*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

  Xain did not so much open his eyes as move from a state of nothing to tentative awareness when he heard the slow sarcastic clapping.

  I’m dreaming.

  Or at least he was not awake. But aside from that one thought, his mind seemed unable to do more than muddle through the most basic functions.

  “You know…” an almost familiar voice mused, “I warned my sisters. I told them something like this was bound to happen. How could it not?”

  “For long, long, before you were born, Dagaz has been waiting. The other runes don’t truly understand that, I think. They will learn.”

  “Although… change is hard.”

  “However, if you are unable to calm its desires, I think none of that shall matter.”

  “Had Fen not once again intervened, I doubt there would have been enough of you left for us to hold a conversation. Are you really so willing to unleash something of which you have no understanding? I would think Bow taught you better.”

  Xain winced at this, but found his brief moment of shame at her words quickly snuffed out by the anger that was fanned to life as recognition dawned.

  “Fuck. You,” Xain growled. The words came out garbled and slightly slurred, but if this was who he thought, she had no right to chastise him for something that, if she had done anything more than demand he leave his life behind, could very well have been prevented.

  “Still have a bit of fire in you, I see. The two of you are so similar,” the woman continued unfazed.

  “I wonder, will that common thread bind you tighter, or only serve to aid in our destruction?”

  “Though,” she sighed, “I am being unfair. Our Skuld was unable to foresee how the dragons would react. Pesky creatures. But Powerful. Alas, it appears death has had little effect in altering their demeanor."

  “To seek them out, by the Tree, your friend is very brave. Brave, but foolish. Nidhogg will love him. If he can endure them, that is.”

  “Asgard's Dragon was too eager. Had it waited to emerge… well patience was never its strong suit. Quick to action, quicker to anger, just like the others of its Realm.”

  “If nothing else, the two of you will be entertaining.”

  “Entertaining?” Xain hissed.

  “Oh hush. You misunderstand,” the woman chuckled softly.

  “That is a compliment. It has been too long since anyone has been able to offer us a true surprise. But you, oh you are full of them.”

  “However, if I may offer a piece of advice. Before you call upon Dagaz again, grow your array. The others should help keep it… restrained. A bit.”

  “Dagaz may be a bit more headstrong than the other runes, but it has its reasons. Still, it would do no one good if you allow it to narrate your story alone.”

  “And while your choice to inform that boy of its existence was… bold, I am inclined to agree with your decision, if not the method.”

  “I believe Vector to be one of the few with the capacity to understand what sharing something so intimate means.”

  As she continued to speak, Xain’s mind started to clear, and he could now take in the odd grey light in which he floated. While he still could find no trace of the woman aside from her voice, her words found purchase, and all at once, he remembered.

  The dragon's throat in his hand. The fear on its face. The knowledge that despite its visage, it was still Vector underneath.

  “I… I almost killed him,” Xain breathed, the weight of it making him sick. The admission had been involuntary, and he had expected no response.

  Still she answered, her voice turning almost gentle as she agreed, “Yes. But, I believe he knew the risk.”

  “Why?” Xain asked, barely able to choke the single word out.

  He knew the question could refer to any number of things, and wasn't even sure what he was trying to ask, but at that moment, it was the only thing he could manage.

  “That is the question, is it not?” she giggled.

  “Why did it choose you? Why now? Why, why, why?”

  “I am sorry to disappoint you, but even we can not provide an answer with any certainty. However, I believe the more important question is, does the answer matter? Would it change anything?”

  Would it?

  Knowing why Dagaz chose him, what it needed, or what the Norns actually wanted him to accomplish, would be of little aid in his current situation.

  In fact, it may work against him.

  Bow had been careful in what he had said, worried he could too strongly influence Xain. She would be no different. So the better question was, what brought her here now?

  Xain doubted it was merely to have a little chat, or warn him against using his rune.

  After today, there was little need for such a warning.

  He had thought Dagaz would respond like Uruz, foolishly believing he could merely draw upon its power.

  Gods, how could I have been so stupid?

  They may both be runes, but Dagaz was like a force of nature. Tapping it was like opening oneself to a storm, and had Fen not been there today, Xain would have surely been swept away.

  No, using Dagaz was out of the question. If anything, he needed to focus on how to hold it back.

  So then what brought her here?

  The answer came then, as if it had just been lying in wait.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “You… want to help me,” Xain said, unable to keep the surprise at the revelation from his voice.

  The odd grey light pulsed around him, and a rainbow of colors washed through it excitedly, adding a sense of awareness to the odd space.

  “Well, it seems you have some sense at least,” the woman said.

  As she spoke, her voice became more real, and a face began to form from the light a few inches from his own.

  Though he had only seen the Norns for a moment, and admittedly in a situation where he was not exactly at his best, Xain knew without a doubt it was the middle sister who floated before him now.

  Verdandi.

  The name came to him, not from his studies with Bow, but from somewhere deeper, like a forgotten book falling off a shelf he only now could see.

  “My sisters believe our touch should be more… subtle. However, they are constantly looking at how to change what was, or what still may be. I am more pragmatic. I see things for how they are now.”

  “Still, I believe it would benefit us both to keep this little encounter between us.”

  The Norn continued to solidify before Xain, bringing with her a power both familiar and foreign which wrapped around him like a mother swaddling her infant child, and under such a weight, he could do nothing but nod in agreement.

  The gesture brought a slight smile to her timeless face, and she continued, “Good. Then let me say this. The necklace you wear has observed the arrays of many rune holders and runic beasts alike. As a pupil of the Ancient who planted the Willow, this knowledge has now been passed to you.”

