Page 2 of Thor

Thor swung his hammer...

...but darkness enveloped him before he could land a blow on the beast.

TWO

"Ah, you must be the other Harald Medal winner."

Sibyl spun around, feeling dangerously like a turtle about to tip over, with her heavy pack still strapped to her back, until she sighted the woman who'd spoken and managed to steady herself against the wall.

She looked like she belonged here, all tall and blonde with broad shoulders that would have no problem with Sibyl's pack.

Sibyl wished her pack was a shell, so she could crawl inside and hide. She was definitely small enough to fit. Not like this Viking shieldmaiden.

Not for the first time, Sibyl wished one of her cousins were here. Or all of them. Tacey, who got along with everybody. Callie, who cursed everybody. Sometimes literally, even as she swore magic didn't exist. Octavia, who was Batman for computers while seeming to know every illegitimate businessperson in the Southern Hemisphere. Or even Alethea, who was too damn nice for her own good.

But none of them had won the Harald Medal, so all her cousins were back home in Western Australia, while she was on the other side of the world, almost in the Arctic Circle, no less, about to go on the archaeological dig of a lifetime. Three months ahead of schedule, thanks to global warming.

The Harald Medal was only awarded once every five years, and last time, they hadn't found a suitable candidate. So the odds of two medallists in the same place at the same time were practically astronomical, if not downright impossible.

The Viking woman grinned, like she was reading Sibyl's mind. "I know, right? I mean, last time they didn't pick anyone at all, so this time, having two winners is just weird. I did a bit of digging. It turns out the old guy whose company sponsors the medal – and his name isn't Harald, by the way, which surprised me – was in hospital five years ago, when the medal wasn't awarded, and he left the selection process up to his company board. They decided the financial outlay was more than they could afford, so to cut costs, they simply announced they didn't have anyone suitable. Fast forward five years. Not-Harald has happily recovered from heart surgery, and he's fired the board for making a mess of his company. To make up for the mess they made of the medal, this year he decided to have two winners. You...and me." She pressed a hand to her chest, then held it out for Sibyl to shake. "I'm Jorunn, by the way. I do reindeer."

Sibyl shook her hand, but now she was even more confused. "I'm Sibyl, and...wait, you do what?" She couldn't possibly do reindeer. Who said they were into bestiality when meeting someone for the first time?

Jorunn laughed. "Reindeer. Historic human-reindeer interactions, both hunting and domestication. At least, that's what I'm hoping to do my PhD project on, if we find enough evidence in the Jotunheimen Mountains this dig. Don't worry, I won't tread on your toes. You do Vikings, don't you?"

Sibyl felt her cheeks grow hot. She'd never done a Viking, or any man who looked like one. Sure, she might have a type, and Chris Hemsworth might tick all the boxes for it, but she'd never...

Jorunn didn't seem to be the least bit embarrassed. "Have you already sampled the local man candy? I swear, Norway is like Hemsworth heaven. I mean, sure, you can't check out the goods like on the beach back home, but Vikings sure are alive and well here. I wouldn't mind one myself, even if it's only for one night." She blinked. "Oh, but you're hoping for a dead one, aren't you? I thought that was what your project summary said..."

Sibyl cleared her throat and found her voice. "I'm hoping for evidence of a battle mentioned on a runestone found in a Viking grave a few years ago. The whole thing is pretty vague, and some scholars suggest it's referring to a myth about Thor and Loki in Utgard that never actually happened, but it also mentions a mountain pass that was also thought to be mythical...until one really warm summer revealed a whole bunch of artefacts right where the pass was supposed to be. My supervisor thinks that if there really is a two-thousand-year-old pass through this part of the Jotunheimen Mountains, and it's pretty clear from the surveys already done at the site that it was a rather busy highway in its time, it's possible this battle and the nearby village they were fighting over might have actually existed, too."

"Yep, dead Vikings. I'm not sure who's crazier – you or Karl – because you both want to find corpses."

"I don't need to find corpses. Just...evidence of the battle. Or the village. After a battle there are bodies, unless they burned them all, which surely they wouldn't have done to everyone, because the early Vikings believed that was a sign of honour, sending the slain to Valhalla, which they wouldn't have wanted for the losers, who they probably would have dumped in a mass grave, or at the feet of their own slain warriors. Even a village would have graves. Or some sign of the settlement. Weapons, foundations, midden heaps...something." Sibyl blew out a breath. "Sorry. I know the chances of finding anything are slim, and I'll probably have to rework my entire project to encompass whatever we do or don't find, but...it all just fits so well. Like something's out there, waiting to be found." Sibyl ducked her head. Great. Now Jorunn probably thought she was an idiot. Or a conspiracy theorist. At least Sibyl hadn't mentioned the crazy theories involving aliens that the Marvel movies had only reinforced.

"Mm. Sounds like we'll be fighting over the arrowheads, if we find any." Jorunn didn't look pleased.

"Oh, no, of course not. Early Vikings rarely used bows and arrows in combat, except when they were defending the shore against raiders arriving by boat. I know sea levels have changed a lot over the years, but not at this altitude. Hunting, however..." She paused to think for a moment. "Really? Reindeer? I mean, I guess it's really just venison, but if any of the kids back home who still believe in Santa Claus knew people ate Rudolph..."

Jorunn grinned. "All the more reason for us to write research papers for peer reviewed journals and not children's books. With luck, we'll both get enough out of this survey to write a thesis on, and before we know it, we'll be picking our postdoctoral projects."

"Amen to that."

Jorunn dropped her voice to a whisper. "Anything's better than being stuck with..."

"Pah! PhD students! Worse than rats!" The sneering man who'd said it didn't look much older than they were. Early thirties at most. "I hope you two fifl don't expect special treatment. You'll be carrying your own gear, and don't expect a tent to yourself, either!"

Jorunn glared at him. "Who are you calling an idiot, idiot? You interrupted us discussing who gets which side of the tent. Right, roomie?" Jorunn linked her arm through Sibyl's.

Sibyl barely knew either of them, but she already knew who she'd prefer to share a tent with, so she just nodded and tried to look like none of this was news to her. Heaven knew she could do with a friend out here, with her family all back on the other side of the world.

He muttered something that didn't sound particularly nice as he stormed back out again.

"And that was...?" Sibyl prompted.

"Dr Nikolai Fridolfsen, newly minted PhD. He'll try to get you to call him Dr Fridolfsen, because he thinks he's the gods' gift to the world. Most people call him Nik, or Saint Nik, because he thinks the sun shines out of his arse. He's also the reason we have to share a tent, because there were enough until he joined the expedition." She stuck her tongue out at the door he'd departed through. "Of course, no one wants to share with him. He'll probably whine the whole time about how much better archaeology is in Egypt."

Sibyl couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. Wasn't it every archaeologist's dream to do a dig in Egypt? "Is that where he did his PhD?"

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