Photo by Victoria Palacios on Unsplash "If a tree falls in the forest..." They traveled in total silence for some time with Rune keeping lookout and Vargr running ahead occasionally as scout. There were more fallen trees than the first time he had run ahead and he wondered what was triggering them. The same thought also crossed Rune’s mind, especially because they clearly had missed their mark since there was nothing left behind after they fell; though, something could have possibly been fast enough to get away. But there was nothing to identify which trees were set to fall, if any were still standing. No runic markers or dangling amulets, just regular trees as far as the eyes could see.
“Are you looking for something, Rune?” Einar finally broke the silence. Rune dreaded him speaking again anytime soon because she was still agitated with him. It didn’t hurt to let him in on what she was doing…then maybe he would go quiet again. “Looking for anything out of place on a magical level. When you last saw us here, we were continuously getting turned around, which should be impossible, but it was because of amulets hung high above the trail between trees. I took them down and we were able to escape the forest.” Rune elucidated. “The Linnormr can’t cast magi like that.” Einar refuted something she hadn’t even mentioned. “I know. It wasn’t them that cast and it wasn’t them or their pudgy little friends that killed Erik either. Maybe it was the Úlfberi that invaded my property.” Rune wasn’t going to be patronized because she at least knew what she was talking about. Einar stopped dead again and commanded the lot of them to stop moving before he opened his mouth to speak, “Did you just say Úlfberi, Rune?” His nostrils flared as he uttered the word; he was visibly scared. “Yes.” “I thought I smelled Varg all around your property, but I assumed it to be this one,” Einar pointed at the wolf who was now intently staring him down. “No. After the Linnormr knocked a tree over onto my property, it broke the fence, but we didn’t find it till the morning after. Before we had a chance to repair it, the pack caught our scent. That’s why the back porch was warded the way it was.” Rune went on, wondering what she was missing about this pack. “That’s who probably created the talismans and sent the Linnormr out into the woods that night I found you. This isn’t good. How can you even see them? The talismans, I mean?” Einar asked her confusedly over a trembling tongue. “I told you; I’m different.” She just shrugged. It was one thing for Ronan to know that she could see them when they knew nothing about themselves or what was going on, but now the information seemed—dangerous to spread around. Einar didn’t like that answer, but he also didn’t think she could actually tell him anymore than that. Regardless, he had to make it known how dire the situation had become. “This pack you speak of is—dangerous isn’t even the right word. They shouldn’t even be here, but this must have something to do with the human disappearances and the unscheduled meteor shower. They most likely are the ones that killed Erik and it probably had to do with something he discovered; he couldn’t just leave things alone.” Einar spoke with some guilt. “How could they create what I saw if they are stuck in their Varg form?” Rune had a thought that struck her as odd. Vargr said that they were frozen in wolf form, but she had seen what they looked like underneath the fur and sharp teeth. “Who told you that? They aren’t stuck; they choose the wolf form over their original a majority of the time, but they are able to bring out the other side when necessity warrants. Everything is making more sense—” Einar trailed off in thought as he scratched the hair on his chin again, “They must have known about you two being in the woods. My guess is that they are the ones that lured the horses from your camp and left them to the Linnormr. They probably had no idea you were there before because you didn’t leave the bunker often enough to spread your scent, or they had never been in to town at all. They may have picked up on your trail when they left Erik’s body in the shed and were able to recognize it in the forest. They probably came back to take him, fearing that you might find the body, though at that point you must have spread your scent so far that they knew exactly where you were and took advantage of the broken fence. But the question is, were they after you or Ronan?” “You seem to know more about them than I do, so you tell me.” Rune shot back. “They are a fringe faction of the Iron-Wood. My guess is they would want him, considering his lineage and where he’s from.” Einar stated his theory. “They’re Jotnar?” Rune completely turned around on the horse to face the man behind her. “Yes. Iron-Wood Jotnar have a tendency to—shapeshift and take the form of certain creatures. There are various clans within the wood that go by different animal names because of this. Every being in that clan has the ability to shift into that animal through the learning of magi and connecting with the animal energetically. There are nine separate clans: “Úlfberi” the Wolf-Bearers, “Hrafnfiður” the Raven-Feathered, “Elgkóróna” the Elk-Crowned, “Hrútahöfuð” the Ram-Horned, “Svínartennt” the Boar-Toothed, “Ormtunga” the Serpent-Tongued, “Bjornekriger” the Bear-Warriors, “Köttleitur” the Cat-Eyed, and “Refaskottur” the Fox-Tailed. But that is by no means all the clans in Jotunheim. Some Jotun choose to master shifting in many forms, like the Iron-Wood Hag herself, Angrboða.” Einar went into more detail about this world than he had with any of the others. That name. Rune knew about the Iron-Wood Hag and how she had birthed three of Loki’s monstrous children, one being the goddess of Helheim, though the stories differed about if such a place actually existed. And this pack of wolves originated from her woods. “I guess we should be extra careful then.” Rune acknowledged what Einar said and turned back around on the horse. Now it was Ronan’s turn to speak, “Something just occurred to me that we completely forgot about amidst the chaos—how did I get into Imellom? If the road had been washed out before I got there…I just don’t understand how. Can you explain that to us, Einar? Considering we saw you there when I found out.” Ronan never turned his head but kept his eyes forward. Rune could feel his body tighten slightly under her grip. Even he was starting to seem wary of their new “friend”, although he was still unsure about Vargr too. “I don’t know. That’s something that I can’t answer. I was actually there inspecting the damage when you two happened to arrive. I hadn’t seen Rune in months and I was incredibly surprised to see her with someone else—especially you. I got caught because of you, Ronan. Neither of you ever would have seen me had I not noticed you.” Einar’s voice trembled as he spoke about him. Ronan let out a dry chuckle, “Of course. I guess we can’t have everything make sense, now can we?” Rune zoned out while the two talked and focused on the trees around them, making sure that she thoroughly scanned the trunks all the way up to the tangled branches for anything that wasn’t supposed to be there. Everything looked normal. Maybe there was a possibility that these were hidden better than the ones she had destroyed before, considering the outcome. If they were hidden, she’d need a way to see them…see them like she saw through the wolf form of the Úlfberi. She saw them because of her galdr. Could she tweak the intent behind a few words and possibly see between things? It was worth a shot. Odin sees with one eye, what you can‘t see with two. I can see what‘s in between, I can see right through. Rune began to chant in her head as she released her grasp on Ronan and put her hands at her side. He didn‘t even seem to notice as Einar had stepped up to walk beside them so the two could chat. It wasn‘t wise to walk two abreast, but if Rune‘s incantation worked, she would hopefully see the trouble coming. Odin sees with one eye, what you can‘t see with two. I can see what‘s in between, I can see right through. Rune continued with the song in her head, her lips moving silently as her fingers wiggled at her side, writing the runes in the air. She kept repeating the galdr as she kept her eyes open wide at the trail ahead. Just more trees, the occasionl felled ones, and lots of rot and fungus—and then she saw it. Only a few meters away was a giant aspen tree that was balanced just so; a slight breath would send it crashing to the ground. Rune didn‘t notice this first, however; what caught her eye was the bleeding red rune that had been carved into the trunk just above the gnawing. “Stop,” She whispered, although nobody seemed to hear her, “ Stop walking. Stop.” Vargr was the first to hear her as he stopped and turned his body so that the men couldn‘t pass. Ronan pulled back on the reins to stall Sleipnir and Einar quit walking because everyone else had. What is it, Rune? What are you seeing? Rune tried to direct Vargr as she spoke, Straight ahead, see that rock with all the moss? Behind that to the left is an enormous aspen tree. It‘s been marked and I can see where it was fixed to fall; it‘s barely hanging on. Vargr’s fur bristled as his eyes wandered to the tree in question. Sure enough, he could see where the trunk had been gnawed to pieces several feet up from the ground. Let me knock it down safely. Watch my back in case you see something else. Vargr turned to Rune and she nodded before he scampered off up the trail. “What is he doing?” Einar asked as the wolf bounded off. “Just be quiet and watch.” Rune held her finger to her mouth and then pointed at Vargr. He had made it fairly close to the tree and Rune could see it teeter as the wolf leapt up onto the rock she pointed out and jumped off of it. He landed on the ground hard, right next to the tree before he took an abrupt turn and came running back to the group. The humongous tree crackled and groaned as it shook itself to the ground. Everything trembled around them momentarily before the branches settled and the tree was still. The movement and sound caused Sleipnir to wield back with such force that Rune slipped from the saddle and began to tumble towards the ground. But Einar was just a bit quicker and was able to swipe her up with one arm so that not a single leg dragged across the ground. “Whew, thank you.” Rune breathed heavily as she regained her footing. Einar’s arm lingered around her waist as he spoke, “It’s nothing. But how did you know?” “Because I could see it. I think they wizened up, though, because I had to use my galdr to get a look at them; they’re hidden.” Rune replied as she gently stepped away from Einar. He eyed her warily as she reached out for the hand Ronan had offered her and got back up on the horse. Einar couldn’t stop thinking about how she was able to see these things, but her ability was working in their favor, so he probably shouldn’t question it. Especially, since it was starting to become later in the day… “We need to set up camp soon. There’s no way we are going to make it to the settlement before nightfall.” Einar turned his attention back to the task at hand. “Do you have any place in mind?” Ronan asked as they began their trek again. Einar pondered the question for a bit before he replied, “We need to find a place that is clear of trees, something secure.” Rune thought that laughable since they were in the middle of a fairly dense forest. Finding a spot like that where a tree couldn’t fall and hit someone was almost going to be impossible. There was another option, though, something this particular landscape was known for… “What about a cave? Preferably, one way in and one way out, trees can’t squish us, and we can bring Sleipnir under cover.” Rune suggested. There was that spark again, the one that Erik mentioned frequently when he spoke about Rune. He told Einar many times about how she reminded him of his daughter Freydís, with a sharp wit and quick thought despite her perceived shortcomings. Erik knew that whole time who he was, what he had seen, where he had been. He knew that Rune wasn’t from Midgard and she wasn’t some alien. He knew that Ronan and she both were from a world that he had once lived in, had been an integral part of. “A cave. That’s the sort of idea I’m looking for. Any that you know of, Einar?” Ronan gently elbowed Rune as he asked their new friend. “Another quarter mile or so up the trail, there’s a break. We need to keep right, but for now, the left takes us down a more narrow path, thicker trees, and there’s a shallow cave there. It’s not deep, but just enough to keep us hidden and out of harm’s way. Maybe there won’t be any traps in that direction.” Einar pointed up the hill that carried the trail. “Good. Then let’s get going.” Ronan took the reins of the situation and the company started they journey once more.
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"from other worlds"“Erik always made really good lamb stew.” Einar smiled thoughtfully as he ate his last spoonful. “Every spring we eat it. It was a tradition with me, Erik, and gran; I miss it.” Rune had finished her own bowl and was now gathering dirty plates, leaving Vargr’s for last since he was still licking the bottom of it. “Maybe it is something we can continue then.” Einar nodded at her before he took a swig of wine from his cup. “Not if I’m not welcome in your village. I suppose it is full of other non-humans?” Rune excused herself to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Einar and Ronan followed and took a seat next to her before Einar replied, “Yes, exclusively. Anything human has gone now, only animals remain. Our camp is a mixture of different people from different worlds, but they all had once been aligned with Asgard and its rule. But things got…complicated and some of them decided to retreat to greener pastures, so to speak. There are camps and villages like ours all over the planet, but we stay hidden with magi, so that we aren’t found out. Now our kind is the only one left in this world.” “And it’s safe there?” Rune queried, a wistful look on her face. “I think it is; we really haven’t had any problems as long as we stay within the confines of the settlement. Leaving to hunt or travel for trade can be especially dangerous now, though.” Einar informed her. “Good. If you’re up to it, I want you to take Ronan with you and go there tomorrow. Keep him there where it’s safe.” Rune commanded, surprising both the men seated next to her. “I don’t think so, Rune. You really thought I would just go for that? You’re stuck with me—I mean, if you’ll have me.” Ronan’s words tapered off at the end. At least she tried. “It’s safer for you. It was where you were supposed to go in the first place. Whatever is going on, we are targets just like Einar said we would be. Being here just isn’t safe—not forever, anyway.” She tried just one more time to convince him. But Einar interjected, “I did say that, yes. After discovering you and the attempted hijacking of refugees on that night, I thought it better for Ronan to be far away from where they knew he was supposed to land. Forcing him to believe he was human just added a layer of protection.” He turned to Rune, “And I did the same for you because I knew there had to be a good reason you were smuggled onto the caravan and the fact that you were unidentifiable convinced me all the more to protect you just as much as Ronan. Chances are, you left from Asgard too, but that’s all I know. That’s all any of us know.” Rune didn’t like feeling like the center of attention and her story was a dead end at the moment; Ronan’s on the other hand, had the potential for more detail. “Enough about me; what about Ronan? You obviously knew him from before and it sounded like you arranged his transportation, so who is he to you? Are you two related?” Rune changed the subject. But this shift in conversation made Einar visibly uncomfortable and she knew she had hit a sore spot. Einar appeared to be searching his mind for the right words to reply, but he just ended up stuttering over how he didn’t want to talk about it. “Really? After all this, after I have someone sitting in front of me from my past life on a different world and you’re going to do this again? Why does talking about me and my past make you so uneasy?” Ronan became frustrated with the newcomer again. Einar was stone still and silent as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his jaw. He was fighting with himself over whether or not it was time to talk about certain things, but it was only going to make Ronan angrier and whittle away at whatever trust had been rebuilt if he didn’t. “Fine,” Einar burst, “You want to know more about who you are? Who we are to each other? Are you sure you’re ready for that? Because it’s going to shatter everything that you know about yourself now.” Ronan hadn’t thought about it that way, but maybe it was better to get it over with, to just rip the Band-Aid off and deal with the momentary shock than to slowly drag out the possible pain from knowing. “Yes. I’m ready. I need to know.” Ronan exhaled. Einar stood and began to pace while he chose his words carefully, “You, Ronan, are the son of a King. And that means that you, yourself, are royalty. But your father left Asgard one day on one of the many journeys he undertook and he never returned. Your mother was left with a hard decision when the time came to fill your father’s seat: crown you as the new ruler at such a young age, or re-marry to someone from another clan and join the two in an alliance, still potentially leaving you the seat when you were old enough. She chose to re-marry and things quickly went downhill. The clan she chose to align with wasn’t as they seemed and as soon as the wedding ceremony was finished, your whole clan was taken captive and forced to integrate into the groom’s clan. You weren’t treated well, none of us were. We were young when this happened, a good bit younger than we were when we escaped, and those years were—not easy ones. We grew up together: your mother was from Svartalfheim and so was mine. My father, an Alfar, was killed when I was too young to remember and when your father chose your mother as his new bride, she petitioned him to let her bring my mother along as they were like sisters, though both of them had been the only girl in a brood of boys. He allowed it and we grew up side by side until I had to leave because of the resistance that was building; that’s when I fled to Midgard. But I never stopped fighting to get you here. I just feared that it would be too late.” Einar locked eyes with Ronan as he finished his speech. Ronan noticed for the first time, how incredibly blue his eyes were and wondered if Rune had noticed the same. “So, you’re like brothers then.” Rune thought she understood, but by the sound Einar made, she obviously didn’t. “No, not even close. I didn’t know if this day would ever come, where I’d have to say this. I spent a long time trying to forget.” Einar ridiculed himself. “Forget what?” Ronan asked, a weird feeling washing over him. “We were always by each other’s side, Ronan; best friends till the end, we would say. But, um—but as we got older, our feelings for each other changed.” Einar was having a very rough time getting his words out. “Oh.” Rune breathed quietly. She definitely understood this time. “What are you saying exactly?” Ronan wanted clarification, but the weird feeling had settled in his stomach. “What I’m saying is that—we became lovers. I don’t think I remember exactly where we crossed that line, but we were even closer than we had been before. Got in trouble quite a few times for—never mind. I think we were in love then. It was the main reason that I left like I did because I knew it would be easier for me to escape and then I could find a way to get you out of there. But it all went wrong and the neural connections in the orb were damaged because of the crash, causing you both to have some issues that I rectified as best I could. Chances are if you were left alone, it would have righted itself and everything would have become clear again, but at that point it wasn’t an option anymore. I had to give you up to keep you alive.” Einar confessed everything. “Holy shit.” Ronan cussed, jumping up from the sofa. Einar hadn’t been wrong about things shattering. “That’s what I kept seeing.” Rune mumbled to herself, verifying that Einar’s strange movements and behavior in relation to Ronan made sense now. Einar appeared agitated as he spoke, “I told you. I told you what knowing could do and I didn’t even give you every detail because I feel like that is something you need to experience for yourself. I don’t want this knowledge to change anything between us as far as this new relationship we may be building; what’s in the past is in the past.” Einar was hurting; Rune could feel it. He was still in love with Ronan because he remembered it all. And Ronan hadn’t said much more than a few expletives and was now in the kitchen, pacing back and forth himself. He returned in a short while with the bottle of wine and passed it down the line. “I’m a fucking prince? Ha! Royalty…really?” Ronan laughed at himself before he took another sip of wine. Do you understand now? Vargr had appeared by Rune’s side without her knowing. Understand what? Rune asked silently. Why Ronan can’t hear me. Oh. She understood. Ronan couldn’t hear him because he was different…he was Asgardian royalty. And that meant that she clearly was something else. What are we? What are you? I’m clearly not of royal blood because we can understand one another, so we must be the same, or at least similar. I have to know more. Rune pleaded. I am from a place that wasn’t even mentioned tonight. That is all I can tell you. But I think I am going to sleep with the horse; I need the fresh air. Vargr nudged Rune’s knee with his nose before he turned around and let himself out of the bunker. Rune had missed part of the conversation between Einar and Ronan and tried to catch up. “So, were we just fuck buddies or did we have an actual relationship?” Ronan was asking Einar a loaded question. Einar sighed, “I thought I was clear on that. I think I was in love, but I don’t know how you truly felt. We grew up telling each other I love you, so saying it wasn’t profound in that way. But we never said more than that. We were romantic, yes, if that is what you’re specifically asking.” Rune could see that this subject was still rather raw for Einar. Maybe she needed to try steering the conversation in a different direction. “I hope this isn’t rude of me to ask, but are you bisexual, Ronan?” Rune stuck her nose right into the middle of their business. He looked over at her with a smirk on his face, “Ah, it’s complicated. I’m attracted to blokes, I’m attracted to ladies, and I can be attracted to those in between or none of the above. Attraction for me is deeper, you know? It’s not this or that; it’s whatever ignites my passions and inspires my soul.” That wasn’t the answer that she expected, but it made her feel rather warm inside to know that he was so open about love, romance, and sex; Rune had never really seen a lot of that in the opposite sex while growing up and here Ronan was saying such profound things. It was incredibly refreshing. “Mm, that’s almost exactly how you put it to me after we kissed for the first time.” Einar recalled with a slight smile. “What about you, love? How and who do you love?” Ronan turned on her, but she wasn’t prepared to answer. “I—” Rune sighed quietly, “Love isn’t something that I’ve ever done well. I always thought I was straight, I had a few boyfriends and I put everything that I had into the relationships, but it never ended well—cheating, abuse, manipulation. It painted how I thought relationships and sexuality were supposed to be. But I’m older now and after a lot of soul searching and really looking at myself I decided that I’m non-binary, I’m not really a sexual person unless someone stimulates my mind, and I’m not really attracted to women in a sexual way, but I couldn’t rule out a romantic relationship with the same sex. That was a long-winded way for me to say what you just said; connections like that don’t have to be black or white, nor should they be so confined.” Rune finished, making herself feel vulnerable again. Ronan seemed pleased with himself for some reason and Einar appeared to be looking at her in a different light. “I’m on the same page as the rest of you, if anyone is wondering, but it’s late and I really am tired. Is there a place I can rest?” Einar stretched and let out a huge yawn. “Um, is the sofa alright? Or you can have the bed. Either way, two people will have to share. Though, there is the spare room in the back.” Rune hadn’t thought about the lack of individual sleeping space since Vargr had only taken up a spot on the floor. “The sofa is fine.” Einar took his freshly clean shirt off as he spoke, “You should sleep too; I want to take you both somewhere tomorrow and you’re going to need your strength.” Einar laid down flat on his back atop the sofa and laced his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling for a little while before he finally closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. Indeed, it was late and the two still awake were finally feeling the weight of the past few days. Even though Rune had slept as long as she did, it hadn’t made her feel well rested in the slightest. “You don’t mind me sharing a bed with ya’? I can take a sleeping bag on the floor, the other room, or something if—” Ronan started, but Rune cut him off. “Will you stop with that? Are you anticipating a rejection from me?” “No, I just don’t want to sound presumptuous with certain things; I don’t want to cross any lines.” Ronan admitted. The kiss. The way she acted after the kiss—that’s when he started doing this. He had become so afraid that he was going to overstep his bounds again and break her trust. She had planted a seed of fear in him…a fear of losing her if he did the wrong thing. She knew that feeling all too well, except in her experience, the other party had convinced her that she had done something wrong when she hadn’t. Lack of communication was a big issue, though it was most likely deliberate in her case, and she didn’t want her trauma to bleed over into her relationship with Ronan. “I’ll tell you if you are; you don’t have to be afraid all the time. Let’s go to sleep, ok?” Rune reached out for Ronan’s hand and tugged him to the bed. He kicked off his shoes and removed his trousers before he climbed into bed and waited for Rune to turn off the lights and click on the TV. Ronan watched as she slipped off her leggings and slid under the downy blanket that covered the bed. “If you want to cuddle or anything, I won’t say no.” Ronan whispered in the darkness. Just the thought of warmth from another human being urged Rune to crawl into his arms, but she hesitated. “No pressure; I’m here if you want me.” Ronan’s voice was breathy as he tried to keep it low. He rolled over to face the wall and settled into the pillows. She did. She wanted to feel connected since she now felt more detached from people than she ever had. And he didn’t know, he had no idea, but Ronan knew who he was now, and even though she was still an enigma, a potential fly in the ointment, he still cared about her as if nothing had changed. Rune cautiously scooted herself closer to Ronan in the bed, pressing herself up against his back as she slipped an arm under his and around his chest. Instantly, her body relaxed and she pulled herself up close so that she could press her face against his back. She closed her eyes and tried to drift to sleep, a strong hand covering hers now as she held on tight. Rune wanted to remember this moment as one of peace, because she had a feeling that things were going to get very rough for them. (*) Rune woke up the next morning, her face buried in Ronan’s chest, who was still sound asleep. Their hands were still linked from the night before, his free arm wrapped around her waist in a protective grip. He may have still been asleep, but she could hear rustling behind her and figured that Einar was already up. “Ronan, get up. I think we have to get ready to go.” Rune slipped her hand from his and gently tousled the wave of hair on his head. He groaned and rolled over, flipping her over with him. She cried out in surprise, but he quickly calmed her when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him. “Just—five more minutes.” He whispered in her ear, the sensation making her shudder. How could she say no to that when he had her held captive? Especially since she was perfectly