Adumala's deep voice echoed in the distance of his mind:
Each river holds a principle, Odin. You will not drink from them, but you will become part of them. As they will inscribe in your body pieces of their fragments.
The first step into Svöl wasn't cold, but it felt like he was stepping into the very principle of preservation through stillness. His breath caught mid-inhale, suspended in his throat like a fly in amber.
The river seized him with his fingers curled into claws, frozen in their reaching. His jaw locked open in a silent scream that would never end. Even his thoughts slowed, each one stretching into minutes while a single tear formed at the corner of his eye, but hung there, refusing to fall.
Through lips that wouldn't move, he heard himself whisper. "This is forever."
And for one terrifying second that lasted an eternity. Odin became a living statue, aware but immobile, preserved perfectly in the current. Then he felt it rushing into his body and fully fusing.
