Iceland

The colony at the newfound land was changed fundamentally. It consisted of fifty families that lead a strict christian life. They were happily assimilated. In fact there was no fighting anymore. They also had more resources than they needed because of what the other fractions left behind. There was not any unbelievers left. They had left voluntarily or otherwise disappeared. The colony did not care much for troublemakers anyway. The missing persons were soon forgotten.

Eventually, when all were fully assimilated, the colonists were sent back to Europe. Girls became nuns, boys became monks and the parents lived in the colony till they finally ended their days. Finally, it was merely a military outpost guarding the path to the new continent. No-one was allowed to pass either way of this unfound land.

However, years earlier, Yngve was one of the first to voluntary leave the colony. He could not adapt to the new strict theocratic regime. It was no longer about being righteous religious or being a good person. It seemed more to be about submission and abeyance. People had died already. The colony was decreasing and Yngve was thinking in terms like; who’s next? He figured that it was best to leave while he had a chance. All he had to do was telling Peter that he was going to Iceland to help the good people there. No one else in the colony wanted to go to the so-called ‘Gate to Hell’. He left alone.

There was no other direction to sail, really. The colony had become a military outpost that had sealed of the path to the new continent. Greenland was depopulated and was of no interest. The torched Iceland was well populated despite the catastrophe. It was highly dangerous for a family to leave the island because of its isolation in the Atlantic sea. Most families stayed and started to rebuild the colony. Yngve figured that it would be an honorable task to help these people to regain their way of life.

It was not hard to get a job. Any recourse was welcomed. He only had to register. So he did. This time, the church did the registering. Yngve remembered that the old regime converted to Christianity to keep their power. But he also knew that there was a freedom of religion. He did not know that the church silently opposed that. He had investigated his soul, and figured that all in all it was the Asir belief that was his tradition and had became a part of his personality. Lying was not natural to him, and he had heard that the christians even forbid lying by fundamental law. Therefore he had no second thought about register as an Asir.

Yngve was a skilled draftsman. He was engaged in building a house right away. It was a family that had their home burned by lava. They were considered a good family and had lots of friends. They got the resources to build a new house, but no one had the time to do it. Being parents with four children, there was no extra time for house building. They were very happy to get such help from Yngve, There was a chance that they could have a house before the winter came. Yngve got to learn the family well. They were what he considered good Asirs, even thought they did not admit their belief. However, they kept the old traditions and did not formally convert to Christianity. Yngve thought that was fine. They avoided the issue, but he kept his opinion about them. They felt uneasy about it. The father said; we don’t need more problems than we already got.

A month later, Yngve’s supervisor was substituted. There was not really given any reason why. The previous one just left without a word one day. Ted, the new boss, had an excellent résumé of being effective. His task was simply to get every Icelandic person in house within 3 years. Yngve had some clear ideas of how things could be more effective, and shared those thoughts with Ted. All information was received gratefully and with promises of being considered. Yngve was even promoted to be responsible for the house building for a little raise in wages. Yngve was happy. That meant he could make a home for himself in the spare time.

A month later, there was not sufficient material to continue the work. Being patient for too long, Yngve finally went to Ted to ask for the material. There has been some redistribution, he was told. You should have ordered the material in time, Ted continued. There was no use in arguing, for Yngve had the clear impression that it all was fixed and the reasons merely cover-ups. Yngve kept his opinion to himself. He did not want to start an argument with a superior. Finally the material arrived. However, his axe was substituted with some old one. There must be a mistake, Yngve told Ted. This old axe would definitely slow down the work. These are changes for all of us. Everyone has got elder axes in order to save money. Aren’t you capable to handle such a good old tool? There was no use in getting into such an argument.