content staying right where she was… “Five more minutes now, means five more minutes wasted later. We don’t want to be traveling at night and we’ve already slept entirely too late.” Einar’s voice interrupted any extra sleep that Ronan was going to get. “Fine, fine. But I’m sleeping in five minutes later tomorrow morning.” Ronan grumbled, releasing Rune from his hold. The two climbed out of bed, one after the other, and went their separate ways to dress and pack. Most of what Ronan had was there in the living room, and he hastily began to change while Einar stood close by, going through a worn leather bag that was propped up on the sofa. Einar tried not to blatantly stare, but he couldn’t help himself as Ronan stood bare chested next to him as he fiddled with a clean shirt. He was covered in tattoos, all down his arms and over his chest. Most were more modern and definitely a product of place, but there were a few that heralded his roots, even if he wasn’t aware of it when he got them. “Where’d the bag come from, mate?” Ronan asked, snapping Einar from his thoughts. He hastily shoved his things inside before he slung it over his shoulder and replied, “I had it stowed outside and went back to retrieve it when I woke this morning. It has a few rations, some coin, and several other things, but it’s mostly everything I need.” “That’s like my backpack. I left a whole flat full of stuff, including my guitar, and shoved everything I could possibly need into this, then left to find Rune.” Ronan held up his bag before he put it on. “You never did say how you two met.” Einar asked curiously as they waited for Rune to return. “The short of it? She was broadcasting on a radio frequency and I happened to pick it up. We talked for a while, but she was unsure about meeting each other. Then something happened; she found this black metal box under the floor in the closet and promptly started to—hear a voice. She confessed to me that she was mentally ill and this wasn’t the first time she had heard voices. Somehow, she convinced herself that I wasn’t real because it told her so; that box was literally driving her mad. I decided that I had to come here and find her because she left me with dead air after telling me about what was going on with the box.” Ronan tried to condense the story as best he could. But it was enough to cause Einar to become alarmed, “Where is this box now, Ronan?” “In her gran’s safety-deposit box at the bank. It’s the only thing we could think of to get it far away from her. She didn’t want to destroy it because she found it with a note from Erik that said not to open it till the night of the actual meteor shower, which is when it went off.” Ronan explained. “Went off? Like an alarm?” Einar needed to know. “Yup. Horrible fucking sound too.” Ronan confirmed. At that moment, Rune entered the room with a bag of her own. She felt the energy shift when she walked in and wondered what the two had been discussing to cause the denseness in the air. “Take me to it.” Einar demanded. Rune had sat down to put on her boots when he made the command and asked, “Take you to what?” “I told him about the box.” Ronan admitted a bit sheepishly. Rune popped up from the chair with only one boot and pointed at Einar, “No. Fuck no. That thing almost caused me to kill Ronan; it needs to stay where it is.” “I understand, but we need to retrieve it. I have a feeling that I know what is inside.” Einar defied what she said. Rune didn’t want him to touch it, to take it; she just wanted it to rot in permanence inside that bank, but she gave in, “Fine, but I won’t be around it. It’s not safe.” Einar nodded, “Then let’s go. This detour is going to cost us some time.” (*) “It really said all of that to her?” Einar questioned Ronan as the two walked into the safe inside the bank. “According to her, and I don’t think she would lie. But I never heard any of it.” Ronan disclosed. Einar grunted, “That’s what I figured. Which box?” Ronan pointed at the one numbered ‘Nine’ and sat back while Einar unlocked the safety deposit box and pulled out the metal one. It was just a box for them, just a metal object that made no sound; there was no voice to be heard. Einar took it over to the table in the middle of the room and set it down before he flipped it over to find the alarm switch and no sign of how to open it. He felt around on the box until he found what he was looking for. The box made a clicking noise before a panel opened up in the front. Einar slipped his hand inside and pulled out what appeared to be a piece of raw fungus, smooth and flat on one side. But he flipped it over to reveal hundreds of tiny little tendrils that undulated back and forth like kelp at the bottom of the ocean. “What the hell is that?” Ronan probed, pointing at the object in Einar’s hand. “This,” Einar started, “Is a Death Cap. It is placed on the back of the neck before one enters an orb for transport. The little fibers you see here work their way into the skin and put the passenger in a sort of stasis. It’s made from the roots of Yggdrasil and it connects one to the world tree directly for several reasons: to guide them to their destination since the tree is sort of like an energetic super highway, to ground the body and keep it in stasis while on its trip, and as a way to communicate with those not in the same world as you. My guess is that this one is Rune’s and Erik must have found it, most likely still attached, when they came upon her in the field. Yours was in your orb.” “Ok, we know what it is, but what happened with Rune? Why was she hearing a voice like that?” Ronan still didn’t understand that part. “My theory is that Erik put it in that box for safe keeping. That technique of metal crafting was taught to him by myself, but the electronic aspect was all him. He knew what a Death Cap was because he was with me when I found your orb, though I have no idea why he didn’t tell me about hers then; I figured it had just been lost in the crash. Erik knew that the communicator only worked two ways during the window of the meteor shower. It was a time where it made it difficult to monitor travel between the worlds, especially after Heimdallr was ousted. The only way to communicate across the divide was by using the tree; once that window was closed, the tree’s energy is blocked. I’ll explain more about that later, but what I am trying to get at is, Erik knew when the meteor shower came again, that communication would potentially be open and maybe Rune could make contact with whoever sent her here. The alarm was most likely set to go off right before the shower to remind him. He would then have given the Death Cap to Rune and seen if she could talk to her host. I think that’s what she was hearing; whoever it was that sent her here. What I don’t understand is how because you have to place the fibers onto the skin so that they can connect with Yggdrasil to make contact with whoever is on the other side.” Einar elaborated as he held the Death Cap in his hand, tendril side up. “Can you tap into it and see who was talking to her?” Ronan wondered out loud. “No. There is a ceremony involved and these pieces are intrinsically connected to the individual. Once they activate it, they can connect with whoever has a part of their blood. They can give their blood to a single person, or multiple people, but it sort of works like a phone number if that makes sense. We don’t have a way to even pick up the phone.” Einar tried to explain as best he could. “But, whoever was trying to contact her was—not nice to put it lightly. You heard some of the stories and that happened in only the span of a week. I wonder if she hadn’t previously had issues if this would have been a problem. Either way, whoever that was, wanted me dead.” Ronan hung his head low, thinking back to Rune with the gun aimed at his chest. “Because they must know who you are, whether Rune does or not. All the more reason we need to get going.” Einar placed the Death Cap back in the box and put the box in his satchel. “Wait, you’re bringing it with us? Are you going to tell Rune what was in it?” Ronan blocked Einar from leaving the vault till he answered. “She can’t know; imagine how it would make her feel if she knew that someone she trusted wanted you dead…or if somewhere deep inside her she knows and finding this out triggers something.” Einar was severe in his words. “You can’t just bring that around her, though.” Ronan still wouldn’t let him pass even though he tried. “The window of communication is closed now; there won’t be any direct contact that way for another twenty years when the next cavalcade arrives. She’s safe, we just can’t tell her. We’ll say that I couldn’t figure out how to open the box and that it’s best we leave it behind for now. We have more important things to do anyway.” Einar assured Ronan that it would be alright and he was finally able to pass by, encouraging Ronan to follow. “How did it go in there?” Rune asked as she stood by Sleipnir. “Couldn’t figure out how to even get it open. I think we should just leave it for now and be on our way.” Einar replied as he and Ronan exited the bank. “I could have told you that we should leave it.” Rune shrugged as she mounted Sleipnir and offered a hand for Ronan to join her. “Should’ve listened to you.” Einar agreed, casting a sideways glance at Ronan. “Where’s Vargr?” Ronan asked, noting that the wolf wasn’t with them. “He said he was going to go on ahead and make sure everything was clear.” Rune informed them, turning the horse to head in that direction. “You trust this varg?” Einar had to ask. He had wanted to since they first met. Rune glanced over at him and said, “I would think that was obvious, considering. Do your people have a distaste for his kind?” Ronan could hear the defensive tone in her voice as she asked. He hoped that this wouldn’t escalate into an argument. “You named most of the realms, but do you really know the stories? I would think you would, being where you’ve lived this whole time.” Einar scoffed at her. “Ah, because of Fenrir. Or Sköll and Hati? A fear of Ragnarök?” Rune spoke a word that caused Einar to flinch. “You’re still skeptical and that’s understandable. But yes, vargs aren’t generally trusted where we are from. But I did watch him protect you from harm on multiple occasions and he restrained himself around me and Ronan, so maybe he isn’t all bad. I just don’t know how I feel about him.” Einar expounded. “You and Ronan both.” Rune grumbled, There was a question Einar had wanted to ask and he figured he might as well irritate Rune all at once and get it over with. “You said you can hear the varg’s thoughts?” He slipped the question in as nonchalantly as possible. “Yes. And he can hear mine.” Rune replied, staring ahead at the road as they continued to travel. “Can he and Ronan communicate that way?” Einar prodded further even though he already knew the answer. Rune shot a look at him, but Ronan answered, “No. I don’t hear a damn thing; she has to translate.” Einar scratched the hair on his chin, “Hm, that’s interesting. I wonder why that is?” “Your guess is as good as mine.” Rune shrugged, tapping Sleipnir’s side with the heel of her boots so that he would speed up. Einar could tell that she was ending the conversation and thought it best to leave the subject be for a while, though he knew she was hiding something. She knew that nobody but her could communicate with the Varg, but did she know why? They made it to the edge of town where Vargr was waiting patiently just outside the dense forest entrance. There was another downed tree just near him and Sleipnir responded adversely to seeing it just lying there. He whinnied and reared back, causing Ronan to tighten his grip around Rune’s waist. She steered him clear of the tree and caught up with Vargr who stood and began to pad his way into the trees. There are several downed trees along the path, so we need to be careful. My assumption is that they’ve loosened the trees with their gnawing, but didn’t fell them. They’ve left them to fall on their own using the natural vibration of movement. “Booby traps.” Rune breathed, her brow furrowed. Vargr barked in response. “What about booby traps?” Ronan asked quietly. Rune considered not letting Einar in on this, but it would be counterproductive, so she spoke loud enough for both to hear, “Vargr says that the Linnormr have set booby traps along the trail with the trees. There are several that have fallen because of their gnawing, but he says that they aren’t the ones to fell them. Movement near them can cause them to fall…” “They must know we’re coming or at the very least are prepared for it. We need to be cautious; try to stay on the side of the road and keep your eyes open.” Einar instructed as they all filed in with Vargr at the lead and Einar taking up the rear. Maybe you should let Ronan lead the horse. You may be more useful to all of us if you have no other distractions. Vargr spoke to Rune again without looking at her. You think there are more traps to turn us around? I destroyed all the ones I saw, but they had time to replace them. Rune asked as she panned her eyes across the trail in front of them. I knew you’d find something, but yes. Anything that looks out of the ordinary. We try and stay hidden, just like those from Einar’s clan. I may not be like the Linnormr or the Úlfberi , but we are bred from similar stock. The fact that you can see their magi is a feat and it makes me wonder…can you see the magi of Einar’s clan? Because I can guarantee you that is where we are headed. Rune narrowed her eyes at the back of the wolf’s head as she thought, Does he seriously think that I will be welcomed? Is he trying to get me killed? Vargr turned his head slightly, Why don’t you ask him? Rune took a deep breath before she lifted herself from the saddle and pulled her right leg up onto her seat. “What are you doing?” Ronan questioned her as her body moved around under his hands. “I need you to drive; it’s probably best if I can watch things without distraction. Scoot up.” She explained as she balanced in the left stirrup with one foot and waited for Ronan to get close enough to the horn before she slipped behind him. As she moved, she caught Einar’s gaze and decided to ask him about their destination, albeit worded a bit differently. “Do you really think that they are just going to let me in all of a sudden?” Einar threw up a questioning brow before he replied with, “I don’t know what you’re asking me.” “You do. Do you really think that your clan is going to accept me after twenty years of not wanting a damn thing to do with me?” Rune rounded out the question. Ronan started to ask what she was talking about, but Einar cut in, “Perceptive. I think that they will. Like I said, things have drastically changed and regardless of your identity, we are going to need your help with whatever is set to come. They’re not going to try and harm you, if that is what you are worried about. They’ve seen too much violence to react that way to an innocent.” “But I guess they haven’t seen enough disparagement against those that are different from them, otherwise they would have welcomed me with open arms in the beginning, regardless of identification. I have amnesia! I don’t even know who I really am…I was never a threat.” Rune argued. “You suspect that is why they wouldn’t let you in? Because you are different from them? We don’t know much about you, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t like Ronan and myself.” Einar had a double edged response because he knew that she was different than either of them. “But I am different. I know that—deep down I know that we aren’t the same. Similar, yes, but I am not a native of Asgard or Alfheim and especially not Vanaheim. I’m from the other side of the forest, to coin a term, and I can feel it in my bones now. I don’t know if I’m remembering or if it’s just gut instinct, but I know.” Rune wasn’t entirely truthful with her reasoning, but she knew. It was becoming more and more obvious. “Maybe so, but times have changed just like they do and I think we have a sound argument as to why you should be accepted, if only for the time it takes me to show you both what I need to show you.” Einar went on. “And what is that? What are you bringing us all the way out here for?” Ronan finally chimed in because none of this had been mentioned to him by Einar even though he was already being asked to keep secrets from Rune. “If you must know since patience seems to be lost on both of you, we are going to see your orbs.” Einar admitted. “What? You have mine?” Rune wasn’t expecting that. She figured that maybe he had Ronan’s since he mentioned finding it in the woods, but not hers. She didn’t know anything about the orbs that brought them to Midgard. “I do. I was able to rescue it after Erik and Nora left with you. Normally, they would be put to rest and buried here on Midgard as a way to feed the planet, but I couldn’t be rid of either of yours. I think you may find answers in them.” Einar had to tell them more if they were going to trust him. “Can the orbs do that? Give us answers?” Ronan was curious now. “Possibly. The orbs are crafted from the seed pods of Yggdrasil and a whole ritual is involved when creating them for travel and that includes connection to the world tree itself. Think of it in the context of a major computer that stores anything and everything that happens to an individual connected with it. Not everyone is part of Yggdrasil that way, but since you two are, I have a theory that you can tap in to who you were before you were sent here. I may have told Ronan a few things, but the details are best left for Yggdrasil to tell you the rest.” Einar clarified. “This is going to be a fun holiday.” Ronan griped, but he was sure Rune felt exactly the same. What she didn’t know was the part about the Death Cap and it now had him thinking—did Einar still have his? Rune was done talking at this point and instead focused on the trail ahead as they came to another felled tree. How many were out here and which ones could possibly fall at any moment? Would she recognize the ones set to fall? Just focus on the task at hand and ignore all of this. Now you know, move on to the next thing that needs to be done. Vargr could feel the tension in her thoughts, but was able to placate her enough to keep an eye out for anything that could cause sudden chaos or—death. Photo by Tandem X Visuals on Unsplash "The Elk-headed man"“Are you not going to eat anything before you do that?” Ronan asked as Rune sat down on the sofa with the envelope of letters. “Not right now, but if you want to put on a pot of coffee, I’d love you forever?” She smiled, feigning flirtation even though she meant nothing by it. “I’ll make you coffee. What do you want me to do?” Ronan asked as he stepped into the kitchen and began the coffee making process. “You can see what is in that file if you want. Or, you could read the letters too—I’m not trying to hog them. I’m sorry.” Rune realized how rude she was possibly being by taking the reins of something Ronan had already had the idea to do. “No, love. Read away; find the answers. I’m just glad that we’re on the same page.” Ronan called from the kitchen. “Right.” Her response was short. She recalled how she reacted the night before when she found out Ronan had tried to look for answers. He was right, but she was afraid. She was afraid of more lies and what the truth would actually tell her. But now she had to know. It felt like too much was at stake and they needed to know what they were dealing with. Rune sorted through the letters, both Erik’s and her grans, and started with the oldest, hoping she could create a stream of consciousness between the two authors. Dearest Nora, I think it best if we communicate this way until all the chaos dies down; we don’t want anyone to know about our little secret just yet. We have to figure out a plan to integrate her into our lives and the town. I have a friend who may be able to draw up some papers for you so that you can make an adoption look legitimate, or maybe we can claim that she is your granddaughter since no one has heard from Elisabeth in years and they don’t know about what happened; they don’t have to know all of the details. Then we have to decide what to do when she wakes up because we don’t know anything about her or what she might remember. Can we help her find her way back? If she stays, will she be able to adjust? We don’t know anything about her kind, so we must be careful. And then what shall we do about the pod? I went back to find it in the daylight, but I couldn’t remember exactly where we were. I want to study it, study the meteor fragments and maybe discover where she came from, or at least where she’s been. Either way, I know you care for her already and I will do my damnedest to make sure that she, and you, are safe. But we have to be prepared for anything when she wakes up. Burn this after you read it; we can’t have anyone else finding out. ~Erik Rune reread the first letter and found the corresponding date in the replies from her grandmother to continue the narrative. Erik, This all is so strange to me. I know that you have always believed, but I kept my superstitions to the Earth. I don’t know what we have here, but I feel this desperate need to protect her, even though she could be anything. Just fell from the sky like an angel, if I believed in such things. But here she is, comatose in my guest bed and I fear for her life. I know you don’t want to be seen too frequently together for a while after the other night, but I don’t know if I can do this on my own right now. You’ve been my rock for so long and I know that it is asking a lot of you. I can’t thank you enough for this. As far as her origins go, it feels wrong to make them up for her, especially if she is coherent when she wakes, but to be prepared we should have a solid story. I like the idea of her being my estranged granddaughter, almost like I get a second chance to get it right. It sounds silly and selfish, but I still have love to give. And the pod…we should leave it. No need to draw more attention to us than we already have. I swear that someone was watching us in the field that night when we found her. I worry about how much they actually did see and what they will do with that information. Like you said, we need to be prepared and not just for when she wakes up. Write back soon, Nora Rune flipped back to the responses from Erik and the following date. It was one that she had missed when she originally went through the letters from the safety deposit box. Nora, I wonder if he has come to visit you as he has me. He didn’t say as much when he appeared on my doorstep. He looked human enough, but there was something about him that was decidedly off that I just couldn’t shake. He told me that he had seen us in the field that night, that he knew we took her. I thought that—I don’t know what I thought, but I was terrified until he told me why he came. He handed me this—stone—I guess it is, with a sort of rune etched on it. He said that it belonged to the girl and that she should keep it close, as it was a way to identify her. I wondered if it was a name, but he said he didn’t recognize it to give it a name. Maybe we should call her Rune? But—he told me there was another. A boy. He was supposed to meet the boy when he arrived here on Earth and take him to a safe place. Nora, this man is one of them. But the problem is that he can’t find the boy and he wants me to help him. He thinks he may have a lead on where he possibly went, suspects he may have amnesia or something. I suppose, the flight was a rough one. If he hasn’t come to you yet, he may soon. I will try and keep you updated this way, but he agrees that maybe we should keep our distance, at least until we can pinpoint the boy. ~Erik “Oh, that’s new. How did I miss that one?” Rune talked to herself as she squinted at the page. Ronan walked in from the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee and set it on the table next to the sofa without Rune even noticing. He decided to just let her read because she was clearly lost, deep in thought. Rune flipped through the letters from her gran till she found the next in the series. Erik, He has visited me too, but only briefly. Told me that he would come calling again and gather you so that the three of us can talk before you leave. I don’t know if you agreed to find the boy or not, but he seems to think so and I think that it is a good idea. I do worry about you being gone with Rune still being in a coma, but I think this is a test of my confidence and resilience; I will keep her safe at all costs. I just ask that you be very careful, though I am sure this is the adventure of a lifetime for you. But if that boy means as much to this young man as Rune does to me, to us, then I think it is our duty to help him. I’m sure that I may see you before I hear from you again this way and I honestly prefer it. Be well, Nora “Now it’s making a bit more sense.” Rune nodded to herself as she grabbed the next letter. My Dear Nora, We found him. Our new friend did some intense tracking and found out where he is. He’s alive, but rather touched from the whole ordeal. A lovely couple found him wandering down a dirt road, confused and ill, so they took him in. But he’s got bits of his memory and what he does remember, is driving him a bit mad. Our friend wants to take him back, but after what they have told us about what is going on, I don’t think it the best idea. I think the boy needs a new home; just like the one you’ve given Rune. We can’t take him, but I may know a couple who can. The only issue is his state of mind. I will send you another letter when I know more. -Erik P.S. You can send a letter to this address if you’d like. I would love an update on Rune’s condition, if you can. I worry about her too. This letter did have a return address that was different from the others. She searched for the envelope in the pile with the matching address for the next piece of the puzzle. Dearest Erik, I’m so sorry to hear about the state of the boy. Who are you thinking might be able to take him in? At our age, people aren’t really looking to adopt a teenager, although we are an exception. Or I am. Rune is doing well. She’s actually stirred a few times, as if she is simply sleeping, but she has yet to wake up. I worry that if the boy is in the state of mind he is in, that she may be as well, if not worse due to the condition she is in now. What if her mind isn’t right? What if it causes her pain? These poor children are suffering and we don’t know how to really help them. There’s so much we don’t know and so much that could go wrong. I don’t mean to darken the mood; I guess I just need reassurance that we are doing the right thing. Now, I sort of hope that she wakes up with amnesia and doesn’t remember a thing. Is that awful of me? It feels awful. Please, keep me updated on the boy and our friend. All my love, Nora Her grandmother had been so tortured and scared over what to do about Rune in the beginning. Rune could see that that high anxiety had rubbed off on her even though the two didn’t actually share any DNA. “You ok over there?” Ronan’s voice snapped Rune out of the story she was tangled in and she looked up to see him and Vargr watching a video together on the computer; it looked like it was season two of Ina and Liza. “Uh, yeah. You not find anything in the file?” She asked. “It was a manuscript; a book Erik was writing about astronomy and local folklore. I love you, but I don’t have the attention span to read a whole book like that right now.” Ronan made a face and shrugged. She shrugged; he had a point, so Rune went back to the letters in hopes that they would give her more. Dear Sweet Nora, I think we have found a solution. I have convinced the dear couple that I am with child services and that the young man is a runaway and needs to be returned to foster care. Our friend revealed that he has a way to calm the young man’s mind and ease his troubles. He can’t wipe the young man’s memory entirely, but he can ease the damage that has been done and try to cloud what happened before. If Rune has similar issues, he said he can help her too. I know you feel terrible, wishing that she will wake up not remembering a thing, but it’s probably for the best. Our friend says that if they know, they could become targets and his people won’t take Rune in. The other one is an exception, he says, but he won’t tell me why. I apologize for my ramblings, but I am coming to a point. I contacted old commune friends of mine who have been looking to foster an older child after their youngest went off to university several years ago. I didn’t tell them what we were dealing with, but I did mention that this wasn’t exactly by the books and they seemed to be fine with it. They’re arranging a flight from England to come get him and then I will be home. Thank you for the letter about Rune; I’m glad she’s stable. