Andren left the cabin carrying Mimir's head, because it's normal to tromp around with the decapitated animated noggin of your relative. I followed her, not wanting to be left in a dark room with a blind man who looked too much like my history teacher. I was led to the center of a circle of eighteen small wooden houses. A boy, not more than nineteen, with flame-colored hair and eyes the light blue of a clear sky, came to Andren holding something.
"What's that, Pip?"
"Another tail." He spoke with a British accent. A cow's tail was wagged at her, one end caked with dry blood.
"Is Dagny's, isn't it?" Mimir spoke.
"No, Dagmar's. Peregrine, get one of Eir's sons and tell them to meet Dagny at the Infirmary." The boy ran to a nearby house to rely the message.
"So you're in charge?" She faced me.
"Actually, Hödr's in charge."
"She's more second-in-command." Another knock on the forehead as she glared at Mimir. In the light of the moon, I saw a word tattooed in black ink on the base of her neck, on the right side: veðrfædd. At the same time, she made Mimir vanish.
"Who is Hödr?"
"You know him as Mr. Foster, but he is the blind god of cold and darkness. He was tricked by Loki into killing his twin brother, Balder, god of light and joy, with a mistletoe arrow. Vali, god of revenge and a son of Odin, grew to adulthood in a day and killed Hödr. After a few hundred years, Hödr was brought back to life, pardoned for being wrongly accused and set up this camp; a place for demigods and immortals to live safely."
"Why was I brought here?"
"You are-" Other kids, younger and older, gathered around us, forming a circle. I noticed a small group of blonde girls among them.
"As you can see, we have a new member. He was found by Daggry."
Daggry left the blonde group of girls and stood to the right of Andren. A cow tail stuck out from under her dress, lazily swishing back and forth.
"I believe he is the last of the Earthly Einherjar." Whispers went through the clusters of people.
"Got any proof?" A voice near the back of a group spoke.
"Let me see you." The voice's owner of stepped to the inner edge of the circle. A pale, night-haired boy spoke again.
"What proof do you have that he's the last of the Fallen Warriors?" The blonde smiled.
"I have seen him. And he is the only son of Tyr." Even more whispering.
"Further more, Grimm, he has fought Garmr with his father's old sword." I looked at the weapon still clutched in my left hand.
"Must I carry this sword all night? And why is Garmr so important?" I found myself speaking. Andren turned to me in response.
"Let me see your sword." I handed it to her, and she took it by the blade and placed it in the palm of her left hand. She ran her right hand over the length of the blade, speaking softly as she did so. When she finished, the sword had turned into a twisted silver bracelet with a wolf head at each end. When I asked her how she did that, Andren just shrugged.
"I'm a völva, a seeress and practitioner of seidr, a kind of magic. If you want Ulfsbíta to return to its previous appearance, all you must do is think the words Gøra megin optar." She put the bracelet on my left wrist.
"'Become strength again'." The words were no louder than a whisper.
"You asked about Garmr?" I nodded.
"Garmr is a dog kept by Hel, goddess of death and keeper of the realm bearing her name. It is he who is fated to kill your father at Ragnarök, the end of the gods and every good thing." A loud blast rang through the campsite.
Hödr came forward, a horn to his lips. He sounded the horn once more before dropping it and running to Andren. He took his niece's face in his hands.
"The time has come. We must journey to Valafell." He removed his hands.
"Don't you agree?"
"I do not. Erik knows nothing of our ways, and although he was delivered to us on a Tuesday, I promised the next time we went up would be nine days from today, on Thursday." She turned to the audience.
"Everyone to their houses!" They each ran to a house, all in different-sized bodies, except for Daggry's group of cow-tailed blondes, who disappeared deep into the forest.
"Don't worry, she'll come back. The daughters of Dagr live in the woods, and every morning they sing for their father, who brings the morning light as he rides, slowly across the sky, blazing a path for Sunna, the sun goddess, to follow."
"Why do they have cow tails?"
"They are huldras, daughters of Dagr and a light elf. When Freya saw their beauty, she cursed them to possess the tail of a cow. In any case, they're human. But enough about them," she slung an arm around my shoulder, "I want to talk about you, Erik."
"You seem to know more about me than I know of myself."
"That's expected. As I said, I am a völva, a prophetess. I practice seidr, the magic of völvas."
"Where did you learn this?"
"My grandfather and an aunt."
"And who might they be?"
"Come, and you shall know." Andren walked into a house and bade me inside. This house was on the right and stood closer to the top of the circle than the other cabins did.
Upon my entry I was commanded to come to Andren's room; having to walk through the main room to get there.
When I stepped into the room, Andren was no where to be found. There was a stone basin of water in one corner, when I tried to look at my reflection, the water was so dark that nothing could be seen but pure black.
"Do not be afraid." I turned around and saw Andren placing a wooden pitcher on a table.
"This is the Skuggsjá af Ørlög, the 'Mirror of Fate'."
"What will I see?"
"I do not know." I looked at the water, and in the blackness, gray wisps of inkiness appeared and shifted.
"May the gods watch over you." She placed a hand on the back of my head, pushing me into the water.
My vision went black.