With the months sliding slowly into an early fall, Maddie and Jörmun found themselves enjoying a late afternoon walk by the lake. The days were starting to grow shorter and shorter, but the weather was still pleasant enough, even with the coming sunset.
“How do you feel about the Skuldelev’s progress? Do you think we’re likely to finish until the Midwinter Solstice?” Maddie asked, with the fresh memory of the workshop still in mind. They had been there the entire day; they were there every single day, giving a helping hand to Birger whenever he needed it.
“I am confident that we can do it.”
“I still find it mind-boggling that we found the sail in such a good condition.”
“A few stitches here and there surely fail in comparison to the work needed on the body of the boat,” he agreed. The small mending he had to do on the canvas was resolved within a day; all done with nothing more than his magic touch and Maddie’s observant eyes, that hunted for the loose and missing threads.
“Do you think Birger actually believes you?” the girl asked after a prolonged moment of silence. She often wondered what the man truly thought of Jörmun’s Asgardian roots.
“Which part is he supposed to believe?” he laughed and glanced at the other.
“That you are the so-called Midgard Serpent, child of Loki, banished from Asgard,” she detailed.
“I am quite certain he believes there is something going on about me, but I am not sure to what extent he accepted all the other details. Why do you ask?”
“Pure curiosity.”
Jörmun hummed positively, then nudged the girl with his elbow. “But do you believe any of it?”
“I must admit, I had my doubts. I am well past them. I think seeing Thor disappear with your sister through a rainbow beam that pierced the rooftop of our hotel was enough of a proof.”
“That was the Bifröst.”
“I think none of my teachers would believe the absurdity of it, if I were to begin describe anything in my diploma,” she shook her head with a smile just at the thought. She was the very witness of what historians called myths and Gods.
“Speaking of which- How are you getting on with your studies?”
“Why are you suddenly interested in this?” she eyed him with an arched eyebrow. He never cared to ask about that for months.
“I thought we were discussing the matters.”
“It was a random thought.”
“My question stands,” he looked at her as they continued their walk at a slow pace.
“I postponed my diploma delivery. I want to be prepared and honestly this whole journey taught me quite a bit,” she acknowledged out loud the surprising contribution their adventure had to her study subject.
“You can resume it anytime? It sounds very convenient,” he appreciated on a mildly impressed tone.
“I have to resume it at any point a study year would normally start, but for a price I can postpone it until I am ready.”
“A good trade if you ask me.”
“It is. Very helpful in the scenario where one needs to help a demigod achieve his goals in order to retrieve the missing sibling.”
“Is this also a written rule of your university?” he fought off a smile, attempting to remain serious.
“They should add it. Just in case someone else faces the situation I did,” she said shortly before they both burst into laughter. It wasn’t very likely that it would be a plausible scenario, but one never knew.
It was during a cold and rainy fall evening that Jörmun brought up an unexpected subject right after dinner. With the big day approaching, he needed to know whether he had ready everything that needed to be done in order for his plan to work.
“Is any of you capable of using a longbow?”
“Are you getting bored and want to learn a new skill?” Maddie looked amused at Jörmun, not having the slightest clue where that idea came from. She never heard him mention anything of the sort, nor did they had any relevant discussion recently.
“I know how to do that, but I can’t be both on the boat and loose an arrow from the shore. So, do you know?” he glanced at Maddie, then at Birger.
“I can fire a shotgun. I used to go hunting with my father when I was younger,” Birger said. It wasn’t exactly what the other asked for, but perhaps it amounted to something.
“Is it safe to assume that you have a good aim then?”
“I haven’t been hunting in decades. I am sure age and the lack of practice may have a say in my aim,” he replied thoughtful. “But I can give it a try, if you’d like me to.”
“But with a bow.”
“Why do you need this anyway?” Maddie asked, intrigued by the subject.
“I will reveal the details later on, but first I must ensure that at least one of you can do that.”
“We may have to look into a bigger city or an online shop for a longbow though. I doubt you will find any in the neighbouring villages and towns,” Birger suggested.
“No need,” Jörmun put his hand out to the side and after murmuring a quick spell, a wooden longbow started to form within his grasp, having the familiar green sparkling fire build upon its materiality.
“That is very handy,” the man was in awe once more before Jörmun’s magic. “I wish I could make out of thin air the nails I keep losing through the workshop.”
“Your hands are magical enough,” Maddie complimented Birger, who shuffled in his seat, mumbling low in gratitude.
“I suppose you don’t want to try that now,” the man’s chin pointed towards the longbow as he exchanged a quick glance with Jörmun who was now holding the full weapon in his hand.
“We can do that from tomorrow onward, but you will eventually have to use it at night,” he watched Birger nod, then passed the bow across the table. He watched the man take it and examine it closely; he especially looked at the way the wood was worked.
“I still fail to understand why you need me to repair the boat when you can conjure such out of thin air. This is a work of art.”
“It’s the most common Asgardian longbow. Any young adult should be able to proficiently loose an arrow,” he answered, disregarding the logic the man tried to wrap his mind around. Spells were worth nothing if one didn’t know exactly what was supposed to materialise through them; and he lacked the knowledge Birger had in regards to boat construction.
“I take it that I will have a good teacher then,” he smiled. The more he spent time around the young pair, the more he started to believe that the introduction Jörmun first gave him was true; even though it was probably the magic that had the strongest word in establishing the conviction.
With the Midwinter Solstice drawing closer with each passing day, Maddie could see Jörmun becoming more reserved. Ever since Birger mentioned him being silent, back when the sail was still missing, she put in the effort of keeping an eye out for similar signals; they were a good indicator of the other’s state of mind, in the absence of him speaking out his concerns.
She kept on hoping that he would bring up whatever was on his mind sooner or later, but she couldn’t deny that curiosity and worry were consuming her on the inside. He must have been thinking intensively about the day; however, even with that in mind she was still unable to tell anything more. The girl was just as clueless as she was months before in regards to what he was actually going to do with the boat, with Birger’s newly acquired longbow skill and anything else that Jörmun may decide to surprise them with.
As they stepped into the latter half of November, Jörmun stopped inviting Maddie to join him for the evening walk, which was to them almost like a ritual. Instead, he went for it by himself; it was one of his only moments alone throughout the day and the time when he could allow himself to dive into his thoughts undisturbed.
The crisp evening air was seasoned already with the breeze of winter. They even had a bit of snow in the past days, which dressed the scenery in a white veil. However, that very evening, the sky was as clear as it could get, gleaming with a multitude of stars.
Jörmun paused on a frozen log at the edge of the lake. It was the spot himself and Maddie found to be a good resting point. He stared ahead of himself at the calm, reflective surface of the water; he wondered how he could possibly tell Maddie about what was about to happen during the Solstice night. He had been obsessively pondering upon it for a while now and still had no solution. It only became harder and harder to think that he had to articulate it before the other.
He never had issues speaking his mind, whether it was a lie or the truth. This was a first and it was terrifying. He didn’t even try to ask his father in his dreams on how it would be best to approach it. It was as if he was afraid to expose the growing fear, which he too was unable to explain if questioned.
However, closing himself in, alongside his thoughts, didn’t go unnoticed. He knew Maddie was perceptive. He knew that the question will inevitably come; “What’s on your mind?” And when it would happen, he had no clue what a good answer was going to be.
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