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Love, Erik And on to the next letter from her gran. Sweet Erik, We can talk more about our new friend and what he knows when you return—he still hasn’t even given us a name. But I worry more about Rune now…she’s having nightmares, but she still won’t wake up. I barely leave her side because I fear of what may happen to her if I step away. She keeps crying out in this language that sounds like a mixture of yours and something I don’t recognize. I can’t make sense of anything and I don’t know what to do. When will you be back? I wish you could just phone, even if we keep it short and discreet. I just can’t wait like this for the post to deliver a letter before I know anything. I’m just exhausted and I worry that if something terrible happens, there will be nothing I can do. I know you tell me I’m strong and maybe I’ve been through worse, but I can’t lose the girl. I just can’t. I’m sorry for the tone of this letter; I just don’t know what to do at the moment. Please call me. All my love, Nora Rune’s heart hurt as she read this letter from her gran, a desperate plea for help in a situation where she felt completely helpless. She had loved Rune before she even knew her and their first days together were spent in fear and questioning. Rune moved on to the last letter from Erik. Dear Nora, Irena and Norman Grey came for him today. Our friend was able to stabilize his mind and convinced him that he had been through some rough years but that he was going home with a new family, one that would keep him safe and never hurt him. I have a feeling that something happened that our friend is aware of, but I won’t press the subject. He’s not happy that we are sending the boy away and he knows that he can’t follow because of his duties here. Eventually, he will explain things to us, or so he says. He is really very mysterious, but I trust him for whatever reason. He also told me that the boy and Rune aren’t related in any way and that he has no idea who Rune actually is, but he knows the young man. He told me to let the Grey’s know that his name is Ronan. He wanted him to at least remember that. I’ll be home in just a few short days; our friend wants to show me something before we come back. -Erik But this wasn’t the last like she thought. Folded and crumpled, wedged in the bottom of the envelope was a piece of paper, another note from her gran to Erik. But this one read differently… Erik, I’ve tried calling the number you gave me, but there is no answer. I can’t wait any longer and am taking this letter to the post today (note the date) and if I don’t receive a call from you in the time it takes the letter to arrive, I am taking Rune to hospital. She’s awake, but she’s not with it. I think she may be touched like Ronan and I can’t console her. She just keeps screaming at me in that language I heard her murmur before in her sleep and she lashes out whenever I get too close. I’ve got her locked in the guest room, only opening the door to give her food and water because I don’t know what else to do; one or both of us is going to end up hurt otherwise. I’ll keep trying to call until I hear from you, but I hope you find this before things escalate further. ~Nora Things made a little more sense now that the letters completed a story, but it didn’t put enough together to paint the full picture and actually left her with more questions, especially regarding her fragile state of mind. Rune sat with herself for a moment before she looked over at the computer to find the chair empty and no sight of Vargr or Ronan. She set the letters down and twisted around on the couch to see if maybe they were in her bed, but it was completely empty too. “Ronan? Vargr?” She called out as she slid off the sofa and went to the kitchen. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but no one was in there either. She walked down the hallway and peered into the spare rooms, the bathroom, and the pantry—nothing. She continued to call out their names, but she wasn’t getting a response. In a sudden burst of panic she ran towards the front door of the bunker and through the usual route to her gran’s basement and into the house. First, she went to the back porch, but no one was there either. Though, there was an ashtray on the patio table with several cigarette butts in it that wasn’t there before. “Ronan!” Rune cried out again, but tried to keep her voice down when she realized how loud it echoed over the vast space. She found Sleipnir in his stable, munching away on hay and not paying her attention; that at least afforded her some relief, but she wasn’t going to be able to calm herself until she found the other two. Rune was ready to make another raspy call for her friend when she spotted him by the front gate, Vargr not far away down the line of the fence. Ronan noticed her as she turned the corner of the house and dropped the hammer in his hand before he sprinted towards her. “Good, you’re awake. I was really starting to worry about you.” Ronan lifted his hand and brushed the wild hair from her face. “What do you mean? I’ve been awake this whole time. I never heard either of you leave.” Rune denied her slumbering. “Love, you’ve been asleep for over eighteen hours.” Ronan grimaced, waiting for what he said to settle in. “No. No, that’s not possible. I was just reading through the letters, I remember asking you if you looked through the files and you said it was a manuscript, then I went back to the letters and when I looked up, you two were gone.” Rune scoffed, not believing what she was hearing. “Rune, that may be how you remember it, but I assure you that you have been asleep for quite some time and Vargr and I were starting to worry. After you asked about the folder, we went back to watching Ina and Liza for a few episodes before we started to get hungry, and when I turned to ask you if you’d finally like to eat, you were out cold on the sofa. I tried to wake you, but you got punchy and so we decided to leave you to a nap in your nest of letters. We went to bed about an hour later and when we woke up this morning, you were still sound asleep. Tried to wake you again, but got no response. We waited and tried a few more times, but you just wouldn’t wake up. I checked your vitals, your pulse and heart rate were fine, so we let you be again. Vargr and I have only been out here maybe half an hour; we wanted to make sure all the troll crosses were nailed down good.” Ronan challenged what she knew with the retelling of the day’s events. “I don’t remember falling asleep at all. I was reading letters—so many letters—and then I looked up and…it was eighteen hours later.” Rune laughed nervously, thinking about the final note from her gran; the events were hauntingly similar. Ronan was growing more concerned, especially with the fact that she didn’t even know that she had been asleep. She appeared confused as she stared past him, rocking back and forth on bare feet. It was really rather cold out, yet she didn’t seem to notice, even with naked arms. Vargr had now trotted over and nudged Rune’s hand, pulling her from her dissociation and she smiled wryly down at him. We’ve been worried about you, Rune. Ronan’s been beside himself…I’m going to take myself inside and give you two a moment. Vargr nudged her again before he loped down the side of the yard and around the back of the house. Rune managed to find the words to speak, “Do you need any help with the crosses?” “You feel up to that?” Ronan asked, starting to walk towards the fence again. “I just had an enormously long nap, Ronan. It’s not like I was ill or anything.” Rune put on a brave face as she spoke and tried to keep pace with him. When they got to the fence, Ronan handed her a hammer and told her to nail down the last few crosses that hung over the gate while he fixed ones that were barely hanging on from a rotten hole. They finished the task in just a short time, but the sun was already starting to set; Rune had literally missed a whole day. “It’s a beautiful sunset, hm?” Ronan asked as Rune stared out across the street at the cloudy pastel sky that hung over the bay in the distance. “It is, actually.” Rune replied, a dreamy smile of nostalgia on her face. Ronan crossed in front of her and leaned against the fence, his back facing the sunset to look at her. He seemed like he had something really important to say, but Rune wasn’t so sure she was ready to hear it. “You found stuff in the letters, didn’t you? Did it tell us anything?” He asked. Rune was thoughtful for a moment, not expecting him to ask those questions, “I learned more about their friend. Whoever he was, he must have seen Erik and gran when they found me the night of the original meteor shower. He showed up on Erik’s doorstep and handed him a stone with some sort of rune etched on it and told Erik that it was a way to identify me and that he should keep it close. Their friend didn’t recognize the rune and wasn’t sure if it was a name or not, but that’s why they decided to name me what they did. However, this was the lead up to him asking for Erik’s help to find—you. He was supposed to find you and bring you to a safe place when you arrived here, but you weren’t there. You had a friend here on Earth before you even arrived.” Ronan’s face was unreadable as he took in every word of what she just said. A timeline was coming together, but it was still shaky and out of order. He hoped that they would have found more in Erik’s study, but he couldn’t complain because they at least found something. “God, this is nerve-wracking. Are we aliens? I mean, that makes sense, right? How else does one just fall from space during a meteor shower?” Ronan was making a light joke, but he was clearly flabbergasted by it all. Rune went to respond when a weird sensation came over her, a low vibration rippling through the air. The feeling drew her eyes to the street again, and there standing in the middle was the Elk-skulled man. Her heart immediately leapt into her throat and she stumbled back, the action causing Ronan to spin around to see what she was looking at. “No. I don’t think so mother fucker. We are tired of your shite!” Ronan bellowed, hopping the fence without even thinking. Rune was frozen in place as she watched Ronan start to march down the drive towards the road where the creature stood. She tried to call out to him, but her vocal cords wouldn’t work. She tried to move, but she was planted to the ground, watching Ronan continue to cuss up a storm. Then it moved. The Elk man started to come forward, heading towards Ronan, speeding up so quickly that Rune almost missed him. This action from the creature broke the grip of fear that held her. She lurched forward and vaulted over the fence, running as fast as her stout legs would allow towards Ronan. “Ronan! Stop!” The words finally escaped her throat as she somehow caught up with her friend just as the creature was closing the gap. Ronan turned his head toward her voice, giving the Elk man the perfect time to strike. “Stöðva!” Rune growled as she placed herself in front of Ronan, her hands out towards the creature. Surprisingly, it obeyed. It came to a violent halt as if it had ran straight into a wall and let out a sound that caused Rune to cover her ears. “Go…GO!” Rune pushed her back into Ronan and forced him to step backwards as the Elk man struggled with his sudden stop, continuing to howl out of either frustration or pain. Ronan grabbed ahold of Rune’s hand and dragged her down the drive, lifting her up and over the fence before he hopped it himself and continued to prod her towards the back of the house. When the two were finally inside, they made sure to lock the door before they ran down the hall to the bunker, hollering for Vargr the whole way. What is with all the yelling? Vargr barked as he greeted them at the door. “It’s here. The Elk thing.” Rune’s eyes were wide with fear as she pushed past the wolf and jumped into the computer chair. She pulled up the surveillance feed to see if the creature was still there and found it just in time to see it walk straight through the front gate. “It got in. Ronan, it fucking got in!” Rune jumped up from the chair and moved her face closer to the screen to make sure she was seeing it right. Ronan skittered over to the computer just in time to witness the creature pass the front door camera and disappear out of frame as it went around the side of the house toward the stable. “Sleipnir. He’s going right for my horse!” Rune was almost hysterical at the thought. She shoved past Ronan and burst through the door of the bunker, making the trek to the surface for the second time that day in under an hour. She could hear Ronan yelling after her and the sound of Vargr whining, but she couldn’t wait for them; who knew what that unearthly creature would do to her horse if she didn’t get to him on time. Images of Ronan’s horse flashed in her mind, its cold body laying eviscerated on the muddy ground. That wasn’t going to happen to Sleipnir; she wouldn’t allow it. Rune made it to the back door and, after a few fumbled attempts, got the door open before she ran out screaming at the top of her lungs to ensure she got the creature’s attention. “Leave my horse alone!” She bellowed, running to the edge of the porch. She could just see the back of the stable and with the sound of her screaming, the creature stopped whatever it was doing and started to stride through the long grass towards her. “Get out of here! You’re not welcome on my property; you’re not even supposed to be able to get in here! Quit stalking me…hunting us! LEAVE!” Rune roared. All the pent up anger inside her, all the fear and pain, condensed itself and aimed at the unsuspecting creature. But it didn’t listen. It continued to come, the hollow eyes of the skull eerily trained on Rune as it began to climb the stairs of the porch. Ronan and Vargr had finally caught up and appeared in the doorway behind Rune. The wolf whined and let out a succession of high pitched barks to show his displeasure at how close the Elk-man was to her. Ronan tried to charge for the creature again, but Rune held her hand back, signaling for him to stay where he was. The creature was now at the top of the stairs, but when it tried to take the last step, it was shoved back as if Rune herself had given it the push. “Aw, you can’t get in, can you?” Rune cocked her head to the side as she challenged the creature, “Get the fuck off my property before I make you.” “I’m not stalking you.” It spoke and Rune felt that sensation that had rippled through the air when she had seen it out on the road. “You speak?” Rune stuttered, one eyebrow rose as she stood face to face with the thing that had been haunting her dreams for days. “And in our tongue?” She heard Ronan whisper behind her. “I do and I am not here to hurt you. I’m—I’m protecting you.” It replied. “Pro—protecting me?” Rune scoffed, “Protecting me by scaring the snot out of us where the road washed out? Or, or by posturing at me after you killed our horse? Or maybe it was when you just let the Linnormr practically kill us? I thought they had eaten Vargr!” “There’s no way they’d eat a varg that size.” It sneered and the words caused Vargr to bare his teeth. “You did n’t answer my question.” Rune pushed herself against the barrier she created, careful not to overstep it and leave herself open. “You had it handled. My intention was never to scare you. I honestly never exp ected you to see me; you never did before.” It finally answered. “Before? How long have you been watching me?” Rune choked; the thought of being followed like that without her ever knowing made her sick to her stomach. “Exclusively? Since the beginning of the year. I made Erik a promise and I’m not going to break it.” The creature spoke a name that instantly caused a crack in Rune’s toughened exterior. “Erik? You know Erik?” Rune unintentionally took a step forward on the stairs. “Erik and Nora. We’d known each other for quite some time. I am terribly sorry for your loss.” He consoled her. Then it hit her. Could it be him? She felt like maybe Erik or her gran would have mentioned their friend being an Elk monster, but never the less… “You’re their friend. You’re the one that saw them find me in the field.” Rune uttered, coming just a bit closer to the beast. “How did you figure?” It asked. There was a silken quality to the voice that she hadn’t noticed before. “It only makes sense. We know that we aren’t from here, so to speak,” Rune gestured back at Ronan, “And we know that Erik and gran had a friend, someone like us, who helped ensure our safety. You said you were protecting me and you’re t heir friend, so—” “Erik was definitely right about you; sharp like a spear.” The Elk-man crossed his arms over his bare chest, wearing a smirk that Rune couldn’t even see. “But Erik said his friend was a man and you hardly look like a man.” Rune found her confidence again, challenging the Elk to reveal itself. “I needed to be intimidating; it can be rough out there. Would you rather see me how I am?” He asked and Rune nodded. The Elk-man raised his muscled arms and gripped the horns atop the skull on his head. He slowly lifted it until a face appeared and the skull was now separate from the person. The man underneath was not much older than Rune and Ronan, with a chiseled chin and sharp cheekbones, framed by a dark beard and mustache trimmed neatly to his face. His eyes glowed back at her in the dimming twilight, icy blue like the coldest waters of winter. Dark, curly hair framed one side of his face, the other side braided back to expose his ear and neck, a long scar running from behind the lobe to his collar bone. The man was beautiful and not even close to frightening like his Elk-headed counterpart; he was quite the opposite. “That’s much better.” Rune breathed softly, suddenly finding herself enamored with the stranger who claimed to be her protector. “I’m glad you approve. Are you going to let me in?” He asked as he stepped forward. Rune could feel the heat radiating from his body and realized that she had completely stepped outside the barrier of the porch. Had he noticed? “I don’t know if I trust you yet. We don’t even know your name.” Rune replied, carefully trying to take a step back. “Einar. My name is Einar.” He offered his name freely. Rune had taken another step back and was now safely inside the barrier again as she asked Vargr silently, What do you think? Can we trust him? He seems truthful, but I don’t like the way he smells. Rune didn’t know what that last part meant as Einar smelled just fine to her, but she figured it was the wolf nose that told him something she didn’t pick up on. “You know me?” Ronan finally spoke, stepping forward so that he was side by side with Rune. Rune watched Einar take a heavy breath and hold it as his eyes fell on Ronan. There was something strange about the way he looked at him, but Rune couldn’t gauge what it was. Ronan had rendered him speechless because it took Einar some time before he finally replied. “I do. I do know you.” Ronan went on, “How? Why were you here before us, waiting for me? “Who—who told you this?” Einar became flustered. “It was brought up in letters between Erik and Nora. We found them and Rune pieced together a timeline as best she could. You were looking for me; you cared about me—but you left me behind with that family. You messed with my head and made me forget who I was and you just—abandoned me.” Ronan’s tone of voice changed. He had been holding something in that he wasn’t even aware off until just that moment. “I didn’t want to leave you behind, Ronan. Sending you as far away as we did has tortured me for the last twenty years. But I had to do it to keep you safe.” Einar divulged. “Really? I have no fucking clue who I am, mate. And that’s on you. I’ve gone my whole life believing one thing when the truth was far more fucked up. You let me believe that I had been bounced around the system where I was abused and mistreated, but is any of that actually true?” It was now Ronan’s turn to step forward as his voice rose in volume. “You have to let me explain, to both of you. A lot has changed since then and the reason I have been keeping such a close eye on you is because of that change.” Einar pleaded with them to listen. “Oh, you mean the whole fucking world disappearing? Or the fact that the road has been washed out for a month and Ronan managed to still get in here to save me? The Linnormr and their little buddies? Vargr and the fact that we can read each other’s thoughts? And the talking metal box that tried to get me to murder Ronan? All those weird changes that we never had to fucking deal with until some six months ago.” Rune spoke bitterly. “Well, that’s a lot to unpack all at once, but yes? And we can discuss all of that and whatever else you’d like to know, but I’d rather not stand here like this and do it.” Einar stepped closer to the barrier, putting his hands out to feel for where it started. “You have seen a bit of what we’ve been through so, you can understand our apprehension. You have to give us something more before we know we can trust you.” Rune wasn’t going to give in for the sake of knowing, she was going to use it as a bargaining chip. Einar considered it before he spoke, “Alright, then. We’ll start with the night you all arrived. I knew that our clan was expecting a transport within the shower. My hope was that it was Ronan, it was supposed to be him, but I was fearful that our arrangement had been found out. The landing wasn’t supposed to be so rough, but my fears had been justified as something tried to intervene with the landing. You both crashed into the Earth, off course, and I had to hunt you down, but I never expected to find Rune. She wasn’t on the roster for refugees and I couldn’t identify her. But I saw Erik and Nora find her and take her home while I continued to look for Ronan. The only thing I found was the orb that Rune was in when she crashed and the rune stone that was affixed to the inside of the hull. I brought it to the elders of the clan and they didn’t recognize it; they said that she would not be welcome within our ranks because we couldn’t identify her. After I contacted Erik and Nora, I continued to look for Ronan and eventually was able to track his orb down on the other side of the forest and, with Erik’s help, found him at a nearby farmhouse. From the sound of it, you know what happened afterwards.” Einar finished his story, but there were still so many details left out. “Orbs? What the hell is that?” Ronan asked as he pulled up a chair from the patio table. Einar gave in and settled against the banister as he spoke, “They are organic vessels that can withstand immense speeds, intense heat, and the vast distance it takes to travel between worlds.” “Well, alright then.” Ronan looked flabbergasted, his eyes blinking rapidly as he considered what was just said to him. “Ok, so you basically told us what we already know, albeit with a few more details, but you’re still not giving us anything. What are we? And why are we ‘refugees’ as you put it? Where did we come from? I want answers to questions like that.” Rune demanded, pacing closer to the porch stairs. “This is going to take a very long while. Can’t I just come in and get out of the cold? Then we can talk all you want.” Einar begged. “You know, the more you push to come inside, the less I trust you. If you really mean us no harm, you would quit with the whining and just fucking answer our questions.” Rune spat. “Jaysus, Rune!” Ronan blurted in response to her outburst. “I’m tired of beating around the bush; we deserve to know the truth.” Rune remained defiant. Einar didn’t want an argument to occur so he intervened, “You’re right; I’ll talk. You are not human beings, not from this planet, but this much you know. Ronan comes from a world called Asgard and from last we knew, that world was in utter turmoil. I won’t get into the details, but there were those that were trying to escape the conflict, an impending war that spanned many worlds with the only safe place being here, Midgard.” Rune knew the names he mentioned; she knew them from the stories Erik and gran had told her. But they were just stories, myths from long ago peoples that no one believed in any more. How could any of that be, unless he was lying to them? “Liar. Sure, call earth Midgard because of the myths, but there is no such thing as Asgard or Vanaheim or Jotunheim. No Alfheim or Muspell or Nidavellir, Niflheim, or Svartalfheim. They’re just stories.” Rune rebutted, an uncomfortable sensation settling in her stomach a she listed off the worlds. “Stories that you apparently know well from the sound of it.” Einar didn’t seem rattled by her accusation. “Of course I know them; look where I grew up. Just because I know them doesn’t mean I believe them to be true.” She argued. “I know some of the stories,” Ronan interjected, his voice soft and quiet, “But I’m not from here. Should we really be so bold as to call him a liar with everything we’ve seen and experienced?” Now, it was Rune’s turn to receive Ronan’s ire. But he didn’t unload on her like he did with Einar and instead waited patiently for a response. “Nine worlds? Nine worlds all connected by some impossibly large world tree. You mean to tell me that seems plausible to you?” Rune was incredulous. “It makes about as much sense as everything else!” Ronan abruptly stood from his chair and held his arms out wide, a smile on his face, but he was clearly not happy. Rune sat with herself and considered it, looking from Einar to Vargr as she mulled over the events of the past weeks and the months prior. The thought was absurd, but so was everything else and even in her distrust and doubt for herself, it still seemed crazier than she was. “Go on, then. Tell us more.” Rune settled in, crossing her arms over her chest. “All of those places you named are real; they exist. For example, I was born in Asgard, but my lineage lies in Svartalfheim.” Einar tried to convince her by letting slip just a bit more about himself. “Fine. Let’s say you’re telling the truth, that you and Ronan come from Asgard and there are nine worlds and all that. What about me? Where do I come from? Do you have a story for that?” Rune asked. She didn’t fully believe, but the thought of just a taste of truth about who she was, pushed her to ask more questions. Einar’s face dropped at her question and he didn’t respond. He looked to Ronan, and then to Vargr, before his eyes finally settled on Rune and he replied, “I don’t know. Like I said, there was nothing to identify you, just that runestone. Our clan keeps track of those that are trying to escape and come to Midgard. When they get here, we check for their birthstones and that tells us all we need to know about the passenger. Yours was nothing but a symbol and I didn’t recognize you, nor did anyone in the clan. It seems that you were—a stow-away on the meteor shower.” Nothing. He could tell her nothing about herself that she didn’t already know. She was nameless, homeless, an unknown. Einar had been expecting Ronan, and at that time, Ronan knew where he was headed and that someone would be there for him, but Rune didn’t have that. There wasn’t anyone here to vouch for her, to introduce her to others of her kind and show that she wasn’t some stranger. “Well, that’s unfortunate. At the very least, Ronan can get answers, right?” Rune almost swallowed her words as she pretended not to care. “Ah, yes. Not all at once, though; I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” Einar suggested. Ronan nodded his head in agreement, “You’re probably right, mate. Too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing.” He lit a cigarette and kicked back in his seat, staring up at the ever-darkening sky. Vargr hadn’t said a word as he lay near Rune’s feet. He seemed like he was asleep, but she figured that he was still listening even if it didn’t appear that way. “What else would you like to know? Maybe there is something else I can give you.” Einar spoke as he moved from his relaxed position and fixed his icy eyes on Rune. “The runestone,” Rune thought out loud, “Where’s the runestone? I want to see it; maybe it will help me remember.” “We’d have to ask Erik, but I haven’t seen him in months.” Einar admitted, shaking his head. “Seriously? You do know that all of human civilization just up and vanished, right? Erik went wherever they