Before time had numbers, they lived. High in
their palace, in the not-to-distant realm. But
Ragnorok stops for neither the good, the evil,
nor the undecided. There was a choice to be
made. And the Allfather made it. As the
palaces collapsed, he rode out. Far from the destruction. There was one last option, to fix it.
To make it right. And even that was a slim
chance. But it was the only way. The last
chance. Four
stragglers. None fond of the other three. With
varying levels of distaste. Thunder, love, spring and lies. If that was the legacy of
Asgard – it would half to do. And so the four
final gods looked around. Each with a touch of
emotion. Anger, regret, remorse and fear. But
they didn't think of this for long. After that, a
light flashed. And after the light faded, there was nothing left to look at.. Two ravens. Four
youths. Five quests. One chance. When four
teens discover they are the
reincarnations of four Norse gods they aren't
ready. They aren't prepared to risk life and
limb at every turn. They aren't fearless - every new danger hits them hard. They certainly
aren't godly. But it will have to do. The Norns
have spoken. They don't have a choice. This
is based on Norse Mythology. The
main characters are the reincarnations
of the gods Thor, Balder and Loki and the goddess Freya. Thank you for
reading, and if you have any comments
the fastest way to contact me is that little box
beneath the story. (Hint hint.)
If you do decide to follow this, I
guarantee you won't regret it. This is mostly exposition, and the rest of the
chapters are a lot more interesting.
Reviews will be returned.

This topic is brought to you by Baller Forum ~ continue reading...

(Space Booked)

To say that it was hot outside would be an
understatement. The mercury on the
hypothetical thermometer, for at this point
everyone used their phones, was creeping
higher and higher. It was one of those days
where Theo was convinced that at one point it would become too hot and everything would
cease to exist. No such luck, however. Theo was up to his knees in dirt. It was
decidedly not how he planned to spend his
Saturday. The flowers that he was supposed
to be plant were withering in the heat as he
attempted to dig holes for them. Much to his
annoyance, Theo knew that it wouldn't matter to Ms. Kimberly whether or not the flowers
were alive or dead when he planted them. Running a hand over his blond hair, he left a
trail of dirt across his forehead like war paint.
Yes, he was a warrior. Bravely fighting against
– flowers. And sadly enough he felt like he was
losing. He didn't know all of the flowers names,
heck, he couldn't even tell them apart except for the plastic tags on them, but he was pretty
sure none of them were native to Georgia. "Theo!" a voice startled him from his thoughts.
He looked up to see a mess of curls that was
his younger brother. Here to gloat, no doubt. "I'm working," he grunted, and roughly pulled
one of those pink flowers and inserted it in the
ground. In doing so, a pile of mulch unlatched
itself from the flower roots and dropped onto
his new shoes. Brilliant. "I know, but Mom says that you need to come
in for lunch," said the ten year old. Theo
nodded, trying (and failing) to not look happy.
Shaking the dirt that clung to his legs, he
climbed out of the flower bed and crossed his
neighbor's yard to his own. With one last turn he made an 'I'm watching you' gesture to the
flowers. He gripped to doorknob, surprised at
the heat. Honestly, it shouldn't be this hot in the
middle of October. His brother, Jack smacked his gum and
crossed in front of the teenager and into the
house. Theo rolled his eyes and followed. His mom was in the kitchen, sitting at the table
with some decorating magazine open in front
of her. Theo glanced over her shoulder.
