Their advance towards the northern part of the country was significantly slowed down. There were less trains and bus services where Jörmun was guiding the group to.
However, one of the small towns they stopped into, aiming to spend the night there, offered them an unexpected but pleasant finding. As they were searching for a place to stay at, Maddie also caught news of a reenactment festival, where the locals from all around the region would come to present viking traditions.
“We should hang around for a day more and attend this!” she suggested with enthusiasm. It would’ve surely been an exciting change to their wander in search of Jörmun’s family reunion fantasy.
“What’s that?” Eloise asked, peeking over her friend’s shoulder at the phone’s screen. “Oh, I see,” she nodded appreciatively, but not much impressed.
“That sounds interesting,” Jörmun mused out loud as he read the festival’s description. They used to participate to similar celebrations as children, singing and dancing for as long as they could keep up with the grown-ups.
“We’re already kind of slow. I am surprised you are tempted to take a break,” Eloise glanced at Jörmun. He seemed to be keen on making as little stops as possible, pushing them to near exhaustion every day as they kept on travelling and exploring various locations; however a reenactment festival was apparently all that he needed to give everyone a breather.
“I believe we all deserve a bit of relaxation, don’t you think?” he smiled at the girls. Maddie was all into it, happy with the mutual agreement; however it wasn’t the same for Eloise. Her scepticism towards their doings and his decisions appeared to only grow stronger with each passing day.
After finding themselves a place for the night, the group headed for the location outside the small town where the festivity took place. As they approached the destination, they no longer needed the guiding signs leading them there; the traditional music was boasting from the live performers nearby the entrance.
“Welcome, welcome!” a woman made her way forth and offered each of them a hot drink, which made Maddie let out a muffled shriek of excitement.
Once inside the wooden fence enclosed meadow, they felt as if they made a leap back in time; there were wooden cabins in the distance, resembling the one that materialized from the boulder on top of the hill. There were also tents, serving various foods and beverages, and live workshops, such as woodworking and blacksmithing.
Despite the size of the town they came from, the place was full of people, some in regular clothes, alike themselves, some wearing outfits fitting the period and mood of the festival.
“Oh, I wish we could have some of those,” Maddie pointed with her chin at a girl about their age, wrapped in a few layers of traditional clothing and topped by a fur falling over her shoulders.
“I think I saw some changing cabins,” Eloise looked around, trying to remember where she spotted the place.
“I suppose you need to come with your own clothes though…”
Jörmun who had been listening closely to their conversation chuckled behind their backs. He then threw his arms over the girls’ shoulders, bringing them to a halt. He bowed down his head and whispered to them loud enough to be heard over the general buzzing and music.
“Each of you take one of my hands.”
“If you pull some silly move…” Maddie warned him just through the tone of her voice, but heard him laugh low in her ear.
“Trust me,” he said and moved his fingers tempetively, waiting for them to be caught within the grasp of the girls’ hands.
“Famous last words,” Eloise puffed with a silent laughter as both herself and Maddie did as they have been asked.
A warm feeling crossed their bodies, as if they just took a gulp from a hot drink. When they shook out from the fuzzy feeling, they found themselves completely transformed in terms of clothes and hairstyle, their new fit being a match with those dressed especially for the festival. Jörmun himself did not shy away from harmonizing his outfit with their own, adding even some braids into his red, wavy hair.
“Are these for real or is it just us seeing them?”
“I don’t know, Maddie, they seem pretty real to me,” he giggled with satisfaction as he released their hands and slithered his way through the moving crowd of people.
“Where did he go?” Eloise asked, taken by surprise by the sudden disappearance of her brother. She tugged onto Maddie’s arm, who starred ahead of herself with a silly smile plastered on her face. “Did you catch glimpse of him?”
“He danced his way out like a fire ash in the wind.”
Eloise let out an annoyed sigh, feeling at loss with both of them. There were too many people around and even though Jörmun was no common sight with his fiery hair, he was still hard to spot.
While their search for Jörmun proved itself to be unsuccessful through the workshop areas and tents, the girls noticed a drop in the noise accompanying them up to that moment. They exchanged glances and decided to follow some of the crowd that suddenly changed direction and headed for the largest wooden building in the far back of the temporary settlement.
“Was this here before? I am sure we would’ve noticed it ever since we arrived. It easily towers over everything else,” Maddie asked, confused by her own memory. She stared ahead in awe at the massive longhouse.