did.” Rune snapped. She couldn’t believe that this man could be so daft, but she didn’t know anything about him. She also failed to mention that he had come back somehow and now he was dead… “No, Rune. Erik didn’t go with the others. He was down in his bunker when it happened. There was no warning or anything like that, it just—was. We had a feeling that something was going to happen and soon, but there was no way of really knowing exactly what. All of human life native to Midgard was taken that night; to where, we aren’t sure yet. But Erik was left behind.” Einar’s eyes never left Rune’s as he spoke. His words shocked Rune, the implication causing her to waver in her speech, “Erik wasn’t from here either.” Einar nodded, “You’re right on that in a way. I didn’t know, honestly. He never told me until after it all happened, but Erik came from Viking stock. He was a strong and powerful man in his time, albeit not without faults, and part of that was due to his parentage. He was raised by a Midgardian man named Thorvald, but his true father was one of the Aesir. Erik did not die with his sword and was instead swept up by an epidemic that killed many. There was no going to the halls of Valhalla for him, for he did not die in battle, but Odin made an exception, for Erik was steadfast in his devotion to the Gods and never wavered, despite one of his sons and his wife turning to Christianity. He was given his own army in Valhalla and a position in Council Hall as an advisor to Odin himself. I heard stories about him when I was growing up, but he was already long gone at that point. He had been branded a traitor and exiled from Asgard before I was born. I guess, he decided to come back here, but he never really told me much more than that.” Rune and Ronan took the information in slowly, their eyes both lighting up as what Einar told them started to settle in. It was impossible what he was saying, but somehow it made more sense than anything else. As Rune really thought about Erik, how he looked with his vibrant red hair and beard, his ruddy and worn complexion, his love for folklore and the stars…it all made sense. “Einar…was—was Erik, Erik the Redd?” She felt her nose get hot and her eyes start to sting as she asked. “You really do know your stuff, hm?” Einar gave her an amused smile. “Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.” Rune shot out of her chair, disturbing Vargr as she did, and began to pace. She was breathing heavily and Ronan was afraid she was going to have another panic attack, but when he got up to help her, Einar held his hand up for pause. “Let her handle it on her own. She’ll be ok.” “I can’t believe this. My neighbor, my surrogate grandfather, was Erik the Redd?” Rune turned to the men, a slight smile creeping across her face that slowly faded as she considered everything, “Wait, Erik was alive this whole time…that’s why the body looked so fresh.” Tears started to well in her eyes as she sat back down and Einar gave her a perplexed look as he pushed against the barrier. “What happened, Rune?” Einar asked frantically. Rune looked up at him from her hands in her lap, her eyes still fresh with tears, “Erik’s dead. Ronan and I found him a few days ago in the shed. Something killed him, Einar. I thought it was you at first because I didn’t know who you were, but I have no idea who actually did it. He had been dead for at least a week, if not a bit more…looked like something had slit his throat, but that’s all I could see; it’s all I could bare to look at.” “No.” Einar growled, slamming his fist down on porch railing. He abruptly turned and skipped the staircase, landing hard in the yard before he started to walk off towards the fence to the pasture out back. “Einar!” Rune called after him, forgetting about the protective barrier as she bounded down the stairs and followed him out into the yard. “Leave me alone, woman. I don’t wish to talk right now.” Einar grunted, waving his hand at her. “I left the protection of my porch to come check on you, don’t patronize me that way.” Rune scolded Einar, placing herself in front of him so he was forced to look at her. His features softened as his eyes connected with hers again and he reluctantly spoke, “I hadn’t seen him in months. I was actually looking for him when I ran into you by the road. I had been away for some time and when I returned to the village, I was told he had left about two weeks prior, but didn’t say why.” “He was living with you?” Rune was surprised at this, considering she wasn’t welcome to. Ronan had now come down and joined the conversation, catching the tail end of what was being said. Einar knew that this was bound to come up and he’d have to address it, so he did, “Yes. Once the meteor shower was over and he had assured that you were alright, he came to find me. He was rambling on about ‘they’re coming for them’ and my assumption is that he meant you two. Erik felt that the closer he was to you at this point, the more you would be in danger, but he didn’t say why. I had the sneaking suspicion that he had done something that I was unaware of and that it was better if you were on your own. He hoped that you’d find the bunker, but he didn’t have time to explain anything to you. I asked the clan if he would be allowed to join us and when he identified himself, they welcomed him with open arms as if he were a hero in their eyes, and not just one from Midgard. I’m sorry, Rune.” Even though her anxious mind tried to tell her otherwise, she knew that Erik cared for her like one of his own and would never do anything that would hurt her in anyway. He obviously had a good reason for leaving, but it didn’t make it any easier on her, especially since he was welcomed into the fold that she was rejected from as a child. “It is what it is and that can’t be changed, but Erik was hiding something and I think it got him killed.” Rune commented as she leaned up against the fence. “We can talk more about that later, but for now I think we all need to rest. If you aren’t going to let me in tonight, that’s fine, but I need food and sleep now. I can come back in the morning if you’d like.” Einar had seemingly cleared his head of negative thoughts, but he did appear to be rather tired. Rune figured he had proved himself enough with his reaction to Erik’s death; he was a friend, or at least not an enemy. “No, I’m not going to put you out like that. I think you’ve shown your true colors and we can trust you. I’ve got food and a warm place for you to sleep if you’ll forgive my lack of hospitality to begin with.” Rune offered, trying to make amends for her initial impression. Ronan agreed, “Please, mate. Come in and get something to eat, have a shower, clean clothes, whatever. I don’t know what you’re used to, but we’ll do our best to make you feel at home.” A slight smile appeared on Einar’s face as he nodded in thanks. “Come on, then. I’ve got some more frozen lamb stew that needs to get eaten and I can whip up a loaf of soda bread or something to go with it.” Rune waved them on as she headed back towards the house. Vargr was waiting patiently on the back stairs and had something to say when Einar crossed the threshold on the porch. You think he’s truly an ally? Rune looked down at the wolf and nodded solemnly as they all entered the house for the night. Photo by Mikel Ibarluzea on Unsplash "the answers are in the house"“I don’t even know where to start.” Ronan spoke as he looked about the main hall of Erik’s house before peering into the front room. “Erik’s study. It’s piled to the ceiling with shite, though, but that’s how I know we’ll find what we’re looking for.” Rune breezed past Ronan and down the hall to the last door on the left before the stairs. Ronan followed, noting the mustiness in the air from a house that had been closed off to the world for over half a year. The walls were covered with strange and interesting art, but no pictures of actual people. The house looked like it hadn’t been renovated for years: the wallpaper was peeling, there were far too many cracks in the ceiling, and somewhere there was a water leak because he could smell the mildew in the air. “Ronan, in here.” Rune’s voice emanated from the open door. There was a light on in the room that cast a warm orange glow over everything that was piled up on a weathered desk and lined against the walls at least halfway to the ceiling. The space was crammed with countless books and stacks of papers bound in filing envelopes; it was going to be virtually impossible to sort through everything quickly. “This is a freaking nightmare.” Ronan gasped. Just the thought of having to swim through everything stressed him out. Rune chuckled, “For us, but Erik knew where everything was and there is surprisingly a method to his madness. Piles by the door are astronomy related, the ones by the closet are local and national folklore, archeology under the lamp, and the desk is where he usually kept whatever he was working on at that moment. I don’t know everything, but I paid enough attention to give us a place to start.” Ronan was surprised she knew as much as she did and wondered why it took her so long to finally want to search for answers. “So, where do we start, you think?” Ronan leaned over the desk to see what was laid out. Several books were open and a notebook sat with a pen atop it. “Astronomy? Do we need to look towards his star gazing? Or folklore considering what we’ve encountered, my—whatever it is I’m doing with the runes, the language and the words being used by Vargr…but Erik was obviously scared about us being found out and was explicit about my gran getting rid of the letters. We may be shit out of luck.” Rune’s words ended in discouragement and Ronan noticed it immediately. He already recognized this cycle of doubt that she perpetually spiraled through. “But your gran didn’t get rid of them like he told her to. And I bet with the wording of those letters, that he kept the ones from her too. If this is where he kept everything like you said, they’re in here somewhere.” Ronan pointed out. Rune considered it before replying, “Mm, you’re probably right. Do—do you think that my gran and Erik had a…thing?” “Maybe,” Ronan smiled at the thought of it, “I mean, it seems like they were at least sweet on one another. I bet he kept anything and everything she gave or sent him. Where would he might keep something like that?” “Probably in the safe. Especially, if he was afraid of someone finding them.” Rune got up from the chair behind the desk and began hunting around the room, peering beyond stacks of papers and haphazard mounds of books. She got to the closet and had to yank on the door to move all the books that had been amassed against it. After some grunting and cussing she got the door open, and was almost clobbered with an enormous stack of magazines that toppled off the top shelf. “Dangerous business.” She muttered as she cleared out bundles of newspapers to reveal a sizeable safe, old and rusted. “Holy shit, that’s an old one.” Ronan was right behind her, practically whispering in her ear, causing her to jump. “Erik liked his antiques; always talking about how they ‘don’t make them like they used to’.” Rune scoffed at the thought, but she missed his sort of gruff demeanor about things. “Well, this antique looks like it needs a key and I don’t think you’re going to be able to pick this one.” Ronan pointed out that next to the large iron handle was a covered slot where a key would go. “Of course. Of course, he wouldn’t have one with a dial. So, now we have to find a key.” Rune ducked under Ronan’s arm and went immediately over to the desk. “God, I hope it’s in here.” Ronan muttered to himself. If they didn’t find that key, there was no getting into that safe and he was sure that inside that indestructible iron box was the answers they sought. Rune was rifling through drawers, and dumping them out as she searched for the key, but she turned up empty and then had to reluctantly clean up her mess so as not to make things more difficult for them. “I don’t know where to start. That key could be anywhere and for all we know, it’s on Erik’s—person.” Rune spoke out of defeat. Maybe she was right. No key, no access to what was in the safe. They could try beating it till it crumbled, or let Vargr have a go at it, but they’d have to find a way to get it out of the closet and that seemed almost more dauntless than looking for the key. Rune tried to remember if she had noticed anything at some point in the past, especially because she had been in his study many times before. Maybe there were things he did or said that she would have missed without the knowledge she had now. Erik was a creature of habit, that’s how she knew about the safe and vaguely where it was, as well as his method of organization. But had she ever seen him open the safe? She had to think hard and go back far in her memories, around the time her mental illness really started to take hold. He would have kept the key in here, not on himself in case something happened. He was a bit paranoid, meaning the key wouldn’t necessarily look like a key at first glance; it would be something only he would recognize. But was Erik really afraid of other humans finding out about them, or was he afraid of something else? He mentioned the friend in the letter, saying something about not bringing her and Ronan together lest they be found and—targeted. The key would possibly look like something that would ward anything that wished harm on them… Rune’s eyes fell upon an iron troll cross that hung above the closet door. It was bigger than the ones that were nailed to the fence, but one other difference stood out to her, even from across the room. The bits of hammered metal that curled in under the loop weren’t even: one was curled like the ones on the fence, but the other was squared and notched. “The troll cross above the door.” She breathed, pointing at the wall above the closet. Ronan snapped his head in that direction and immediately hopped up to retrieve it. He didn’t need to wait for Rune because she had made it to the closet before he had even lowered his arm and he handed it to her. As if she knew exactly what to do, she twisted one end of the cross until the pieces separated into a single key. “Brilliant man, I swear.” Ronan shook his head in disbelief. Rune knelt down in front of the safe and inserted the key into the lock, the mechanism groaning as she turned it all the way until it clicked and the door popped open. She took a deep breath before she swung the door wide to see what was inside. It was practically empty. The only thing that was inside was a thick manila envelope and a file folder. Rune pulled them from the safe and looked them over, handing the file folder to Ronan when she noticed the name scrawled on the outside of the envelope. “Nora.” She sighed as she opened it up and pulled out a handful of letters. “That’s it, innit?” Ronan asked. Rune just nodded and slipped the letters back inside the envelope. She handed it to Ronan before she went to shut the door of the safe, but something in the back of the box caught her attention. It was a raised bit in the metal near the seam in the back where the floor of the safe met the wall. Rune reached her hand inside and felt around that spot—it felt like the bottom wasn’t welded to the rest of the safe. “I think this relic has a false bottom.” The excitement in her voice was palpable. She was able to fit her fingers under the raised bit of metal and pulled. The bottom panel wasn’t as heavy as it looked and easily lifted to where Rune could get a better grip on it to pull it away. It revealed a compartment beneath the main part of the safe, maybe only six inches deep, and nestled inside was something covered in a piece of soft, worn leather. She carefully lifted the object from inside the safe and replaced the bottom before locking it. “Well, unwrap it; the anticipation is killing me.” Ronan rocked back and forth on his heels as he urged her. Rune deftly peeled the leather away to reveal a book that was even older than the leather it was wrapped in. Despite its apparent age, it was in extremely good condition, bound in a red leather of its own and adorned with rune stones and a title stamped on the pelt. “Konungsbók.” Rune read the title out loud. “What does that mean?” Ronan asked curiously. “Book of Kings.” She responded, the words feeling strange as her lips formed them. “Like a bible?” “I don’t think so. We should probably take this too.” Rune recovered the book and tucked it under her arm. “You think maybe we should get back? It’ll get dark soon and we don’t want to be caught out like that.” Ronan closed the door to the closet and made sure he had both the envelope and the folder. “Mm, yeah. That’s probably a good idea. Don’t want to worry the wolf either.” She agreed, leading Ronan out of the study, down the hall, and out the front door without any pause. Rune wanted to get back to the bunker so that she could read the letters they found and dig into the secret book that Erik most certainly didn’t want to be found. Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash "Questions of the unknown" Ronan walked in complete silence next to Vargr and the two were almost to the shed before he finally spoke, “I know we can’t communicate with one another like you and Rune can, but I know you understand me. I can clearly see that you care about her and she seems to trust you, but I don’t really know how I feel about you yet. I’m not trying to start anything with you, I’m just being honest.”
Vargr side-eyed the man and let out a hefty sigh as they stopped their walk in front of Erik’s work shed. Ronan hesitated, not really sure about how he felt opening the door considering what they had seen. Of course, that sight wasn’t there anymore, but he knew that the smell would still be and whatever was—leftover in the cart. The door stood ajar, a gap between only big enough for the Linnormr and a body to get in and out. “This may offend the senses.” Ronan commented as he took a deep breath and slid the door of the shed the rest of the way open. The two were met with the foul stench of death and Vargr immediately gagged and let out a disgruntled howl at the smell. Indeed, the cart was still sitting untouched in the middle of the shed, though it looked as if some things had been displaced when Erik’s body was taken. The hay in the cart was still wet from decay, causing the scent to linger in the air even though the body had been removed. Ronan could see the stacked lumber in the corner, but it was wedged behind the cart and some other equipment and there was no getting to it without moving the offending cart. “Can you move this thing? I need to get to that wood in the back, but I don’t think I can get everything through without moving the cart first.” Ronan asked Vargr, trying not to draw his attention to the large red stain in the middle of the hay pile. Vargr understood and swelled in size again so that he was able to pull the cart with ease. He dragged it out and around the small building where he left it under a naked tree to dry out in the sun. He returned to find Ronan piling the lumber into a wheelbarrow that he had pushed over to the corner. There was already a red metal toolbox nestled under the lumber as well as a big box of long nails. Because Vargr couldn’t offer his help, he instead got to work picking up pieces of lumber till the wheelbarrow was almost too full to push. When the two were finished, Vargr helped Ronan drive the wheelbarrow out into the backyard and up the slight incline towards Rune’s house. They could see her sitting on the porch, Sleipnir by her side as she read a book. “I think we’ve got enough wood to at least build a dog house for Vargr!” Ronan called out as they came to the porch. Vargr snarled at this backhanded joke, but it got Rune to laugh as she came over to the ledge of the porch and peered down at them. She had let her hair down since last they saw her and it hung over the edge of the railing as she leaned on it and propped herself up with her elbow. Her arm was still bound by Ronan’s flannel sleeve, but it was now soaked in blood, fresh rivulets streaming from under the bandage. “Hey, we need to deal with that first before we fix anything else because you’re still bleeding.” Ronan let go of the wheelbarrow as he pointed up at her arm. She shrunk back from the bannister and appeared at the stairs before Ronan could even make it to her. Her arm was held out, the cloth dried and crisp from all the blood. He was honestly surprised that she was even standing with how much blood she had used to make her inscription alone. “I do feel a bit woozy, to be honest.” Rune swayed slightly as she peeled the sticky cloth from her skin. Ronan tried to help her, but she swatted his hand away and finished unwrapping the makeshift bandage. Immediately the blood started to flow again and Rune crumpled to the ground, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. Ronan collapsed with her to soften the landing and tried to frantically tighten the flannel tourniquet on her upper arm to slow the blood flow. Out of my way. Vargr thought at Ronan as he shoved past him and growled when the man tried to attend to Rune again. Her injured arm was lying next to her on the ground, wound side up, and before Ronan could stop him, the wolf swiped his tongue across the punctures marks that freckled her forearm. “What the fuck are you doing, wolf?” Ronan bellowed, the sound deep and angry. He didn’t like the fact that the animal had shoved him away from her like he did and the way the wolf guarded her when he tried to assist as if the beast owned her. Vargr turned and growled at Ronan, pawing at the dirt next to Rune’s arm. Ronan looked down and noticed that the saliva that coated her arm was seeping into the deep wounds. No sooner had it filled the holes when the skin started to grow together, the wound healing before his very eyes. The wolf finally moved out of the way as Ronan knelt down to pick Rune up. He checked her pulse, which was steady, and carried her back up to the porch before he laid her on the swing that hung on one side. “You watch her, yeah?” Ronan patted Sleipnir who just snorted and trotted closer to where Rune lay before he too laid on the porch in front of her. Ronan came down off the porch, still agitated by Vargr, but more understanding of why he did what he did…it wasn’t like he could communicate with Ronan any other way. He gathered up the tools that had fallen from the wheelbarrow and grabbed the handles, hoisting it up so that he could direct it towards the front of the property. Vargr just stood there, glaring at him from under his brow. Ronan sighed, knowing he was due for an apology, “I’m—I’m sorry for yelling at you back there. I’m going to have to work on my trust issues because you’ve saved her life several times now when I just stood idly by and did nothing.” Vargr wanted the apology, but not necessarily at the expense of Ronan’s feelings. He was obviously being eaten up by the fact that he hadn’t been able to do much to protect Rune when she needed it, but he had done far more than he realized. The only problem was that Vargr couldn’t tell him that even if he wanted to and there was no Rune at the moment to translate. Instead he let out a yip and wagged his tail to show that there was no real harm done; Ronan seemed to get the picture because he smiled and nudged the wolf with his elbow as he began pushing the wheelbarrow. The two set about the task of repairing the fence, Vargr helping Ronan hold boards of timber as he nailed them in place after he cut them to size. The symbols that hung as protection along the planks were completely mangled now and would do them no good, so Ronan pocketed them and instead pricked his finger with his knife and drew the symbols with his blood on the fence. It took almost three hours to finish the job, with Vargr making frequent trips to the back porch to check on Rune, but when they were finished, it felt like things were safer. Vargr seemed to approve and the two headed back to the porch for some much needed rest and something to eat since the hours of the day had gotten away from them. But when they got to the porch, Rune wasn’t there, and a momentary panic passed from Ronan to Vargr until the back door opened up and she appeared with a tray laden with dense bread, hard cheese, dried meat, and a jar of some sort of jelly. “You have no idea what a balancing act it was for me to carry this the whole way,” She laughed as she set the tray down on the patio table before pulling out two glass bottles of soda and a thermos from the bag she wore over her shoulder. “Are you sure that you should be running around like this? I am more than grateful for the food, but you need some rest.” Ronan asked. Rune just frowned at him before she passed out plates of food and popped the caps on the soda. She produced a bowl from her bag and filled it with water from the thermos for Vargr before she set down a plate for him too. “I’m fine, Ronan. I just need to move around a bit and get the blood circulating again. How did the fence repairs go?” She returned, sitting down to eat. Ronan just nodded and took a bite of his bread, “Good. We made sure that everything was sealed up and airtight; but three of the little protection symbols got destroyed in the chaos. I improvised, but I think we’re good.” Ronan took the iron symbols out of his pocket and set them on the table. He used his own blood to draw the Troll Crosses on the fence. Vargr tattled on Ronan and Rune glanced over at the wolf. “Troll Crosses. Is that what they’re called?” She queried, setting down her bottle. Yes, trollkors. It’s used as a way to ward off malevolent spirits. Did you not place them on the fence? Ronan using his own blood to draw the symbols didn’t seem to upset Rune; she was more interested in what the symbols were, as no one had ever mentioned it to her before and, come to think of it, actively steered the conversation away from anything like that if she ever brought it up. Even Erik, who loved to share his knowledge of the stars and the folklore of the land, was fairly skittish about certain things and quick to change the subject if it came up in conversation. “No. That was gran and Erik.” Rune grimaced at the thought of the two of them. “Is he talking about these?” Ronan pointed at the mangled troll crosses on the table. “Yes; troll crosses. He thought I put them up.” Rune explained. Ronan noticed the look on her face as she spoke. Something was nagging at her, but he couldn’t say what. He didn’t want to just sit there staring at her and, since he couldn’t figure it out nor read her mind like Vargr, he just asked her. “What’s eating at you, Rune?” She looked at him blankly for a second before she replied, “I didn’t know. I didn’t know they were troll crosses even though I saw them practically every day of my life. You know why? Because anytime I asked about things like that, tiny things that I noticed, gran would change the subject like I never asked anything at all. And it wasn’t just her; Erik did it to me too. They deliberately kept things from me and now that I partially know why, I need to know the rest. There are all these potentially scattered pieces of the puzzle and we have to put them together.” Ronan was surprised she said so much and replied, “But there are still missing pieces and I swear to you, they’re in Erik’s house somewhere. Your grandmother seemed to put what was most important to her in that lock box, but I have a feeling that Erik wouldn’t trust a bank like that. There has to be answers in his house.” “You’re not wrong. I know for a fact that Erik kept all his important things at home in a safe; I heard him mention it a few times when talking to gran. There are just bits and pieces of things I remember and now I see they were red flags that something was up that I wasn’t privy to.” Rune finished her food and dusted her fingers off before she stood up. “Where are you going?” Ronan finished off his soda and mimicked her with the standing. “We,” She gestured between the two of them, “are going to Erik’s house to get some answers.” "The Wolf bearers" When Ronan opened his eyes, he was met with a cascade of thick, wavy hair that lay over his chest. Rune was still cradled in the crook of his arm, her leg thrown over his as she tried to keep herself on the sofa. He had no idea what time it was, but he felt like he had at least gotten some restful sleep. There had been no nightmares from Rune, her only movement in sleep to adjust herself on the too small sofa. Either way, they were going to have to get up and check on the horse before deciding what to do with their day.
