They are led to a long house. It is made of wood, like all houses in the town, some with grass covering the roof. It was Lífdagar’s family’s house, but since the older brothers have moved to new houses with their wives to start new families, the only one using it is Eirikr, the youngest, as her parents prefer to use the sleeping quarters from the main hall. Meira and Gabriel are shocked when the see the interior. The house is long and there are no rooms. There is place for a fire pit in the middle, one of the sides has tables and seats to work and the other has beds lined with the walls. The ends look reserved for storage, and there are battle axes and shields hanging on the walls.

Soon it’s only Lífdagar and Gabriel preparing the beds for the night. Kylem has run off to have some needed alone time and Rakan has dragged Meira to only the gods know where. There is a knock, and Lífdagar turns to see the door already opening. The first thing she sees on the other side is her brother Kóri’s face, the second is his wife Sigrid. Lífdagar is moving to greet her when she sees movement at their feet and looks to see a small head peaking around Sigrid’s legs. She looks back up to Sigrid with a smile and a question in her face.

“Come on Bjorn, say hi to Aunt Liv” Sigrid says, caressing the boy’s head and gently pushing him forward.

Lífdagar crouches down to be at the same height as the boy. He finally moves from behind his mother and takes a few steps towards Lífdagar.

“Wow, look at you” she says to try to ease him a bit. “You’ve grown so much, the last time I saw you, you were a baby.” It’s true. Lífdagar can’t believe how much he has grown in the two years she has been away.

The boy looks back to his dad before he finally runs into Lífdagar’s open arms. She hugs him and picks him up, spinning him around a few times to the delight of the little boy. Before she moves to finally greet Sigrid. They hug, almost crushing the little boy between them. When they push apart Lífdagar keeps a hand on Sigrid’s shoulder and looks surprised to her, to her face, then down, then back up again.

Sigrid laughs. “I can’t keep secrets from you, can I?”

“Not this type, you can’t.” Lífdagar answers with half a laugh too. “Halfway there, right?”

Sigrid nods. “We hope it’s a girl this time.” Kóri says with a smile, placing a hand on Sigrid’s shoulder.

“Hi” Gabriel interrupts. He is waving his hand with a smile on his lips, he is leaning to the side, with only one foot on the floor and his head tilted. Little Bjorn waves back from his place on Lífdagar’s arms.

---

“What did your brother mean earlier?” Meira asks in a whisper. The room is dark, only the light from the firepit making the shadows dance against the walls. The wind’s cries battle Rakan’s snores for dominance. Lífdagar makes a confused sound, she was already half asleep. “He said that I came at the right time and I would be very useful.”

“Oh. The light festival is in three days, you will see. You can have a big role in winter.”

There is silence for a few minutes.

“Did you miss it?” Meira asks.

“What?”

“This” Meira says as an answer.

“Of course, I missed being home and my family. I wish things were easier and I could be here more. But I also miss the kare, and I wouldn’t like to be apart from you guys. Don't you miss the kare? Or- “ she stops.

“What?” Meira says, there is amusement in her voice. “Living with Marisa? Not really my thing. My first kare? I was little and it doesn’t matter if I miss it. Jeremiah is no longer there, no one is there, I don’t know if the building even exists anymore.”

“Meira...” Lífdagar starts.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing you can do about it.” There’s rustling. Meira finally settling down to sleep. Lífdagar decides not to say anything more.

---

The next day everything seems like they have been there for weeks. Lífdagar looks around, everyone is outside, enjoying the sun as much as they can before the dark season starts. Meira is learning how to throw axes with her brothers, Lífdagar looks just in time to see the axe landing really close to the bullseye of the wood they are using as target. Meira lets out a triumphant shout, running to get the axe back. She is getting good very quick. Not very far from them Rakan is playing with the older children, he is roaring with four of them hanging from his arms and another one clinging to his back, all laughing. Lífdagar walks towards them, ready to join them, but walking towards them makes something else come into view. Something unusual.

Kylem is sitting on a sunspot next to a house with an old book on his hands, a wolf next to him and, surprisingly, three toddlers around him, including Bjorn. He is not paying attention to the children, not on the surface, completely focused on his book, but that is only the surface. Playing with the toddlers there are two bunnies and a puppy, completely black, made from shadows. He may have done it to have the small children entertained while he reads so they don’t bother him, but it’s nicer than just ignoring them and moving to another place.

Lífdagar moves to sit next to him with the wolf, Bjorn goes to her when he sees her, and she gives him a hug before she ushers him to go play with the animals again with a smile.

“You never use your shadows so freely.” Lífdagar says. Kylem looks up from the book to the shadows for one second before his sight is set down again.

“Council recommendations" he says, turning a page and continuing his reading. Lífdagar turns to him, shocked.

“What? You never told me. Why?” she sounds outraged.

“Too many people are associating shadows with Hexia’s shadow soldiers. And they don’t want to be caught into it. Only small inanimate shadows for me for now.”

“That is bullshit. They are ugh, impossible. Why do you pay attention to them?”

Kylem smirks. “That’s almost what Meira asked before.”

“And what did you say?”

“That’s it’s easy to say when the people love you, but then you go to occupied territories and see the fear on people’s faces when they see your shadows, too used to the atrocities the Hexian shadow soldiers do.” He pauses and purses his lips for a second. “Anyway, why are there six figures here?” he asks, showing the book to Lífdagar. She takes a look at it.

“Where did you get this? It is so old; I’m surprised you understand even just a bit of it.”

“The seidr’s hut.”

Lífdagar looks at him for a few seconds but decides she won’t ask if the seidr knows that he has it.

“Okay so these six are kind of related to the Kyusei but they are not really them. This looks from the transition of hundreds of gods to less, more powerful ones when an element Kyusei appeared here and showed that she could control all the elements.”

“But they are not the Kyusei?”

Lífdagar shakes her head. “They didn’t know of the existence of the other Kyusei until another like me came and they did the transition. There were no longer deities of the rivers, and of the sea, and of trees and all that but these six. They are” she starts pointing to the figures “The deity of the day” she points to the one in the far left “the one of the night” on the far right “of the elements” next to the day “of magical beings” next to the night “of life” next to the elements “and of death” next to the magical beings. “Thay are pretty much the same figures now, the dragon kyusei is the representative of magical creatures.”

“And you still keep worshiping the death deity.”

“Well, death is not something to take lightly. Some here leave to be with the elifs.”

Kylem nods his head, deep in thought “Do you know any places where there may be representations of them?”

“Of the old versions?” Lífdagar thinks about it for a few seconds. “Maybe more to the north? Where there is even less influence of the council? I can ask my father when he comes back from the plains. We can go there before it’s too cold to travel. Why the sudden interest though?”

“Just something I have in my mind.”