Believe - Chapter 22: Nott

Despite her exhaustion of the previous morning Imya was up very early in the evening. Red and Odin still slept and she decided to poke her head out and look around. The sun had already gone down but the twilight was still very bright and the snow reflected the light and let Imya see anything in miles. She crawled out of the den and took a few steps to the top of the small hill that they climbed up to see into all directions. There she lay down in the cold snow and looked down at the other side of the hill. Imya thought in the morning that the den had been at a small clearing but now that she looked down from the hill she saw that it was more than that. There was a big swath that went on for half a mile and then opened for a plain. The last days they had constantly gone upwards but the hill had had a very soft incline. The descent on the other side of the hill was much steeper and Imya could not only see the plain but a big valley that was only partly covered by the trees right and left from the swath. In the distance Imya could see more mountains surrounding the valley but they were still miles away. Imya suddenly felt very small and powerless again. The last days she had felt more and more powerful with all the adventures she had managed but the mountains were just too big and against them she was no more than a snowflake. Her star was already at the sky. The clouds did not dare to hide him from Imya, even though they surrounded him like guards. Big snowflakes dances around in the air but they were only a few here and there, not enough to block the view. Imya put her yaw on the snow and closed her eyes to listen to the voices around. She heard the breath of Red coming from the den just a few steps under her. In the far distance she heard an owl, or at least it sounded like one, call into the twilight and a few birds sang their last song before they would go to sleep for the night.

Heavy steps closed in slowly and Imya directly recognized them as the steps of Liam. She had nearly fallen asleep again from the silent and calm surrounding but now she saw through small openings between her lids that the big figure of Liam trotting towards her along the edge of the forest on the side of the swath. She waited for him to come closer and when he just was a few steps away and still did not stop she opened her eyes and jumped to her paws which made the stag wince and make a full stop. "You have startled me toaty!" he called out to her but shortly afterwards he already laughed and showed her a big smile. "Your white pelt hides you very well in the snow. I did not see you at all until you moved." Imya gave him a shy and apologizing smile. "Are the others no oot yet?" the stag asked and Imya shook her head but at the same time heard someone crawl out of the den.

"Ya shadda not go out alone when it is not dark." Red scolded her but when Imya turned around she saw that he was smiling even though his eyes looked stern at the pup. "I wanted to let you rest." Imya defended herself. She saw Odin exit the den and he also looked up to her. "He just was worried when he found out that you were not in the den anymore." He explained. "You should have seen his face." He chuckled and Red threw a hard look at him. "We shadda go, sure we should, yo!" he said after a while. The twilight was just starting to hide at the horizon and only the star at the sky still reflected from the snow. Liam again took the lead and Red went next to him to have a talk with the stag. Imya and Odin ran behind and after half an hour Imya remembered the promise from the day before. "You did promise me to tell me about Nott. Is this now the right time for your story?" Odin looked up into the blue eyes of the pup and he could not help but smile from the eager plea inside them and the sulking look on her face.

"Yes, Imya. This is the right time. The night above us and a long journey ahead. This is the right time for the story of Nott. So, listen to the story and learn how the world was created." He cleared his throat and then began to tell his story. Imya listened with curiosity and even forgot to scan her surrounding like she learned the last days because she was so intensely listening to Odin.

