Nifflheim

Symphony of Scales Pt. 3

Blood steadily flows down my arm until it escapes off my fingertips as droplets. I apply pressure to my wound, my arm beginning to go numb. My companions stare at me with worry, their faces growing increasingly blurrier.

"Asger, are you alright?" One of them asks me but their words sound so far away.

My mouth refuses to move and tell them I am alright, to thank Haralda for saving me from becoming snake food. The muscles in my legs loosen until they finally give out. I'm falling. My mind spins in my head on its way to the floor. My eyes close to my companions standing over me.

*****

"Asger!" A voice sounds from the longhouse in front of me. Thick tree trunks support its mossy roof sitting nicely on the walls carved from dark wood. Pale stones line the doorway with stairs hand-carved into the ground. Lanterns light the entryway providing the only light in the dark void I find myself in. Nothing else is here. It is just me and the longhouse in a vast emptiness that goes as far as I can see.

The door opens with a creak, gesturing me to come inside. Whatever is in there, it can't be any worse than being stuck out here. I follow the stone path to the door and step inside. A fire flickers in the center of the room. Its hue dances on the walls covered in animal pelts and a small assortment of weapons. Straw completely covers the floor. In the corner of the room lies a bed with the woman in the nightgown standing over it.

The light casts small shadows on her sharply defined face while she folds laundry. She stacks the cloth neatly on the corner of the bed. Her white nightgown hangs delicately from her shoulders and follows the curves of her body. She sings quietly to herself as I stride across the longhouse to the other side of the bed.

Her gaze meets mine and she stops singing, "Asger, can you grab the other clothes on the line outside?"

The words roll sweetly off her soft lips and her solid blue eyes captivate me. She is beautiful. It is hard to believe this is the same person who has been calling out to me. How does she know who I am? Where even am I? My eyes dart around the room remembering the dark void that awaits outside the door.

"Asger? Did you hear me?" Her words interrupt my thoughts but I can't find the words to answer her.

"Fine, I will get them myself. That's what I get having a big lug like you for a husband."

Her last word bounces around inside my head. Husband? Can that even be true? How could I possibly forget the woman I call my wife? The woman heads towards the door with a woven basket in hand. She hums gently, continuing her song from earlier. She opens the door revealing the nothingness that awaits behind it.

"Wait! Stop! No! Edlyn!" I shout, finally able to speak. Her name finally surfaces in my mind and sparks a few of my memories. The first time we met, the day I asked her to marry me, and just how much I love her. I run across the longhouse to stop her from leaving but never move any closer.

"Don't worry I'll be back," she yells back to me. Pure happiness and love radiates from her eyes. Please gods can I stay. Even just one more night with her would be everything. She walks out the door and disappears into the void. Gone. Lost to me forever.

*****

"Asger? Are you with us?" Langley whispers, shaking me gently.

I grab his hand and sit up to find myself in a new room. Old stone cell walls surround us on three sides with a broken cell door lining the fourth. The only light is what seeps in from the hallway. The smell of stale blood poisons the air. Haralda paces in the corner of the room with her sword clenched tightly in her hands. Frode sits on a flimsy wooden cot, one of the few things populating this open room.