DIVINE CHAMPIONS 4: THE SUN'S CHOICE

THE NORDIC WINTERS

Behind them stood a very weirdly scary looking creature. She looked very female, but the leaves that dangled down her chin confused her as to what she was. She was all stone, with a lot of leaves, branches and plants all over her body. She had long wild vines for hair, she wore mosses for clothes, and the only things that Ishaan, as a human, could relate to were her jet black eyes. She was humped by a huge rock on her back, and bent while she walked, her right hand touching the ground like a gorilla. And her other hand had a long tree trunk which supported her during her walk. Her hands had branches hanging out of her shoulders. She was about seven feet tall. And the weirdest part? Her nose was super pointy, and super long.

Despite all that, her eyes had a calmness that wasn't oozing out any imminent danger. Even Rishi seemed unalerted. That meant it was not a matter of scare.

Aitri seemed to have felt something, as she stepped up towards the creature, and Rishi didn't stop her. With the stones and trees and rocks, the creature surely seemed to be related to the earth, so Aitri seemed to feel her. She walked up to her, and asked, "You are a Landvaettir, aren't you?"

"Yes, my Lady."

"My Lady?" Aitri was quite taken aback.

"We, the Landvaettir, are devotees of anyone who carries Lady Sif's powers inside them. You are no different, divine champion. Anyway, I haven't have much time. Have to go back to my home. Might I assist you with finding the spear? I can give you a clue."

"What clue?" Ishaan asked, "We are at a shortage of time."

The Landvaettir, whatever she is, walked a step with her wooden trunk, looked up and said, "The whole of the nine worlds are at a shortage, children. But we still need to keep our patience, because, when things go too fast, they get messy." Look who was talking about messy. She walked close to Aitri, whispered something in her ear, waved her hand, and walked away. Rick called for her, but she paid no heed. Why do they all whisper in Aitri's ears?

Aitri came to the boys, and said, "She asks to us to remember who the spear belongs to."

It took a second for them to register it all, and then ask, "What?"

"Well," Aitri asked, still confused, "Whose is the spear?"

"Frey's." Rick replied.

"Now how does that connect?" Aitri asked back.

"Something has to connect." Ishaan said, "Guys, what is he a god of?"

"Peace, as far as I know." Aitri said, scratching her head.

"Nope." Rishi spoke for the first time in a while, and said, "No, not just that. He's also the god of summer, fertility and royalty. Oh! Oh!" He said the last two as if he caught something.

"What?"

"Ishaan, figure out something. God of summer. Heat. Fire."

Ishaan realized what was being said. He didn't say a word, rather, he spread his arms, and summoned fire. There was a little buzzing sound coming from the other side of the room. And as Ishaan walked forward, the sound started increasing. Rishi said to the others, "Stay at your guard. Who knows where it is pointing as it is coming towards us."

In about two seconds, the spear was visible. And just as Rishi had warned them about, it had hurled itself with its sharp and pointy end at the divine champions. It was coming straight at Rishi. As it drew closer, Aitri pulled Rishi away. As it passed them and aimed itself towards Ishaan's right, it went on and stuck itself on Ishaan's fiery right hand. The power inside the spear was something Ishaan had never felt before. The spear's pointy, iron made end was reddish, given it was so hot, with smoke coming out of it. The rest of the spear was made of redwood, and out of the spear felt weird. It was relaxing, yet it seemed like it could just burn anyone to ashes if needed. It was super powerful, fit for a god.

"It's very powerful." Ishaan said.

"Won't be a dwarf made stuff if it isn't." Rishi said. What was all his praises on the dwarves? "Rishi, what is it with you and the dwarves?" Ishaan asked him straightaway.

"I'm an architect." He smiled, "You connect the dots." And so it made sense again.

"Alright, done here." Rick said, "I'm hungry. Why don't we eat something before we return that to Frey?"

"Do we have Swedish money with us?" Ishaan asked.

Rick took his wallet out, and out came cash, in Krona. Different coloured notes for different values, with different faces on them. "Meili's stone solves every humane problem in a Midgardian travel. As soon as I activated his stone here, its power solved all these little issues. Now, if we're caught by the Swedish police for illegally crossing borders, check your backpack, you might find the passport and visa inside."

"I don't even have a passport." Ishaan said, bewildered.

"It isn't real. It is with you now. Once you get out of here, it disappears."

"Woah!" Ishaan was surprised. He was getting to know new things with every passing minute. Before he could say anything else, Rishi took the spear from him, and said, "Will this help us get out of here?"

"Maybe."

Rishi took flight, and struck the spear on the stone ceiling. The ceiling broke apart, plummeting stones down on the storage shelf beneath, creating a nice little opening, which would easily allow a person to get out. Rishi came down, handed Ishaan the spear, lifted him, and flew out of the opening. Aitri picked Rick up, and followed.

They were welcomed by snow. Ishaan remembered how much the weather was changing while they were still in Jarnvidr. Now, it had changed so quickly and so drastically, it was weird. "How did the weather change so fast?" Rick asked.

"Well, it was getting colder by every second before we got inside the warehouse." Aitri said, "We have been inside, what, twenty minutes or so? Snowfall seems to have just started." She put her palm out to catch some snowflakes. Around them, the snow had started to accumulate on the ground. The fall was still light, but was catching pace gradually. Aitri was slightly shivering, when Rishi went and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She asked, "Now, are there any restaurants in Sandviken?" 

"Oh, there are. It's a pretty big city. Sadly, we aren't in Sandviken anymore." Rick said, his eyes fixated on his phone screen, "We are in a different city now. Right in the quieter areas of it."

"Oh, really? Where are we?"

"Sandviken is twenty three kilometers that way." He pointed to a backward direction, "South West from here. The city's name is Gavle."

"Ah!" Rishi said, not letting go of Aitri's shoulders, "The Nordic winters and the snowy winds, so rom..."

"Stop it." Rick snapped, "Find me a restaurant, I am starving."

Apparently, deciding a restaurant was Aitri's responsibility wherever these three went. But Ishaan's senior was sweet in general. She asked them all what they wanted to eat. Then, she selected the restaurant.

They followed the map on Rick's phone, walking by a river, past the hustling areas, the big and beautiful Swedish people (nearly everyone was towering), and finally got to the restaurant Aitri had selected. The name was 'Matildas Kvarterskrog". The restaurant had a long shade protruding outward, with a wavy aluminum shed under it, from which a medium sized board hung. It had yellow glowy lights, with Matildas written in black on it. They walked by the red tiled pavement that was getting covered by the snow, and pushed the door in. The inside was amazing. "Now, what do the Swedes eat?" Rishi asked, flexing his fingers.