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The nice thing about Washington state was the near-religious dedication to coffee. Oklahoma had churches on every street corner begging you to repent for your sins; Washington, though, just wanted to serve you an overpriced iced late with lavender-vanilla syrup at all house of the day and night. The Custard Crow - a coffee shop and frozen custard bar - provided the perfect place for Vilhelm to light for a few hours while he browsed the press releases and waited for night. 

Normally he would have preferred to go through all the proper channels to get rap sheets on the victims, but his gut told him he didn’t have time for an ROI form and waiting period. His forest spirit was likely to strike again tonight if she held to her current pattern. Vilhelm reached into his backpack and produced his laptop, opening it up and connecting to the coffee shop Wi-Fi. He probably should have been more concerned about security, but Antheron had put some VPN security stuff on it for him months ago and promised that was probably enough unless the government started looking into him. 

Pulling up their chat, he typed a new line and sent it:
Asg4rd1an >> You on?
Antheron >> Always
Asg4rd1an >> I need a favour
Antheron >> Anything 4 u bro
Asg4rd1an >> Can you pull records on the previous victims? Looking for a link
Antheron >> Gimme a sec

Vilhelm sat back in his chair with an lavender oat milk latte - “distinctly queer” as the barista had commented - and started flipping the pages of the press release. The names and badge numbers of the officers who had worked the case, including Detective Collins, were all listed along with the names of the park rangers who had found the victims. Different ranger each time pretty much nixed any possibility of it being the ranger who did it reporting the find - it was a theory he had come up with after watching an episode of some crime-of-the-week drama with his grandma. That said, it didn’t totally absolve the rangers. 

A small ping from his laptop drew his attention back down to the table. 

Antheron >> victims.zip

He clicked the file upload, opening it to find three official police records - one for each victim. There was the usual boring stuff at the top, but a little further in and each one had two things in common: drunken disorderliness and DV or assault charges. None of them saw jail time and only one was actually convicted. He just got a few hours of community service and counselling, though. Vilhelm had to guess the logging companies were desperate for labour and didn’t ask too many questions.

Antheron >> Got what u need?
Asg4rd1an >> Three nasty dudes who like to beat on nice girls
Antheron >> So, gonna tell me whatcha thinking yet?
Asg4rd1an >> You know I won’t until I prove it. Gonna finish reading through the press release to see if I find anything else interesting

Photos of the bodies - well, the bodies under sheets - and the area around them showed they were all pretty secluded and it looked like they were dumped away from the trail. That pretty much narrowed down the list of suspects to hunters, expert hikers, and park rangers. People who went off trail without experience didn’t usually make it back, and for this to happen three times guaranteed more than a novice outdoors person. 

By the time his coffee cup was empty, the sun was starting to sink past the middle of the sky, and Vilhelm had everything he needed. His best guess was a Huldra was posing as a park ranger to spy on the lumber operations looking for those who didn’t respect the forest (which honestly could have been all of them; maybe it was just coincidence that her victims all had similar pasts). He tidied up his spot, tucking everything back into his bag and putting the ceramic cup into the bus bin in the corner. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he waved a friendly goodbye to the last remaining barista starting their closing duties. 

Forks was, gratefully, not a particularly lively town. The perks of a small town were such that he could simply duck into the quiet alley behind the coffee shop to magically transform into Asgardian’s hero uniform and open a transport portal of the gates of Olympic National Forest. 

He dropped himself right outside the front gates in a thick bank of trees and brush that would conceal his entrance. Cars rolled past one after another on their way in and out of the park. Before he stepped out, he thought better of appearing as Asgardian at first, and decided to change his look one more time.

Waving his hand over himself, he spoke in Old Norse, “Eg verð göngumaðr.” A flash of green engulfed him, and when he looked down he was actually properly dressed for the terrain. Illusions and glamour came so easily to him - some of the first magic he displayed - likely because of who his father was. Vilhelm marched out of the brush and up one of the packed earth trails that led further into the part toward the ranger station and the trailheads. 

A map outside the ranger station indicated all the nearby trailheads and where they led. The Huldra - assuming he was right about who was doing the killing - had dropped all the bodies in relatively close proximity about a mile or so off a difficult trail. He almost wished he’d commandeered a horse somewhere - horse trails were never as well cleared because horses could just tromp through. A Huldra could move through the forests just as well, but Vilhelm was neither a horse or a Huldra. Demigods were strong, of course, and he was perfectly capable of forcing his way though, it just wouldn’t be fun and it would probably take him hours. It would probably be dusk by the time he made it to the dumping grounds. 

[center] **********[/center]

The police made it really easy to find where to turn off the trail; the whole place was wrapped in a zigzag of bright yellow crime scene tape. Vilhelm looked around, making sure no one was going to see him when he noticed a place where the tape was broken and the brush looked like something had been dragged through it. A moment later he could swear he heard indistinct shouts in the distance. That set off alarm bells in his head and he quickly bounded off trail and into the deeper forest, following the path down further.

Vilhelm lost his footing near the edge of a small clearing, almost tumbling right out into the open before he managed to grab a tree to stop himself. There was his Huldra, her tail flicking angrily as she shook a man larger than herself by his collar, “Where is she?! Where did you take her?!”

Okay, motive unlocked. She was looking for someone and she thought the men she was killing had taken them. That didn’t exactly make sense - he thought Huldra were solitary. Still, he could ask questions later. Right now, he needed to save a man’s life first. The glamour dropped and he once more looked the part of Asgardian as he stepped out of the forest and into the clearing.

[color=78E39C]”STOP!”[/color] Vilhelm commanded with all the authority he could muster.

