Midgard

It felt as if he had smashed back first into a brick wall. He had to shield his head with his hands as heavy items came raining down on him, one after another. When it finally stopped, he lowered his arms and opened his eyes. Not bricks - wood. Wood smashed to pieces, scattered around him on the carpeted floor. And books. Loads of them. High bookshelves everywhere, neatly set up in rows and filled up to the ceiling. A library. He must have had the misfortune to have landed in the shelf with the chunkiest, in leather bound tomes. The Norns had said, that they would send him to Midgard, but why for the Wyrd's sake to this place?

Ard took in his environment. To his horror, a young mortal man sat at one of the desks on the side, starring equally horrified and in disbelieve of what he had just witnessed – a man appearing out of nowhere, seemingly falling from the ceiling. But the mortal wasn't just any man, his face was familiar.

"Ehm...hello," Ard said as casually as possible, heaving himself up, books tumbling off him.

The young man just stared, brushing his black hair back with both hands, still not quite able to comprehend what just happened. He didn't know Ard, of course. The god had always ensured to go undetected, had always been undercover.

Now that Ard was standing upright, the young men's eyes widened even more when he realised the intruder's enormous size and unusual clothes.

"Who are you?" the mortal finally asked.

Ard quickly weighed up the options – to tell him the truth and risk having the mortal law keepers on his back in no time, or to run. But where would he run to?

Thanks to the young man, which he recognised from his recent spy missions, Ard had a rough idea of where abouts in Midgard he was – somewhere in the city called London. The earth, as the mortals called their realm, was a vast and inconsistent place. From lands of snow and ice to barren deserts, lush green fields to tropical rainforests, the mortals had it all. Midgard was by far the biggest and most diverse realm of all. The highest power had given them a world full of plenty, yet the majority of mortals couldn't see their own wealth. At least, that's what Asereth taught him - that the mortals didn't appreciate what they had been given and that the highest power put it down to the gods to protect the unappreciative earthlings from themselves.

"Hello?"

The mortal was still waiting for an answer.

Ard had to pull himself together and act as normal as possible. Standing in a pile of debris, daydreaming, was not normal. Smalltalk was a good idea. He decided on a half-truth.

"My name is Ard. I...am...not from around here."

"You, ehm, don't look like you are from around here."

"Well, I am just visiting."

That wasn't quite true, but Ard couldn't get himself to think of Midgard as his new home. He had to get out of this building and find a place where he could think of his next steps.

The mortal had calmed down, Ard could hear his heart rate slowing. Time to go.

"I'm Amar. Now tell me, where did you come fr...,"

"I know who you are." Ard cut him off before he was able to finish his question.

"Goodbye Amar."

He hurried down the corridor, leaving a confused Amar behind. Just as he turned around the corner, he heard furious shouting.

"What on earth happened here? What did you do?"

The librarian must have just entered the scene of destruction. He didn't sound happy at all. Amar was the only person around, surely he would be given all the blame. But there was no time for Ard to feel guilty. Getting Amar into trouble for some broken shelves was by far not the worst thing Ard had done to him. If the mortal knew that he was the one who took his love away from him...he would have made his first enemy in Midgard. How cruel the Norns were, to throw him right at Amar's feet.

Reality started to sink in as he left the building. He was banished from his home, far away from his friends and Eldri, his career as leader of the cavalry was over and his life's sole purpose of protecting his realm had been washed away by the Norns. It had been an unfair dismissal, but then, what would be fair under corrupt reign? Never would he now be able to right all the wrongs. He wouldn't get his brother back from Hella's clutches and he would never find out what possessed his father. And there was Hella's vow to retrieve him from Midgard. Just the thought of her touching him turned his stomach, but he could worry about that later. What would he do now?

He had already left the building and rushed across the campus, which was wrapped in the twilight of the velvet hour, when that familiar voice shouted.

"Wait!"

