Thor: Daughter of Asgard

by Genevieve McCluer

  Emily moved back with Alys to give Hannah room. “Yeah. Not exactly news, but I can’t blame you. Holy shit.”

  “Wait, what?” Hannah asked.

  It was finally Alys’s turn to be sunburnt. Their face lit up in a bright blush that quickly disappeared, as their hair grew longer and turned pink. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  Emily chuckled and looked like she was enjoying herself far too much as she wrapped an arm around them. “Hey, you’re the one who said it.”

  “Go sit back with her.”

  “She’s still rowing.”

  Alys groaned, holding their head. “I didn’t think I’d said it that loud.”

  “It’s a small boat,” Hannah said.

  “There are waves and stuff.”

  “You weren’t joking, were you?”

  “About? This island? No. Definitely not.”

  “Alys, come on.”

  They stared at the deck of the boat, wrapping their arms around themself. “I’m not great at being honest.”

  “You can say that again,” Emily muttered, removing her arm from their shoulder.

  “Actually, you’re the one person I am honest with. I only kept the one thing. I know it was a big one, and I get why you’re still struggling with it. It was fucked up, but you’re the only person I’ve ever been open with. Well, you and Hel, and I’ve chosen my side there.”

  “Oh,” Emily said, not quite meeting their gaze.

  Hannah picked up speed, glancing around for any sign of a dock, or at least something similar. “That’s incredibly moving, and I really want you two to have this conversation, but I need an answer. What did you mean?”

  With another groan, Alys finally met her eyes. Apparently, theirs had turned red at some point, so that was a little unnerving. “I was exaggerating because your rowing is incredibly hot.” They gestured toward her arms. “It’s just a bit of a crush. Nothing serious. Probably.”

  Hannah forgot to row. They what? Why? How?

  “It’s nothing new,” Emily said. “We have the same type. We even dated the same person once.”

  “At the same time,” Alys said, adding some unneeded specification. “But I’m not trying for that. Neither of you trust me right now, and that’s with good reason. Hell, heh, Hel, I’m the one who started Ragnarok and got you both killed.” They glanced at Emily. “And I’ve done far from enough to show that my allegiances have changed. So while obviously you’re gay and wouldn’t be into me, and probably monogamous, it’s not a question I’m trying to put out there. Sorry.”

  “Oh.” Unable to take her eyes off them, Hannah started rowing again, still trying to process what all they’d been saying. She’d assumed Alys disliked her after that rough first meeting, and apparently, couldn’t have been further from the truth. It was forcing her to reconsider a lot of things, not the least of which being her own reactions to them. It was a lot to take in. But there were more pressing matters.

  They had to go a few miles in uncomfortable silence while Emily and Alys both glanced awkwardly around the boat, before they found an outcropping of cliff that seemed low enough to climb onto. The sun had nearly set, turning the island and the sea their own shades of purple. “Do we have a way to moor it? I didn’t think to bring anything.”

  Alys blinked, patting their sides and looking around. “Shit. No. All I brought is the stuff in the cooler. I grabbed my sword and axe and some climbing gear—went once, hated it—but I forgot about it after I stuffed the cooler in the trunk. I think it’s still on my kitchen counter.”

  “Great.”

  “Any spells?” Hannah asked.

  “Just the one.” They patted the mast, and the boat began to grow, rising in height. It didn’t bring them quite level with the coast, but it seemed to be sitting more stably in the water.

  “I guess that’ll do. Am I throwing you, then?”

  “Shit.”

  “You’d break us,” Emily said. “Not that that isn’t how I want to go, but do you think you could punch some hand and foot holds in the rock?”

  Hannah stared at the cliff face. She supposed she could, but she really didn’t want to have bloody knuckles. Isabel was going to think she was in a fight club. “Fine, but if I break a nail, it’s your fault.” She began leading the way up the cliff, making points in the wall that she was sure were too close together for Emily and Alys’s comfort, but they could suck it up. It was the right height for her.

