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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Symbolism in Norse Mythology: the Wolves and the Web

The newest cover art for Sigyn includes this symbol, comprised of two wolf heads interwoven together. If you look closely, the knotted pattern in the middle is made of this symbol, known as the Web of Wyrd:

Both symbols have meaning in ancient Nordic culture that also tie into the themes of Sigyn - a story about fate.

The Duality of the Wolves

Wolves in old European culture were widely not seen in a good light. They were often the antagonists of fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, and fables like The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Stories involved humans being turned into a wolf as a form of punishment, in Greek and Norse mythology. Norse mythology especially had viscous portrayals of wolves, including Fenrir, Skoll, and Hati, three monstrous wolves fated to consume the earth, sun, and moon during the end of the world. Odin himself kept two wolves at his table, Geri and Freki, whose only description in the proses being they were constantly hungry.

The story of Sigyn, however, is not about the Norse gods, but the Jotun (also spelled Jotunn, Jötun). Sometimes called giants, the Jotun are a race often written as opposition to the Gods. Many features in the edda's are associated with an element, or nature. Ran is a jotuness from the sea, with her husband Njord, who can control the tides. Skadi is a jotuness from the mountains, associated with winter, skiing, and hunting. Many of the monsters of Norse mythology, such as the world serpent and the wolf Fenrir, are either half or part Jotun. To the Gods, they would be monsters, but to the Jotuns, they would be kin.

If the Gods are depicted in the image of man, and rule over human things such as farming, building, and war, it would make since they are often in opposition with nature itself - fire, storms, floods, ice, and animals. When the gods saw wolves are ferocious, ravenous beasts, the Jotuns would have honored their relentlessness, teamwork, strength, and the fear they inflicted upon their enemies in battle.

In Mythology, the wolves might mean on thing, but in this story, the two heads represent both sides of the wolf, and the very nature of Sigyn and the Jotun's themselves.

The Web of Wyrd

While creating this symbol, I knew I wanted to incorporate knot work, as it is a signature of many similar works of art involving Nordic culture. But I didn't want the pattern to be random - I wanted to incorporate as much meaning as possible. This wasn't simply an eye-catching design for a cover - this symbol is personal to Sigyn, representing her clan of frost giants that she will always be a part of. That's why the Web of Wyrd symbol was perfect.

The symbol itself is actually quite modern - first appearing in literature in the 1990's. But that's the great thing about fantasy - blending of modern and ancient ideas. While the symbol itself is knew, wyrd is a concept from the original sagas, involving the personification of fate and the three Norns who control it:

I know an ash stands, it’s called Yggdrasill; a glorious and immense tree, wet with white and shining mud; from there dew falls to the dales, forever standing green over Wyrd’s Well (Urðarbrunnr). (Hopkins translation, 2020)

The Norn were the goddesses who lives beneath the Great Tree of the cosmos, controlling fate of all things. The term wyrd is used in old Norse poems as a noun, as characters would produce wyrd by weaving to reveal fortune.

In the eddic poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, norns visit the infant Helgi and spin his wyrd from threads.

Similar to Greek Mythology, fate in Norse Mythology was associated with weaving and spinning, or a web, making the Web of Wyrd a contemporary but appropriate design.

In the story of Sigyn, both Gods and Jotuns have a similar belief's regarding fate - it is predetermined and cannot be controlled. This creates conflict for both the main characters, since the fate they believe is theirs is less-than-desirable. Sigyn's own clan mark is a source of turmoil for her. She cannot look at the mark without being reminded of the fate looming over her.

Thank you for Reading!

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Web of Wyrd article

#norse mythology #norse paganism #norse gods #fantasy books #fantasy series #book cover #sigyn

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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New Cover art from A.L.Exley!

#norse mythology #cover art #self publishing #writing #creative writing

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 18 [Final]

The ice in her back merged into her body, but it would take a long time for her spinal cord to heal. Time she didn't have. She dragged herself towards the trees. They wouldn't protect her, but it felt worse laying out in the open doing nothing.

As she crawled, all she could think about was the series of stupid moves that brought her here. Not everything was bad - perhaps she should focus on the good in her last moments.

She remembered the sound of colliding metal as she and Bo sparred in the empty palace halls. Countless days, just the two of them, sharing their most vulnerable and strongest moments, and pushing each other to be better. The most intimate fights she ever had took place in that room.

Then, there was the day she found a boy in the woods, hanging upside down in a trap. Against everything she was taught, she freed him, and from that moment on he stayed in her life. Up until he abandoned her.

So much for peaceful thoughts. Looks like she was going to die mad. To Thor of all things.

If she would have listened to Bo, she could have at least died in a fair battle. Maybe she could have landed a few good blows. Make the formidable Trym, king of Jotunheim, bleed in front his people, and show them just how "indestructible" he was. But what good would that do besides encouraging the others to die in a losing battle? Then again, if everyone died, Trym would have no Vorðr to do his bidding, no loyal subjects to worship his every move. His plan to conquer the realms would fail, and he would be alone with his failure.

But was such a victor worth the lives of thousands? The thought of sacrificing her kin left behind a sour taste. She wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Her arms shook from dragging the weight of her body. Every last bit of strength had been drained, so she turned herself to face the terrifying sky and wondered how bad it would hurt to be blown into a million tiny pieces. Beneath the constant rumble of thunder she could not hear the approaching footsteps.

"Sigyn!"

By Ymir, let me be imagining her voice! Sigyn said to herself as she turned her head.

There was Bo. And Kark. And...Jess? Running through the snow towards her. The fear bolting through her gave her the strength to lift her head and scream at them to run.

She screamed until her voice cracked, but they didn't slow down. Tears fell down her cheeks. She prayed for lightning to take her out before they got too close and forced them to turn back. At that moment, she was ready to die, but she could never watch her friends get vaporized in front of her.

When she reached her side, Bo grabbed one of her arms to pull her to her feet before Sigyn slapped her hand away. "You need to get out of here now! He's coming!"

"Hold onto me - I'll carry you!" Bo yelled back over the howling winds.

Sigyn grabbed the collar of her shirt tight in her first. "There's no sense in you dying with me!"

Bo stared back at her stubborn, pain-in-the-ass best friend. This was all wrong. It wasn't supposed to end this way. They started this fight together, and that's how they were going to finish it, fate be damned. There were more important things in life than proving yourself right.

Her hand squeezed Sigyn's shoulder. "Yes there is." She planted herself beside her in the snow.

As much as she didn't want to see her die, it felt good holding Bo's hand again. The clouds didn't look so dark and the wind wasn't as loud as before. Thor would have to take them out on their terms. No thunder or lightning could strip it from them.

"Kark!" Sigyn called to her loyal servant. "One last favor: I want you and Jess back at the lodge, safe. Hear me?"

This was it? Jess couldn't believe what she was seeing. They had come all this way through the bitter cold and snow just to give up? It was straight betrayal - Bo had made it sound like they were actually going to save Sigyn. She was going to pitch a fit when Kark's hand fell on her shoulder.