Seriously, Christmas already? Ignoring the
topic, he noted that there were already a few
pages flipped down. "Hey," he said, sliding into the table. His mother
looked up and sighed, chiding him. "You're tracking dirt all through the house." "Sorry," he said, not really very sorry. "There are sandwiches in the fridge, help
yourself." He nodded and got up off the chair, flipping
open the refrigerator door. He absently
grabbed food and stuffed it in his mouth
without processing as teenage boys tend to
do. The cold air from the fridge beat onto his
limbs and Theo swore he could've stood there all day. No such luck. He heard a crash from outside and glanced at
his brother on instinct. After his brother's
notorious bicycle crashes, he preferred not to
leave much things to chance. However, all four
foot eleven inches of gum-smacking horror
seemed untouched. Except confused. The boys then glanced at their mother, who had
stood up and looked out the front window. "I'll check it out," Theo said. His mother nodded
and his brother returned to whatever it was ten
year olds did nowadays. As the man of the
house, most of these chores fell to Theo
anyways. These chores and spiders. Stuffing the remaining crust of his sandwich
into his mouth, Theo reluctantly closed the
refrigerator door and opened the front one,
heading into the sun. He didn't know what sort
of thing made that kind of sound, and glanced
along the abandoned circle-drive. At one point, they had moved into a circle-drive with six
neighbors, but it seemed that recently they had
all moved away. Except for the Kimberlys.
They never seemed to leave, and always
wanted Theo to do their gardening. Then he noticed something, odd. A raven.
Like, from the Edgar Allen Poe poem. It had
massive black wings and golden eyes that
started at him. He half expected it to say
'nevermore!' and chase him. That thought
made him mentally freak out a little bit, then curse his gothic literature unit in English. The
bird looked at him in a strangely human-type of
glare. "Hello," he said, then shook himself. Why was
he talking to a bird? Why was there a raven in
his town? Did something die that it wanted to
eat? Oh wait, that was vultures. The bird spread its wings wide and glanced at
him again. He heard footsteps behind him.
Theo whirled around, only to see his little
brother. Yeesh, he was getting to be paranoid.
Later, he would regret turning his back on the
bird, but at the moment it seemed perfectly natural. "Theo, why is there a raven on Mom's car?" Theo rolled his eyes. Because obviously he
knew what the bird was thinking. Bird
psychology was totally a thing. "I don't know," he shrugged. Then he heard the screech. Spinning around,
Theo felt a pair of claws dig into his skin. It
hurt, and he shook trying to get the bird off his
chest. "I'm getting Mom!" came the terrified voice
from behind him. Thanks Jack, Theo inwardly
groaned, very helpful. A pair of yellow eyes glared back at him. Theo
closed his eyes, but those eyes remained on
him, not at all unlike another Edgar Allen Poe
poem now that he thought about it. He felt the
claws loosed and he let out a breath he hadn't
known he was holding in. The bird pulled each claw simultaneously from his chest leaving a
set of punctures into his skin. Theo stumbled
back, breathing heavily. The bird rose, and
examined him. Staring it down, the teenager backed up into
the front of his house. The bird flew off. Jack
ran up and noticed him. His mother was behind
him. "Theo! Are you alright? I called animal
services," she paused for a breath, her voice
full of concern. "I'm fine," he said. Except for the claw marks,
he mentally noted and looked down at his
chest. There were holes in his shirt. But there
were no marks in his skin. No blood. As if they
had healed within the past few seconds. And then he felt his energy zapping out of him.
Sinking back against the wall, Theo Jacobs
closed his eyes. Unfortunately, this was no
chance encounter. …. By that Friday, Theo had convinced himself
that the raven was a strange, one-time thing
that would never affect his life again. At least
that what he convinced himself that he had
convinced himself of. Animal services had
spent quite a while at his house, and they had not ended up finding any raven. It was just a
bird, he told himself, even if is still out there.
And it was with this though that he entered
practice that afternoon. It was one of the few Fridays when he didn't
round off the week with a football game, and
he was grateful to be able to go home. Theo
enjoyed practices, most of the time. It had
taken a few years of bugging him to join the
team, but Theo was currently running back of his high school's football team. He was in the
locker room, chatting with a few teammates.
