Einherjar

5

Over the next two weeks, Blader spent all day, every day training for his assessment. He ran several miles a day, running through the pastures and the woods surrounding the Thrym farm, jumping over the stream and the multiple downed logs in his way. The solitude of the path he generally chose to run gave him plenty of time to think.

The cows chose to ignore Blader as he ran past them at a steady pace. He had been slowly building up his endurance and his speed over the course of his runs, but they also were now the only time in his day that he had to mull over things, as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow every night.

One of the many things that he found rising to his mind was the Thor's Bridge incident, and those he had seen die that day while the Valkyries seemed to have taken their time stopping the homicidal group from killing innocents.

The screams...the explosions....

Blader launched himself over a log and landed in stride, picking up his pace.

The blood in the street....

Hilda and Blader had been on the Transriot with the rest of the kids in their classes, returning back to Njordesden Education after a joint field trip. Blader had been sitting with Jorid when the Transriot had shuddered to a stop.

Then there had been the explosion.

Screams rose up as shrapnel whistled through the air. The Transriot, caught in the blast wave, was thrown onto its side, sending its occupants crashing out of their seats, slamming into each other as debris flew through the open windows.

Blader's ears were ringing and he couldn't tell which way was up or whether there were still explosions going on. All he could think about was Hilda. "Hilda!" he screamed. "Where are you?"

No answer.

Blader wished Ivan was there, wished so badly that his brother's class had come on the trip. Ivan would know what to do in this moment. He would tell Blader what to do. He would find Hilda.

But Ivan wasn't there. Blader had to tell himself what to do.

Coughing, Blader pulled himself up, gripping onto the seat in order to do so. He used the sides of the other seats to stand on as he stared around the transport, looking for any sign of his sister. She had been sitting towards the front, he remembered. He had to go up to the front.

Another explosion shook the Transriot and Blader lost his footing, falling between the seats and landing on a couple kids beneath him. They whimpered as they felt his weight but he just resolutely pulled himself back up and decided to crawl towards the front.

And he did.

Yelling came from outside, words such as "warriors," "Valhalla," and "death" striking Blader's ears. But he wasn't listening to them. All of his attention was on finding Hilda.

"Hilda! Hilda, where are you?"

"Blader?"

Hilda's voice was only a couple feet ahead of him and down. Blader hurried forward, crawling as fast as possible, until he reached the set of seats she was in between. Her eyes were wide, frozen in fear as he looked down at her.

"Blader?" she whispered, her voice filled with pain. Two of her friends looked up at him, their eyes so afraid. "Is that you?"

"Yes," Blader answered, relief flooding him. He tried to think of what to do next, now that he had found his sister. Again, he wished for Ivan's clear head and good ideas.