Winterfire

Chapter Thirty-five

Lif

I stood to see for myself. The fog cleared, and sure enough, we were in the harbor I had walked so many times with Thor.

“Lif, go to Folkvanger and say your farewells. Hodur and I have business to attend to,” said Baldur. “You don’t want to dawdle; Lifthrasir will be here soon.”

Baldur and Hodur hugged me. “We cannot thank you enough for coming for us,” said Hodur. “You don’t know how much you have done for the side of the good. May we meet again in joyful times.” The brothers crossed the dock and headed up the hill into Asgard.

I turned to Njord and kissed him impulsively on the cheek. For the first time since I’d met him, he smiled. He lifted my injured hand gently by the wrist and examined it. It seemed impossible that I had given up my finger just that morning; it seemed a lifetime ago. I had not paid any attention to it all day, but now, in the quiet dusk, it throbbed with pain. The spear Hel threw had broken it open, and it still bled; the rest of my hand was bruised and dirty. “I suppose I should clean it and wrap it before I go to meet Lifthrasir,” I said.

“I’m guessing you were in Mordgud’s study when this happened?”

“Yes, I was, but Mordgud herself cleaned and bandaged it. Hel threw her spear at me later, though, and I guess she did more damage than I thought at the time.

“You were standing in the sea when Hel hit you, weren’t you,” said Njord. I nodded. “My sea, my responsibility.” He enfolded my hand firmly in his own. I felt warmth radiating from the wound. When Njord opened his hands, my hand was healed. The finger was still gone, but the wound was, too. The skin was clean and smooth. The pain was gone.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“I told you: I control the sea and everything that happens in it. If you’d been standing

in the sea when you lost the finger, I’d be able to replace it. But you were in the sea when you re-injured it, so that much, I can fix. May we meet again in joyful times.” He turned to walk away from me as I climbed over the gunwale onto the dock.

“Lif!” he said. “Here, take this,” he said. He leaned over the side of his ship, his hand outstretched. I reached up to him and he dropped the Laguz into my hand. “Next time, don’t wait so long to call me.”

I  hurried up the hill to Folkvanger. The forest was empty and eerily quiet. I saw no one strolling among the trees, gathering flowers. I looked up, but saw no one crossing the bridges.

“Mildred! Erna!” I called. The door to the hemlock stood open. I ran inside and up the stairs, which no longer moved. I ran to the kitchen and found it clean and empty. The fires were cold. I ran to my bedroom. A strange woman sat on my bed.

“I’ve been waiting,” the woman said, and I recognized Erna’s voice. I looked more closely and saw that although this woman was taller and blonder than Erna had been, Erna’s eyes stared back at me.

“Erna!” I said. I ran forward and hugged her. “Where is everyone?”

“Freyja released them this morning when Ragnarok was imminent. They’ve all gone— some, to their families or homelands, some, up into the mountains to try to escape the flood— all will perish in the Last Battle, no matter where they are.” A tear rolled down Erna’s lovely face. She wiped it away and stood up. She walked to the window and gazed out. “Frigga told me where she’d taken you. She shouldn’t have done it: you’re too valuable to risk on a fool’s errand. How did you get back?”

“I killed Hel, Erna. I freed Baldur and Hodur. Njord brought us back.”

Erna whirled around and ran back across the room to me. “What? How? A human cannot kill a god!” I told her a shortened version of the story, ending with my realization of each of our true identities: hers, Lucan’s, and mine.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Now,” said Erna, “Lucan—Lifthrasir—will soon be in the harbor, and you must go to him. I will go and gather more warriors to fight for Odin. The battle has begun, and the gods need every hand to fight. By destroying Hel and rescuing Baldur and Hodur, you may have tipped the balance in our favor.”

“That’s what Njord told me. But the God of Thunder fights for us. Odin the All-father fights for us. Why do we need the ‘balance to be tipped’ in our favor? Isn’t it already tipped?”

“Lif, remember Honir’s revelation of the Ragnarok: Thor will kill Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent, but Thor will die in the struggle. Fenris the Wolf will kill Odin. Odin’s son, Vidar will kill Fenris and avenge his father’s death, and so on and so on and so on—Order and Chaos will all but destroy each other. The sides are almost equally matched. Almost. Order must prevail over Chaos, even if only by the slimmest margin, to give you and Lifthrasir the chance to begin life again in a new, peaceful world. Now put some dry clothes on and let’s go.”

I changed and hurried out the door. I ran down the long stairway for the last time and out into the deceptively peaceful forest when I realized Erna was not behind me. I turned back to see her standing on the threshold. Somehow, Erna now wore a shimmering, white gown. Enormous white wings sprouted from her shoulders.

“This is just my uniform,” said Erna. “You know these aren’t the kind of clothes I usually wear. Impractical in the kitchen.”

“You look powerful,” I said. I walked back to Erna and hugged her. “I have to go on alone, don’t I?”

“Yes. You have your destiny … and I have mine. When you see me again, I’ll be a white swan, floating in some in a quiet pond in a fresh, green, springtime world.” She stared dreamily off into the distance as she spoke. The she rolled her eyes and shrugged. “So they tell me. Anyway, remember: Bravery is half the victory; we both know you are brave. I’ll see you.” Then she stretched her wings out wide, flapped them once, and rose into the air. She blew a kiss to me and flew off.

I watched her for just a moment before turning and running toward the harbor.