The man had given me no name other than his title and he led me across the yard to a door that led into East wall. They sure loved narrow stairways around here; inside the wall was a steep upward leading stairway. Atop a long slightly curved and vaulted gallery, to one side arched open windows that allowed a view far over the icy planes below, that stretched white and almost featureless to the lead colored horizon. It drastically underlined how isolated this place really was.
To the other side were doorways with drab colored rough looking curtains .He stopped at one pulled the curtain to the side and revealed a small chamber with a narrow open window. There was stone slab with a few rag-like sheets, of the same kind as the brownish gray curtains. There was a small pile of snow right below the open window and he said."This is your chamber. This is where apprentices and students sleep while they are here, not in the sacred house of the First Keeper!"
"I cannot tell you anything else, Sir. I met an old man who was dressed just like you except he had a fur brimmed skull cap and appeared much older and very thin and it was him who let me in and told me to sleep there."
His eyes narrowed." This is how the First Keeper looked, but someone could have told you that. His picture is not a guarded secret. I will report all this to the Chief Keeper and we will investigate. He will then decide what is to be done. "
I simply nodded, too confused to argue."
He turned to leave and then he turned." That Old man you said let you in here, how did you meet him?"
I told him about the sack with the Soak-Stones and the old fragile Low Man I helped; about the closing door and the fire.
He then said."I need to tell this to the Chief right away. You will go down and enter the Sacred Halls; the Keeper of the Halls will give you your chore."
Chapter 20: Fat man
I found the Halls of Hasvik easily enough. Next to the huge doors, which were made of dark wood with large iron bands holding large timbers together, was a smaller metal door and I knocked there.
It did not take long and it was opened. This keeper was the stark opposite of the Old man I met the day before. He was fat, Midril would have appeared like a weightless Elf compared to this man. His woven suit and overcoat would have been large enough to fit a pregnant Fangsnapper. The front of his tunic was stained with a myriad greasy spots. He sported not one but three chins under his thin black beard and he had a tiny round mouth with pouting lips. He eyed me from eyes squished to slits by his cheeks. "Who are you?"
"I am Eric Olafson."
"Your late, you have been expected much earlier!"
He waved me in and then said. "The frames need a good cleaning and we are short of apprentices and pilgrims this season!"
Without any other word he turned and I simply followed.
I stopped in sheer awe as I saw the hall and the seven faceless for the first time. There in a huge hall with a vaulted ceiling so far up I got dizzy , stood seven stone statues. Huge windows were placed in such a fashion that the light that came through them highlighted each of the statues. All in majestic, lifelike poses. I estimated them to be at least 30 meters tall.
There was Odin, his hand resting on the grip of his mighty sword still in its scabbard. His pose was just like grandfather when he had his hand on Mjördaen. The Statue of Thor had Arms like Uncle Hogun and he held Mylionir the Hammer. To his left the Goddess Ydun with open hair and a flowing gown and to his right was Freya and she wore her Falcon feather coat and I was instantly reminded of my mother. Balder and Heimdahl were easily recognizable and so was Loki who alone stood separate from the others and had the slim body of an Elf, as it was his heritage.
Before Odin burned a bright fire,this one was smoking like a typical oil fire would. There was nothing else in this enormous room.
You will have many days to gawk at the God, but now follow as I need to show you to your chore so I can return to mine!"
Only now I noticed a group of young men and boys on their knees scrubbing the floor before Thor with hand brushes, but he did not stop there and went on until we went behind the statue of Odin, there was a metal scaffold reaching all the way to the top. He said. "Take that bucket with polish and a good supply of rags and climb up there. You will find wide steel beams that are part of the ceiling structure. They are incredibly old and need a good cleaning and oiling so they don't rust."
He was about to leave and said with a snickering tone." Don't think you can skip a spot, you will be watched!" He whistled as he left.
I expected something like this even before I came here and it was just another variation of the main theme of my life and I was so used to it that I simply accepted it and started climbing the ladders of the scaffold. What I could not explain no matter how I racked my brain was the strange meeting with the old man. Did I really meet the ghost of a Guardian who was thousands of year's dead? Why did he then know Midril's cooking? The Knife was real and so was the sack I realized I was still wearing. He was friendly enough unlike the other inhabitants of this Burg. I wondered why the fat man singled me out to do this. Either I truly was the unluckiest person on Nilfeheim or there was someone among the gods who really did not like me.
I reached the top of the scaffold and there were steel beams forming large squares with an X of steel beams all along under that vaulted stone ceiling. In the middle hung huge chandeliers on chains attached to those frames. Small copper pipes led to each of these chandeliers. I counted sixty chandeliers and the same number of steel frames. Each square measured perhaps 30 meters across. The last frame was in far in the distance above the big door. The Steel beams were about 30 centimeters wide. I was certain, looking at this I would be doing nothing else the three month I was supposed to be here.
The statues of the Gods beneath me now and the stone floor far below made the entire task quite dangerous. I was not afraid of heights, but this made my stomach cramp with fear. I walked onto the first beam, sat down, since that made me feel safer and started cleaning.
