Sarah was trying to make sense of everything that happened so far. She found an ancient mausoleum. She touched a glowing orb. The world was overrun by gods. And she was on her way to the mythic Yggdrasil, apparently located somewhere in northern Norway. Oh, and she was riding A FUCKING GIANT EAGLE!

After delivering her “invitation”, Thrud just called over an eagle, made it grow big enough to fit at least ten people on its back, and gestured for her to mount it. When Sarah hesitated, the goddess clicked her tongue, annoyed.

“It’s not going to eat you, except if I order him to, so go on and stop being a wimp!”

Though it wasn’t really reassuring, Sarah went on and climbed the wing of the giant beast and grabbed the feathers on the eagle’s neck, lamenting the absence of a saddle, or at least a good handle. As she was securing herself, she felt the bird soar into the sky, following his mistress.

That was less than an hour ago, and she was already seeing some land that she assumed was the coast of England, or Ireland maybe? She decided not to dwell on the abnormal travel speed, and enjoy the scenery. As she was finally able to relax a little, she looked around and noticed a white spot further down the eagle’s back. Focusing on it, she recognized the coat worn by Audrey, then Audrey inside it, hanging to dear life to the feathers! She went to help her, making sure not to fall, and pulled her before herself, securing her between the eagle and herself.

“What are you doing there?”

“You’re still my patient, and I can’t let you go without being sure everything is okay. Since I can’t go against a goddess and stop you from going, I came with you! I was just surprised by how fast that beast took off…” She looked a little ashamed, and she was strangely cute like this. To be honest with herself, Sarah had forgotten about everything other than this strange invitation, and hadn’t even looked back when the eagle soared into the sky.

“Sorry for letting you hang there for so long.” It was something strange to apologize for, and the fact she was so close to her she could feel Audrey’s breath on her lips was not helping, but their position was the safest one, and they couldn’t move away from each other without risking a deadly fall. The silence was stretching when a piercing eagle cry was heard, catching their attention. They both looked to the front, Audrey putting herself in the right direction for it.

In front of them, a tree unlike anything Sarah had ever seen, so big it seemed to deny earth and sky both the right to exist, filling their entire view even in the distance, so tall she couldn’t see the end of the branches. She could see flight of birds moving under the foliage that seemed to cover everything in its shade.

“Apologies accepted…” Audrey’s voice was barely a whisper, but Sarah still managed to catch it, to her own surprise.

As the eagle closed in, Sarah saw they were approaching some kind of building, clearly of Viking style, nestled at the start of the lowest tree branch. She could only guess, but seeing its size, and the distance they still had to go through, it was probably bigger than a modern stadium.

A few minutes later, the eagle landed on the bark of the branch, which was so large Sarah could barely feel the curve of it. Thrud waited for her to come down. Sarah went first, then helped the petite Audrey down.

“She can’t come in, she shouldn’t even be there. I only let her be by respect for human life, and for Hermes.” Thrud’s tone of voice was harsh, clearly stating she wouldn’t negotiate.

Sarah looked to Audrey. As impressive as the goddess was, Sarah was starting to be irritated by her haughty tone and attitude. Plus, the idea of letting the poor doctor alone in the cold winds she was now feeling wasn’t that attractive.

“If Odin want to see me, it’s with her, or I go back.” She felt strangely compelled to affirm herself in front of Thrud, even if a part of her mind was screaming while imagining her head sent flying into the sky by the Valkyrie. As she waited for a response, the scenarii became more diverse, from being squashed as a bug to being pushed toward a long and fatal fall.

Then something unexpected happened. Thrud smirked, just for a second, before turning to the building, and gesturing to follow.

“Finally some backbone, I feared I had been wrong in my first impression. Come with me, the Ferdreisa is waiting for you.”

As they were both following Thrud, Sarah wondered exactly what happened. Surely, even if she respected strength of will, that wouldn’t change what was authorized and what wasn’t? And now that she thought about it, wasn’t Audrey somehow immune to cold thanks to her coat? But the goddess never seemed to turn back, so the two girls followed her inside the building that revealed itself to be a gigantic hall, similar to what the Valhalla was described as, or what could be seen in Sovengard in a well-known game serie, thought a lot bigger here. A wooden hall adorned in engravings, tapestries and fur, occupied only by some big tables and benches, around which numerous people were feasting in a festive ambiance. At the far end of the hall, a platform was supporting a beautiful yet rustic throne, some chairs and a table. On the throne, an old looking man with a leather eyepatch was engaged in a lively discussion with one of the most beautiful women Sarah ever saw. Most of the feasting people quieted down as they passed through the hall, save two who seemed far too drunk to exert such restraint.

