Journey of an Einherji - The Sword of Summer

A Friend's Sorrow

I don't remember when I stopped falling.

I found myself on a dark street on a cold, cloudy night. Houses of three storey high edged the sidewalk. At the end of the block, a tavern's grimy windows glowed with neon drink signs.

Magnus looked around with furrowed eyebrows.

"This is Southie." - he said - "Around D Street."

"This is Nidavellir, kid." - Blitzen shook his head - "It looks like South Boston... or rather, South Boston looks like it. I told you, Boston is the nexus. The Nine Worlds blend together there and affect one another. Southie has a definite dwarvish feeling to it."

"I thought Nidavellir would be underground." - Magnus said, looking up - "With claustrophobic tunnels and-"

"Kid, that's a cavern ceiling above your head. It's just a long way up and hidden by air pollution. We don't have daytime here. It's this dark all the time."

"That's... a bit depressing." - I said, then added - "The part about the pollution in the air, not that there isn't daytime. I like the night."

I stared into the murky clouds. After being in Freya's realm, the world of the dwarves seemed oppresive, but it also seemed more real. Folkvanger's light was unnatural, it came from a goddess, in Nidavellir the light came from houses and streetlamps. It made it look more realistic, like any cloudy night in any city.

Blitz wrapped his pith helmet in its dark netting. The whole thing collpased into a small black handkerchief, which he tucked into his coat pocket.

"We should get going."

"We're not going to talk about what happened up there in Volkswagen?" - Magnus asked.

"What's there to say?" - Blitzen faced him.

"For one thing, we're cousins." - Magnus said.

"I'm happy to be your cousing, kid, but children of the gods don't put much stock in that sort of connection." - Blitz shrugged - "Godly family lines are so tangled, thinking about it will drive you crazy. Everybody's related to everybody."

"That only makes-" - I started.

"You don't get to say a thing." - Magnus pointed a finger at me - "You tried to hit on my aunt!"

"Well, I wasn't-"

"You were, kid." - Blitz said - "It was terrible to hear and to watch."

"Exactly!" - Magnus exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait." - I raised my hands - "I'll admit I was... a bit attracted to her. Well, maybe more than a bit." - I said after I saw Magnus and Blitzen's looks - "But let's be honest here. Can you blame me? And not to mention, I'm clearly not good at flirting and she was hitting on me too."

"That's true." - Magnus sighed - "I don't know which one is worse."

"Listen, it won't happen again, I promise. It was simply a thing of the moment. Besides, I don't want to go back to the mellow Volkswagen. Not even if Freya asks me to." - I turned to Blitz, eager to change the subjetc - "I'm a bit surprised to know that you're a demigod. I thought demigods were only possible between gods and humans."

"That's a common mistake. Demigods are anyone who's half-god, half-something. Except for monsters." - Blitz said, glad we had changed the subject - "The word demigod... I hate it. I prefer <<born with a target on my back>>."

"Com on, Blitz. Freya is your mom. That's important information you kinda forgot to mention." - Magnus insisted.

"Freya is my mother." - he agreed - "A lot of svartalfs are descended from Freya. Down here, it's not such a big deal. She mentioned how she got Brisingamen? A few millenia ago she was strolling through Nidavellir (who knows why) and she came across these four dwarves who were crafting the necklace. She was obsessed. She had to have it. The dwarves said sure, for the right price. Freya had to marry each of them, one after the other, for one day each."