Tre år senare
Three years later
It had been three years since Kristall Snö had become part of the village, she was now eleven years old, she was no longer a filly, but almost a young mare.
And here she came out of the hut, she had made a new dress, it was a shirt with blue sleeves that came close to her hip and over a leather jacket, with Regn's skin she had made a cloak that she always carried with her, and he wore boots on her back hooves, her mane was always the same, she always wanted to have it long so as not to forget her parents.
She had started walking around the village, now that she had lived there for three years everyone knew her, and she had also improved in combat, furthermore she no longer had her father's ax, which however she kept in her new home, indeed after meeting the dwarf bison Städ had had two new axes made and since she could travel with the Bifrost she could gather various materials and fight various creatures, so she had an ax made with the power of ice, and another with the power of air, and thanks to the two yaks who knew how to read and compose the runes she had created new spells, often she and Rokk and Henrik went around Midgard and the other realms to get various materials and various foods, so the whole village could have the enhanced weapons, by now Kristall Snö had beaten various types of Mephits to upgrade her weapons, her axes, her bow and arrows and her new sword, also Rokk had given her a shield, to be able to better defend herself.
While Kristall Snö was walking she greeted all the Vikings, she passed by her boss and said hello, then she went to the shop of Städ, who was a small bison wearing armor, he was always intent on repairing a weapon, or upgrading it as only dwarf bisons could do, Kristall Snö approached him and spoke to him,
-“ God morgon Städ (Good morning Städ)“-
-“ Åh, god morgon kära Kristall Snö (Ah, good morning dear Kristall Snö)“-
-"How are you today? Do you work?“-
-"Sure, I’m working, do you need something?"-
-“Ja, I need you to upgrade my shield“-,
Kristall Snö placed the shield on the counter and Städ looked at it,
-"It's a nice shield, Rokk asked me for it, what do you want me to do for you?"-
-“I want to boost its defense, but I'd also like to make it more resistant“-
-“In this case I would need two defense stones, and also the fang of a fire troll, so the shield will also protect you from the flames“-
-“It can be done, where can I find a Fire Troll?”-
-"You should ask the boss, unfortunately I can't tell you much about the location of all the monsters"-
-“Very well and how much do you want for the upgrade?”-
-“Since it's you, let's make 25 coins“-,
Kristall Snö gave the bison a sack with 35 coins,
-“ I'll give you 35 if you finish it in a short time, as soon as I find the materials“-
-"for the stones you can ask Rokk, he's always been the one to find them, for the Fire Troll, go to the boss first"-
-"Agreed"-.
Kristall thought of visiting Chief Hov to find out where to find the Fire Trolls, but on the way he found Ryt,
-“God morgon Kristall“-
-“God morgon Ryt“-
-“Then how about doing some training?”-
-“I really should go to the boss, but…ja, let's do some training“-.
Kristall Snö chose to fight with one ax and one hoof, but Ryt didn't want her to handicap him.
-“I wish you would stop using only one hoof just because I only have one hoof“-
-“But it wouldn't be right, I would have too much advantage“-
-“We have been training for three years and everyone in the village fights at full strength, yet you are the only one who treats me like a disabled pony, use both axes“-
-“Okay, but you asked for it“-, so in the end Kristall Snö used both axes, and Ryt took an ax with his good hoof, Kristall was fast and made several jumps, but Ryt like always parrying her every blow, Kristall then used the borrning axe, but Ryt parried the blow with a shield attached to his cut hoof, Kristall used several moves then switched to one invented in the last two years,
-“Now try to parry this, Viking ilska (Viking wrath)“-, she hit Ryt with an ax thrust and then a horizontal cut, but Ryt always parried, in the end he hit her with the shield and made her fall into the snow and pointed the ax at her.
-“Once again I won, but I'm happy with the progress you've made in these three years, congratulations Kristall Snö“-, the pegasus got up and thanked,
-“Tack (Thanks) Ryt, I'm glad I'm no longer the weak filly I used to be, do you think that now I can be stronger than a dragon?“-
-“I don't know, maybe when one day you’ll manage to defeat me I'll tell you“-
-“But no one has ever been able to defeat you“-
-"Do you want to beat me by any chance?"-
-“Nej, I just want to train with you and try my techniques, I would never dare defeat you“-
-“You’re honest, I like it, so maybe I'll tell you when you're ready to defeat an ice dragon“-
-“Are you really going to tell me?”-
-“Det är ett löfte (It's a promise), now go to the boss“-.