The Huldra stopped, blinking at him with a mix of anger, grief, and confusion in her eyes. For a moment, she said nothing and they stood with their eyes locked. Finally, she dropped the limp man and opened her mouth, “Who are you to command me,” she paused, looking him up and down to determine his origins by appearance, hissing angrily “…Asgardian?”

[color=78E39C]”I don’t represent Asgard, though I do go by that moniker,”[/color] he explained. [color=78E39C]”I’m here to get to the bottom of the murders. There are people hunting for you, and they could hurt you if they discover you’re responsible for the murders.”[/color]

The Huldra’s face twisted with fury, “Murders? I give these men what they deserve! They have taken that which does not belong to them.”

[color=78E39C]”You mean the lumber?”[/color]

“Lumber?! You think all of this is for a few trees? They could never truly kill this forest. She lives on despite all.”

[color=78E39C]”Then tell me what all of this is about?”[/color] this time he spoke more gently, holding his ground instead of approaching to give her space and safety.

“They took my daughter!” Her voice broke, and she wrung her clothes in her hands. “They act stupid, but I know they have taken her. She is hidden somewhere I cannot find her.” Angry tears welled in her eyes.

Vilhelm finally understood. This wasn’t about the forest, it was about family, and family could make anyone do things they might normally have considered unfathomable. He reached into a pouch on his belt - his backpack having transformed into something much smaller though it retained its original magically-expanded volume. Fishing around for a moment, he produced a compass that didn’t point north. 

[color=78E39C]“I can help you if you promise this is the last one,”[/color] he offered, showing her the compass in his hand. [color=78E39C]”What’s your name?”[/color]

“Why would you help me?”

[color=78E39C]”It’s my job. Like I said, I don’t represent Asgard. Not exactly.”[/color]

“Alfrun,” she finally offered. “I am Alfrun and my daughter is Eyja.”

[color=78E39C]”Nice to meet you, Alfrun,”[/color] Vilhelm sat on the ground and set the compass in front of him. He beckoned Alfrun to join him and took her hands in his to form a circle. [color=78E39C]”Tell me about Eyja.”[/color]

“She is small for her age, but full of boundless energy,” Alfrun started to perk up a bit. She couldn’t help a maternal smile as she spoke, “She can name every tree, every rock, every creature in these woods. She is beautiful with hair like spun gold and eyes like the first budding leaves of spring. She is full of love.”

[color=78E39C]”Good, that’s perfect. Now it’s my turn.”[/color] Vilhelm drew in a deep breath, concentrating on the image of a little girl just as Alfrun had described. The words came out deep and heavy with magic, [color=78E39C]”ᚠᛁᚾᚨ ᛖᛁ"[/color]

The compassed rattled and shook as a green glow emanated from it in sparks. The needle spun around and around, quickly gaining speed until it stopped and pointed East. Vilhelm opened his eyes and grinned. It worked! It was pointing to something - hopefully Eyja. 

[color=78E39C]”It’s getting dark. We should hurry.”[/color]

[center]**********[/center]

It took them an hour and a half of traipsing through the dense forest, the compass needle occasionally sliding one direction or another as it guided them to their prize. They were losing daylight fast when they came across an old camp that looked like it hadn’t been used in decades. There was a dilapidated cabin, an old lumber road that had seen better days that led up to it. Parked next to the cabin was an old truck that was splattered red with rust.

Iron. Of course. 

Every culture had a name for them - fae, fair folk, spirits - but one thing was universally true: they had a weakness to iron. So hiding Alfrun’s daughter in a truck with at least some iron in the body had created a magical blindspot she couldn’t see through. It only worked for Vilhelm because neither humans nor Asgardians had that same weakness. 

Walking toward the truck, the compass went from pointing directly at it to spinning wildly. This was the end of their quest. Alfrun must have seen from the look in his eyes that this was the place. 

“Eyja!” She cried out frantically, darting for the truck. Vilhelm only just managed to grab her and yank her back away from it before she touched the door. She wrenched in his grasp, “Get off of me!”

[color=78E39C]”Wait! You’ll hurt yourself,”[/color] he insisted, holding her still until she calmed slightly. [color=78E39C]”Let me.”[/color]

Tucking the compass back into his pouch, he touched pulled at the door handle until he could wrench it free of the rusty hinges and dropped it to the side. Curled up on the disintegrating bench seat was a little girl no more than a toddler. She woke as Vilhelm reached in to get her out, immediately kicking and screeching at the top of her lungs. 

Alfrun appeared behind him, “Still, Eyja, still. I’m here. He is a friend.”

For a moment she still kicked before the words penetrated and she looked tearfully up at Vilhelm. He carefully extricated her, tapping the ropes around her wrists and ankled to make them fall away with magic. Her feet were already running before he righted her and set her back on the ground. Eyja buried her face in her mothers legs as Vilhelm stood again. 

[color=78E39C]”Promise me this is the end of it?”[/color] He said sternly. 

Alfrun nodded fervently, “Yes, yes, I promise.”

Vilhelm sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He couldn’t take her to jail for the murders, but as long as she stayed out of trouble the case would probably go cold and they’d shelve it with the rest of the unsolved murders that happened in the woods of Washington state. 

He reached back into the pouch, pulling out a coin, [color=78E39C]”Do you know how to use a pay phone?”[/color] Alfrun nodded. [color=78E39C]”Good. If you put this in, it will call me. If you ever need help, don’t hesitate. It’s what I do.”[/color]

“Thank you… You never told me your name,” Alfrun realised.

[color=78E39C]”You can call me Asgardian.”[/color]