07-07-2016, 01:05 PM
Sören's lips lifted in a predatory grin. He heard one word: everything, and knew it was a price he was willing to pay.
"Very well. You have our thanks."
He strung the amulet over his head, where it settled against his chest. Nothing happened, even when he experimentally clenched his fist and raged with power. He glanced at Declan and grinned, a little less mad in aspect, a little more boyishly victorious. It never even occurred to him to offer the prize to his friend.
--*--
The lake was as they left it. A white shroud of snow covered both their earlier footprints and the terror of their flight. Sören paused by the furthest chunk of flung ice, glaring into the distance. Feet planted in the snow, both fists clenched tight, he shouted into the wind. The runes cast it into the ice, hurled the sound out like an echo. "Jag är här!*"
It should have roused the beast. If his theories held water. But nothing happened.
He glanced quizzically at Declan.
It didn't seem a terribly good idea to go down closer to the water; they'd barely escaped with their lives the last time, and Sören meant to hoard every available advantage in order to assure victory. Returning to the lake's edge was the risk he would take only when all other options were exhausted, and aside from the distance, the only other difference between now and then was... the amulet itself.
Frowning, Sören clawed it from the confines of his winter gear. His scarf flapped free. The cold bit knives into his exposed skin. Something to maim the creature, Gokul had said, but what did that even really mean? The old man could barely speak English. Sören dragged the cord over his head, and held the talisman out to Declan. "Be ready to pass it back,"
he instructed. "Then stay back out of the way."
This time uruz centred the vortex of threads, red and visceral. The heat of it slicked his skin, even as the winds began to howl their mournful warning. Sören's fingers flickered urgently for the amulet, his other hand braced in a tightly clenched fist. The waters ahead began to break and rise as something immense bowed its surface. Crystals of ice joined the flurry; it was hard to see, squinting, eyes burning as though bloody.
"Very well. You have our thanks."
He strung the amulet over his head, where it settled against his chest. Nothing happened, even when he experimentally clenched his fist and raged with power. He glanced at Declan and grinned, a little less mad in aspect, a little more boyishly victorious. It never even occurred to him to offer the prize to his friend.
--*--
The lake was as they left it. A white shroud of snow covered both their earlier footprints and the terror of their flight. Sören paused by the furthest chunk of flung ice, glaring into the distance. Feet planted in the snow, both fists clenched tight, he shouted into the wind. The runes cast it into the ice, hurled the sound out like an echo. "Jag är här!*"
It should have roused the beast. If his theories held water. But nothing happened.
He glanced quizzically at Declan.
It didn't seem a terribly good idea to go down closer to the water; they'd barely escaped with their lives the last time, and Sören meant to hoard every available advantage in order to assure victory. Returning to the lake's edge was the risk he would take only when all other options were exhausted, and aside from the distance, the only other difference between now and then was... the amulet itself.
Frowning, Sören clawed it from the confines of his winter gear. His scarf flapped free. The cold bit knives into his exposed skin. Something to maim the creature, Gokul had said, but what did that even really mean? The old man could barely speak English. Sören dragged the cord over his head, and held the talisman out to Declan. "Be ready to pass it back,"
he instructed. "Then stay back out of the way."
This time uruz centred the vortex of threads, red and visceral. The heat of it slicked his skin, even as the winds began to howl their mournful warning. Sören's fingers flickered urgently for the amulet, his other hand braced in a tightly clenched fist. The waters ahead began to break and rise as something immense bowed its surface. Crystals of ice joined the flurry; it was hard to see, squinting, eyes burning as though bloody.
![[Image: odinraven.png]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/odinraven.png)