Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121534 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
She reaches the door, then glances back. “Seriously, Rey—glad you’re here. I’ve just decided, we’re going to be the best of friends.”
“Thanks?” I start like it’s a question, but I don’t know what else to say. No one’s ever offered me friendship like it was no big deal. No conditions. No price. Just handed over like a hoodie.
She starts to turn back to the hallway but adds, “If you survive orientation, come find me later. I’ll show you where the vending machines are that won’t steal your soul.”
“Thanks,” I say again, and this time, I mean it.
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until you meet my ghost. She’s super territorial.”
And just like that, she’s gone.
Chapter Ten
Rey
I stare at the now-empty doorway, a little thrown.
Unsure what to do next, I pull the notebook from the blue bag my father gave me. When in doubt, choose war, I guess.
“It’s just a notebook. It doesn’t bite.” I don’t know why I’m talking to myself as I slowly open the first page.
It’s a drawing of Mjölnir, Thor’s hammer, the most powerful weapon in the world. I know almost nothing of the war between the Gods and the Giants, other than what Father has shared, and I have no illusions his version isn’t heavily one-sided.
Long before “Norse” was a word, before men carved Gods into stone, Odin was not just a name. He was a force. And Mjölnir wasn’t just a symbol stamped on rings and family crests; it was a sentence, a weapon of finality. It meant justice if you were on Odin’s side and extinction if you weren’t. The Giants—at least that’s what stories called them—stole it, though not out of greed or chaos, like the myths say. They used it to destroy the Bifrost, and it changed everything. The Bifrost was a bridge linking our world to theirs, a shimmering, living connection between realms. Between Midgard, or Earth, and Asgard, the Gods’ stronghold. The Bifrost was how Odin controlled the flow of power, people, memory, and magic.
But once it broke, everything fractured. Gods and Giants were trapped on each side, and Odin made sure that those trapped here no longer remembered the war that caused their separation. Using his power, he put everyone asleep to buy time. Their memories are locked away, and all because the great, benevolent Odinfather decided he wanted to erase history and rewrite it in blood and gold.
He’s never told me what it meant for those trapped in Asgard. He doesn’t like any question that may have an answer that exposes him as anything but a caring ruler.
Whenever I’ve asked my father about the Bifrost and why anyone would want it divided, he just says it was a mistake, a natural consequence of war, but it’s always felt like he was leaving something out. The Giants already used Mjölnir to take down the Bifrost. Hiding it is just a giant middle finger to my father. He can’t go home without it, and he can’t restore his own powers, since they come from Asgard. The only people who can wield it need to have the blood of Odin or be worthy, and since Odin himself is evil personified now—that leaves, well, me. Jury’s still out on whether or not I’m worthy, but at least I have the bloodline to steal it back—once I find it.
More importantly, why did the Giants hide an ancient weapon in this specific location, and why is Aric the only one who knows where? I think back on the runes I’ve been seeing scattered around campus. Are they working like wards? And if Mjölnir is protected here, meaning my father needed me to get in, are the runes making it impossible for it to call out to my blood? Something is suppressing it. Or someone.
I jump up from my bed and pace back and forth. Something important is right in front of me, I just know it. I have to walk through it. Step by step. This is what I’ve been trained to do.
The Giants don’t want ultimate power returning to my father. Hiding the hammer means they were part of the war and at least retained their memories long enough to make those plans. They had to have done it after the destruction of the Bifrost. Because they’re all still stuck here.
My heart skips in my chest, and my mind races, selecting and discarding reasons. The Eriksons’ family legacy is this school. If it’s protected by runes, that could mean it’s also protected by a more ancient power.
When I first arrived at Endir, I could smell something ancient smoldering beneath the university, if my imagination wasn’t running wild. Hell, even the mountains that surround the school feel mythical and unforgiving. Maybe they’ve hidden Mjölnir in a nearby cave or deep within the forest. Maybe getting close to Aric, gaining his trust, really is the key to discovering it.