65

Chapter 63

As the light passed, they found themselves on a hard, rough path in gloomy surroundings. Odin spoke quietly, "We are deep in the great tree, and we will have to traverse into the roots to reach our goal. There are those that live in these realms that watch us and some that might contest our passage, but proper caution and skill will lead us to our destination."

"You heard the man, Erin - pull in who you must, including me, and set up a perimeter. Our teacher here will show the way. Together, we'll make the route as safe as practical."

"Got it, boss. Jasper, take six with Betty. Danny, point. Rest of you, stick close but be ready to move if Ray or I holler. Rules of engagement?"

"Well, mine host?" Ray asked Odin. "How would you have us greet those we come across? Warm words? Hot steel? Something else?"

"Start with words, but be ready if they should choose to respond with other than words. Also, trust not to Midgardr expectations, for this is not there, and those that we find here may not live as you are used to."

Looking at Erin, Ray got a head nod. "Talk first but be ready to pump up the volume as needed. Carry 'em hot, folks, and keep on your toes. Things are about to get weirder," she told her people. The Skepsi troops followed her order and jacked shells into the chambers of their shotguns. Each trooper fed a spare back into the tube magazines from their tactical gear. Amber and Monica took out their rune-carved daggers, which Odin smiled at, as their mother drew a full meter of iron-hafted, crystal-bladed battle axe seemingly from nowhere. Updike produced a wicked, angular metal hatchet from behind her back, but Annya, Ray, and Tauriz kept their hands empty for now.

"If you would not mind, All-Father, I would ask Tauriz to speak to each of us, mind-to-mind, allowing us to communicate without words at need."

"An excellent precaution, and one I welcome. However, I must ask what you meant by," Odin's voice changed to almost perfectly mimic Ray's, "You heard the man."

Chuckling, Ray nodded. "Your title isn't the All-Mother, nor are you known for being bestial of form, nor bearing tentacles or thorns. Your form is that of a man, although none here would mistake you for just that without craft and skill on your part. As such, utilizing human colloquialisms seemed appropriate."

The left side of Odin's mouth hooked up in a half-grin even as he shook his shaggy gray locks in bemusement.

Tauriz took that as permission and gently offered a conscious connection to each of the group. To Ray's mild surprise, even Annya and Updike accepted the invitation, but Odin's four- and two-footed friends did not. Tauriz precisely ran a thread of samum into each person's mind, deftly lighting the perception of a tiny flame within each that danced perfectly in time for everyone, lending them a shared mental space. Within this flame's minute realm, she instructed them, "You shall find you can talk here as you will, folks. Everyone participating will hear everything each says, so no need to shout here. Even if you do shout if you get surprised, it would not be distracting to the others."

Thanks poured over the shared flame, as well as no small portion of wonder. Odin's presence was unique but not overwhelming, and Ray and Tauriz were also easily discerned as different in that space from the purely human. Strangely, Annya was somewhat less present than the other humans, seeming faded, almost transparent to the rest. Odin began sharing his ravens' views and wolves' scent-scape as they flew around, clearly scouting for everyone as they proceeded.

"What can you tell us of this path, Far-Traveler?" asked Ray.

"We approach the trunk, which we will need to descend. In the roots lies the well I have visited once before. There you must barter with its guardian. If you can access the well and what it contains, our first task will be complete. If you cannot negotiate a price you are willing to pay, there are other routes to the knowledge I seek to share with you. These alternates are not as simple, however, and may come at additional costs.

"I cannot say what price may be acceptable to you, for it is each person's decision, and the guardian of the well appears to set the price based on the petitioner. I do not know what the guardian may ask of you, but I would encourage you to try this route first. While the guardian will not blatantly lie, it may not volunteer all the facts at its disposal, either."

Time passed for the group, heavy and strange in this place, and the trunk eventually drew near. The bark seemed worn, scored and scoured around several cracks, some of which were yards wide. "The worm has long been busy here, down away from the eagle's watchful gaze," Odin commented.

A high-pitched voice scolded Odin from above, "And whose fault is THAT, old man?"

"Not mine, little one," Odin replied in a calm tone. "The tree was here long before I was."

