The Wrath of Loki

Hábrók Causes Turbulence

After tonight, we have forty-eight hours left to travel to Long Warf, defeat Loki and Surt, and retrieve Magnus's sword. No problem, right?

It grew dark outside, and so I made my way to the Mess Hall for dinner. Soon, everyone met me in there and we started dinner with an awkward silence.

Hearth signed me to pass the salt, and I did. "What are we going to do when we get there?" Piper asked.

"We fight." I said. "But, who?" Percy asked. "Whoever's there." Magnus said.

"Should we bother setting up a battle plan?" Annabeth asked. I shook my head, and proceeded to say "The only things that we know for certain are that Magnus has to fight Surt after stealing his sword back, and that Samirah and I have to fight Loki."

The ship lurched forward. "Leo?" I asked. "Monsters; get to the deck!" He said frantically.

We all emerged above the deck. All around us were hawks and a large hawk with long legs landed with a thud on the ship. "Hello." He said. "Hábrók." I sneered.

He had a group of thirty hawks following his every order. "I can see that you still follow old habits." I said.

"Oh? You mean my army?" He asked. Ancient tales state that Hábrók was caged together with the thirty hawks of the Swedish king so that they would claw him to death, but Hábrók killed all of them before they got the chance.

"Why are you here?" I asked. "To deliver a message, firstly, for that is what hawks are for." He smiled. "Get on with it." I said.

"En ørn sitter i lemmer av aske, og mellom øynene sitter en hauk." He stated in Norwegian. "Hva er det ment å bety?" I asked of him. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Huske, Garm hyler høyt før Gnipahellir, obligasjonen vil sprekke og ulven vil løpe fritt."

I showed a confused facade, for what he is saying is cryptic. "Why else are you here?" I asked.

"Hawks get hungry." He smiled, showing off his razor-sharp fangs. "Show no mercy." I said as I faced the crew and unsheathed my weapon.

He screeched and zoomed in for the kill. He opened his beak wide at Samirah, but she stuffed her sword down his throat. He disintegrated into golden dust.

As I picked up my sword, I followed Samirah's lead. Then, I couldn't breath. I felt my tongue be cut off and my throat cut from the inside. I managed to kill two more in the same way, so that I did not feel additional pain.

I blinked and saw that the hawks were almost all killed. There were two more left, which were defeated in a matter of seconds. I blinked and squeezed my eyes shut for a good minute, and when I opened them, I felt no pain. I can withstand this paranoia.

"What did he say?" Percy asked. "He recited the 'lost' stanza of the Grímnismál." I responded.

"What's that?" Annabeth asked. "A mythological poem from the Poetic Edda." Samirah said. "Is it like the Greek Iliad and Odyssey?" Piper asked.

"I guess." Samirah said. "So, what is the lost stanza?" Jason asked. "An eagle sits in the limbs of the Ash, and between his eyes sits a hawk." I translated. "What did you say to that?" Leo asked. "I asked him what he meant." I answered.

"And? My Nordic is a little rusty." Percy asked. "He said to remember that Garm howls loudly before Gnipahellir, the bond will burst and the wolf will run free." I said.

"And what's Gnipahellir?" Jason asked. "The cave where they keep Garm locked up, until he escapes at Ragnarok." I said. "Who or what is Garm?" Reyna asked. "A Hel-hound that is the watchdog in Hel, he howls in his chains in his cave. It is said that he will break free at Ragnarök, and that Tyr and Garm will fight to the death." I said.

"Who is Tyr?" Hazel asked. "He is a minor God who represents heroic glory and is one-handed." I said. "Why is he important? I definitely recognize his name." Magnus said. "Some stories suggest that he was once considered the father of the gods, since his name is cognate to Dyeus's, who is the reconstructed chief deity in the Indo-European religion." Samirah said. I could see that she was trying to follow me in this unraveling. I could feel the gears turning in my own head.

"Oh my gods." I said with wide eyes a few moments later. "What?" Leo asked.

"Hábrók and Garm represent a vertical sweep of the world-tree, and therefore of the universe, from the top to the bottom. Together they represent the totality of the universe, represented by Yggdrassil, the world tree." I explained.

"Why is this important?" Percy asked.

"Jason, Leo, and Samirah were branded with symbols: the web of Wyrd, the spirit ship, and a Nidstang." I said. "We know that." Frank said.

"What's your point?" Hazel asked. "I think that what Hábrók said has to do with the three of them." I said.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Think about it. The web of Wyrd symbolizes that actions affect the future. The spirit ship represents a Viking funeral or, more blatantly, death. The Nidstang is engraved as a curse, coincidentally on Loki's daughter who hates what her father does." I said. I continued with "I think that this fight symbolizes that the actions displayed here will affect the future, maybe the future of the world tree. If the world tree falls, so does the universe, and everyone will die."

"How does this affect the future of the world tree?" Thalia asked. "It's believed that Hábrók sits on top of the tree. If he's gone, then what's gonna be there?" Samirah said, she looked at me with undoubting realization.

"That still doesn't explain Samirah's Nidstang." Reyna pointed out. "That's the clearest message of all." I stated.

"Then, enlighten me." Reyna snapped in return. "Samirah is going to start Ragnarok, because her father will be dead." I said. "By killing what sits on top of the tree, that means that the tree will slowly deteriorate by the laws of nature." I finished.

"Not necessarily." Reyna said. "My sword has poison." Samirah said as she hung her head in yet another burst of realization.

"Check to see if your marks are still there." I said. They checked their shoulders and saw that their marks were gone, all besides Samirah's mark.

"Does that mean that you were right?" Jason asked. "I think so, it's probably, hopefully, a sign from the gods." I said with a small smile.

"So, what do we do?" Thalia asked. "We have to bring Hábrók back to life, before the tree realizes that he's gone." I said.

"Or else what?" Piper asked. "Or else we all die, along with everyone, in every world." I said.

"What about Loki and Surt and Magnus' sword?" Annabeth asked. "We have to do that first." I said.

"Why?" Leo asked. "If Loki starts Ragnarok then it won't matter. Loki's gonna die in this battle. It's his destiny." I said.

Hearth signed and Magnus translated. "Where would we even find Hábrók?"

I sighed and said "Well, I think that we all have to go to Hel."

Ehh? Good?
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