* I do apologize for publishing this a tad early. My daughter was messing with my phone but now it's good. 😁

Brok met up with Kratos, and worry was written all over his face.

"You look like you have seen a ghost; Brok, is something bothering you?" Mimir asked.

"Hilda helped me with that lever. She left two bloody hand prints behind. I know she can take care of herself and all but her powers; I think they might be killing her. I don't know for sure, and if that is the case, then we can't Sindri about that. He would want her to stay home, and if anything happened to you or us, she would blame herself for it. Once she makes a friend, she would die for them," Brok informed.

"But if it's for her own good-" Mimir paused.

"Her own good? I know that kid like the back of my hand; if there is an answer for why her powers are messing her up, we need to find it. Sindri cried like a baby when where mother died; can't imagine what it would be like if she died," Brok informed.

"We will find an answer to it; we just got to be patient. The norms didn't say anything about it, so maybe we can fix it," Mimir informed.

"Hilda has a death prophecy, as do I," Kratos said, making Mimir sigh.

"A death prophecy? How long does she have?" Brok asked.

"We don't know, but if her powers are messing with her, it might be linked. We just don't know," Mimir informed.

"Well, no use worrying about it now; we have a job. Knowing Hilda, she wouldn't care about the prophecy; she doesn't believe in that stuff. Live each moment like it was your last is what she would say to that," Brok smiled.

They went to the lift after killing some nightmares and started to go up to the top. The wind was howling in their ears as they headed up the mountainside. It was a nice view, and he could see why Hilda was such a free spirit.

"Hold on, I got to grab some sound of the wind for the lady," Brok said as he got out his bag and grabbed some sound.

"I'm sorry; you are grabbing wind?" Mimir asked.

"How?" Kratos asked.

"No, you idjet the sound of the wind. Dwarven magic is all about the intangibles, the relationship between the stuff you can touch and the stuff you can't. It's about understanding," Brok said as he closed the bag.

"Understanding what?" Mimir asked.

"The nature of the thing is more important than the form of the thing," Brok informed as the wind went quiet.

"Hmm," Kratos said.

"Sindri and I were able to teach Hilda some of our magic, but of it, she was just unable to do some things. Crafting things and fixing things, we found out she is very good with or without magic. Don't tell Sindri, but when Hilda started liking us, I taught her how to fight some, maybe a lot. I used to get in all kinds of trouble when I was her age. We made a pact not to let anyone find out about that because we all knew Sindri would find out and have a cow with everything on it," Brok informed.

"Self-taught? Should have known she wasn't self-taught," Mimir informed.

"She taught herself some tricks to get out of sticky situations. She taught herself a little but was fully self-taught, nah. Plus, her mother made sure she could survive without her. Probably the best choice she ever made," Brok informed them as they reached the top.

"Man, I have been waiting to meet the lady since I was knee-high. There isn't a more magical creature in this realm," Brok informed.

The place was so beautiful, and by the look on Brok's face, he wished that Hilda was here with him. Hilda probably never saw the lady or this place and wanted to bring her here. There was a dock and what looked like a giant bell in the center of the lake that was connected to the pier but also connected to a pulley system.

"Do you wish Hilda were here?" Mimir asked.

"Yeah, I do; we had to keep her away because she was a God. The lady would have known, and Hilda would have found out. Hilda never really left Midgard and only came here for materials, but that was on a rare occasion. She may know this place like the back of her hand, but it is the one place we told her never to go to," Brok informed.

"She will see this place soon," Kratos informed.

"I sure do hope so, any way you want to crank that lever," Brok informed as Kratos went to the lever and started to crank it.

"It doesn't work," Kratos said as Sindri turned the wheel.

"Of course, it doesn't. Do I have to fix everything around here myself? Okay, so I need some material to fix it. You need to use that axe and get that spikey silver rock stuff over there in the yonder,' Brok said as he went to the nearby forge.

"This lady, what does she do?" Kratos asked.

"We will both see soon enough, won't we?" Brok smiled.

Kratos didn't know what rock to look for until he saw Hilda over by one of the rocks he needed.

"Hilda? You should stop popping in like this," Mimir informed as she sat down and ate.

"This is not as good as Brok's mystery stew; I can't wait to have some of that again," Hilda said without even moving her lips.

"Is this what she is thinking right now?" Mimir asked as Kratos got some of the stone, making her jump and disappear.

"That was hilarious!" Mimir laughed.

"If the lady gives her blessing, it is a sight to behold. The greatest smiths only give blessings," Brok said as Kratose gave him the rock.

"Okay, I now need some of that bronze stone over there," Brok said.

"You missed it; we scared Hilda half to death," Mimir laughed.

"You scared Hilda? What the hell is she popping in like this?" Brok asked.

"I don't know, but she keeps doing it for some reason. Maybe she's thinking about us," Mimir informed.

