Free Two Ravens and One Crow - 4.5 by Kevin Hearne Page B

“The Morrigan fixed my tattoos, among other things,” I said. “Has everything been okay here?”
    “Fine until a few days ago,” Granuaile said. “I think something must have died nearby, because we’ve had ravens circling the place, but I can’t find it and the damn things won’t go away.” She pointed to the sky where two black-winged shapes soared above. As my eyes found them, the ravens banked and dove toward the trailer. They landed on top of my trailer, much as the Morrigan had, and peered at me from theroof.
    “Okay, that’s really weird. It’s too bad you don’t have a bust of Pallas,” Granuaile remarked.
    
    “I know who these birds are,” I said.
    “
Who
they are? You mean these are shape-shifters?” Granuaile asked.
    “No, these are Hugin and Munin. Odin’s ravens.” I pulled out a marked-up map of my real estate purchase and showed it to the birds. “Odin,” I said, addressing the ravens for his benefit, “I will leave Gungnir at the cabin on Midgard that is marked on this map.” I pointed at a circled area. “It will be there by this evening. The cabin is unoccupied and will be unlocked. I will leave Gungnir in the closet of the master bedroom. Safe travels.” I folded the map and tossed it on top of the trailer. The ravens squawked and one of them hopped over to grasp the map between its talons. They flew away with another hoarse cry, and I was quite nearly back to peace and seemingly interminable training.
    
    “That was Hugin and Munin?”
    “It sure was. Granuaile, if I ever get restless and yearn for action in the remaining years of your training, I want you to remind me of this episode.”
    “Not sure what the episode was yet, but I will, sensei.”
    
    I did?
    
    I seriously don’t remember this
.
    
    I smiled.
You are a very clever hound
.
    
    Well, don’t get all mushy on me
.
    “When do I get to hear the details of this episode?” Granuaile asked. “It sounds like Odin is back.”
    “He is. I’ll tell you everything later tonight. It’s actually not over yet; I have one more detail that needs my attention. Continue your training and pretend I’m not here for now.”
    “Aye, sensei.”
    Gungnir was buried in the earth near our trailer and encased in iron to protect it from divination. With the help of the elemental Colorado and the iron elemental, Ferris, I retrieved it with little trouble. Iinspected it to make sure it was in good condition, being careful not to touch the spearhead engraved with runes, lest my aura nullify its magic.
    This spear had shed a whole lot of blood, and now that I was returning it to Odin, it would shed a whole lot more. But people who truly want to shed blood will find a way to shed it, just as people who wish to do good will find a way to be a benediction to their neighbors.
    Building and growing are so much harder than cutting something down. I once spent twelve years training an apprentice to accept the magic of the earth, only to see him beheaded by the forces of Al-Mansur in Galicia. After I lost Cíbran, the hopelessness of training an apprentice had overwhelmed me for far too long, and I’d had serious doubts about taking on Granuaile and several thoughts along the way of giving up.
    But the meeting with Odin reassured me and gave me new hope. Now that we were sort of on the same side and he would keep my fake death a secret, I could face the remainder of Granuaile’s training with a bit more confidence that we would not be discovered and summarily destroyed.
    I had less confidence, however, in my ability to avoid distraction where Granuaile was