The Hammer of Thor

Magnus and Hearth will go after the Careful One the next day. That night, Magnus sleeps on the beast-rug and has a series of disturbing dreams about Randolph losing his family, Sam and Amir being separated, and Loki talking to Alex as a woman. In the morning, Inge shows Hearth and Magnus to the patch of woods on Mr. Alderman’s property. The Careful One, in the shape of a fish, resides deep in a pool at the base of a waterfall within the woods. Hearth hugs Inge, who blushes furiously before running back to the house. When Magnus asks Hearth if Inge’s been in love with him since they were kids, Hearth grunts and signs, “Come on. Dwarf to rob” (197).

Unlike the rest of Alfheim, the woods are dark and forbidding. On their way to the waterfall, Hearth and Magnus pass the well where Hearth’s brother was killed, and Hearth pauses a moment before moving on. At the pool Inge described, Hearth uses a rune to implode the river so it arcs over their heads, leaving a muddy hole with fish flopping around in it.