The Harvest of the Blood Moon Wolf.

We at Pageworks are proud to offer the first chapter of our latest book "The Harvest of the Blood Moon Wolf" as a free sample. This book is set shortly after the end of "The Sons of Asgard: The Victims of the Darkness" and shortly before the "The Sons of Asgard: Child of Woe" The story centres around the desires of Fenris, the Son of Loki who is imprisoned in his Wolf body in the remote icy wastes of Midgard. If this future slayer of the Allfather can wrestle his freedom from the will of Asgard, then Ragnorak would be a step closer to fruition.
This full book was released on the 14th July 2014. This book is available as an E-book on the Amazon Kindle format, so please look out for it. The book is also available as a paperback from the start of September 2014.

Chapter One: Fall then Fail.

Now Available
The Harvest of the Blood Moon Wolf.

The Grand Jotuness Angrboða stormed out of the royal court of King Feldspar. Her distant cousin was the ruler of Jotunheim and his backward Queen had disrespected the noble Jotuness for the last time in the presence of King Feldspar's stunned court. Queen Mahal was the spoilt daughter of Nifleheim's cold hearted ruler Jara, and their arranged marriage had been designed to strengthen the power of both kingdoms. Angrboða was the former wife of the cunning Trickster Loki, and she had endured a heinous fall from grace for having a relationship with such a chaotic and tainted Jotun; those in Jotunheim’s court who had once feared her footsteps now openly mocked her with unrestrained glee.

The guards she passed kept rigid and resolute; it was their station to keep impassive despite the animated events of the royal court. Lady Angrboða’s mood made her believe that she could hear their unspoken comments and barely arrested laughter at her expense; she was a high born Jotuness with a true and clear lineage to the great Jotun hero Bergelmir. By her name alone, she deserved better than the treatment afforded to her by the arrogant Queen Mahal and her shallow circle of dumb sycophants.

The irate Angrboða swore under her breath that she would prove a point to all of the vermin who dare to question her might and integrity. Her blood demanded vengeance upon her distant and stupid kin. Angrboða was upset that king Feldspar had dishonoured the name of the Jotun kings who had ruled before him, the Jotuness believed the pregnant queen held too much power as she carried the King's unborn son. It had made Queen Mahal bolder and more selfish, and now she had made a powerful enemy in the shape of the esteemed Jotuness. At first the new King had been in need of his cousin’s wise counsel. Now he avoided any prolonged contact with his tainted cousin. Angrboða believed that it was the influence of King Feldspar's lowly bride which kept her from her rightful place in the social hierarchy of her home realm.

King Feldspar was in his cousin’s opinion, a Jotun unworthy of holding such an illustrious position. If Angrboða could have her own selfish way, she would have herself or one of her offspring sitting upon Jotunheim's throne. The curse of her former Husband’s legend prevented her from assuming any role with gravitas. Although her children were powerful, their blood was seen as tainted by the ultra conservative factions of Jotun society. The immortal blood that flowed through the Children of Angrboða was also present in the blood of Jotunheim's most hated of enemies Lord Odin. Odin the Allfather of the Aesir was blamed for the deaths of many Jotun; it was his slaying of the great primordial Jotun Ymir that released a great flood which drowned the ancient ancestors of the Jotun. Very few Jotuns survived but through those desperate survivors, the Jotun race was reborn and their descendents carried the simmering hatred and anger through the subsequent generations.

Angrboða walked the ancient corridors of Jotunheim's Imperial palace, inside her distinguished bones a fire burned with pure hatred. It was this inner hurt that made the Jotuness choose her next course of action. She would reclaim her status and honour, her distant cousin would lose his throne and Angrboða would restore a glory to her home land not seen since the passing of her distinguished Uncle Skarn. Angrboða wondered if she would be offering her uncle a disservice by removing his son from the throne. King Feldspar had lost any family bond to Angrboða, and the Jotuness would feel no pity for the path she now planned to follow.

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The powerful beast called Jormagundra was known to many as the World Serpent. Jormagundra was the first born child of Angrboða and the Trickster Loki, despite his parentage he was given great power and an incredible form by the Allfather's divine will. Jormagundra no longer shared the characteristics of his parents, he was no longer a true Jotun; he was something more, his form was now vast and primordial. The Allfather had need of Jormagundra and the form of his Jotun bloodline would not fit Lord Odin's grand designs. The divine blood of the Allfather changed the Child of Loki's form into a monstrous and imposing presence. The Allfather deposited Jormagundra in the waters of Midgard and allowed him travel in all the Seas, lakes and rivers of his creation. The Allfather wanted to keep the inhabitants of his cosmos in check and the use of Jormagundra would allow him to install fear into the hearts and minds of the Allfather's chaotic subjects.