A month later the design had changed. The roof had a cross and there was no lock on the doors. Yngve realized that it was not merely for rationalization, but no sincere attempt to make the families house secure in time. I will simply not let the lock in the door to be removed, Yngve said. You know there has been a lot of looting recently and they will most probably rob this family so they cannot survive the winter. Then they must leave Island, Yngve thought, and stopped himself in saying it. Instead he asked; the office goal is to get every family on Iceland a home before the winter, right? That is right, Ted answered, and I hope you have good news because my bonus depends on that. Ted changed the subject. You better remove the lock from the door or else you risk being accused for theft of property, he said. Yngve simply looked him in the eyes picked up some money from his pocked and put it on the table. Here is the payment for the lock to secure their home.

By the way, what is the idea of setting up a crucifix on the roof, if you are going to save money? Ted turned to him and said seriously, there are some issues and persons you do not want to question, - so don’t. Anyway, I expect the father to pick it down soon and give it back. Then they have shown everyone their antipathy. Just as you have, he added.

Later that week there was an accident. A pillar fell and almost got one of the children hurt. Yngve was called to Ted’s office. You are responsible for safety and completion of the house, as well as the accounting. This is not good enough. You have to take it apart and rebuild it in time. There was no doubt in Yngve’s mind anymore. This was a setup where he and the family were to be forced from Iceland. In that way Ted did not have to build all the houses and his bonus would raise considerable, due to savings in time and resources. He figured that it was not the time to reveal the fraud, but get out of it with the least damage. However, Ted realized that Yngve might talk a little too much about Ted’s games.

This is your responsibility, remember, Ted said. Now you have not managed the fine old tool effectively, you have argued my decisions; you have set the family in hazard and finally tried to bribe me. Who knows who you really work for, he added. This can not go on. I will hire someone to pick the house down bit by bit. And I am sorry to say that the family will not be able to stay on Iceland this winter. And you, my man, should look for work on another land. Every employer here will know what fault it will be to engage you in the future. I suggest you leave at once and don’t come back. Your services are not wanted at Iceland anymore.

Yngve was devastated. He was furious about the dirty plot. But most of all, he felt he had to do a final attempt to help the family. It was hard to see the almost finished house that was about to be dismantled again. He went over to their house and asked for the father. He was away working, but Yngve was invited in by the wife of the house. Yngve was devastated. It had been a nightmare to work for Ted that almost gave him a heart attack. But seeing their grave future was too much. He could not keep his emotions inside and busted out to cry a silent cry. We are as sorry as you are, but do not despair. We know you did what you could and realize now that it was hopeless. Listen Yngve; there is something you do not know about this. She showed him an address and told him to go there that evening.

Yngve showed up at the house as told that evening. He had never been there before and knew nothing about the people. An old woman opened the door. She recognized the boy and quietly asked him to enter. In the living room, Ted sat in a chair without saying a word. Yngve was puzzled. Do not worry, he don’t sense anything. The woman explained, Ted thought he visited a prostitute. When things got intimate, we have ways of putting people in trance. We need to know what kind of person this is, in order to protect ourselves. Therefore we hope you can help us with some question to figure it out. The state he is in is much like that his conscience is at sleep, while his subconscious is awake. In that way we can ask him anything and get an honest answer without him realizing it. We have already figured out this much; he seems to think that everything and everyone can be bought, like in prostitution. He does not seem to have any religious founding at all. And his main task here is rather destruction than construction. She asked Yngve, I understand you have some information about his conning mischief? I do, Yngve said. Ask him, the woman said.

Yngve asked; did you set me up? Yes, Ted answered in a monotone voice. Why did you? It is decided that all heathens shall leave within five years. Why did you do it? It’s my job, it’s my earning. My bonus is based on christian housing and heathens’ emigration. Who pay for the heathen emigration? The local church pays for it. Yngve had to leave the room, before he had hurt Ted, and spoiled it all. A younger woman came with him as the questioning continued. She presented herself as Frida. Yngve was devastated. How are we going to survive this? Yngve asked; you know what powers the church is related to? Right now, she answered, we don’t know. But we know it is here and nowhere else. She saw that he was curious.