They were all dressed, but not quite ready to
leave the air-conditioning yet. He had claimed
the bench, and was sitting on it propped up
against his backpack. The zipper was sticking out into his back, but he didn't mind. "Theo!" a voice called through the door. He
glanced in the direction and noticed a very
alarmed girl standing there. Her name was
Monica. She was one of the sports medicine
kids that hung out at football games and
generally looked like they hated being there. He stood up, and shot a glare as Blake slid into
his spot once he moved. "Coming!" he called, not blaming her for
avoiding the locker room. Especially after a
week of practices. When he got outside, he noticed a group of
people standing there, each with confused and
concerned expressions. He frowned.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. It was
Friday, people should be a home lounging and
such. "What is it?" he asked. "You left your binder in PreCal," Monica told
him. Theo frowned, vaguely remembering the
existence of such a subject. Nodding he
cocked his head. Why was there a crowd
then? "Yeah," he said, hoping she would just hand it
to him. "Do you have it?" "I did," she said, nervously. Theo was a good
guy, but he was also rounding off at six feet
tall and it made people uncomfortable
sometimes. He smiled trying to look like it was
cool. He didn't want to spook her. "And now?" he asked finally. All she did was point. He followed her finger to
the right and up. Then he squinted and blinked.
Perched on the flagpole was his binder, in the
claws of a raven. Not just any raven. The
exact same one that had attacked him earlier. "Oh my God," he muttered. He glanced at the
crowd, wondering what he was supposed to be
doing in this situation. He walked in that general
direction his gaze inclining with every step so
he could keep staring at the bird. By the time
he reached the base of the pedestal, Theo was no clearer on what was standard protocol
then he was when he first started heading in
that general direction. He held up a hand to
keep the sun from getting into his eyes. "Theodore?" a voice said from behind him.
That was coach, AKA the only person alive to
call him Theodore. Despite the rather obvious
fact that it was not his name, Coach Jennings
had always assumed Theo was short for
Theodore and called him thus. The junior turned to his coach and tried to find something
to say, beyond the standard 'there is a raven
which stole my stuff'. "Yes?" he asked. He supposed acting
oblivious to the situation was more intelligent
looking then making the wide gestures to direct
everyone's gaze to the top of the flagpole. His
coach glanced to the top and back down to
Theo. It seemed word had spread fast in their school and the stragglers who hadn't rushed
home had formed a circle. "Caw!" the raven called, causing Theo to jump
about a foot in the air, as he turned back to
face it. The bird was haughtily preening itself
as if the crowd was just one of those things. "Hey!" Theo shouted up to it lamely. The bird
looked at him, its eyes searching his for some
sort of recognition. It was more than a little
creepy, and Theo decided to leave.
"Whatever," he said, loud enough to address
the crowd and hurried back to the locker room before anyone could ask him any questions. "What was that all about, dude?" Black asked,
as he leaned onto Theo's backpack. "I dunno," Theo shrugged, "Meds will be
meds," he said referring to the nickname he
and his team had given the sports medicine
students. As far as he knew they didn't mind
the nickname, at least he hoped not. "That one is kinda hot," remarked Matt,
another football player. "You have a girlfriend." The senior laughed and shrugged it off. Theo
wondered how they could be so oblivious, but
was happy for it. Being stalked by ravens was
not on the list of things he had to do. He had
more important things to focus on, like the
game tonight. Glancing at the clock hanging over the doorway, Theo beckoned to his
colleagues. "Com'on. I don't want to be running laps." ….. Unfortunately, other plans had been made. Opening the door, Theo glanced out and came
face to face with the subject of the Edgar
Allen Poe poem itself. Letting out a string of
words he wouldn't want his mother to hear him
say, the blonde athlete stumbled back a couple
of steps. Seriously, why him. You have been chosen. "What?" he said, all the fear turning to
confusion. You have been chosen. Theo sighed. "Yeah, I heard you the first time –
wait! What?" He was talking to a raven. He had followed all
the rules laid out in middle school health class,
but there was still a talking raven in front of
him. The teenager closed his eyes, then
forced the open again. There was still a raven
sitting there. Of course there was. "You are not real," he told the bird, in a last
ditch attempt to be sane. The bird cocked its
feathered head at him. Humorous words coming from a legend. Theo did not have the time to be crazy. He
really didn't. He had a million other things to do.