With each step, Sarah was able to make out more of the scene. The feasting people were at least five hundred, and the amounts of food and beverage she could see were truly impressive. Is that a boar? It’s far too big! As they were closing in on the main table, Sarah sensed a lot of eyes on her. Feeling a particularly piercing gaze, she turned her head to see a man standing alone on the shadow of a wooden pillar. His blue eyes seemed to look right through her, and she felt almost compelled to hide herself before the intensity of his examination. But before she could react to it, her attention was caught by the powerful voice of the old man that sat on the throne, who she guessed was Odin, maybe?

“I welcome you, Tivarvinar. But before we speak, something must be addressed.” Even with the volume of his voice, which resounded throughout the hall, easily overpowering the remnants of discussions and whispers, he managed to sound calm and amiable. But his voice after that was far colder.

“Thrud, why is this other mortal standing here! Are you so rusted you can’t even hear my orders anymore!”

“If you want me to battle, I’ll do it. If you want me to protect, I’ll do it. But don’t count on me for those kind of things. I guess Odin, the All-Father himself, is forgetting something. I’m no servant girl, I’m the War Maiden goddess! Besides, when a mortal jumps on a giant eagle to make sure her friend is safe, I can’t help but believe she earned the right to enter our hall.” Thrud just shrugged the question with a bored look on her face that was contradicted by the fury inside her eyes, and went to sit with the two drunk men, who were now singing with a very low voice. The sight brought a smile to Sarah’s lips, seeing those two big bulky men whispering a song while drinking, like they didn’t want to interrupt, but still needed to finish the song.

“Like father, like daughter, I see. Should I remind you who volunteered for this?” He had a playful, mischievous smile as he spoke. “I recall you wanted ‘to see the first valkyrie of this new age’ with your own eyes?”

“Grandpa! You weren’t... It was a secret!” Thrud face flushed as she tried to deny it, before seating and trying to drown herself in a pint of ale. It was pretty funny for Sarah, to see the haughty warrior that flustered. But, the first valkyrie?

She turned her eyes to Odin, who was now openly laughing, as were all the other people in the hall. No, Sarah thought. Not people, gods. The situation suddenly became overwhelming. There was at least one hundred beings here, and each one was a god? She tried to calm herself, and barely managed it by the time the laughter died off.

“So, Tivarvinar, could you tell us your name.” Lifting her eyes from the floor where they had fallen, she looked up, to the smiling figure of Odin watching her. She tried to strengthen her voice, terrified at the idea that it could break in front of all of them.

“S-Sarah. My name is Sarah.”

“I’m sure everything that is happening here is troubling to you. You freed us, the gods. And for that, we are grateful. As such, some of us wanted to offer you gifts, as a gage of our appreciation. But your mortal soul couldn’t handle all of this, so you only kept the first, gifted by Thrud here, and the last, which was a gift from all of us. I could explain it, but as you can see, we’re celebrating our first day of freedom in several millennia, so you should go see Mimir. After all, it’s his job to explain things.” Odin was dismissing her with a wave of his hand, and the feast started anew. Sarah found herself quite lost. Who is Mimir, and where is he? Well, she knew he was some kind of god of knowledge, but that didn’t tell her where to go.

She was pondering what to do when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped back, only to see the man with grey eyes looking at her with a smile.

“Follow me, I’ll guide you to Mimir.” She did so, making sure Audrey was following, which was the case.

“Pardon my father, he tends to forget that not everyone has the knowledge of everything. Mimir is up there, with Wolündr, forging new Tables of self-knowledge. The old ones weren’t really adapted to the people of this age.” After they went out of the hall, the man spoke again, pointing at the trunk of Yggdrasil. Sarah used this time to observe him with more attention. He wasn’t very tall, barely her size, which meant around 175cm. He had long straight hair, really black, quite reminiscing of the crows she saw in winter around her home. His skin was pale, and his build thin. He wore a black shirt, with brown pants and a green coat open on the front. For some reason, he was reminding her of a movie, but she couldn’t get it. Once again, she found herself staring at his black eyes that were darting around quickly. Wait, black, not grey? She looked again, to see beautiful green eyes, on top of a grinning face.

“I see Thrud’s gift is working, you saw through it really fast.”

“See through what?” Audrey suddenly interjected, having apparently recovered from the pressure of the hall.

“I’ll introduce myself, that’ll be easier.” He turned around to face them both, then bowed a little. “I’m Loki, god of mischief, lies and tricksters. I must say it’s quite pleasing to meet the first of Hermes’ chosen. I hope we will get along.” Obviously, his second phrase was aimed at Audrey, but he made clear the last was intended to them both.