XV. The Confession

With the other arm, he pointed to Asa, and then opened his hand: a row of blades appeared in the air, and he threw them to her just by clenching his fist.

Asa continued to walk in Alf's direction while the blades clashed on an invisible barrier that surrounded her body. 

Continuing to cry and holding the same wrathful expression, she bent on her knees, and a pair of blue wings appeared on her back.

When her wings, similar to those of a huge swan took shape, she leaped forward, pushed by them.

In the air, close to the ground, she turned on herself and swung the sword, that shot a radiant, cutting, light semicircle in front of her.

Alf tried to parry with one arm only but was struck by that powerful hit that sharply cut him and an entire row of trees behind him in half.

The incredible anger and the enormous amount of enery udes, made Asa lose her senses and fell to the ground unconscious.

Dag and Eirik suddenly looked at each other and, soon after, Eirik ran to his father, while his step-brother dashed toward his mother, fearing the worst.

The light that surrounded her body had disappeared as her wings. Dag waited for Eirik's help, and when he came closer trying to hold back his tears, together, they lifted up the woman that had just saved them and carried her inside the house, gently placing her on the bed.

"Wha…what happened?" Eirik asked in confusion. "My father is dead! Who was that man?!" he repeated, breaking into tears without control.

"He said he was looking for some… some weapon or something…what the fuck was he talking about?!" he continued, looking for answers from Dag, who was still looking at his mother, motionless on the bed.

Eirik grabbed Dag by his shirt with both hands and yelled: "tell me! Was that your fault? I swear to the Gods that I will kill you, you asshole!"

Dag freed himself from the grip, grabbing both his step-brother's arms and forcefully answered: "It's not my fault, I know nothing about all this, I swear it! Stop thinking it's always my fault and try to reason lucidly! We must move our dad's body to a safe place, or…"

"Don't even dare to call my father like that! Did you hear me?! He's not your father, he was my father! And you took him away from me! You are involved in this story, I'm sure of it! When my mother wakes up, she will tell me the truth," Eirik continued to scream.

"The truth will not bring Stein back, and you cannot blame me for the rest of my life! I didn't do anything, Erik!" 

Full of anger, not knowing what to anwer, Stein's second son ran outside the main door, crying.

Dag followed him, looking one last time his mother on the bed before exting the farmhouse.

When the two brothers reached Stein's body, whose gaze was pointed to the sky, they dragged him with difficulty towards the carriage their father used to bring and sell the wood in Jernhest, parked behind a tree not far from the site of the fatal accident. 

They managed to lift Stein and brought him on its wooden surface, and look at him for a last time.

"I know where to bury him, but I'll go alone. You must look after my mother. If you just dare to harm a hair on her, I…"

"I will not. She is my mother too. As Stein was my father. I'll take care of her. Go," Dag said, interrupting Eirik's words.

Eirik got on the couch and moved towards the woods, leaving his step-brother alone.

The wind blew and the birds sang in the sky while the young Dag rose his gaze, trying to get lost into that deep blu and to imagine that all that happened was just a nightmare.

"Asa still has the powers she talked about… she's still strong, she's still a… Shieldmaiden" thought him, returning to reality and heading to the farmhouse, crossing his path with the blood trail of the corpse of Alf, next to a tree. 

When he entered the bedroom, she was resting.

He sat next on the bed next to her, hoping to hear her breath again. 

"D…Dag…" Asa said with a whisper of a voice, after a few minutes of waiting, immediately drawing his attention.

"Yes! I'm here! I'm here!" Dag promptly answered, caressing her hair.

"There is something you should know now" she stammered, touching her son's hand.

"Try to rest now. Get back on your feet, then we'll talk, mother" he replied, keeping on caressing her forehead and making her sleep again.

Some hours passed when Eirik came back.

His expression summed up all that he had been through, and when he noticed that his mother was awake and sitting on the bed, he thew himself into her arms.

"Mother! My father! My father is gone! This earthling is involved in all this, isn't he?!" Eirik asked, referring to Dag and continuing to cry nonstop.

"He is your brother. Watch your mouth, Eirik. He found out they were in danger and also tried to protect our farmhouse, killing a man to save me" she answered, merely reporting the facts.

Eirik looked at Dag, who returned the gaze. They understood each other without talking, in cold silence.

"There is something you should know. Both of you. I can no longer keep the secret, or it will kill me. The time has come" she affirmed, taking a deep breath and starting talking again.

In more than 30 minutes, she told them about Brann and his death, at the hand of soldiers from evil Clans. She tried not to skip any detail, having prepared for many years at that moment.

She told Eirik the truth about Gridd's real father and about the 6th emblem, showing them the locked room.

Asa explained everything, telling them that perhaps, the man that killed their father was sent by somebody that knew Brann and his axe's power.

"They know about the weapon, but they don't know that only a true Hammer Of Thor's warrior can unlock its power. See, here…" she continued, pointing at the metal deer's head, between the blades, where two little red shiny crystals were embedded instead of its eyes

"These shards contain all its power. I can't unlock it, nobody can. The only warrior worth of such a power was Brann, my first husband. His axe and his armor are the only things I've left of him."

Eirik's gaze, word after word, was lost in a vacuum and a strong anger began to flow into his veins. "I don't care about him! He was not my father! My father is buried in the woods now because of him and his stupid weapon! How could you lie to me all this time, mother, I trusted you!" he yelled, walking outside the farmhouse, slamming the door.

A sudden silence fell on Dag and Asa, who closed the door and walked out of the rooms containing all Brann's relics with her son.

"I will revenge his death" Dag stated, breaking the silence. "I will kill every single member of that Clan, I swear it to the Gods. And I swear it to you, mother."

Not knowing how to behave, caught in a feeling of hopelessness and disappointment, Asa embraced him without taking too much notice of his words, generated by the painful circumstances.

…

The day after, the air seemed filled with sorrow, but everything got back to normal.

Eirik continued to work alone, without his father, with more dedication than ever.

Dag was walking down the road toward Jernhest's Arena when Freydis popped out, greeting him. "Hey, I was waiting for you yesterday… are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm sorry about yesterday. Here I am. Let's go!" Dag answered, without further explanations.

The following days passed without any particular event. Dag continued to train hard with his friends and focus more and more on his fighting style, improving day by day.

After almost a month, Gridd got back to her family and when she found out what had happened, she comforted her mother, still upset and silent, while Eirik did not speak to both of them.

Gridd and Asa were at home when Dag returned to his house, eight days after Stein's funeral-less burial.

"Gridd!" Dag yelled, happy to see his sister again. "I missed you, Gridd! I missed you so much! The days seemed never to end!"

She smiled, then hugged her brother. "Asa told me what happened here. She told me about Stein and about Alf."

"So? What do you think about it?" he asked.

"I'm not surprised. I thought that somebody would claim my father's weapon, but I didn't know about its power" she answered, while Asa didn't say a word, just listening the conversation with empty eyes.

"Anyway!" Gridd exclaimed, changing the tone of her voice and trying to dispel darkening gloom, "tomorrow you'll turn 18, Dag! Do you what that means?"

"Yes, I will choose my Clan" Dag replied, squeezing out a smile.

"Well said! Are you happy?"

"Yes, I.. I think so."

"Okay so… whereas I've been gone for months, what have you learned at the Arena? Show me!"

After those words, Gridd went out of the house, inviting him to follow her. Without talking to much, being used to that kind of 'unexpected training sessions' they started to fight against each other.