“Rune. Ruuuune—we gotta wake up. I have no idea what time it is, but we should probably check on Sleipnir.” Ronan gently tried to rouse her. She protested at first, pushing his face with her hand as she held on tight to his arm with the other. He laughed at her, grabbing her around the waist so that he could sit her upright. All the while, she grumbled and groaned, clearly not ready to get up yet. “I was having the best dream, though.” She spoke softly, yawning as she piled all her hair on top of her head and secured it with a hair band. “I’m sorry, love. I figured maybe we should get up and decide what we want to do for the day.” Ronan went on as he pulled on his boots and put his jacket on. “Do we really have to do anything? We’ve done so much already.” Rune whined. She didn’t want to be a pest, but she really didn’t want to do anything even more. Ronan could tell by the look on her face that she really wasn’t up for adventure, but they couldn’t take a break just yet; Sleipnir wasn’t the only thing they needed to check on. “We also need to look for the break in the fence and see if we can fix it somehow. We don’t want anything else getting onto the property, even if it is separate from ours.” Ronan replied, knowing that she was going to be irritated, but she wouldn’t disagree. She groaned, throwing her head between her legs as she made little agitated noises. This elicited a giggle from Ronan as she lifted her head and scowled at him. “You don’t have to say it; I’m aware of what a brat I’m being right now. Just let me huff and puff and get over it.” Rune stood to her feet and wandered off down the hall, returning with a change of clothes on and an armful of more clothing. She handed Ronan the clothes and went to put her boots on. Ronan held them out and looked at them; they must have been Erik’s, but at least they were clean. They looked to be about his size, but not something that an older man would wear and he wondered where they came from. “These Erik’s?” Ronan asked as he took his shirt off and put on the new one. “Nope, mine. I knew Erik had some things tucked away back there, but besides the brand new packages of underwear and socks, most of it was a little…dated. But, I have treated myself to more than a few shopping sprees in town and got an array of things from the women’s and men’s section. I hope you don’t mind sharing clothing…we could always go out and find you some new things, though.” Rune felt a little self-conscious; an unnecessary anxious feeling. Ronan started, “These are fine. I guess I just didn’t think about you wearing—” “Men’s clothes. Is that weird to you?” Rune asked. She had always worried what people thought about the way she presented herself. She had always considered herself a sort of “tom-boy” as her gran put it, but it was more than that; she just wasn’t sure how to express it. “Not at all. People may gender clothing, but that shouldn’t restrict you from dressing how you want and feeling comfortable in your own skin. The clothing doesn’t identify who you are because someone decided to gender it. Men used to wear makeup, powdered wigs, and high heels, you know.” Ronan winked at her as he buttoned up the flannel shirt she had given him. Those were just the right words to ease her mind and she stood from the couch before Ronan had finished tying his shoes. She didn’t want to spend all day out in the open and thought it better to just go and get it done since there was no way around it. Rune thought it best to check on Sleipnir first before they went looking for the break in the barrier. She really should have checked on him the night before after what they had seen on the surveillance cameras, but there was no way Ronan would have let her and it was safer to stay inside. “Hello, monsieur.” Rune greeted the horse, patting him on the flank. The horse nudged Rune with his nose as he stood with his head outside the makeshift stables. “I’m sure you’re hungry for something more than cold grass, so I brought you the last bag of oats that I have for a treat.” Rune spoke to the horse as she poured some of the oats into an empty bucket. Ronan had finally caught up with her and was now turning the hose on to fill the trough with water. “We’re going to have to start using the pump soon; the hoses freeze when it starts to get this cold.” Rune commented, stroking the side of the horse. “I figured. We’re going to have to find a better way to insulate this place for him too, don’t you think?” Ronan asked as the water reached the desired level and he went to cut the hose off. “He should be just fine; the horses here are used to the cold. Did you notice how fluffy his coat is getting? With the coat and a little hay, he won’t even notice that the temperature changed.” Rune assured him. She had turned away from Sleipnir as she spoke, but got quite the surprise when the horse nudged her rather hard in the back with his nose. Rune went to turn and scold him, but he nudged Rune even harder, pushing her out into the yard. She stumbled, but caught herself before she fell. “Sleipnir! What the hell has gotten into you?” Rune hollered, throwing her arms up in the air out of irritation. The horse nudged her again and started to whinny, stomping his feet in the dirt. Sleipnir started to circle Rune, shaking his head as he clopped closer to the front of the house. “I think he wants you to follow him.” Ronan pointed out. Indeed, the horse was getting more agitated the longer that Rune ignored his frantic pushing. She finally obliged and the horse made a move that suggested that he wanted Rune to climb on his back. Was whatever he wanted to show her far? Rune turned to Ronan and shrugged as she went over to the carport and grabbed the bit and reins just in case. Ronan helped her mount the giant horse and placed the bit in his mouth before he handed the reins over to Rune. Before she even had a chance to urge the horse forward, it took off so quickly she almost toppled off the animal’s back. “Whoa! Whoooa, Sleipnir, WHOA!” Rune hollered as the horse galloped across her front lawn and headed down the hill towards the fence that separated her yard and Erik’s. Ronan was yelling her name somewhere far behind her, but she didn’t dare turn to look for him. Sleipnir hadn’t slowed a bit and no amount of prodding or heel-digging would get him to slow and they were coming dangerously close to the fence without any sign of stopping. “Sleipnir!” Rune screamed, “Stop! Please!” He just wouldn’t listen. They were going to crash right into the fence and Rune contemplated on whether or not to try and bail out, but she couldn’t let the horse practically kill himself by running headlong into the fence. But that’s not what happened at all. The horse took a flying leap and before she knew it, the two were sailing over the fence, landing so hard on the other side that it caused Rune to bite down on her tongue. The two skidded to a halt before Sleipnir clopped right up in front of a large felled tree. From the looks of the size, it had fallen from the other side of the street and crashed straight through the meeting point where the fences connected between properties. “Rune! Jaysus Christ, I thought he was going to kill you both.” Ronan had finally caught up and was now vaulting over the fence to meet her. “Honestly, I did too,” Rune sighed out of relief and let Ronan help her down from the horse, “But he knew something we didn’t.” She gestured at the tree that had clearly broken the barrier she made sure was airtight…or so she thought. “Fuck. When the hell did that happen?” Ronan went to examine the tree where it crushed the old wooden fence. “It had to have been while we were sleeping before—before Vargr showed up.” Rune’s mind wandered back to the wolf and where he had gone after he left the bunker. “And he didn’t bother to mention anything? He had to have come up that road and seen this.” Ronan doubted that the wolf could have missed something that now blocked the whole road that led back into the forest. “Maybe he thought nothing of it.” Rune tried to defend him even though they weren’t exactly on…thinking terms. Ronan snorted as he leaned out over the fence to peer across the street, “You don’t think he would have smelled that something was off?” He pointed to the other side of the street and Rune followed with her eyes as she climbed up on the fence next to him. The tree hadn’t fallen on its own, it hadn’t been struck by lightning…it had been chewed till the base of the trunk splintered and caused the tree to crash to the ground. She couldn’t believe that they didn’t feel that in the bunker. “I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t come this way, who knows.” Rune tried to think of an alternative for him, “You—you think he did this?” “I don’t know. I still kinda think that he caused the other one to fall.” Ronan was obviously wary of the gigantic wolf. “He said it was the Linnormr. We don’t know how long he was around here. He may have patrolled around, following my scent through town. If they followed him, they could have knocked the tree over while he wasn’t anywhere near here.” Rune just didn’t want to believe that the wolf was their enemy. “Maybe. But it’s all awfully convenient.” Ronan was now crouched down on the ground, examining the damage to the fence, “And I don’t know how we are going to fix this; there’s no way we can move this tree, just the two of us.” He was probably right, at least about moving the tree and Rune was ready to admit at least that much. “You’re right on that,” Rune scaled the fallen trunk and started to walk across it like a bridge, “But we’ve got to think of something. The tree has to be moved somehow so we can repair the fence.” Ronan stood as she passed above him and walked out over the street before he replied, “Right. It literally broke through right in the middle.” She continued to walk out on the trunk of the tree till she was in the middle of the road, looking one way and then the other before she cupped her hands around her mouth and let out a sharp yell. “Vargr!” Rune didn’t want to make too much noise, just in case, but she wanted to know that the wolf was alright, especially after what happened the night before. Ronan was leaned out over the fence, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary as she continued her walk. There wasn’t a peep from anything, so Rune figured she would try one more time; if he was out there, they were probably going to need his help. “Vargr!” She cried out once more. There was a moment of complete silence; not a rustle in the autumn leaves or even a peep from Sleipnir or Ronan. As if the sound rushed in all at once, there was snarling and barking as a humongous black creature lunged at Rune, gripping her body in its jaws as it tore her from the trunk of the tree and flung the two of them into the yard. It hadn’t registered to her what was going on, but her instincts told her to fight and she picked up a branch that had snapped from the fallen tree and swung at the beast. She managed to connect with its eye and the sudden sharp pain caused it to release her from its jaws, though it hadn’t been holding her tight enough to actually cause any damage in the first place. Rune was about to take another swing once she righted herself, but before she could ready her makeshift bat, she heard a voice that stalled her in place. Rune, enough. We need to get you to safety. “Vargr?” Rune’s heart had stopped pounding long enough for her vision to settle on the wolf that was standing in front of her, one eye closed. Yes. Go. You need to find a place to hide. Rune finally turned to Ronan who had Sleipnir by the reins and was standing with his back flat against the fence. He looked utterly bewildered as he glanced back and forth between Vargr and herself. “Vargr says we need to hide.” Rune uttered, finally dropping the branch that was in her hand. Ronan ambled towards her with the horse in tow, still looking addled as he asked, “Hide where? What’s going on?” Vargs. Get yourselves in the bunker; I’ll stay back and protect the horse. “Vargs? Wolves?” Rune’s eyes widened with the word as her eyes flitted to Ronan. Not just any wolves—Úlfberi. You’re wasting your time! Go now! Rune had no idea what Vargr was talking about and Ronan surely didn’t either, but there was no way she was leaving Sleipnir out here for only Vargr to protect. Who knows how many of these Úlfberi there were and if he could even stop them from killing Sleipnir or himself. “I’m not leaving Sleipnir. We all find a place to hide together; you included.” Rune pointed at Vargr before she motioned for Ronan to follow. And how are you going to manage that? “We’ll figure it out.” Rune replied to the wolf before she turned to Ronan, “We need to find a place big enough for all of us to hide. Vargr said there are vargs, wolves, nearby, but I don’t know exactly what he means.” The four headed between the two houses, hopping the fence back into Rune’s yard as they raced around the back of the house. There was no way they would all fit in her grandmother’s garden shed, she wasn’t going into Erik’s work shed, and even if they could fit in either, what was to stop something from getting in if it really wanted to? They could just keep running and hop the back fence into the pasture, but Rune caught sight of the back porch instead; there was plenty of space for the four of them. The porch? They’ll see us. “Get to the porch. Hurry.” Rune made a bee-line to the back porch, Vargr in the lead with Ronan not far behind with Sleipnir. The horse could sense their urgency and had no trouble climbing up onto the deck as they all gathered up against the house. They’re going to see us. “They’re going to see us, Rune.” Ronan’s voice collided with Vargr’s inside her head. She stomped her foot and growled, “I know. But not if I can ward things right this time.” Rune scanned her surroundings for something that she could draw or paint with, but she didn’t see anything. There was no time for her to run to the garden shed for a can of paint…she would have to improvise. “Blood.” She whispered as the thought occurred to her. Blood would work, but she was going to need a lot of it to do what she was thinking of doing. “Blood? You going to ward with your blood?” Ronan had let go of the reins and stepped toward her as if to defend her. “We don’t have any other options.” Rune shook her head. She had to find something to pierce her skin and draw enough blood to draw her runes. As if her panic was a cue, the sound of wolves howling echoed off the houses, but they were still somewhere in the distance. It wouldn’t be long before they followed whatever scent they had picked up and found them all defenseless on the porch. Don’t scream. Rune didn’t have a chance to question Vargr’s command before he bit down hard on her left arm, puncturing the skin multiple times as the blood began to pour from the wound. She didn’t scream, just like he told her not to, but Ronan did let out a yelp before he clamped his hand over his mouth. Rune had little time to work, for various reasons, but her mind went blank as she tried to dig deep for the right thing to inscribe. Her little nursery rhyme wasn’t going to be enough this time; even if it kept something from getting on the porch, the vargs could still see them standing there and with Vargr’s urgency, they would probably stop at nothing to find a way through the barrier. They needed to be invisible. “Think, Rune, think.” She muttered to herself as she dipped her fingers in the blood from her arm and began to shape the runes on the banisters as quickly as she could. The letters started to flow as the words came to mind and Rune whispered to herself as she worked. “Odin sees with one eye, what you won’t see with two. Shielded from an evil glare, protected are the few.” Rune painted the runes with each letter of the rhyme, feeling almost silly at the sing-song words she was inscribing on the wooden banister. But with each finished letter, she swore she saw her blood glow like fire as she worked on to the next, continuously repeating the rhyme. The howls of unspeakably large lupine vocal cords sounded again, although this time it seemed like they were mere meters down the road; they were running out of time. Rune tried to speed up the process further, careful not to make any mistakes, her lips moving endlessly without even making a sound as she continued to paint. She was feeling light-headed now, but she couldn’t stop as she covered the other side of the porch with her blood, the barrier of runes now meeting in the middle where the open staircase stood. She had to seal the barrier with a gate, something that they could leave through, but nothing else could get in. It had to be strong and it had to hold, but what word or phrase would do the trick? You are the gate. Vargr spoke to her. He must have been listening to her this whole time; who knows what all he had heard. But his words didn’t make any sense. What was she supposed to do, stand at the top of the stairs and connect the two sides with her arms? It’s in your name. Just find it. Her name. Rune. But that could be anything. A ghostly sound, a haunted whine from desperate creatures arose in front of the house. There was no time left. They were here; they had found them. It would only be moments before they picked up the scent and found them exposed behind the house. She had worked so hard, so tirelessly to create this new barrier—she couldn’t give up now. Rune knelt down at the top of the stairs, closed her eyes, and started to draw. She let her fingers move wherever they felt they needed to go, a tingling sensation beneath them between her and the wood of the stairs, guiding her until it told her where to stop. With the final stroke, she felt her head swim as the light around her started to dim and she fell back. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you.” Ronan whispered, his arms ready to catch her. He gently picked her up and carried her over to the back wall of the house. He had torn the sleeves from his flannel shirt and now wrapped one sleeve around her upper arm to slow the blood flow and used the other to bind the bite mark. All the while, he glared at Vargr for his lack of hesitancy when he decided to bite down on Rune, even though it was necessary at the time. His quick thinking probably saved them, but his willingness to potentially sacrifice her at the same time was strange, considering. They’re coming around the house. Everyone quiet. Rune held her finger to her lips as she reached out to stroke Sleipnir and keep him calm; she had no idea how he would react to what they were about to see. Cover the horse’s face; he’ll give us away. Vargr whispered inside Rune’s head. She motioned for Ronan’s jacket that was balled up on the ground and gently placed it over the horse’s head, all the while still gently petting his face; they had to keep him calm. Ronan gathered on the other side of the horse and mimicked Rune, reaching out his free hand for hers; he could tell that she was terrified, but trying not to show it. Dried grass crunching under large padded paws caused them all to freeze in place, trying to slow their breath and not make a sound. There had to be at least three of the beasts, but they would soon come to see that there were five in total as the small pack rounded the house and came into view. They were somehow even larger than Vargr with ghostly grey fur that stuck out from their body in matted clumps like armored spikes. Red eyes glowed as they turned their heads and trained their ears for the sound of prey. Mouths full of sharp, jagged teeth hung open as they panted heavily and sniffed about the property. Vargr, what are they? Rune thought at the smaller wolf, never taking her eyes off the ones in front of her. Í told you, Úlfberi. It means ‘wolf bearer’; they’re not real vargr, they’re wearing our skin using magi to transform themselves. And how is that different from you? Rune had let that seed of doubt about the wolf be planted in her mind. She needed to be more wary. Because I am a wolf. Don’t let Ronan sway you with that shapeshifter boarshit. I can control my size, but so can most real Vargs. These fools spent too much time playing pretend and it has driven them mad; now they can’t shift back into their original form. His answer was sound, but Rune still wasn’t sure. She didn’t even really know what was going on and was sure that Ronan was just as clueless; they were just following along with the fantasy story that their lives had turned into. Nothing really made any damn sense. Rune’s attention snapped back to the pack of pseudo-vargr that patrolled around in front of them and she watched as one stopped in front of the stairs to the porch and looked straight at her…at least it felt that way. She can smell your galdr, but they can’t see you. You did excellent work. Vargr subtly nudged her with his snout and she felt herself grow warm with the compliment; it bolstered her confidence. Ronan could see that there was some sort of exchange going on again between the other two, but he couldn’t really ask what was being said. Maybe it was none of his business, but he feared that Rune had put all her faith into this wolf when he was really the start of their troubles…aside from the metal box. The wolf that was standing in front of the porch let out an ear-splitting howl and the others that had gone to scout about came bounding in from all directions to see what it was that she had discovered. They all began to prowl around the perimeter of the porch sniffing about, the one female never moving from her post in front of the stairs. Sleipnir started to stir, but Rune’s touch seemed to be enough to keep him silent. “They know.” Rune whispered quietly, but she watched the ears of the she-wolf perk up. Ronan squeezed her hand and Vargr scolded her internally for speaking out loud. She was scared and afraid she’d alert the vargs to their presence, so she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the potentially murderous pack away. She started to recite her latest galdr in her head, over and over again as a way to take her mind off the danger in front of them. Odin sees with one eye, what you won’t see with two. Shielded from an evil glare, protected are the few. Odin sees with one eye, what you won’t see with two. Shielded from an evil glare, protected are the few. She repeated over and over again, her eyes still closed as she focused on the words and runes that danced behind her eyelids with every recitation. There was a rather quiet, sharp inhale from Ronan next to her and she opened one eye to see the red glow that surrounded the porch now. But that wasn’t all that she saw. The she-wolf in front of her was now almost human looking, though her eyes were more broadly set like that of a wolf, her nose was small and blunt, lips full and dark against grey skin. She was still looking right at Rune as if she could see her, while four men who looked almost identical to her in features ran around the porch still, but never daring to try and walk upon it. Rune closed that one eye and continued to recite the galdr, focusing even harder on the meaning behind the words, empowering the runes to work for them. That glare that the she-varg kept giving her; there was a knowing that the creature had, but she couldn’t do anything about it because Rune was very specific in her galdr. There was enough power behind her incantation, enough love for those with her on that porch, that the runes lit up vibrantly like torches in the darkness and suddenly the pack of vargs seemed scared and in a panic, the female howled again, the four replied, and all of them retreated from the backyard, the sound of their paws waning in the distance as they scampered off. Everyone collectively let out a held breath and Rune felt herself beginning to cry from the emotional letdown after the tension subsided. She didn’t move from her spot against the house and instead held her wounded arm and cried into her jumper. She told the others there was nothing here, not anymore. She could have sworn she saw something but her eyes were playing tricks on her. Vargr relayed to Rune what the she-vargr had communicated with her pack. Even if they weren’t true wolves like Vargr, he still seemed to understand them as if they were. Maybe they had mastered the language from all their years of changing into the wolf. She saw me. I had a moment of weakness and she definitely saw me. Rune thought back. So what if she did? She wasn’t convinced of it obviously. And that was because of your galdr; I was quite impressed by the off the cuff. Vargr’s compliment made Rune feel slightly uncomfortable now—she had never really felt like she had excelled at much of anything, but that was entirely her fault. “We need to repair the fence before they decide to come back.” Rune ignored what Vargr said and instead addressed Ronan. “Right, but how are we going to do that with the size of that tree?” Ronan returned, taking the jacket off of Sleipnir’s face, who grunted as he stood to his hooves. I’ll move it. Rune squinted at Vargr as if to suggest that he was mad for saying such a thing. There was no way he could possibly move that tree, even if they could cut it up into smaller sections. I know what you’re thinking, but remember that I can alter my size. I’ll move it and then we can patch up the break. Rune blinked rapidly for a second and shook her head before she filled Ronan in, “Vargr says he can move the tree and then we’ll just need to find some timber to fix the break.” “I’m not even going to ask how. We just need to get it done.” Ronan subtly rolled his eyes as he led Sleipnir off the back porch and around the house to the stable. He really doesn’t like me, does he? I wouldn’t say that he doesn’t like you, just that he’s extremely cautious. Rune replied as she followed Vargr off the porch and around the opposite side of the house towards the fallen tree. All the while the wolf’s nose was to the ground, following the scent of the pack that had just left. Whatever you say. As long as you like me, I don’t really care what he thinks. Vargr emitted a low growl as he took two huge steps and was suddenly the size of the house. The sudden shift in size startled Rune so bad that she fell back into a rose bush. She wondered what Ronan would think if he saw the wolf this way and ignored the fact that she was pricked all to hell from the rose bush she rolled out of. Careful now. Vargr laughed at her as he stepped lightly over the fence, bent down, and picked up the entire tree in his mouth before he dropped it hard on the ground where it snapped into two pieces. It was then rather easy for him to pick up each piece individually and place it across the street in the vacant field that led down to the inlet. This left only some small debris and a few larger branches that Rune was easily able to move on her own. She was in the middle of the act when Ronan came through the front yard just as Vargr trotted back up at a decent size. “How did he do that so fast?” Ronan pointed at the two big logs stacked up across the street. Rune shrugged, “You said you weren’t going to ask. But now we need to find some loose lumber so we can repair this because what’s left isn’t salvageable.” She kicked the splintered planks over into a pile with her feet before she scanned the yard for anything they could use. Aside from tearing the wood from the house, there didn’t seem to be much. “I—I saw some wood in Erik’s shed.” Ronan uttered a few words that Rune absolutely did not want to hear. “No. Nope. I’m not going into that shed. I can’t.” She shook her head violently as if to shake the image of Erik rotting on the cart from her mind. I’ll go with him for the wood, but you need to wait on the porch until we return; it’s not safe for you to be alone out here. Rune nodded slowly at Vargr before she relayed to Ronan, “Vargr says he will go with you. I have to wait on the porch.” Ronan hesitated. He didn’t really want to be alone with the wolf and he had no way to communicate with him, but he wasn’t going to force Rune to be traumatized just so he wasn’t uncomfortable. “Alright, but he’s going to have to bear with me because I don’t speak warg.” Ronan sounded a bit displeased by the prospect. He’s lucky if I don’t eat him. Rune sighed at Vargr internally, Not funny, before she spoke aloud, “Play nice; both of you.” They both snorted at her command and paired off to head to the shed behind Erik’s house while Rune returned to her own. "Eye Spy"When the two got back down in the bunker, they stripped off their soiled clothing and decided to get in the shower together, still wearing their skivvies. Rune had to lean against the wall to get through it, the weight of her mud-caked hair making her arms ache as she tried to get it clean. Ronan ended up taking over, politely forcing Rune to let him help her so she could get to sleep quicker. The water practically ran cold before they got completely clean, but the two changed into dry underwear and fresh clothes before they bumbled down the hallway to the living room, flicked on Ina and Liza, and fell face first into Rune’s bed. It didn’t take long before the two fell asleep to the sounds of their favorite show. (*) Ronan woke to the sound of screaming. He didn’t realize that the screaming was coming from Rune, who had backed herself into the corner where the bed was positioned. Her eyes were open as she shrieked, but she was clearly not awake. Ronan couldn’t remember exactly what you were supposed to with someone who was more or less sleepwalking, but he needed to wake her up. He remembered what she said about touch when she was having an episode and he hoped that it would work for this too. He scooted across the bed carefully and reached his hand out to touch her face as he said her name. “Rune.” She let out a singular scream before the light flickered on in her eyes and she slumped against the wall, tears now streaming down her face as she cried. “I can’t stop seeing them; their faces, that look of death. And that Elk—thing—just fucking haunts me. I can’t sleep anymore…gotta get up.” Rune spoke rapidly, propelling herself forward on the bed till she was standing upright. She took off into the kitchen and within a few seconds, Ronan could hear retching sounds and then more sobbing. He rushed to the kitchen to find her sitting on the floor, her legs splayed out and her head in her hands. “Oh, love. Come here.” Ronan walked into the kitchen and scooped the woman up off the floor and carried her to the sofa back in the living room. She continued to cry the whole way, but Ronan just let her; it would be therapeutic. “The horse. I woke up to piss and found them gone; the rain had washed away the barrier. I went looking for them, and Vargr since he was missing too, but instead I found a dead horse and nothing else. It was awful…they disemboweled her.” Rune babbled. “Who is they? The Lindworms?” Ronan wanted to be clear about who she was talking about. “I don’t know. I got upset and called them out and then I was swarmed by Linnormr. I don’t think I would have survived if it hadn’t been for that Elk thing. Maybe it was the killer, or the Linnormr, or possibly another thing entirely. But something killed that horse and I think would have killed Sleipnir if Vargr hadn’t found him. For all I know, we could have been next. And then my mind cycles back to Erik and who murdered him. I am so completely and utterly overwhelmed and didn’t even realize it because I was in fight or flight mode for far too many days. Something unfathomable happened to us, Ronan. We’re not from this planet and there are things only talked about in mythology books that are hunting us. I mean, I made friends with a fucking talking wolf, for Christ’s sake! Things are so beyond my comfortability level right now.” Rune started to cry again, sobbing uncontrollably as she thought of Vargr’s sacrifice. “Hey, hey, it’s going to be alright. Let it out. Cry all night if you have to,” Ronan held her in his lap, “Cry for both of us.” Rune’s tears slowed after some time and she took a deep, clearing breath before she finally spoke, “I want to find out if those cameras work.” “Ok, but I don’t even know where to start with that.” Ronan spoke into her hair. “Erik’s computer. It had to be him who set all of that up for gran and monitored everything; he was a pretty techy guy.” Rune’s focus was diverted and she slipped from Ronan’s arms and went straight to the computer before booting it up. “And I take it your gran wasn’t?” Ronan asked, following her to her desk. “Gran? Not even close. She didn’t even have a mobile phone, which got quite obnoxious, I might add. There is no way she was in charge of any of this.” Rune spoke while she searched around on the computer for anything that seemed like a surveillance program. After a bit of digging, she found a hidden app that was labeled Observation. She double clicked it and when it loaded, she was able to see each camera in operation in its own respective box on the grid. The side panel let her check the specs of the cameras and she saw that they were being powered by solar energy; Erik was a very smart man. “They’re freaking solar powered. That’s genius.” Ronan breathed. “Erik was a genius, in my opinion. Other people just didn’t understand him,” Rune paused to scan over each live picture on the feed, “These are all from my house. But it looks like there is a separate section here that may be Erik’s.” She switched to the other section and was given just as many angles but from Erik’s house’s point of view. There was one on his front porch, the back lawn, the shed, his bedroom, where he parked his car, and there were even two that were close to the road, each facing opposite directions to see from all angles. “Jaysus, he thought of everything. Must’ve cost a small fortune.” Ronan scooted Rune partially off the chair so he could sit down. “Mhmm, it also seems like he developed the app these are running off of. It looks as if while the program is up, it records the feed, but I don’t know how much storage we have, so I’m going to see if I can mess with the settings and change it to record and store only a few minutes at a time. That way if we are monitoring and catch something, we can go back a bit to check, but it won’t save everything permanently.” Rune replied without looking away from the screen. She fiddled around with the settings, which were actually quite simple thanks to Erik, and figured out how to record only little bits at a time and temporarily store them for viewing later. “Oh, there’s an alarm setting too. I guess there are