He had a blank expression on this face that was unlike him. Like someone had gutted his insides and left behind the shell. This was the only way could follow Sigyn's orders. Jess didn't have the heart to fight him when he moved her away.

Lightning struck the clearing. One after the other in a never-ending assault. Jess ducked and covered her ears to block out the drum of thunder as she ran. Bo and Sigyn held each other tighter, shielding their faces from the hot blasts.

In one final, bright strike of lighting, he appeared.

He was short, with long red hair and a beard that hung down to his gut. The jotuns were not fooled by his pudgy appearance: beneath his armor was muscle strong enough to crush mountains. Lightning danced around him, dissociating off his metal belt and the hammer in his hand. Even within his dark eyes.

The jotuns would not let them see him afraid. They tightened their grip on each other's hands and stared back, eyes wild and feral as an animal in a corner. Any humanity they hid behind was long gone, replaced with jotun fury. Sigyn's eyes were white as a raging blizzard, and Bo's glowed orange like fire. A growl in their throats challenged the thunder.

Thor would not be intimidated by a couple of jotun women. He swung the hammer in his hand and let out a battle cry charged by thunder. When he ran towards them, the ground shook.

Sigyn braced for the blow of steel.

"Stop!"

The word barely made it above the wind. The shaking of the earth stopped, and the storm quieted for a moment.

Daring to open her eyes, Sigyn saw a small figure between them and Thor. Though his face still broiled with anger, his bushy brows pinched together at the mortal infront of him.

"Please don't hurt them." Jess' voice shook as she stared up at the literal god in front of her.

Sigyn was paralyzed as she looked on, wanting to yell at Jess to run, but afraid that any sudden move or words from her would spur the Aesir's anger. They were too unpredictable, especially in battle.

Thor's knuckles tightened around Mjolnir. "Stand aside, Child. They have you fooled." His low, booming voice reverberated through the air. He waited for her to obey, but she did not.

Sigyn was sure she was about to watch Jess be smited. Smote? No, smited sounded right...

"They did nothing wrong! In fact they saved my town, which...I thought was supposed to be your job. Where were you for the past week, Mister Protector-of-Earth?"

The mountain went quiet. Sigyn and Bo's jaws dropped. Even Thor looked dumbfounded. Sigyn was sure any moment now, his rage would take over and he would swat Jess to the side like a fly. But the hammer stayed down.

He looked between Jess and the Jotuns and paced back and forth, huffing and puffing.

When he looked at Jess again, his nostrils flared like an angry bull, but his eyes were much calmer. He leaned over her, inspecting her from head to toe, trying to find where she had gotten such nerve. He spoke again, and Jess tried not to shrink away from his ale-stained breath. "Your kind has forgotten fear. Standing with jotuns." He spat on the ground. "I will not protect the ungrateful. When they wage war against you, or slaughter your loved ones, remember this. When their deception rears its ugly head, remember it was you who sent me on my way. May this one day make you wiser."

Thor threw one last glare at the Jotuns before stomping up the mountain. In a flash of lightning and one last rumble of thunder, he vanished. As the sky calmed, Jess swore she heard hooves and goats braying.

Jess turned around, almost bumping into Bo. She stared at Jess as if expecting something.

"I know! It was a really stupid idea, but-"

Bo pulled her into a hug, and held her until Sigyn tugged on her pants, asking to be helped up so she could hug her too.

"You know..." Sigyn said, as she leaned on the two of them for support. "Sometimes stupid works."

From the woods, Kark came running back with a wide grin. Before he could say anything, Sigyn stopped him with a hand on his chest and a glare. "What the hell? You were supposed to watch her!"

Kark's eyes got big as he stumbled through an explanation about how Jess was right next to him one moment and gone the next and he did everything he could to try and get her back -

Sigyn hugged him to calm him down. "You did good."

The three of them helped Sigyn limp back to the lodge.

They decided to celebrate by dining the lights and showing a movie on the projector screen in the lobby. Jess suggested a Marvel movie, but Sigyn quickly shot that down, having seen enough of Thor for one lifetime. They had all settled into their spots, curled up on the couches smothered by pillows and blankets, when Sigyn noticed Bo had disappeared.

She was outside by the front door, a satchel hanging from her shoulder, tightening the laces on her boots.

"You're leaving?"

"I was going to talk to you once you were done," Bo said, straightening up.

Sigyn knew exactly what she meant to ask. There was only one other place she'd be thinking of going to. "We just barely escaped with our heads and you want to run back into battle?"

"I'm doing this because we lived. You faced Thor - the jotun slayer, the most fearsome of the Aesir, and you lived! How many others can say that? Don't you think there's a reason?"

"We lived because of luck. Pure. Dumb. Luck. That is it!"

"Luck. Fate. Destiny. It doesn't matter what you call it - it matters what you do next. You're really going to stand there and squander another opportunity?"

"I'm not squandering anything!" Sigyn shot back. "I'm being realistic."

Bo snickered. "You think anything about this-" she gestured towards the lodge, "is real? You play dress-up with the humans while your people die every day under the reign of a madman! That's reality, Sigyn, and you refuse to face it over, and over, and over again! Maybe you can stay here and live in an illusion, but I can't."

Sigyn's lips trembled, trying to find something to say to convince her to stay. "What happened to staying together?"

"Nothing's stopping you from following me."

Here they went again: around and around like carousel horses, not going anywhere and too stubborn to admit it. There was something stopping Sigyn deep down. The words couldn't even fight their way out of her mouth. So she turned to go back into the lodge.

"I know there's still a part of you that cares."

She was ready to hear anger. The gentle tone of Bo's voice froze her in place.

"I know the Sigyn I grew up with is still in there somewhere, and she wants to fight, and every day you deny it, she gets a little angrier. One day, your fear won't be enough to hold her back."

Sigyn shoved her fingernails into her palms near hard enough to draw blood. Her teeth threatened to crack in her clenching jaw. But then she heard footsteps, and when she looked over her shoulder, Bo was gone.

For a moment, the world could go back to the way it was. She could sit and watch a movie with Kark and Jess, and act like nothing Bo said had any effect on her.

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters #creative writing #writers #writers on tumblr

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 17

The deeper into the blizzard, the more foreign the world became. At its heart, at the very top of the mountain, it might as well have been a different world. The wind blew the snow in all directions, casting everything from the sky to the ground in a gray haze.

While thick snow confused most creatures, the frost jotuns were right at home. Åsa could sense Sigyn marching closer long before her silhouette manifested from the void. She moved with the conviction of a spirit on their way back from the gallows.

"Finally done running, Ransdottr?" Åsa said with a smirk.

Sigyn stopped, a lifelong fury blazing in her eyes. She was sick of feeling out of control. Powerless. If she had to die, she was going to be a bitch about it. "You're a fucking moron, and your going to follow my father straight into the grave."

Two of the Vorðr seized her arms, jostling her body. The winds halted, leaving the snowflakes suspended in mid air. At least the storm was over, and now Sigyn could worry about herself.

