“We’re here to measure you, boy. No sense in making it difficult. Ain’t nobody ever died from getting measured.”
Erik didn’t let his posture loosen. “Measured for what? A noose?”
The guards both laughed.
“What good’d a noose be?” The near guard turned to the other. “What about it? Want to have to sit an’ listen to him scream another day away?”
“Rather not, thanks.”
Erik finally loosened and took a step forward.
“Good boy,” the near guard said. “Arms and legs apart.”
The guard with the rope laid the rope against the inside and outside of Erik’s legs and down the lengths of his arms. It was as if he was being measured for a suit, but that seemed unlikely.
“What’s this for?” Erik asked.
“Impatient, ain’t he?”
The rope guard chuckled at the other’s quip. “He’ll be cured of that before long.”
The guard finished measuring him and stood up. The other looked at him. “You remember it all?”
They walked to the door, the rope guard chuckling. “Near enough.”
The door was closed and the footsteps fell away down the hall and it was quiet again in his cell. They’d measured him for something and they would come back. When they did, he would be ready. If they were as slow as Tove’s brother, he might be able to find a way through them. The valkyries were another problem, but they had taken a day to find him in Lofgrund and they hadn’t come to find him in the cell, so there was hope.
chapter|13
He felt a tapping on his face and the first thought through his brain was to tell Chris to let him sleep. His mind caught up before long, remembering where he was and Erik sat up on his flat wooden bed as quickly as he could, pulling away from the hand. His eyes were still bleary with sleep when he struck his hands out at the man, who’d come back into his cell.
The man’s face was close to his own, staring. Erik could see, his mind now much clearer since the pain had waned, that the man didn’t really look to be much older than he was. He was maybe in his early thirties, but thin and strange in his movements, especially the constant twitching of muscles around his body.
“Slept… you must be… must be planning to stay.” The man backed away a few steps, letting a breathy, ragged laugh trickle out. “Wake where you slept. A b-b-blessing,” he sucked in a breath, eyes narrowing, “and a curse.” He smiled, teeth yellow and black. “So… so long as you’re safe, isn’t it… enough? We… we can be safe h-here. They don’t come down. You and Haki are… safe.”
Erik stood up, taking a step away from the man. “Who are you? What do you mean ‘you and Haki?’”
The man tapped his chest. “H-Haki.” He nodded. “I remember… it all. That much… a-at least. They call me…” He shook his head, his neck twitching violently. “The Lost.”
“Why are you here? And them? You’re talking about the valkyries, right?”
Haki pulled away from him when he said the word valkyrie. He said nothing, just looked at him in terror.
“You’ve died, right? I had fucking… fucking rocks. They fell on me.” Erik mimed the building collapsing, not sure why. The man seemed so lost in his own mind that Erik felt he needed to do as much as he could.
“Can’t… die.” Haki the Lost moved toward him, reaching out hands for Erik’s face. “Only the hand… that made us all c-can destroy us one.”
He had strained too hard to say the words and a knot formed in his neck. He pulled his hands down and away from Erik, retreating to rub on the area the knot had formed.
Erik stepped away from the bed, moving himself toward the door slightly as Haki moaned and barked angrily, pawing at the cramp in his neck.
It wasn’t half a minute before it subsided and Haki looked back up at Erik with mad eyes. He walked over and pulled Erik’s hands up, placing them to the twitching muscles of his neck.
“No… wound. No scar.”
Erik didn’t move his hands, but Haki still worked them along the muscles. It was an unnerving feeling in every sense of the word.
“Why don’t they want us to get to Valhalla? Isn’t that the whole point?”
Haki threw Erik’s hands down, pacing away angrily. “Know… nothing. Stupid… fool boy. Talk strange… smell… strange. There is no… honor. It’s…” His eyes flared with anger. “…games. Toys, a-all of us.”
Haki swiped at the air. Lost in a sort of rage, he seemed to forget that Erik was in the room for a time. Finally he calmed, staring blankly at the floor. His head turned slowly to face Erik.
“But… you have… come.” Haki swallowed hard and pulled in a breath. “To stay with me. A neighbor… of my own.”
“You’re wrong there. I’m not staying in here.”
Haki lunged at him, grabbing Erik by his ripped shirt, pushing him into the wall. Through gritted teeth he forced his threat. “No… one… leaves. They won’t… let you. I… won’t…”
Erik’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his jaw. Haki’s threat fell off and as Erik’s fist rose up, a look of terror flooded the man’s eyes. He scattered away, yelping.
“Not… fair. The… stench.” He hacked coughs out. “I know… that smell!”
“What smell? What the fuck are you talking about, you crazy piece of shit?!”
Erik walked at him, but the sound of heavy boots and rattling coming down the hall sent Haki scurrying over to his cell. He watched the speed of it, still not convinced Haki could be human. Why had he been scared enough to run? He wanted answers and it didn’t seem likely that Haki would come back to his cell anytime soon.
Erik cursed under his breath and went to sit on his bed. The guards had visited a few times, only looking into his cell, never opening