  As they clambered up one by one and caught their breath at the top, it finally hit Hannah. They were really there. She was going to find her old belt and prove herself as the god of thunder. No one would be able to doubt her anymore. She was Thor, damn it, and they’d know it too. She’d be accepted. She’d have a whole new community to be part of all over again.

  They had begun their journey into Vigridr. Now came the hard part.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  This place was huge. Like, really, really big. Modi and Magni had said the island was a hundred miles by a hundred miles, but Hannah hadn’t pictured what that meant. How had it managed to go unnoticed for so long? Surely the spell didn’t allow ships to pass through it. Did it? Had it even been there in the first place, or was it a magic island? “Now what?” she asked, looking between Emily and Alys.

  “I don’t know,” Alys said. “I mean, this is all pretty new territory, even for me.”

  “You know more than the rest of us.” There was only a hint of bitterness in Emily’s voice.

  They glanced at Emily. “Maybe we should set up camp? The sun’s going down, and I’d rather not explore the place at night.”

  “We can’t do that,” Hannah screamed. “I have work on Monday. We only have like thirty-six hours, er, let me check.” She pulled out her phone. “Thirty-eight hours.”

  “Hannah, we can’t go traipsing around an abandoned island in the dead of night,” Alys said. “I know how important your job is to you, but we made great time here. We just need to hurry tomorrow. We’ll finish it up in a few hours and then have, like, twenty to spare, and we’ll make it back in no time.”

  Crestfallen, Hannah looked to Emily for support.

  “As much as I hate to say it, I’m with them. It’s not worth the extra risk.”

  “Damn it.” Hannah stomped her foot. “Then why’d you have me row all the way in here? Or have us nap?”

  “Because I didn’t think it’d be quite this late, but I don’t want to be caught here at night. I have no idea what to expect.”

  Hannah nodded. “Fine. I guess we can have one night of drinking and eating your delicious food, but as soon as the sun rises, we’re getting moving.”

  “Of course.” Alys smiled.

  Emily wrapped her arm around her.

  Alys cleared their throat and took a few steps toward the trees. “Well, I’m going to go get some firewood so our food can be warm. You two have your fun. I’ll make sure to announce myself before I’m back.”

  While Hannah did have the barest inkling of an urge to tell them to stay, she had better plans. Nothing like getting laid after a day’s workout.

  ✥ ✥ ✥

  Alys was true to their word, announcing themself rather loudly well before they were in view.

  “And here I was thinking you wanted to watch,” Emily called back, throwing her shirt on.

  “I can’t believe you really did it. I didn’t think you were the type to have sex on a scary magical island.”

  “Technically, we did it in the boat.”

  Hannah pulled on her clothes while the two quipped at each other over the cliff.

  “Well, those stains are never coming out. Good thing the boat can shapeshift.”

  “Then why doesn’t it have padded seats?” Hannah asked.

  “It’s not that good at shapeshifting, I guess. Are you two coming up here? The fire’s almost ready. And bring the cooler.”

  “Yeah. Sure,” Emily said, sounding far more disappointed than Hannah ever was about barbecue.
They used the holes Hannah had made earlier and climbed back up. “You all right?”

  Alys stared at her. “Yes. Why?”

  “Didn’t want you all jealous.”

  They turned their attention back to the fire, feeding it some more kindling. “I’m fine.”

  “Okay…” Emily did not sound convinced.

  Hannah sighed. “Well, I’d offer you a turn, but I think Emily would kill me.”

  Emily coughed repeatedly and smacked her chest, taking a shuddering breath. It was completely worth it. “Wait, you’re…I mean you, you’re…”

  Alys had gone white, though that could have been the shapeshifting, but they had not turned their attention from the fire.

  “I’m just fucking with you.”

  “Right,” Emily said, looking her up and down.

  Hannah shrugged. She hadn’t really had time to process the whole thing. Besides, if she survived this, she’d have plenty of time. Maybe even eternity.

