Skrymers Glove

by Per Holbo

  ***

  Tjalfe was frightened and found it almost impossible to concentrate with the rain of questions pouring down on him from the Yetten, who stood bended over him like a tower of anger aiming to pull as much information out of him as possible. Loki was there too. He was leaning against the wall and said nothing while the other Yetten, a big guy with hands as big as a bear´s claws, yelled and screamed at Tjalfe.

  “WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE FYRKAT DEVICE?” “WHO IS THE LEADER OF YOUR EXPEDITION?” “WHAT ARE THE COORDINATES OF ASGAARD?”

  But Tjalfe was quite incapable of answering any of these questions. He could think of nothing else than poor Roeskva, who had to be on the brink of collapsing from fear. His mouth was dry and his body paralyzed making it completely impossible to say anything at all. His silence did nothing good for the huge Yetten, who clearly was getting more and more angry thinking that his prisoner was silent with the sole purpose of taunting him.

  BANG! Tjalfe jolted as the massive tower of rage smashed his huge fist on the table in front of him.

  “SPILL IT OUT, YOU FEEBLE MINDED HUMAN CHILD!” He yelled, eyes narrow and his face red and moist with anger and resentment, “WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE FYRKAT DEVICE?”

  Tjalfe shook his head silently his eyes reeking of fear and confusement. “But... I... I don´t know... I...” He stuttered, which only ticked off his interrogator and Tjalfe knew this could end fatally, if he couldn´t give him something - anything... “I´m sorry...” he tried, “but I just don´t know... Fyrkat is where the gods live when they are in Midgaard... I don´t know anything about...”

  He hadn´t even finished his sentence, before the Yetten raised his hand to slap him a deadly blow. Luckily Loki was quick to respond and with an elegant maneuver, he twisted himself in between the two and facing the other Yetten grabbed his wrist and held it tight. Apparently, Loki had some power over him. At least he lowered his arm, turned around and moved away leaning up against the wall, his eyes still angrily fixed on Tjalfe.

  Satisfied that his fellow warrior had seemed to cool down a bit and didn´t pose any serious threat to their prisoner, Loki sat on the chair across the table and looked friendly at Tjalfe, as if he was trying to create some sort of confidentiality between them.

  “Look, Tjalfe...” he began softly, “I get it, okay? This is not easy for you...”

  Loki sent a nod toward the other Yetten, who reluctantly moved to a console, from where he pulled two mugs like magic. He put them in front of Loki, who immediately sipped from one of them. Then he put it back on the table and pushed the other mug across the table.

  “There you go,” he said kindly, “but be careful... it´s quite hot...” Tjalfe looked suspiciously at the mug. It contained a black fluid and the steam from it lifted up a sweet smell compelling Tjalfe to drink it. But he managed to fight the urge and looked at Loki.

  “It´s hot sukkuladio,” Loki said, still sounding friendly, “It tastes great. Kind of sweet. Yetten kids love this stuff and I think you will too...”

  Loki held his mug with both hands sipping its contents, while observing Tjalfe with a smurgy smile clearly enjoying the moment as his prisoner grabbed the mug and lifted to his mouth. Tjalfe touched the mug with his lips, but then he hesitated. Why would Loki give him something before he had himself been given some of the information, he wanted? Was this some kind of trick? Maybe it was poisoned? Or maybe there was something in this substance that would make him dizzy and indifferent. On a few occasions, Tjalfe had tasted his father´s mead and it made his head spin. Maybe the liquid in this mug would do something similar to him, making him say things he shouldn´t? He put down the mug again and looked at Loki, who responded with a wry smile.

  “No, Tjalfe, it´s not poisoned in any way,” he said, “It´s quite safe to drink and won´t even make you woozy, except maybe for the rush of sugar streaming through your vanes and the feeling of strength building up inside your body.”

  Though Loki´s smile and soft voice seemed sincere, Tjalfe still wasn´t sure about complying and he sat still, while observing Loki trying to find clues in the Yetten´s body language that would maybe reveal his true intentions.

  “I´m drinking the same thing, Tjalfe, look,” Loki said with an encouraging nod of his head and took yet another sip, “You really should try it. It´s fantastic. If you don´t like it, you may leave it. It´s completely up to you...”

