The woman pushed back her hood and planted the butt of her bow into the snow at her feet, ice-blue eyes narrowing as she watched their approach.
“Leave,” she barked at Thordin. “I asked for the Seers and the Seers alone.”
“And you know that I’m not one of them?” Thordin fired back as Thom and Marin scrambled to catch up with him.
“You know how I know. Go.” Her voice dropped slightly. “I don’t speak to the dead. I speak to those still living, those who may fight.”
“You will speak to me,” Thordin said. Thom reached for his arm.
“Thordin—”
He shoved Thom away. “She’ll speak to me,” he snapped, glaring over his shoulder. “There is much to say.”
“I don’t speak to the dead,” the woman repeated, turning her attention to Thom and Marin. “I come on the behalf of my brethren. The end of all things has come and the last battle looms. I come to learn who will stand and fight with us against the coming tide.” She straightened and began a slow circuit around Thom and Marin, studying them like a predator circling a potential kill. “I heard tales of you, even where I was, so far from here. I had to come to see what the Wanderer had found, learn whether or not you would be of assistance to us.”
“We have our own war,” Thom said quietly. “What would aiding you do for us?”
Marin’s elbow dug hard into his side. He struggled to keep his expression impassive, watching the woman as she prowled around them.
“We’ve already made many enemies,” Thom continued. “I don’t know that we can afford to borrow more.”
“A valid and wise question,” the woman said, stopping in front of them. “But the fact of the matter is, either you are with us or you are against us. There is no in between.”
“This isn’t the days of old, Sif,” Thordin said. “There are a thousand shades of gray to our existence now.”
“Be silent, Odinson! I do not speak to you. You are dead. I do not speak to the dead. My offer is not for the dead. My question is for the living only, now hold your peace lest I forget what happened so many centuries ago and put you to the question as well.”
Thom just stared at her as Thordin went rigid. “Thordin,” he said softly, “who is she?”
“A woman I loved,” Thordin whispered. “A very, very long time ago.”
A woman he loved? well well….another twist in the story. I wonder how he will handle her rejection? He’s dead but she isn’t? o.k. LOL Now I have to put that together inside my head.
Thanks for the update. Good story.