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The village in the dark : I

The sun began to be darkened by day and the moon by night, while the ocean was tumultuous with spray from the 24th of March in this year till the 24th of June in the following year... And, as the winter was a severe one, so much so that from the large and unwonted quantity of snow the birds perished... there was distress... among men... from the evil things." Zacharias of Mytilene (Chronicle, 9.19, 10.1)

I let out a heavy breath, and it turned to fog in front of my eyes. The tools were heavy, so I put them down upside down, the metal facing down so that the wood won't break from the frost. Baldr was chopping the wood. The thuds coming from the axe hitting the frozen trunk were the only thing I could hear in the winter expanse. The thuds stopped, and the sound of his axe hitting the frozen sheets rang. I stood up, hurried to his side, and picked up the axe.

"Here, brother," I said, handing him the spare.

He didn't look at me. He didn't take the axe either. The blood from his nose stained his beard, then the white snow.

"Let us go back home, Freyja. I think there is enough for today."

I nodded and picked up his axe. He went, stacked the logs, and with one motion, picked all of them up. He was right; that was enough wood to keep us warm for the night.

We slowly made progress to the village. Taking it one step at a time to conserve our strength. When we reached the village, I saw Uncle Oden, Hugin, and Tankred entering with their own bounty for the night. Hugin caught my eyes and smiled, and I smiled back.

I felt a slight nudge from my back, "Walk, Freyja," Baldr said.

We got into the house, and I locked it. Brother stopped me before getting into the house any further. I sighed,

"You know I am as capable of checking for the traps as you are, Baldr," He smiled,

"Maybe one day, sister, but not today. Wait here,"

He hurried into every room, checking every hole and messing up everything from the sound of it, and came back with a couple in his hands and a smile on his face,

"They seem to be persistent with these,"

"How about the food?"

He ruffled my hair, "Don't worry, sister, they only got the decoys. Go gets us something. I'll prepare the fire."

I went under the dining table and started knocking for the compartment. I knocked and knocked, but the sound didn't change.

"Did your hunger cloud your memory, sister," he said behind me.

I took a deep breath and collected myself. I counted down to the fourth tile and knocked on it: the sound was hollow. I hurried and took off the wooden tile to find the frozen food. I took out one of the last remaining fishes, put it on the plate with the herbs, and went to the fire.

The warmth was starting to seep into me. I closed back the hole and went to the fire. Brother had already went and sat down and was waiting for the food. I put the pate close to the fire as I could and waited. The crackle of the wood and the hiss of the ice as it melted were the only things that I could hear in the silence. When the hiss disappeared, and the crackle was the only thing remaining, I knew that it was done. I pulled the plate back to me with a stick and put it in front of him. I went and sat at the other end of the table, and he silently started eating. He shot me a glance and sighed.

"Here," he said and pushed the plate to me,

"But the cus—"

"To hell with them. They're not going to save us in these times,"

I stared back in silence, then his face softened,

"Eat up. I need your strength to help me around. The Gods know that I can't cook as well as you can," I smiled and started devouring what I could.

As I finished, the door was banged on three times, waking my brother up from his short-lived nap,

"Village meeting before dusk, bring you to share of the firewood,"

Brother scoffed. "These people..." before he finished, he looked at my plate then chuckled,

"You already finished it?" I nodded,

"For a girl, you sure are eating like a man,"

I put the plate down, and we went to sit near the fire. Brother took out his knife and started shaving off the pieces of the wood.

"What are you making this time,"

"A horse for you," he said, "You lost the last one I made, didn't you?" I decided not to reply.

I took out a smaller knife he gave me and started working on something myself.

"And what are you making?"

"A hound," I said

"For me?" "Yes," I said.

I started humming the tune Mother taught me. Brother swayed back and forth on father's old chair while I kept humming on the floor. He carved along till he stopped and looked at the door. Puzzled, I did the same, and I could hear it, the distant murmur of the people outside. He sighed and got up,

"Seems like they started. Get up. Let's go,"