“You again! How dare you touch him? I won’t have you put your hands on him again, understand me seidr woman?”
She ignored Tove, who walked toward them at speed. “Haki, you need my help. I know the safe ways. You go north, yes? Toward Valhalla. It is a treacherous journey. Seidr is for these things, ask the girl. I can help you avoid the valkyries.”
Erik turned to look at Tove whose face showed her annoyance plainly, but she relented. “She speaks the truth. Seidr is used for such things.”
The woman reached out, grabbing at Erik’s arms but Tove was quick to strike at the woman’s wrist.
“Don’t lay a hand on him!”
Erik looked at Tove. “Can she be useful?”
Tove stewed on the question for a minute, looking the woman over as she continued to scan the buildings, looking up toward the sky. Erik felt himself twitch as she did and looked up himself, finding the sky empty of even clouds.
“She can help us. But only ask what we need to know, nothing more. And do not let her touch you. They seek to change destinies with their touch.” Tove pointed an angry finger up at the woman’s chin. “Don’t touch him, understand? I’ll spill your insides if you try it again.”
The woman took a step back, nodding. “Of course. But you know we cannot do what is needed here. The herbs and salts must be seen to.”
The argument with the bread maker was still ongoing in spite of the noise the seidr woman had made arguing with Tove so Erik decided they may as well see to whatever divination the woman intended to show them. She showed crooked teeth behind an unnerving smile and led them through side streets and alleys.
Tove and Erik kept themselves a healthy distance behind the woman. He didn’t like the way she looked around the upper parts of the buildings around them.
“Are you sure this will be fine?”
Tove hesitated. “Not entirely. People can know their destinies and know how to live within them. Why does she call you Haki?”
“It’s my first name.”
“But you do not use it?”
“Where I lived it would have been considered an odd name. Erik wasn’t. I’ve been Erik all my life to everyone but my parents, no sense in changing now.”
Tove looked him over. “Haki suits you better.”
“Does it?” he laughed. “I’ll have to consider that. When our warband gets larger. Then you’ll feel special for calling me a different name.”
“That might make the others talk.”
The woman came to a stop in front of them as they arrived at a small stone shop that stood on its own between the typical taller buildings of the city. Inside was a room covered with furs and carved wooden idols, a thick set of curtains separating the rear of the home from the front. The seidr woman was quick to disappear behind them, telling the pair to wait. Tove put a hand on Erik’s shoulder as soon as the woman had left them alone.
“Do not give her your seed.”
Erik reeled, brow furrowing in confusion. “Why would I give her my seed?”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I wasn’t going to—”
“And if she undresses, you must resist her. Tell me immediately.”
“Why would she undress?!”
The woman reappeared, still fully clothed, and called for Erik, telling Tove to remain outside. Tove dropped the pack and sat on the wooden bench at the side of the main room.
“I know how your rituals work, seidr.”
Erik sat down in the chair nearest the curtain and the woman moved to the far side. She had bones laid out on the table and dried herbs smoking in bowls behind her. She kept herself standing and began slowly shifting the bones around the table. For five minutes, she slid the bones slowly into a small bowl before shifting them around and dumping them on the table. Still, she said nothing. The woman moved to the side of the room and retrieved a staff. Running her hands slowly up and down it, she began to chant nonsense. She tapped the staff on the floor once, lightly, and again, slamming it down and opening her eyes, cackling madly.
“They’re here! I’ve done it!”
The door behind them flew open and Erik heard a horrible, familiar hiss he hadn’t heard since the motel. Erik flew to his feet, flipping the table. A rage boiled in him at the woman’s trick. He plunged his fist across the table, catching her in the neck, just above her collarbone. The woman crumpled backward, shrieking. A second later, before he could turn himself around, he heard Tove shout in agony.
Erik ripped the curtain open. Tove was bleeding from nearly every spot on her body, dragging a leg that was barely attached. His eyes opened wide, fixed on her as she tried to drag herself to him, crying. Between choking, pained sobs, Tove managed a few words.
“Kill them! Kill them, Erik!”
She put a hand out to drag herself to him, but it fell there and her head dropped into a gathering pool of blood as the valkyrie behind plunged the tip of a spear through her chest.
Erik flew into a rage, charging the valkyrie as fast as his legs would carry him. She barely managed to pull the spear clear and put it in front of herself to block the punch. His fist slammed against the shaft, sending a crackling ring through the weapon and sending the valkyrie stumbling back into her short-haired partner. He barely registered the stunned look on the longer-haired valkyrie’s face when he charged again. She was ready this time and moved herself to the side. He saw it well enough, but couldn’t change the angle of his charge. The second valkyrie slapped the flat of her glowing sword into his back, sending him tumbling through the open door.
Somehow, Erik managed to shift as he tumbled and came up facing the door he’d left through. The short-haired valkyrie was already on the charge, her sword aimed for his