"But you don't fix it! You don't make it better! You just let it get worse and worse and someday it'll die!" the voice ranted on. Emotions were strong in the voice, frustration, pain, anger, and sadness all clear.

"I cannot fix everything. I can only do what I may, and what I have done has not harmed the tree. If anything, I have fed it, helped it grow."

"But look! Look at it - it's worn! It ages! It will eventually die, and you don't stop it! You feed off it! What will you do when it is gone?"

"I do not know. From what I have seen, this tree will long outlast me. We are here to do what we can to prevent the tree from sundering, from being torn apart by others from elsewhere. This man," and here Odin rested his free hand on Ray's shoulder, "is on his way to the well. I have hope that he will find what he needs there, and that he will be able to make the difference, preventing a catastrophe that may otherwise occur."

"Hope. May. Perhaps. Words are useless. Actions are what counts."

"Then judge me by my actions," Ray interrupted, his voice hard. "I was given power. I found love. I sought none of it. And what do I do with what I have been given? I grow it. I defend it. I seek allies and knowledge to keep the worlds alive, and thus my loves and friends with it. This will help this great tree as well. I cannot know if I will succeed. I can only make the attempt."

The angry voice paused, then asked in wonderment, "What kind of man are you?"

"One born on Midgard who was granted a great gift at a terrible price. I have gained love, and by trust became more. Others saw this and each added their own boons and burdens, leading to what I am now, standing here before you."

"Then pass, man, and consider your companions more carefully in the future."

The presence faded swiftly, even as Odin's grey eyebrows rose. "You are truly a pleasant surprise, a warrior not afraid to speak from his heart. Those folk are not generally so kind or trusting."

"What can I say? They were talking from their emotions for reasons I do not know. Replying in kind usually changes things, whereas trying to be strictly rational makes things worse. They were upset, and they upset me."

"Mm," Odin replied, a small grin poking out through his beard as he led the way over to one of the moderately sized cracks descending into the bark they trod. "From here, we must go in single file. The passage will permit one to struggle past the next at need, but walking in a single file is for the best. The male Hinn and I should be near the front, and whoever takes the rear should expect being leapt upon from the shadows. Even within our order, it would be possible for foes to set an ambush. Do not expect there to be a safer region in the line."

"Thank you for your suggestions, All-Father," Erin replied. "Danny, you still frosty?"

"Yep, boss. No sweat."

"OK, take point. Don't push, take it as it comes. Ray, All-Father, would you be next? Kat, you're the base of fire backing them up, followed by the sisters and their mother. I'm next, then Annya and Updike. Betty for the rear base of fire, Tauriz, and Jasper is tail-end Charlie. Don't jam up together, but don't get too far beyond arm's reach from each other, either"

Nods went around, followed by Ray sharing amused acceptance over the link Tauriz had set up. "Kat learned this from us before," he shared. "It takes time to get used to communicating like this rather than the way you did up until now. Try to use this as we continue. It will become less unnatural as you do, and who knows - it might make a difference when we need it most."

Kat agreed, clearly remembering the week they'd shared retraining their reactions those few hours just a couple of days ago. "Think of it kind of like SCUBA. It's still just breathing, still just communicating. It's just a little different around the edges."

Lining up, Danny led the way down into the crack. The footing gently leading down into the wrenched-open wood was packed with shards of bark and leaf ground to a firm loam. While it was narrow, it had been shaped by the passage of many feet, squirming a little left and right as the crack wriggled forward and down. Realizing the tear was closing more than a dozen feet overhead as he went deeper, Danny started to make a gesture but stopped himself and shared, "Lights on" over Tauriz' link as he turned on the small but powerful flashlight mounted on his shotgun.

Ray thought for a second, reaching into Hinn for a particular capability. "Lights going on overhead, shadows will be a little weird," he shared, just before four spots appeared scattered overhead along the length of the group. These specks of samum were not casting light but rather drawing in the darkness they came into contact with and devouring it. Within moments, a series of bubbles stretched well over a hundred feet down the crevasse. Each speck reached out and drew in up to fifty feet of shadows. Solid objects - the walls and the travelers - blocked the specks' hungry greed, and as people walked along, they prevented this form of samum from working. New shadows formed on the far side of the blocks, only to be devoured in turn once the obstruction moved on. The specks wouldn't blind a person if they looked at them - they merely drew streams and shreds of shadows to themselves and dissolved them.

