Hriedmar breaks through the crowd to get to his son, who is slowly coming to in the chair at the center of the room. Loki stands back, as close to the wall as possible, not sure what has just happened. Freyr follows Hriedmar and tries to comfort Regin, who is ranting loudly.

"I saw him, father! I saw the demon God Butcher! He is coming here, to Vanaheim, to destroy all Vanir!" The boy's voice is shaking, and he is using his hands in vigorous agitations to emphasize his seriousness. "Don't you all hear me? Don't you understand? He comes to extinguish us!"

"My boy, Gorr is only a legend, he is not real," Hriedmar says, trying to give the boy comfort.

"Don't you think I know what I saw? He is real, father! He is real, and he is coming here!" Regin looks out to the crowd, and most of the men are still whispering amongst themselves. "Please, we haven't much time! Cancel the wedding!" This makes the room gasp in disbelief, though the men still don't seem to be taking him seriously. Least of all, Loki, whose experience tells him that whatever the boy saw, he must have brought it on himself.

Loki turns, and exits the court hall just as he hears Regin pleading: "He is coming! In only two weeks' time! We haven't a moment to lose!" He leaves Freyr behind on purpose, wanting to get to his sons, and back home as quickly as possible. If this "Gorr" is coming to the Don City, all the better to get out of it, and head back home.

He goes to the home of Freyr's friend, and finds that they have somehow worn out both of his sons, and Loki is offered a warm cot to sleep on for the night. He obliges, and starts to settle in. Loki wants to be ready to leave at the first sign of dawn. When Freyr finally arrives, he looks flushed in white, and angry with Loki for leaving. He uses his index finger to signal to Loki, come with me, and despite his tiredness, Loki gets up and does as he is asked.

"Uncle, I am sorry I left you behind, I was ju..."

"Do you not understand the gravity of what just occurred? Of what he saw?" Freyr is almost yelling at Loki, something he hasn't heard before. Loki furls his brow in response. "Gorr is not just a legend, dear boy, but a creature bent on the destruction of all Vanir, and Aesir, too!"

Loki only shakes his head in misunderstanding, "Freyr, I do not know this person. What have I to fear?"

"Have you not heard the stories? Do you not know the tale?" Freyr paces before Loki while retelling the account; he is trying to articulate it in a way that doesn't sound like a scary tale to be told around a campfire. "There was once a lost world; where it was, I cannot tell, and the people who lived there worshipped the high realms as if they were filled with Gods and Goddesses. Many of them built houses to worship, named their children after us, and even preached to other worlds of our existence and superiority. They held great faith in their blind adulation, ignorant to the fact that our titles mean nothing if not put to action. Some of them, like Gorr, felt they had no exit from their strife without their deities. It is said that Gorr lost his entire family, his wife and children, to starvation and pestilence. After that, he refused to believe in the Gods, and was cast out into the wilderness to die alone."

"He searched his barren wasteland of a home for sustenance, until he came upon a battle of Aesir and Vanir, two large men who held titles of their honor, and he overheard their cries and declarations. Gorr could not believe his eyes, seeing Gods fighting before him. This forced him to be overcome with grief and anger that they did, indeed, exist. He cursed them, and killed them both, screaming that he had been abandoned, and that if the Gods were out there they owed him their lives as restitution for his pain. His body is said to be one with the all-black, a sword designed with a singular purpose, to slay those of us who reside in these realms. It can give him strength to fly, to create an army bent to his will, and tendrils of sharp spikes that pierce the hearts of any who challenge him."

Loki only stares at Freyr as he tells the story, incredulous to such a thing being possible. When Freyr is finished, he stares right back in silence, waiting for a response.

"Uncle, it sounds like a foe for my former brother, and not one who would try to come here. Don't you know how ridiculous you sound?" Loki uncrosses his arms and turns to go back into the house.

"You may be Jotun, Loki, but your sons? Your Sigyn? They are Aesir, and just as much a target as any one of us!" Freyr knows just what to say to get Loki to turn back to him, and it works well. Loki twists his body back towards his uncle, his expression angry and incensed. "Do you not have a duty to your new home, to your family, to fight for us?"

Loki grits his teeth, not wanting to face this danger. He is thinking of words he told Sigyn long ago: "I will never abandon you for a battle, ever again."

"I will not put myself, or my family, at risk for a threat that I cannot see. I am sorry, uncle. But the boy's vision will have to stand on its own. We are returning to the fortress tomorrow, with or without you." Loki finally turns and goes back inside, finished with the conversation.

Loki ends up embarking on the return journey without Freyr, who was even too upset to say goodbye. He has to hitch Narvi to his back while they ride, and Loki commands the horse to run at top speed to get home. They only end up camping out one night instead of two, and he arrives back in the mountain fortress deep into the darkness on the second day. He feels fortunate that Vali is able to be turned towards him and strapped in so that the boys could both sleep through the ride.

He quietly saunters through the village on his horse, ignoring the whispers he hears in his mind from the Vanir who watch him arrive. Most of them ask the whereabouts of Freyr, and why they feel a growing shadow. Loki wants to get through to his home on the far end as quickly as possible, and silences the doubt in his mind that creeps in.

Loki dismounts, his children attached to him, and he ties up the horse. I will return you tomorrow, he tells it, and opens the door to his home. Sigyn calls out to him from the back room, not having expected him until late tomorrow, and he whispers back to her that it is him alone. She comes out to the front room and first scoops Vali from his arms, and he unhitches Narvi, and they settle their sons in their beds. While Sigyn strokes their hair and admires their faces, having missed them more than she expected, Loki goes out to feed the horse and bring in his load. Sigyn goes out to the main room to greet him properly, the fireplace still burning in the cool night, and as soon as Loki drops the bags she embraces him.

Sigyn is surprised to feel him squeeze her form tightly, and he seems to be burying his face in her hair. She hears him breathing in and out slowly. When she does get him to release her, it is only for him to swiftly meet her lips. Hmm, so time away, a lovely return makes, she thinks to herself. Loki kisses Sigyn hard, breathing into her, but this is not a kiss of passion. He eventually pulls away, putting his forehead against hers.

"I missed you too," she says, running her right hand's fingertips along his hairline and behind his ear. He does not grasp her hand as he normally would, and just stands where he is against her. Sigyn registers his fingers drumming against her sides. Clearly, there is something on his mind. "Loki, what's wrong?"

He separates his forehead from hers, and opens his mouth to speak, yet Loki says nothing. He only shakes his head. "It is nothing, my love. It is just the late hour." Loki squeezes Sigyn's hands three times, and walks to the back of the house to turn in for the night.