Kristall Snö went to Chief Hov, entered the hut and found his wife Johanna preparing soup,
-“Hej Johanna, (Hello Johanna) how are you?”-
-“God morgon Kristall, jag lagar mat (Good morning Kristall, I am cooking)“-
-“Var är din man? (Where's your husband?)"-
-"He went to check the boats, soon he and the other vikings will go on a fishing trip, why? Did you have to ask him something?"-
-“Ja, I wanted to know where to find a Fire Troll, I need one of his fangs to upgrade my shield“-
-“A Troll of fire you said? Maybe I can help you“-,
So Johanna took a map from a chest and opened it on a table, then she pointed with her hoof at the center of that map,
-"Right in this center, between Horsweden and Noreinway, there is a huge salt water lake, there is an abandoned temple, many years ago there was a war between the Vikings and the Crystal Dragons, it is from those parts that there are the Fire Trolls“-
-“And how do I achieve it?“-
-“You can go to this part of the map with a boat, Rokk knows that place very well, but he never took you there, it is said to be full of ghosts of crystal dragons, and it is dangerous to stay there“-
-“But I need that material, and then anyway I had to ask Rokk where to find the defense stones“-
-“Be careful little Kristall, that place is cursed“-
-“Nu är jag ingen liten ponny längre (Now I'm not a little pony anymore), now I'm strong enough to face other dangerous missions“-.
So Kristall went out of the chief's house to look for Rokk, then she noticed his brother Henrik who fought with Ryt, but lost immediately, he got back up, but then Ryt threw him to the ground.
Kristall interjected,
-“That's enough Ryt, he's just a foal“-
-“But he was the one who asked me to train him“-
-"But he's not strong enough, why do you have to rage?"-
-“Because Rokk wants Henrik to become strong, just like him“-
-"What?"-,
Kristall Snö saw Henrik take up his sword and leave, she followed him,
-“Henrik, wait, where are you going?“-, he turned to her, he was crying,
-“Would you like to stop meddling? Jag vill bli stark (I want to become strong)“-
-“But since when does Rokk want you to become strong like him?“-
-"You don't know me well yet, Kristall, it's since he took away my mother and me that he wants me to become strong, he wants me to become a real Viking, I had made some progress, but…but then you came"-
-“ Vad skulle du saga? (What would you say?)"-
-"You know it well, you are strong with the sword, with the bow, with the axes, you know how to do magic, and you have also met some gods"-
-"Speak softly, only me, you, Rokk, grandma Alfhild, the boss and his wife and Ryt know this, I don't want the whole village to know"-
-"Anyway, since you've been here, Rokk loves you more than me, I already saw him as a father, he found you in another village and already wanted you as a daughter, with all the progress you've made it is normal that I cannot be at your level, I have never managed to hit Ryt“-
-"But that's not true, Rokk loves you, he loves both me and you, it's true he knows you before, but that doesn't mean that he loves me more, and then even after three years I've never been able to hitting Ryt, just because Freyja saw something special in me doesn't mean I have to be some kind of super pony, I'm a viking just like everyone else"-
-“But you train a lot, and you know how to use weapons well“-
-"Just because in my heart I want to become stronger than an ice dragon, they lied to me, and one day I will come back to them and show them how strong I have become"-
-"Is this your goal? To become stronger than an ice dragon?”-
-“I know it sounds strange, but it's my main goal“-
-“Mine is that Rokk is proud of me“-
-“But he's proud of you, he just has a strange way of expressing it, he's still a Viking warrior, actually maybe I can do something, how about you, me and Rokk going hunting for materials here in Midgard? “-
-“We never went there in three“-
-“And this could be the first time, maybe we will form a stronger bond in three“-.
Kristall and Henrik looked for Rokk, who was drinking beer in a hut that was the village's supply of drinks.
Kristall told Rokk about the place Johanna pointed out to her and asked if Henrik could come too, Rokk was a bit hesitant.
-"It's a dangerous place for a foal like him"-
-"But now he's grown up, and I've grown up too"-
-“About you I have no doubts, Snö, you have grown both in height and in strength and in intelligence, but Henrik still has a long way to go, I myself protected him when I carried him with me“-
-"But I'm sure he's ready now, and then I'll be there too, I'll protect him, if the situation gets worse tough, I'll ask him to run away"-
-“A Viking never runs away, but I don't want him to die, so maybe I'll feel safer if you come this time too Kristall, so it's fine, let's leave now”-.
So all three went out to sea, where Rokk had a boat, all three went aboard, rowing was done by Rokk and Kristall standing at the stern and bow, while Henrik was in the middle, they followed a river that led north , between Noreinway and Horsweden, they found no danger in the journey, they crossed different parts of the river and then passed through the mountains, to then arrive at a huge temple half sunk in a huge lake, there were only mountains around and some forests, they had to land somewhere in the boat, to be able to look for some Fire Trolls.
