Eternity | T.J.

It Could Be Worse, We Could Already Be Dead... Again.

     All things considered, hanging out at Blitz's apartment was so far the most relaxing part of this quest so far. His entire place was spotless and organized, and he offered really good food. Hearth, Sam, and I sat with Blitz in an attempt to Console him, while Magnus paced back and forth.

     " Blitz, you must have a specialty," Sam said." What did you study in trade school?"

     " Fashion. I designed my own degree program, but clothing isn't a recognized craft! They'll expect me to hammer molten ingots or tinker with machinery! I'm no good at that!"

     You are. Hearth argued.

     " Not under pressure."

     " I don't get it," Magnus spoke up." Why does the loser have to die? How do they decide the winner?"

     Blitz stared at one of his magazines." Each contestant makes three items. They can be anything. At the end of the day, the judges rate each item according to its usefulness, beauty, quality, whatever. They can assign points any way they want. The contestant with the most overall points wins. The other guy dies."

     I raised an eyebrow." And this is just a casual sport that happens often? No one seems to care about the death part?"

     " Decapitation is just the traditional wager," Blitzen explained." Most people don't insist on it anymore. Junior is old-fashioned. Also, he hates me."

     " Something about Fenris Wolf and your dad?"

     Both Hearth and I shot Magnus warning looks.

     " It's okay guys, you all deserve to know." Blitz leaned back." I told you Dwarven items are made for life? Well... lifetime for a dwarf can mean hundreds of years."

     My brother looked at our dwarven friend." How old are you?"

     " Twenty. But Junior... he's going on five hundred, his dad, Eitri, was one of the most famous craftsmen in dwarven history. He lived over a thousand years, made some of the gods' most important items."

     " Even I've heard of him," Sam said." He's in the old stories. He made Thor's hammer."

     " Anyway," Blitz continued." The rope, Gleipnir, you could argue it was his most important work, even more than Thor's hammer. The rope keeps Fenris Wolf from getting free and starting Doomsday."

     " I'm with you so far."

     " The thing is, the rope was a rush job. The gods were clamoring for help. They'd already tried to bind Fenris with two massive chairs. They knew their window of opportunity was closing. The Wolf was getting stronger and wilder by the day. Pretty soon he'd be uncontrollable. So Eitri... well, he did his best. Obviously, the rope has held together this long, but a thousand years is a long time, even for a dwarven rope. Especially when the strongest wolf in the universe is straining against it day and night. My dad, Bili, was a great rope maker. He spent years trying to convince Junior that Gleipnir needed to be replaced. Junior wouldn't hear of it. Junior said he went to the Wolf's island from time to time to inspect the rope, and he swore that Gleipnir was fine. He thought my dad was just insulting his family's reputation. Finally, my dad..."

     His voice cracked.

     You don't have to tell. Hearth signed.

     " I'm okay... Junior used all his influence to turn people against my dad. Our family lost business. Nobody would buy Bili's crafts. Finally, Dad went to the island of Lyngvi himself. He wanted to check the rope, prove that it needed replacing. He never came back. Months later, a dwarf patrol found..."

     He stopped talking, leaving Hearth to finish the story.

     Clothes. Ripped. Washed up on shore.

     Sam's face filled with empathy." Blitz, I'm so sorry..."

     " Well," Blitzen shrugged." Now you know. Junior is still holding a grudge. My dad's death wasn't enough. He wants to shame and kill me too."

     " Blitz, I think I speak for all of us when I say that junior can shove his Granny Shuffler-"

     " Magnus." Sam cut my brother off.

     " What? That old dwarf needs to be decapitated in the worst way. What can we do to help Blaze win the contest?"

     " I appreciate it kid, but there's nothing I... if you'll excuse me..."

     Blitz left the room.

     Sam pulled out a twig from her coat." Is there any chance Junior isn't that good? He's very old now, isn't he?"

     Junior is very good. Hearth signed after a moment. Hopeless.

     " But Blitz can craft, right?" Magnus asked." Or were you just being encouraging?"

     Hearth got up and walked over to a table in the dining room and must've pressed some sort of switch on the side as the top of the table opened as if it were a human-sized copy machine, one that glowed.

     " A tanning bed," my brother realized." When you first came to Nidavellir, Blitzen saved your life. That's how. He made a way for you to get sunlight."

     The elf nodded. First time I used runes for magic. Mistake. I dropped into Nidavellir. Almost died. Blitzen, he can craft. Kind and Smart, but no good under pressure. Contests... no.

     " So what do we do?" Sam turned to Hearth." Do you have any magic that will help?"

     Some. Will use before contest. Not enough.

     " Is there anything we can do to help?" I spoke up.

     Protect him. Junior will try s-a-b-o-t-a-g-e.

     " Sabotage?" Magnus repeated." Isn't that cheating?"

     Sam spoke up." I've heard of this, in dwarven contests, you can mess with your competitor as long as you aren't caught. The interference has to look like an accident, or at least something the judges can't trace back to you, but it sounds like Junior doesn't need to cheat to win."

     He will cheat. Hearth signed. Spite.

     " Okay, Willow and I will keep Blitz safe."

    Still not enough. Hearth looked at Sam. Only one way to win. Mess with Junior.

     " No," She immediately said." No, absolutely not. I told you."

     Blitz will die. You did it before.

     " What's he talking about?" Magnus asked." What did you do before?"

     Sam stood up." Hearthstone, you said you wouldn't mention it. You promised... Excuse me, I need some air."

     After she left, Magnus and I turned to Hearth.

     " What was that?"

     A mistake.

A/N: Alright, this is a chapter I actually finished a day in advance. I changed up the drawings in the chapter I mentioned how Willow's room in Valhalla looked, but mostly I was just changing the colors because the room I had drawn didn't really look how I pictured her Aesthetic to look. I hope at least someone somewhat enjoyed this chapter, any to all comments from anyone about anything make my day, and just keep in mind the world is your erster.