A Familiar Foe - Book 5

Stranger with a Familiar Name (HELA)

I hopped awkwardly from each side of the well-worn path from home to the Bifrost site, strategically finding every crispy leaf along my way. They crumbled between my toes and sent a shiver up my spine of satisfaction when the texture was just right—not quite crunchy, not just dry, certainly not soggy at all—simply crispy, like the ever-moist air of our world.

My argument with Mum that morning replayed in my mind again and again, and I kept replying out loud as if she were still listening. "No, I don't want to wear shoes. No, I don't want to do chores. No, I have no interest in staying on Narvlheim until my skin turns grey. If Vali could leave home and settle in Asgard at twenty years old, why treat me like I'm still a baby at nineteen? Haven't I earned the right to be seen as an adult yet?"

She didn't have much ammunition against me besides her paranoia and usual dose of overprotection. Always insisting that I be within reach of her, of Father, of Uncle Freyr and Nanny...if Vali were still living at home, she'd surely make it his business to keep an ear or eye on me. It had been months since he'd returned to Narvlheim, yet I knew if I could convince him to vouch for my strengths, Mum would have to relent.

Vali's spring training season would end tomorrow with a new distribution of ranks, and he was expected to take a few weeks' relief from his duties. In the past eight years since he'd been part of Asgard's army, he never failed to return home for the short retreats. On the chance that he might arrive tonight and go with Father in the morning for the rank announcements, I convinced Mum to let me leave our argument in favor of waiting by the Bifrost site for my brother.

Besides my crispy underfoot companions, I wiled the hours away practicing flash spells and searching for anything unfamiliar and worth documenting, though Vali and I had chronicled everything in this part of Narvlheim long ago. There weren't many things for me to discover anymore. Still, I exercised the few gifts that seemed somewhat unique to me and didn't require Father's stiff discipline to achieve.

Flash. A perfect rendering of me appeared in the tree at my side, comfortably settled in the crux by the trunk.

Flash. Now I threw a projection to another tall perch in a tree across the path.

Flash. Two more of me, one donning my usual deep green tunic and one in all black, walked side by side with alternating gates at the front. They continued down the route without a care.

My projections swayed their hips seductively and twirled their fingers, beckoning invisible foes into my trap. The ones in the trees came down on their own and walked forward until all of us merged together into my true self.

If Vali had shapeshifting, I had this. Real illusion. No one could match my skill, not even Father. He taught me well.

The wind breathed small fairy knots into my long black hair, but I didn't do much to discourage them. I could spend hours untangling them later. Anything to distract me from Mum's nagging once I returned home...

I barely noticed how long I'd been walking when the deep scar of the Bifrost site came into view. It was practically carved into the tough rock beneath; Father trimmed back the foliage to keep the area clear annually. As the only formal gateway to our world—and him as Steward of Narvlheim—he took pride in presenting it as if he owned the whole planet. A small gesture compared to the grand Bifrost machine on Asgard, which I'd only seen a handful of times.

Hopefully more, though. And soon. Vali might like the comfort of his old room from time to time throughout the year, but I craved freedom. Far-off worlds no one knew yet. Magic we couldn't dream of. Yggdrasil was new and bursting with possibility, yet if what Nanny said was true, we couldn't waste time to see it. Humans, Aesir, Narvir, everyone...we were all equally mortal and fragile in ways most weren't before the Ragnarok, not that I could compare. Frankly, I thought most of the tales my parents told about Old Yggdrasil were exaggerated. Water that healed and gave foresight? A whisper in the mind across distance? Nine whole realms instead of the known four? Ridiculous.