The snake in the grass - Julie Grande Lund - Bog

There are few people who has Aske's trust, and most of them have long since died. Whoever is left are very far away, so far off into the horizon he has not seen them in at least a century.

And he's believed for a long time now that this is how his life will be until his own end. An end he will face in his garden, of old age and not from some upstart who thinks themselves some grand hunter of legend.

This mountain has been his home for a century now, and no matter who comes, he will not be chased off. He has fought battles for longer than any little human alive today has, well, lived.

Not even the villagers who have been Aske's neighbors during his entire time there have his trust, but he will coexist peacefully as long as they keep their promise. It is his garden, his home, and he will protect it until his very end.

He needs no one's help to do that, so who does this little outsider, who so politely offers his name as he trespasses onto Aske's grounds think he is?

Bragi is unfailingly polite no matter what Aske does or say, all smiles and eager curiosity. Aske wants to toss him head first off of the mountain.