The first thing Lìfa felt was the sharp pain on her left side and the dizziness in her head. She existed in an uncertain darkness without light or sounds until slowly her senses came back to life again. First, a loud mess of noises hit her ear, then the sounds started to separate from each other. Loud voices speaking all around, shouting and laughing, with cheerful music flowing in the background.

She slowly opened her eyes, waiting for her blurry vision to come clear. When her pupils finally accommodated to the dim torchlight, she realised that she was lying on a hay bed in a small meadhall, full of people. The place itself was small, with a long table in the middle, and a fireplace in the far end. As she forced her eyes to focus more, she recognised the familiar forms of her companions feasting with the strange inhabitants of the place.

At first, she didn't understand how she got there, but as she tried to move, the pain struck in her body again, making her memories come back. Her fingers carefully trailed down to her side, searching for the source of her suffering. She found that her wound has been taken care of, and her torso was wrapped around in bloodsoaked clothes. Against the fact that she felt extremely tired and exhausted, she slowly forced herself to sit up inch by inch and leaned against the wall. This painful action sent white stars all over her vision, and she felt like the room was spinning around her. Standing up was not an option yet. Since no one noticed her awakening, she decided to stay hidden for a while and examine this strange gathering in the hall. This was no easy for her since she had to constantly fight her heavy eyelids shutting close.

She carried her gaze upon her friends sitting by the table with the forest warriors. Some of them, like Gunnar, Bjarne or Magni were chatting and drinking with their hosts. Others, like Thorvald, Ivar or Olaf were playing tafl. Carolus, longing for attention as always was performing some ballads and poems about the tragic end of their home. Egil sat at the far end of the long table with a man who seemed to be the leader or jarl of villagers.

The more she watched the scene in the hall, the more suspicious their strange hosts got. It caught Lìfa's eyes that only her mates were drinking. Their drinking horns were always full of the cheap and sour beer their hosts served, but the forest men did not drink at all. She couldn't understand how could her friends be this calm and cheerful around these men, not seeing that something was definitely going on. Especially after what happened to her. These men were dangerous, and they had to get back on the Fox as fast as they could.

As she was still eyeing the crowd, Sveinn dropped beside her with two horns in his hands. He handed one over to Lìfa, then swiped a few unruly blond locks away from his eyes. As he glanced over to his friend, relief and happiness were written all over his face. The shine in his blue eyes, and the warm smile his lips curved into told Lìfa how worried he was about her, and how good it was to see her alive, in one piece.

"Hey, how are you? You were pretty lucky that boar didn't kill you right on the spot! Maybe it was your god again." he shot a mischievous smile towards Lìfa and took a big gulp from his beer. "If these men didn't help you, you probably wouldn't be here now."

"What?" Lìfa choked on her beer in her surprise "There was no boar! They did this to me!" she said while still coughing which made her wound hurt again.

"You must have hit your head. In the forest, a wild boar dashed into you and if it wasn't for these guards, you would be dead by now. They saved and carried you back, and also gave us shelter for the night." Sveinn explained patiently, seeing the confusion and pain on the girl's face. Trying to calm her down, he pulled the girl into a gentle, but comforting hug, trying not to hurt her wound even more.

When Lìfa finally managed to recompose herself, she grabbed the boy's arm pulling him closer, and whispered to him:

"Sveinn, there was no boar. When Vidar handed me over to them, I was scared to death, so I tried to escape. I ran away from them, and they chased me down. One of their spears wounded me." when she looked in her friend's eyes, her gaze was full of panic, confusion, and fear. It just made Sveinn more concerned about Lìfa's state and did not help to convince him.

He pulled his arm free from Lìfa's strong grip, and stood up, waving to the others, to get their attention.

"Hey, look, she's alive and awake!"

Every head turned into their direction, and while the totally drunk crew just cheered and drank another to the health of Lìfa, some of the guardians moved towards them. As she saw them coming, fear ran down her spine, sending warning signals across her body. She pulled Sveinn down one more time and pretended to hug him while whispering to his ear.

"Please, listen to me! Keep your eyes open, and don't trust them! Sveinn, I'm not out of my mind. They did this to me."

She couldn't say more, as two of the guards pulled her up from the bed, and ordered her to follow them. She shot one last desperate look towards her friend as one of the guardians pushed her towards the exit. Lìfa could barely walk, and her wound hurt like hell, but she didn't want to show her weakness to these men. She straightened herself as much as she could, and clutching her side she stepped out of the meadhall with them.

Outside the cold night, air made her shiver as it touched her skin. From above the moon shined down with its pale white light, giving a mysterious glow to the place. Lìfa took some time to look around, and saw many wooden houses all around, forming a small village. The buildings were near the shore, where for her biggest surprise the Silver Fox was docking. In the other direction, the dark and foggy forest surrounded the clearing, hiding it from the world. The guards shook her out of her wandering and led her to a dark cottage. The house of the Witch.

She entered with a bad feeling squeezing her stomach. The air inside was thick with smoke and the nauseating scent of many herbs and spices. All around the walls were covered with shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Some of them were packed with ancient figurines and ritual instruments, while others held small containers with mysterious ingredients hiding inside. The thick rug covering the floor muffled the sound of her uncertain steps. As she scanned the far end of the room, a small form emerged from the shadows and sat down by the fireplace.

