Heresy: The Book of Mammon

Chapter 40

Chapter 40



The room felt particularly dreary as men and women filled the Warlord’s hall. Elaine couldn’t blame them for their outrage, it was after all, their only livelihood. Fists rose high, and tempers flared like wildfire as people shouted their disapproval of the new law. Baard sat at his chair, his head resting in his hand as he listened to the continuous bombardment of anger. Haggra stood at his side. Her hands were held high to silence them, but there was no use, there was no quieting of such anger.

When people were oppressed enough, they would eventually unite and stand against those that pushed them. She’d seen it before in Duraine. Following the burning of the Infirmary, Aegis changed from a quarantine to an occupation. It only lasted so long before the people cast them down, and it was Valimaar and her, that convinced them to do so.

It would happen once more. This time, however, it was not a mere detachment of soldiers, it was an entire army that they would stand against. Whatever was going to happen, would split the land in two. She could feel the tensions of all, one side embracing the new law, the other rejecting it. It was more than an argument, it was a battle.

It was a shame to see people defend such a law, but who was she to judge them? Some people were motivated by the promise of gold. It wasn’t entirely their fault. It was their nature to want, after all. It was the same with all humans, but reason often overcame greed. Those that rejected it, understood what problems it would bring. If one thing was certain, hierarchies were not at all equipped to furnish people with necessities. It was not the function of law to give them the tools to survive, but rather to keep them in line with the next man. Law was meant to quiet the populace in a way that benefitted both rich and poor. What compassion could not handle, law would. For humans could not live on their own, though they had the will to survive, without one leading them, they would swallow themselves. Humans had to be governed or they would destroy themselves. It was a damned unfortunate truth, but it was the truth nonetheless, and it was a shame to see it abused in such a fashion. This was not governing. It was oppressing.

Elaine looked on as an insufferable sense of sorrow and resentment pervaded the very air of the room. They were the embodiment of the desolate and distraught and despite the stern, natural beauty of the people she had come to know and respect; she could not relieve herself of the bitterness.
The warlord was not in any current favor of those that he led, and it was painful to witness such blame fall onto the incorrect target. From what she had seen, Baard was a compassionate ruler; ever mindful of those beneath him. It was a rare quality that often escaped rulers, and was accused of having no place in lordship, but she knew it was one he possessed. To see it attacked in such a way left a sickening of her heart.

The crowd hushed as Baard stood from his seat. “We shall deny this law!”

Haggra shook her head as he spoke. Elaine knew that regardless of the decision, no good could come, for they would be victims regardless. Now, rather than starvation, they openly acted against the king. As Baard stated, it would be considered treason, but perhaps treason is what was needed.

Voices rang high and true as men and women shouted their agreement. Those that supported the law stood silent with heads low. The arguments had ceased with the word of their Warlord. Though his decision would have consequences, it was the wisest course, or so she thought.

***************

“We shall go north, into Skald in the morning.” Baard gripped the hilt of his sword as he offered himself a long draught of mead. He wiped away the streams that trickled from the corners of his mouth. “Ingvarr has ever been our friend and ally, we shall discuss ways of opposing the King’s rule.”

“Warlord Baard.” Razelle rose her eyes from the table. “The King is not the one to blame.”

“Then who does this treason belong to?”

“Jarl Loki.”

Baard shook his head. “The Tribunal?”

Razelle nodded. “This is exactly what he wants you to do. He’s looking to dethrone the King through uprising.”

“What do you propose we do, Razelle?” Papal picked at cracks in the table.

“Sif, those that came with you; the ones in black, who are they?”

Elaine turned to the dragon. “The Expurgators, Rialev and Judaes.”

Papal nodded. “Assassinate Loki.”

“It is not that simple, Baldr. His will is already in motion. We need to stop his ambitions as well.”

“What must we do?” Papal asked.

“The King must be made to care. If he commands it, Loki will be arrested along with the Tribunal. We cannot kill the Aesir. If the Ymirjar regain what was lost, they will be the only thing that can protect the spirits.”

“How will we convince the King to arrest him?”

Razelle shook her head. “I cannot convince him. The people of Gjaalarbron fear what they do not understand, especially dragons. I dare not make the same mistakes that my kin have.”