  Tjalfe built up his courage and raised the mug again. Should he give it a try? If they wanted to kill him they would probably already have done so and even if this substance would make him to talk, it really wouldn´t make any difference. He was quite sure he didn´t have any kind of information useful to them. He carefully took a small sip and felt the hot liquid filling his mouth. It was sweet and delicious, just as Loki had told him. Tjalfe enjoyed the taste and felt the drink strengthen his sore muscles and the feeling of fatigue leaving his body was, he had to admit, a rather welcomed one.

  “Right, Tjalfe, let me tell you something, “Loki said as he leaned forward in a pose saying: ‘I´m your friend and I want to help you.’

  “I get that it must be a very intimidating experience to be dragged away from your family against your will and then be subjected to an interrogation like this. To be perfectly honest...” Loki lowered his voice almost to a whisper as he continued. “I have a gut feeling you know absolutely nothing about all of this - at least nothing of interest to us. But the problem is: it´s not my call. It´s all up to the commander and he is very confident that you have some vital information. And to say the least, he is not a softy... There is nothing he wouldn´t do to get the information he thinks you have and... well, I won´t go into details. You are a bright kid and I´m sure you get it...”

  Loki sent Tjalfe a look that seemed almost merciful and if Tjalfe hadn´t been such a bright kid, he might even have thought Loki was one of the good guys.

  Then Loki leaned back in his chair and raised his voice to a normal level as he continued.

  “Let me say it as clear as I can: You and Roeskva have the best chance of getting out of this alive, if you come clean and tell us everything you know, no matter if you think it´s important or not. Just answer any question to the best of your knowledge and then maybe, just maybe, you can convince the commander that you´re not holding anything back. And if he comes to believe that you really don´t know anything, he just might let you and your sister go...”

  Just hearing his sisters name being called, Tjalfe woke up and sat up straight.

  “Where is Roeskva now?” he asked, “is she alright?”

  “Of course she is!” Loki smiled and threw his head to the side. “In fact, she is right in the next room drinking ‘sukkuladio’ just like you. After all, she is just a little girl and she is probably chattering away trying to answer all their questions.”

  Tjalfe had a feeling that Loki said this only as a way to scare him. But he was quite sure Loki was wrong about Roeskva. Sure enough she was a little girl, but he knew no one as stubborn as she. If she didn´t want to say anything, she wouldn´t. And it wouldn´t do them any good if they decided to push her​​, as this would only make her even more stubborn. Even if she was afraid, her fear would just make her stronger.

  Tjalfe was more worried at the thought of their reaction to her stubbornness. Maybe they would get so angry that ... He didn´t dare finishing the thought.

  “If I try to help you... tell you everything you want to know... could... could Roeskva be allowed in here, then?”

  Loki´s eyebrows went up and he tilted his head a bit to one side. He was clearly taken by surprise. Could it really be that easy?

  “Of course!” he announced, his hands thrown to both sides as if he was just about to give Tjalfe a big hug, “no problem, my friend! But you have to promise to come clean... I mean, really come clean and hold nothing back, however strange or irrelevant you may think our questions are...”

  Tjalfe agreed with a nod of his head and Loki turned to the big Yett
en, who´s face had changed from rage and anger to a bewildered look revealing that he was perhaps even more surprised than Loki.

  “Gilling here will go get her right now,” Loki proclaimed.

  At this point, Gilling stood like frozen, his jaw resting on his kneecaps and looking not the least present in his mind, but then he seemed to realize what was going on and pushed away from the wall with a big smile on his face, opened the door and left.

  As soon as the door shut behind him with a clicking sound, Loki quickly turned his attention to Tjalfe with a jolt. His face had changed and he didn´t look like the scary interrogator anymore. In fact, he appeared almost friendly to Tjalfe. Like the funny kind of uncle, who always seem to earn the trust of his nieces and nephews.

  “Listen very carefully,” he said as he leaned so far forward across the table that Tjalfe could hear him even if he whispered, “We haven´t got much time, so I need you to really take in, what I´m about to say and think very fast to understand what it means, ok?”

  He didn´t wait for Tjalfe to answer, but glanced shortly at the door in complete silence his pupils hanging in the corner of his eyes as if he was trying to decide if anyone outside would be able to hear anything. Then he continued.