The Jotuness Angrboða hated leaving the comfort of her homeland. But to guarantee an audience with her first born son, she would have to travel to the Realm of Midgard. Jormagundra enjoyed the waters of Midgard, in the depths of the great oceans tasty morsels from every realm where deposited. The Jotuness hated the Humans who inhabited this realm; she believed them unworthy of life and the attention that the gods gave to them. Her plan needed her son’s full attention but Jormagundra was notoriously sullen and obstinate whenever a member of the elder gods or the Jotun summoned him.

Angrboða cut into her Jotun hide and allowed drops of her lifeblood to fall into the ocean's tranquil waters. The mother knew the son would follow her scent and would be curious to her intentions. Angrboða waited for her child to react to her summons, as she waited she inhaled the fresh air of Midgard. It's make up sustained her but the taste made her feel nauseous. Angrboða realised that this was the longest she had ever spent in the Realm of the Humans, she wondered if the mighty defender of this realm Thor; would come and investigate her presence.  Angrboða doubted he would be interested in her conversation with her eldest son, as part of Jormugundra’s position in the order of the Allfather; Angrboða was given free rein to visit all her children as long as she kept to the laws of Midgard.

The waters began to rumble with the presence of her gigantic offspring. The remote cove would keep the sight of the monstrous Serpent from the prying eyes of the local Humans. Angrboða could feel her son approaching her position, it had been many years since she had spoken to him; his form did not allow for verbal communication and his basic instincts did not desire a close family bond. The Grand Jotuness looked at the turbulent water and looked for her son's form. From her left she noticed the surface break and a long tentacle emerged from the ocean depths. Angrboða walked upon the surface of the water, her Jotun abilities granted her mystical gifts in this realm. Angrboða stretched out her weathered hand and touched the slick scales of her gigantic child. "It has been too long my boy; I hope you are happy deep beneath the waves of this endless ocean!"

Jormagundra communicated directly with his mothers mind, his primitive thoughts were short and direct. "Mother, why are you in this place? Why do you visit here?"

"I have come to see my dear child!" replied Angrboða, as she spoke she realised how large her son must truly be.

The terror of the deep did not believe his parents words and replied with the stunted intelligence of his primal form. "Not true, you have reason to summon me?"

The Jotuness laughed. "You know so few words but you are very insightful. You are infinitely more cunning than your siblings!"

"My brother and sister, far away, lost to me and faded memory. What do you want?" Jormagundra questioned and his hidden body rumbled with a primitive anger, he was exposed in the shallows and wished to return to his familiar hunting grounds.

"Very well my boy, I want you to take over Jotunheim and rule it as a true Jotun!" Angrboða spoke openly of revolt in Jotunheim, as she believed that it the only course of action open to her.

Her son had heard enough, he had heard her words and wanted no part of her scheme. "You have wasted my time, you think with anger mother. I have no interest in dry land; my kingdom is bigger than any other is. I need no borders, I rule wherever I find my prey!"

Jormagundra recalled his scaled tentacle and cut short his meeting with his mother, within moments a small fraction of the Sea monster disappeared from the view of his self obsessed parent. Angrboða cursed her son’s indifference, in Jormagundra she had hoped to reclaim the power and glory which had been her birthright. The Jotuness bellowed at the prehistoric form that slowly departed her presence.

"My son, you are a waste of my time! Go float in the murky depths and prey on fat fish, you should be so much more than the killer of Thor!"

Angrboða spat into the deep blue sea and decided to leave the realm of the Humans. The Jotuness knew that her daughter Hella would not entertain any attempt to rule Jotunheim; after all she was already busy as the Guardian of Helheim. There would be no chance of the Allfather allowing her to rule two of his realms; this left the former bride of the Trickster one final option. She wondered whether or not her son Fenrir would be more receptive to her proposal than Jormagundra had been. For Fenrir to rule, the Jotuness must stack the odds in his favour and go against the will of the Allfather. Fortunately Angrboða had learned much from her former husband and knew how to circumvent the laws of Lord Odin's precious order. All she needed was time to refine her embryonic plan and the help of a family member whose dark magic's would assist her greatly in the upcoming days.

