Winter of Yggdrasil

Chapter 20

"What? Is it incurable?" Kenna stepped up to Loki, gripping his arm. He sighed and looked down on her.

"No, but it means there are bigger problems than our assassin."

"Like?"

Eir was already searching Thor again on the soul forge, her brows furrowed.

Rowan sighed and shook his head. "There was an ancient prophecy about them. I don't know it but on Vanaheim... well it's going to cause a panic, that's all I know."

Loki nodded. "Something about a child that would come when the Ceiran burn. But no one knows who that is."

Kenna looked at Thor, her eyes full of concern and a glimmer of hope. "Then we have to start looking. What kind of child?"

"A child of fire and ice." Loki murmured, his voice dull and lacking hope.

"Then we start on Muspelheim. What are the Ceiran?"

Loki looked at the boys. "Are you sure they're burning?"

The boys looked at each other, uncertain. Olik replied. "More like smoldering, just about to burn. We got the report from Vanaheim. They're keeping it quiet until they know more."

Loki nodded. "Olik, run and make sure Odin knows." The boy nodded and ran from the room. All eyes stayed on Loki.

"What's burning? What are these Ceiran?" Kenna asked.

Loki sighed. "Later. First, let's get it out of Thor."

"I have it." Eir murmured.

There was a knock and then Katerina and Ebony ventured in. "Progress?" Kat asked, her voice shaky and thick from the sleep Kenna induced. She took up her seat beside Thor without hesitation.

Eir and Loki shared a look before Eir nodded. "It is a parasite."

Kat's already pale face drained of color. "A what?"

"A plant. He must have swallowed it. They look remarkably like the Guyin berries he likes."

"A... a plant? But what does the smoke mean?"

"When the plant dies in distress, it releases a compound that reacts with oxygen to create that gas. It is not toxic, merely frightening. It is coming up through his digestive tract. The plant is here." Eir pointed to his stomach and at the Soul Forge. "It was buried under all his food, I couldn't see it. It could not root inside his stomach obviously and died in distress. The effects we are seeing as from it entering the bloodstream. He will recover in a few days."

"What kind of plant?" Kenna asked.

Loki pointed to a symbol on the Soul Forge and Eir nodded, moving her hand over it. Loki spoke absently, watching her.

"The Ceiran are a berry that is originally from Muspelheim. They were brought to Vanaheim and have grown there ever since. They look like blackberries with little red spots all over. The seed is a parasite when it can find a host. Otherwise it grows naturally. It takes fourteen days to attach to its host. Fortunately, he ate it. It appears our assassin is trying to make a point more than a kill."

Rowan, returned from warning Odin, stood by the door staring down at the floor. "It was used on the battlefield. Men would... would fall into thickets or stand too close t-to a bush sometimes. Sometimes the enemy would shoot it. It's a smart plant, q-quick." He closed his eyes, burying his face in his hands, shaking his head. "We had to take them, take them out into no man's land just to, to..."

Kenna went to him, her hand wrapping around his wrist. She had seen this memory before, in his sleep. A friend. He had carried him into no man's land himself, promising to come back, promising to burn him. Days later there was nothing left but blackened skin and bulging eyes, infested with a newly growing bush, the bloated body bursting in decay. The plant thrives on decay, she understands now. She had seen the memory of burning his friend, kneeling close under the crack of enemy fire, too cold and alone to do more than shiver. She had hesitated to ask, knowing he had nightmares too.