There is a dark cloud all over. Just like the black cloud covers the whole area here, a dark theocratic cloud covers Europe. This is the eve of the dark ages. This is the eve of Ragnarock. Loki is released and hunger for revenge. Yngve got the chills. He looked at Frida as he almost believed her. The Asirs and Vanirs are dying for us because we are forced to neglect them. Our task is to see to that we here at Midgard do not forget them completely. Or else we can never regain the contact after this war is over. The Asirs and Vanirs will eventually win, with some considerable losses. But they will survive. We will survive. But the relation between men and Asirs might be broken forever. It is not only happening in our religion though. Even the angels of Christianity, Islam and Judaism seem to vanish as well. It is the same for all religions, the links between man and God fades away.

Yngve thought about it for a long while. He did associate himself to the Asir believers, but he thought of it more like some fables and guidance in ethical questions. He had always believed that Loki represented some funny trickster that made practical jokes. He and the boys had a lot of fun playing such jokes on each other. He never realized that it could come to serious wars where his kind had little hope for surviving. He tried to think about it in other ways, like battles on a field, like a temporary rivalry by priests. But this was too big and too consuming. They were stuck on this island of ice and fire, the last frontier.

How can it be, that Ted can be so deceiving. It is not like anything I have ever experienced. Is he in fact Loki? No, Frida said. That poor man is nothing like Loki or any other divine being. He is spiritual hollow. Naturally he does not believe in any spiritual world or divine beings. He is an atheist. To him, that reality is fiction, because he can not sense it. Like a blind that can not see the reality, and like a deaf can not hear it. He cannot sense the spiritual reality. There is no way he can admit to himself that he is the one who is disabled. That is because of his overblown ego. Therefore he is open for use by others. It seems that someone related to the church has got to him and uses him for our exodus.

Ted is a mental prostitute, Frida continued. He has probably been taught a hypnotic trick or two as reward for loyalty. He does not realize that once he received such a gift of spells, he became a victim of it himself. No powers dare to give him such skills without binding him to other spells. His egocentric self does not realize that he is the true victim, and not his petty preys. He comes here once in a while, to exploit a girl for free, and leaves satisfied. What really happens is that once he has put the girl in trance, one of us comes in and put him in trance too. We make him tell all he knows. Before waking him up, we plant a false memory of his sexual fantasies in his head. Sometimes he must masturbate himself to be convinced that it physically happened. He is happy believing he had the girl for free and we are pleased to know our opponents secrets. In this way we can protect ourselves against all odds.

Yngve was stunned. If I did not see Ted in such a tragicomic state, I would not have believed it. But you are running a terrible risk, simply by telling me this, he said. Listen Yngve, we know what we are doing. We are not doing harm, only protecting ourselves. This is a land with freedom of religion, and we are determined to keep it that way. But we are loosing on every front and we need brave men. She waited a minute and asked directly, will you join us? This was a moment of truth, he though. Maybe the only moment of truth left. He knew their powers and realized that they were about to use it on him as well. He surely wouldn’t want them as enemies, and now he was offered to be their friend. There was really no alternative. He could not pass the outpost in west and the dark ages had started in Europe. He was stuck here at a religious battlefield and needed friends more than ever. He finally said, yes.

Yngve heard Ted wake up of his trance in the neighboring room. Ted was happy and proud. In his mind, he had been a stallion for an hour and the girl was submissive to all his desires. He had to leave for important business, he said. I will come the next week at the same time, he said. Yes please do that, the girl said, while he left the room. Yngve felt a little sorry for Ted. Everyone but himself knew what a pathetic pray he really was. What about me, Yngve thought. He knew the drink was not ordinary ale. It had an additional flavor. He did not mind at the moment. He knew what they were up to and he knew what powers they possessed. So he did not resist when Frida leaned forwards, put her finger on his forehead and said; you love me.