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The Goddess of the Dead sat on her majestic throne and ignored the irrelevant chatter of her court. Those who she shared her time with were trivial and held no great interest to her, she accepted their fawning words of devotion; but the Dark Queen was too wise to not fall victim to their false claims of worship and love.

The Guardian of the Dead watched with half hearted interest as her court watched a fairly insipid production of theatre. The Dark Goddess lamented that the only actors of worth were already entertaining in the halls of Asgard and Vanaheim. The Child of Loki felt a familiar presence in every fibre of her immortal being, it was the unmistakable misery of her mother and Hel found herself fighting back a wave of emotions that threatened to paralyse her where she sat.

Angrboða did not stand on ceremony; after all it was she who gave birth to the lofty ruler of this dark and decayed hall. The Guardian of the Dead owed her and the Jotuness would use every tool at her disposal to regain her power and status in the lands of her ancestors.

"Dearest Hella. My only daughter, I am in need of your help this day! "

The Dark Goddess hid her scowl from view; she deliberately shifted from her regal splendour to that of her half decayed form. Her half decayed form was the tainted legacy of her position. Her natural Jotun beauty had been eroded by death that permeated this realm and her watered down Aesir blood. The Dark Goddess looked on her mother and hid her annoyance. "What need do you have of me, mother?"

Angrboða looked around the Spartan majesty of her surroundings; her daughter had no need for trinkets and gemstones. Instead Hel surrounded herself in the fine fabrics that came from the mortal realms. The flavour of Midgard and the realms of the Elven race influenced Helheim's greatest hall.

"I require from you a few Human bodies that can be sacrificed and will never be missed! I take it you have access to Midgard as you surround yourself in its peoples decadence."

"In case you haven't noticed dear mother, I am the Guardian of the Honoured Dead. This means no living creature may set foot inside of my realm, this is cosmic law and it cannot be broken; not even for the desires of one such as you!" Hel was incensed by her mother’s audacious attitude; their strained relationship guaranteed her nothing from her dark and twisted offspring.

"If they are the rules, then they are the rules!" Replied the grand Jotuness, her response surprised the dark queen of Helheim. She had expected a display of petulance from her bitter mother.

The Dark Goddess Hel wished for the uninvited parent to leave her domain as quickly as she could. Despite Hel's great power and status, her mother's presence always created discord in what the Guardian of the Dead believed her own style of harmony. Angrboða looked upon her distant daughter and masked her disappointment, for now she would play the compassionate parent, as she desired something that her daughter could grant her.

"My dear Hella, I appreciate your position. But I know you are able to give me a potion of eternal hunger that alone would make my journey here a worthwhile endeavour!" Hel looked upon her mother with pained eyes, she knew her parent had come with a hidden motive and requesting a basic potion from her highly skilled dark alchemist daughter seemed very strange. Angrboða was up to something and the Dark Goddess was becoming curious.

The Guardian of the Dead nodded her approval. "A single vial of such a potion is the least I can give to the woman who carried me into existence."With a click of her decayed fingers an ampoule of clear liquid appeared in the mighty Jotun's right hand.

"Thank you my child. You have served me well this day, my precious daughter!" Angrboða gave her daughter an elusive smile that was at odds to her usual role of a stern and cold mother. The Dark Goddess dismissed her mother's words they were diplomatic flattery and she had no need for validation by either of her parents.

"If seems that we are finished here, mother. I have much to do to keep this realm from slipping into chaos." Hella acted with her usual shortness towards her mother, this fleeting visit was already beginning to grate on the mood of Helheim's ruler.

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Angrboða grinned with a predators smile. "I am sure that if things get too much for you, the resident Aesir Gods will remove the chaotic elements for you!"

Hel scowled at her mother; another insult from her heartless parent was not an adequate thank you for the potion she had provided. "I believe we are finished her mother, so nice to see you visit!"

"I shall be on my way!" Angrboða smirked; she had part of what she needed and could find a Human without too much trouble. Many Humans dabbled with magic's they had little comprehension of and often ended up in realms they did not belong in. Insulting her pompous daughter was entirely necessary; Angrboða believed her daughter thought far too highly of herself. In her eyes, Hel was a stooge to her hated enemy and by becoming a part of his world she had turned her back on her noble ancestry and glorious heritage. Angrboða had served her time as a parent and her ambitions had been stunted by her responsibilities. Now was the time for the daughter of Jotunheim to reclaim her birthright and renew pride in the Jotun race.

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