motion detectors as part of this system and you can set it to notify you if certain ones are tripped; I’m setting them all up.” Rune started typing quickly, adding one more layer to their new security system. “I’m so attracted to you right now.” Ronan chuckled, resting his chin on her shoulder. “You’re funny, but you won’t be laughing if one of those bastards gets in here because I didn’t set up the trip wires.” Rune snickered, nudging Ronan with her elbow. “Right. You’re definitely the brains in this operation. I thought you said you were no good with computers?” Ronan winked at her as he got up from the chair and went to the kitchen. “Eh, I think there is a fair amount of intelligence spread equally between the both of us. You’re definitely more logical than I am. And technology and I don’t always agree, but I’m not totally clueless when it comes to operating things.” Rune replied as she got up from the computer, leaving the feed going in the background. “I’m just at batty as you are, love; I just don’t talk about it. I got me own demons called depression and mania on top of the fact that I’m dyslexic and can’t focus on anything to save me life. I masked it really well because I didn’t want to go back on medication. I just smoked a lot of skunk and tried to keep myself occupied.” Ronan opened up about something he had never really mentioned to Rune. “You’re bipolar? You never told me that before.” Rune remarked softly. She was actually sort of hurt that he had never mentioned it prior to now. “I know and I should have. You were honest with me about your mental illness, but I—” Ronan stuttered, trying to find the words, “I didn’t want you to be put off by mine. Like when I told you I had food poisoning from the water? I was actually having a really bad depressive episode and I just needed to be alone to work through it. When you made me take that bath, it had been almost two weeks since I had seen any soap. I was being selfish because you were probably feeling the same way, but you told me despite that. I should have told you right then. I’m sorry, Rune.” Ronan apologized, feeling ashamed of himself. Rune didn’t say anything in return. Instead she walked up to him and put her face to his chest before she circled her arms around his body and squeezed. “I’m going to be sappy for a moment and tell you that I have never had a friend like you before and I am so thankful that the universe brought us together. Nothing about you could ever change how I feel in that respect; you’re my best friend, Ronan.” Rune’s words were slightly muffled by his shirt. Ronan felt his stomach flutter as she spoke those words, but he wouldn’t let himself break, “Even if I was a psycho murderer?” “At this point, even if you were a psycho murderer. Because I don’t think you’d ever murder me.” Rune laughed as she poked Ronan in the ribs and he yelped, backing up against the kitchen counter. As his back met the counter, an alarm sounded. It was almost identical to the one that went off when Rune found the metal box. Her heart leapt in her chest as the alarm blared and she covered her ears. She had a delayed reaction to the sound, unsure of what she was hearing at first before it dawned on her that it was probably the trip alarms. Ronan was already ahead of her as he took a couple long strides into the living room to check the computer. “It’s just Sleipnir. He left the stable to graze.” Ronan laughed, clicking the button to silence the screeching sound of the alarm. Rune gave a sigh of relief, “Maybe we should turn that one off then.” She hurried over to the computer and fiddled with the settings before she lowered the volume, watching Sleipnir peacefully grazing in the dark as she did. She wondered what time it was and glanced at the quartz clock on the wall; she assumed the time was reading 8:36 PM. They obviously hadn’t been asleep that long because there was no way she could have slept over twenty-four hours with those night terrors. Her stomach was also a good indicator too as it was telling her it was hungry, but not starving. “You wanna eat?” Rune blurted randomly, turning to Ronan who was clicking through different camera views. “I could eat. What am I saying…I’m starving. What’re you thinking?” Ronan offered her his hand to help her from the office chair. “Hm, spaghetti Bolognese? Gran and I spent a summer in Italy and she took these cooking classes…so much sauce. There’s still a couple pounds of ground reindeer in the deep freezer and plenty of dried pasta.” Rune rambled as they walked back to the kitchen. “That sounds wonderful. Point me in the direction of the deep freezer and I’ll get the meat.” Ronan pointed in random directions as he spoke. “Other side of the refrigerator. I have to go into the pantry for the sauce and pasta, will you get a pot of water boiling so we can thaw the meat?” Rune asked as she headed out of the kitchen again. Ronan nodded in agreement as Rune passed through the living room and down the hall to the door across from the bathroom where the pantry was. She grabbed a jar of tomato sauce and a box of dried spaghetti before checking the wine rack for a good red to go with their dinner. She was playing pretend, trying to make things feel normal, even though she was practically ready to jump out of her own skin. Her mind was running on a constant loop of anticipation, waiting for the next time the trip-alarm sounded—that whole experience with the metal box had given her some form of post-traumatic stress. Rune had found the nicest bottle of red wine that Erik had stored down there and, as if on cue with her thoughts, the alarm started to sound again as she was walking back down the hallway. She almost dropped everything she was holding, scrambling clumsily to hold on to it all as she hobbled down the hall. Ronan had made it to the computer before she did and was checking the feed, his body suddenly standing up straight. “Rune!” He yelled, not realizing that she was right behind him. “What? What is it?” She asked, almost a little too excitedly, as she dropped the load she was carrying on the sofa and rushed over to the computer. Ronan pointed at the screen, “Camera 6 on Erik’s side.” Rune scanned the screen for the right feed and brought up a maximized version. It was one of the cameras that faced the street and showed the darkened road and the trees that swayed in what was most certainly an icy breeze. But she didn’t see anything moving and wondered if maybe it was the trees that had tripped the alarm. Ronan was insistent though. “I saw something. Pull up the other roadside view.” He asserted. She obeyed and pulled up the other camera trained on the street; now she was able to see in both directions. And there it was, movement in the other camera just at the bottom of the screen. It was hard to tell what it was, because it was so dark, but it appeared to be…hairy. It stayed there for a while and Rune thought the feed was lagging, but then it began to move into frame fully as it walked out into the street. “Vargr.” Rune drew a sharp breath, smacking both hands down on the desk. “That’s what I thought I fucking saw. I wonder how he found us.” Ronan stared at the screen, watching the giant wolf circle the street. “Scent. Either ours or Sleipnir’s. That means that other things can find us too,” Rune stepped away from the desk and grabbed her other jacket that was hung up by the metal doors. “Where are you going?” Ronan asked, looking around on the floor for his boots. Rune gave him a look like he had asked a dumb question as she responded, “To let him know we’re here.” “I just don’t know how I feel about him. There’s something off.” Ronan expressed himself as he rummaged around in his bag for a sweatshirt. “I’m still unsure myself, but I just—I thought he was dead and it deeply upset me. I feel a connection to that wolf for some reason and compelled to make sure that he’s safe.” Rune explained, shrugging. “Alright, that’s good enough for me, but I’m still going to be cautious for both of us, if you don’t mind.” Ronan pulled his knit cap over his head and walked straight out of the bunker without waiting for Rune. The two quietly exited the house through the back door in the kitchen and came around the side, making sure to check on Sleipnir who was now lying in his stable, sleeping soundly. Ronan had grabbed Erik’s gun, just in case, and was leading the way to the front of the house. If Vargr was out here, there was always the possibility that something else had followed him without his knowledge. As they got to the front of the house, Rune laid her hand on Ronan’s arm and caused him to halt. She raised her finger to her lips and then tapped her forehead; he understood what she was going to do. Vargr. She waited quietly for a response, huddled down close to the porch. Vargr, can you hear me? Is it just you, or are we in danger? Rune called to him again, unsure of the range they had with this type of conversation. Rune, where are you? Your scent is everywhere, but I can’t pin it down. It’s just me as far as I know; I don’t smell any rot. Vargr finally responded, eliciting a sigh from Rune. “It’s just him. He followed my scent here.” Rune stood up from their hiding spot and marched out into the yard, Ronan hissing at her to be careful as he hurried behind her. As she approached the gate to the fence, she caught sight of Vargr. He was on the other side of the street under the only streetlamp on the road, just sitting there like he was waiting patiently to be fed. When he saw her, he sprang up, trotting quickly across the street to meet her at the gate. Vargr threw his huge head over the fence and Rune’s immediate instinct was to hug his face, latching on like he was a long lost pet that had finally come home. Now, now, everything is alright. I’m just glad to see that you made it out alive. The wolf hassled in her ear as he rested his heavy muzzle on her shoulder. “He alright?” Ronan appeared next to her, making sure to stay within reach of Rune in case something happened. She nodded before thinking back at Vargr. I remembered what you said about galdr—they had these symbols made out of runes hung above the trail. I think they were a magical U-turn, flipping us back around on the path. But what’s weird is Ronan couldn’t see them, not until I broke them. The wolf pulled his head away and the two made eye-contact for a moment, those glowing orange eyes staring back at her in the darkness. In that moment she felt like she recognized the wolf’s face. Like I said, we are not the same. He can’t see through their illusions, but we can. Vargr responded, now pacing back and forth in front of the fence. Ronan was feeling a little awkward due to their exchange and announced that he was going to check on the horse, though no one seemed to really acknowledge him. We. Does that mean that we are the same? Rune didn’t understand what he meant, but there was some thread there that she needed to follow. Are you going to let me in or am I going to have to pace out here all night on patrol? Vargr ignored her question; he seemed anxious. How rude she had been, not inviting him in. She popped the handle on the gate and opened it wide for the hulking animal to slink through. Rune smelled the distinct scent of electricity on the air as he passed her into the yard, but it was gone as soon as he was safely on the other side of the barrier and Rune had the gate shut tight. The two started to walk towards the makeshift stable where Ronan was filling up a bucket full of water from the hose, completely in the dark. He set the bucket close to Sleipnir with some extra hay to snack on as he lovingly made sure the horse was covered with a blanket to keep warm. “I invited him in; I hope that’s ok.” Rune asked, feeling a little guilty. Ronan smiled tiredly in the dark and replied, “He’s safer in here. Dunno about his huge ass fitting in the bunker, though.” I don’t have to stay this size; it isn’t permanent. It was as if they blinked and Vargr was smaller, more the size of your average wolf, but still just as eerie. Unless, you’d rather I stay out here. I understand if you don’t trust me enough to invite the wolf into the fox’s den. Rune made a funny sound and yet again, Ronan was left none the wiser, so he finally spoke up. “Not to sound like a dick, but it’s kind of irritating when you two carry on a conversation like that since I can’t hear either of you. I don’t want to seem entitled to the conversation, but you know.” Rune’s face fell as she hadn’t been paying attention to that fact, forgetting that Ronan wasn’t like them and was being left out of the conversation entirely. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Apparently, he doesn’t have to stay that size and asked if we’d rather he stay out here in case we don’t trust him fully yet.” Ronan shared the conversation succinctly. “A shapeshifter. Yeah, I dunno how much I trust a shapeshifter, but if he can fit in the bunker, no need to leave him out here.” Ronan gave in. Rune sighed quietly out of relief before responding, “I wish it were feasible for Sleipnir to be down there with us, but it just isn’t. You can come in, but you have to tell me when you need to go out.” Rune patted Vargr and he growled. Don’t patronize me. She chuckled and gestured with her head for him to follow her. “I’m going to have a quick smoke and then I’ll be down.” Ronan held up the hand with a lit cigarette in it. Rune paused in her step, “You want us to wait for you so you aren’t out here all alone?” “Nah,” Ronan shook his head, “I’ll be fine.” Rune hesitated for a moment before she patted his shoulder. He sat down on one of the patio chairs on the back porch before she and Vargr entered the house. Ronan needed a few minutes alone. His mind was doing that thing that it does and he was aware of it, so it was better if he just stepped away and cleared his head before he went on socializing. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much that Rune and the wolf were able to talk the way they did. It wasn’t that he really felt left out, he was almost—jealous. Of a wolf. Or of something that could appear as a wolf; he was wary of the shapeshifting abilities. But he felt silly…jealous over a talking dog. He had found a friend, someone who genuinely cared about him and was a good person, and he wondered if the jealousy stemmed from his fear of losing that. Ronan finished his cigarette and then shook his head hard, staring up at the sliver of moon that hung in the sky. It was really beautiful to see so many stars in the sky without the pollution of artificial light obscuring them from view. He wondered which one of those millions of tiny sparkles in the sky was his actual home; the thought of him crash-landing here from another planet finally sinking in. It was weird to think about, especially coupled with the things they had experienced in the past couple of days; it all had to be connected somehow. He started thinking back to the letters that Rune found as he lit another cigarette and mulled it all over in his brain. Each sentence, each paragraph, as much as he could remember, hoping that something stuck out to him. Of course he couldn’t recall most of it, but now Erik’s words were stuck on a loop in his mind. “Our friend.” He murmured as he exhaled a plume of smoke, “Who was their friend? Someone that clearly was aware of us.” There was obviously more to it, a lot more that neither he nor Rune knew about. It all started with that metal box, but there was no clear way to open it and he’d never get away with going back to the bank; Rune probably would have a fit. And he couldn’t just lie to her about it… “Erik has to have answers in that house.” Ronan spoke to no one as he pushed off the chair he was sitting in and marched around the side of the house and between the two so that he didn’t set off the trip alarms; he didn’t want Rune to see him. He knew that there was one by the front door, but he wondered if he scaled the porch and stayed low, if he could avoid it. He then considered if it would just be easier for him to sneak away in the bunker and enter Erik’s house from the secret door. Ronan’s impulses had carried him away before he had a chance to think about things logically. But a sound of something large being dragged through the dried grass caught his attention and he duck-walked around a shrub to see what was making the sound. Crawling through the grass was a single Lindworm accompanied by two smaller beings that were grotesquely misshapen. It looked as if the Lindworm was carrying something on its snake-like body, but Ronan couldn’t see what it was in the dark. He thought it better to stay as stone still as he could until they passed from the yard, heading in the direction of the road. When he was sure that he wouldn’t possibly be seen, he snuck back around the house and slipped inside, making sure to lock every door before he returned to the bunker. Rune had led Vargr down to their secret hiding place in silence, the only sound being the padding of the wolf’s paws behind her. They entered the bunker to a strange noise and Rune quickly realized that it was the pot of water on the stove that Ronan had set up to thaw the meat. The water was dangerously low in the pan, making a hissing sound as Rune turned it off and pulled it from the eye. For whatever reason, this was when her resilience started to crumble again, leaving her vulnerable like she had been in her dreams; it felt like she was having a mental breakdown. She desperately tried to choke back the tears before she left the kitchen, but of course she was broadcasting her thoughts across the bunker and Vargr clearly heard her. He came charging into the kitchen, his hackles raised, What’s wrong? Are you alright? “I’m fine. I’m just trying to understand everything and the fact that I don’t is starting to get to me.” Rune replied, defiantly wiping the tears from her eyes. Sometimes we aren’t meant to know everything all at once. We have to be grateful for what we do know and trust that time will tell us the rest. “Pretty words, but you’re not the one being hunted.” Rune spoke to the wolf as she took a seat at the kitchen table. You don’t know that. You don’t have any idea what I’ve been through. I’m just imparting some wisdom on you. The wolf paced in front of her, much smaller than when he had exited the trees in the forest. Even though he spoke words of patience, Rune could tell by his demeanor that he was agitated; something was eating at him. Before Rune had a chance to open her mouth and respond, one of the trip alarms went off again. This time the volume was much lower and she didn’t feel like her stomach was in her throat when the sound emanated through the bunker. She assumed that the trip was probably Ronan out on the back porch, but she decided to check anyway. Vargr, curious about the noise himself, followed. As she sat down at the desk and moved the mouse, the wolf propped his front paws up next to her so he could see what was going on. The computer finally woke up, all the feeds from Rune’s house up on the screen. But the alarm had sounded from Erik’s side… “What’s over there?” Rune asked aloud, clicking on the feeds for those cameras. It was the camera facing the shed, but the feed showed no activity. Then another alarm sounded, this time it was the camera nearest the driveway. Rune switched the feed quickly, catching whatever had tripped the first alarm. The sight caused her to stiffen up and Vargr let out a low whine. Slithering through Erik’s yard was a Lindworm, accompanied by two humanoid looking creatures on either side of it. On the back of the Lindworm was something, but even with night-vision, she couldn’t tell what it was because of the distance. There had to be a way to zoom the feed, and she frantically hunted around for it on the screen before the trio crawled out of frame. But by the time she found the toggle to zoom the camera, only a tail could be seen as it slithered out of the camera’s sight. The fear had started to set in once her thoughts went to Ronan who was still outside; she prayed that they didn’t see him. Another alarm tripped, this time the same one that had gone off when Vargr showed up. It was one of the camera’s facing the street and Rune quickly changed the view to that camera. The trio was much closer to this one and she was able to see things just a bit clearer, but she still couldn’t make out exactly what was on the back of the Linnormr. Get closer. Rune ran the toggle up, the camera sharply zooming in, struggling to focus in the dark with what little light it had. But as soon as the image came into focus, Rune let out a scream that she quickly stifled with her hand to her mouth. “E—Erik.” She began to sob again as she watched the Linnormr drag the body of her friend into the road, the corpse dangling haphazardly off of the back of the creature. She could now clearly see the other two beings, and they didn’t look too far off from Erik. They were in the later stages of decay, flesh hanging from bone, bodies pocked with what appeared to be festering blisters as they rotted where they stood, but they were much more squat than your average person. One of them coldheartedly took Erik by the head and flipped him back on to the serpent so that he wouldn’t fall off. This caused Rune to cry out again and she shoved away from the desk, trying desperately to not start screaming out of grief and anger. Breathe. Vargr came rushing up to her, circling her body with his as she started to come down to her knees. Her head was reeling and she felt like she was going to be sick again, but she tried to take a breath and steady herself. “Rune, you’re not going to—wait, what happened?” Ronan had come bursting through the door with a revelation to find Vargr wrapped around Rune on the floor, who was clearly in the grips of a panic attack again. “Breathe, Rune. Breathe, love.” Ronan hurried over to her and reached for her hand. Rune snapped out of it long enough to throw herself on Ronan, quietly sobbing as she gripped his shirt with her nails and whispered, “They took him. They just took him…how? How did they get in here?” “You saw them?” Ronan asked. “They set off three different alarms on their way out. I don’t know how we didn’t hear them come in unless they showed up while we were outside. But the wards should have held—” Rune abruptly stopped talking at the thought of her galdr failing. Don’t automatically assume that your galdr failed you, Rune. There are other ways to sabotage wards. Be patient; we can check things in the morning. “They had Erik. His body was on the back of the Linnormr,” Rune paused, another thought hitting her like a hammer, “You saw them? Did they see you?” “No. If I hadn’t gone around the house I would probably never have known they were there, but I was trying to break into Erik’s house without you knowing and happened to hear them as they came through the yard.” Ronan just couldn’t lie to her about what he was doing. “Wait, why were you trying to break into Erik’s house?” Rune asked, a look of distrust in her eyes. Ronan swallowed hard before he replied, “He’s got answers in that house, Rune. Answers about who we are and I was thinking about those letters we read and I can’t get the part out of my head where Erik mentions ‘our friend’…multiple times. Who is he talking about?” That part of the letters wasn’t something she had given any attention to at the time, her focus being more on the fact that they both had dropped from the sky. Ronan was right, though: who was their ‘friend’ and why did they have so much involvement in this aspect of their lives? “I don’t know, but whoever they are, they’re probably dead like the others, so if we do find out who they are, it’s not like we can ask them anything.” Rune’s response was bitter, but it had a point. Rune slipped away from Ronan and got up from the floor, walking aimlessly around the room as her mind raced. “But don’t you want to know more? Don’t you want to know who we are and why the hell we’re here?” Ronan got up to follow suit as he came back, “What about Vargr? Don’t you think the fact that you can talk to him means that he probably knows something about who we are?” Rune immediately stopped moving and spun around to look at Ronan and Vargr. What do you know? The wolf didn’t even blink as she asked the question, but all she got was silence. She tried asking him again, but he refused to respond to her. “What do you know, Vargr?!” Rune yelled out loud, her face flushing with color out of anger. Still the wolf said nothing and instead turned his snout towards the ground and avoided looking at her. “I know you can hear me, wolf. Why can we hear each other’s thoughts, hm? Why can you communicate with us as if you were human? This isn’t normal! I’m not fucking Snow White, so it’s not like this is an ability I’ve always had! Or is it—” Rune was starting to feel like she had literally fallen down the rabbit hole because the more she spoke about it, the crazier she felt. Things are different now. They’ve shifted and they’re not like how they once were; this world isn’t the same. That’s all that I can tell you; I don’t know any more than that. “He says things are different now. The world isn’t the same as it once was.” Rune relayed the information to Ronan before thinking another question at Vargr. Have you always been here? On Earth? There’s no way…you’re not a normal wolf. The wolf began to whine again, an agitated sound, as he stood and glared at Rune with those smoldering orange eyes. I take it that I’m not welcome here at the moment. When you’re ready to not accuse me of things, we can talk. “What? Accuse you of things? You’re the one that is making yourself look suspicious!” Rune hollered as the wolf turned tail and somehow managed to get the double doors open with his paw before he slipped between them and disappeared. “What the hell just happened?” Ronan threw his hands up in confusion. “I asked him if he had always been here and then he accused me of accusing him of things!” Rune tossed her own hands in the air out of frustration before stomping off to the kitchen. “Well, he’s going to have a fine time trying to get out of the house with no apposable thumbs.” Ronan scoffed jokingly, but Rune didn’t seem to find it funny. She was standing in front of the stove, staring down into a pot with a thin film of brown water in the bottom. She had no idea the time, or even the day, as everything had run together and she desperately wanted this all to be a hallucination in that moment because that would definitely make more sense at this point. The absurdity of it all! But she knew that it was only going to get weirder and if she hadn’t actually fallen down the rabbit hole, as she was really starting to suspect, then she was going to have to find a way to cope with this shift, as Vargr put it. “I’m not even hungry anymore,” Rune whispered, picking up the pot from the stove, “Do you still want me to cook you something?” Rune turned around, the pot still in her hand and a look of utter defeat on her face. “No. I’ve got a few protein bars and some jerky to get me by. Maybe you need to try and get some more sleep; you’re clearly exhausted and that’s never good for your mental health.” Ronan took the pot from Rune and set it in the sink. “I don’t know if I can.” Rune spoke flatly, shaking her head. Ronan pondered something for a second before he responded, “I bet I could get you to sleep.” Rune’s eyes went wide, “What does that mean?” “Not what you clearly think it does.” Ronan laughed as he left the kitchen and returned with his bag. He set it on the kitchen table and sorted through it for a second before he pulled out a wooden box and wiggled it in front of Rune. “What’s in that?” She asked, pointing at the box. “Sleep medication.” Ronan winked at her as he opened the box and pulled out what looked like a rolled cigarette. “I’m still not following. How is a cigarette going to help me sleep?” Rune asked. She came over to the table as Ronan pulled a lighter from his pocket to light the cigarette. “Because it’s not a cigarette, it’s a joint.” Ronan corrected her, taking a long drag from the end of the rolled smoke. Rune felt a little stupid as she replied sheepishly, “Oh, the sleep medication thing makes sense now.” “You ever smoked before?” Ronan passed it to her. “Not this. It’s not easy to find it out here and I never left town.” She returned, taking a small hit before she passed it back to Ronan. “Good. You should get proper knackered then. You can just crawl under the covers, get comfortable, and you’ll be out like a light, sleeping like a wee baby.” Ronan chuckled, smoke seeping from his teeth as he tried not to cough. Rune laughed in response as the joint was passed back to her and she took a much longer drag. She held it for a second, but the burn in the back of her throat forced her to cough and sputter, attempting to suck in deep breaths between hacking sounds. “Don’t die on me now. I know I’m funny, but I ain’t trying to kill my audience.” Ronan spoke around the smoke in his throat which caused Rune to laugh even harder. “I promise I won’t die on you.” She giggled, holding the joint in one hand and her pinky out with the other. “Are you really pinky promising me that you won’t die?” Ronan laughed, a big smile spread across his face. Rune squinted at him, a strange look on her face. She wiggled her pinky at him and it took everything Ronan had not to get choked up a little himself. It was the happiest he had seen her since they met, a genuine happiness without a care, and it made him feel warm inside, knowing that she at least felt some peace in that moment. Ronan linked his pinky finger with her hers and leaned over, “Now you have to kiss it to seal the deal.” The two leaned in simultaneously, Ronan expecting Rune to kiss her hand while he kissed his, just like they had done in primary school, but that’s not what happened. Instead, she pulled their linked hands down so she could lean completely over, gently placing a kiss on his forehead. Ronan was a little stunned, wondering if she didn’t understand what he had meant, but when she sat back down, her hand still linked to his, she smirked and kissed the side of her hand. “Ah, is that how we’re doing it now.” Ronan smiled. He reached out his free hand and cupped the side of her face before he drew her to him and kissed her right in the middle of her forehead. When he pulled away, he noticed how flushed Rune’s face was and wondered if it was because of the weed. “One more good hit and then it’s off to bed.” Ronan couldn’t hide the smile on his face as he watched the expression on Rune’s. Her skin had a glow to it, a look of sheer complacency on her face. “Mm, yes, please.” She agreed, taking the joint for one last hit before Ronan put it out in a pocket ash tray from the box. “Now, off to bed with ya’.” He got up from the chair and started to shoo Rune out into the living room. She giggled in her inebriation, losing her balance when she stood, Ronan having to catch her before she folded into a fit of laughter. He looped his arms under hers and steered her out towards the bed, but she protested, pushing back on him. “I don’t want to sleep in the bed. Can we just stay on the couch and watch Ina and Liza till we fall asleep?” Rune asked groggily, stumbling as she reached for the arm of the couch to steady herself. Ronan wasn’t going to argue with her, “Of course we can. You just take a seat here and I will put the show on and turn off the lights.” He guided her to the sofa and covered her in a blanket before he cut the lights off and grabbed the remote to turn the show on. The whole while, Rune kept reaching out for him, tugging on his trouser leg when he stepped too close. Finally, he nestled in beside her on the couch and she crawled into his lap, laying her head on his chest as she covered them with the blanket. “Let me know if I’m making you uncomfortable. I just—I just want to be close to someone right now.” Rune spoke into the crook of Ronan’s neck, sending a shiver down his body. “No, I get it. Sometimes you just have to touch someone else to ground yourself to reality. I don’t mind you using me to ground.” Ronan spoke, his chin rested lightly on the top of her head. Rune sighed, “I’m not using you, though. I don’t just want to be close to someone, I want to be close to you. You ground me, I think. Just you.” Rune’s words were starting to slur as sleep took hold of her. Ronan felt his heartbeat quicken at her words and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, her breathing now slow and steady as she slept. He wondered if he just held on to her like this if she would sleep soundly without any nightmares. Either way, he wasn’t about to let go. Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash Discovering secrets of the past“What if we get turned around again? I still don’t understand how that happened.” Ronan asked Rune after they had gotten far enough ahead to slow down. “Galdr. Vargr mentioned galdr. I just don’t know what that means or where things flipped and we were put back on the path up the mountain.” Rune winced into the shadows beyond the trees for anything that looked off. The sun had just started to come up, affording a little relief, but Rune couldn’t get the thought of Vargr out of her head, as if she hadn’t been privy to many a horrible sight in the last few days. She didn’t want his sacrifice to be in vain, and she needed to figure out how they were getting turned around. Galdr was all he told her, though. And what was that exactly? He mentioned it before when they had been talking about her barrier—he said that she cast her galdr for protection. It felt familiar, but she still didn’t know what meaning it held. The horse kept up a quick speed, but still slow enough for Rune to take in her surroundings. She was lost in thought about galdr and how she used it when she looked out into the woods and noticed that their direction had changed, but they had not. “Stop!” She yelled, lifting herself from the saddle. Ronan obeyed and pulled the reins to a halt. “What? What did you see?” He asked frantically, worried about the possibility of more monsters to fight. “We’re facing the wrong way again. That way leads us up the mountain.” Rune pointed ahead. She was right. Ronan started to notice little landmarks like she had, pointing out that they were now heading in the wrong direction. “How? We never turned the horse around or took a different path.” Ronan was gob-smacked. “Galdr…galdr…” Rune murmured to herself, “Galdr! That’s it. Vargr said that I cast my galdr to protect us. I used magic. Magic is what’s doing this.” Ronan was silent, taking in what she said very slowly. It wasn’t really a surprise, but it was still unfathomable to him. “Ok, so how do we stop it?” Ronan had not the slightest idea of how to fix the situation they were in. “If it’s anything like mine, we need to look for those symbols. In the dirt, in the trees, painted on rocks…something.” Rune started to search around before she even finished speaking. Ronan began to look too; trying to remember what the symbols looked like that he had seen on the ground. He had no idea what they were and he hadn’t even bothered to ask, but it kept nagging at him. “What are these symbols, Rune?” She paused in her search and turned to him, “I think they’re runes or combinations of them. It is an ancient alphabet, one that Erik studied quite a bit, but he never taught me. I always found it strange that whenever I would come upon something he was working on or researching, he would get flustered and clear it all away. I just thought he was eccentric and weird and never gave it a second thought until now. He was keeping something from me.” “But you clearly know those symbols well enough to write them so fluidly like that and without really giving it any thought.” Ronan didn’t understand that part. “Right. But I couldn’t tell you how I know them. Sure, I’ve seen them written on things, but I can’t read them, I don’t know the sound each rune makes or what they mean.” Rune shook her head. But she felt like she was lying to him; she did know these symbols. There was a part of her that was fluent in that alphabet and knew the power the letters held when used just right. She could feel it, but she didn’t want to admit it. The two searched around a bit more, occasionally looking back, or ahead, on the trail for any sign of danger. They saw nothing, but that didn’t matter because they still weren’t able to go in the direction they intended; they were stuck. Rune thought about whom or what would have laid these magical traps and wondered if they were looking too low. Setting up a runic boundary close to the ground, like she had done, was an easy way to get it destroyed and render it useless. If it were higher, though… Rune stopped where she was looking and ran over to her horse, standing just behind his flank. She diverted her eyes slowly upward until she spotted it: strung between two trees on either side of the trail was a symbol comprised of several runes made out of what appeared to be—bone. How had they not noticed that? “I found it.” Rune pointed at the hanging sigil. “Where?” Ronan asked, glancing up to where she was pointing. There wasn’t anything there but vacant space and a few naked tree limbs. “It’s right there. I can’t reach it from here, but I bet I could from the horse.” Rune waved her hand in the vicinity of what she had been pointing at before she mounted the horse backwards. “If we’re being honest, I don’t see a damn thing, Rune.” Ronan really didn’t. He didn’t see what she kept pointing at and even now, as she was reaching up into the sky, her knees squeezed around the flank of the horse, it looked like she was possibly—hallucinating. Besides not being able to hear Vargr, he had been able to prove her wrong about all of her perceived hallucinations, but he had nothing this time. “Hand me that stick over there.” Rune commanded, pointing at a hefty branch on the side of the road. Ronan had no idea what she wanted it for, but he humored her for the time being, even though she had ignored his admission of ignorance on what she apparently saw. He went and grabbed the branch, handing it to Rune as she struggled to make herself taller atop the horse without standing up. Ronan watched her settle her sights on something before she stretched upward as far as she could go, cocked back with the branch and…WHACK! Rune had hit something, something that Ronan just couldn’t see, and she continued to whack at it, an almost melodic tone returning from the object on impact. She finally gave it one last good, hard swing that took her over the side of the horse, but when she did, it was as if a wall of glass had been shattered all around them. Ronan was able to catch Rune before she hit the ground and stood her up as they witnessed the path come into focus in front of them. “Ha!” Rune cried triumphantly, “There may possibly be more, but it’s a start.” “I don’t understand what just happened.” Ronan admitted as he got back on the horse. “There was some sort of strange rune hanging between the trees; looked like it was made of bone. I was pointing right at it!” Rune acted as if Ronan was the crazy one in this and maybe he was… “I seriously didn’t see anything. Not a damn thing.” He shook his head. Rune pointed at the ground below the horse’s hooves at the shards of brittle bone that scattered the ground, “Can you see that?” He could. Ronan could see the remnants of what appeared to be bones lying all around the ground of the trail. He knew that they weren’t there before because their pale color was a stark contrast to the wet, dark mud; he would have noticed them. “Why couldn’t I see that?” Ronan was at a loss. “No time to question it. We shouldn’t have more than an hour’s ride back to town, but there may be more of those.” Rune nudged Ronan’s leg with her knee, still holding on to the branch. Ronan gave the horse another spur with his heels and they were galloping off again, hopefully in the right direction this time. Sure enough, a little ways down the trail, Rune spotted another sigil hanging in the air above the trail. Ronan didn’t seem to notice it at all, but she knew that once they ran under it, they would be turned around again. There was no time for stop and go even though the sun was creeping higher and Rune took her chance as they neared the sigil. She lifted herself up off the saddle, bracing her body against Ronan who hollered out for her to sit down. She didn’t listen, however, and instead grabbed the reins to steer the horse to the left before she leaned out onto the trail and swung as hard as she could with her branch. The sigil exploded, raining down bone fragments all over the trail as the horse galloped away. “I told you there would probably be more.” Rune lowered herself back into the saddle and held tight onto Ronan. “Alright, so there’s a possibility you are going to do that again.” Ronan scoffed as Rune patted him assuredly on the shoulder. Sure enough, she had to repeat the same precarious action three more times, the sigils coming closer together until the last. It seemed like they were almost out of the woods, so to speak, but Rune stayed on her guard in case they came across anything else. But soon they could see the break in the trees that formed the archway to the road into town. They were almost home. “You did it. You’re bloody brilliant.” Ronan laughed out of relief as he drove the horse a bit faster and they leapt out into the sunlight of a late morning. It was still overcast out, but rays of light still broke through the greying clouds. “We’ll celebrate when we’re home. I don’t think I can fully relax until I know we’re locked away safely in the bunker.” Rune sighed through her nose, placing her hand on Ronan’s shoulder as he led them along the dirt road back to home. They met no more obstacles on the long road into the back of town and it was early afternoon by the time they came upon the house. Just the sight of Erik’s house caused Rune to shudder and she instructed Ronan to take the horse around back to an enclosed carport where her gran used to keep her car snow-free in the winter. It would have to do as a makeshift barn and horse stalls; Rune wanted to keep her horse safe, especially since she failed with the other. “Can you grab me those hay bales back by the fence. I’m going to try and make it as warm as I possibly can in here for the horse; I want him close by, just in case.” Rune led the horse underneath the carport and began taking off his bridle and saddle. This space would do, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to keep the horse from wandering off. Ronan returned with a bale of hay stacked on each shoulder and helped her spread one out on the ground and feed some of the other to the horse. Rune then walked over to the garden shed and returned with a wheel barrel full of mulch that she dumped inside the carport and spread it about with the hay. The two left the horse to eat while they went off to the farm behind the house and gathered some more supplies, trying to hurry so that the horse wasn’t by itself for too long. They were able to set up a decent makeshift stable with what little they had. “Alright. That doesn’t look half bad…but how do I keep him safe? There’s no way to lock him in or keep things out and we can’t bring him down into the bunker. I’m not sure what to do.” Rune stood back to survey their work as she spoke. “Same as you did before. What if you painted your prayer on the outside of the stable? It’s pretty flat right here and I’m sure there’s a ladder in your shed we can set up to reach the higher spots.” Ronan suggested. “That’s a good idea; there should be paint in there too. But what’s to keep him from wandering off? I know it’s not like he could get hit by a car or anything, but those Lindworms killed the other horse and if it wasn’t for Vargr, mine would be dead too.” Rune was starting to get emotional, the weight of everything from the past twenty-four hours finally settling in. “Well, why don’t you start with naming the poor guy? You keep calling him your horse, so he at least deserves a name, right?” Ronan asked, gesturing at the stallion that was now grazing in the yard. He was right. Rune kept calling the horse hers, but she hadn’t given him any sort of name. He probably had one before, but she didn’t know what, and she most likely was avoiding naming him so that she wouldn’t get too attached in case something terrible happened…like the fate that Ronan’s horse met. “What about Sleipnir. There was a story Erik told me once about how Odin received his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir,” Rune began to walk closer to the horse as she recalled the story. “Go on.” Ronan urged her. “Well, there was a smith that showed up in Asgard, claiming that he could build a great wall to fortify the realm. He boasted that he could complete it within three seasons and that if he did, his compensation would be the strong and beautiful goddess Freya and the sun and moon. Of course, Freya wasn’t going to have any of that, but the trickster God, Loki, suggested that the builder should receive that which he desired, but only if he could build the wall in just one season and with no one to aid him but his horse. Since Loki is very persuasive, the other Gods agreed to these terms. Of course they had no intention of holding up their side of the bargain because the suggested task was virtually impossible.” Rune was now deeply lost in the story, recalling the pictures in the book that Erik read her the story from. “Of course they didn’t.” Ronan was just as enthralled by the story, perching himself against a tree as he listened to her tale. “The smith agreed to their terms and made them swear an oath on their bargain, as well as to ensure his safety while working in Asgard. The builder set about constructing the wall and the Gods marveled at how quickly it was erected. What was even stranger was the builder’s stallion, Svadilfari. Now, I don’t know how much you know about North myth, but this builder was not a mere man, but one of the Jotnar, a giant. A giant needs a giant horse and that horse seemed to be doing the majority of the work in building the wall, hauling huge boulders over great distances to get the job done. When the winter was only three days from its end, the walls were fortified to be virtually impenetrable by any enemy, and only the stones around the gate were left before the project was finished. Of course, the Gods were not happy with this: they didn’t want to lose their beloved Freya and have the world be plunged into darkness because this Jotun stole the sun and moon. They threatened Loki with certain death for giving them such bad advice, but he pleaded with them to spare his life and swore that he would find a way to prevent the smith from finishing his work in the agreed upon time.” Rune was now gesturing as she spoke, becoming more and more involved in the myth. “Now, I know a bit about Loki, more than just from the comic books, so I can only imagine what he had up his sleeve.” Ronan interjected. “You think.” Rune winked at him and went on, “That night, the Jotun and his horse ventured out into the snow draped forest in search of stones to put the finishing touches on the wall. Along their way, the most beautiful mare appeared, calling to Svadilfari. When the stallion saw her, he became wild with lust, snapped his reins, and chased after her. He spent the whole night chasing this mare down in the forest, and when morning came and he was still nowhere to be found, the Jotun knew that there was no way he could finish the wall on time and win his prizes. The Aesir then paid the Jotun what they thought he deserved—an obviously fatal blow to the head by Mjolnir. Meanwhile, far, far away, Svadilfari finally caught the mare and…carnal things ensued. From that union, Sleipnir was born and gifted to Odin by Loki.” Rune finished her tale with a smile, waiting to see if Ronan understood the punchline. His eyes were narrowed on her as he spoke, “Loki was the mare, wasn’t he?” Rune began to laugh, a good belly laugh, as it all dawned on Ronan; the look on his face was priceless. “Remind me to tell you about the time he tied his balls to a goat.” Rune laughed even harder as she began to walk towards the gardening shed again while Ronan tried to catch up. “By the way, you were panicking about Sleipnir getting out, but you’ve got a fence.” He pointed at the one that they had fed the horses over the day before. Rune ran the length of fence with her eyes all the way to the front of the house where the gate was that she walked through every day of the life that she could remember. She was just so frazzled and all she could think about was the numerous what-ifs in regards to the bad that she hadn’t thought about the fence. This meant that she would have to ward the entire fence somehow which was going to take some considerable time and all she wanted to do was sleep. “I’m just not thinking right now. I’m glad we’ve got the fence, but now I have to ward all of that and I’m just so damn tired.” Rune opened up the shed and went for the ladder, passing it to Ronan before she grabbed a bucket of paint and some paintbrushes that hung above a workbench. They returned to the carport, Sleipnir now lying peacefully in the hay, and began painting the runes from one side to the other, all the while Rune reciting her prayer. It took a minute since she had to climb up and down the ladder a few times, but Ronan helped her along the whole way. When they were finished there, they set about the task of protecting the yard, but Rune noticed something that she had never really given a second thought to. There were metal horseshoes that hung from the front of the gate and along the fence stretching both sides. The shoes had been hammered flat and folded over to create a loop, the ends curled inwards with a spiral. Rune thought it a good idea to check the entire perimeter of the fence, noting that these iron symbols were tacked to the fence every five feet or so all the way around the property. Regardless, Rune painted the same prayer over the gate to the fence for added protection. “Are those part of an already existing barrier?” Ronan asked, running his finger over the horseshoe symbol. “That’s the feeling that I get.” Rune responded, following the fence with her eyes till it ended nearest Erik’s yard. She wondered if he had protection like this on his property too. “So, now that everything is locked down like Buckingham Palace, you want to go inside and get something to eat or just go the feck to sleep?” Ronan slouched a little as he spoke, no longer able to square his shoulders out of exhaustion. “Honestly, I just want to sleep right now. I don’t even want a shower to wash this all off.” Rune gestured at her blood encrusted face and muddy clothes. She felt like she was deflating from how tired every fiber of her body was. Ronan gave her a half smile and threw his arm around her shoulder as he steered them down the walk to the front door. Rune let her mind wander for just a second, her eyes scanning every bit of property to make sure they were protected from all angles. While doing so, she spotted something near the peak of the house, just under the gutters. It was rather high up, but Rune thought she could make out what it was. “Is that a camera?” She stopped walking abruptly and pointed up at the object. Ronan shielded his eyes with his hand and peered up before he responded, “That’s what it looks like.” “How did I not notice any of this?” Rune broke free from Ronan and began to circle the house again, looking all over to see if there were anymore. Sure enough, there were several more placed in strategic places: one facing the backyard, another facing her old bedroom window, one facing her grandmother’s bedroom window, one on the carport, and another on the opposite side of the house that looked like it faced Erik’s yard. “What is all of this? As far as I know, gran didn’t have a surveillance system. We didn’t even have a house alarm; this was a very safe town.” Rune was back at the front of the house, shaking her head as she stared up at the first camera. “I wonder if Erik has them too.” Ronan thought out loud. A lightbulb clicked on in Rune’s mind because of these words. “I wonder if Erik is the one that set these up. He and gran obviously knew things that they never told me and it would make sense that he would find a way to surveil the house since they were worried about—something. If the cameras still work, we could use them to keep an eye out for any enemies.” “Enemies. I feel like we’re in the beginnings of a D&D campaign. I don’t have any good spells and all my weapons are crap.” Ronan looked absolutely broken as he spoke. “Sleep. Let’s try and get some sleep and then start fresh.” Rune reached out and took Ronan’s hand in hers as she led them up the front stairs. “Yeah, sleep. That sounds so wonderful right now.” Ronan nodded, letting her lead the way. Hunted Rune had no idea what time it was, but it was still dark when her bladder awoke her. She really should have gone to the bathroom before they went to bed because the rain was coming down hard now and she most likely was going to get soaked. It didn’t matter though, because she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep with the sensation putting pressure on her pelvis. Ronan was still sound asleep next to her, curled up in his sleeping bag with knit cap pulled down over his eyes. He looked so peaceful and Rune wanted to keep it that way, so she grabbed a flashlight, carefully slipped from her sleeping bag, and pulled her boots on by the door before she flipped her hood up and quietly exited the tent.
What was left of the fire had now been extinguished by the heavy rainfall and Rune couldn’t see a thing without clicking on the torch. She waved the beam around to see where she was going, but noticed that Vargr wasn’t anywhere to be seen; she wondered if he had sought shelter elsewhere. That thought led to the horses, but she felt like she was about to burst, so, she relieved herself first and then went to check on them. But when she came around the side of the tent and flashed the light where they were tethered, she found nothing. The horses and their tethers were gone. How was that possible? The rain. The thought struck her and she realized that they were bare and out in the open, the rain washing away the barrier that Rune had created around the tent and horses. How long it had been gone, she didn’t know, but it appeared that something had taken off with their horses and she feared that it was Vargr. She should have gone to wake Ronan, but glowing lights in the trees caught her attention and she wondered if it was the gigantic wolf; if he had waited patiently till the rain let him in and then absconded with their horses. The rain continued to fall, lightning cresting just above the trees long enough to illuminate the path through the forest. Even though what she saw was in the trees, she didn’t want to leave the safety of the path and get lost in the woods—while it poured—in the pitch dark. What she was doing really wasn’t any safer since she hadn’t let her partner know where she was headed, but she felt drawn to the glowing lights that bobbed in and out of the trees and compelled to follow them. Were they aware of her? Should she call out to Vargr and see if it was him? Something told her that these lights most likely weren’t her friends and most certainly weren’t Vargr, but she hoped that they would lead her to the horses. It was quiet as she walked, save for the steady sound of the rain, when another noise caught her attention: a terrified whiny from a horse. Rune broke into a run, following the sound as the horse continued to cry out in distress. The rain seemed to beat harder the faster she ran and the icy droplets stung her eyes as she tried to carefully pick her way across fallen limbs and other brush that had been thrown into the path by the storm. Everything went quiet for a minute, but she continued to run, listening for the scared cries of what was most certainly her horse. Then she heard it again, a terrible sound that told her the horse was in imminent danger, as she rounded a line of ancient oaks. The path widened into a clearing similar to the one their camp occupied and as she came closer, the torch in her hand flickered a few times before going out. There was something lying in front of her on the ground, but it was too dark to see what. Lightning struck overhead again and Rune could see the glassy look in the eyes that stared up at her. There on the ground was the body of a horse, torn and mutilated by razor like claws as the rain soaked into its lifeless body. She stifled a scream and quickly scrambled for the knife in her boot. Something had killed Ronan’s horse and there was a possibility that it was still lingering in the trees, watching her. Rune was too far away from camp for Ronan to hear her if she screamed, especially over the sound of the deafening rain, but she couldn’t run now. She hoped that her horse was still alive and prayed that it hadn’t been Vargr that had killed the other. There was no other choice for her; she had to stay and fight whatever killed this horse and fight to get hers back alive. “Give him back to me! Give me back my horse!” Rune screamed into the rain, circling around the carcass that lay at her feet. She got no response at first, but then the lights started to appear in the trees, bobbing and glowing brightly despite the downfall of rain that obscured any other light. It was as if they clicked on one by one like her flashlight, hovering several feet off the ground as they watched her. There had to be over a dozen surveying her from the tree line, nonetheless she wasn’t going to be afraid of a few forest sprites. They started to come out of the trees, one by one again, their actual height masked by the way they moved, crawling with their clawed hands across the forest floor on their bellies. Their bodies slithered like snakes as they circled around her and lifted themselves to their full height, arms held out in front of them, ready to strike. On top of each and every one of their dragon-like heads was a crown of three horns, the center one glowing brightly at the tip. “Linnormr.” The word barely escaped Rune’s throat as she tried not to choke. There were too many of them and there was no way that she could run through the grouping with their towering size. Her only option was to ready her knife and scream as loud as she could in hopes that someone heard her. Before she was ready, one of the monsters dipped its head low and gnashed at her with jagged teeth. She struck out with her knife, catching it in the snout, before she drove it down hard into its face. It made a nasty squishing sound when the knife was yanked from its jaw, blood splattering all over Rune’s face. It snarled and growled, whipping its long neck back and forth in pain and Rune cried out as the head came too close to her person. She ducked, losing her balance when she backed into the body of the horse, and fell flat on her backside. She was completely vulnerable in this position and in her panic; she just began to scream and scream, lashing out with the knife in defense. But they never struck. The Linnormr started to make strange barking sounds, guttural cries from deep within their bellies that reverberated off the rocky mountain face. Rune was able to sit herself up, shielding her eyes with her free hand as she watched the serpents retreat in what appeared to be fear, continuing the barking as they disappeared back into the trees. Momentary relief was immediately replaced by fear again when Rune realized that the Linnormr didn’t just leave of their own accord; something much more terrifying had run them off. She got up slowly from the muddy ground and took a deep breath as she turned over her shoulder. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but what met her eyes in the illuminated beam of a lightning flash caused her to audibly cry out in fear. It was the Elk creature, standing atop a ledge on the mountain face above. He was closer, much closer to her now than he had been by the washed out road and even though it was dark, the constant crash of lightning afforded her the ability to see more detail. Even from the height at which he perched, she could still tell that he was quite large, but not nearly as tall as Ronan. Although, the icy cold rain beat down around them, she could see that his chest was bare under his cloak and the skeletal head and animal legs were dripping wet as he glared down at her. “You! You did this, didn’t you!?” Rune barked at the creature. He jerked forward towards her and caused Rune to stumble back, this time looking where she stepped just in case. She still wasn’t going to run though, and she started to get angrier as she inched back towards him. The creature started to move nearer the ledge, hunkering down like he was going to grab the face of the mountain and climb down it like a spider. We need to go…now! Rune heard Vargr’s voice before she was snatched away by wolven teeth, but her focus on the Elk creature never strayed as the giant wolf dragged her out of the clearing, cutting off her visual. He let her down once they were back on the path and Ronan was in sight, mounted atop her horse that pranced nervously in place. “What are we doing?” Rune cried over the rushing sound of the rain. “Heading back into town. Where’s the other horse?” Ronan looked around confusedly. Rune’s mind flashed to the image of the horse’s open eyes, its disemboweled body lying cold in the rain. She choked out the words, “She didn’t make it,” before she reached her hand out to be helped onto her horse. Ronan didn’t know exactly what that meant, but there was no time to question it. He didn’t know exactly what was happening at first, but he had woken up without Rune by his side, went looking for her, and found her and the two horses missing. As he prepared to venture out to find her, Vargr came skidding into the camp with Rune’s horse by his side, the tether clamped in the wolf’s teeth. He seemed frantic, but since Ronan couldn’t hear his thoughts like Rune could, he had to read his movements, and those actions told him that he needed to follow the wolf down the trail in the direction they were originally headed. “What about camp?” Rune asked, squeezing her face close to Ronan’s back “I grabbed everything that I could in the dark before I followed Vargr up the trail. I want to ask you what happened, but I think it’s best we wait until we’re out of the woods.” Ronan spoke over his shoulder as he began to lead the horse back down the trail as fast as the rain allowed him, Vargr following on their heels. They traveled like this for some time, passing where the camp was set up and back down the mountain to the massive fallen tree, treading carefully so as not to have another accident. All the while, Vargr acted as scout, running ahead and then falling back, giving Rune instructions where to move so as to keep them out of harm’s way. The rain had finally slowed, but was still a hindrance as they picked their way down the mountain. The trees around them should have been thinning by that point, but they seemed thicker than ever. After a while, Rune started to recognize certain landmarks even in the dark—they had already been through this way. “Ronan, we’re going in circles.” Rune calmly whispered in his ear. “What do you mean?” He whispered back. “I’m recognizing certain things. We’re coming up on the tree again.” Rune pointed ahead. Sure enough, the tree clearly lay across the trail in the dark. Ronan pulled the horse to a stop, “How is that possible? We’ve been following the trail the whole time.” Galdr. Vargr growled. A sound arose like the rattling of a million venomous snakes as little lights started to blink on in the trees ahead of them. Rune could feel the beasts watching them and her body tensed up against Ronan’s. “Fucking Linnormr.” She spoke through gritted teeth at him, her knife already in her hand. Vargr had come to protect them, but he was only one large wolf against at least a dozen, even larger, serpents. There was no way that they were going to be able to take on all of these monsters on their own. At that moment Rune wished for the Elk creature to show up because for whatever reason, it seemed to be the only thing the creatures truly feared. “What do we do? We’re all turned around and I’m not sure if we go the other way, that we’ll actually get anywhere.” Ronan whispered back at Rune, his arms tense as they held the reins. “Pray that our murderous Elk friend shows up and scares them away.” Rune murmured, watching the lights bob and sway in the tree branches. “You know that from experience?” Ronan thought he understood what she was implying. She just nodded as she buried her face in his jacket, trying to think of a quick solution to their problem. Then it struck her—the symbols and her prayer. The rain had stopped which meant that it wouldn’t get washed away, at least for the time being, and the dirt was soft enough that she could dig deep to stabilize the ward. “Cover me, Vargr.” Rune commanded as she slid off the back of the horse, her knife in hand. The wolf and Ronan watched as she began to carve into the ground, all the while reciting her prayer out loud, “Huginn, Muninn, vertu augun mín. Óðinn, allur faðir gerir mig vitran. Freya stendur vörð um mig. Megi Þór slá þá sem óska þér skaða.” As she circled around the horse, and even broader to encompass Vargr, the wolf stood vigilant. The Linnormr were becoming agitated with each word she recited and each symbol she gouged out of the mud. They started to move closer, one even arching its long neck over the circle, but Vargr put a stop to that immediately with a crushing bite to the neck. The serpent squawked and flopped about, but the wolf made an example of him, shaking his huge jaws back and forth till the head of the Lindworm came clean from its body. This gave Rune just enough time to finish her petition and complete the barrier. “That was a brilliant idea. What do we have in the bags that we can use to defend ourselves with?” Ronan climbed down from the horse, still holding tightly to the reins. “There’s the axe in my bag and Erik’s gun; it has maybe four bullets left.” Rune pointed at the bag slung across the horse’s middle. Ronan plunged his hand into the bag and retrieved the axe and the revolver, cocking the gun before he aimed it at the closest Lindworm. Vargr was snarling and howling at anything that came too close, but Rune was just standing there as they were surrounded by more of the hissing monsters. Her focus was on something outside of the ring of wingless dragons—the Elk creature. He had his furry cloak wrapped snugly around him and he was standing at the highest point of the fallen tree, watching things unfold below. But he didn’t move towards them, he instead crouched down and just…watched. He was clearly a distraction, because Rune almost missed the snarling head that had punched its way through the wards. Its immense jaws snapped and spit as it tried to get at Ronan, but she had enough sense to lash out with her knife, plunging it into the side of the dragon’s head. “The barrier is broken!” Rune crowed as she realized how the Lindworms had infiltrated their circle. The horse had been dancing about in fear and had accidentally trampled out part of the symbols she drew in the dirt. There was too much chaos now and they were either going to have to stay and fight, or find an out and run in the opposite direction. “What should we do?” Ronan ducked as a tail whipped over his head. Vargr was now outside the barrier, pouncing on every scaly limb he could get his paws on, trying his best to diminish the threat. “There’s too many. If Vargr keeps fighting like that, he’s going to tire out and they will overcome him. We need to retreat.” Rune tried to keep her voice calm, but spoke loudly over the sound of screeching Lindworms and Vargr’s howling. Rune glanced back up at the fallen tree, but the Elk creature was nowhere in sight. “On the horse. I’ll turn him around while they’re distracted by Vargr.” Ronan carefully climbed back up on the horse and helped Rune up before he pulled the reins and forced the horse to turn one-hundred-eighty degrees. When Ronan saw a break in the chaos, he went for it, spurring the horse to take off quickly. VARGR! Rune projected loudly in her head, We need to go! But they were already speeding down the trail much faster than they should. Rune turned over her shoulder just in time to see Vargr get swallowed by a sea of Linnormr. Photo by sankavi on UnsplashWith knowlede comes fear Ronan woke up to the smell of sausage and eggs. He hadn’t smelled food that good or that fresh in months and it drew him from his sleepy state to find Rune sitting at a little table in the kitchen with a mug of something, a plate of food, and a book in her hand. She wore large round metal framed glasses, her long and unruly hair piled atop her head. She was obviously deep in her reading and didn’t hear him enter the kitchen, because she jumped, flinging her fork from her plate over her head.
