“Whoa. Uh, Daniel,” Kate said, staring past me. “Your backpack is moving.”

It was. I scooted away from it as it jumped once, twice. I reached my hand out tentatively and pulled it open. A fat crow flew out to the tree above us, where it pecked at a chattering squirrel and cawed loudly. Then it dropped to the ground.

I’d seen a lot of weird shit since coming to Heaven, but nothing like this: out of the breast burst a hand, and then an arm. The bird split fully in two in a flurry of feathers as a grown man climbed from its interior. The bird skin, forgotten, lay at his feet, and he stretched naked before us. His scarred face grinned, and bile rose in my throat.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said, hitching his head at me in greeting.

Kate’s hand was tight on my arm as she whispered in my ear. “Oh shit. That’s Loki - trickster, shapechanger. A real bastard. He’s been imprisoned for hundreds of years with venom dripping in his eyes.”

Loki blinked, his wide snake-like eyes puffy and red-rimmed.

Skuld stood and fixed him with a glare. “You’re not welcome here, trickster.”

Loki slithered – he actually slithered; I didn’t see his feet leave the ground – up to the woman and stuck his face in hers. She didn’t flinch.

“I could gut you so you’d spill out like a pregnant mare’s bag of waters, hag,” he said. “This day is not marked by welcoming ceremonies. It is marked by war.”

The horn sounded again and a deep, primal howl answered it, setting my teeth on edge and giving me goose-bumps.

“Fenrir, my son comes,” whispered Loki. “Are you ready for your rest, All-Father?”

Odin ignored him and stood, his old body moving smoothly. He bowed to the women. “Ladies. It’s been an honor. Perhaps some other time you can show me how to perfect this craft. I suddenly see merit in it.” He bowed, and his knitting fell to the ground: a sloppy red square.

“All-Father, it’s not always been good, but it’s always been interesting,” Verdandi said. Urd had tears in her eyes, but Skuld harrumphed.

“Get on with you, old fool. We all have our destinies.”

He held out his hand. The youngest handed him the scissors I’d taken from my backpack. When the handles reached his gnarled hand, the blades melted together and elongated to become a spear with a black shaft. He hefted it briefly and tested its weight.

He nodded once. “It is good enough.” He fixed his one eye on Kate and said, “Kate, It was a pleasure. And if I can give some advice, go with your first instincts.” He turned his back to Loki and walked into the fog.