Rokk went down first,
-“ Well, now we have to be there, around here we have to find some fire Trolls, let's stay close, you Henrik, stay close to me or Kristall, if you find yourself in danger, come close to us“-
-"But I'm strong enough to be able to defend myself, I can also be as strong as Kristall Snö"-,
Rokk approached the colt,
-“Listen carefully, Snö is stronger than you because she trained much more than you, and then she is bigger than you, while you are still small, I want you to be a strong Viking, but you don't become strong so suddenly, you have to train and work hard, and that's what Snö did, but you didn't train every day“-
-“But that's because you always told me to collect the materials for you, to take care of the grandmother and not to fight“-
-"This is because I've always met very strong enemies, and I couldn't allow you to face them, when you're stronger maybe you can beat them, but now you need someone to be there, to be able to work as a team, and for this I ask you to collaborate with me or with Snö, understood?“-
-"Understood"-
-“Now let's take a look around, and look for some Trolls“-,
the three Vikings walked along the shores of the lake, Kristall had never been there, but she was curious to know what that half-sunken temple was, but then she remembered Johanna's words about the fact that there had been a war and that there were ghosts around, but luckily she didn't see any around.
Rokk noticed that Kristall was wary and approached her,
-“Tell the truth Snö, did Johanna tell you about ghosts? Really?"-
-“Ja, but how do you know that I was seeing that….“-
-“Even when I come here I try to see the ghosts of the Crystal Dragons, but since I've been able to understand they only appear at night, and that's good for us, because I wouldn't know how to hit a ghost“-
-“Not even with the new weapons that Städ made us? All the enhanced ones?“-
-“There would be a way, but you have to ask Vilhelm, she sometimes hit ghosts“-
-“You mean the other female Yak who taught me runes?”-
-"I think that with some rune spells you can also fight ghosts, it's strange that in these three years she hasn't told you, perhaps because she thought you would never come here"-
-“But now I'm here, I learned different moves in the village and also different spells and….“-.
Kristall Snö saw some strange dragons, they were completely black and they were hitting an animal, an animal that she could not understand what it was.
She ran towards them to stop them, Rokk told her to stop,
-“Stop Snö, those are Dark dragons, they are dangerous, they are not like the dragons you know“-
-“But they are hurting an animal, I have to stop them“-.
Kristall Snö took her axes and screamed at the Dark dragons,
-“Hey you ugly black monsters, stop it, if you want to hurt someone, face me“-,
The three Dark Dragons stopped and looked at the pegasus, one of them approached her,
-“Well, well, what do we have here? A pegasus who doesn't mind her business? Do you know what we are doing?”
-“Mistreating an animal“-
-"We only want to hurt him because this creature is dangerous, it is noxious, he is a cursed son of….."-, at that moment a large Troll emerged from a cave, it had the color of stone and with veins of red, he took a stone and threw it at the Dragons who dodged it, the Troll had big fangs on the sides, Rokk had no doubts that was a Fire Troll, the dark Dragons got scared.
-“Oh, oh, guys let's go home“-, and so the dark dragons flew away from that place, Kristall Snö asked Rokk what to do and he replied,
-“Well, you need his fangs right? So let's defeat him“-.
So the three Vikings took up their weapons, Rokk his sword, Kristall Snö her axes and Henrik his bow, and all three surrounded the Troll, Kristall started hitting him several times with her axe, and Rokk hit him in one leg with the sword, while Henrik instead hit him on the shoulders with two arrows, Kristall Snö threw one of his axes towards the Troll's shoulder,
-“ Yxa av is (Ice Axe)“-, the ax hit the Troll which froze part of his shoulder, but the beast took it off and threw it on the ground, so he ran at Kristall, , but she was flying above the ground so stand on two legs to launch the next attack, the Troll was about to grab her, but Kristall reached out and called back her ax, which rose from the ground and then struck the Troll's head from behind knocking him out on the ground and then the ax returned to Kristall's hoof.
Henrik was surprised he had never seen his acquired sister do that magic, you have to know that in these three years Kristall Snö after listening to the deeds of the god Thor who controlled his hammer, she decided to try to do something like this with the runes, and in fact she had managed to create a runic spell that allowed her to take back her weapons even if they were far away, she only needed to use the magic of return on them and then she called them and they returned to her hooves.
The Troll was flat on his stomach thanks to Kristall's ax blow, however, she and Rokk didn't get too close, instead Henrik wanted to touch the Troll with his bow, and it was a bad choice, because the creature stood up and taking the poor pony in his hands, Rokk then struck his ax on the Troll's leg.
Kristall Snö didn't know what to do, the Troll slapped Rokk and sent him flying, meanwhile he was trying to choke Henrik, who was screaming,
Kristall sees a felled tree and grabbed it.
She called down the berserk spell and lifted the log effortlessly.
-“ Lämna min lillebror ifred (Leave my little brother alone now)“-, she rushed with the trunk against the Troll, hit him in the belly and dragged him, knocked him against a rock, in the impact the Troll let Henrik go , which was taken by Kristall, the Troll became enraged, but Kristall was even angrier so she took the log and flew, then hit the Troll's head several times, then threw the log into the air which then fell back on the Troll crushing him, now yes he was dead.
