Val sat on an unfolded chair, munching on a loaf of bread the old man had given him. From his actions, Val decided he seemed genuine enough in his intentions, but a strange suspicion remained in Val's mind.
Karl was cutting up pieces of bread and meat for Huginn as the two discussed something a short distance away. Val had trouble making out the words, but the few he could suggest some disagreement with Huginn. The raven had a tone bearing a sense of urgency, but regardless of what he said, Karl seemed to give it minor consideration. The old man listened and responded barely enough to avoid seeming dismissive, chuckling now and then, prompting a further escalation in Huginn's tone.
Finishing his bread and having too many pressing questions on his mind. Val walked over to the pair, intending to interrupt the conversation and get some answers.
"Ah, Val, feeling better? I have some other bits and bobs around if you're still hungry." Karl looked up from his work, regarding Val warmly as Huginn buried his beak in his food.
"I'd like to ask you some questions about the current situation. Huginn told me you could answer them." Val asked seriously. He had been back and forth from the brink of losing his mind over everything he had seen, and his patience was thinning.
Karl had a curious look for a bit, seeming to deliberate for a moment, further shaving down what remained of Val's good temper. Karl reached into a canvas rucksack and produced a large towel, offering it to him.
He pointed to a bright ribbon tied around a tree branch in the distance. "See that marked tree? Go past it and follow the natural path downwards. You'll arrive at a stream, a meter deep in the center, take a bath and freshen up. You've been on the road long enough to be a bit... ripe, to be frank."
"I'd rather have some answers than a bath right now." Val remarked with a scowl.
"I'm preparing some food for supper and conversation makes for excellent spice, don't you agree?" Karl beamed with confidence, utterly unflappable, as if nothing could refute this truth.
"Besides, while not quite winter, it is mid-afternoon. The water will be at its warmest." He added.
"... Fine." Val relented. It did not appear he was going to get answers right then and his clothes aside, he was a modern man. Going so long without bathing was climbing his list of irritations.
A few minutes of walking past the marked tree, Val found the described stream. It was clear and almost 3 meters wide, shallower in some places, but at the center, it seemed about a meter deep. He couldn't be entirely sure, as it was hard to tell with the changing surface of the water. The current carried itself at a quick pace downstream from him.
"Well, at least it should be clean if it's moving this fast."
Hanging his clothes and the towel on a branch nearby, Val gingerly stepped into the stream, immediately regretting it.
"Holy shit, this is cold. Chilly is fine, but this is fucking ice water! Dirty old man, what warmth?!" Grumbling to himself and cursing the old man aloud, Val resolved himself and submerged his body in the center of the stream.
After a few minutes of bathing in the stream, he felt more relaxed as he adjusted to the chilly temperature of the water. A few days of sweat and dirt washed away, taking some of his stress and tension with it. Val closed his eyes, clearing his mind as he tried to enjoy this small peaceful moment surrounded by nature. At least for the moment, he wanted to pretend this was all just an eventful camping trip. Val imagined the world was still as peaceful as ever, that he'd be going home in a couple of days, texting his friends casual apologies for going off the grid so suddenly. He knew it wouldn't be good to stay in too long, but now it felt warmer in the water than out of it. Sitting in the stream, resting against a few smooth stones, he leisurely took his time.
A while later, Val had a feeling he was being watched, ignoring it at first. It persisted for a few minutes before he lost patience with the feeling. Reaching under the water for a rock, he peered around at his surroundings and noticed a large raven perched on a branch staring in his direction.
"Huginn, even for a bird, peeping is a creepy habit." Val turned away slightly and let go of the rock in his hand, relaxing back into the water.
A feminine, musical voice reminding him of the sounds songbirds make floated down to his ears. "I am not Huginn, and I am not peeping. I was curious whether you were as pitiful as my brother described, and my lord sent me to remind you that supper will be on shortly." After saying her piece, the raven suddenly took off in the camp's direction.
Surprise and mild embarrassment colored his face, not helped by the subsequent realization he was now standing with a posture boasting his exposed figure to all woodland residents. It was hard to tell with the way they spoke, as the idea of birds expressing language with tone was hard to imagine in the first place, but he thought she sounded amused.
I suppose that was Huginn's sister the old man mentioned... Slightly chuckling to himself, Val toweled dry and took his clothes back.
Walking back to the campsite, the erupting laughter from Karl greeted Val again.
"Enjoyed your dip? Refreshed? Ahahaha!" Karl seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself at Val's expense.
"Sure, have your laugh, warm water, my ass." Val took a seat in a chair by the pit. There was now a sizable fire over which a pot was resting on a grill. The fire had an unusual and familiar warmth to it, which wrapped around Val and let him quickly forget the cold. Focusing on the sensation, Val felt perplexed as the fire provided an almost constant level of warmth despite the dancing flames.
"I said 'warmest,' not 'warm,' and you needed a bath." Karl was grinning to himself and still chuckling between his words. "Say, you don't have any food allergies, do you? Do you eat venison?"
"I don't have any food allergies, and I'm alright with venison, though I can't say I usually eat it."
