"Why are the buildings empty?" I asked.

Balfour and the Azi-Fey had entered the city hidden within Draioct's mane. Once past the wards, they had spread out, searching for locations we could use as a base. They soon discovered that the buildings were mock-ups. All but empty.

"Empty?" Draioct asked. "Why would there be anyone in the buildings?"

Gaining entrance to Utgard had been simple enough. The wards had ignored us, just as Draioct had claimed they would. The guards gave us only a cursory glance as we walked past.

The city was nothing like I expected.

The streets were all but deserted. The buildings were nothing but fronts. It explained much about who and what the Jotunn were as a people. They were not a race of tradesmen and craftsmen. They didn't breed to raise innkeepers or servers; they were born to fight. Sorcerers, warriors, and armies.

The walls and towers were manned heavily, but any movement inside the city proper was minimal. There was no randomness, nothing that suggested the comfort and daily lifestyle I expected for a city of this size.

The warriors were focused. There were no signs of banter, conversation, or levity. They moved to take a position on walls and towers with precision and focus that belied the stories told of a people that were brutal and mindless. Those not actively guarding the city were training or leaving the city to hunt and patrol.

As I continued to search, looking for any signs of industry, I realized the truth. "Utgard is a front. The entire city is a prop to draw the Asgardian's focus when they attack."

"You've managed to glean in a few minutes what the Asgardians have been unable to understand after countless eons and a number of attacks beyond counting," Draioct said, confirming the truth.

"Why do they bother?" I wondered. "I mean, I know some Asgardians aren't the most intelligent, but they are Gods. Shouldn't they be aware by now that attacking Utgard is a waste of time?"

"The Jotunn and Asgardians have their roles to fill, their place within the cosmic balance that requires them to stay locked in a time loop," Draioct answered thoughtfully. "The Asgardians have destroyed Utgard. Asgard has been attacked and looted by the Jotunn. And the next day, those killed are restored to life. The cities are rebuilt. And the Gods begin the cycle of antagonism culminating in the same war over and over again."

"They don't know they are trapped?" I asked in disbelief.

"They know," he assured me. "If the Hrimfaxi knows, then certainly the Gods know. They even know the method to break the cycle and move forward. Odin or Thrym, King of the Jotunn, must be killed and the lodestone that stores the memories of Asgard City or Utgard destroyed."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I wonder what they get out of it, how they got trapped in the first place?" Tia asked.

"Asgard has no wheel of reincarnation," Draioct explained. "Without a way to refresh and recycle the souls of the dead, [Universal Law] interceded. The Asgardians and Jotunn are locked in a cycle of life and death, rebirth, and fresh starts.

"No one is certain if Odin agreed with this limitation or if he was forced to submit after he exerted his will to create Asgard. What is known is that Valhalla's souls should have moved on. Odin refused to allow their passage, to fjord the [River of Forgetfulness] and claim a new life.

"He would keep the warriors' souls to use as his foot soldiers when Ragnarok descended, and all might be lost. Only once they had fulfilled that one final duty would they be allowed to reincarnate and rejoin the cycle of life and death."

I wasn't sure what to make of this tidbit of information. I'd planned to use [Illusion and Glamour] to provoke the Jotunn into attacking Asgard City. While the Asgardians were busy defending the city, I'd hoped to slip in.

In the confusion of war, it would be simpler to gain access to Odin's eye.

I had no intention of stealing the eye he still possessed, but everyone knew where the eye he had plucked out was. He had tossed it into Mimer's well, and there it had languished. It would be in the same condition it was in, when he had sacrificed it to Mimir to gain wisdom.

There was no reason for the eye to have decayed. It wasn't made of mortal flesh, and as part of the All-Father, it should still exist. Even more importantly, it should still hold the essence and power of Odin.

That had to be the reason Loki wanted me to fetch the eye. He might have intended for me to snatch the eye from Odin himself, his way of making sure that I was never able to fulfill the quest he and the other Gods had offered, but he would have to be disappointed.

The Sidhe were just as tricky, just as adept at deception, just as opportunistic as Loki or Coyote, and I would use whatever wiggle room the [Oath] I had sworn allowed. He would get his eye; it would just be the one cast off and sitting at the bottom of a well.

"Draioct, are the Hrimfaxi and Asgardians enemies?" I asked.

"No. We have taken no side in this war. The Jotunn tolerate and respect us, but the Asgardians both fear and covet our herds. Ever since Nott has formed a partnership with [Hrimfaxi], the first of our kind, they have tried to entice more of us to partner."

"That reminds me, the Hrimfaxi are associated with Nott and night. Why is your coat silver and white?"

"This is just one of my forms, the form I use during the day. You are right. The Hrimfaxi are considered godlings with aspects most attuned to darkness and night, but we also have an affinity with the morning dew," Draioct explained.

"Odin used his power of creation as All-father to define the Hrimfaxi once Nott and [Hrimfaxi] joined. He has proclaimed by virtue of his Divine right that [Hrimfaxi] serve as stead to serve as a servant of the [Night]. He works tirelessly, and each morning, the foam and lather from that night's work fall from his bit, forming the water that creates the morning dew.

"It is by his word that the [Hrimfaxi] has been tasked with those two responsibilities, and the herd has adapted our form to personify the aspect of both duties. The darkest black for our duties to cloak the world in a blanket of Night, and silver and white to spread the morning dew."

"You control the night?" I asked, a new idea forming.

"The [Hrimfaxi] is a servant of the Night, yes. His run across the Heavens is eternal as he follows and is followed by [Skinfaxi] and [Dagr], the personification of day and light.

"Why?"

"Ag and I have control over [Shadow]. I wonder how well the two aspects can blend. It should make for a powerful combination to hide our presence. A trifecta of power formed from [Shadow], [Night], and [Illusion] to cloak and hide us as we search Asgard city."