"Long time ago, far longer than anything we know, this world was always in a twilight. There was no night and there was no day. The animals back then did not know when to sleep or when to hunt. There was nothing that they could rely on, no stars, no moon and no sun. This was very stressing for the animals and they looked for ways to change the weather and the constant twilight. They hid in dens to have darkness to sleep but this still did not help them to find their way or guide them home. At one day they went to an old owl which was said to be wise and knowledgeable and asked them what they could do to change the world and get guideposts to know when they should sleep or hunt and how they should find home. The owl pondered for days and then she sent the animals to a big mountain. She told them to go to the mountain and call for Nott. She would be the only one who could help them. The animal selected one of them, a polecat with the name Naglfari, to go to the mountain and search for Nott. He found the mountain and called out but there was no response but the echo. Then he climbed the mountain and called again but no answer from any other animal and he wondered if the owl, in her old days, had not gone crazy. He slept six times on the big mountain, climbing higher and higher and every waking hour he called out with his voice getting more and more husky. He did not know how much time had passed because the twilight was always the same. The seventh time he went to sleep was at the top of the mountain in a big cave. He wanted to get out of the wind that was stronger at the tip of the mountain and in the cave, that went very deep into the mountain, he found a warm rest from the cold wind. When he woke up the next time he had lost all hope to find this Nott that the owl had sent him to find and he started to rant about the other animals and the owl who sent him on a journey with no purpose. Suddenly he heard a voice deep as if it was coming out of the stone itself. 'Who are you and what do you do here?' the deep voice asked. At first Naglfari was frightened by the rumbling of the ground but he took all his bravery together and answered 'I am Naglfari and I am searching for Nott.' The mountain rumbled again and shook under his paws. He tried to hold on but suddenly the world went upside down and he fell all the way that he had crawled down into the cave. He felt the sudden wind when he exited the cave and he was still falling until he landed on a big soft hill. When he looked up to the cave he saw that the it was the ear of the mountain and the mountain was a giant animal that now looked at him, holding him within her paw. 'I am Nott. What does such a small creature want from me so eagerly that you wake me up?' she asked and Naglfari, who lost his fear because the animal seemed to be friendly, raised his voice and called out to the mountain. 'I am here to search you and ask for help. Can you do something against the twilight? Can you give us a guide to know when to sleep and when to hunt or how to find home?' And Nott suddenly smiled. She had waited a long time for something to do that was not sleeping all the time. She put Naglfari on the ground and spread out giant wings with black feathers that were big enough to surround the whole world and she said. 'I will protect you from the twilight and I will give you guides to lead you home.' The sky went dark but glowing gems, that stuck in her wings, brought small lights between the darkness and Naglfari saw that they had shapes and would help him to find home. That he could still see the ground below him she bore a child and named it Auor that was glowing brighter than the gems, bright enough for Naglfari to see. Auor was very hungry and he crawled over the wings of Nott to find food and he still does. Therefore, he moves all the time and when he is between the feathers he seems to hide himself until he crawls out again to begin his journey again. The other animals celebrated his success when he returned and finally they had guides and something that protected them from the twilight. Over the years the animals lost the real name of Nott and it changed until it was called night.

After a while however some of the animals were afraid of the constant darkness. They were not able to adjust as good as others and their eyes could not see good in the night. Naglfari was old and not fit for another journey and therefore they sent another polecat, Dellingr, to go to Nott and ask her again for help to lose the fear of the dark. Dellingr, who got taught by Naglfari how to find Nott, went on the journey and with the help of Jöror, younger child of Nott, he managed find her and speak with Nott. Nott listened to his request and she felt sad that her creation made animals fear her. For Dellingr she bore her youngest son Dagr, who was nearly as big as her but his body was bright and warm like fire and his wings reflected his shining brightness. To make sure that every animal would feel safe and have what it needed Nott decided that she would watch over them in turns with her son Dagr and when Nott was sleeping, Dagr surrounded the world and made it bright and warm. But whenever they switch and their wings are not completely covering the world, the twilight found its way back to the world but there were also a few animals that liked this twilight and welcomed its return. Today we call Dagr the day and you can already see him waking up."

Odin grinned and nodded to the horizon. Imya had not noticed the twilight and that the sun already started to appear at the edges of the mountain. They were in the middle of the valley without Imya noticing that they left the forest. Red led them to a small hill with bushes and small trees. There was no den and the earth was too hard to dig and so they just moved in the middle of the bushes until the sun and the plain was hidden behind the branches and trees that had small green needles. Imya groaned a few times when she hit the needles and the pierced into her skin. "What are these?" she asked and yawned. Listening to the story had been so intense that she did not notice how tired she was. "Conifers ..." but at the rest of the sentence from Red she already closed her eyes and fell asleep. She did not notice Liam stepping between the conifers as well and lay down next to them and that they all cuddled together to keep themselves warm from the cold air. She already was fast asleep.