Chapter 4
1604words
As he crawled forward, Elias's knees were scraped raw by the rough stone walls, blood seeping through his jeans, leaving intermittent red marks on the ground.
He detected a faint smell of pine oil, as if someone had lit torches here not long ago. At a bend in the tunnel, there was an inconspicuous niche containing several pieces of flint and a half-empty box of matches. The matchbox was printed with the words "Bergen Mountaineering Association" — the organization his grandfather had frequently attended during his lifetime.
The runes on the stone corridor wall were arranged in a regular pattern, appearing in repeating groups of seven symbols. When Elias counted to the third group, he suddenly realized this was the "weekly calendar" of the Nordic: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn — ancient Nordic people named the days of the week after these seven celestial bodies, and his grandfather's birthday happened to be on Saturday (Saturn's day).
He tapped on the rune corresponding to "Saturn" with his military knife, and the stone wall produced a hollow echo.
The edges of the recess in the center of the rune wall had fresh scratch marks, as if it had been pried open recently. When Elias placed the pendant into it, he heard a soft "click," as if something inside had locked it in place.
He tried to pull out the pendant but found it had become embedded in the stone wall. At that moment, the runes on the wall began to change color at a visible rate, transforming from grayish-blue to dark red, as if blood was flowing through the patterns.
The sound made when the stone wall moved was special, not merely a friction sound, but mixed with the "ka-la" sound of rotating gears. Elias leaned closer to the gap and saw that a complex system of bronze gears was hidden inside the stone wall, with dense runes carved on the teeth, and when they rotated, the interlocking sound was like the recitation of some incantation. He suddenly remembered the old grandfather clock in his grandfather's study, the swinging of the pendulum always reminded him of the "heartbeat of a giant."
After entering the passage, many tiny white particles floated in the beam of his headlamp. Elias picked up a bit with his finger and found it was salt crystal. He licked his fingertip, tasting saltiness with a hint of bitterness — this was the trace left after seawater evaporation, suggesting that this passage might have been connected to the fjord long ago. The rock walls on both sides of the passage had many shell fossils, with half a pottery shard stuck in one of the scallop fossils, bearing the same "Ansuz" rune as on the copper box.
After crawling about ten meters, the passage suddenly widened.
Elias stood up, brushed the dirt off his body, and found himself in a narrow stone corridor. The walls of the corridor were built with irregular stones and covered with the same runes as the stone circle, gleaming with faint luster under the light of his headlamp.
He took out his dagger and cautiously moved forward. The floor of the stone corridor was damp, covered with green moss, and the sound of rolling pebbles could be heard underfoot from time to time. After walking about fifty meters, a stone wall appeared ahead, blocking the way.
The stone wall was densely carved with runes, forming a complex pattern. Elias leaned in to observe and discovered that these runes told the story of the "World Tree" from Norse mythology—Yggdrasil supported nine worlds, with its roots extending to Asgard (realm of gods), Midgard (realm of humans), and Helheim (realm of the dead).
"Awaken the sleeping path with the mark of the hammer." Elias recalled the words from his grandfather's notes. He took out the pendant of Thor's hammer and pressed it against an indentation in the center of the stone wall.
The pendant and the groove fit together perfectly. At the moment of contact, the runes on the stone wall suddenly lit up with a faint blue light, flowing as if alive. Elias heard a deep rumbling sound, seemingly coming from within the stone wall.
He quickly stepped back, and watched as the entire stone wall slowly moved inward, revealing a passage leading to deeper areas.
The passage was pitch black, with the beam from his headlamp only illuminating a few meters ahead. Elias hesitated for a moment, then gripped his dagger tightly and walked in. Behind him, the stone wall began to slowly close, making a heavy grinding sound, eventually sealing completely and cutting off all external light.
Now, the only source of light was the headlamp on his head. The passage was narrower than the previous stone corridor, with cold water droplets seeping from the rock walls and falling to the ground with crisp sounds. Elias could hear his own heartbeat, sounding exceptionally clear in this deathly silent underground space.
After walking for about ten minutes, the passage suddenly widened, and he entered a circular stone chamber. In the center of the chamber stood a massive stone pillar with a carved raven relief. The raven's eyes were inlaid with some kind of black stone that glinted with an eerie light under the beam of his headlamp.
"Follow the raven's shadow." Elias recalled the hint from his grandfather's notes. He walked around the pillar and discovered numerous small grooves on the floor, forming a complex pattern. When he stood at a certain angle, the light from his headlamp passed through the raven relief's wings, casting a long, thin shadow on the ground that pointed toward a passage on one side of the chamber.
Elias followed the direction of the shadow and found that the entrance to the passage was blocked by a huge boulder. On the boulder was carved an enormous rune, a symbol he had seen in his grandfather's notebook, meaning "guardian."
He tried pushing against the giant stone, but it didn't budge at all. Just as he was contemplating how to open it, he suddenly noticed a small hole at the bottom of the stone, shaped exactly to match the handle of the bronze dagger. Elias inserted the dagger into the hole and gently turned it.
With a "click," the sound of gears turning came from inside the stone. He quickly pulled out the dagger and stepped back. The giant stone began to slowly rise, revealing a passage behind it.
A faint smell of sulfur permeated the passage. Elias frowned, took out his phone and opened an air quality detection app, which showed normal oxygen levels. He continued forward and discovered murals painted on the rock walls on both sides of the passage.
The content of the mural depicts "Ragnarök" from Norse mythology - Odin being devoured by the wolf Fenrir, Thor and Jörmungandr killing each other, Loki and Heimdall engaged in mutual slaughter... The final painting portrays a scene of ruins, the once glorious Asgard reduced to ashes, the World Tree fallen to the ground, with only a few ravens circling above the ruins.
This differs from the conclusion of the myth in Elias's memory. In traditional Norse mythology, after Ragnarök, the world would be reborn, and surviving gods and humans would build a new world. But these murals only depicted destruction, without rebirth.
"Perhaps they knew that once some things are lost, they can never be recovered," Elias murmured.
After walking for about half an hour, light appeared ahead in the passage. Elias quickened his pace and arrived at an enormous underground cavern. Various stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cavern, some resembling icicles, others like upside-down trees. On the ground was a circular pool with water so clear you could see the bottom, reflecting the stalactites from the cave ceiling, like an inverted sky.
In the center of the pool was a small island, upon which stood a massive stone wall covered with runes. Elias walked around the pool and discovered several stones protruding from the water's surface, seemingly forming a path to the island.
He carefully stepped on the stones to cross, the ice-cold water rising past his ankles. Reaching the center of the island, he realized the stone wall was actually a gigantic stone door, ten meters tall and about five meters wide, with three enormous runes carved into it, representing "Wisdom," "Strength," and "Sacrifice."
At the bottom of the stone door, there were three recesses, shaped like the outlines of a raven, a hammer, and a sword. Elias realized this was a puzzle, and he had to make a choice.
"Wisdom, strength, sacrifice..." he recalled his grandfather's notes, "True faith is not about taking, but giving."
Elias walked to the rune representing "sacrifice" and inserted the bronze dagger into the recess. The dagger fit perfectly, and the runes on the stone door began to glow red, slowly flowing along the patterns.
With a loud sound, the stone door slowly opened to both sides, revealing the passage behind. The passage was completely dark, and one could faintly hear the sound of wind coming from inside, as if countless secrets were waiting to be discovered in the darkness.
Elias pulled out the dagger, took a deep breath, and walked into the passage. He knew that the real test was just beginning.