"Well, I would prefer if she didn't pop in. She's bleeding all over the damn place like it's going out of style. It's like when we first found out she started being a woman. I thought she was dying at first; perks of having a daughter. You lucked out there, Kratos," Brok informed.

"Okay, a little too much information; we better hurry up," Mimir informed as Kratos went to the rock; once again, Hilda was sitting there eating, but this time she had bandages wrapped around her palms.

Hilda looked like she was watching something rather closely. Whatever it was, she wasn't taking her eyes off it while eating. Kratos could tell by the looks that it was really important, and she wouldn't let it out of her sight.

"What do you suppose Hilda is watching?" Mimir asked.

"Odin," Kratos informed as she disappeared, leaving a bit of blood behind.

"Hilda?" Atreus asked as she looked at him as picked up some of the arrows he dropped.

"Yeah?" Hilda asked.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Atreus asked.

"Oh, um, definitely no reason, no reason at all," she said as Atreus looked at her confused.

"It's not like I haven't seen him naked; I might as well imagine before we leave. If I die, I'm going to die happy," she thought.

Kratos gave him what Brok needed, and he started hitting it with his hammer.

"Has Hilda told you the riddle? What grows more the more you take away?" Brok asked.

"I believe she has; I can barely remember we have been all over creation trying to stop Ragnarok that I might have just forgotten about it," Mimir informed.

"Too bad I wanted to tell you that one, and I'm not giving you the answer. Well, I'm done here; let's get this show on the road!" Brok said as they went to the strange device at the dock.

"Where are we going?" Kratos asked.

"To the forge," Brok informed.

"I don't see a forge," Kratos informed.

"You don't see a forge; we are going to the nature of one," Brok informed.

"I was almost following you for a moment," Mimir informed as Brok put the pieces in the lever to fix it.

"Okay, I fixed it. Crank it!" Nrok said as Kratos cranked it, and the bell-shaped top surrounded them and creaked.

They started to go down into the lake, and when they stopped, they waited for a moment.

"Where is the forge?" Kratos asked.

"Shhh! Here she comes!" Brok said as the woman appeared.

She looked like a mermaid, and she was very beautiful, which made Brok nervous. She touched the bell, and she finally felt the glass. Her arm went in, and she waited patiently for whatever they needed to forge.

"I uh... I uh," Brok said as he held the bag full of all the stuff, and Kratos took it from him and gave it to her.

The lady pulled it threw the glass and spun the bag around with her magic. All the things he collected, the air, a sword, and the ring; then she used her magic to make it spin around until it combined to create a spear. She looked it over and returned it to them, the last piece they needed-a drop of blood from a God.

"She needs the final ingredient, the blood of a God. Give her your hand," Brok said as Kratos did what he was told.

The lady turned some blood into symbols before making the blood surround the spear. She turned it back into a ring and went back to Kratos. She handed it over, and Kratos gave it to him. Kratos put it on, and now he could go to protect Atreus and Hilda.

"Wow, oh, I almost forgot. Ma'am, it would be an honor if you could bless it for us," Brok said as she stayed there for a moment but wasn't responding to Brok.

"Hello?" Brok asked as the lady took off.

"Hello? What the fuck was that. She acted like I wasn't even here," Brok informed, shocked.

"Mermaids don't speak to our bodies; they speak to a part of our soul. Specifically, the piece you might be missing," Mimir informed.

The shock was written all over his face. He died. He died, and Sindri lied to him this whole time. He knew it deep down; he knew something was wrong. It was why everyone was shocked when they got here. They weren't scared of Kratos; they were scared of him since he wasn't supposed to be alive.

"I died, I fucking died! I knew it! Sindri, you lying asshole! You are going to get what's coming to you!" Brok growled as he started to stomp around the dome.

Kratos took out the spear and went over to Brok to have him bless it.

"What the fuck do you want?" Brok asked.

"It needs a blessing," Kratos informed.

"Well, the person that made just fucked off into the kelp!" Brok said, still angry that Sindri had lied to him this whole time.

"It needs the blessing of a great blacksmith," Kratos said as he got down on one knee so he could bless the spear that he was now holding in both hands.

"What? Nah, nah, nah, I can't bless shit, I don't have all my soul bits, the blessing wouldn't mean squat," Brok said sadly, feeling horrible about what happened to him.

"It is the nature of the thing that matters, not the form," Kratos said, repeating what Brok had said to him.

"Alright, may this weapon strike true, may this weapon be held with wisdom. May this weapon ve put down when its job is done," Brok said as he spat on it, and Kratos got up to put it away.

"Let us return home," Kratos said as Brok looked up at him feeling a bit better but not by much.

The bell stopped moving up once they reached the surface, signaling it was time for them to leave this place and hopefully stop this war once and for all.