Beyond Fate and the Stars [Self-Published]

Trust: The Refuge of the Wolf

​Trust – Refuge of the Wolf

by jacesinclair

2nd Draft

We decided to visit Geirangerfjord in Norway, a part of Scandinavia, this winter to spend our honeymoon. The place is surrounded by majestic, snow-covered mountain peaks, wild waterfalls and lush, green vegetation. We even visited the, De Syv Søstrene, the so-called Seven Sisters because it consists of seven looms of silver streams plunging down into the blue paradise and the Friaren which is just across them. It was called 'the suitor' because it flirts playfully will all of them from afar.

We tried canoeing in Preikestolen Mountain Lodge. Clara loves exploring nature. We experienced the serenity and propinquity of the water and the flabbergasting creation of Mother Nature. The lake was gleaming clearly like it was sprinkled with stardust and I stopped Clara several times from trying to dive into it.

It was a long day for us. At last, the sun already completed its duty for the day and is now replaced by a myriad of stars which dotted the black curtain of the sky like pulsing diamonds.

I sat beside her as she adored the twinkling spotlights of the night outside our tent. She's looking up, watching Cassiopeia, it had taken its place for the night amongst thousands of other constellations.

Suddenly the full moon that swung capriciously in twilight welkin was enveloped by a crimson blanket and from a distance, Clara, my wife, heard the resonance of gongs and drums.

"Luke, is there a festival or something?" she asked innocently.

I stopped to listen to the noises not too far from us. "It was because of the Lunar Eclipse. The Norse gods and goddesses were loved by the Vikings. The Vikings came mainly from Scandinavia, and Norway is a part of it. It was their religion. They believe that by making noise they hope they can scare off those wolves who eat the sun and the moon."

"Wolves? Skolls and Hati Hrodvitnisson? But they did not ate the moon right? Skolls chased the sun and Hati tried to catch the moon, but neither of them ate it." She countered.

"They did not. There was a story about a wolf- Fenris who ate the moon, it was an old tale somewhere in Faroe Island I think. It was a version not known by many."

Clara sat and leaned her head on my shoulder as we watched the Blood Moon ended.

"Tell me about it." she insisted.

"Do you want coffee? This is going to be a long story." I smiled at her before started to tell her about the tale.

***

Once there were nine worlds, homeland of various types of beings. The Midgard where humanity lives. Asgard, the world of Aesir tribes. Vanaheim, the world of the Vanir tribes. Jotunheim, the world of giants. Niflheim, the primordial world of ice. Muspelheim, the primordial world of fire. Alfheim, the world of elves, Svartalfheim, the world of dwarves and Hel, the world of the dead.

***

Vanaheim is an infinite forest. If Asgard was encircled by walls to protect them, the Vaneheim was designed like a gargantuan maze to mislead the enemies. Vanaheim, the umber-brown ancient forest already reeked in age. Its deep, haunting ballad of its ancient song called to Cerise as she walked on the cunningly woven web of dried leaves. She heard the snapping of branches and the shuffling noises came from deep heart of the forest. She shouldn't be there, even if she's a native, she will definitely be lost without her magic crystal that she used to find their way, it worked like a map for them. Too bad she's too inept to forget it in her abode. She was asked to go to her grandma's house in the Vanaheim's threshold to bring her some foods, but she's now gone astray in this hoary fortress because of her clumsiness. She had this gut feeling that this already happened before.