Loki Passage 5

5.

Odin sat down on his bedding watching the dawn sunlight that brightened up his chamber. Frigg had kept the incident from him until that morning. He should have checked for the missing son of his, as he normally does when he comes back, but not that evening. He was swarmed by the well wishers and later given the position as the host. He did recalled Thor and Balder playing with the other children, but never occurred to him to look for Loki.

“Did he come back to sleep last night?” Loki was known to sleep at the barn on some nights. Frigg nodded to her lover, as she did check on the young boy after the feast. He was asleep on the upper tier of the barn, and appeared fine. She left a plate of food for him before coming back to the house.

“Yes, he was sleeping there, but this morning when I checked, he was not there.” Frigg told Odin.

“I would check on him.” Odin pulled himself off his bedding, and found his legs wobbly.

“Wow! The wine must be still inside me.” Frigg helped Odin to stand up. “I am needed at the Hall.”

Frigg pushed him back to his bedding. She knew he was not in any position to move just yet. Odin protested but Frigg was the leader in the house. She left the upset Odin on the bedding to attend to her chores. It was then she saw the rider approaching. She stepped out and greeted the rider.

“I am Frigg; the love of Odin. Who are you and why are you here at my tourp ( Norse word for hamlet ).” Frigg spoke to the rider. She recognized his clothing; the design was Vanir. He was not wearing any armor; more of like a wizard. Vanir are a different group of people; they are more into magical practices which the Asgard does not induced. The Vanir and Asgardian had a rift war sometime back, and the uneasy truce was called.

“Hello, Frigg.” The Vanir was Njord was one of the hostages that was send over to Asgard; one of the conditions of the truce. “I need to speak to Odin.”

“Odin is unwell. He had one too many drinks last night.” Frigg wanted to protect her lover when he was unwell, and more to it she does not want him to meet Njord. She may had been his daughter but they had previous conflicts which weighed on her decision. The Vanir would take no for an answer and tried to barge in. He stepped up to go past her, but the lady was adamant on her lover having his rest. She placed her left leg out to stop him moving forward, while her hands reached for his cloak to pull him back.

“Obviously, the Vanir ladies are a formidable force by themselves.” Njord picked himself up from the ground after he was thrown back. “But a wizard like me would not be stopped. Here is a spell you may not know.”

Njord was seen calling on a spell which made him move forward, while the real world remained static. He walked past the frozen lady and into the home of the new All Father. He was greeted by the presence of Odin who stood there in the living hall of his home. The later was not affected by the spell, and could move freely.

“Njord, you are a crafty one, but I had learned on how to counter your moves.” Odin held the amulet worn around his neck. It was a gift from Njord himself. “You said so that it would one day benefit me.”

“Obviously, I had trapped myself with my gift.” Njord replied. Both of them laughed and it was then the spell broke upon his lack of concentration. Frigg rushed in and was to assault the Vanir, when Odin stopped her.

“Frigg, Njord was here to accompany me to our meet.” Odin feigned an excuse for he feared Frigg may just hurt the 

Vanir. Both the men left the hall and proceeded to the barn.

“So tell me, Njord. Surely, you did not come to wish me well in my new role.” Odin remarked to the other, who just smiled.

“Your ascendancy to the new ranking was foreseen by me before, and which I did mention to you.” Njord told him. “It was just that I did not know the rank would be the All Father. Truly for one renowned as me, not all we seen are to be believed.”

Odin laughed out on hearing that, as the Vanir had given him much foresight of events which sometimes, he worked harder to deter them off his people.

“But I came to you today, not of a vision, but of a rumbling in the spirit world.” Njord expression was a serious one. “I feared evil had come to the land, and would be influencing the people to fear it.”

Odin looked with his grim expression at the Vanir, and then asked how the threat was to come.

“Surely, you do not come to tell me that Ragnarok would happen soon?” The Norse had feared that event as it meant the end of their people. “Who would I need to slay to avoid it?”

“Nay, my friend and All Father of Asgard.” Njord comfort the newly elected leader. “I seen the vision that a witch had come to the land. It was drawn here by the child of mischief. Both of them would be a bane in your side, and at times, an allied with staunch support of yours. But either thing they perform, would affect those around you greatly and that responsibility as the All Father.”

“Speak not in riddles, Vanir. I am tired of listening to them.” Odin was getting upset at the words spoken by Njord. “I need to know more..”

Odin noticed the stare of the Vanir was not on him, but what was above and behind him. He turned to look at the direction watched by Njord amd saw it was the young boy, Loki seated there on the bale of hays.

“Come down, Loki.” Odin called out to his adopted son but the later scrimmage to the rear of the barn and soon went into hiding.

“Who is he?” Njord asked the Asgardian. “I had not seen him.”

It was true that Njord who lived at the far side of the village, and his visit to there was to attend the discussions. He was sought on advice involving magic, although the Vizier detested him for the intervention.

“That was Loki, my…” Odin explained but was cut off from the Vanir.

“The child you brought back years ago from the …cold.” Njord did not want to get into the details. He heard of the child, but never had he laid his eyes on the boy. Then when he saw the boy, he felt a sense of despair, and fear.

“Odin, the boy~.” Njord wanted to explain his concern, but Odin had enough of the accusations on his adopted son.

“The boy is mine. He shared my blood with that of his mother who was a Frost Giant.” Odin declared to protect the boy. “I am ashamed of my illicit affair, but the child is innocent of the blame. He had been ostracized by the others, because of the words spoke by the loose tongues of the ladies.”

Njord looked to his friend, and thought out his words. If he sounded rash, he might be blamed like those ladies.

“Odin, can I look to the boy? Like a tutor?” Njord asked the later. Odin nodded and was relief that someone would finally looked to the boy’s welfare.

“You may, my dear friend. But be warned, Loki is not like any other boy. He’s…” Odin cautioned his friend, who smiled and intervened on the words.

“You forget I have two of my own, and one is a boy like him.” Njord quipped to the later. “Let me be the judge to the boy’s learning abilities.”

“And for that, you have my blessing.” Odin replied to the Vanir. “So tell me what was to befall my people that you had to dragged me here.”

Njord looked around and then smiled.

“None that as the All Father, you would have difficulty to handle.” Njord replied while he moved to change the topic. Part of his mind was on the boy named Loki. He was the one that caused the vibration in the magical spheres. The boy would grow up to be a great wizard who would rule over many others, for good or for worse.