I take it and head to the shelves on the left.
“Oh, Amund, it’s in the collection upstairs,” Margrét calls after me.
“Right. Thank you.”
Upstairs is a different world. There are no tables in sight, just endless shelves of books. Each aisle is labeled with numbers, but I have no idea what they mean. When I used to come here, Mother always helped us find books. Maybe I should have asked Margrét to show me.
This floor of the library is eerily quiet. Each creaking footstep I take sounds too loud in my ears. As I wander the aisles, the lights overhead blink off and on a few times. I check each row I pass, making sure I’m still alone. Somehow, something about this place seems almost… sinister. I have no idea what could be lying in wait behind these rows of books.
There are too many hiding places here for me to feel comfortable.
I walk past the next row at the same time someone turns the corner, slamming into me.
Edith looks alarmed. “A-Amund?”
“That was fast,” I say, surprised to see her so soon.
“I was nearby when I got your text.” Edith peers up at me. “Why did you want to meet here?”
“To confirm something, actually,” I admit. “When I was talking to my father, I realized there’s only one reason why the wolf would be bipedal.” I draw Edith around the corner so we’re surrounded by books. I can’t help but feel as though someone could be listening, so I lower my voice. “I think it’s an original berserkr.”
She blinks. “What?”
I lean closer to her and whisper in her ear. “A seer could be behind the killings. That’s why the killer looks different from typical berserkir. Someone stole Egill’s pelt and has been using it to go berserk. I camehere to confirm my theory,” I add, “but most books related to seers have been removed.”
“Irina said something similar,” Edith offers.
I hold out the slip of paper Margrét gave me. “Do you know what these numbers mean?”
Edith scans the book spines, moving down the shelf slowly. It doesn’t take her long to findEgill’s Saga.There are numerous copies, practically a whole shelf devoted to holding them.
“Egill, huh?” she asks.
“He was the original berserkr,” I say, sliding one of the books from the shelf. “I’m hoping we can find out more about seers through him. There might be some clue that could help us.”
“Sounds good.” Edith trails her finger over the tops of the books.
She selects one calledThe Enigma of Egill.
Her brow furrows in concentration as she scans the table of contents.
Realizing I’m staring at her, I crack the spine ofEgill’s Saga. Trying to focus, I flip through the pages. The one I grabbed is illustrated. Hopefully this makes it easier to find what I’m looking for. One illustration in particular stops me.
A man-wolf.
It hardly resembles a berserkr at all, looking more man than animal. Thick hair grows around his face, his ears are pointed, and he bears sharp fangs like a wolf, but otherwise he looks mostly human.Kveld-Úlfr, the caption reads.Egill’s grandfather Ulf was known as Kveldulf or “Evening Wolf” for his strength in hamrammr, or shape-shifting, which predated the use of berserk fury.
Interesting.
Next is a two-page illustration, with Egill wearing a wolf pelt on the left, and on the right, a large werewolf standing on its powerful back legs. The misshapen back. The too-long arms. This illustration looksexactlylike the killer stalking Skallagrim.
“Is this what you saw?” I ask, holding the book out to Edith.
She leans closer. “Definitely.”
I quickly read the caption.Egill took his grandfather’s hamrammr ability even further by combining it with his spiritual power. By wearing a wolf pelt, he could channel the animal’s spirit in his own body and go berserk. Doing so made Egill increasingly violent and unstable, which we see throughout his saga.
I look up at her. “So a seer is definitely using Egill’s stolen pelt to go berserk.”