They shoved her to her knees and bound her hands in silver chains. The lock pinched the thin skin of her wrists, but the temporary pain was nothing to the burning that followed. It was the same kind of burn from the silver-tipped arrow Kark had dug out of her shoulder. Her skin instantly turned an irritated red. The silver acted like poison, seeping into her blood and rendering her whole body weak. When the Vorðr yanked her to her feet by the chains, it only intensified the pain, and she stumbled in agony behind her captores.

While Sigyn was being led away, she had no idea Jess was making her way up towards her, fighting a losing battle against the deep snow. She didn't even know if she was going the right way, but she figured the nastier the storm got, the closer she was.

"Jess!" Kark yelled as he chased after her. "I must insist you get back inside."

Jess refused to slow down, even a little, though her legs were burning. "She saved my life. I can't let her die like this."

"You think this is easy for any of us?" Bodi chimed in. "She was our best friend long before you even existed! These affairs are not safe for you to meddle in!"

"If they didn't want humans to get involved, they shouldn't have frozen our town!"

Bo groaned in frustration, but it was such a good point, Kark had to stop and appreciate it.

Jess kept talking as she walked. "There's gotta be something we can do. You two both have powers. There's gotta be some sort of wild-card we can throw or something."

"A wild-card?" Bodi laughed. "We're not gamblers!"

Just then, everything stopped. The winds went silent, and the air cleared of snow, the last flakes floated to the ground.

"We're too late," Bodi said, staring up at the sky. "They have her."

Kark stifled a whimper, so Jess walked over and gave him a hug. It wasn't much, but she couldn't just leave him lost in the cold.

That's when the darker clouds rolled in, just as the sky was clearing. Bodi heard the first rumble. Her eyes snapped up, and her whole body tensed at the front looming closer as if it were a fire-breathing dragon. Once Kark noticed, he stopped crying and took a few steps back.

Jess looked between them, noticing the shift in their demonors. "What's wrong? It's just a thunderstorm."

"No," Bodi said, the color draining from her face. "It's worse."

"You have nothing to worry about." Kark gave Jess a reassuring pat on the back as he gulped his own fear. "We do. We better get back to the lodge and lay low."

"He's probably going after the others," Bodi thought out loud. "They won't even make it to the portal."

"What does that mean?" The questions were mounting in Jess' mind, but there were frustratingly little answers. Why were they so scared of a storm cloud? Looking closer, it was weird how quickly the storm formed out of nothing, but they were staring at it like it was a death-omen.

Bodi turned, her eyes deep in thought. "It might work..." she mumbled.

Jess asked for the hundredth time what she was talking about.

In no hurry to answer, Bodi looked at Jess with a renewed interest. "If you're still up for it...We just found our wild-card."

The chains around Sigyn's wrist clinked as she walked, a lonely soundtrack of her death march. Part of her was relieved the chase was over. The rest of her fumed with burning hatred imagining her father's smug face when she would be knelt before him in front of all of Jotunheim.

Then came a rumble, soft and distant, barely louder than the sound of feet crushing snow. No one acknowledged it until Sigyn heard the second one, closer, closing the distance. She stopped dead in her tracks. The silver chains were pulled harder, but the pain was not enough to overcome the terrible fear.

She fell hard on her knees in a blind panic. "You idiot!" she screamed at Åsa. "You damned us all!"

No one was moving. No one bothered to look at the sky. They just stared at her with dumb, blank expressions as she thrashed against the chains. If she could have, Sigyn would have started gnawing at her own wrists to get free, but that would be too slow.

Åsa became annoyed, not because of Sigyn's temper tantrum, but for the distraction slowing their return to Jotunheim. "I've had enough of this!" She growled, marching down the line ready to beat Sigyn into submission.

Finally, they all heard the rumble. It was unmistakable. Too close to ignore.

Everyone froze. Even Sigyn ceased fighting, curling into herself, trying to get as far from the sky as possible. The clouds swirled above them, illuminated by flashes of lightning. The air turned swampy, melting the mountain snow at an alarming rate.

Åsa's eyes grew wide. A bellowing roar of thunder rattled the mountain, down to their very bones. She commanded the Vorðr to run. The one holding Sigyn's chains dropped them instantly.

The Jotuns scattered as the sky opened.

Unleashed was the power of a thousand suns, blinding them, clearing any trees, rocks, or bodies that dared stand in its wake. Sigyn landed not too far away. As she pushed her face up from the snow, she tasted iron. She couldn't tell if it was her own blood or the metallic crackle of the air.

She scrambled to her feet, slipping in the snow turning to slush. No one bothered to seize. Every Jotun for themselves. They scattered like cockroaches from the light.

As she ran, Sigyn cursed the chains around her wrists. She might have made it right alongside the other Jotuns that turned into birds and flew away. But no: she was stuck on the ground, scurrying away with the other powerless Jotuns into the forest that offered no real protection.

Behind her rose a chorus of screams. Without looking back, she knew the exact moment another Jotun was picked off. A scream would be cut short. Running footsteps would go quiet. A bright flash of light would illuminate the entire forest.

She dived behind the nearest tree and hoped she would be able to stay here just long enough to catch her breath.

There was another flash, and a short scream. Blood splattered across the tree trunks.

"Never underestimate their cruelty," her mother had warned. "They will kill out of boredom. We are but the stepping-stones to their golden palace. Heed their warnings. Keep your life."

Sigyn hardly needed the warning. She had already seen the kind of devastation the Aesir caused. Weeks before, rumors buzzed that Mjolnir, the most powerful weapon forged to slaughter jotuns, was missing. All of Jotunheim held its breath, clinging to the first spark of hope they had found in centuries.

Confident with the threat of violence neutralized, Trym and his Vorðr traveled to Asgard for peace talks. The long years of battling between the Jotuns and Aesir could end, solidified in matrimony to Freya, the most beautiful of the Vanir and ally to Odin. The Aesir accepted the terms. Freya had even picked a Jotun house to marry into. No one caught on to Odin's plotting.

The entire village joined the celebration the night of the wedding, and the rest of Jotunheim watched on ready to herald a new era. Before anyone in the village realized what was happening, they were dead.

Her father and the Vorðr had gone to assess the damage. There wasn't much left. Sigyn remembered walking through a sea of charged remains. The ones that still had in-tact faces had a permanent look of terror. The air smelt of burning hair and garlic lamb that had been served during the feast.

Sigyn had looked to her father with tears in her eyes, not for comfort, but maybe strength, or at least reassurance the scene was as horrific as it looked. Her father barely looked disappointed. His people hadn't lost their lives - they had failed him, and he couldn't be bothered to fear sorry.

That was the first moment she saw him for what he was.

A scream pulled Sigyn back to the present. The fighting was too close - she'd have to make a run for it. No sooner did she leave the tree, it was swallowed in light and scorched. She ran like a white-eyed horse through a blazing fire. No single direction guaranteed safety.

Crashing through a thick line of bushes, she found herself in a clearing. She turned back towards the tree cover and heard branches snapping as something ran towards her. A pair of feral eyes locked on her. Sigyn realized too late that the open meadow was a safer option.

She forced her legs to go faster, knowing it would never be enough. She could feel death looming over her shoulder. She was nothing but a little fluttering bird about to be seized in the talons of her greatest enemy.

