Journey of an Einherji - The Sword of Summer

A Valkyrie Beginnings

Before I could plummet to my death, I shook my arms in circles and regained my balance.

"Whoa, I got you." - Sam asked, pulling me back from the edge.

She was dressed in a new navy blue peacoat, with dark jeans and boots. Blue was among my favourite colours, and it made her look dignified and serious, like an officer. Her headscarf was freckled with snow. Her axe wasn't at her side; it was probably tucked in the backpack over her shoulder.

Sam reached out her hand and wiped a tear off my face. I hadn't realized that I was still crying. Coldbringer was still in my hand. The runes weren't glowing. The void sucking it all inside me was still there.

"Sorry." - I wiped my eyes quickly.

"What happened?" - Sam asked concerned.

Just thinking about my parents made me want to curl up and cry. Also, it made me want to run to Helheim and stab the goddess where her heart should be.

"Nothing, just..." - I sniffed - "Can we not talk about it now?" - I looked at the horizon - "I'll tell you later, if you still want to hear it, but not now. Please."

Sam simply nodded. I don't know if she saw through me, or belived that I would tell her when I was ready, but I appreciated the silence

I willed Coldbringer back to a ring. I looked at my chest and saw that the cut had mostly healed, it was just a red line across the skin, my T-shirt was still ripped though.

I sat down on the edge of the rooftop, my legs dangling.

Below us, the patch of asphalt was not exactly a park, more like a holding area between school buildings. Inside the chain link fence, a few dozen students huddled in cliques, chatting in doorways or pushing each other around in the icy ground. They looked like seventh-graders, though it was hard to be sure with everybody in their dark winter coats.

I figured I shouldn't be on the roof of a school, but honestly... I couldn't care less. I kept looking at the horizon. Sam's expression was preoccupied, her gaze somewhere in the distance, but from time to time, she glanced at me. I could tell she wanted to ask, yet respected what I had said.

It was making me a little nervous. I didn't want to say what had happened, and at the same time I wanted to. I wanted to let it out, maybe I would feel something then, something more than pain and anger.

"Geirrod's fortress." - my voice was hoarse - "What happened?"

She told me all: climbing the cliff; camping. Entering the fortress: guest rights (a way to make sure you're not instantly killed by giants), Gunilla the swan; bargaining with Geirrod's daughters; Jack the giant slayer and Magnus the trampoline jumper. Geirrod's arrival: bringing down the roof on him; Gunilla's threat: her forced departure back to Valhalla and finding Thor's iron staff.

"That's..." - I was speechless - "Wow."

"Tell me about it." - Sam sighed - "Want to tell me about the duel?"

I told her all about it, I did skipped all the walking and my horrible singing: Angrboda's trick and her arrival; me challenging her to the einvigi. The fight; discovering the sword's magic, the last moments of the duel. Angrboda's defeat: our last conversation; the final strike, naming the sword. Returning to the campsite: the talk with Thor and arriving at Geirrod's fortress.

Sam stared at me.

"You..." - she chuckled to herself - "That's not something anyone can do. Can I see the sword?"

I took off the ring and handed her the blade. Just like during the duel, the snowflakes got stuck.

"I've never seen a sword like it." - she said - "Bone steel. Perfectly balanced." - Sam squinted - "I can see a small layer of ice forming. What did you name it?"