Danny continued to move forward and down. The rest obeyed Erin's direction, sticking fairly close together as they worked their way onwards. Occasionally one of Odin's ravens would fly by, wingtips brushing the wood overhead as they moved forward or back, watching for problems, but quiet footsteps were about all the noise they made.

Several more tears in the flesh of the great tree appeared, each at least large enough for humans to crawl through, as they intersected the one they were following. Each time, Odin pointed the way without hesitation, with none requiring a particularly tight squeeze. They were making good time, if time applied in this place. Eventually, Danny shared that there was a wider opening ahead.

"Be wary, for many know the ways through Yddgrasl, and some like to lay in wait in places like this," Odin warned. The group shared their appreciation for the warning and made preparations in case there was a problem.

Danny peeked around the edge. As he reflexively ducked back into cover, he shared his recollection of the setting. Someone had set up several walls across the opening the crack spilled out into, turning the constricted area into a kill zone with hard cover for their foes and none for those trying to work their way out.

"Jasper - watch six, we're on their timeline!" Erin warned.

"Want us to close the back door, Erin?" Ray offered.

"If they hit the back, yes - but leave it open in case we need to run."

Ray gently but relentlessly pushed his way forward, moving past Danny. "Taking point. I'll know more about the situation here in a moment." Drawing on the techniques he'd previously excavated from Hinn to deal with the Jann, Ray tasted the awareness of a half-dozen beings perceiving the opening from their hiding places behind the walls. Not Hinn, Jann, Jinn, human, or anything else Ray had met, nor were they identical with any of the memories of those who'd used these techniques once Hinn had become stable. Reaching into the lore that had grown up around the technique, all he could say for certain was that they were sentient and outsiders, but nothing more than that. "Six outsiders, not of a type I've met," he shared. "They're sentient and focused on the opening, no others watching that area. Should I try to get more info, at some slight risk?"

Odin shared, "Sending Freki up. Her nose may tell us more." Ray made room for the wolf, who took her time carefully sniffing. "These are jotun, giants. They still smell of their hearth fires. They haven't been here long. She agrees there are six, but there were many more not long ago. She cannot tell where they went."

"Unless someone has a better plan, I'll step out and confront them," Ray offered.

"I will, Ray," several tried to interject - Tauriz, Updike, Danny, and Amber.

"I'm glad we agree," Ray shared with a humorous tone as he squeezed past the wolf and out of the crack. As he did, he asked the waiting jotun, "So, where are the roasts and barrels?"

Two of the giants half-hidden behind their bulwarks said, "What?" while a third simply threw a spear at Ray. Snatching the small tree out of the air, Ray stood it upright on its butt, a three-inch-thick shaft of polished wood stretching an easy dozen feet into the air and topped with bitter bronze.

"Ah! A guest-gift! How kind, how kind. I don't need a new hall post, however, and while this is a gorgeous piece of work, I don't think it'd be very useful as a battering ram. I appreciate the thought, though."

A deep voice laughed, surprised. Several others joined it with different degrees of reluctance. "You have balls! You almost look like you could even use a real weapon, but no armor?"

"I am armored by my family, friends, and the skills I have polished. Armor is a useful tool, to be sure, but one cannot carry every tool one might desire. I am not here to fight unless I must, so I left my armor at home."

A large form stepped out into the lack of shadow. He was half again taller than the spear, nearly twenty feet tall. The jotun held a massive axe in one hand, cocked back to rest on his shoulder, and a huge round shield on the other arm. "How unfortunate, then, that you find yourself in a fight."

"Oh, so this wasn't a gift, then?" Ray asked, hefting the spear one-handed.

"No, no, that was Hirthir being a fool, not a gift."

Ray nodded, reaching higher to yank the spear to the horizontal before stepping forward and hurling it through one of the walls, pinning the unfortunate Hirthir with his own spear. "Then best I return it where it belongs."

"You are not Vanir, nor Aesir, nor mortal man. What manner of being are you?"