It was a small woman, old as Yggdrasil* itself. Her curly silver hair was long, it reached down to the middle of her bent back. Countless small bones and beads were tied to her locks. Many amulets and pendants were hanging from her neck, their weight slightly pulling her head down. Her wrists and long fingers were full of bracelets and rings as well, making a tinkling noise at her smallest moves.

When she turned to face Lìfa and she finally got a glimpse of the woman's face she stumbled back in surprise and bumped into one of the shelves. The woman's empty milk-white eyes were staring right at her. She was blind, but somehow Lìfa got the feeling that she saw way more than an average man would. The old woman probably heard her struggling, because she curiously tilted her head to the side, and her thin lips curved into a small smile.

"Don't be afraid, my child. My name is Silvana. Come, sit here, I've been waiting for you." her voice was piping and quiet.

Lìfa finally gathered her courage and sat beside the old witch. From close up, her dead eyes were scarier, and Lìfa felt the whole time like those were staring right at her. She decided to avoid eye contact with those foggy orbs, instead, she stared at the dancing flames in the fireplace. The old woman took a small pot from the fireplace and poured its content to a cup. She held the strange green liquid over to Lìfa.

"Drink it, my child. It will ease your pain, and will make it disappear faster."

She carefully took the cup from the witch, not knowing if she could trust her or not. She was confused. The woman was blind, still, she acted like she could see perfectly. She knew about her birthmark, and now also about her injury. In the end, she decided that her state couldn't get any worse, so she took a small sip from the weird potion. Its taste was horrible, but it definitely did its job, it eased her pain a bit. Hearing her relieved sigh, Silvana gave her an approving nod.

"You know, I may be blind, but I can see many things. The Allfather took both of my eyes and in return, I got great wisdom and seidr*. For example, I know that you wear the serpent's marking on your skin."
Silvana held out her wrinkled hand to Lìfa, ordering her to place her marked arm into her palm. She didn't know why but obeyed to the old witch. Somehow she felt like she couldn't protest in her presence. Maybe it was part of her magic too.

As her fingertips touched the birthmark on Lìfa's skin, it sent a small electric shiver down her spine, making small goosebumps appearing all over her. Silvana held her hand for a minute in silence, like she was reading from the marking she couldn't even see.

"Ah, I see now. You wear the symbol of two gods at a time. One can keep you afloat, but the weight of two will make you drown."

Lìfa quickly grabbed the two pendants hanging from her neck. It amazed and scared her at the same time how the witch knew about it. She wanted to back away, and pull her arm free, but Silvana's grip tightened around it, not letting her go.

"Wha- what do you mean? I don't understand." the witch just made her more confused with every word slipping off of her tongue. Why couldn't she just say straight what she wanted? She was so familiar to Frode. The old godi always did the same, never telling what was exactly on his mind. These rebuses annoyed Lìfa.

"You have to choose. Stick with the old one, or accept your legacy. There's no way in between."

Somehow these words were so familiar to Lìfa. She had heard this somewhere, she just couldn't remember where. She forced her mind, trying to scrape the lost memory from the back of her mind while playing with the serpent's symbol between her fingers. Suddenly it struck in her mind. She knew it.

"Wait! I've heard it in my dream before! But.. how did you know it?" she looked Silvana in the eye, but then quickly regretted it. Her dead empty eyes still freaked her out. A wide smile spread across the old woman's face, and she leaned closer to Lìfa, forcing her to look into her eyes again.

"You talked to him, didn't you? In your dream. Did you see him?" her voice wasn't calm and kind anymore. It was rather urging and impatient. It made Lìfa back away, and finally free herself from Silvana's strong grip.

"Y- yes I did. Does it matter? He said don't run from my legacy. What does it mean?"

The witch only let out a laugh, shaking her head and the many bones in her silver locks.

"You ask too many pointless questions, while you already know the answers."

She looked like she was about to say something more, but suddenly her whole body tensed and her eyes fell back into her head like she was in some kind of trans. She grabbed Lìfa's arm again, holding her strong in place, not letting her escape. When she opened her mouth again, her voice was completely different. It was deep, and somehow it sounded inhuman to Lìfa.

"When winter comes and cold wind howls
Your future depends on the Runes.
Spare a life and tame the wolves,
Break his chains and let him rule!"

After this just as sudden as it came, it was already over. Silvana turned back into her old self, but she was breathing heavily and she looked exhausted. She released Lìfa and turned to her one last time.

"I hope you paid attention. This was a prophecy from the gods which decides your future. What does it mean? It depends on you to understand. Good luck, my child. Now go, I have to rest."

There was a lot going on her mind, but Lìfa stood up from her seat and headed to the door. She stopped right in front of it, turning back to the witch. She was relieved that she can finally leave the suffocating air of the room and can leave this strange woman behind, but there was something on her mind she couldn't get rid of.

"Wait! Can I ask you something? Why do you live here among these strange men?"

Hearing her question Silvana just laughed again with her necklaces and bracelets tinkling to her movements.

"It's simple. I let these unpredictable and wild men live in my forest, and in return, they protect and serve me. They fear me, but they have no mercy on other intruders."

"Thank you for your answer." Lìfa was about the exit and rush back to warn her friends when she heard the woman continuing.

"How sad, probably all your friends are dead by now. I let them live on my lands, but I can't control them."

Notes:

Yggdrasil - Yggdrasil is an immense mythical tree that connects the nine worlds in Norse cosmology.

Losing an eye - Odin gave one of his eyes to Mimir to get wisdom and power over the runes