Elsewhere: Alfheim

Chapter 14: Niflheim

They managed to convince me to stay another night and meet more of the Dresden, as they have decided to refer to themselves collectively that way. I find myself at the same spot in the forest from the previous night. Memories of the trip to Aflheim run through my head.

Jess and I are sleeping outside on a cold, dark night. It's not gloomy, though. The stars are out, and the moon is full. It's beautiful.

I had just woken up from a dream... or may be a nightmare of being swallowed by Berkano. When it swallowed me, I began to see visions of the other runes and formed a general understanding, but I had no idea they could be used for more than just seeing and interpreting until Sophia.

I wondered what the runes really were and how much there was that I didn't know. Now, I'm almost there to knowing what they are.  The runes, the strings, it's all connected... but how? Being here brought me a little closer to what I'm searching for... which admittedly was different than what I had thought in the beginning.

The elves at Alfheim were right. I really didn't know what I wanted. I feel like everything that happened up to this point was impossible...except it really happened.

I smile. I guess that means that the impossible is just something that hasn't happened yet. When it happens, the impossible becomes possible, and I was dangerously close to believing that this was a moment of clarity. But in reality, everything that's happened since Alfheim was clarity.

And so I'll sink into that clarity until impossible never rises again. I'll surrender unto that clarity until everything is clear and there is no clarity to have.

I don the mask, and The Ways respond to my will to travel. I stand amongst the strings again as I remember that there was never a door to The Ways. I must be the door. That would mean that anyone who makes it here makes it here through their own door.

Everyone- no everyTHING is a Way.

"Is the nature of the The Ways understood now?" Kainen asks from behind me.

"I am The Way. The Ways of Self, The Ways of Truth, The Ways of Freedom, The Ways of Life, The Ways of Heaven, The Ways Of Earth, The Ways of Man, The Ways of God...The Ways."

"Good. What way is next?"

"The Ways of Death."

Kainen smiles. "Lead the way."

Nauthiz.

At the word, a world of night, mist, and ice comes into view. I become the string and pull my body into Niflheim. The name comes to me before I can even wonder. My cloak becomes tighter and warmer as cool mist bellows across this land. I materialize a hood from the cloak and remember the image of Death Scythe.

It's interesting how even across lifetimes, we can make the same decisions sometimes. At the thought, I begin to travel in the cold in the direction that feels right. Though, this place feels empty as opposed to Alfheim and Svartalfheim.

After what feels like hours of traveling, I find an ice structure that looks like a good place to rest. I make a fire with Kenaz to have some more warmth. The heated cloak is nice, but there's something about the warmth from a fire that feels-

"Gah!" A deep, loud, grated voice groans.

I jump up to see where the voice came from.

"You must be...hm...a traveler. I can't believe it! In this land? You must be either insane or seeking death."

I realize the voice is coming from above me. I look up to see a giant ice face! It seems the structure I took refuge at was actually some kind of ice giant.