The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 10: The Servants of Veröld Martröd

"Ah, there you are, Children," Traeg reproved with a tsk-tsk when Clarinda and Aurelius caught up with the group. "Come along, we must stay together in this place."

Rudyick, Andvari, and Halfdan were standing with Fenris in a wide space off the forest path and, if various hand-gestures and raised voices were any indication, they were disagreeing about logistics for the march.

Clarinda noticed that Skade stood off to one side, her head bowed as if lost in thought.

"Will we reach the Sviddengen soon?" Clarinda asked Traeg, but still regarding Skade. For all the Huntress's brazen personality, she looked as if she could use a friend. "I mean, do you think that we'll reach the glade before true night falls?"

"Nein, nein. We've a half day's march, and can't do that before the sun sets." Traeg chuckled. "It's bad enough that our path must take us through the Weeping Wood, but after dark? No, no, no. I think we'll need to find a place to camp within a couple of hours."

"I thought we were in a hurry," Aurelius said. "With a company this large, and the journey less than a half-day's distance, couldn't we travel into the evening and get close to the Sviddengen?"

"Servius, I don't think anyone travels in Svartalfheim in the dark," Clarinda said, then sought confirmation from Traeg.

"Sicher nicht, surely not," the female Arch-Mage agreed, tsk-ing again. "Look around you, Kinder," she added. "There are worse things than the Wilde Jagd in the forest at night."

Aurelius did so, and couldn't disagree—the forest was truly dismal. "Worse than what we've seen?" Aurelius pressed. "I mean, the vampyrs, stone giants, and skeletons?"

All three had rejoined the others in the clearing, and the knight opened his conversation to the entire company. "Excuse me, everybody, but I was just telling Traeg that I think we should keep moving as late into the evening as we can. I've got a feeling that if the Codex Lacrimae returns, she's not going to be so easily dismissed."

"Still calling it a she, are you?" Clarinda frowned.

He rolled his eyes. "Dio, salvami da gelosi ragazze Veneziane!"

"We're not having this conversation again," Clarinda said, annoyed, "and I'm not a jealous Venetian girl. I just want to make sure that it's not speaking to you without me knowing."

"Even if the Dark Book were speaking to you, Master Santini" Traeg interrupted, her tone brusque, "we're entering the Weeping Wood of Svartalfheim. The greatest of your predecessors would be hard-pressed to battle this world's creatures at night." She turned to her husband. "We've never travelled these woods after sunset, Andvari. Tell him why we have to make camp."

"The forests of Svartalfheim teem with fell creatures, Codex Wielder," Andvari said, grumpily interrupting his conversation with Halfdan and Rudyick. "Besides the ghasts and spirits of the damned—phantoms that can haunt your mind and change your memories—there are Draugr, Kludden, and Húð Göngufólk."

Aurelius glanced at the squirrel, then asked Fenris: "We've heard about ghasts, and Ratatosk mentioned Undead Vikings and Phantom Hounds earlier, but there are also Húð Göngufólk, 'Skin-Walkers?' What do all these things even mean?"

"I've read about them in the Norn Archives' sections on Svartalfheim," Clarinda added, "but I'm still confused. How are any of these creatures different from the skeletons, cadavers, and dead animals that make up the Wilde Jagd? "

Headshakes and murmurs marked the group. "They're all very, very different, Clarinda," Fenris replied, "and none of these creatures can be lightly dismissed."