The snow crunched under my bare feet as I made my way toward the Jotun temple, my staff vanishing from my hand. I sucked in my breath and slowly entered the large doorway that led into the temple. I crept down the frozen, deserted corridors and rounded a corner, stopping in my tracks when a faint shimmer of light caught my eye.
I quickly threw my hand onto the wall and watched as the Jotun hue crept up my arm onto my neck, engulfing my body in blue. I could feel the whites of my eyes slowly fade away and become replaced by the blood curtailing red of the Jotun eye.
I took a step forward until I could see where the light was coming from. The dim, flickering candles of a chandelier illuminated a medium sized room and flowed through the doorway of the Jotun dining hall. I took another step closer until I stood in the doorway, not daring to make another move. My gaze darted from each Jotun at the long, wooden table until my eyes caught the familiar curly brown hair of Fosset.
My cheeks burned like fire but I knew I had to stay calm.
I slowly swallowed and took one step back, my chain necklace jangling. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as the sound echoed through the empty room, silently cursing myself in my head.
"Who goes there?" A gruff voice asked.
My eyes flashed open as the voice sent chills down my spine.
Snø.
My breathing slowed faintly as I tried to gather the courage to speak up. "Steven," I said meekly, taking a step into the room. "Am I interrupting something?"
Something happened next that shocked me more than anything else. Snø's pale blue lips curled upward into a warm smile, his sharp, dagger like teeth glinting in the dim light of the chandelier. "No, no boy! Come on in! Join us for dinner! We're having roasted boar," he chuckled with a surprisingly soothing voice.
I shakily walked into the room and approached the table.
"Have a seat by Fosset, he won't bite," Snø motioned for me to sit down beside the smiling Fosset.
I smiled halfheartedly and took a seat beside him, the feather cushion slightly bending under my weight.
"Never seen you here before," Fosset smirked and glanced at me.
"Oh yeah. That's cause my parents live in Asgard and I go and visit them really often, so I rarely spend time here. They have to send me here every now and then because they have other things to do," I mumbled through my boar leg.
Fosset took a bite of his bread and nodded his head. "I see," he muttered, still keeping his dimpled smile.
"And I was wondering if I could crash at your place until I have to go back," I blurted out softly.
Fosset turned his head to me, his curls bouncing around on his head. "Of course. I'd love to have a roommate in my damp ice burg of a home." We both chuckled faintly and took a sip of our mead. "We'll head over there after dinner," Fosset added in a whisper as Snø raised his goblet.
"A toast, to Jotunheim!" The king roared as everyone's goblets clanged together.
We each took a sip of our mead once more, Fosset and I exchanging smiles from the lip of our goblets. I placed my goblet on the table as Fosset softly nudged me on my arm.
"You done," he asked quietly.
"Yeah, I wasn't that hungry anyway," I said dabbing my mouth with a napkin.
"Alright then, let's go," Fosset said softly as he stood up. I pushed back my chair and stood up as well, the chair legs faintly screeching across the ice floor.
"Leaving so soon?" Snø asked suddenly.
"We must be heading home now, my king. If you would allow us to excuse ourselves?" Fosset said causally, slowly taking steps toward the door.
Snø let out a hearty chuckle. "You may be excused," he said happily, waving his hand in the air as a sign of dismissal.
"Thank you my king,"Fosset smiled, bowing in appreciation.
I did the same, standing back up after a small tap on the shoulder from Fosset. "Thank you, for your hospitality," I added as I made my way through the doors behind Fosset.
Snø waved us away once more as we left, the cold winds rushing past me once again.
"This way," Fosset mumbled, walking left of the temple.
We slipped past tall, spiked ice pillars and cracks in the ground until a small shack caught my sight in the distance.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Fosset smirked as he opened the door. I entered the shack as the cold died down, my hands slipping over the wall as my gaze lingered on several weapons stashed in the corner.
"Your lucky," I breathed. "Your own home."
"It's four rooms, I wouldn't consider that lucky," he replied with a small laugh in his voice.
"Yes, but I still have to have guardians," I muttered.
"Heh, guess you get everything done for you," Fosset teased.
I smirked and picked up one of Fosset's arrows, turning it over in my hand. "Nice arrow," I said softly.
"Thanks. Bows and arrows are my weapons of choice. Don't know what I'd do without them," he said with a small nod of his head.
"I'm pretty handy with a staff myself," I added, placing the arrow back on the small table in the middle of the room.
"You can share my room with me. I've got two beds," Fosset said as he grabbed the arrow off the table and placed it with his others.
I nodded faintly and followed him to the room. Two beds were stationed across from each other on an opposite side of the room and a lone nightstand stood in the middle with a small candle flickering on top.
I sat down on the right bed and pulled off my cape and chain, falling backward onto the boar fur covers.
"Someone's tired," Fosset joke as he laid down on his bed.
I rolled my eyes with a smirk and turned over, letting my body ease up in the warmth of the covers. My eyes closed slowly as Fosset whispered a single goodnight, my mind being carried off to places of mystery and the unknown.