"One confronted by jotun, who will pass regardless of your efforts. Stand aside or pay a further toll of your blood. Your choice matters little to me."

The jotuns' leader stared at Ray, trying to gain some understanding of the threat he faced. Ray stood calmly, ready but unconcerned before almost a half-dozen jotun warriors and a corpse. "Hrmph. And where are you going, unarmored in the great tree?"

"Either your corpse will not care if you hinder me further, or it will still not be your business if you live. We will pass, now. Tell me if you wish to pay for the privilege in your blood, or will you stand aside?"

"I cannot let you pass."

"Thank you for your honesty. For that, I shall make your passing swift." Drawing samum forth, Ray gave a generous helping to the jotun. As if made of flash paper, the leader flared brilliantly for a split second before crumpling to dust, his clothing and weapons falling unharmed around his ashes.

"To those who watch, he has done his service. He stood opposed to one greater than himself, knowing the likely outcome. You four survivors, come and retrieve his gear. Return it to his home. He has done them honor in his choice of passing."

Four giants came out into the lack of darkness, careful to show empty hands. Swiftly they gathered their leaders' material remains and left. "Take the spear thrower's body with you. Perhaps someone will have better luck than he did with his gear in the future."

A few minutes later, Ray sighed. "They've gone," he shared, and stepped to the side. Danny came forward, carefully checking the area as Odin and the rest of the team filed out into the open.

"The jotun have no love for the world-tree, Tale-Slayer," Odin informed him. "They were not here at chance. Someone set them here."

"Then we will likely meet more interesting folk as we continue our trek, won't we?" Ray grinned.

Chuckling, Odin nodded. Tauriz stepped through the crowd and hugged him. "Don't be an idiot, Ray. You had no idea what these could do."

"True, which was why I was the right one to come forward, my love. Save perhaps for Odin or yourself, I am the best prepared for a fight. You were too far back, and he is our guide and our host as well as a known quantity to the jotun. Being different enough buys us uncertainty in our foes." Turning, he shared a thought focused on Odin. "I do need to know, though, All-Father. What would it take to make a smart jotun like that one stand as firm as he did?"

"Honor, primarily. He didn't seem particularly fearful, so I doubt threats would have worked. He didn't seek to gather wealth from you, either, so greed wasn't his motivation. Most likely, he swore an oath he felt he had to honor."

"Are they as variable as humans are in their interpretations of honor?"

"Similar, perhaps a little stiffer-necked than most modern humans. Those humans that willingly oath-bind themselves - your law-speakers, your healers, your warriors - those would find kindred souls amongst the bulk of the jotun."

"Good to know, thank you."

"You do know that you will be known now amongst the jotun?"

"That's fine, I didn't start anything, and I offered them every opportunity I could afford for them to back down."

"That's not how they will have seen it, nor likely how they will spread the tale. Either you were a force of destruction, somehow stabbing one with his own spear, or perhaps a coward who struck from hiding."

"Voice of experience, I take it?"

"Oh, yes, indeed!"

"If I offend with this next question, I apologize in advance. Are you limited by the tales told of you?"

"No offense taken. While that may be mostly true for some, it is less true for those from the nine worlds, and even less for myself. A reputation for mystery can be a useful thing, I've found."

"Thank you."

"With the path you have set yourself, you will be a force to reckon with for some time. I prefer allies where I can find them."

"Then let us be friendly, I don't want to be your foe!"

Passing the now-unguarded barriers, the group kept close, watching the darkness. Occasionally reflections shone back at the team's weapon lights, or a particularly self-aware shadow howled as the specks of samum devoured them. In the distance, the group could occasionally hear wings beating in the dark, feathered, leathery, or chitinous in turn.

Leaving the trunk behind, passing further out along the wrinkled surface of one of Ydgrassl's great roots, the team continued a steady pace. The realm they passed through seemed timeless. They may have been walking minutes or days; it would be hard to tell without electronics close to hand. Finally, Danny shared, "Ray," drawing his attention. The orbs of samum had reached a shadowy barrier that they couldn't absorb. Forty feet ahead, a wall of something stood, coming into visibility amidst the shadows streaming into the specks of samum.