Like homework. He could start actually doing
his homework. That was possible, improbable,
but possible. Not like a talking stalker raven.
Crossing his arms over his chest with determination, Theo glowered at the raven,
hoping that staring at it long enough would
remove it from existence. He didn't expect it to work. The raven vanished
into thin air. Eyes growing wide, Theo took a
step back, and flailed his arms into the space
the bird had inhabited moments before.
Nothing. Some of his teammates shot him
strange looks. "Erm, Theo?" Matt said. "You okay?" "Yeah, yep. Yes," he said a little too quickly for
his own liking. "Okay, 'cause you've been staring at that wall
for a while now." Frowning, Theo turned to the older boy. "You
saw nothing?" "Man, I see a wall." Theo drew his fingers out between his
temples. It was official. He was going insane.

UPDATE: OPENING DATE: 1ST DECEMBER 2015.
DEADLINE: 5th FEBRUARY 2016
ABOUT NAWOT:
The Nelson Adeyeye Writers Of Today(NAWOT) is an online competition that is organized by Sandra Adeyeye C.E.O of Eminent Creators in honor of her late father Mr. Nelson Adeyeye as a way to encourage the writing and reading culture of the Nigerian youth.
This competition promises to be an exciting and uplifting showcase of well-laid out Prose that promotes creativity at it's peak.
AWARDS:
There shall be a selection of the best twenty stories by our judges. These shall make up our anthology other prizes to be won include but are not restricted to:
Best writer Romance Category - 15,000
Best writer Science Fiction and Fantasy Category - 15,000
Best writer Mystery and Horror Category - 15,000
Best writer Action and Thriller Category - 15,000
Other consolation prizes, a copy of the anthology and other books shall follow.
RULES AND REGULATION:
In order to be eligible, participants are to note the following guidelines as regards submission of entries.
1) Participant must be a Nigerian youth between the ages of 16 - 30 years.
2) Participant must send a mail containing a black and white passport photograph, age, sex, phone numbers, email and facebook i.d in a separate mail from the mail bearing his entry.
3) Entry to be submitted must be Prose, original work of participant and must be an unpublished work, not submitted for any publication during the period of this competition.
NOTE: entry should not bear author's name on it. Just the title and the word count.
4) Entry must be between a 1,500 (minimum) - 2,500 (maximum) word count. Entries must be complete, concise and bear a comprehensive plot, i.e a beginning, middle and an end (no season). Entry font should be Arial size 12 and double spaced.
NOTE: subject of mail should signify what category the author is entering his story. No entries in PDF format will be accepted.
5) Participants can compete in four categories during this competition. I.e every writer is entitled to four entries per competition. Science fiction/fantasy category, mystery/horror category, action/thriller category and romance category.
NOTE: each entry attracts a fee of #1,000.
6) Every entry must have an attachment of the scanned bank draft which has the title of the submission boldly written on it.
Account name: Eminent Creators
Account number: 0201029142
Bank: Gtbank.
7) Every entry must be in English language, with minimal usage of vernacular; and if unavoidably used, must be explained as a footnote for better understanding.
All entries must be submitted to nelsonadeyeyewritersoftoday@gmail.com on or before 5 February 2016 (late entries will attract an extra fee of 500). Date for the prize-giving ceremony shall be communicated to participants via mail.
MODE OF SELECTION:
Participants will have excerpts from their stories displayed on our blog and Facebook page for voting by our public audience within a span of two weeks. Excerpts with the highest votes/comments within that period shall scale through to the next stage of selection.
Final announcement of the winners shall be left to the jurisdiction of the competition's in-house judges whose decisions shall be Binding and Final.
Finally: Writers retain the rights to the stories they submit for the NAWOT competition. The twenty winning stories are published as an anthology and open for purchase after the launching. After that, the winning authors are free to publish anywhere, as long as due credit is given to the NAWOT competition and/or Eminent Creators. Eminent Creators staff and NAWOT team members are not eligible to participate in the competition.
Good luck.

Signed:
Hillary Zita Successa
For the competition department.