The red aura around Kristall Snö went out, in these years she had managed to perfect the berserk spell, and to recall it when she wanted, using little energy.
-“ Är du okej, Henrik? (Are you okay, Henrik?)“-
-"Ja, I'm fine, but what a fear I had"-
-“Don't worry it's all over, the Troll is defeated“-,
Rokk approached them,
-“Great job Snö“-
-“Rokk? Are you by any chance injured?”
-“Nej, I'm fine, but I would like to know what kind of animal the dark Dragons were torturing“-, all three went to see what animal it was, it looked like a big earthworm, but they realized it wasn't an animal but only a part, it was a tail, and more precisely a snake's tail, Kristall Snö touched it and saw that the tail was attached to black chains, Rokk explained,
-"it's a spell of the dark dragons, they too can do magic, but only related to darkness"-,
So Kristall Snö cut with one of her axes those chains that broke immediately, after which the tail disappeared in the huge lake, and the creature to which it belonged revealed itself, it was a gigantic snake, of silver color and with yellow eyes, it approached to the three Vikings.
All three were surprised, so surprised that they didn't run away, Henrik fell in the snow from wonder.
Kristall Snö had never seen such a big snake and it was also incredibly long.
-“For Odin, it is a huge snake“-
-“This is not just any snake, Kristall Snö, this is Jormungandr“-,
the pegasus looked at Rokk
-“Jormungandr? The famous snake that can go around the whole planet? One of Loki's sons?”
-"Exactly, just him, and we really found him"-,
Suddenly Jormungandr spoke a strange language,
-“It's a pity not to know what it says“-, at that moment Kristall had an idea,
-“Wait Rokk, I have the Crystal Dragon skull in my bag, it also has the power to understand the ancient languages of dragons, maybe I can communicate with him“-,
and in fact Kristall was right, when she put the skull onher head, she understood what Jormungandr said, and not only when she spoke in her language, the skull translated into the language of the snake, Rokk was surprised how the skull worked, in the whole village only on Kristall the skull worked.
-“ Snö, What did he say?“-
-“He thanked for freeing him, those dragons were bothering him, because he is a powerful being, and therefore they wanted to chain him and kill him“-
-“Well, we thank him too, because it is an honor to know the real Jormungandr“-
-“Now I tell him: Jormungandr riktige den lära att ära en är det för också dig tackar känna vi“-, and he immediately replied,
-“ Mig attackerar inte som vikingarna enda de är du “-
-“What did he say?”-
-“He said that we are the only Vikings who don't attack him, because the others try to hit him for his precious scales“-
-"he doesn’t need to thank us, and we don't want any reward, rather say goodbye to him because we have to go on a mission" -
-“Now I translate it for you, but I would like to know something from him, since he is the son of Loki, I want to know why he tried to kill me“-, and so Kristall translated, Jormungandr was silent for a while then he spoke to her, but Kristall was not happy with the answer,
-“What did he tell you?”-
-“He said…he said that….he doesn't know anything about it, his father was looking for a pegasus to kill, but he doesn't know the details, his father doesn't talk much with him, he just knows that he's plotting something, and that if I want to know more I should talk to his brother or his sister“-
-“That is, the great wolf Fenrir and the unicorn goddess Hel, in both cases I would never approach either of them, say goodbye to Jormungandr and let us continue our journey“-
-"Wait, they told me that my mother had met Jormungandr, maybe he remembers her, now I'll try to ask"-,
so Kristall asked the serpent the question, if he had ever known a pegasus named Kristall Lumi, and our heroine explained to him that she was her daughter, and that unfortunately she was dead.
Jormungandr came closer to Kristall and spoke to her,
-“ Närmare kom “-
-“He wants me to approach him“-, Kristall Snö approached one of the snake's eyes, which spoke to her again, and Kristall translated to Rokk and Henrik,
-“He said he remembers her, and I look like her, he is sorry for her death, and he said he sees her again in my eyes“-
-“Think about it, you received a compliment from Jormungandr“-,
Then the giant serpent spoke to her again,
-“Oh nej, I can't accept“-
-"What did he say to you?"-
-"She wants to give me one of his scales"-
-"Are you crazy? Jormungandr gives you a gift like this and you refuse?“-
-“Even he said I shouldn't give up, he wants to help me with my weapons“-
-“And you take one of his scales, look, he approached on purpose“-.
So Kristall Snö took her ax and cut off a scale of Jormungandr, he nodded and then vomited on the snow, he spoke again to the pegasus and then he withdrew into the waters of the lake.
What he had vomited was a stone rune with a snake in it.
