Page 54 of The Fanged One

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The crystals in the twisting root and rock above them woke ahead of Arne one by one, pale lights blooming across the cave roof whenever he was about to reach them.

The dark road was a chasm that never ended, twisting down through stone and the roots of the World Tree, sometimes reaching out into a black void before returning to the earth. Since the portal had shut, the only light in the world belonged to Arne.

Fenris kept his hand in Linnea's, unable to let her go. He wanted to tell himself that it was because he was afraid something would reach out and try to snatch her from him. That was only partly true. His biggest fear was that it was too much like his prison.

Void magic, darkness, earth… He had to keep reminding himself that he wasn't trapped. Linnea seemed to sense his unease, and her thumb had started to brush small circles on his wrist.

"Stay in the lit stretch," Arne said over his shoulder. "The crystals answer the rune of passage I carry from Alruna. Walk this road without one, and the ceiling answers instead. Those stalagmites up there are not decorative."

"I'm sorry, the ceiling does what now?" Von demanded, pulling his head in.

"Impales trespassers, and Yggdrasil feeds on their blood and bones."

"Yay. Thanks so much for that description."

"You asked." Arne laughed. "We are allowed to be here, Von. Relax, or your balls will never come back out of your body again."

"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. There's a trick I know to cure that affliction. What you do is you get a beautiful person to blow your dick really hard, and your balls just pop right back out."

"I'm so glad we have brought a shaman of such peerless wisdom and knowledge of anatomy on our very dangerous quest," Layla said with a straight face.

"I never thought the words would come out of my mouth, but I vote we get Gandalf next time," Ciara replied.

"Oh, please, I bet Gandalf has blown plenty of…" Von started before he was cut off by Tor's hand over his mouth.

Fenris had no idea who they were talking about, but their laughter helped relax the prickle of unease between his shoulder blades. He had run Yggdrasil's paths as a pup, racing Geri and Freki along sunlit branch-roads wider than rivers. Those roads were the Tree showing off, but this one was the Tree keeping secrets. He doubted that even Ratatoskr ventured down here unless the All-Father ordered him to.

Fenris's scarred eye was aching, and no amount of rubbing relieved it. Down here, there was too much magic for it to try to read anything. Wards older than Asgard ran through Yggdrasil in slow currents. The light-threads of growing things pulsed in the roots around them.

He slowed and examined a root the width of his thigh that ran along the left wall, and a vein of dull silver threaded through its bark like frost. He leaned closer and inhaled, and the smell hit the back of his throat, sweet and wrong.

Don't touch it, his wolf snarled, hackles rising.

Wasn't planning to.

"Keep clear of those silver roots," Arne called back to them. "Don't touch them. Don't even look at them for too long."

"You are no fun at all," Von complained, pulling his fingers back from where he was about to touch one. "They are energy and magic currents that flow from the Nine Realms and help power Yggdrasil."

"You know this, and you still want to touch them?" Tor asked.

"I mean… How else am I going to know what it feels like?"

"No touching," Fenris growled. At Von's hurt look, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "I need my shaman not getting hurt before the journey begins."

"Fine," Von said and put his hands back into his jacket pockets.

Linnea turned on the path and banged her head a few times against Fenris's chest, and he had to stop himself from laughing. Von was going to keep them all on their toes on this journey, but Fenris was still happy to have him along.

Around a final curve, the paths opened into an archway carved from the cave wall. Warm magic pulsed around it, so thick that Fenris tasted it on his tongue.

"Urd's Well," Arne said quietly. "Mind your manners and speak when spoken to. If you value your wyrd, don't look into the pool."

"Which pool?" Ciara asked.

"The pool, Ciara. Gods, read a book," Von whispered under his breath.