Sunday evening found Astyr getting dressed in a new gown that Gerda had taken her shopping for the day before. It was a floor-length white silk organza dress with off the shoulder cap sleeves and cut in a simple A-line. The simplicity of the style let the intricacy of the fabric show to its best advantage; the soft transparent fabric had a pattern of vines and leaves and flowers woven into it with an iridescent white silk thread that could only be seen against the white silk lining when Astyr moved. With her pale blonde hair left loose around her shoulders she almost resembled a marble statue come to life.

She came down the wide stairs in the domed rotunda and made her way out to the patio around the swimming pool in the back yard. There were a great number of people there that Astyr had been told were Gunnar's ten Aunts and their families. Everyone was dressed in formal attire and the gowns were in many different colors that shimmered in the light of the paper lanterns that had been hung all around the patio.

The back yard had been transformed in the last two days by an army of workers who had been brought by the special event planner that Gerda told Astyr specialized in parties for their kind all over the world. The humans were under strict confidentiality contracts and were well compensated for their discretion. There were several large round tables spaced around the pool and each table was surrounded by ten chairs covered in white linen with elaborate centerpieces on each table surrounded by votive candles. At the far end of the pool a space had been left clear in front of a platform that had been erected and covered dark red velvet.

Grima saw Astyr coming out to the patio and came over to lead her around and introduce her to the rest of the large extended Falkor family. Grima was careful to introduce Astyr by her first name only and mentioned only briefly that Astyr was staying with Frey and his family due to the fire that had burned Grima's house down. Some of Gunnar's older cousins seemed to give her odd looks, like they should have known her but couldn't quite figure out from where but no one wanted to be rude and press the issue. Grima and Astyr were guests of Frey's and nobody wanted to risk insulting their uncle by questioning them further.

A couple of the younger girls took one look at the bracelet on her arm and seemed to find their own explanation for Astyr's presence. This theory seemed to involve Hakon because the girls gave knowing looks and started whispering to their cousins when Hakon came over with a glass of champagne for Astyr and took over as her guide. He was wearing a classic white tie evening dress complete with tails and standing next to Astyr in her white dress, they looked like the top of a wedding cake.

Gunnar came out with his parents and he was wearing a white Eastern-style jacket that was embroidered with gold thread in a pattern that Astyr could see contained runes over a pair of loose white linen trousers. He was grinning widely and seemed to almost be vibrating as he greeted his family. When Astyr came to say hi, Hakon grabbed her arm before she could reach up to touch his arm.

"You don't want to do that right now." He said to her softly. "You aren't sixteen yet and if you touch him, the power in his body waiting to start the regeneration process might spark into you. It would feel a lot like sticking your finger in a light socket." Astyr thanked him for the warning, in fact, just standing close to Gunnar she could feel her hair lifting like it was full of static electricity. Hakon led her away and Astyr took the opportunity to ask him something she felt sure everyone else would laugh at if she asked where they could hear.

"Hakon, if we can absorb energy, how come you don't just stick your finger in a light socket? Wouldn't that give you a big boost?"

Hakon chuckled a bit but it wasn't in a mean way. "It's actually a good question, Astyr, but I really don't recommend that you try it. Aesir can absorb energy from natural things like sunlight and heat and plants and animals but it has to be in a steady way; only drinking blood can give you a boost. If you stick your finger in a socket, your body will be overloaded and you would be electrocuted just like any human would. Only an Alfar would be able to absorb that kind of energy without being hurt."

"Does that mean Alfar are stronger than us?" she asked quickly. Hakon thought for a moment before answering. "Simply put, yes. But the Alfar use their power all the time so you don't find too many of them who would be a danger to us normally."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked. "How do they use their power all the time?"

"Well, the Alfar see energy almost the same way that humans see technology. It's there to be used so they do, almost without even thinking about it. An Alfar wouldn't stop and open a door when they can just pass straight through it. So despite the fact that they can absorb large quantities of energy, they rarely keep it stored up the way we do."

They took their seats at a table with Gunnar and his parents and Grima and Frey's two oldest sisters and their husbands and the waiters started to serve dinner. It was a full nine course meal; Grima had told Astyr beforehand to use the cutlery from the outside in and to just copy Gerda if she wasn't sure what to do. Astyr was seated between Hakon and his father and the conversation stayed on Gunnar and his aunt's families throughout the meal.