-“What did he give you?”-
-"He said... that to help me... he gave me this rune, he says that with this I can call him back whenever I want, to have him as an ally in battle"-
-“Wow, what an honor, you are the only one in the whole continent, Jormungandr would never give presents like this“-
-“He also said that he saw something in my eyes something special, something that is waking up“-
-“Well, apparently Jormungandr knows you well too“-
-“But this sentence… Heimdallr also told me when I found him after I came to the village“-
-"Really?"-
-“Ja, and… och Jormungandr gav mig också ett annat råd (and Jormungandr also gave me another advice)“-
-"And which one?"-
-“That if I had met a god, I would have had to look him in the eye“-,
Then Kristall climbed a group of big rocks and yelled at the lake,
-“Tack Jormungandr, jag glömmer det inte(Thank you Jormungandr, I won't forget it)“-,
she saw two splashes of water coming out of the lake, it was he who greeted her, after which she took off the skull from her head and Rokk spoke to her,
-"Now let's move, we have to reach the northern village to take the defense stones, in the meantime take the Troll's tusk and you Henrik, you can get up from the snow"-,
Henrik stood up and Kristall detached the tusk from the head of the killed Troll after which they returned all three on the boat.
-“Of course it could be convenient for you to have Jormungandr as an ally“-
-"But I don't want to use his rune"-
-"Why not?"-
-“Because it would be too easy to win so I want to win with my own strength, and then he told me to use it wisely, because it only works three times“-
-“Then choose your times wisely dear Kristall”-
-“I will, but for now I'll let the rune rest in my bag“-.
Rokk and Kristall rowed again to be able to reach the place to find the stones for the shield of the pegasus, but Rokk began to talk to Henrik.
-“Henrik? I'm very disappointed in you, you acted imprudently, you didn't notice that the Troll wasn't perfectly dead, and you approached it“-
-“But Rokk….I…“-
-“Do you realize he was going to kill you? He could even eat you, and I couldn't do anything because I was thrown away "-
-“I could do it, only that….“-
-“…Only that Kristall Snö saved you, if it wasn't for her you would be dead now, you should thank her“-, but the pegasus replied,
-"You don't have to thank me, we are Vikings, and we are a family, it is normal that I protected him"-,
Henrik grieved, and Rokk spoke to him,
-" Snö is very humble, and then she is strong, in these three years she has made much more progress than you and you have lived in the village for much longer than her”-
-"But I'm strong, but that Troll was much stronger"-
-"And you become even stronger, or even better, make allies you can trust, Snö won't always be there to protect your life for you"-
-“Ja, I understood, but she….she is very strong“-,
Kristall Snö stopped rowing and looked into Rokk's face,
-"Enough now Rokk, if you continue like this he will hate me, if instead you try to talk to him like a real father then he would make real progress, and then I was lucky because I already knew how to fight various creatures, Henrik doesn't have my experience, I wish that you could give him some self-esteem instead of demoralizing him, if you continue like this he will end up believing that you don't love him“-
-“ Snö?, but I love him“-
-"I love him too, but if I want him to make improvements then I would try to talk to him more calmly"-, having said those words Kristall went back to rowing, while Rokk thought a bit about what she had said and tried to speak better with Henrik.
-"Listen Henrik, it's not that I love Kristall more than you, I love both of you, but I want you to be strong because you have to know how to defend yourself, without the help of me or your sister, I've already lost your mother because of a Troll, I don't want to lose you too, understand?“-
-"So? Don't you want to lose me?”
-“Exactly, I want you to be strong, and if Kristall will give you a hoof to improve yourself then accept her help“-
-“And how can she help me?”-, Kristall heard those words and replied,
-"I'll help you with something I can give you, but you have to put the strength"-
-“Okay, Kristall“-.
Their journey lasted a long time, but then crossing the long river they arrived at a coast of Noreinway where there was a village, Rokk and Kristall Snö had already visited it, but for Henrik it was the first time.
Henrik was curious to see it, then he noticed a large volcano near the village.
-"Where are we?"-
Rokk answered it
-“An old friend of mine lives in this village, there are also strong Vikings called The Mighty Helm, no Viking dares to attack this village, but we are on good terms with them, and then this is where we can find the various stones to our weapons".
The three of them entered the village, and said hello to the various ponies that lived there, then Rokk noticed a short, light green, orange-bearded pony with a long shovel in one hoof and called to him,
-“Hey, Rockhoof“-,
the pony turned
-"What? Hey Rokk“-, the minotaur and the pony hugged, Henrik was surprised and spoke to Kristall,
-"Hey? Is that Rokk's friend?"-
-"Ja, his name is Rockhoof, and he's an old friend of his, I've already met him"-
-“But he is skinny“-
-“Henrik, don't be rude, he may not be muscular like Rokk or Ryt, but he's still our friend“-.
