The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 18: The Roll of the Sampo

"Wait, that's it?" Jacob exclaimed after Grimnir and the dead Valkyries departed the Sviddengen.

He glanced initially at the quiet Genevieve, then at the rest of the company, who'd dispersed to retrieve personal belongings and weapons. "The old fellow tells us to go destroy a ship at some portand then he vanishes?" He shook his head.

How's it even possible to make a doorway like that? How's it even possible to be here? Where did the Krak des Chevaliers go?

Horns blew in the distance and the baying of hounds grew louder. Shapes moved furtively through the dense forest's underbrush, the rustling a potential threat that seemed unmistakably closer than even a few minutes ago. Jacob wondered why none of the hidden watchers attacked, but then regarded the giant and werewolf nearby.

I wouldn't attack us, either.

"Was meinen Sie damit, das ist es?" Andvari the Arch-Mage repeated sternly, moving with Traeg toward the tall column. "I'm surprised Grimnir said as much as he did."

"The Hunt will be here soon, boy," Rudyick cautioned, but his voice was thoughtful, the usual arrogance momentarily absent. "You carry a weapon of significant power, leant to you by its owner. We could use your help. Are you coming, or not?"

Before Jacob could answer, he saw Fenris lope across the glade to speak with Ilmarinen, who'd returned to the forge. Using a pair of iron tongs, the giant withdrew a bit of metal from the roaring fire, placed it on the anvil, and began beating at it with his hammer.

"Ilmarinen, not to be the bearer of bad news," Fenris grumbled as he peered into the mammoth structure, "but you do know that you'll have to leave the foundry behind?"

The smith looked down at the burly man and flashed a grin. "I've missed you, Fenris. Of all Loki's children, you were always the most observant, and friendliest."

"Und the only one of that demon-brood to work as your apprentice," Skade said.

"Watch who you're calling demon-spawn!" Fenris cautioned. "We'll be making our own brood together someday."

"Not if you keep getting beaten as easily as Kullervo took you down," she countered, a flirtatious smile flashing through her battered features. She gave a commiserative glance at Traeg. "I told him when we met that I needed a real man."

"For Njörd's sake, I don't need to hear this story." Rudyick frowned and walked to the perimeter of the glade. "Odin's Blood, you people never have a sense of urgency."

"Where are you going?" Andvari asked.

"To see how close the Hunt is getting."

"Skade," Fenris protested, "to be fair, it wasn't the true Kullervo. He was a Huntsman—as elder a power as either of us."

She nodded and touched his chest. "Which is why I'll still share my bed with you."

Ilmarinen's hammer struck the amorphous glowing metal on the anvil. Jacob shook his head in wonder at both the size of the giant and the sight of a blue-green flaring.

Do I hear bone-dice rolling somewhere?

"You're truly not leaving until it's done, are you?" Fenris said, returning his attention to the giant as he draped a protective arm over Skade. "Even if the entire Sviddengen should be overrun by ghastsand fiends, and we potentially lose any chance of doing what Grimnir told us to do?"

"I can't leave, lad," the smith said, "not yet. It's the newest Sampo, and I'll not have it form here alone for any of your sister's troops to find."