Amar was running as fast as his human legs could carry him, his steps loud and clumsy compared to Ard's. Even though the god was much taller and heavier than the average mortal, he moved swift and silently. Sometimes Lugh and Hera had joked, that he was even quieter than a shadow. 

Amar was still trying to catch up. Ard was mildly impressed by his speed and determination but he didn't stop.

"Wait!" the mortal shouted again.

Why couldn't he just go away?

And again. "Wait!"

Ard sighed and turned around. It took only a few seconds for Amar to reach him.

"Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

Amar definitely had guts.

The god grabbed his arm and dragged him behind a tree.

"Listen, if you're wise, you'll go home and forget about what you've seen. Do not tell anyone."

"I heard this noise and then you came out of some tunnel of light and...."

Ard grabbed him by the collar and pressed him against the tree.

"Never mention it again. Ever. Understood?"

Why did he have to make him do that? Why couldn't he just be a frightened human assuming he must have been hallucinating? If Amar was silly enough to pursue his investigations of Ard's nature, then he'd have to be eliminated according to the codex.

Amar didn't answer. Stubborn mortal. Ard pressed a little harder and flashed his teeth.

"Okay...understood."

He let go off him.

"Go!" Ard commanded.

The mortal still stared, as if trying to figure out what was hiding behind Ard's seemingly human skin, but he backed off slowly. Thank the gods! Ard really didn't want to add broken bones to the list of things Amar could hate him for.

Ard watched Amar walk off. He still didn't trust him, so he decided to follow the mortal, just to see what he was going to do now.

It was almost dark and tiny stars were twinkling high above in the clear sky. It was still a peculiar sight for the god. The sky over Asgaard looked so very different. He hopped over the wall of the end of terrace house closest to him and climbed up the building. He just had to keep an eye on Amar, for now. The rooftops were perfect for undetected spying.

The darkness didn't impact his sight. Different to mortals, his eyes could see in the dark just as well as in daylight. In fact, all godly senses where much more developed than those of mortals. The stench of the city troubled Ard. How could the mortals possibly cope with the harsh chemicals burning their sinuses? And the noise of the traffic and the humming of invisible rays? Would he ever get used to it?

Down there, Amar turned right onto the main road. Located just off the campus, this area was full of restaurants, cafes and bars filled with students celebrating the beginning of the weekend. He watched Amar walking down the street, and just before Ard thought he'd go out of sight, the mortal entered a bar.

Nothing unusual as of yet, but somehow Ard was still interested and kept following him. Making sure that no one was watching, he climbed down the corner of the building by holding on to the brick wall and jumped the last few meters, landing behind some bins, then hurried down the street.

The campus had been deserted, but this street was full of life. People were looking at him, curious and questioning. He was impossible to overlook and wore clothes that didn't blend in with the mortal's fashion – black pants, a leather tunic and heavy leather boots, his hair long and wild from the travel. He would have to change that soon. Surprisingly, a group of girls walked past, eying him up head to toe, smiling and giggling. Ard gave them a grim stare and the giggling stopped.

He was now standing in front of the bar that Amar had entered just minutes ago. Ard tried to make out his full head of dark hair in the crowd. It was packed in there, everyone was chatting away and drinking. That was nothing compared to the god's celebrations, Ard thought. Every evening feast was wilder than this.

The god pressed his nose against the glass. The reflections of the traffic lights behind him made it difficult to see inside, even with his enhanced vision. Just as well that everyone was so busy in there, his behaviour would have definitely been taken as suspicious and indeed, a few passers-by raised their eyebrows. Again, a few sharp looks and they quickly went back to minding their own business. And there he was - Amar, talking to a girl and handing her a drink. She had long ashy hair that fell to her waist, but he couldn't see her face as she stood with her back towards the window. Strange. Did he not mourn his love after all, if he went out with another already? The way he was chatting to the girl, happy and animated. Too familiar. At least he didn't seem to tell her about their encounter in the library.

Ard was just about to leave as the girl turned around. He couldn't believe his eyes. In that bar, behind the glass window, stood the very girl that he thought he had killed.