Rockhoof saw the pegasus,
-“Oh dear Kristall Snö, let me look at you, how you've grown, you have beautiful eyes as always, it's nice to see you once in a while, and he must be little Henrik, even if you're not really Rokk's children, it's very clear that you inherited his willpower and his fighting spirit”,
Kristall was happy to see him again, while Henrik was silent,
-"I'm also glad to see you again Rockhoof, we are always happy to see you and your village"-
-"What a fool I am, come inside my house, I'll give you a drink"-
Rokk interrupted him
-"No beer for the two of them, they're not the right age yet"-
-“I think not him, but Kristall I think she can already taste some beer“-.
So all three went into the pony's house, who brought them mugs, some of beer and one of milk for Henrik.
-"It's time for Kristall to taste the beer, so she will be a good Viking" -, so Kristall tasted the beer for the first time,
-“Mmmh, delicious, but it's better that I don't exaggerate too much, I've seen many Vikings get drunk“-
-“Don't worry Kristall, you will never overdo it like Rokk once did“-
-“Oh yes, I once exaggerated with beer and I was very young“-
-“Rather, what do you tell me again?”-, so Rokk and Kristall told everything that had happened in their current trip, Rockhoof was very surprised.
-“I can't believe it, Kristall, did you really save Jormungandr? And did you even talk to him?“-
-“Thanks to my Crystal Dragon Skull, and he gave me his rune“-
-“If I were you, I would keep it carefully, and I would never use it“-
-"That's what I was thinking"-
-“Do you believe in Ragnarok?“-
-"I wish it didn't exist"-
-“Maybe if it happens, you could recall Jormungandr and have power over him“-
-“I don't think it works like that, I would summon him to have him as an ally, but I hope Ragnarok never happens“-
-“Anyway I have to tell you a good news, we have heard from other villages in Noreinway, and it seems that there have been no more attacks by Changelings or Wargs“-
-“Perhaps there were dragons in the villages that were attacked?”-
-“Yes, there were dragons, why?“-,
Kristall thought, she had something on her mind,
Rokk then asked her
-“What do you mean, Snö?“-
-"In my village there were Ice Dragons, and in each of those villages there were dragons and at least one pegasus, I'm starting to think that Loki was looking for a filly that it had something to do with dragons, but that's my guess, after he attacked me with those wolves and wargs he left and disappeared, for a good three years nothing happened, so maybe he thinks I'm dead “-
Rockhoof marveled at that hypothesis,
-“So you think perhaps that Loki was looking for you? How come?"-
-“The only thing I know is that maybe he was looking for a filly that had to do with dragons, but it's always my guess, so I'm not sure, Jormungandr had said that Loki was plotting something, but he didn't know anything “-
-"Actually, from how Rokk told me about your meeting maybe Loki thought you were an obstacle for him, even if I don't know how"-
-"It's better for him that he believes I'm dead, even if I don't know why I should be a problem for him, I would never dare to defy a god, he's evil, but he's still a god"-
-“Not to mention that if you killed him you would incur the wrath of other gods, such as Thor, who is his half-brother, or Angrsoba, Loki's wife, or even his three sons, believe me it's better never to make Hel angry, nobody knows what can that unicorn do for revenge or anger"-
-"But Jormungandr told me to look the gods in the eyes, this will mean something, I always thought I took my father's eyes, but my mother also had eyes like mine, but I don't know anything about my mother, and nobody in our family apart from her…..it's true apart from her nobody had anything to do with magic“-
-“Perhaps your mother had something special that she never told you, or rather she couldn't tell you“-
-“Regn told me about what he knew how to do, but he who knows if my mother really told her everything, maybe my mother didn't really trust Regn“-, Rokk approached Kristall and spoke to her,
-“Perhaps Regn had secrets that your mother asked her never to tell you“-
-"But I certainly can't go back to her to ask her, if only I could know better about my mother's past"-
-“Well, don't think about it, maybe you can ask the Norns, or Mimir“-
Rockhoof marveled,
-“It's out of the question, it's true that Mimir, the wingless dragon knows everything, but even he can't know everything, going to the mountain where he is imprisoned would be useless if he can't answer, as far as the Norns, the famous weavers of fate it is dangerous to disturb them, who knows what they might do“-
Rokk agreed with what Rockhoof said,
-“You're right, both are just dangerous and useless choices, maybe it's better to leave them alone, rather we came here to ask you if you have any defense stones to enhance Kristall's shield“-
-“Ah, right, now I'll take them, luckily when I dig with my shovel I can find different minerals and above all stones for upgrades“-,
So Rockhoof searched a trunk in his house and got a small bag with rocks,
-“In this bag there are both stones of defense and stones of attack, your weapons will be much stronger“-, Henrik was happy,
-“Are they really going to be stronger?“-
-"Hey little guy, you don't have to worry, the weapon will be strong but you also have to put a little strength into it, don't you want to end up like before?"-
-“But I'm training, but whatever I do I'm not a warrior yet“-
-"Hey, don't get discouraged, I too have always been teased by other warriors, it's true I'm still weak and without muscles, but you too will see one day you will shine, I have never lost hope, I'm sure it will happen to me, to you, it happened to Rokk too“-
-“Even in Rokk?“-, And Rokk couldn't help but intervene,
-“What do you think I was strong as a child? I have trained, I have done several missions, and other things too, if Rockhoof has not lost hope of becoming a warrior you must not lose it either, your sister Kristall has had several experiences to fight, and then she has been to other realms, she is already a respected warrior in the village“-
-“I don't want her to always protect me“-, and Kristall Snö put a hoof on his shoulder,
-“Hey little brother, when you are in danger I will always help you, we could fight together, and when you are ready I will always be behind you“-,
Rokk smiled,
-"Actually you need Kristall's help to be able to grow, it's better if you train together, as I did with my teammates, rather Rockhoof how much do I owe you for the stones?"-
-“Oh, it's nothing, don't give me any money, actually stop by for lunch, you'll keep me company“-.