  Alys grabbed some buns from the cooler and muttered, “Damn, I wish I’d brought butter.”

  Hannah blinked. “That’s all you have to say?”

  They shrugged.

  “Wait, did I upset you?”

  “I’m fine. I keep telling both of you this. All I want is to toast these buns and warm up the meat.”

  “I wasn’t totally against it.”

  They dropped a bun in the fire. “What?”

  “I don’t know. It was just sprung on me.” She’d certainly checked them out before, but that was before they’d gotten rid of their…assets.

  “Of course,” Alys said, fishing the bun out of the fire with a stone arm. “Sorry for springing it on you.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not blaming you.”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine. This bun is not fine. But I won’t mess up the next few. Let’s try to relax. We have a big day tomorrow.”

  “Okay…” Hannah watched them cook, trying to figure out what to say. In the end, the best she could come up with was, “Thanks for the food.” And, “It’s delicious.”

  That had to count for something.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  “Now where?” Emily asked, yawning and stretching. The sun had barely risen, but they’d all been up for hours. Pulled pork sandwiches still made an excellent breakfast.

  “We find the belt,” Alys said. “If it’s where you died, then it’d be near Jormungandr’s corpse. I wonder if your body is still there. That’d be weird.”

  “I’d think that Modi and Magni would’ve taken my body away. I mean, wouldn’t they?” Chewing on her lip, Hannah tried to imagine what it would be like to find her own corpse. Would she even recognize it? It was pretty doubtful that they looked all that much alike, unless Thor was actually five feet tall and a girl.

  “Maybe. They did have the gauntlets to give you, right?” Alys asked.

  “Jormungandr is a giant snake, right?” Emily asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Isn’t that a giant snake?” She pointed off in the distance. Sure enough, there was a long greenish body. It was so massive that it made it difficult to tell how far it was, but it dwarfed the trees around it, and even the ones closer by. Hannah had originally assumed it was another cliff face or maybe some old wall.

  Alys turned, shielding their eyes against the sun. “Yeah. That seems to be a giant snake.”

  “So that way?” Hannah asked.

  They nodded. “Yeah. Would you like to take the lead, oh dear Thor?”

  Hannah stared at them. “You’re the one who can shapeshift. And you have swords and stuff, so I bet you even know how to fight.”

  “You can lift a freight train.”

  “I haven’t actually tested that.”

  Rolling their eyes, they began marching toward the fallen creature. “Fine, whatever.” Their muscles grew under the shirt until it clung tightly to them, looking a bit too tight. Hannah knew that problem all too well. Their long pink hair shortened and turned a dark maroon. Next, to Hannah’s great surprise, they shrunk a few inches, though their arms grew longer. “I don’t feel like getting beaned in the head by one of these branches,” they explained. They were all heading into a sparse forest. There were no trails, and the growth was wild and untamed, but there was room to move, and Hannah could see a good distance in front of them.

  Emily ducked under a branch. “Point taken.”

  “So there shouldn’t be anything here, right? I mean, it’s been sealed off for years, and everything died in Ragnarok, so there’s no reason to worry. Right?” Hannah asked. Alys had said there was no way anything could’ve gotten in. But what if there was? Hannah was on a big epic quest for a magic belt, and that meant monster fighting. She didn’t want to fight monsters. She couldn’t let herself hurt things again. She saw the mugger buried inside the wall from her light shove. If she let herself do something like that again… She couldn’t even finish that thought.

  “If that’s what you think, then why didn’t you want to lead?”

  “Just tell me I’m right, Alys.”

  “I don’t know.” They sighed and stepped around a fallen tree branch. “Listen.”

  “To what? You’re not telling me anything.”

  “I mean, listen…do you hear any animals? I thought I heard a bird a little bit ago, but I haven’t heard anything since. I think maybe there’s a creek somewhere around here, but I’ve tried messing with my ears a bit, and I can’t tell any clearer than that. So keep your ears open, and let me know if you hear anything.”