Åsa waited until Sigyn was far out in the open before sending the spear of ice into her back. She wanted to make sure she couldn't be missed.

Pain pierced Sigyn's spine. It didn't hurt nearly as bad as the silver. In fact, the ice was refreshing. But her spinal cord had been sliced clean through, and she face-planted into the snow.

She tried to force her legs back under her, but they wouldn't listen to her brain. The heat of the storm was strong enough to make her stomach turn, and she could do nothing. She was trapped, and doomed to face her kind's worst fear.

A foot kicked her hard on the shoulder, turning her to face the sky.

Åsa loomed over her with a grin of satisfaction. For her final insult, she threw Sigyn one last obnoxious snicker before turning into a raven and flying her away to safety: "Say hello to Thor for me."

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters #creative writing #writers #writers on tumblr

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 16

Weather radars had tracked the epicenter of the storm to the nearby mountain peak, Storen. What baffled meteorologists more than the random conjugation of frigid air was the fact that the storm did not move. Normally, cold air from the Atlantic moved East between the mountain valleys before warming and rising. What the radars didn't show, and what the meteorologists couldn't see, was the group of Jotun's at Storen's peak, fueling the storm's icy rage.

Wading through the knee-deep snow, unfazed by the sharp flakes whirling through the air, came Sigyn, her vacant face as bleak as the barren slopes. Though her death was imminent, she would not give Åsa the satisfaction of her fear.

Her form solidified as she steadily walked through the haze, until her lone figure was visible before the Jotuns.

"Finally done running, Ransdottr?" Åsa said with a smirk.

Sigyn stopped, planting her feet deep in the snow. "You're a fucking moron. Causing all this commotion. Do your loyal warriors have any idea how much danger you're putting them in?"

"Good thing we won't be here much longer."

Two Jotuns seized Sigyn by her arms, jostling her body between them. The winds halted, leaving the snowflakes suspended in the air. Part of Sigyn relaxed knowing the worst of the storm was over.

The first thing her captors did was clamp a pair of metal cuffs around her wrists. Sigyn had seen them before on the wrists of prisoners. The chains were made of a special metal that blocked Jotun magic. Sigyn couldn't escape if she wanted to, not that escaping would do any good.

Driving to the lodge was one of the worst mistakes Jess had made in a growing list. Not a speck of pavement could be seen, and the windshield wipers could hardly keep up with the blizzard. More time was spent sliding than accelerating. But borrowing her sister's car and sneaking out of the house was worth it if it meant saving Sigyn.

The last leg of the trip was the most treacherous, driving between a steep ravine and the sheer face of the mountain. Each curve of the road was a test to see how much traction the old car had. It was a constant balance of staying slow enough to remain in control and fast enough to plow through the snow.

The road inclined at its steepest point. Jess felt the momentum of the car slow, no matter how hard she pressed the gas pedal. Spinning tires through slush past the windows. Jess turned the wheel, searching for anything to pull the vehicle forward. Instead the car slide backwards.

"No no no no no no!" Her knuckled turns white around the wheel. Her stomach crumbled into itself as the car went faster and faster down the hill, towards the curve she wouldn't be able to make. Both her feet on the brake did nothing to save her.

At the bottom of the hill, and car flew backwards, towards the ravine that would leave nothing behind for rescuers to find.

And then the car came to a violent stop. The back of Jess' head smacked into the headrest cushion. Jess had been saved by a bank of snow along the road deep enough and thick enough to stop the car from going over the edge. She shut her eyes for a minute, letting her breathing return to normal, and then opened the door.

The lodge was a short but cold journey up the hill and a ways down the road. The front door was locked, so she pounded on it, hoping for an answer. Kark opened the door with a surprised greeting.

"Miss Mikkelson! What are you doing out in this weather?"

"I saw Sigyn! She was in my room." Jess walked into the lodge, bouncing back and forth with her hands tucked under her armpits for warmth. "She said something about stopping the storm. I think she's in trouble."

Kark gave a weary look to Angrboda, who had taken one of the seat by the fireplace. "You should sit and get warm."

"No!" Jess pulled away from him. "We have to help her!"

From across the room, Angie said: "There's nothing we can do to help her know. The only way for Sigyn to stop the storm is if she hand herself over."

"Uh!" Kark interjected. "We mean...metaphorically speaking -"

"She told me everything."

"Oh good! That makes things easier. Wait, just to be clear, everything about..."

"You're all Jotuns."

"Right! We're on the same page. And you understand why we have to leave Sigyn to her grisly-" A stifled sob made him unable to finish his sentence.

Angie rolled her eyes at Kark's relentless emotions. "I tried to get her to fight, but she didn't think we stood a chance."

"You're not even gonna try?"

Narrowing her eyes, Angrboda responded: "You know nothing of the hell we've been through, and you have no platform to judge us. You should be grateful Sigyn cares enough to not leave your people buried under a cap of ice."

Without warning, Jess threw open the door and sprinted back into the blizzard.

Angrboda straightened in her chair. "Tell me she's returning home."

"Nope," Kark answered, watching the girl head past her car into the woods.

They both raced after her.

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 15

There was something about the thin air at the top of the mountain that made it easier to think. The frigid winds could blow away the loudest thoughts and leave behind a cool peace. From this spot, high above the world, the mountain tops poked above a layer of clouds. One could pretend there was anything beneath that gray blanket of mist - far, far away beyond time and space of the world filled with nothing but troubles.

"Is this where you come to brood?"

Bo hadn't scared Sigyn - she could hear her coming from miles away, and braced herself for the moment she would sit beside her and gloat about how right she had been.

"I don't brood, I think."

"Thinking with a scowl on your face; that's brooding." She poked Sigyn's temple playfully. "How's the arm?"

"Almost back to normal," Sigyn answered, rotating her shoulder. "I really don't want to hear 'I told you so'."

"Sounds like you don't have to. It's not a bad thing, you know. Caring. It's what makes you great. You can't help but care about those around you. The problem is you're caring for the wrong thing. The thing that doesn't need you. Your people back home, they need you."

"I can't help them."

Yet again, Sigyn had learned nothing from her brush with death. Whoever it was that said 'a fool is something who tries the same thing and expects different results' was completely right.

"So, now what?" Bo asked though she knew it was nothing good.

"I'm gonna lay low for a while. I can keep Åsa from hurting others if she's busy chasing me across Midgard."

"Have you forgotten how obsessive your father can be? The longer you avoid him, the harder he's going to search for you."

"Eventually, they'll either give up or capture me. Either way, it'll be over."

Sigyn started to stand up, but Bo grabbed her shoulder. "What happened to always sticking together?"

It was a promise they made a long time ago, too long to remember a time before it existed. It was a stone upon which their friendship, every fight, every quest, and every night together had been built upon. But even stones cannot last forever in a shifting world.

Sigyn wrapped her arms around Bo's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder. "I'd do anything to go back to the way things were, but I can't." She kissed her cheek and stood up. "I'll see you later."

"You'd better," Bo warned.

