Right after lunch, Hermod snuck away. Bragi wanted to go with him, but Hermod ran out too fast. Bragi used to think himself really quick because he was quicker than the boys in his old town, but then he'd come to Asgard and met Hermod. Hermod was way faster than Bragi. He always won when they raced. Not even by a little either. By a lot. Bragi couldn't catch up with him, so he had to stay inside and wait for Hermod to come back. He talked to Tyr for awhile, then started reading one of Balder's stories. It wasn't very good.
Tyr had been put In Charge. That meant he could tell Bragi to play inside, and then he couldn't go play outside. Even though there were lots of trees out there. Seriously. A lot. They were really high. Besides staying inside, Bragi didn't mind that Tyr was In Charge. Bragi didn't like that Tyr had been asked to watch them, because Bragi wasn't used to people watching him, and didn't need to be watched because he'd ran away to Asgard, and talked to all sorts of scary mean looking people, and nearly drowned in a lake, all when no one had been watching him. He was practically emancipated.
But he didn't mind the In Charge part, even if Bragi had to be careful about battle stories. One time he'd asked Balder for a battle story, and Balder had told him about these shroud creatures who liked to suck all the blood out of people while they slept and leave white wrinkled husks. A bunch of warriors went to battle them, but none came back. Their favorites were people of a certain height, and Balder held up a hand to show Bragi the height. It exactly matched Bragi's height. Exactly. Bragi had to sneak in and sleep on Vidar's floor for three whole nights after that. He was too old to be watched, but too young to be exsanguinated. And the next time Bragi asked Balder for a story it was even worse.
Bragi came when he heard the clomping. It sounded like a bunch of horses, but when Hermod came into view, Bragi saw it was only one and his eyes bugged out. “Wow!” Bragi said. He was stunned speechless for a second, but then he came closer to get a better look. “Does he want to play with us? Where did you get him? He has eight legs. Wow! That's twice as many as other horses. Even the winged ones don't have more than four legs. How fast can he go? He sounded fast but I don't think he was trying to go as fast as he could. Can he go twice as fast as other horses, or even faster? Does he get tired quicker because he has more legs to move, or tired slower because he has more legs? Do you get to ride him? Hi, horse, hi. It's nice to meet you. I'm Bragi. Hi. What's his name? Can I pet him?”