DIVINE CHAMPIONS 5: THE FROSTY FATES

WOLVES OF WAR

That Sunday was the first time in his life that Mikael slept till late. He was tired after the night they had had, and then, the personal training. All the tiredness gave way, and he slept till nine. When he did wake up, he ran out of his room, and asked Maja, who was reading a book while drinking her coffee, "Why did you not wake me up?"

"Because, Rishi dropped by." Maja said, "And left this."

She played a video on her phone, recorded by Rishi in Mikael's house, with Maja beside him. He said, "Mik, when you wake up and see this, we've been told to wait by Odin. He sent his ravens last night with a letter. Today, we will be given a map to Urdarbrunnr, by Odin. I'm not sure if he will be visiting, but lets hope he does. So, sleep on, Swede."

That evening, they all stood in the field where they trained for the last two weeks. It was no fun, since they were asked to patiently wait for the map's arrival in the field. And then, they came. Running down the field, flushing dust all around their feet, or paws, the two ran towards the champions majestically. Ishaan saw them, and stood in a position like he could take off anytime. They stopped close to them with grace, their body covered with thick black fur. They looked at the champions fiercely, as Mikael's heart took a jump. Their deep blue eyes read them like a telepath. And after a second's stare, the wolves walked towards Rishi, and nudged his hands with their noses. "Well, they sure recognize the alpha." Rick said.

"Who are they?" Ishaan asked, slightly confused, "Are they good wolves?"

"Guys," Rishi said, as he took a metallic disc from one of the wolves' mouth, "meet Geri and Freki, Odin's wolves of war."

"How did you know which one is who?" Ishaan asked.

"They have bands on their necks, see." Aitri pointed at the silver bands with the names engraved on them.

For Mik, it felt unwise to turn the great wolves of war into map delivery dogs. But he knew one thing for sure. They were loyal to the second smartest person in the nine worlds. Surely, Odin knew a role much suited for them. Maybe he just wanted them to meet him. Rishi patted the wolves as if they were pet dogs, and not immortal warrior canids. His eyes glowed orangish, as the wolves closed in on him. Geri touched his head on Rishi's forehead, and snarled lightly, as if to say something. And Rishi nodded. Then, he did the same thing with Freki, who also snarled similarly, following by a similar nod by Rishi, as if he understood. What was all that?

Geri and Freki nudged everyone individually before leaving. "What did they say?" Aitri asked.

"Geri basically wished us luck. Freki asked us to be careful. This isn't gonna go easy."

"Never expected it to." Ishaan said.

"You can talk wolf, huh?" Mikael said, and guessed, "What is this? Your fylgja?"

"Yes." Rishi said, "My fylgja is a wolf."

"Woah!" Mikael exclaimed, impressed at his own guess, "Really? Do you guys have a fylgja too?"

"Yes." Aitri, Rick and Ishaan said in unison. It was weird. For the two weeks they knew each other, none of them had mentioned this to each other. It was so much a part of their lives, that it was just there, unmentioned. "When were you guys going tell me that?"

"Well, its not something you are supposed to be told about. It is something you need to find." Ishaan said.

"It's nothing like that." Rick said, "We should have, Mik. But its so mixed in our lives, we kinda have become unaware of it. But you really need to figure yours out."

"How do I do it?" Mikael asked everyone, "How did you find it?"

"What we did was we started wondering what our fylgja could be." Aitri said, "I started running little facts about myself inside my brain, and then, when I needed it the most, it showed up inside my mind."

"So it is mental."

"It's not mental. Its completely normal for divine champion."

"No, I meant, its a mental power that I can awaken."

"Yes, but it also gives you physical powers."

"Animal-like?"

"Yep. But only the good ones. No savagery powers."

"We don't know that for sure." Ishaan said, adding.

"Anyway, lets see what this shows." Rishi said, as they sat down on the ground.