Sigyn took a few steps along the cliff edge before stepping out into the empty air. She let her body fall for a second before transforming, her copper hair becoming the golden feathers of an eagle. She spread her wings to ride the updrafts towards the setting sun.

Bo kept her eyes on the bird until she disappeared in the horizon. She kicked the snow around her, an unshakable worry bubbling inside her.

"But she can't just leave us!" Kark whined despite the crowded hall of onlookers. "We're gonna have a full house this weekend!"

Bo rolled her eyes, regretting having to be the one to break the news. "It's only until Åsa gives up and it's safe to return."

"Oh yeah? And how long do you think that will take?" Kark asked with a pointed look, knowing full well they were potentially talking years.

Using the dirty tablecloth as a tissue, Kark wiped his eyes and sniffled like a sad little child. "I can't believe she would leave."

"Ymir. Pull yourself together!" Bo took a sip of her drink. "I promised her I'd look out for you - not babysit."

A woman sat on the stool next to Bo ready to order, forcing Kark to straighten up and go back into friendly customer-service mode. "What can I get you ma'am."

"Not much...besides your boss' head on a stick."

Bo went rigid. She knew that voice. She turned in her seat, careful not to make any sudden movement.

They weren't the only jotuns around who could play human dress-up.

Color in her eyes couldn't make Åsa look less scary, or more friendly. Her blonde hair hung flat from her head and she was dressed in casual plaid, but the intensity of her face meant business.

Bo jumped up, reaching for a knife on her belt, when Åsa clicked her tongue.

"I wouldn't do that. Hate to frighten all the little folks."

All around them were families running around the lodge, sitting by the fire, climbing up and down the stairs, drinking hot chocolate. Starting a fight now would be a massacre. The longer Bo looked, the more people she noticed staring daggers at her - more Jotuns in disguise, ready to come to their general's defense. Åsa wore a smug smile when Bo slowly sat back down.

"Sigyn's not here. We don't know where she is or when she'll return," Bo growled, keeping her eyes low in submission.

"Oh, I didn't count on her being here. Anyone with half a brain would be smart enough to leave town for a while. Thankfully, I figured out a way to draw her out." She looked up and down at Bo with a less-than-impressed expression. "She really just abandoned you two on that lake. Her long-standing partner and her loyal slave. How bad did it hurt watching her run to the aid of a little human?"

Bodi drove her fingernails into the wood of the bar to keep herself from lashing out.

"It makes you wonder how far she's fallen for these things," Åsa continued. "How far will she go to protect them? How effective are they as bait? I think it's going to work pretty damn well. I think we'll have her by the end of the week."

"If you've come to gloat, we're not interested," Bo snapped.

Åsa leaned closer to her. "I've come to offer your spot back. You were one of our best, Angrboða. When Sigyn's gone, you'll have nothing. Take my offer, we can get you a pardon, maybe even get that sword back to you, and you can do the honors of leading the march on Asgard. Otherwise it would be a shame for you to miss seeing the light leave Odin's eyes. That's what you've always wanted, right?"

Åsa's words poked at her skin like biting insects, but Bo kept calm, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing her flinch.

"Pity." Åsa relented, rising from her seat. "So much talent wasted. If you'd like to say goodbye, the beheading will be held in the courtyard. Of course, don't let us catch you there."

One by one, Åsa's Vorðr stood and followed her out the door. Life in the lodge carried on as usual, none of the humans had any clue how close they were to something so powerful and dangerous.

Not long after the Vorðr left, the police showed up, also looking for Sigyn. Jon was thoroughly searching the entire building, including Sigyn's office and bedroom, and all it turned up was a few handwritten notes in a language he couldn't read. There was hardly enough information out there to prove Sigyn was a real person at all.

He was ready to be done with the case entirely and never even heard that name again. There were plenty of unsolved mysteries in the world - one more wouldn't hurt. He would bring his daughter home from the hospital, and all would be right again.

The nurses were surprised when Jess was brought in, as hypothermia cases were rare in the summer, but they were well-equipped to warm her up. When Jon showed up at the hospital, Jess was wide awake in bed with a rattly pneumonia cough, but otherwise ready to go home.

"Do they have her in custody yet?" Elizabeth asked him.

"This wasn't her-" a coughing fit interrupted Jess' arguing.

Jon sat down on the other side of the room. "There's no trace of her. She may have fled the country. All we can do is keep our eyes and ears out if she turns up again."

Elizabeth huffed. The answer was not good enough for her. It sucked that the person who put her little sister in the hospital was about to walk away free.

"It's not her fault!" Jess cut in once her lungs cleared. "She didn't push me. In fact, she jumped in after me to pull me out. We were just walking and..."

"Walking? On thin ice?" Elizabeth shook her head. "Dad, she knows something. She's clearly covering for her!"

Jon held up a hand. "Alright, alright. We'll probably never know the whole story. Let's just get home and put this behind us."

The nurse came in and greeted the family. "You folks see the snow outside?" she asked as she scribbled on her clipboard.

At first Jon thought he misheard her, and then he looked at the window. The light beaming in was a dull white haze unusual for the summertime. He and Elizabeth stood up to get a better view, while Jess strained to see what they were looking at from the hospital bed.

Snow fell from the sky, painting the town white.

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters #creative writing #writers #writers on tumblr

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 14

For a moment, Jess didn't think she'd get out of the pitch black basement. It took forever feeling along the wall to find the small door that was somehow even darker. Maybe the darkness was for the best - she couldn't see the cobwebs stretching across her face as she army-crawled across the cold dirt floor.

A decrepit wooden door blocked the end of the tunnel. Jess pushed against it, and hundreds of splinters stabbed her palms, pushed in by the weight of a few feet of snow. She twisted her body in the tight space to use her feet to bust through the frozen hinges and push the door open.

Seconds after clearing the tunnel, the house behind her exploded. A cloud of snow powered engulfed the last bit of busted glass and splintered wood, like the wall of an avalanche. The air glittered with frozen crystals suspended in midair.

Jess ducked to protect her head from the wood and glass flying in all directions, but she knew she had to start running soon. Her feet drove her forwards before her eyes could see where she was heading. She almost ran face-first into a tree, but it was a relief to know she was going the right way.

The sound of fighting shadowed her as she ran, but she could hardly recognize it as fighting. It was so quiet. There were no gasps or cries or shouts, or even the classic Hollywood punching sound effects. The only thing Jess could compare it to was the sound of ice cracking and shattering. Sharp noises accompanied by the whoosh of fast moving air.

As she weaved through the trees, something exploded above her head. She stopped and looked up to see an icicle embedded deep in bark.

A roar sounded from the sight of the battle, and Jess had officially lost all track of what was going on. Had a bear shown up to the fight? As much as she wanted her questions answered, she knew she was not safe until she followed Sigyn's instructions and crossed the lake.

She took a few steps out onto and then stopped. Under the blanket of snow, it was impossible to tell how thick the ice was. Above her on the hill, the trees began to quiver. Something big was barreling straight towards her. The ice was the safer risk, so she sprinted forward at full speed.