What I thought was black paint turned out to be black sod and it came off only slowly. Sitting on the cold steel beams was anything but comfortable and they were quite cold as the rest of the place, but seeing my peer far down scrubbing the stone floor on their knees I did not really feel singled out, that had to be equally uncomfortable, of course much less dangerous.
I could not tell how long I was scrubbing. I had left my wrist PDD with grandfather as he told me that no modern tech items would be allowed here. But judging from the distance to the scaffold and my aching arms I estimated I did this now at least for five or six hours. In all that time I was thinking about the Old man and what had happened. A boy perhaps my age appeared on top of the scaffold and he looked pale and held fast to the hand railing of the scaffold. He called." Hey you, Olafson you are to come and follow me to the Head Guardians chambers!"
Got up and walked back. Just as I was about to step back on the scaffold, he tried to kick me! This came so sudden and unexpected I almost fell. I was only alive because he appeared to be even more scared of the height than I was and his attempt was quite clumsy.
I lunged forward grabbed the hand railing and pulled myself onto the scaffold. He kicked me again and this time his boot found its target, my shoulder. I was on the scaffold now and this kick as much as it hurt was no longer unexpected or hard enough to send me back and all the way down. His face showed fear but I somehow felt he was not really scared off me and he did not let go of the hand railing; it was now clear to me he was indeed afraid of the height. I could feel my own anger rising very fast and I easily avoided his third kick as he still would not let go of the hand hold. I grabbed his leg with one arm and hammered my elbow on his kneecap.
"You stinking cowardly bastard. If your clan has some quarrel with the Olafsons then declare your challenge like a real Viking." I yelled at him at the same time. He screamed in pain, my elbow blow was done with force and anger. Now he did let go of the hand railing and I pulled him close. He flailed at me, one of his fists sc
arped my left ear and made it feel like fire, but I still held his leg and twisted it with both arms as fast and hard as I could he slammed hard and with a loud crash on the grated metal . I was over him pelted him with both fists in the face. I must have hit him on a right spot because eh gurgled, rolled his eyes and went limp.
I leaned back and scrambled to my feet. It took me a few moments to catch my breath, then I as I looked down I saw the fat Guardian looking up and as he saw me he actually turned and waddled away as fast as he could!
The guy I knocked out groaned. He was dressed like every Neo Viking. Breeches, tunic, boots and fur vest and now I saw he wore some sort of square pads over his knees. This explained why my elbow didn't hurt. The force of my blow still had made him scream. Well he did deserve it!
I grabbed him by the tunic as he was about to come around and hissed at him as he opened his eyes."You want to challenge me? Then do it now!"
There were actually tears in his smooth face."We have no quarrel with the Olafsons. We are the Lindberg Clan!"
The Lindbergs were one of the traditional alleys of the Olafsons. "Then why in Thor's name did you try to kill me you coward?"
Because your father offered great rewards to my father if we make sure you do not leave Mount Muspelheim. That keeper down there is my uncle and he told me to make sure you will not come down alive to report to the Headmaster."
He still cried."I failed them! They said they would punish me if I fail!"
All my anger was gone; I felt sorry for him and thought to myself that I was perhaps not the only one on Nilfeheim who had it bad back home."I would help you, but in order for you to be successful, I would have to jump and that is a too steep price for me to prevent your punishment."
He nodded."I understand. "
"I wonder why father wanted me dead before I was sixteen." I only realized that I had spoken my thoughts out loud when the Lindberg boy answered."You don't know? If you die here serving the gods you are immediately declared adult and you get a warriors funeral. Without declaring otherwise all that is yours becomes your fathers." He wiped his eyes." I had no plans to come to this place until your Grandfather declared you will come here. I was there when your father explained all this to my father and offered my clan a hefty share on the wealth of the Ragnarsson holdings."
"And the fat Keeper is a Lindberg too?"
"Yes he is the third born brother to my father and since he could not inherit he came here early on and became a keeper, but he is still Lindberg and like me have to do what the Chief orders us to do."
"No wonder I am cleaning steel rafters!"
"You were really summoned by the Head Guardian. You must better go!"
"Alright."
I climbed back down and the whole thing actually was not surprising at all. I was certain father had this idea the moment we left the principal's office and this is why he so openly agreed to send me here, but if my father knew about this Service to the God business, why did Grandfather not know and warn me?
I answered this myself as I reached the bottom of the scaffold. Because Grandfather could not have known that one of the Keepers was a Lindberg.
I wondered if father had any back up plan in case this one did not succeed.
The floor scrubbing boys were gone, but I saw a man in Keepers garb, he was supervising three young men, older than me polishing iron wrought braziers set up between the god statues."Sir could you direct me to the Head Guardians office?"
This Keeper was no older than perhaps fifty as he turned to look me up and down and then said." Who are you? Are you a Low Man servant bringing an offering?"
"I am Eric Olafson and I was told to report to the Head Guardians office."
The young man had stopped polishing and they were quite obviously amused. One burst out." Look at that guy. I never saw anyone more raggedy and dirty as that one!"