When they finished eating it was getting close to midnight and they all left the tables and went to the platform. Gunnar and his parents stepped up on to it and the rest of his family crowded around in front. Astyr and Grima stayed near the back to give the family more space which left them right at the edge of the pool but Astyr could easily see what was happening since the platform was raised high enough.

Hakon went to the kitchen and came back carrying a large ornate goblet that appeared to be made of gold. He stepped up onto the platform and handed it to Gunnar who slowly drank the contents down. It took a while and Astyr could see the air around him start to shimmer as he drank. When he finished he handed the empty goblet back to his brother and there was a bright spark of electricity between them when their hands were close. Frey started to recite something in a very old language and Gunnar's skin began to give off a soft glow. This continued for several minutes and when Frey finished speaking there was a loud clap of what sounded like thunder. Astyr could feel a pulse of power shoot out through the crowd and she closed her eyes against the force of it. When she looked up again, Gunnar looked normal again.

Everyone started applauding and making their way up to the platform to offer Gunnar congratulations while waiters started to pass out crystal glasses filled with a dark red liquid. Astyr was still waiting by the pool with Grima; they were going to let family go first, when she felt another pulse coming from the house. She thought it must be some kind of reverberation but she saw Grima fall to her knees holding her head in pain.

Astyr turned to look at the house just in time to see several people walk through the walls to stand on the patio on the other side of the pool. They all seemed to be pretty young and they all had the same pale silvery blonde hair that Astyr had but they all wore it in different styles and were dressed differently. Some were wearing tight black leather outfits with long coats and some were wearing soft, loose white clothing. Only the woman standing in the middle seemed dressed for the party; she had on a long white dress that Astyr thought was actually shimmering in the soft lights. This woman looked to be in her late twenties and she looked a lot like Astyr except that her eyes were a light crystalline blue and framed by light blonde lashes that gave her a rather intense-looking stare. She had a silver-colored tiara on her head with a very large diamond in the center and the other eight people around her looked to her for a moment as if awaiting orders.

Astyr took just a moment to notice all of this, Grima was still clutching her head and Astyr realized that the strange woman was holding up her hand, pointing at Grima and that she must be causing Grima pain somehow. Astyr didn't even stop to think about what she was doing next, she acted purely on instinct; she stepped right in front of Grima and concentrated with every fiber of her being on stopping whatever that woman was doing.

The woman lowered her hand and looked at Astyr in amazement. Astyr took the opportunity to shout at her to leave Grima alone. "What has Grima done to you to deserve this?"

Hakon and his father heard her shout and looked up to see the people on the other side of the pool. They tried to come to Astyr's side but six of the young people beside the woman jumped over the pool and formed a ring around Astyr and Grima. They weren't going to let anyone interfere and when Hakon tried to force his way through, he was pushed back with a blast of energy.

The woman was looking at Astyr in surprise and she decided to answer her question. "Grima Thorrsen is responsible for the loss of my daughter. I have come to make her pay." She said this in a low voice but it echoed around the patio as if she had screamed.

She raised her hand again and said, "If you stand in my way, you will die as well." With that she unleashed a bolt of energy that Astyr could see as if it were in slow motion as it soared over the pool straight at her. Astyr raised her hands and braced herself. She didn't know what she was doing but she knew that she couldn't let it get to Grima. She thought of a shield and wished with all her heart that she had one in her hand right now. The blast reached her and stopped at her hands just like it would have if Astyr really did have a shield in front of her. Astyr stared in amazement but when she stopped thinking of a shield, the power hit her fingers and they began to tingle like they were numb. She quickly concentrated on her image of a shield again and focused as hard as she could on it. That seemed to work and Astyr kept it up for as long as she could.

She knew that the Falkor's were fighting the six people around her but she couldn't spare an ounce of concentration on the shouts and thuds she heard around her. Her entire world had shrunk to the space in front of her hands and she realized with horror that the shield she had erected out of her imagination was quickly shrinking as well. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep it up and all too soon; the power coming from the strange woman began to creep its way up her fingers again.

Astyr could feel the energy around her and she felt like she was inside one of those balls that you could put your hands on and see the electricity jump to where your fingers were. Her hair was starting to rise like it was floating even though there wasn't a breeze and there were sparks racing along her skin; the water in the swimming pool in front of her was boiling. The cold numbness was up to her wrists now and she was terrified of what would happen if she didn't stop it from getting any closer. She put the last of her will into fighting it back but she knew it wouldn't be enough.

She looked up into the eyes of the cruel woman who was tearing her world apart and saw a flash of recognition and alarm register across her face just as Astyr passed into blackness.

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