Sigyn was trying to steer the fight away from Jess, but she had her hands busy - or rather, hand - keeping herself alive. Her left arm hung limp at her side while she flung ice in every direction to keep the Vorðr at bay. Angrboða worked her way from the outside in, cutting down and knocking out frost jotuns on her way to Sigyn's side. Meanwhile, Kark, in the form of a towering icebear, charged through the snow swiftly as a deer, a formidable distraction to the Vorðr. As Kark swatted away the jotun's spears and axes, Sigyn and Angrboða took cover in the treeline to regroup.

As soon as she caught her breath, Bodi let loose a slew of curse words at Sigyn that were all variations of the word 'fool'. "A fire, Sigyn? Really?"

"You can call me whatever you want once we get out of here!" Sigyn winced as she grabbed her broken arm and covered her bicep in ice. It would heal on its own soon - if she lived.

Angrboða glanced at the lake behind them. "If we get them out on the ice, can you flip it?"

Sigyn could, but when she looked at the lake and saw the tiny figure of Jess running to safety, she shook her head. "New plan."

She thought for a moment, but she didn't have a new plan, and Angrboda was losing patience.

"We can't hold them much longer, Sigyn!" She stood up, drawing a fresh knife. "Get them out on the ice."

The plan had been decided. All Sigyn could do was hope Jess made it off the lake in time.

The three of them had taken out a handful of the Vorðr, but they were still outnumbered. The girls let the jotuns push them onto the lake while Kark herded them like sheep. To the Vorðr, it appeared as they were closing in on their target. To Sigyn's disgust - but not surprise - Åsa, the fearless general, was not among her soldiers to get a taste of the same plot. She was probably watching at a safe distance, like some...

Sigyn could not think of a word sufficient to curse that woman.

One of the jotuns charged at her with a spear. She dodged, and the spear pierced the ice where her feet had been a second ago. The surface of the lake began breaking apart beneath them, bobbing on top of the swelling waves. Bo wobbled on her feet, caught off guard by the moving pieces while the frost jotuns barely batted an eye. It was said they were more graceful on ice than solid ground.

Cracks in the ice stretched across the lake like spindly white fingers. Jess froze, hearing a crack near her feet. Her body tensed. The smallest wrong move, one extra half-pound of force a few centimeters in the wrong direction, could send her down.

Sigyn was oblivious to the danger Jess faced as she sent a wall of ice towards the Vorðr. They dodged the attack easily, but the point was not to hit them. The weight of the ice flipped the surface, sending them into the dark water of the lake. When the ice rotated back into place, they were trapped. The cold wouldn't kill them, but lack of oxygen would.

The disturbance created a wave billowing outwards across the lake, breaking the ice from beneath, pushing it towards the sky and sending chunks crashing into each other. Bo was almost lost to the confusing momentum of the waves if not for Sigyn's quick reflexes to hold her steady.

Trapped beneath the surface, the Vorðr send spikes to break through to the surface, which Sigyn quickly re-froze. She set her palm flat against the ice, forming layers that pushed the jotuns deeper down into the bottom of the lake.

A cry for help pulled her attention across the lake.

A wide crack had opened where Jess was. Her tiny body clung to the ice, clawing her way out of the water but unable to grasp anything.

Bo grabbed Sigyn's arm and spun her back to face the fight. "Don't," she warned. If she let her guard down too long, the jotuns would break through.

Sigyn pressed her hand down harder, trying to form the ice faster, wishing the Vorðr would hurry up and drown already. She knew Jess couldn't hold on for long.

The next time she looked over her shoulder, Jess had fallen beneath the water. Before Bo could stop her she started running, cursing her broken arm, the Vorðr, Åsa, and everything that had led to this point.

Jess never knew a cold so intense.

The water may as well have been made of needles. Every move she made to push herself to the surface drove them deeper through her skin. It was the burn of fire without the heat. Numbness creeped into her limbs, starting at her fingertips and toes and working its way towards her torso, drowning her in a horrible nothingness.

Her limbs were noodles, flailing through the water, pulled down deeper by the weight of her winter jacket and ski boots. By the time Sigyn had jumped in and wrapped her arms around her waist to pull her up, she was unconscious.

With her uninjured arm, Sigyn solidified the ice around them and pulled Jess up by the collar of her jacket. The stillness of her body terrified her.

"Jess?" Sigyn tapped cheek, harder and harder, trying to force her awake. Her hands grabbed at her face, her clothes, her hands, searching for how to bring her back to life.

Across the lake, fresh cracks formed in the ice, but there was nothing Kark or Bo could do as the last surviving Jotuns broke through and escaped, fleeing into the woods to return to Åsa.

At last, after a rough shake of her shoulder, Jess sputtered awake, coughing up water. Sigyn reassured her she was alright, but it felt like her words weren't being registered as her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?"

Fighting the quiver of her lips, Jess barely made out the word "Cold."

Sigyn wanted her to wrap her arms around her, but she knew her heatless touch would be useless to Jess. Her only hope was to bring her someplace warm. "I'll get you out of here. You're gonna be okay." She scooped Jess into her arms, forgetting about her broken bones, and yelped, quickly setting her back down. Her voice cracked as she screamed for help from the others.

Bo and Kark - now back to his regular form - hurried over, but not nearly as fast as Sigyn wanted.

"Of course they had to break my fucking arm," Sigyn growled as Bo lifted Jess into her arms.

"You know half of them escaped, right?"

"I know! What do you want me to do?"

"Start by getting your priorities straight, Sigyn!" Bo shouted back.

It was a big mistake on her part - Sigyn could admit that, but she held her tongue. She couldn't bring herself to apologize for saving Jess, no matter how stupid it sounded, and she knew Bodi wouldn't enjoy hearing about it.

Speeding down the road, Elizabeth kept one hand on the wheel and one hand on her phone to dial Jess' number. She had lost count of the number of times she had tried to call her back after the call randomly ended.

When she spotted Sigyn and the others carrying her sister off the lake, she slapped on the brakes, skidding the car to a stop on the side of the mountain road.

"She fell in the water," Sigyn told her when she ran closer. "She's breathing but her whole body's shaking. Is...she going to be okay?"

Elizabeth opened the passenger door for Bo to set her inside and then shoved her out of the way, leaning over Jess to dial the car's heat on full blast. She flung Jess' soaked hat and boots into the backseat, before working her clothes off layer by layer to strip her down to her underwear. "What was she doing out there?" she asked as she worked.

Sigyn, Kark, and Bodi looked at each other, unsure of how to answer.

When her sister was out of her wet clothes, Elizabeth slammed the car door shut and turned on Sigyn. "What the hell were you doing out there with her?"

She moved towards Sigyn until Bodi stepped between them to block her. It didn't break Elizabeth's death glare. "The cops are on their way. You better hope they get you before I do."

"I just saved her life!" Sigyn shouted at the dumb blonde.

"Then how did she end up in the lake? Can you answer that?"

Sigyn could not.

"I don't know what your deal is, but you need to stay the hell away from my sister," Elizabeth threatened. Once she climbed back into her car, she hit the gas so hard her tires flung snow into Sigyn's face. Not that it bothered her.