Karl hummed to himself as he added coarsely diced chunks of vegetables and potatoes to the bubbling stew.
Looking around, Val noticed a pair of ravens resting near the fire too. One stared at the fire in a sour mood. The other cast him a meaningful glance before making the closest approximation of a bird trying to stifle a laugh with its 'hand.'
*That must be Muninn then.* Val turned away, unsure if his ears were burning because of the fire.
Looking at the fire, Val suddenly realized the familiarity of the warmth.
"Hey, in the fire, isn't that the--"
"Yes, it is." Huginn interrupted him. "An object of such power and utility and my lord is squandering it to... cook stew."
Val now understood the cause for Huginn's sour mood, though Karl looked as if it was absolutely the correct thing to do.
"Yes, a stone like this has many uses, including starting a nice cooking fire! The wood I have hasn't been out to dry long enough. It can be a real bother to get a kindling going." Karl happily explained.
Realizing it must have been Muninn who had gone to retrieve the stone, Val looked at her curiously.
"I carried it here with that pot Karl is using." As if reading the question in his eyes, Muninn offered an answer.
Looking at the two of them side by side, disregarding personality, Muninn seemed to be slightly smaller than Huginn.
The clanging sound of a metal lid being placed on the pot drew his attention back to Karl. The old man stood from his chair before disappearing into his tent. A moment later, he returned with two coffee mugs and a large ceramic bottle.
He filled both mugs from the bottle, before handing one to Val, it had a golden color like beer, with a familiar sweet fragrance. "A fire warms one without. Wine, in good company, warms one within, cheers." Karl explained, before taking a large sip.
Placing the mug before his lips, Val took a sip. It was sweet, smooth, and warmed him on its way down. "This is mead?" Val remarked.
"Hmm? Ah, yes, good, isn't it? I have friends who make some of the best wine you'll ever taste." Karl boasted with a look of confidence.
He was right. Mead was not a drink Val was accustomed to, but what he was drinking was definitely one of the best things he had tried.
"Now, the stew will be another hour till it is just right, and the sun will be down before too long. You have questions, yes? Ask away." Karl asked with an expression that resembled the closest thing to serious that Val had seen from the old man.
Val's almost forgotten sense of urgency returned upon hearing his words. Val started with the most pressing one on his mind.
"What happened to San Francisco?" He asked.
"Hmm, you are referring to the city down south, which reaches into the bay? Your question is slightly off. I believe what you want to ask is 'What happened to nearly every city in the world?'" Karl had a tone of sorrow in his voice. It was the first unhappy expression Val had seen from the man. His words made Val feel cold despite the fire and the wine.
"... What do you mean 'nearly every city in the world'? What happened down there?"
"Earthquakes, hurricanes, even a tsunami struck that city. The very skies lit up throughout the night with thunder and lightning. Geomagnetic storms raged across the planet, destroying your power grids, and technological marvels, big and small. Disasters of nearly every known kind descended in unison."
"How is that possible? For any one of those things to do such damage, it would have to be the worst kind humanity has ever seen."
"... You use ranking systems to order disasters, correct?"
"Yes, magnitude for earthquakes, categories 1 through 5 for hurricanes, some measure of height for a tsunami, I'm not personally sure how we measure a geomagnetic storm."
"Imagine the highest rating observed for each of these disasters, then increase the severity by an order of magnitude. These disasters struck all over the world, leveling cities and killing hundreds of millions."
Val was in disbelief, feeling numb and struggling to process such a notion. Karl's words plausibly explained the city's state, and it also explained what happened to his car and phone. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis aside, a geomagnetic storm so powerful as to be seen and felt across the planet would generate massive electromagnetic discharges. It would be a planet-wide EMP, wreaking havoc on any electronic device not thoroughly shielded, delicate circuitry especially would stand no chance.
"No... that's impossible. Even if climate change accelerated, even if a solar flare unlike any recorded in history appeared. In the span of a few days, natural disasters on this scale couldn't happen in one place, let alone every place!" Val said, his voice rising to a shout, though not even sure of his own words, having seen the destruction of the city.
"I did not say they were natural." Karl reminded, he seemed to be carefully measuring Val's reactions with his eye.
"You're telling me someone caused this?"
Choosing his words carefully, Karl explained, "Not really someone... You could say these calamities were precipitated by an altogether... different, sort of event—"
"What *kind* of an event?" Val interrupted him.
Karl had a perplexed expression on his face as he explained. "Well, an unimaginably powerful and dangerous magical event."
A long moment of silence followed before Val suddenly started taking giant gulps from his mug, draining it completely.
"I somehow had a feeling this was the answer, you've been a great host, this wine is fantastic, and I'm struggling to believe what you are saying is true. So let's do it this way, as long as I am not sober I will believe what you're saying, when I have my answers, and the wine wears off I'll decide again whether to believe you or spend the rest of my life drunk." Val said as a subtle shade of red crept up his neck.
Mirth returned to Karl's face for a moment as he chuckled and refilled Val's mug. "A sound policy."
"So, what was this event?" Val asked.
Karl's expression turned serious again as he responded with two words.
"World Fusion."
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