Fever Pitch

“They’ve returned! The children of the captains have returned!”

The gates to sanctuary swing open as Eiric and his group appear over the horizon. They’ve been gone for over a month without contact to avoid any chance of being tracked by the soldiers of Solgrad.

“Eiric!” Astrid bear hugs Eiric, “Thank goodness, I had half of a mind of going to find you myself but Torsten said to trust you… something happened. Are you ok?”

“We found answers mom, but it was at a great cost.”

“I see. We can talk more inside.”

“Well done you two. You kept Freydis and each other safe. Did all go well?”

“Not everything.” Sigrun said, “But we found evidence of a world united. Demons were once a part of it as well.”

“That is good to hear, I would like to help make such a world in our time.”

Freydis explains their journey, and of the answers they received form the immortal one, Livhild.

“Of how many lifetimes she lived I cannot say, but she was certain that blot is a way to cure the curse of those who are blessed. But she stressed the difficulty, those who are blessed must give away something as precious as memories of a past life. It’s cruelty.”

“Blot is a demon ritual, is it not?” Torsten said.

“I believe it was used to the cleanse the body of a demon woman who could not marry. There were only so many of us, even now. I’m sorry, I am not sure how to perform it myself.”

“I know.” Brynja said, “Old ruins near my home village had records of blot and there were a few experiments with it over the years. It is difficult to perform. We need great amounts of magic, and if the user hesitates for even a moment it could be disastrous.”

“Livhild said the angels believed those who are reincarnated from another world would be too weak to give away their memories.” Freydis said.

“Then that leaves the question of the angels. Why are they cursing the blessings? There are other questions I have as well. Is Livhild willing to meet with more of us? I would like to visit.” Leif said.

“She’s no longer with us.” Eiric said.

“She gave us a way to find out. If we collect a piece of Yggdrasil from each realm, it will be possible to make way for heaven. We will confront the angels there.” Sigrun said.

“That will be incredibly difficult.” Keldan said, “Unfortunately, tensions are rising since we have refused to return Freydis. Even if she returns now, we believe the people of Solgrad will want retribution.”

“I will not allow it. You have my word.” Freydis said.

“Only results will convince young princess, we must still prepare for the possibility of war.” Brynja said.

“And I will not stop you. But I will not allow them to start a battle, I have had enough of this conflict. Please, give me time.”

“I have no issues with that. Alvis and I are already in communication about your return. You all did well. We have answers, and a way to get more. Collecting a piece of Yggdrasil is a dream only lunatics have had before. You will need to be stronger than even us to succeed. It will be up to you to do so, we can only help so much without risking everything else. Eiric, I do have a question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Are you willing to give up your memories?”

“I don’t know. I am sorry.”

Torsten pats Eiric’s head. “It’s an unfair decision you must make. I say make it to heaven and show them you don’t have to. I will help you get there, my son.”

Eiric holds Eydis who plays with his fingers. Next to him, Astrid struggles to initiate conversation; at best, the two stare into the river ahead as they gather courage to speak.

“Eiric. Was Livhild special to you? I don’t mean to pry of course, but you seem sad when speaking of her.”

“Livhild was like a mother. I met her when I first came to this world, in heaven. I didn’t have a mother or father in my past life; she took me in and cared for me. She made me believe I could have a family. That I could make my own. Mom, I hope you don’t think different of me because of my past life.”

Astrid pulls Eiric close. “Of course not. You’re still my little boy, and you always will be. I wish I could have met her; I want to thank her for caring for you until you came to us. You and Eydis, I want you both to know that I have never loved anything more than I love you two. You two are the greatest gifts I could ever ask for. I can only imagine how difficult it was to lose her, if you ever need to talk, just call my name.”

“Thank you. I will, but everyone helped me. I think I will be ok.”

“Good. I hope I haven’t lost my place, maybe I need to work harder.”

“Livhild was a mother to me but so are you. I love you very much. I still remember the first day I saw you, I knew then you were the one.”

“Oh you! I can see why Sigrun is so infatuated. I need to hold you like this more often; you have a long journey ahead. But I’ll make sure you’re prepared and set to get to those angels.”

“I’ll do my best. I want everyone I care about to be well and safe. Are the protectors of Yggdrasil that strong?”

“Demigods.” Leif points at a sketch that appears to be a tall man holding a sword, “That is what we believe is protecting Yggdrasil. Few who come close to them have lived to give information, fortunately we have such lunatics amongst us. Of course, from all that has been gathered we can guarantee a few things. They’re strong. Our only chance is with a group of captains fighting together.”

“Have there been any updates on what magic they use?” Brynja said.

“Nothing more than what you have already, but some believe they have power like that of blessings. We’re not sure if they can even be killed, they have regenerative skills that can heal even severed limbs. But there is another option. We are strong enough to hold them off for long enough to allow another team to grab a piece of Yggdrasil. We only need a piece of it; there is no need to beat the guardian.”

“You have a point.” Torsten stands, “Than we will proceed with that as our plan. Many of the blessed younglings are considering the option of blot, but most are hesitant. We will only continue to be at the mercy of the angels if we don’t confront them. Eiric, Vilgur, Sigrun, we are leaving this to you. We will help you here, but you will have to become much stronger and find a way in the other realms. Rest assured, we will be here when you return. When you collect them all, we will help you confront the angels. Even the captains of Solgrad cannot argue against this, together we will succeed. Can we entrust this to you?”

“Yes. We won’t fail you.” Eiric said.