As Sigyn watched Jess disappear down the road, she was unaware of the ravens hidden in the canopy, watching her with fascination and disdain.

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters #creative writing #writers #writers on tumblr

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 13

Jess screamed, scrambling to get away. By the time she made it to the far corner of the room, Sigyn had found the trap door to join her in the dark basement. She grabbed Jess by the shoulders to calm her. "Take it easy! Those ones don't move, they can't hurt you!"

Jess side-stepped to put Sigyn between her and the two dead bodies. "You're not slightly freaked out?"

"Oh, I've seen worse!" Sigyn walked right up to the foot of the bed to get a closer look. "I didn't think their bodies were still here." She couldn't tell if they were male or female, but the two skeletons had their arms wrapped around each other in a couple's embrace.

"It's so creepy," Jess said.

"Leave them alone, they're dead - they can't help it! Would you prefer them clothed with their mouths stapled shut and pumped full of chemicals?"

"Actually...yes. That's why embalming exists - to give their family peace."

Sigyn shook her head. "The harder you ignore death, the harder it is to face. Our bodies aren't meant to be preserved forever. It's time these two got a proper send-off." She marched out of the cellar, with Jess close on her heels, not wanting to be alone with the dead.

"Help me gather wood," Sigyn instructed. "For a pyre."

Jess skidded to a stop in the snow. "We can't just burn them! This whole place is a historic monument. We have to call a museum or university or something. They're artifacts!"

"They're people," Sigyn snapped back with a look that made her swallow her words like a tough pill.

Jess began collecting firewood.

The wood crackled in the orange flames. Rising heat created a hazy glaze in the air. Sigyn took a seat beside Jess on the front steps. The girl had a far-away look in her pale eyes.

"They were all alone out here," Sigyn said quietly. "No one else knew they were here until we came along."

Jess didn't know how to respond, but taking her hand felt right. Sigyn looked down at their joined hands and readjusted to intertwine their fingers. The movement gave Jess a clearer view of the tattoo on her forearm: two wolf heads woven together in a long knot. She asked what it meant.

"Oh." Sigyn glanced down at it as if reminding herself it was there. "It's my family's crest."

Jess raised an eyebrow. "Do people still have those?"

"I don't know. We're kind of old-fashioned, with all sorts of rituals and ceremonies and symbols too old to date. Your crest, your family, your lineage - you are nothing without them. They represent who you are, or...who other people think you are." She moved her forearm closer to Jess and traced the lines of ink under her fingers. "The two wolves represent a duality. Wolves are feared for their ferocity but also praised for their unity and relentlessness. The knot holding them together is fate, which we are all subject to."

"You believe in that stuff?"

Sigyn quickly shook her head 'no'. "It's an outdated way of thinking. Before we knew how big the universe truly was."

"It might be nice, knowing everything in your life happens with a purpose."

Sigyn pressed her lips together. "It sounds good in theory. In the real world, it does more harm than good."

The smoke lifted into a still gray sky, floating on the breeze towards the distant trees. A large raven sat in the branches, watching them. Jess thought it was a cool sight, so she pointed it out to Sigyn. Sigyn tensed, snapping her head toward the bird - a bit of an overreaction to Jess.

"Get inside. Now." Sigyn's lips hardly moved as she growled the words, her eyes focused on the bird.

Once inside, Sigyn locked the door behind them, but the crumbling wood walls were a weak barrier.

"Is everything okay?" Jess asked.

Sigyn opened her mouth to answer. Then shut it. Then opened it again. Jess took that to mean 'no.' "Use whatever you can find to block the windows. Hurry!"

The house was painfully vacant of suitable items. All Jess could do was drape old rags over the windows, while Sigyn pushed over a table to jam against the front door. Outside, a symphony of ravens loomed above the roof.

The two girls cowered at the top of the cellar stages, ready to duck at any moment.

"You don't have to answer," Jess whispered. "But is this...like, a phobia thing? With birds?"

Sigyn put a finger to her lips. The crows had stopped, now replaced with the crunch of boots in the snow. The front stairs snapped and creaked as someone came closer. They pushed against the blocked door.

A woman's commanding voice announced something in a language Jess couldn't recognize. On the other hand, Sigyn understood the warning loud and clear: You think you're safe in there, Ransdottr?

Though ignorant of the true danger, Jess knew something was wrong. The air dropped at least 10 degrees. She pulled the zipper of her jacket up as far as it could go. Crackling ice reached through the gaps in the wood, starting around the door and expanding across the home, like cold spiderwebs. Jess had never seen ice form so fast.

She scrolled through her contacts to call her sister. "Elizabeth!" she whispered. "We need help! I'm with Sigyn, and I think there's someone outside...We're in a cabin a little off the northern trail, up the mountain-"

Sigyn snatched her phone and ended the call.

"Hey! What the-"

"You can't call anyone," she said.

"We need help!"

"No - you need to find the backdoor and get as far away as you can. Once you're out, keep running downhill until you find a lake. Cross it, find the road, and it'll take you back to the lodge."

"Then I'll send help for you!"

"No!" Sigyn awkwardly laughed it off. "Don't worry about me."

"Look, I get you might be worried about the police, but if you're in danger-"

Without warning, Sigyn shoved Jess' head below the floorboards. Moments later, all of the front windows shattered.

Spikes of ice pierced the brittle wood walls. Sigyn had avoided them by centimeters as she stepped outside. She kept her face emotionless and her eyes still while secretly counting the number of Vorðr surrounding her and brainstorming how in Helheim she was going to fight so many at once and walk away.

The Vorðr's leader, Åsa, stood in the center, a tall woman clad in leather and ice. Her outfit did nothing to protect from the cold or a blade - she didn't need it to. Glittering crystals of ice pinned her white hair back to keep away from her face as it blew in the wind. Her eyes were just as white. Unlike Sigyn, she hadn't bothered blending in with the humans.

She wore a smug smile that Sigyn wanted nothing more than to smack off her face, but now was not the time to act rash.

"Quite the abode," Åsa said. "Good to see you've upgraded your living quarters, Sigyn."

Sigyn kept her arms crossed, refusing to acknowledge any spark of provocation. "This is overkill. I already left - I am not going back. You needn't chase me across the realms."

"I don't need to, but nothing gives me greater pleasure. Your father wants to see you. You left without saying goodbye."

"He can die mad about it."

With a nod of Åsa's head, the Vorðr tightened their circle around Sigyn, cornering her against the house.

Sigyn wanted to glance over her shoulder to make sure Jess had gotten to safety, but to be distracted at this moment was to be dead. "You always did let your goons do all the dirty work for you." She sized up each one of the Vorðr. They weren't physically intimidating. Frost jotuns fought with speed, not strength.

"It doesn't have to happen bloody," Åsa chided. "You could bear a morsel of maturity for once in your life and surrender."

Sigyn smirked. Her fingers flexed in anticipation. "Where's the fun in that?"

Åsa made a fist, and a blade of ice elongated into a wickedly sharp spear. Ice weapons formed in the hands of all the Vorðr, spears, swords, and even shields.

