The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 8: A Norn's Command

The voice of the Codex Lacrimae fell silent.

Aurelius stepped back, relieved. "Que'st esso?" he asked in wonder. "She's gone!"

"Completamente?" she replied, an appraising look in her eyes.

"Is what gone?" Ratatosk screeched, hopping between the Norn and Hospitaller and looking around. "Is there a ghost here—is that it? Is it a specter?"

"Sì, completely," the knight affirmed, in wonder. "How did you do that?"

She pulled the staff back to an upright position and nodded at the weapon. "This staff. The old man, Grimnir, gave me this spear when Mimir and the Norns held that council. I told you in the tunnels: he fused the spear with the staff, and it can ..." She shrugged, then finished quietly, "it can do things."

"Hei, that's the magic spear, Gungnir," Rudyick stepped into the glade and cautiously approached the Norn and Hospitaller. "I'd know it anywhere. Odin carried it when the world was young, and it never misses."

"Grimnir told me that it had other properties, too," Clarinda said. Rudyick gave a signal of a closed fist and then splayed his fingers before dropping his hand. The twelve members of his patrol moved into the trees and merged into the shadows, vigilantly alert for any sign of the Huntsmen returning or flaring of sorcery. The only sounds, however, were those of Franang Falls and the river rushing through the forest.

Rudyick bent his head for a moment, then leveled his gaze. "I sense nothing beyond you two and the presence of my Keder. There's much activity beneath the mountains, though. Probably Hela's Wilde Jagd still fighting the dwarves."

"Can we get back there?" Aurelius asked. "I don't like abandoning friends."

"Oh, that's it, I give up!" Ratatosk groaned. He ran up a tree trunk, then along a bough to look upon the group. "We make the effort to rescue both of them, and the first thing he wants to do is visit Hela again."

"Hardly 'abandoning,' I'd say," Clarinda said with some amusement, glad for the silence that had fallen in their minds. She'd ask questions about the Codex and Cerys later. "You were running straight into whatever trap Hela had set for you, and by leaving, I think we foiled her plans—by the way, is that how you always fight? Are you trying for some kind of Viking berserker thing, and hoping that acting pazzo will see you through?"

"Pazzo?" Aurelius repeated, appreciating the warm tone, but stung by her words. "I'm not crazy. I've survived every fight I've been in."

"Che stupida logica," she muttered, turning toward Rudyick, "and not an answer that gives me much hope if we face her again."

Aurelius recoiled slightly, then snorted incredulously. "I did dive into that river to rescue you, you know!"

"You need to work on your rescues, and maybe follow a bit more quickly before getting distracted by naked witches!" she replied. "Or, didn't you notice that it ended up that we're the ones who had to save you?" She included the company of elves with a wave.

Aurelius looked at the Dark Elf and even at the squirrel above them in an attempt to get some support. "What's the matter with her?" he asked, unsure why she seemed so angry with him.

"Lady Clarinda, I could—" Rudyick began.

"Lady Clarinda?" Aurelius asked.

Clarinda ignored the Hospitaller and nodded at the Dark Elf.

" — if you need it, I could make a runeporte to get us close to the Crystal Caves," Rudyick continued, regarding the young people. "But, I agree that your friends might be better served if you're not present. You've escaped from Hela—that's not an easy feat to accomplish."