So the three of them stopped to eat at Rockhoof's, chatting about what they'd been up to for the past few years, although Rockhoof already knew that, but it was always good for him to have guests in his house, as no one in the village took him seriously.
At the end of lunch, Rokk thanked him,
-“ It was a really good meal, thanks Rockhoof“-
-“The credit also goes to Kristall who helped me“-
-“It's true, she would be a perfect housewife, but I prefer to take her with me because she is very strong, but in fact this time I left my mother alone, it's always better to spend more time with her, you never know how much time we have left with our loved ones“-
-"Don't remind me, I've always had a bad relationship with my father, but now that he's gone, I feel alone"-
-“Next week we will go with our ships to hunt for tuna whales, just near your coasts, maybe you would like to join us?“-
-“It would be nice, but I want to continue training, and then I prefer to fish with a rod, I still don't know how to swim“-
-“Not even my two children know how to swim, it would be good if they learned“-.
So the three Vikings said goodbye to Rockhoof, and headed for their boat back to the village.
Rokk and Kristall took the oars and Henrik sat in the center as always.
Rokk turned to Kristall,
-“Once in the village, you must go to Städ for your shield, dear Kristall“-
-"Ja, also because I've already paid for it, but I'd also like to show Henrik a couple of things"-,
Henrik was curious
-“What is it you want me to see? You said it before too"-
-“I want to show you some things that could help you fight better, they will help you a lot like they helped me, but remember to train“-.
So they continued following the large lake of Jormungandr to then reach the river that carried them towards the coast of their village in Horsweden.
While Rokk and Henrik returned to their home, Kristall Snö went to Städ's workshop, to bring him the Troll's fang and the two stones of defense.
Naturally Kristall told the dwarf bison all that had happened, and Städ was surprised.
-" Seriously? Have you met Jormungandr? And he gave you his summoning rune?”
-"It's all true, and this is the rune"-, the bison looked at it,
-“If I were you I would stay away from this rune, Jormungandr can be a good ally, but he is big and uncontrollable, so I would choose never to call him“-
-"It's the same thing Rockhoof told me, I think so too, but if there should be an insurmountable danger then I will use it"-
-"What amazes me the most is that he gave you a scale, it's something he would never have given away, with this scale I could upgrade you as many as three weapons"-
-“ Three vapens? (Three weapons?)“-
-"Let's do this, I'll upgrade your two axes of air and ice, and I could also make you a new axe, it will take three days to make it, but this time I'll make it for free, which element would you like?"-
-“I have some Mephit elements in my house, could you make me fire or magma?”-
-"I could do it for you, I could use both elements, given that you have the right materials and ready to use"-
-“Then go with fire and magma, I will use the return spell on it so I will have a third axe“-
-“Then fire and magma“-.
Kristall Snö greeted Städ happily, then went to her house, when she entered she looked for her brother Henrik to be able to talk to him.
-“ Henrik? kom med mig (Henrik? Come with me)“-
-"I’m here"-.
Kristall Snö took him to a warehouse, the house was big enough to have a room to store various objects, such as provisions, weapons, and many other things.
Kristall took him to a part where there were dozens of arrows that she bought from Städ, or she made her own, and next to those arrows were stone basins with water in them, and inside the water there 'were a black pearl and a hearts made of crystal, and the hearts were of different colors.
