He was quiet for a while. Tove made no attempt to speak, only watched him. He wanted to sleep, even as the sun rose up over them. The day was cool and pleasant and the sound of the wind in the trees was too much.
He was woken up by Tove shaking his shoulders some hours later. It almost startled him how peaceful the world was. Seeing Tove’s face looking down at him only made Erik more confused.
“What happened?”
She stifled a laugh. “You slept.”
He’d oriented himself about the time he asked the question and how he felt a bit stupid. “That doesn’t seem like something I’d do.”
She motioned to the sky. “The sun seems to set earlier here. We should go.”
Erik looked up through the orange and red trees. They’d passed into Fall sometime during the night and he hadn’t been paying attention to the trees when there was enough light out. Thinking back on it he remembered that there were leaves they’d been trudging through in the night but not that morning. He assumed they were just moving across the line into Fall but it was something else.
“Were the trees…”
“Green?”
“Yeah…”
Tove nodded as Erik pulled himself up off the ground. The leaves were starting to fall already. Göll was looking impatient, but she hadn’t bothered to wake him up. He couldn’t imagine a world where she’d spoken to Tove willingly, so he ruled that out.
“Well, let’s pretend I didn’t accidentally fall asleep and get going.”
Göll started walking without the need for any further prompting. Erik fell in behind her and Tove behind him. She was walking steadily, but he couldn’t help feeling that he’d prefer she walked ahead of him just in case. Göll might have complained though so Erik filled the space between them with his body to keep any awkward conversations from forming.
The sun set earlier than Erik had expected. Spring and Summer had been close enough except for their temperature that he hadn’t thought much of it, passing from one to the next. They must have been trekking north through the woods nearly as much as they had over road. It was growing colder during the evening than it had the night before. Night fell and they walked on for nearly another two hours before the trees suddenly cleared, revealing a dimly lit house in the middle of what had been dense forest.
They’d barely stepped a few feet into the clearing when a man came out of the house. He was tall and broad, with a barrel chest and a thick beard. He was too far away to see much more, other than that the man was holding a hammer and a sword which flared with bright white light at its tip.
He walked a few steps out of the small house, holding the sword aloft, pointing its light toward them.
“Who’s come to my home? And at night! If I’m not pleased at your faces, I’ll—” He lowered the sword, cocking his head to the side. “Göll?”
The light dimmed and the man walked toward them. Göll took a step forward. It was the first time Erik had seen her willingly walk toward another person.
“Völundr, I apologize.”
He walked past her, ignoring the valkyrie as casually as if she were a post stuck in the ground. Völundr walked up to Erik and leaned in close to him. The man’s hammer came up under Erik’s chin, pushing his face up.
Völundr said nothing, giving only a minor glance at Tove before turning around. He slapped Göll on the back as he walked by.
“Come on, then. You’ll want to eat my food. Might as well get it over with.”
Völundr walked back to his house and walked through the open door. Erik came up beside Göll with Tove in tow.
“Who is that?”
“A blacksmith.”
She started toward the house and Erik kept pace beside her. He could tell he wouldn’t get much more out of her but it felt strange walking into a man’s house without knowing anything at all about him. They’d been invited at least, which put Erik’s mind at ease a bit.
Tove pulled Erik back and whispered in excited tones. “Did you see? The sword was magic.” She was practically bouncing.
The house was warm inside, lit with a large fire in a potbelly stove. There were some simple chairs a short distance from the fire. At the far end of the main room, there was a kitchen with a small table that might hold six if people sat close enough. There were a few doors along the far wall that were most likely bedrooms and one at the back. There were other buildings that Erik could just see the outline of when they were in the clearing.
Völundr was at a small wood stove. He pulled a few pans down from the racks above it and placed them on the steel cook top. He set to cooking up some meat and eggs and almost as an afterthought, tossed in some vegetables. It was ten minutes at least before he noticed that they had been awkwardly standing in his main living area and told them to sit. Erik sat at one end of the table, Göll and Tove flanking him leaving the opposite seat open for Völundr.
“What’s your name, boy?”
“Erik.”
Völundr sighed. “The whole name.”
It was a theme Erik had failed to realize the importance of. “Haki Erik Styrsson.”
“Hm, a good name.”
Völundr tossed the food in the pan. It was a visible mess, Erik could tell that even from his seat. It was finished cooking and put onto plates and brought to the table.
“Thanks. For the food.” Erik said it as the plate was placed in front of him.
“Hooo, I like that.” Völundr took his plate and went to the seat they’d left open at the table. His attention turned to Göll. “It’s been some time since
