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"My e is complete, sire"

"Then remove yourself from my presence and my realm! I never wish to see you one, chastised yet unrepentant, the king sent for me I rushed to answer his su have you labored for our greater good as a poet and enchanter of ar a hero Retrieve the Deadman’s Shroud and wear it yourself Follow Hel’s hordes and discover what they intend, then report back to me Slay none except in the utmost extremity You must live to return the shroud and speak of her plans"

"It shall be done, sire," I said, and wept as I bowed deeply to hihty a service

The Deadreatest of all Runeskalds, Mjotvangir son of Rathsvith, niered, honey-throated, unmatched scion of clever craft The shroud may be worn only by Runeskalds, but, once worn, it convinces the dead that the wearer is also dead There is no copy, for none have ever duplicated the skald of Mjotvangir; his runes exist for all to see, but the dread words he sang while crafting the shroud are forever lost

Orders given, I was led to the king’s treasury and presented the Deadman’s Shroud, sacred relic of my forebear’s skill I collected my skaldic shield, fire-tested, then was ushered to the front lines of the Shield Brothers, where battle still raged Rather than try to break through the wall, where I would be exposed to gunfire, I was vaulted bodily over it on the premise that I would draw no fire once I landed, shroud-wrapped, disguised from dead eyes

I landed heavily but intact, drew stares but no fire Identity concealed, purpose hidden, I joined the streah my own realm, an invader of ir had made! I marched unremarked in the midst of putrefaction, cold hborhoods and then past mines and pockets of wealth, I followed the strealy interminable hours of this journey, so far down I knew not where I was, the draugar before and behind ainst the wall of the tunnel we traversed I did likewise, waiting, breath heaving in a passage where no other breath heaved, until a giant of a dog rushed past: Hel’s own hound, named Gar a trail I could not snance and the acrid trace of sulfur

The dead, and I as well, continued after hi down, into the unlit depths where no dwarf had roamed for years When the darkness became too much for my eyes to pierce, the shroud didnone in the process

After another hour of peregrination, I entered a vast chalowed the resting for in peace, only his bare skin revealing a blue aura of si flailant The legions of Hel made no move to wake him but rather faced outward, ready to face any threat, and there they still wait at this verythe sleep of Loki, Hel’s father, lord of ris in Nidavellir

Her father found, Hel’s goal was acco into Nidavellir, but still they wait silently far below our cities for Loki, robed in wrath, to waken again

More than ten thousand draugar fell that day to deapons Seven ti their homes, their children left fatherless, their wood’s nap in the deep! For a Druid’s foolish tongue! You see me here, beardless and braided, for the loss of an uncle and a nephew in that battle! Why should I not now, in justice draped, exact a o? My fallen family demands it, as do the families of all the dwarfs who died that day!

"You will notsaid to Fjalar, her voice as cold as his was hot with rage "Do not stir to shepherd violence here These are your guests and mine"

The dwarf looked apoplexed "Butfinished "Odin has a plan that will pay your people properly and tax the Druid heavily"

"What plan is that?" I asked

"You already knoell Now is the ti said, "while Loki and Hel are occupied, while Gar about Ragnarok Hel’s realo to slay Loki’s spawn, Fenris, Odin’s bane, devourer of gods"

"You want ht he was supposed to be tied up on an island in therolled her eyes and waved this away "Snorri Sturluson made that up He was bound in Hel and there he reet into Hel" I knew the shift points to get to the planes of Nidavellir and Jötunheim--the first was in Iceland and the other in Siberia--but I’d never tracked down the shift point that would take drasil, which would lead elmir and the lower realoddess Freyja will lead you there She is your guide and your surety of return"

I snorted "Forgive , but Freyja is no surety of o Say rather that you’re holding a shotgun to er"

"She bes;sir that day, but none more so than her own This is her penance Only by your safe return can she restore her good name"

"And once I’m returned from Hel? Will she attack me then, her oath fulfilled?"

"No, of course not But you are not going alone In addition, good King Aurvang has already promised the services of the Black Axes"

"The Black Axes!" Fjalar exclaimed "How many of thele wolf"

"He’s not an average wolf, and you know it," I said "What is Loki up to?"

"It is so He has not had a decent night’s rest in centuries He is drained, and now he heals for an indeterer when he wakes?"

"Yes"

"Will he still be batshit insane?"

"His sanity has always been doubtful He once tied a rope to the beard of a nanny goat and the other end to his testicles just to -o’-war, and his idea of kindness If you are wondering if he will be less likely to pursue uess would be no"

"Can Freyja get us into Hel without having to fight through legions of draugar?"

"Yes You will take the path that the Æsir use"

For a while, no one spoke Eyes shifted around the table,expressions, and wood popped and crackled in the hearth

This was precisely the sort of thing that Odin had requested of me some years before Since I had been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of narok, I had to take on some of their responsibilities Fenris had to be slain, and ould find no better opportunity than this, while he was still bound in Hel and many of her forces were absent

"My hound stays here," I said, "safe and unuing about this I need you to be safe

"But I’m always safe with you"

You wouldn’t be in Hel

"And your apprentice?" Frigg asked

"She’s not my apprentice anymore She is a full Druid and may make her own decisions," I said I turned to Granuaile and spoke softly: "You are not under any obligation to acco heinous to your stepfather’s oil business Take Oberon with you"

Granuaile’s green eyes bored into ht up her left hand to caresswith you My decision"