-“What are those?”-
-“Those, my dear little brother, are the hearts that I extracted from the body of the Mephits that I fought, those small and black things instead are their brain, which is actually a magical gland, to prevent the Mephits from coming back to life it is necessary that the gland and the heart are separated“-
-“But they are not separated“-
-“That's because, I got them from other Mephits, if they had been from a water Mephit it would have been dangerous, but these…let's call them organs, they belong to some Mephit of fog, Mephit of fire, Mephit of ice, Mineral Mephit, Mephit of magma, Lightning Mephit and Radiant Mephit, therefore water is not their element so I can keep the gland and heart in water, because they don't recreate themselves“-
-“And why do you keep them?“-
-“Now I'll show you“-, Kristall took an arrow and put the tip in a stone bowl where there were the organs of the Mephit of the magma, when she pulled it out, Henrik was amazed, the tip was the color of lava and it was hot.
-“How is that possible?”-, And Kristall explained as she dipped other arrows in other liquids,
-“Both the ice dragons and Städ told me, with this liquid I can donate elements to arrows, and give elemental damage to monsters, for example with a magma arrow the monster will be covered by a layer of magma, and so it will suffer fire damage, my axes have fused hearts, I keep two ice ones in my ice axe, and two of air in the air axe, and soon I will have one of fire and magma, however depending on the element there are various benefits and damages, for example if you immerse the arrow in radiant Mephit's liquid, the arrow will have the power of light and could blind the enemy, if instead you used the mineral Mephit liquid, the arrow would make crystals grow on the enemy and they would explode, however the crystals have different effects, when you want to have some special arrows I will always be here“-
-“So…do you make them by yourself?”-
-“Ja, sometimes I give some of my liquids to Städ, who upgrades my weapons and armor, and sometimes I sell my elemental arrows to other Vikings, that's how I make some money, and now I'll give you something special“-.
Kristall Snö took an old wood-chopping ax from a wall, its blade glowing red.
-"I wanted to give you this ax"-
-"But….but…this is your old axe, it's the ax your father gave you"-
-“ Detta är sant (That's true), but since I've been here I've made myself much stronger and very resistant axes, however I haven't forgotten about this one, I've upgraded it anyway, and it has the element of fire, then you will be able to inflict fire attacks on enemies, and aim it at the ground while shouting Eld! (Fire!), there will be fireballs around you that will hit monsters and enemies, then when I bought my new axes I hung this one on the wall and now it's yours, you can always use it"-
-"And how do I get it back?"-,
-“Give me your right hoof“-, Kristall Snö made a magic to Henrik's ax and hoof,
-“Now I used the återkomstens besvärjelse (the spell of return), now you can throw it against enemies and when you say yxa (Axe) it will return to your hoof, but you have to train, oh I forgot“-,
Kristall Snö also gave a bow and quiver to his brother,
-“But this is your old bow“-
-"Ja, and this is yours too, I enhanced it, I put the power of light and air into it, so when it's dark the bow lights up, and with the air the arrows become faster and more harmful" -
-“Are you giving me these two weapons because you don't use them anymore?”-
-"Ja, but also because I trained with these weapons, and now it's your turn, when you have better weapons you can put them aside"-
-“Nej, if these weapons made you strong then I can become strong“-
-"Remember that training is also needed, now come let's go to the training camp"-.
So Kristall Snö and Henrik went to the village training ground, it was surrounded by a low stone wall and there were wooden training dummies and targets.
Kristall Snö asked Henrik to take the bow and one of the arrows she had given him,
-“Now focus this arrow on that target and when you are ready say pil av is(Ice Arrow)“-
-“Why do I have to say the name?“-
-"Actually there is no reason, I do it to give me more charge, but the arrow activates anyway, after all the other Vikings shout the name of their weapon to give themselves more charge"-
-“It looks like a cool thing, so I stretch the string and yell….PIL AV IS“-, Henrik shot well both for his training and for the air element of the bow, and the arrow hit the target creating crystals of ice.
-“Well done Henrik, now let's try another arrow“-, Kristall took another arrow and gave it to his brother,
-“This is an arrow of light, concentrate on the target and shout Pil av Ljus (Arrow of light)“-, Henrik did as before, stretched the string and aimed at a target,
-“ Pil av Ljus“-, the arrow looked for a trail of light and when it hit the target it created a glow.
Kristall was thrilled,
-"Very well, you could help me if I had to leave the village, I would attack in front and you from afar"-
-"I want to be close to you"-
-“As you like, if you like we can fight with axes, I won't hurt you“-
-"It's fine for me, let's train"-,
So Kristall Snö and Henrik trained with their axes, they didn't know it but Rokk was watching them from a distance, and he was proud of both.
As they practiced with their axes, Henrik asked his sister questions,
-“Tell me, Kristall“-
-"What's up?"-
-“Will you teach me your techniques?”-
-"You can do them very well too, but maybe it's more useful if you teach them to yourself"-
-“And will you ever take me to any of the other realms?”-
-“When you want, but we have to be both us and someone else, I still can't go to other realms alone“-.
To be continued..….
My little pony by Hasbro & Lauren Faust