  “Use it wisely,” she finished, and gave Xain a final smile, before the light around him blinked out.

  …

  “You are awake,” a voice said from above where Xain lay.

  More like I was returned.

  To confirm this, Xain slowly opened his eyes, and while he wasn't sure what to expect, the pale round head shrouded in a black green hood that stared at him with wide perfectly round eyes, was not it.

  “Fuck-” Xain cursed, his body jolting with pain as he tried to scurry away.

  “You should remain still,” the person said, their face and voice not showing the barest hint of emotion.

  “Who… wait, aren't you with Hel?” Xain asked.

  Before they could answer though, Fen’s face came into view, his mouth already open and tongue extended, ensuring Xain could do nothing but smile as the wolf began to furiously lick.

  “I know, I know,” Xain forced out, fighting through the pain as he wrapped his right arm around Fen’s neck and pulled him closer.

  “Thank you. So much. I… just, thank you. You are such a good boy,” Xain whispered.

  “A true friend,” the person said, and Xain could see they had not moved an inch more than was required, as they continued to kneel, and watched the scene with an expressionless face.

  “Yes,” Xain said, feeling the tears roll down his cheeks, which Fen quickly licked up.

  “He alerted us to the situation. How he knew we were guarding the door, I do not know. We believed only the captain could sense our presence.”

  “You were what?” Xain asked, caught off guard both by the statement, and the blunt way in which the person spoke.

  “We have been ordered to provide you protection for the remainder of the voyage,” they said.

  “Ordered? By who?”

  “Our mistress was quite clear.”

  “Who-” Xain started, but stopped when he realized he already knew.

  They were with Hel.

  Xain gently nudged Fen to the side, checking the cloak again for confirmation, but in truth it was not necessary. Their presence, or more accurately, lack of, was all the evidence he needed.

  Which meant there was only one person they could be referring to.

  Lilith.

  “Well,” Xain started, wincing as he used Fen to pull himself to sitting, “thank you. I think.”

  “You are welcome,” they said, and moved back a pace, so as to keep their face level with Xain’s.

  “Your injuries were less severe than your friends. We were not given instructions related to him, but Maziken believed his wellbeing would impact your own. Was this correct?”

  “What- of course. Is Vector okay?” Xain blurted, eyes darting around.

  Xain quickly found two other figures in the green black robes a few feet away. One stood with their wide eyes watching Xain, while the other sat with their back against a tree, an open book on their lap, but could see no sign of Vector.

  “Where the fuck is he?” Xain cursed, fear and anger rising.

  “With Maziken,” the one before him said, their large eyes slowly shifting in an exaggerated motion toward the one who sat by the tree.

  “What the fuck are you talking ab-”

  Before he could finish the sentence, Verdandi’s words came back to him, and as if in response, his necklace began to burn.

  Storyteller.

  The word filled his mind, and with it Xain saw several arrays, their arrangements varying slightly, but he knew each one was a possible template for what the necklace had dubbed the Storyteller Array.

  “Storyteller,” Xain whispered, knowledge of the array playing through his thoughts.

  “You recognize it,” the Rooted said, their statement tinged with surprise.

  “Vector currently resides within Maziken’s tome.”

  Without questioning how the knowledge had come, and relying on Fen’s aid, Xain stood, and slowly made his way toward Maziken. He stopped a few steps away when he was able to hear them as they read aloud from their book.

  “Vector lay in the bed, his mind calm, his body relaxed. The dragon was dormant once again, its ire sated.”

  Listening intently, Xain took another two steps forward so he could see the book, and breathed in sharply as he saw Vector’s likeness painted on the two visible pages of what clearly was a children's book.

  On the first page, Vector lay in a large four poster bed, eyes closed, and in a deep sleep.

  The second page showed Vector, his eyes open, looking around the room in confusion.

  “As he woke,” Maziken read, “Vector found himself in an unfamiliar room, with no memory of how he had gotten there.”

  Maziken gently turned the page, and Xain saw Vector once again, but this time he was standing before a stone huge archway, its center filled by a starry sky with a bridge leading into the darkness.

  “His body still ached, and his mind was not yet clear, but Vector knew this part of his story had come to an end. His next adventure awaited him, but to reach it he must step through the door, and into the unknown which lay beyond.”

  The next page looked like a drawing of Fen’s room, which Xain only now realized they were still in, and only held two words.

  “The End,” Maziken read, and closed the book.

  “Xain?” Vector asked from behind him.

  Xain spun, ignoring his body as it screamed in protest at the movement, and found Vector standing a few feet away.

  “Vector,” Xain said, and took a step forward.

  “Is this… am I here?” Vector asked.

  “Vector,” Xain said again. “Im so, fuck. I’m sorry. I didn't-"

  Without waiting for him to finish, Vector closed the distance, and wrapped his arms around Xain.

  “I thought I killed you,” Vector said, his normal reserved manner falling away as he pulled Xain tighter.

  “You?” Xain laughed. “I thought, well it doesn't matter now.”

  “You are getting stronger, Maziken,” the Rooted who had spoken to Xain said.

  “As are you, Phayte.”

  At their voices, Vector pulled away from Xain, and looked to the others for the first time.

  “Who-” Vector started, but cut off as Fen let out a deep growl.

  “He’s right,” Xain said, as he rested a hand on Fen’s head once more.

  “Before we go any further, we should properly thank the, uh… Hel’s Rooted.”

  “Wha-” Vector said, but Xain spoke over him, as he explained, “For how they just saved both our lives.”