At the novel’s opening, Samirah al-Abbas and Magnus Chase are supposed to meet an informant at a coffee shop in Boston about Thor’s missing hammer, but Sam gets summoned to save a soul. Magnus protests he won’t know the informant without her, but she insists he will and then flies away “like Super Muslima, leaving me to pay for our order” (5).

The informant is Otis, one of Thor’s goats. When speaking with another goat who goes to the same therapist, Otis got a tip that Thor’s hammer is in the lair of a wight—a dangerous undead creature that lives in a barrow tomb and collects magical items. Otis starts to tell Magnus he needs to warn Sam about something but is cut off by someone throwing an ax into his chest. Otis dies, and Magnus runs after a figure on a nearby rooftop.

Magnus unsheathes Jack, the Sword of Summer, who is unsurprised to hear they are chasing an assassin. The assassin wears a wolf mask and warns Magnus to stay away from the barrow. Magnus attacks, but before he can take the assassin down, he hears a triumphant wolf howl in the distance, “turning my blood to Freon” (19).