Chapter 3
1225words
The next morning, as the bus carrying Elias drove away from the city center, the clouds still hung low, shrouding the distant mountaintops in a white mist. The highway wound along the fjord, with occasional red wooden cabins dotting the green hillsides, and sheep moving slowly across the meadows like scattered pearls.
The bus stopped at a fishing village called "Auda." It was a small village with only one main street, a few fishing boats docked at the pier, and the air filled with a salty smell. Elias, holding a printed photo of a stone circle, asked the grocery store owner for directions.
"You want to go to 'The Giant's Teeth'?" The shop owner, a plump middle-aged woman, asked in heavily accented English. "There's nothing much to see there, just some broken rocks."
"I'm here to research Viking-era sites," Elias lied.
The hostess pursed her lips and pointed to the mountains outside the village: "Follow the coastal path for about an hour, and you'll see three large rocks lined up side by side. However, the weather isn't good today, so there might be fog on the mountain." She paused, then suddenly lowered her voice, "Young man, don't stay there until dark. The elders say there's a 'Mountain Spirit' wandering there."
Elias thanked the hostess, bought some bread and mineral water, and headed in the direction she pointed. The coastal path was paved with gravel, with a steep cliff on one side and a bottomless fjord on the other. Waves crashed against the rocks along the shore, and the splashing water dampened his trouser legs.
After walking for about forty minutes, the fog began to thicken, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.
Elias opened his phone's navigation app, only to find there was no signal at all. Just as he was hesitating whether to turn back, three dark silhouettes vaguely appeared in the fog ahead.
That was "The Giant's Teeth"—three massive stones ten meters tall, arranged in a triangle and covered with moss. Only upon approaching did one discover that these stones were not naturally formed; their surfaces showed clear signs of artificial polishing, and each stone had runes carved on its sides.
Elias took out his notebook to compare and found that these runes matched exactly with the symbols on the copper box. He walked around the giant stones and noticed that the middle stone had a groove at its base, perfectly shaped to hold the Thor's hammer pendant.
Just then, footsteps sounded from behind. Elias whirled around to see an old man standing in the fog, wearing a raincoat and leaning on a wooden staff carved with snake-like patterns. The old man's hair and beard had turned white, his skin as rough as the rocks of the fjord, but his eyes were extraordinarily bright.
"What are you looking for, young man?" the old man asked in English with a gentle Norwegian accent.
"I…… I'm studying these stones." Elias said nervously, "Do you know them?"
The old man smiled, revealing gums with a missing tooth: "They've been here for a long time, longer than my grandfather's grandfather. We call them 'talking stones'."
He walked to the central megalith and ran his hand over the runes, "Legend says when someone can read their language, the mountain will open its gates."
Elias felt a stirring in his heart: "Do you know legends about them?"
"Many years ago, an American scholar came asking the same question." The old man narrowed his eyes, as if recalling, "He was fascinated by these stones, just like you. He said these weren't ritual sites, but some kind of…… waymarkers."
Elias's heart skipped a beat: "Was that scholar named Allen Cole?" That was his grandfather's name.
The old man nodded: "Yes, that's the name. He stayed here for a week, coming every day to study these stones. Later he said he wanted to go into the mountains to find 'the roots of the World Tree,' and he never came back."
Elias took out his grandfather's notebook and turned to the map: "Do you know where this 'root of the World Tree' he mentioned is located?"
The old man took the notebook, squinting at it for a while, then pointed toward the mountains in the northeast: "That mountain, we call it 'Jotunheim,' the home of giants. Legend says that one of the World Tree's roots is embedded there, connecting to the realm of the dead." He pointed to a gap on the map, "There should be a 'Raven Stone' drawn here, beside a waterfall halfway up the mountain. When you see that stone, you'll find the path into the mountains."
Elias quickly marked the location on the map: "Could you take me there? I can pay you."
The old man shook his head: "No, young man. That mountain area is dangerous, especially during this season when blizzards can happen at any moment. And..." He paused, his expression becoming serious, "The mountain doesn't like to be disturbed. Allen was a good man, but he was too persistent."
"I must go." Elias said firmly, "I need to know what happened to him."
The old man was silent for a moment, then pulled out a bronze dagger from his bosom and handed it to Elias. The handle of the dagger was inscribed with the same runes as on the boulder, and though the blade was somewhat rusty, it remained sharp. "This was left by Allen. He said if anyone came looking for him, to give them this. He said it was the key to opening the 'door'."
Elias took the dagger, the cold metal touch reminding him of that pendant. "Thank you."
"Walk up along the waterfall until you see two rocks that look like raven wings." The old man turned to leave, then stopped and said, "Remember, the mountain will give you answers, but not necessarily the kind you want."
The mist grew thicker, and the old man's figure quickly disappeared into the fog. Elias gripped his dagger tightly and walked to the central boulder, placing the Thor's Hammer pendant into that groove.
The pendant fit perfectly into the groove. The moment it was inserted, he heard a slight rumbling sound, as if coming from deep beneath the ground. Between the three boulders, on the ground where it had been covered with moss, a circle of runes appeared, matching the markings on the map completely.
Elias took out his phone, photographed the runic circle, and then carefully cleared away the surrounding soil with his dagger. In the center of the circle was a loose stone slab. He pried it open with his dagger and discovered a narrow opening underneath, too deep to see the bottom, from which he could faintly hear the sound of wind coming through.
The edge of the opening was also carved with runes, matching exactly the "Hidden Place" markings in the notebook.
Elias took a deep breath and put on the headlamp from his backpack. The mist had begun to disperse, and sunlight shone through the cloud layer onto the giant rock, casting long shadows of the runes. He knew that from here on, he would have to continue alone.
He took one last look at the distant fjord, then turned on his headlamp and bent down to crawl into the opening.
