Eternity | T.J.

Oh Hey, A Talking Animal.

     I Have To Say, jumping off a cliff was my least favorite thing I'd ever done, and yes, it was even worse than dying. When I died, both times, the pain was gone after I'd died, and I never woke up with a headache and stomach ache, which is what happened when I woke up after the fall.

     Technically speaking, I at least had it better than Sam and Hearth. When Magnus woke me up, most likely with some form of healing magic, I took one look around and closed my eyes again, trying really hard not to throw up... which is what Sam did next to me.

     As I got up to see if Sam was okay, Magnus went to check on Hearth. For a moment, there was nothing before my brother began to glow and moments later, Hearth opened his eyes.

     Light. He signed.

     " What do you mean?"

     I raised an eyebrow." You're glowing... And I mean that literally, not glowing as in 'you look great', because you don't, you look like someone who just fell off a cliff."

     Magnus looked down at his hands, choosing to ignore the latter half of my comment." Apparently, if I heal too much at once, I glow."

     " Well, thanks for healing us," Sam said." But try not to self-combust. How is Hearth?"

      Magnus helped our elven friend sit up." How you feeling, buddy?"

     Terrible.

     " Hearth..." Magnus began." When I healed you, I-"

     Hearthstone placed his hands on my brother's, which was the equivalent of telling him to be quiet.

     Later. He signed. Thank you... brother.

     A goat wandered over." You should take better care of your elf, they need lots of sunshine, not this weak Jotunheim light. And you can't overwater them by drowning them in rivers."

     I shouldn't have been surprised that the goat was talking, after all, why should swords be able to speak if goats couldn't. Although the other thing that surprised me was how he spoke about elves as if they were a type of houseplant.

     The goat is speaking? Hearth asked.

     " Uh, yeah, he is."

     " I also read sign language!" The goat piped up." My name is Tanngnjoster, which means Teeth Grinder, because... well, it's a nervous habit of mine. But nobody calls me Tanngnjostr. It's a horrible name. Just call me Otis."

     Sam stood up." So, Otis, what brings you here to this place that is... wherever we are."

" I got lost, which is typical. I was trying to find my way back to camp when I found you instead. I suppose you'll kill me and eat me for dinner now."

     Magnus frowned." Where you planning to kill the goat?"

     " Not in the slightest."

     " No, were you?"

     My brother looked at the goat." We weren't planning to kill you."

     " It's okay if you want to, I'm used to it. My master kills me all the time."

     " He... does?"

     " Oh, sure! I'm basically a talking meal on four hooves. My therapist says that's why I'm so down all the time, but I don't know. I think it goes way back to when I was a kid-"

     " Sorry," Magnus interrupted." Wait, who is your master?"

     T-H-O-R. Hearth signed. D-U-H.

     " That's right," Otis said." Although his last name is not Duh. You haven't seen him, have you?"

     " No..."

     Sam adjusted her headscarf." I'm not a big fan of Thor, but if he can give us directions to Lyngvi, we need to talk to him."

     " Well, the problem with that is Otis doesn't know where Thor is," I pointed out." If he did, he wouldn't be lost. So how are we supposed to find the God of Thunder?"

     Ask Jack-In-The-Box. I assumed Hearth meant Jack.

     Magnus took of his pendant.

     " Hey!" The sword said as he reappeared." Glad you survived! Oh, is that Otis? Cool! Thor must be around here somewhere."

     " You have a talking sword?" Otis asked." I've never been killed by a talking sword before. That's fine. If you could just make a clean cut right across the throat-"

     " Otis!" Jack interrupted, which seemed to happen often when Otis was speaking." Don't you know me? I'm Frey's Sword, Sumarbrander. We met at that party at Bilkirner- the one where you were playing tug-of-war with Loki?"

     " Oh... Yes, that was embarrassing."

     " Jack," Magnus spoke up." We're looking for Thor. Any chance you can point us in the right direction?"

     " Easy Mcsqueezy! I'm reading a big concentration of hot air and thunder that way!"

     Sam and Magnus helped Hearth up.

     I turned to the goat." Otis, would you mind letting our elven friend ride you? I don't know how well he can walk and this might just make the whole trip easier on everyone."

     " Sure. Ride me, kill me, whatever. But I should warn you, this is Jotunheim. If we got the wrong way, we'll run across giants. Then we'll all be butchered and put in a stew pot."

     " We won't go the wrong way," Magnus promised." Will we, Jack?"

     " Hmm?" Jack said." Oh no, probably not. Like a sixty percent chance we'll live."

     " Jack."

     " Kidding! Jeez, you're so uptight."

     Jack pointed up the river next to us before leading us further into Jotunheim.

A/N: Yet another chapter, and I'm starting school in two days so I'll not have a lot of spare time between writing this, working on school, and looking for a part-time job. I hope at least someone somewhat enjoyed this chapter, any to all comments from anyone about anything make my day, and just keep in mind the world is your erster.