  “Right, Tjalfe... In a minute, Gilling will return with Roeskva and as soon as she´s settled in a chair, I´m going to ask you a whole bunch of questions. What I need you to do, is listen very carefully. Every question, I ask, is going to be asked in a certain way and you must answer those questions to the letter, okay? Do not under any circumstances answer anything outside of what I ask of you. If I ask you to tell me the name of someone, you just say their name, nothing else, alright? No talking about what they do or what they look like, unless I ask you specifically, understand?”

  Tjalfe didn´t say anything. He simply sat there, chocked at what Loki was doing.

  “Do you understand, Tjalfe? Answer only the questions, I ask, nothing else.” He paused for a second, then repeated the last bit to be sure, Tjalfe was with him.

  “Do you understand?”

  What is going on here? Who is Loki? Can I trust him? Is this just another trick?

  Tjalfe´s mind went crazy with confusement and he didn´t know what to think.

  “Ehm.. yeah... I get it, but...” he just managed to say, before the door opened and Gilling entered with Roeskva in front of him. She looked frightened, but then she discovered Tjalfe in there and lit up in a relieved smile. She practically threw herself around his neck and let out a silent sob her body shaking like a thresher.

  “There, there,” he comforted her while caressing her hair, “We´re together now, Roeskva, and I will protect you as best I can.”

  Little by little Roeskva calmed down. Finally she lifted up her head and looked him in the eyes. He stroked her cheek. It was completely dry. It struck him how unusual this was. Under normal circumstances Roeskva wasn´t the kind, who would hold back her tears if she was sad or frightened. To make the whole situation even stranger, she winked at him with one eye and he struggled not to let the two Yetten soldiers notice how puzzled he was.

  With Roeskva sitting safely beside him, he listened to Loki's questions and tried to answer as accurately as possible on all accounts. Keep it simple, he reminded himself as he thought of what Loki had just told him. Don´t answer any question, Loki does not specifically ask... He kept repeating these guidelines in his head while trying to find a balance, where it wasn´t too obvious to raise suspicion.

  “When did you first meet Thor?”

  Loki was sitting the same place as before, just across the table with Gilling seated beside him and clearly listening carefully taking in every information revealed by Tjalfe´s words, body language and tone of voice.

  “Last winter,” Tjalfe said, “It was still quite cold, but it was after drinking Yule.”

  Gilling turned his head toward Loki with a questioning look in his eyes.

  “Winter solstice,” Loki explained, “drinking Yule is celebration of the change towards longer days and the anticipation of the coming spring.” Then he turned his head and looked back at Tjalfe.

  “Where did you meet him?” he continued his interrogation.

  “At the fortress of the gods,” Tjalfe said, “it is placed in the flat land right after the forest.”

  “Did you see anyone besides Thor at the fortress?”

  “Yes, but I don´t remember their names. There were quite many gods there and they were coming and going all the time, so I couldn´t keep track of them all.”

  “Maybe you could describe some of them?”

  “Ehm.. well... I suppose... There was a woman there... She... she was quite tall... and... she had long golden hair... almost like my mum...”

  Gilling leaned towards Loki and whispered something in his ear using the Yetten language. Even though Tjalfe didn´t understand what he was saying, it was quite clear from his body language that he was less than pleased. Maybe he didn´t think, Tjalfe was answering their questions thoroughly enough?

  Loki and Gilling spoke for a while in their own tongue and Tjalfe was vexed that he hadn´t been clever enough to learn more about the Yetten language. If there was a time where understanding them would be very beneficial, this was it. He pounded himself mentally for not thinking about it sooner. If he´d had a little more time in that cell, he might have been able to get just an idea about what they were talking about. But no... instead he had juiced in self pity and wasted valuable time doing nothing but grunt about their predicament.

  The conversation between Loki and Gilling seemed to Tjalfe to go on forever and it slowly turned into more of an argument than merely a friendly talk between colleagues. Since he wasn´t able to understand any of it, he decided to observe their body language and facial expressions instead, but he was interrupted by Roeskva, who suddenly squeezed his hand and smiled broadly winking at him with one eye, just as she had done a little while ago. Strange... She almost looked excited. Didn´t she at all get how serious all this was? Here they were, caught by one of the most ruthless peoples in the entire world and Roeskva was smiling and looking as if she´d just been given a valuable gift?

  “Tjalfe!” He jolted at the sound of Loki barking his name.

