Friday afternoon found Astyr at Gwen's house with Michelle, Gwen and another girl who was a senior getting ready for the football game later that evening. Astyr's cheerleading uniforms hadn't arrived yet so she was borrowing one of Gwen's and getting ready at Gwen's house was easier since she needed to learn how to apply the makeup that the girls on the squad wore for performances and Gwen's house was close to the school. Gwen was almost the same size as Astyr but was annoyed when she discovered that her uniform was tight across Astyr's chest, it never looked like that when she wore it. The four girls finished putting shiny red and black hair bows on their high ponytails and put the rest of their things back in their bags.

They left Gwen's house to walk the three blocks to school in the chilly fall evening air. They had jackets on over the black, red, and white cheerleading outfits they wore but the only protection for their legs from the chill was the skin colored tights they had on under the short pleated skirts of the uniform. They entered the locker room and put their bags away as they waited for the rest of the squad to arrive. When everyone was accounted for and Gwen had finished her pre-show inspection to make sure everyone's heavy black eye makeup, dark red lipstick and false lashes were correctly applied, they grabbed their fluffy pom-poms and headed over to the football field. Being a small Division 1A school, the facilities surrounding the field weren't elaborate, but football was still a big deal in these parts and there was a decent sized poured-concrete stadium seating structure on one side of the field and several steel and aluminum bleachers way on the other side for the visiting team's supporters. There was an enclosed control room centered at the top of the cement seats and the field was surrounded by four very large light poles supporting enormous light arrays that bathed the field in harsh, yellow, artificial sunshine.

On each side of the field at the 30 yard lines were benches for the teams and coaches. These were occupied at the moment by the assistant coach and a couple of kids who were setting up a big green cooler with the word Gatorade printed on the front.

The cheer squad made their way to the 50 yard line on the home side of the field in front of the cement bleachers and dropped their pompoms on the ground against the chain-link fence that separated the spectators from the field. The girls started to do some warm up exercises and before they were finished, the seats were more than half-filled with excited fans chatting away to each other. There were large numbers of students who tended to stay with the same people they hung out with all through the day, all of them trying to carve out territories for their own small clans and yelling across the spaces to get other members of their groups to join them. In the spaces in between these groups were adults, most of them in couples, a few with smaller children heavily bundled up seating between and beside them. There was also the occasional high school couple sitting close together not really paying attention to anything around them.

The marching band was filling up the seats on the bottom at the far right and there was a discordant racket in the air as they started to tune their instruments in preparation for the game. The section of seating that they filled turned into a solid block of white broken only by the black and red accents on their uniforms and the flashes of gold and black from their instruments. As they finally settled down, Mrs. Kane started them into a lively rendition of the school's fight song. Gwen took her cue and led the cheer squad out onto the field and they lined up into two columns forming a path through which the players could take the field.

Hakon came running with the rest of the boys on the team behind him and the crowd took to their feet in a roaring cheer for the new team captain who had saved them from yet another defeat when he joined the team before last week's game. He was everyone's golden boy and it was a long time before the crowd quieted. By the time the visiting team came out to a smattering of polite applause, Hakon was putting on his helmet while talking to the coach about last minute strategies.

The cheerleaders were doing their job and jumping up and down and getting the crowd to chant along with them. Someone bumped into Astyr and she turned to see Gunnar in his tight black football pants and a red jersey with white stripes across the shoulders molded across the heavy padding. He was tall with broad shoulders but unlike most tall boys of his age, he was far from lanky so the padding made him appear massive. The face-guard on his helmet was hanging open and he gave her a devastatingly gorgeous smile before turning and running out onto the field with the rest of the offense lineup. She raised her pompoms and gave him a loud cheer as he headed away.

The visitors started the game with a long kick-off and the game began. It was a high-energy evening and the teams were evenly matched. The visitors were strong and good at defense but Hakon was a powerful quarterback and was only held back by the difficulties his teammates were having trying to break through the solid wall of muscles trying to stop them. The home team Vikings were giving the crowd a great show, but their defense was their weakness and by the end of the third quarter, the Vikings were only one touchdown ahead.

As the teams came together again to start the final quarter, the visitors were looking grim, their blue and white uniforms were covered in dirt and they were giving the home team hard looks. Gunnar, who had a talent for breaking through linesmen and was fast on his feet, made his way into position just as the ball was hiked into Hakon's waiting hands. Gunnar took off like he was fired from a gun as Hakon gripped the ball and took two steps back to give himself room to throw. The defense had decided to spot Gunnar en masse as he was clearly the biggest threat and they rushed after him at the same time Hakon launched the ball into a soaring arc towards the far end of the field where Gunnar would shortly be. Gunnar checked behind him as he got near to where he would be able to catch the ball, but the opposing team players were coming fast. He stopped dead and jumped straight up and snatched the ball from the air. As he came down, he was tackled by three large boys who pounded him into the ground with so much force that a loud crunching noise reverberated around the field. Every one present, including the visiting team's fans rose to their feet and held their breath waiting to see how bad it was. Players from both teams converged on the pile, the boys in blue were trying to jump on and fight for control of the ball while a mass of red shirts were attempting to pull them off. Hakon arrived at the scene and started lifting people up and setting them aside like they were toddlers. He finally got to the bottom of the pile and dragged Gunnar up to his feet. Gunnar swayed slightly and then thrust his hand into the air to show off the ball that he still clutched tightly. The referee blew the whistle and raised his hand to signal a first down and the home town crowd burst into deafening cheers. When the game finally finished, the Vikings had won by fourteen points.

