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"You'll die in Utangard, naturally," she replied matter-of-factly.
I couldn't help but shudder at the thought. Despite my fear, I went on to tell her about how Thorsten and I fell in love in the human world, how I underwent the worm and gave birth to our twin sons, Thor and Loki. I told her about escaping to Dakhla, rebuilding the portal, and even what happened after coming through the portal: the war with King Falka from Undvik and Thorsten being crowned king after Radorgirn's injury.
The woman listened intently, her eyes never leaving my face. "Why are you here in Innangard?" she asked when I finished.
"Because I wasn't considered good enough," I admitted bitterly. "The nobles wouldn't unite under Thorsten because he's married to me, a human. So I drank the poison Váli gave me to help Thorsten. No matter the outcome, whether I can wake up or not, things will hopefully be easier on him."
She laughed heartily, shaking her head in disbelief. "Wow, you must really love Thorsten," she said, a wicked grin spreading across her face.
"Of course, I do," I shot back defensively.
"Midgardian, you may have been played for a fool," she said, her tone turning serious. "Not even most titans would dare come to this place. I know for a fact that Váli himself would never do it. He probably hopes you die here, though I don't recall him being quite so callous."
"I figured as much," I muttered, feeling a sense of betrayal all too keenly.
She stood up and put her sword on her back, staring at me for a moment before reaching out and gently moving my hair away from my damaged right eye. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused by her sudden tenderness.
"Nothing," she replied, quickly withdrawing her hand. "I apologize."
The woman's expression softened as she looked at me. "I know how to get you out of here," she said finally. "The journey is going to be dangerous, but I will help you."
"Really?" My jaw dropped, I wanted the touch of relief I felt to wash over me, but I was still apprehensive. "Thank you. I'm grateful that you're willing to help me."
She gave me a wry smile. "It's more like helping you will help me. Your presence is causing a disturbance here. This place is only meant for Titans. The last time beings outside of our race were here, they killed the ancient and beloved Ymir."
"Ymir?" I frowned, trying to remember if Thorsten had ever mentioned the name. "I don't understand."
"Few do," she admitted. "Not even most Titans know the full history. It's all locked here, for those few willing to travel here for it. We can walk and talk. The journey isn't long but dangerous."
"Alright then. Lead the way," I agreed, relieved that I wouldn't have to face this place alone.
We left the temple and ventured onto a moonlit forest path. As we walked, she began telling me a story about the Aesir gods and their war with the Titans. It began when the gods murdered Ymir, who had invited them into their world, which was Innangard at the time. For thousands of years, the gods and Titans had a tumultuous relationship, sometimes friends and even lovers, other times fighting wars against each other that could shatter the world.
"Then one day, Ragnarok came," she continued. "…and destroyed our worlds, leaving the realms disconnected.”
“I don’t understand, if this is your original world then what is Utangard?”
“A chaotic and wild world that was nearly uninhabited, and it didn’t suffer the same upheaval as the other realms. As you can see, Innangard isn’t a safe place to rebuild.” She gestured at the uneven ground and crumbling stone structures. “We decided that Utangard was a place we can rebuild, and so we traveled there and lost our ability to transform into our giant forms. The Dökkálfar and Ljósálfar also moved to Utangard, along with draugrs, which are everywhere. The dwarves have yet to unlock their realm.”
I couldn't help but laugh. "This is the first time someone didn't call me a dwarf."
"Well, I've been making enough trips here to know that isn’t the case.” She gave me a sly grin.
"Alright, so if I'm not a dwarf," I began, feeling more than a little perplexed. "Then what am I? You called me a Midgardian before?"
She stopped walking and looked me over, her eyes lingering on my features and milky right eye. "I guess a Midgardian is what you call a human. However, withyouit’s hard to tell.”
“How so?”
“You were in the Athame temple, you saw the depictions on the wall.”
“The humans wielding magic?” I asked.
“They are not Midgarians, they are the Aesir gods, they look no different than you Midgardians but they wield powerful magics.”
“I wish.” I laughed.
“I suppose if you were a god you wouldn’t have cowered from me.” She shrugged. “Although, you can’t blame me for my reaction when you see this.” She said, directing me toward a half-crumbled wall nearby.