“It most certainly wasn’t here,” Eloise added on a grave tone and hurried through the people walking at their sides, dragging her friend by the hand into the direction of the freshly erected building. If neither of them could recall the location, it couldn’t mean anything other than two things: they were either losing their minds or it was her brother’s doing. She was inclined to believe in the latter and got her assumption confirmed soon enough.
As soon as they stepped inside the building, which turned out to be a large mess hall, the music filled their ears once again, while the smell of freshly cooked food enchanted their senses.
In the far back, there were three seats masked by the table before them, which was topped with all sorts of food plates and drink caskets. It was there that the girls spotted their missing companion. He waved at them while being seating in the middle chair, decorated by a wooden snake sculpture at its top.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you, and you were here; busy doing what you know best, tricking people into your fantasies,” Eloise went into a full rant once she reached the other end of the large chamber, where Jörmun was seated.
“They had this thing going before we even arrived. What are you on about?”
“Neither myself nor Maddie remember the existence of this place.”
Jörmun shook his head, clicking his tongue in a theatrical denial. “Of course it was here!” he insisted.
“With a throne especially waiting for you. Even sculpted in your supposedly likeness,” she darted a look to the serpent wrapped around the chair’s top. “You will never earn your credibility if you keep on lying. Where did the ‘let’s play it low because Thor is around, searching for us’ go?”
“Relax, Eloise. Take example from Maddie. She’s having the time of her life,” he invited his sister with a hand gesture to look at her friend who was now busy dancing with a random young man between the tables.
“When did she…”
“Take a seat. Take a bite and a sip,” he added as he poured her a drink.
“You didn’t enchant this or something,” she glared at the casket.
“I don’t know which of you started this game of ‘let’s question all Jörmungandr’s doings’, but you should loosen your grip on it a bit. It’s becoming ridiculous.”
“You’re not helping yourself much,” Eloise whispered low as she eventually took a sip. She shrugged as no particularly strange feeling seemed to hit her. For once, he did not lie. “You may fool Maddie, but not me.”
“Hm? How so?” Jörmun leaned into his chair to the side, interested in what the other had to say.
“You did something that night.”
“Which night?” he laughed. “We spent already weeks together. You will have to be more specific than that,” he stretched to grab a cheese bite from a wooden tray.
“When we went after the ring. To me it felt as if I saw some of the things happen twice, though one of the outcomes is still incredibly blurry in my mind. I can’t make anything out of it,” she confessed with a frown. Her eyes then settled on her brother who didn’t seem concerned by her words.
“I may have done a thing or two,” he licked a smile off his lips. “Or it was simply your tired mind playing tricks on you.”
“I knew it!” she hissed, leaning in closer to him; she didn’t even cared to consider the second option. “What did you do, Jörmun?”
“Tempered my emotions.”
“Just that?”
“Just that.”
“You don’t want to make a bad impression or what? You’re beyond redemption in our eyes with all your lies and Maddie doesn’t trust you with a poking stick if you want to know.”
“Oh, doesn’t she now? She looked pretty pleased with the outfit, and she looks quite happy with the dancing going on down there,” he peeked over the table; their seats were a bit elevated on a wooden platform with a couple of steps separating them from the main space.
“You didn’t answer me though.”
“To what, my beloved sister? Look, why don’t you just enjoy yourself instead of nitpicking my doings, hm?” he suggested on a soft tone. His voice was ever-pleasant to listen to.
“About Thor tracking us,” she went on, disregarding his proposal. She wasn’t in the mood for having fun, not while her brother was so busy showing off.
“Ah, him. Don’t worry about him.”
“I thought he was our main concern?” she blinked in confusion.
“I have slowed him down a bit.”
“But-,” she started, but fell silent as Jörmun tapped his index finger onto the shiny green gem encrusted in the golden ring. He didn’t say a word, but she understood exactly what he meant. “You are mingling with fire.”
“Or thunder,” he chuckled, having his eyes look ahead over the cheering crowd gathered at the tables.
“It’s not funny. No matter if this whole thing about me being your sister is true or not, we shouldn’t drag Maddie into trouble.”
“She will be in no trouble,” he said on a tone that was supposed to be reassuring, but didn’t sound like it the slightest. He then stood up and dragged his sister out from her seat. With only a flick of his fingers, he extended the dancing area and made his way in. The music played even louder and with much more passion than before, while more and more people joined the celebration.
The spirits only settled a bit after Jörmun sang a heartfelt song, charming those present with the smoothness of his voice, speaking in a long forgotten dialect. After that, everyone slowly claimed back their seats and enjoyed yet another round of freshly cooked food and beverages.
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