Einherjar

15

Blader rose early with his fellow recruits, finally able to pull the formal recruit uniform out of his trunk. He dressed in the dull grey uniform, the trousers tucking into knee high black boots and the tunic formfitting with a high neckline, a black belt bound about his waist. The grey cap was the last part of the formal uniform, sitting on his brown hair. His Ragnarok tags he slipped under his tunic; they were to be worn but not seen on formal occasions.

All the other recruits were dressed the same, both male and female. When they met in the assembly room, Skalfi gave Blader, Wolfsted, Sodull, and Erik a tense grin from beside Vandri. Then Master Utan was calling out for them to form up and they began to march out of the barracks.

Through the streets of Vigrid they proceeded, heading for the back gates of the settlement. Blader stepped along beside Wolfsted, feeling excitement course through him. They were about to parade through the city of Asgard, able to see the fabled city for the first time.

When they reached the back gates, Utan called for them to halt. The other units were also marching into the large opening before the gates, all dressed in the same formal uniform.

For several long moments after the last unit showed up, the recruits all just stood there, waiting for an order. The Valkyries all appeared, riding winged horses and wearing their own formal dress, but still no one called out an order.

Then Magni and Modi strode to stand before the gates, Magni gripping Mjolnir in his hand. The god raised the hammer up, his eyes flashing with eagerness.

"Recruits!" he bellowed. "You have spent these past two months preparing hard for the Reenactment, and that day has finally come! Tomorrow you will prove yourselves as einherjar or die trying, but today, you will be welcomed into the city of the gods, Asgard, the home of the High King and his noble queen! You shall be feasted like the warriors you are!"

With that, Magni pivoted, hammer still held up, and the gates began to swing inward. Cries of "Move out!" started to echo among the various units as Magni and Modi strode out the gates, leading the parade. The recruits would follow, the Valkyries bringing up the rear.

Blader's unit was the third one after the gods, marching in rows of ten abreast. He was on the left end, Wolfsted to his right. Sodull and Erik marched in front of them and Vandri and Skalfi were a row behind and to the far right.

They marched out of the gates of Vigrid and Blader looked up to see the large gates of Asgard slowly swinging inward. His eyes widened in anticipation and he heard Wolfsted's swift intake of breath from beside him.

Only Valkyries and einherjar were permitted to gaze upon the home of the gods. No one else was allowed; it was forbidden and, in fact, it was a crime for one to do so. Blader remembered hearing the story of Vaetr Haseti one day at school, the man who had snuck into Asgard and had even entered the royal palace before being caught and executed on the spot. The teacher had meant it as a cautionary tale about going where one wasn't supposed to, but Jorid had remarked to Blader after the end of the story that if an ordinary person had been able to enter Asgard and get to the palace before being noticed, never mind caught, it just proved that anyone could do it.

Jorid just had that attitude toward the legends and tended to take different lessons away from them than the teacher intended. He had always done it, but it had gotten worse after Thor's Bridge. Blader had used to wonder if he would think the same way, had it been Hilda who had been blown to bits on the bridge instead of Jorid's mother. He had never come to a conclusion on that subject.

Blader's unit marched forward into Asgard, crossing the short distance between the settlement and the city and entering through the gates. He felt dwarfed by the enormous gates that towered up over his head, but that feeling was soon forgotten as he turned his attention forward into the city itself.