Laugavegur, A Hinterland Journey

Chapter 24 - Shelled Life of Blue and Gold

Tokki and Anja grunted and vaulted their way to the riverbank immediately below the Aerie and took cover beneath an overhang.

"What deal do you think he was talking about?" asked Tokki.

"I don't know," replied Anja ducking as a dragon screamed overhead. "The real question is, do you think any dragons saw us?"

"Probably," Tokki said as he set down his stave beneath the outcropping.

"Let's lay low for a few minutes and give them a chance to forget." Anja set down her satchel and checked the contents. The pack had gotten a bit wet during their descent down the canyon, but thankfully the vial was still intact. Tokki's stomach growled and he checked his bag as well. There were still a few pieces of Dwarven tack left, but they too had gotten soggy and were falling apart. Instead, he grabbed a few strips of dried reindeer meat the herder had given them before sending them off to sleep in the stable. He gnawed on the end of one of the spiced meats and offered the other to his sister. "Do you think Skari made it out?" he asked as she took the dried meat.

"Honestly, I don't know. He seems quite the survivor though... always able to make it out of a situation where others die." The words were true enough but sounded bitter from her tongue.

"He saved our lives," said Tokki defiantly. "Getting us the deer and sending us away."

Anja looked at Tokki critically. "And delivering us into the hands of a madman? Seems to me he always has a plan to get himself out of trouble. Think about when Katla burned Fjallabak. He was off in his cave. Everyone else died or disappeared."

"We were in his cave too. Does that make us evil?"

"Okay, how about with the garm? He survives and Ratatoskr is killed just as he was going to tell me about our parents!"

"That was an accident! Skari didn't mean to hit Ratatoskr with the gauldur, it just happened."

"Are you sure?" asked Anja.

Tokki glared at her petulantly. "And Skari told us what happened with our parents."

"He told us his version of the events. Nobody else survived to discredit or verify his story. The fact is, we simply don't know."

"I know," said Tokki defiantly, waving his stick of jerky at her. He was not going to let his sister poison his thoughts. "We are Huldu."

With that, Tokki sat and crossed his arms, signaling that, at least to his mind, the conversation was over. Anja was tempted to push forward and continue to try to convince her brother of Skari's dubious nature, but she had argued with Tokki enough to know when his mind was set. He could not be swayed by even the most carefully crafted of arguments. Why even try?

"Veld?" Tokki called. The raven, who was never far away flitted down from a rock precipice above. "Will you go and see what came of Skari? Let him know we escaped and are trying to fulfill the geise." The raven quorked, eyeing Tokki's jerky. "Of course." Tokki broke off a generous chunk which Veld snapped up quickly. The raven rose into the air, turning back to the north, and was soon gone from sight. Their group was down to just the two siblings.

Anja and Tokki chewed in relative silence, watching the sun slowly rise beyond the far peaks, its warmth welcome after the cold night on the river. Anja's mind eventually shifted to the task ahead.

"How much cotton grass rope do you have left?" she asked. Tokki was still a bit surly, but he reached over to his pack and untied the coil of rope he had attached to the outside. He tossed the coil to her.