause the death of one of his blood brother's children.

Accused of the murder, he fled from the people and into the world.  While in exile he met his third wife, Sigyn.  She gave him a loving home and two strong, powerful sons, named Vali and Narni.  Loki found a kind of peace here that he had never known before, but it was not meant to last.  Eventually, his brother of power caught up with Loki.  When his sons attempted to protect their father, they were attacked first.  Vali was turned into a terrible wolf and set upon his brother Narni, killing him. As Loki mourned the death of his son, he was captured, bound and imprisoned.  His third wife stayed loyally at his side within his prison, where he would remain until the end of the world and the time of rebirth.



A note regarding Vali's fate...
Vali was not imprisoned, but left to run free within his cursed form. He roamed the world, a wolf with little memory of his time as a man. His only reprieves were the three nights of the full moon when he resumed his human form. 

Read more about the children of Strength and Power in Immortal Flight, Vali's Curse, A Spirit United, Shadow of Honor, Gift of the Rose and My Immortal.