  “I´m sorry,” he said and turned his eyes away from the two Yetten soldiers and looked down at the table.

  “What was Thor doing in that fortress?”

  “He ehm... I... I don´t know,” Tjalfe stuttered his throat tightening from dry fear, ”He usually spent his time in his house or by the stone.”

  “The stone?”

  “Yes, the stone in the center of the fortress. The one that shines...”

  “Hmmm... okay...” Loki looked shortly at Gilling and then turned his head back looking at Tjalfe.

  “What was Thor doing, when he was by the stone?”

  “He touched it with some kind of short iron sticks and then he chiseled something on his writing thing.”

  “He probably means Thor was making notes of his results,” Loki explained to Gilling, “and the iron sticks sounds like ordinary screw drivers.” Then Loki turned to Tjalfe and continued questioning him.

  “Would you consider Thor a friend?” Loki wanted to know, “and do you think he thought of you as a friend?”

  Tjalfe was baffled, to say the least. Had anyone asked him a year ago he would have laughed out loud, knowing that no ordinary person could ever be friends with the gods. But for some strange reason, this wasn´t at all as obvious as before and he felt complied to consider it. After all, Thor had treated him like an equal, more than as someone, who was beneath his rank. But still, someone like Tjalfe being friends with a god? It seemed unlikely, though possible...?

  “Ehm...” he began while still thinking it through and trying to give Loki an answer, that wasn´t going to make Gilling angry at him, deeming his answer heretical.

  “I... I don´t know... I mean... I liked Thor... and I think he may have found me to be interesting... but... I mean,
you can´t expect a god to ever become friends with a mortal, can you?”

  “That is a good answer, Tjalfe,” Loki responded while looking as if he was to try to hide being impressed with Tjalfe´s intelligence. “But maybe Thor - if Thor found you interesting, that is - maybe Thor told you things about the Aseir - the gods?”

  Tjalfe´s mind went on overload as he tried to think back. He didn´t want to reveal too much, but on the other hand he was sure he couldn´t answer nothing without Gilling going berserker on him.

  “Well, I suppose he told me a little, but...”

  “Like what?”

  “I don´t know...”

  Tjalfe paused thinking like crazy, while Loki waited patiently for an answer. Gilling wasn´t even close to being as patient and the red color on his face returned as they all sat there in silence.

  “No, wait,” Tjalfe suddenly said, “He did tell me that the Aseir got married and had children just like we do!” Tjalfe tried as best he could to look as if this was really important information to be excited about, but clearly Gilling did not agree. Unable to control his temper any longer, he stood up and took a swing against Tjalfe, who managed to duck his head just in time. Unfortunately Gilling´s huge hands swung over Tjalfe´s head and hit Roeskva instead and if it hadn´t been for the fact, that Gilling’s surprise at Tjalfe´s quick response combined with the extra distance from Tjalfe´s head to Roeskva, she would most likely have died at the violent blow. Instead, Gilling’s flat hand hit Roeskva on the side of her head and sent her flying up from her chair and gliding across the floor. Tjalfe hurried over to come to her aid. She covered her chin with her hand and stared venomously at Gilling. The big Yetten didn´t even notice, however. He was busy trying to defend what he had done, as Loki yelled and screamed at him. Once again Tjalfe wished he had been able to understand what they were saying.

  Suddenly the two Yetten´s quarrel drowned in a rending noise. It sounded as if several hundred villagers tooted their horns at once, only the sound was both much higher and much deeper pitched. Then Loki and Gilling went busy! The door was flung open! Roeskva and Tjalfe were almost thrown out of the room, a couple of short messages to the guard and then they were off. The head of the security team was no less of a hurry. He shooed the children down the hall, while Loki and Gilling stormed in the opposite direction along with the many fighters who poured out through all doors in the corridor. Tjalfe tried to look back several times to find out as much as possible, but the guard behind him discovered it and hit him with a flat hand on his back.

  “Move!” he cried continuously shoving the kids to get them to move faster and faster. Down the corridor to the guard´s room, up with the door to the cell and in with the prisoners in an unbelievable haste! The children practically glided across the floor into their cell and within a split second they found themselves completely covered in darkness with their backs to the wall, just like before. In there they instinctively kept silent to listen. Outside the door they heard boots running away in the direction from which they had just come and suddenly everything went completely quiet...

  ***