Before anyone could make the first move, a thunderous roar quivered the tree branches. Åsa flinched when the silver knife of a mountain jotun nicked her shoulder. Sigyn spread her arms and leaped into the air, changing into a large golden eagle. One of the jotuns threw a spike of ice, slicing through her wing and sending her crashing back to Earth. She changed back into human form, knowing the last way out of this was to fight.

The world exploded in a cloud of ice and powder.

#norse mythology #norwegian #mythology #mystery #fantasy story #fantasy series #writing #sigyn #chapters #creative writing #writers #writers on tumblr

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jotunheimsaga · 9 months ago

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Sigyn Chapter 12

When Jess returned to the lodge on Monday, things were too quiet. Over and over again, she expected to find Sigyn around the corner only to be disappointed. She should have been happy; she had achieved what she set out to do, and proved Sigyn was guilty. Though she would never admit it outload, she didn't care about the wolf anymore. Nor the illegal guns. The only person who could answer the questions she really wanted to know was about to be sent off to prison for a long time.

At her break, she borrowed a pair of cross-country skis and hit the trails - specifically, the same trail she had taken the night she first saw Sigyn. She was worried she wasn't going to find the same spot again, but the symbol on the tree stood out like her own personal beacon. Kark had told her it was a warning, and looking at it now, it definitely had a sort of alien, uncanny aspect to it - much like Sigyn herself, but there was no way of knowing what it meant unless you knew exactly what it was.

Staring at the symbol for a long time hadn't magically given her the breakthrough she hoped for, and she was about to continue on when she noticed a hidden, adjacent trail snaking through the alder trees.

Fifteen minutes left of her break - it only took five to get back. There was no reason not to do a little extra exploring.

After a while of breaking through twigs and ducking branches, Jess came to a ramshackle log cabin nestled in the snowy meadow. Dark, scraggly wood sunk under the weight of the snow piled on the roof. The remains of what once was a fence circled its perimeter.

The front steps groaned under her weight as Jess climbed them one at a time. She rested her skis against the post and pushed on the front door, which swung open with no reluctance. Sunlight could not filter through the dirty windows as easily as the mountain wind slid through the planks, making the large single room cold and dark.

The only sign the place had once been inhabited was a row of trinkets on top of the fireplace mantel. A small wooden horse, a duck, and a dragon - specks of joy from long ago. At the end was a wooden plaque covered in symbols - symbols that Jess recognized from Sigyn's journal. She wrestled her phone out of her pocket to take a picture.

"You just can't stay away, can you?"

Jess jumped back, and her phone clattered on the floor. Sigyn looked down at her from the top of the stairs she hadn't noticed in the back of the room. She stammered, unsure of what to do. "...You live here?"

It was hard to believe, considering the thin fabric covering her arms and legs. No person could last a night here without freezing to death, but still Sigyn managed to withstand the cold.

The cracking wood amplified her footsteps, loud as the footsteps of a monster barreling towards its victim. "Not really, but I have to stay away from the lodge, being a wanted criminal and all."

The severity of the situation dawned on Jess. Here she was, alone with a wanted criminal with a motive to do her harm. Even with a running head start, snow pants and ski boots would not get her far.

Even standing at the bottom of the stairs, Sigyn towered over her. Her voice and body were calm, but Jess stayed on alert, knowing things could change instantly. Like they had in the shed when she first confronted her.

"Are you alright, Jess? You're so jumpy."

And then she realized: Sigyn didn't know she was the one who took the damning photo. That was why she wasn't angry at her!

Sigyn scooped Jess' phone off the floor, peaking at the photo before handing it back. "This catch your eye?"

"Um...yeah..." Jess played with a strand of hair sticking out of her beanie. "It looks like old Norse runes."

Sigyn laughed, and picked up the frame for a better look. "They're way older than that! This is some of the oldest writing you've ever seen."

"Do you know what it says?" Jess asked, leaning forward with big eyes.

Her curiosity was so pure. Flattering, even. To have someone take such a deep, genuine interest in something so personal to Sigyn, it touched her heart. "You really want to know?" Her thumb traced the engravings as she thought. "I really shouldn't tell you. Can you keep a secret?"

Jess nodded in earnest. Telling her more went against every survival instinct Sigyn had, but since meeting Jess, something had wriggled through the cracks in her armor. Though she knew it was a weakness, she didn't want to kick it out, knowing it would take away that tiny spark of companionship that felt so nice.

In a low voice, Sigyn spoke in a foreign tongue that made Jess shiver. It was the sounds a dragon would make if they could speak - and if they were real. Strangely beautiful, with rolled r's and crips, hissed vowels. The more Jess heard of it, the more she realized how well-suited it was for Sigyn, like it was a part of her very soul.

"It means: Eternal love, mine life will forever belong to thee, longer and stronger than the ice upon the mountains." Sigyn set the frame back in its place. "Basically the world's oldest 'live, laugh, love' sign."

"Is it the same language as the symbol on the tree by the trail?"

"Oh, you caught that! Any idea what it means?"

"Kark thought it was some kind of warning, but-"

Sigyn cut her off with a laugh. "And you still followed it?"

"It's not like there's anything to be scared of out here."

"Really? The birthplace of myths. All those stories of gods and giants and monsters and you can't think of a single thing to be scared of?"

"I don't really believe in any of that stuff. What - is that the big secret you're not supposed to talk about?

Sigyn gestured to the room. "This whole place is the secret. The people who built it came here long ago from far away. They were banished from home, and could not show their face anywhere else, so they lived the rest of their lives here alone."

"That's so sad." Jess wandered closer to the center of the room. "How old do you think it is?"

"Oh...I'm bad at estimating years. Old."

"This place oughta be in a museum. We're probably the only people who know it exists."

"It's better off this way. You never know how people may react to something so different."

The words reminded Jess of the photo, and guilt flooded her mind. As much as she didn't want to expose herself to Sigyn's wraith, she knew she could never move forward with her past actions looming over her shoulder. "There's something I should tell you...I'm so sorry. I'm the reason you got arrested. I was angry about the wolf and I took a picture of your closet. I should have deleted it...I didn't mean for my dad to get it but...it's still my fault."

She waited for Sigyn's face to change, like it had in the supply shed when her eyes went white.

Sigyn nodded, and paced the room a little. "Why did you want to tell me this?"

"Because I feel awful about it. I don't think you're a criminal, and you shouldn't be treated like one."

"What do you think I am?" Sigyn asked, leaning over an old table with her face resting in her palm.

The question put Jess in the line of fire. She stumbled through her words, backing up a few steps to escape Sigyn's lazer focus on her. One of the floorboards made an especially loud creak, then snapped in half. The ground disappeared from beneath her. Jess screamed as she fell into the abyss.

"Huh," Sigyn said, peering down into the hole. "I thought there was a basement..."

Jess landed on a soft mattress that sent a cloud of dust into the air as she bounced. She let out a sigh and thanked whoever the gods of luck were, and relaxed against the pillow.

When she turned her head to the side, a pair of empty black eye sockets were staring back at her.

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