  “You can change your hearing?” Emily asked.

  “I’m still getting used to it. I’ve pretty much only ever used my shapeshifting to make myself more androgynous. Other than getting that off my chest, being able to have a dick is really useful at concerts.”

  “I’m sure you’re loving that.”

  They nodded. “Hel had made me promise not to shapeshift around anyone until I could reveal myself. You have no idea how big a relief it’s been finally being able to stop hiding this. Being able to be myself, however I feel like expressing that at the moment, is amazing. Having to keep things from you wasn’t fun for me either. I’m still sorry that it hurt you, though. If it makes you feel any better, I kind of hate myself for it too.”

  They walked in silence for a few moments before Emily finally said, “I don’t hate you.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear.”

  Hannah smiled at the two of them. They’d made some impressive progress, even if they weren’t quite back to where they had been and where she hoped they would be again. It looked like their friendship really was strong enough to survive all this. “I swear, we’re not getting any closer. It looks just as far away as it did before.”

  “I think it looks a bit bigger,” Emily said.

  Alys put a hand to their brow and leaned forward, staring at the giant snake. “I don’t know. It must be, but this is probably gonna take a while. I don’t suppose we could climb on your back and you could Hulk-jump us around, Hannah?”

  “What?”

  “Like, jump really far, to make faster progress. Your legs are super strong too, right?”

  She glanced at her calves. “They’re pretty strong, I think, but that sounds like an easy way to get all of us hurt. If throwing you was dangerous, then jumping all over a forest has to be even worse.”

  “Then I guess we walk,” Emily said.

  Nodding, Alys leaned against a tree. “Then can we take a break? I need some food in me if I’m going to be running around a hundred-mile island.”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.” Hannah took a seat by them. “Did you bring the food?”

  “Shit.” They looked between Hannah and Emily.

  Emily shook her head. “Don’t look at me.”

  They both turned to Hannah.

  “If I had, would I have asked?”

  “Damn it.”

  Emily stared the way they’d come. “Should we go back?”

  G
rinding her teeth, Hannah considered their progress and then looked toward the body of the giant serpent. “I don’t want to lose all of this walking.”

  “We haven’t gone that far,” Alys muttered. “It’s only been a couple hours.”

  “Yeah, but we’re in a hurry.”

  Emily’s stomach growled. “Well, I’m starving.”

  “Why couldn’t you have your goats?” Alys ran their fingers through their hair, their sharp nails—or were those claws?—raking their scalp. “We could cook them every night, and they’d be fine the next day. That would be fantastic.”

  “What?” Hannah asked.

  Emily stared.

  “I told you before. Thor had magic goats.”

  “Huh.”

  “Speaking of magic animals,” Emily said, looking her friend up and down. “Why can’t you do that? I don’t know a lot about Norse mythology, but you’re a shapeshifter. Can’t you be an animal?”

  Alys looked absolutely flabbergasted. “I’ve only tried a couple times. It’s sort of weird. I either have to change my brain too or deal with some oddities…either way has its disadvantages. But in the mythology, I was able to turn into a pretty impressive horse and gave birth to an even better one. I guess I could try it. Or maybe a deer, given the environment.” They screwed their eyes shut. “This would be so much easier if I had food.”

  “The sooner you come back with food, the sooner we can eat. Maybe try being a cheetah.”

  “In a forest? That’s a terrible idea.” They shook their head. Their face began to elongate, and Hannah could swear she heard their skull crack. Fur sprouted around their mouth, then on the rest of their body as their bones and flesh narrowed and elongated, shifting into a four-legged form, growing taller. It was as horrifying to see as it was fascinating. Hannah was transfixed as she watched wordlessly. Within a minute, a larger than average deer stared at them.

  “Alys?” Emily asked.

  The deer smirked, revealing surprisingly intimidating fangs.

  “Deer don’t have fangs,” Hannah muttered.

  “Some of them do,” the deer said.

  If Hannah hadn’t already been sitting, she’d have fallen over.