Everything came in a burst of color. I was in a field that had been split into three parts. By each part stood a woman, dressed in a black robe with a hood pulled to hide her face. Andren came from somewhere to my right and stood with crossed arms.
"Choose quickly, son of Tyr."
"Who are you?" She disappeared, leaving me to decide.
What would my father do? That was a stupid question; I'd never met him in my life, how was I supposed to know which path he'd choose? Then the sun turned red, and the wind began to whip my hair. The paths vanished, and a blinding light appeared in the sky. I covered my eyes, fearing that the light would scar them. When the light died away, I slowly opened my eyes.
A man stood in place of the present. His medium brown hair nearly touched his shoulders, and his eyes were the gray-blue of the sky before war. Light stubble lined his jaw, chin and upper lip. He wore a blue tunic with dark brown pants and boots, and a dark brown leather glove covered his right hand. He walked towards me, and as he did, I saw that a sword sat at his right hip. When he was close to me, I had the impression to kneel, and did so.
I felt a weight on my shoulder, and looked up to see the man towering over me, a heavy hand causing my shoulder to sag.
"You need not kneel." As he helped me to my feet, I noticed his voice was more pleasant than I expected it to be.
"You can sit if you'd like." I sat on a rock, and he followed suit.
"You're örvendr, left-handed, aren't you, Erik?" I was surprised this man knew my name, but I nevertheless answered.
"Yeah, I'm a southpaw. Why'd you-" He seemed to read my thoughts.
"I wasn't always a lefty."
He held up his hand, removing the glove that covered it. His wrist ended where the hand should have been.
"Fenrir did this to me. A son of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, he was a monstrous wolf who would come to destroy Asgard, home of the gods. But we knew this, and made a plan to stop him. We asked the dwarves to make a fetter to bind Fenrir. But he broke free, forcing the dwarves to make another. He broke that one as well, so a third fetter was made of the things we cannot see or hear; the sound of a cat landing, a woman's beard, roots of a mountain, bear sinews, the breath of a fish, and bird spittle. They called it Gleipnir, and Fenrir agreed to be bound by it on one condition; one of us had to place our hand in his mouth. None of the others were willing, so I stepped up and stuck my right hand in the jaws of the beast. Bit it clean off. But he was bound, and we were safe until the outset of Ragnarök, when he shall free himself once more." A silence followed.
"Father?" For I felt he was my father.
"Yes Erik?"
"I've been thinking about Andren."
"What about her?" He put the glove back on his hand, and I was baffled by how it kept its shape.
"She seems to have a lot of power over the kids in the camp."
"Her parents are very powerful. She gets it from them."
"She said I was delivered on a Tuesday. Do you know what does that means?"
"Excepting a few children, everyone arrived at the camp on a day named for their godly parent. My day is Tuesday, Týsdagr."
"Andren also spoke of learning her magic from her grandfather and an aunt, and told me I would meet them here. But unless they're invisible, I don't think they came with you." My dad placed his thumb and forefinger in his mouth and whistled.
A fox and a gyrfalcon came up a hill, following a man, who was accompanied by two ravens. The man was old and wore the clothes of a traveler, which included a floppy hat. He had white hair and a beard. He stood before us and spoke in a foreign language. When he finished, the gyrfalcon transfigured into a beautiful woman, her blonde hair spilling down her shoulders. She wore a cloak made of feathers over a dress, and a necklace of gold and amber. Meanwhile, the fox had transformed into an attractive young man whose skin was pale, and hair was light red and eyes a light blue.
"You're Erik Sinason, aren't you." The young man spoke.
"Yeah, I'm Erik."
"I believe introductions are in order. I'll go first-"
"No, you shall go last." As the old man spoke, his ravens flew into the distance. My father pointed to the traveler.
"Odin, the All-Father and chief of the gods. God of knowledge, curiosity, hung men, and travelers, he rules Asgard and selects half of the battle-fallen warriors to live in Valhalla as the Einherjar. He gave man the runes by which they used to write."
"What happened to your eye?"
"I gave it in exchange for a drink from Mimir's well, which gave me wisdom beyond the realms." My dad pointed to the woman.
"Freya, goddess of beauty, love, fertility and battle. She is the twin sister of Freyr, both were Vanir until the Aesir-Vanir War, when they and their father joined us in exchange for Mimir and another. She is the leader of the Valkyries and receives the other half of those who die in battle and takes them to live in her hall." Now my eyes fell on the other man.
"I see you have met your uncle Loki. He is the god of mischief and lies. His silver tongue has gotten him into trouble more than once."
"Yes, but it has also kept me alive." I interrupted.
"How did Andren learn her magic?"
"I taught the All-Father, and Loki, his adopted son, learned from him." Freya explained. Loki took the opportunity to boast about his accomplishments.
"Andren loved my magic from the start. Her parents and brothers and one of her sisters would leave for war, and I would be left to watch her. She always asked me to bring my books, so I did. She learned quickly, and invented a few spells of her own." My dad placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Erik, wake up."
"What do you-"
"Vaka upp, Eiríkr!" His words rang in my ears as he disappeared, my aunt and uncle and grandfather doing the same as the world became black and white and my vision blurred.