“Morning.” Ronan stifled a laugh as he picked up the fork, rinsed it in the sink, and handed it back to Rune who had a sheepish look on her face. “Morning. There’s food left in the pan for you and a pot of coffee on the stove. If you’d rather have tea, the kettle still has hot water in it.” Rune greeted him, instructing him about breakfast before she went back to her book. She was clearly still distant this morning, but he had to give her time. “Where did you get the eggs?” Ronan wondered out loud as he sat next to her at the table with a cup of coffee and a plate of food. “I have chickens. I actually stole them from the neighbor who had a farm because who was going to take care of them if everyone was gone? I built a new coop out back and relocated all the ones that were alive and now I have fresh eggs whenever I want and they have full bellies and a warm place to sleep.” Rune explained, taking the last bite of her food before leaving her seat to wash her plate. “You’re a good person, Rune. I wish more people had thought like you. I saw so much farmland on the drive here and now it makes me wonder if all of those animals found a way to make it without any humans to take care of them.” Ronan complimented her, a little sad over this last thought, but she didn’t say anything. He glanced over to see her standing at the sink, nothing in her hands as the water poured over them. For a moment, she seemed like she wasn’t there, but she suddenly snapped back to reality and walked away from the sink with the water still on. She came over to Ronan, her brow furrowed heavily as she sat back down, her gaze on him. “You drove that truck into town?” Rune asked him. “Yup. Brought it from Vanguard.” Ronan confirmed. “Which road did you take into town?” Rune was ready with another question and it was now starting to make Ronan uneasy. “The only road I know, Rainbow Bridge Road.” Ronan couldn’t figure out where she was going with this. “Do me a favor: go take a shower, get dressed, and meet me out front. I want to show you something.” Rune swung out of her seat and headed towards the living room. Ronan didn’t want to question her and agreed, “Uh, ok. Where’s the bathroom?” “Down the hall, second door on the right. I don’t know if you brought any clean clothes with you, but Eric had some brand new stuff he stored away down here in the black plastic drawers in the bathroom. I’m going to go feed the chickens and the horses and we can meet out by the truck.” Rune replied, taking off her pajama shorts in favor of fleece leggings. Ronan just nodded before he grabbed his backpack and headed down the hall to the bathroom. In about a half an hour, Ronan was showered and dressed, and had come out to the truck to find Rune leaned against it with the same book in her gloved hand. It had gotten much colder overnight and Ronan shuddered as he walked through the front yard. Rune was smartly dressed in a warm coat with a hat on and her hood up, heavy boots on her small feet. “Here, put these on,” Rune handed Ronan a knit hat and a pair of rough leather gloves, “It gets cold fast up here.” Rune climbed in the truck and waited for Ronan to follow suit before he turned the key in the ignition and revved the engine a few times to get everything circulating. “Where to?” He asked, hands ready at the wheel. “To the entrance of town, where you came in.” Rune pointed in the direction of Rainbow Bridge Road. Ronan wanted to ask what she was going to show him and why she was being so cryptic, but he just did as she instructed him, figuring there was a good reason for the way she was acting. Either that, or she was really miffed at him and was going to take him to the edge of town and leave him there. They drove for about twenty minutes till they came to the center of Imellom and took the road that would lead them out of the village and down the back roads that wound through vast farmland and fields. Rune didn’t say a word, completely silent in the passenger’s seat as he drove. He started to notice little things that he hadn’t seen on his trip up: trees downed on the side of the road, some laying partially in the streets or over power lines, broken windows and crushed roofs on a few of the houses, and debris everywhere. Had there been a bad storm last night after they went to bed? The truck crested a hill, the final bump in their journey to the entrance of Imellom, but what met them on the other side made Ronan inhale sharply. He could see the sign that welcomed visitors to the town, but it was broken and partially submerged in water. In fact, the whole road had been washed out, a waterfall cascading down from the mountain in a makeshift river that carried mud and plant life out into the body of water on the other side of the road. Rune still hadn’t said a word as Ronan threw the truck into park and jumped out, racing to the edge of the water that flowed deeply across the road. Rune followed behind him, coming to stand right by his side as the two stared out across the turbulent water to the other side of the road they clearly were not able to get to. “Was there a storm last night?” Ronan turned to Rune, forgetting about what she wanted to show him. “No,” She shook her head, “This is what I wanted to show you.” Ronan didn’t quite understand and just shook his head in return, a look of confusion on his face. “There was a very bad storm that blew in from the bay a couple of weeks ago. Remember when we didn’t talk for a few days? The weather fucked with my signal. When the storm finally passed, I went out to see what damage there was and if my animals were alright. I think the dam on the other side of the mountain broke and caused a landslide.” Rune pointed ahead of her, “The road has been washed out for weeks, Ronan.” Ronan took a step back from the crumbling asphalt in disbelief. That was impossible. He drove down this road and straight into town yesterday without any problem. The road was intact; there was no turbulent river, or any obstacle that stood in his way. He just sped on in without a hitch. But here they were, standing in front of a washed out road, the only road that he knew of, that led into Imellom. “How is this possible?” Ronan finally turned to Rune, now feeling a little panicked himself. Of course, things were weird and he couldn’t explain what had happened, but he had mostly been watching everything happen from the sidelines. Now he had been involved directly in the high strangeness and felt completely disoriented. “You see now why I asked you how you got in here? It dawned on me when you were talking about driving by all the farms on the way up…how were you able to drive the truck into town across this?” Rune pointed at the river, “But you didn’t, did you?” Ronan shook his head feverishly, “No. The road wasn’t like this when I got here yesterday. The town didn’t look like it had been hit by a cyclone. But today, everything is different.” “It’s not different; you’re just seeing it differently.” Rune shook her head, taking off a glove as she knelt down to dip her hand in the icy water. “I don’t understand.” Ronan uttered, starting to pace. He walked up and down the width of the road, but couldn’t see any other way that he could have gotten in here. “We don’t understand any of this.” Rune stood, staring off into the trees of the mountain as the water cascaded over its face. “Maybe I came in another way and just thought I drove down this road.” Ronan was mostly talking to himself, trying to figure out where things went sideways. “Not possible. The only other way in or out of the town is up the mountain and the trail wasn’t made for modern vehicles. You came through here.” Rune responded, not looking Ronan’s way. She was still staring up at the mountain, at a grouping of trees that had caught her attention. She thought she saw a pair of antlers sticking up from the brush and she looked for the animal that it was attached to; she hadn’t seen many wild animals since everyone vanished. “I don’t know why I’m freaking out. It’s not like this is really that weird at this point, is it?” Ronan laughed, but clearly he was not able to grasp the ordeal. “No, I guess not.” Rune replied absentmindedly. The antlers had been still this whole time, but they now moved, rising up above the bushes as the creature stood. She thought that maybe it had been grazing this whole time, but the beast that stretched out above the brush wasn’t an elk or a deer. The antlers were attached to a skull, the skull to a man’s cloaked upper body, and the body attached to a pair of thick furry legs. Rune fought the urge to scream and instead slowly averted her eyes and turned towards Ronan who had final stopped pacing. “We need to go.” She whispered shakily, gently taking Ronan’s hand, “Don’t make any sudden moves.” Ronan could feel the tension in the air, the fear emanating from Rune in panicked waves. He didn’t question what she said and instead threw his arm around her shoulder as they carefully made their way back to the truck. Rune could feel the hollow gaze of whatever this creature was, following them to the truck. Ronan helped her into the cab and went around the back of the truck before he climbed into the driver’s side and the two subtly locked their doors. “Start the car. Don’t stare, but glance up at the mountain where the water has broken through the trees.” Rune spoke casually, buckling her seatbelt. Ronan did the same as he went to start the car. He momentarily let his eyes flicker to the windshield, trying to catch what Rune was talking about. There, standing out from the bare trees was a beast with the skeletal head of an elk and the legs of a bear. He immediately started the truck, threw it into drive, and made a hasty U-turn right in front of the washed out road before they were speeding back into town. “What the fuck was that?” Ronan was scared, unsure of what he had just seen. “I don’t know. The antlers caught my attention while we were talking, but it was low in the brush. I saw it stand and then I decided we needed to get the hell out of there.” Rune was steadying her breathing, trying to keep her wits about her. There was no way that thing could catch up with them, but Rune couldn’t shake the feeling that it had been watching them for a while and that it was far more intelligent than just some animal. (*) “How did I get here, Rune? I keep thinking about it, but I can’t make it make sense.” Ronan was perched on the edge of the sofa, a glass of whiskey in hand. “How did a meteor shower make everyone disappear? Why did a little metal box try to drive me mad and make me kill you? I mean, we read a letter from my neighbor to my gran that basically says I’m some sort of alien. Oh, and don’t forget about whatever the hell that was that we saw on the mountain.” Rune was huddled up under a blanket, the bottle of whisky in her hand. “I wonder if there is anything more in that file that could give us some answers. And what about Erik’s computer where you found the meteor info?” Ronan wondered aloud, finishing his glass. “I don’t know. I did a good bit of research, but there are probably things I missed.” Rune returned, slightly scolding herself for not doing more thorough searching. “Mind if I take a crack at it? I’m pretty good with computers and maybe I can find something.” Ronan suggested. “By all means. I’m no tech wizard and do better with ink and paper. I’ll go through the file and see if there is anything in there.” Rune crept out from beneath her blanket and went to retrieve the file before she pointed out the desktop computer that sat with her radio equipment. Ronan set to work on the computer while Rune settled into the sofa with the file folder and the two went quiet for some time as they immersed themselves in their individual research. They paused every so often to use the bathroom or get something to drink, but neither wanted to think about what was actually happening without more details to back it up; it was only going to drive them both mad. Ronan thought he had found a few things, but it wasn’t anything Rune didn’t already know, though he learned a bit himself. But then he hit on something. “Rune, come look at this.” He called from the office chair. Rune scooted the pile of scattered papers out of her lap and came to see what he had discovered. “I found an article that Erik saved about the meteor warning from the anonymous astronomer in the same folder as this.” Ronan pulled up a word document that was worded like a diary entry. It had been written by Erik in the beginning of the year and it detailed the meteor shower that he had discovered. There wasn’t supposed to be a meteor shower at the end of March, but Erik had seen it coming. He detailed how panicked it made him, that he felt like it wasn’t the Aurora Meteor Shower coming early, but something else completely. He claimed that he didn’t have much time and he needed to tell Rune about everything because he knew that her grandmother didn’t have long to live. Erik rambled for a little bit more, mentioning another person that wasn’t himself or Rune’s grandmother, but he never gave a name. They knew about Rune and what she wasn’t and that there was another like her, but there wasn’t anything he could do for the other; there wasn’t time. But he had to tell Rune, explain everything, and show her the box. It was set up to go off when the Aurora Meteor Shower peaked again, but he feared they would appear sooner, and he had to warn Rune before the box would have a chance. It would only really give her a moment’s notice anyway. He would tell her. He would tell her soon when he felt like she was ready. Soon. “It was him. And the box…the box was supposed to warn me of the shower and it did, but—it was too late and that doesn’t explain the voice. And why would I need a warning before the shower came around again? He never told me anything, even after gran died. He got really neurotic, like he wasn’t well, and I offered my assistance, but he wouldn’t accept it. It seems like he didn’t know exactly when this new shower would peak, so he couldn’t be prepared. It looked like he had been living down here, though. He was scared, but I don’t know of what exactly.” Rune stepped away from the computer, trying to piece together the puzzle that they had uncovered. “We just have to keep looking. We’re bound to come across the answers we’re looking for.” Ronan went back to clicking around on the computer and Rune sat down on the sofa and started picking through papers again. It wasn’t long before she came across another letter that had been written from Erik to her grandmother. It was in an envelope that was postmarked and sent from a city that Rune didn’t recognize the name of. My Dear Nora, We found him. Our new friend did some intense tracking and found out where he is. He’s alive, but rather touched from the whole ordeal. A lovely couple found him wandering down a dirt road, confused and ill, so they took him in. But he’s got bits of his memory and what he does remember, is driving him a bit mad. Our friend wants to take him back, but after what they have told us about what is going on, I don’t think it the best idea. I think the boy needs a new home; just like the one you’ve given Rune. We can’t take him, but I may know a couple who can. The only issue is his state of mind. I will send you another letter when I know more. -Erik P.S. You can send a letter to this address if you’d like. I would love an update on Rune’s condition when you can. I worry about her too. Rune’s breath caught in her throat. This letter mentioned the “other one” that was like her, the one in Erik’s diary entry. She wasn’t the only one that fell to Earth that night. But who was this other person? And where were they now? Were they gone just like the rest? And who in the hell was this new friend that Erik spoke of? She folded up the letter and put it aside before she found another from the same address. Rune quickly opened it up to see if Erik had written anymore about the other mysterious person. Dear Sweet Nora, I think we have found a solution. I have convinced the dear couple that I am with child services and that the young man is a runaway and needs to be returned to foster care. Our friend revealed that he has a way to calm the young man’s mind and ease his troubles. He can’t wipe the young man’s memory entirely, but he can ease the damage that has been done and try to cloud what happened before. If Rune has similar issues, he said he can help her too. I know you feel terrible, wishing that she will wake up not remembering a thing, but it’s probably for the best. Our friend says that if they know, they could become targets and his people won’t take Rune in. The other one is an exception, he says, but he won’t tell me why. I apologize for my ramblings, but I am coming to a point. I contacted old commune friends of mine who have been looking to foster an older child after their youngest went off to university several years ago. I didn’t tell them what we were dealing with, but I did mention that this wasn’t exactly by the books and they seemed to be fine with it. They’re arranging a flight from England to come get him and then I will be home. Thank you for the letter about Rune; I’m glad she’s stable. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Love, Erik This envelope had several letters stuffed into it, so Rune continued on to the next one dated in chronological order from the last. She was practically shaking as she made her eyes focus on the words in front of her. Dear Nora, Irena and Norman Grey came for him today. Our friend was able to stabilize his mind and convinced him that he had been through some rough years but that he was going home with a new family, one that would keep him safe and never hurt him. I have a feeling that something happened that our friend is aware of, but I won’t press the subject. He’s not happy that we are sending the boy away and he knows that he can’t follow because of his duties here. Eventually, he will explain things to us, or so he says. He is really very mysterious, but I trust him for whatever reason. He also told me that the boy and Rune aren’t related in any way and that he has no idea who Rune actually is, but he obviously knows the young man. He told me to let the Grey’s know that his name is Ronan. He wanted him to at least remember that. I’ll be home in just a few short days; our friend wants to show me something before we come back. -Erik Rune clearly made a horrible strangled sound because Ronan spun around in the office chair with a look of alarm. By this point she was starting to hyperventilate as she stood up with a lap full of papers, the letters in hand. She must have looked horrified, because Ronan recoiled at first. She thrust the letters in his face and was finally able to utter the words, “Read them.” Ronan took the pieces of paper from her and read them one by one in order, his eyes getting wider and his skin paler with each page. He finally got to the last one and Rune watched his face drop, all the color draining from his skin as his arm fell to his side and he stared at her, slack jawed. “Were your adoptive parents named Irena and Norman?” Rune asked, her voice quivering. Ronan nodded. “I’m a bloody alien too.” Ronan felt around behind him for the chair before he dropped his full weight into it. “Did we dig too deep, too quick?” Rune thought her head was going to explode. “I don’t know, but after what we saw out there today and now this, I don’t know if I feel safe here. What if we’re being watched? Erik said it would be safer if we were separated. What if us coming together tripped a wire and now someone, or something, is after us? I honestly don’t have a good answer here.” Ronan was rocking back and forth in his chair now. “Do we try and leave town? Or will it follow us?” Rune was trying to think of a solution. “I don’t know, but it may be good to see if there is another route out. You mentioned the trail that leads through the mountain. Where does it come out?” Ronan asked curiously. “On the other side of the inlet, closer to where you were living. Erik said they used to ride horses that way when they were younger and carts used to travel through there all the time in the town’s early days as a safer way to get around the bay when weather was bad. Erik has a shed out back and the neighbors with the chickens also have two horses that I feed and try to take care of. We could hook them up to the cart and try to head out that way. Maybe we need to head towards a city and away from rural areas.” Rune had a lump in her throat as she spoke. “You think we’ll run into that thing in the forest?” Ronan asked nervously. “I don’t know. We saw it on the complete opposite side of town and it isn’t like it can read our minds. If we get the cart and pack up some stuff now, we can leave while it’s still daylight and make it a good ways before we will need to stop. No matter when we leave, we are going to have to spend at least one night on the mountain. I have all the equipment and supplies we need, but we need to start now. The weather was looking a little bleak this morning and we don’t want to get stuck in the rain before we can make shelter.” Rune started gathering all the papers before she stuffed them back in their folder. “Ok, we’re doing this now. Good. What’s the first thing we need to do?” Ronan was ready to be directed. “Pack necessities: dry clothes, personal hygiene items, food, water, shelter, first-aid, survival kit, blankets.” Rune started ticking things off on her fingers. “Alright, just point me in the right direction.” Ronan was amazed at how organized her mind became when he asked her what needed to be done. Rune did so and the two were off, gathering what they needed to survive outside the safety of the bunker. The two spent the better part of an hour gathering everything they needed and packing it in large military style duffle bags before they hauled it to the surface for their next step of retrieving the horses. They were two beautiful creatures, one stallion and one mare, both saddle-broken and delighted to see the two who had come to liberate them. Rune fed them some fresh hay from a bale by the gate before she hopped the fence and beckoned for Ronan to follow. The horses trailed behind them as the two made their way to the barn where the animals slept and kept cool from the sun. It looked like it had recently been mucked and picked up; Ronan assuming that this was Rune’s doing. She showed him how to saddle the horses and the two mounted their respective horses and left through a gate on the original owner’s property, coming down the dirt road that ran alongside of Rune’s house. They rode them down into Erik’s property and around the side of his house where the large shed sat that Erik had used as his workshop. Rune knew he had an old wagon in there that he used for hay bale rides in town for the kids around Halloween. They could just hook the horses up and ride out of town safely. “Can you help me get the doors open; they always stick. I kept telling Erik he needed to do something about that, but he didn’t listen.” Rune rambled as she walked towards the shed. A strange smell hovered around the building, a smell that was putrid and rancid. “Sure thing…oh, God. What’s that smell?” Ronan had now come close enough to catch a whiff. “Honestly, this is farmland. Some sort of animal probably crawled in there, couldn’t figure out how to escape, and died. We’ll just toss it out into the woods if we find it.” Rune replied. She had fiddled with the padlock, listening for the click when the dial hit the right number. After two tries she finally got it right and pulled the lock free from the handle. With Ronan behind her, the two tugged at the door, it groaning in protest as they did. They pulled harder, rocking it back and forth, before it finally gave way and slid wide open, belching the stench of rotting flesh right in their faces. But it wasn’t an animal. In the middle of the shed was the cart, piled with decaying straw from last October. But draped over the top in the beginning stages of decomposition was the human body of a man. One that Rune knew well. “Oh, Erik!” Rune gasped in anguish, backing away from the shed with her hand over her mouth. She started to gag before she ran to the tree line and vomited eggs, sausage, and whiskey all over the brittle grass. Ronan didn’t even hesitate. He yanked the sliding door shut and popped the padlock back in place before he hurried over to Rune to see if she was alright. She had vomited again and was now crying, knelt in the grass as she sobbed. “I—I don’t understand. What happened to him? Why is he here but all the others are gone? I’m fucking terrified, Ronan. Now I do feel like we are being hunted for some reason.” Rune finally stood, clinging to Ronan for support. “Then we need to get the fuck out of here. We’ll pack the horses with the bags and ride out that way. We’ve got a tent and everything we need to set up camp. We can’t stay here right now.” Ronan gathered Rune in his arms and led her back up to the horses who were now jerking around at their posts, the scent of decaying flesh finally meeting their nostrils; they knew something was wrong. Rune remembered last minute to feed the chickens and feed them well before the two loaded the duffle bags on the back of the horses and mounted them once again before they directed the animals to the other end of town at a speed no slower than a gallop. They had to put as much distance as they could between them and the dead body in the shed. |
E.M. MoonStories from the World Wide Weird Archives
December 2021
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