The Old Gods | Book 2

One: A Stranger

Borgund, Norway.

In the hills of Borgund there is a small dirt trail trekking through the wilderness. Melted white snow patches the ground and the trees have begun to thaw out from the long winter. Heavy feet crunches above the snow as a woman hikes her way around a mountain. It is a tricky place to find for someone who does not want to be found or stumbled upon by mortals.

Sigyn, the princess of Asgard and Vanaheim is making this journey to find someone who has been hiding for a very long time. It is past noon by the time the trail thins out and she begins to see a flourish of exotic plants blanketed in melting snow. There is a creaking sound of wood and the gushing of water. She can see a stream going down the mountain.

Sigyn see's a warning carved onto a tree. Death beyond this point. But there was nothing beyond the tree. She looked to the right and she could see the shimmery glow of a barrier. She knows she is in the right place. She holds her hand up to the barrier and pushes through. She breaks through the vegetation and the path opens up to a small humble house on the hill side. It is protected by trees and she can see runes and sigils painted onto the house and surrounding trees.

It is an old wooden stave house with upturned roofing and a dragons head carved from wood perched on the ridges. Sigyn cautiously approaches the old house. There is a water wheel gushing into the stream where parts are still frozen over. There are woven baskets sitting on the porch by a chair with furs. The walls are hung with drying herbs and skinned animals. Someone lives here.

"I knew you were coming." a mans voice spoke. "You shouldn't have come here." He wears a thick blue tunic and a fur coat over his shoulders.

Sigyn turned and by a fire pit where an old pot hung over the smouldering flames, a man is sitting. How did she not see him there? He is a tall, well built man, with golden hair and the eyes of his father. "For a long time now." he speaks with a gruff, but very soft voice.

He is so grown up from the boy she last saw. "It is good to see you again, Forseti." she greeted, coming over, with a smile. His golden hair has darkened over his years and he had grown a stubble.

He looked up at her. He had the handsome face of his mother. He speaks with a hushed tone. "I knew you were coming. But I don't know why." it sounded like a question he couldn't answer. "Why are you here?" he questioned, as if speaking to the serpent himself. His eyes laced with gold stare intensely at the goddess as if he couldn't figure something out.

"I have come to ask for help." she answered.

At this, he cocked a brow. "Help?" he cackled. "Strange the princess should come to me for help." he gestured for her to sit on the log adjacent to the fire.

"How are you, Forseti?"

He nodded. "I am well." he poked the fire with a stick.

"Are you not lonely all the way up here?"

"It is comforting actually, as you might find. The solitude helps keeps the visions away. I like it here. It is peaceful." he speaks softly, and with short words only. He has no one else to talk to besides the trees and animals. What use does he have for words?

"If you saw me coming. Have you seen what has happened on Asgard?"

Forseti doesn't answer. He only nodded in reply. "Pieces. Sometimes it comes to me in parts only, I have no control." He poked the fire again and embers flew into the air. "You have also chosen exile? My condolences. Unable to stand being in Asgard anymore and others ask why I have chosen to come here. The mortal realm is calming, an escape from it all. But why here? Why come to Midgard? Why not go home to Vanaheim?"