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As they conversed, it started to snow. Soft flurries that fluttered prettily from the gray clouds above. Children’s happy exclamations rang through the village, just like the day Ere had instigated an impromptu snow fight by the pond.
The Frost Giant was beginning to awaken, Eir knew. There was a bite to the air that pushed the flurries to and fro. A threatening whistle in the wind.
And yet, the children played and laughed without a care in the world. They had such unwavering belief in their prophesized hero. Such innocent faith.
It was a quality unique to humans. Once, Eir had considered it a weakness. But now, having lived amongst them, feeling all of these new emotions she’d never felt before, she wondered whether it wasn’t their greatest strength instead.
“What happens if we defeat the jötunn?” she asked of Ere. “What happens when you return to your world?”
“Well,” Ere started, “Sorin and I, mostly I, get berated for coming back without the Wish of Wonders. Not a big deal. We go back to our lives on earth in our own time until we are called upon again.”
“And Kai?”
A frown creased Ere’s brow at that.
“From what I pieced together based on snippets of conversation, Kai returns to some sort of dragon prison. Solitary confinement. I don’t really know how it works. But it sounds like he is frozen or paralyzed, almost as if he were dead, until he is needed again.”
“What has he done to warrant such imprisonment?” she demanded, hackles rising at just the thought of it.
“I suppose ending the Age of the Gods has something to do with it,” Ere said. “I don’t really know. Both Sorin and I have suffered in our own way for transgressions past. But you can never tell for what reason things happen. Perhaps there was no reason at all.”
“No,” Eir refuted immediately. “Fate dictates that there is always a reason.”
“Hmm,” Ere muttered noncommittally.
“What if you take him to Valhalla?” he asked in turn. “Will that be a better fate?”
Eir gave the question all due consideration.
“I have only ever looked inside from beyond the tall, golden gates,” she replied. “It is intended to be a heaven for warriors. A place that caters to their restless, courageous souls. There is comradery, laughter, drinking and merry making. A fresh boar is roasted daily for them to feast upon, then made whole while they sleep, to be hunted and cooked again the next day. There is no sadness and regret, no pain and anger.”
“No swiving?” Ere inserted, wagging his brows.
Eir shook her head.
“It is not a place for such pleasures.”
“So, no love or passion either,” Ere deduced. “It sounds like an illusion that traps warriors’ souls until the gods want to use them.”
It was not the way people of this realm viewed Valhalla, but following Ere’s logic, she could not argue against the conclusion.
“Maybe Valhalla is more palatable than whatever prison the Jade Emperor puts Kai in when he’s not required on earth, but it’s still a prison from the sounds of it. There is no free will, is there? No choice?”
“No,” Eir confirmed.
“And one day, the warriors will be released to fight for the gods at Ragnarök, against the jötnar and demons, correct?”
“Aye.”
“Will you fight alongside Kai if you were to take him to Valhalla? Will he recognize you if you do?”
Eir’s heart thudded heavily in her chest.
“No. He will not know me,” she whispered. “But I will remember him.”
She shivered uncontrollably and steadied herself on a deep inhale.
“I will always remember him.”