The Keeper held his finger up and the giggling stopped and they returned to the polishing." I do not know why you are dressed like a beggar and smeared from head to toe with black sod."
"I was cleaning these steel rafters and had no chance to clean up."
His eyebrows rose."The steel rafters? You mean you were up there?"
"Yes."
"The scaffold has not been moved yet. How did you …" he paused." Who told you to clean them?"
"The Keeper of the Halls."
"I am the Keeper of the Halls and I have expected you this morning! You never showed up! Yes the headmaster had summoned you but many hours ago!"
He turned to the young men." You will continue to clean until I return!"
Then he put his head on my shoulder and said." Come with me!"
As we walked to the doors he asked." Tell me what happened after the gatekeeper had sent you here."
I told him how I was sent up the rafters.
"Yes the rafters need to be cleaned and serviced but we will use the scaffold, it can be moved. Describe this man to me and tell me how did you know the headmaster sent for you?"
Again I told him.
On the yard we went past the little stone building, and to the structure that would house the High Halls in a normal Burg. The door there was wood and the corridor behind had even wooden floors. The walls were decorated with the round shields, warriors of the past often carried and each shield was decorated with a Clan symbol. Many I did not recognize but then I saw the Raven of the Ragnarssons and the Wolfs of the Olafsons as well.
"These are the shields of the first families that came to Nilfeheim." He explained as he saw me looking at them.
Underneath the shields were swords and spears. Axes and harpoons. At the end of the long corridor was a double door flanked by stone chairs, upholstered with dark red velvet.
He said."Wait here, and do not sit on those chairs!"
He knocked at the wooden door, did not wait for some answer however and went right in.
The corridor was cast in a dark twilight, from tall very narrow windows on the left came the light of day, but it was not enough to light the place efficiently. There were many doors beneath the collection of shields and weapons to the right. A shiny metal plaque set on a wooden frame caught my eye and I went over to read it. January 5th, 2160 Star Ark Stockholm –Crew and Settler manifest, beneath the golden plate was a long list of names.
Next to the plaque was a show case set into the wall and behind it a headless mannequin wearing a golden woman's dress and a feathered cape! Could that really be Freya's real cape? The one Mother told me about? I wanted to dismiss that but then it seemed I had dinner with a ghost.
I also saw my own reflection in the glass and I did look wilder than a Nubhir Herder of the southern Ice plains. My hair, my face, my arms and much everything else was covered with streaks of black sod. There was a trickle of crusted blood down my left ear and I of course still wore the rugged Tyranno Oil stained Soak stone Sack, girded with my own belt.
Just then the door opened and the Black bearded Keeper of the Halls appeared and said."You can come in now!"
The chambers of the Chief Guardian were paneled with much dark wood and there were several tall book cases with volumes of bound books, the old kind were paper was sandwiched between lids and you had to turn pages to read them. The Chief Guardian stood next to a big dark wooden desk. He had a white beard and a wrinkled face. He appeared old but in no way handicapped or otherwise affected by his apparent high age. He was dressed differently than the other Keeper. He wore a woven garment with wide sleeves and its hem reached almost to his ankles. The world tree with the encircling serpent around the roots embroidered with golden thread on his chest, girded by a dark red leather belt and he carried a little golden half moon shaped knife that had a short handle. His hair and beard were not braided, but combed and open. His nose had a sharp looking shape and he looked at me from piercing blue eyes underneath bush white eyebrows, "Eric Olafson." He greeted me speaking my name as if it explained everything to him."
When your Grandfather told me of you I kne
w you would somehow manage to stand out, little did I expect all this however."
I was not sure how to read his words. His tone was stern and his voice carried authority but somehow, I did not detect a distinctive emotion or inflection. The door behind me opened and I heard steps and a labored breath. "Whatever he said, First Guardian is a lie! He is known to be a liar and I shall gladly take him outside for you."
I recognized the pitched voice coming as the one from the fat Keeper.
"He has not spoken a single word, Keeper of the Cellars. Why have you been in the Halls and know he is here?"
"I was bringing scouring sand to the apprentices and students, when I saw him come in. he is well known to me. My Clan and the Clan of Olafson are old allies. Do you want me to take this offender now and punish him or should I simply take him to the outside for you?"
"Why are you so eager to take on duties that are not yours?" the Head Keeper then made a sweeping gesture with his hand." Do not answer! I heard enough lies from you. "
Before another word could be spoken the door behind me opened and a new voice said with great alarm in his voice." The Nephew of the Cellar Keeper has fallen of the Scaffolding in the Halls and he is dead!"
Hearing this shocked me to the core and I could not stop myself from turning. A keeper I had not seen before stood there out of breath with distress clearly written on his face. The fat man seemed pleased by that.
I felt guilty of not thinking of this possibility and wondered if the Lindbergh clan chief was even worse than my father and made the boy end his life? Or did he fall because he was afraid of heights and made a mistake climbing down?
The First Guardian spoke.
Eric Olafson Series Boxed Set: Books 1 - 6 (The Galactic Chronicles Series) Page 174