It took a long time for the crowd to finish celebrating and it was late when the players were finally able to make their way to the locker rooms. Gwen waited with Astyr for Hakon and Gunnar to come out and they passed the time in reliving the highlights of the game.

They were just going on again about the great crash when the door to the locker room opened with a bang and boys started pouring out into the night. Gunnar ran up to Astyr and picked her up, swinging her around. They were both laughing and Astyr was congratulating him on not being dead as he finally stopped spinning and set her down on her feet. It was at that moment, while Astyr was still standing close in front of Gunnar with her hands on his shoulders that Hakon walked up. Astyr decided to try and help Gwen out a bit and offered, on Hakon's behalf, to give her a ride home since it was so late. Hakon couldn't decently refuse so the four of them walked together to the parking lot with Gwen gushing over every pass he had thrown that night. Gunnar and Astyr climbed into the backseat and Gwen sat beside Hakon in the front. Hakon started the powerful 6.2 liter V8 engine and roared on to the road. Gwen went back to purring over his car and he revved the engine further and arrived at her house in record time. When she got out, Astyr hopped out of the car to say goodnight and found herself suddenly enveloped in a tight hug from Gwen.

"You were so great tonight, Astyr," Gwen was almost screeching in her ear. "I was so right about letting you join the squad."

They exchanged goodnights and Astyr got back into the front seat and drove off with the guys. "I'll get you back for that." Hakon said with a perfectly straight face that sent Gunnar and Astyr into a hysterical fit of laughter. "Would it really be so bad, Hakon," Astyr asked him through coughing laughter, "I mean, isn't the captain of the football team supposed to go out with the head cheerleader?" Hakon gave her a dirty look and said with a growl, "She's not my type." Gunnar absolutely lost it then and was holding his side and laughing like a madman.

"Please stop, you two." Gunnar wheezed at them. "I think I'm going to bust a rib laughing so hard." Astyr gave him a confused look and said, "It wasn't that funny, Gunnar, and speaking of busting ribs, why are you not in the hospital?"

"It takes more than a little love tap to keep me down," Gunnar smirked at her. "We're made of pretty strong stuff."

Hakon gave him a sharp glance in the rearview mirror and Gunnar quieted down.

That caught Astyr's attention and her earlier suspicions about these two came back to her. Despite their, and even Grima's, assurances, she really didn't know them that well. They seemed to always be protecting her, but little things like this kept niggling at the back of her mind.

She thought that questioning them might be rude or that they might simply refuse to give her answers, but suddenly her curiosity was too piqued to care.

The laughter was completely gone and into the sudden silence, Astyr spoke softly. "You both recognized this bracelet when we first met, didn't you?" It was said as a question but there was no denying that it was a fact. "You have one, too, Hakon. Where did you get it?" The boys glanced at each other for a moment and before Astyr could ask again, Hakon answered her.

"I got it from my father on the day I was born." he took his hand off the steering wheel and held it out to Astyr so that she could study the carving by the light from the screen in the dashboard. It was exactly the same size and color as Astyr's silver medallion which was clasped around her wrist with a silver chain but the engraved figure was different, though no less finely executed. She could clearly see, even in the dim light, a tall man dressed like a Viking, in an almost crouched position of attack with a shield in one hand and a very large sword held at the ready in front of him. Astyr ran her finger over the picture, much as she was used to doing with her own, and flipped it over. There, deeply carved in the medal was the name Hakon Falkor.

"Where did your father get it?" she asked him.

"It was made for me before I was born." Hakon carefully avoided giving her a direct answer but she noticed and repeated her question.

Hakon sighed and turned his hand around, wrapping his fingers around hers, and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not trying to hide things from you, Astyr." He said, "But there are important things you need to know and this isn't the time or the place to try and explain them. Will you please try to trust me, trust that I will tell you everything you need to know when I can."

"Why?" Astyr asked him. "Why can't you tell me? Why should I trust you? Why are you always acting like my bodyguard?" Her voice was rising and she couldn't stop herself from blurting out the question that was taking over her thoughts. "Why is everything such a great big secret anyway!"

They had arrived at Grima's house by now but Astyr made no move to get out of the car. Hakon brought their entwined hands up to his mouth and gently kissed her knuckles. "I promise you that we are going to explain everything," he said softly looking deep into her eyes, "but it will make no sense to you right now and may put you in a lot of danger. Please just give me some more time Astyr." His eyes were as pleading as his voice and Astyr finally discovered that his eyes were a deep shade of green like large emeralds.

"Are you blocking your mind from me?" she asked him with no warning from her brain that the question was coming.

Hakon blinked and let go of her hand with a small laugh.

"Yes, I am." Hakon told her smiling. "I take it Grima has taught you about that already."

"You're like us," she said getting excited. "You're like Grima and me, aren't you. Why can you see people's souls, too?" she asked him. "Can you at least explain that to me?"

"Yeah, I can explain it a little." Astyr was burning with curiosity for him to go on. "You and Grima and my family, we're the same," he said "that's why Gunnar laughed when I told you Gwen's not my type."

"Yeah," Gunnar added from the back seat, "but that would still be true even if we weren't..." he paused, "special."

Astyr couldn't help laughing at that. "Special, huh?" She said. "And you promise you'll tell me everything?"

"Scout's honor." Gunnar said while holding up two fingers and grinning like a kid.

She laughed some more and agreed to wait for answers. She gathered up her bag and got out of the car. Gunnar climbed out from the back and put his arms around her in a comfortable hug. "Don't worry, Astyr," he told her, "we're here for you whether you like it or not. Have a good weekend and stay out of trouble, ok."

"Sure," she replied, "how much trouble can a girl get into way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

They grinned at that and wished each other goodnight.

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