Haggra nodded. “I understand, Razelle.”

“The Expurgators can perhaps, sway the King’s opinion.” Papal lifted his attentions from the table.

“How?” Haggra asked.

“They have ways of… obtaining information.”

“Very well.” Razelle turned to Baard. “Go to the north, Warlord. Convince the other clans to unite against Loki. When they gather, march to Dustaffnage. If we fail, it will have to be taken by force.”

Baard nodded. “Will you help us?”

“I will do all I can, Warlord. Dragons are not killers, we are protectors. There are far too many innocents in Gjaalarbron, I will not be able to aid you in force.” She lowered her head. “I never thought it would come to this, but I can call the Jotuns. They will aid you.”

“Razelle, they cannot be controlled!” Papal’s eyes were wide at the suggestion.

“It is all I can do. I can convince them.”

“Do you suggest –“

“Yes.” She cut Haggra off before she was allowed to finish.

Baard scanned the other three. “Will you go with us?”

“They have other business, Warlord.”

“The Equinox?”

Haggra wiped a tear from her eye. “Yes.”

“Very well. I do hope your ship will go.” His attentions turned to Elaine.

She nodded. “I will see that it’s done.”

***************

It was one of the twin peaks that embraced the Hunsvald city. They’d come through what appeared as little more than a crack in the face of the mountain. It sliced deep within the stone, and it was there, that the ancient door of ice stood taller than the highest tower. It was not a door with a handle, or lock, but rather a flat surface that was carved within the frozen heart of the mountain by men of old. Two great pillars jutted from the floor to the rocky ceiling above, and stood on either side of the door. They were shaped as vines that twirled and twisted about one another as if they tried to strangle themselves and at their base, roots dug into the stone. Each vine was littered with thorns that stuck out like spears. Icicles hung from each thorn, and sparkled in the unnatural blue glow of the deep cavern. Upon its surface, a tree glowed pale blue, and sparkled with white light all about the branches as though the stars hung in the tree. The tree, though only a glowing image, was remarkably alive, and leaves rustled in a breeze that wasn’t there. They fell from the branches and to the earth at the bottom of the great image. There, they faded and turned to white sparkles of light. They floated back to the tops of the tree, and faded. Where the lights died, a new leaf rustled in the breeze.

“This… is the cycle of life.” Haggra’s soft voice echoed through the glowing cavern as though she spoke from across the cosmos. “This is Yggdrasil; the tree of the world. We are entering its boughs.”

Elaine did not understand the metaphor. They were in a cavern, not a tree. “What do you mean?”

“The world rests within the branches of Yggdrasil.” Papal’s voice spoke firm and rumbled through the cavern a hundred times before it faded. “This is the beginning of the world. Odynn began its creation here.”

They stood upon the world’s oldest floor. She turned about and viewed the majesty that she had ignored. Within the ceiling, she saw no stone surface, or ice. High above her, the cosmos shifted and moved like the stars of the night sky. The stone vines gnarled their way across the heavens above her, as though they held the weight of the universe, and she stood beneath it; within it. Stars grew bright as torches, and some burst into thousands of scattered lights before fading to darkness. Great orbs of blue, red, and brown spun and twisted about, they two burst into light and faded. White fires streaked across the ceiling, leaving glowing trails behind them, and they vanished through the walls of the mountain.

Haggra whispered words she could not understand, and a sharp ray of white light split the door in two. It sliced through the glowing blue surface from top to bottom like a knife through cloth. As it touched the floor, it burst into blinding white, and swelled to either side of the great door. Light faded, and finally evaporated into the dim, cold light that glowed beyond.

“Where does this lead?” Her voice carried into the great fissure and the hole swallowed its sound.

Papal bowed his head. “To creation.”

Ice glistened as though she were walking through the stars. As Elaine followed close behind Papal and Haggra, her eyes darted about within the great, frozen cavern beneath the mountain. The stone that wound its way through the tunnel of ice was cut in smooth notches that bore deep into the bowels of the great rock. They used no torch or fire of any kind to navigate, for the ice glowed pale blue, as though she were walking beneath moonlit snow. It was as clear as the still waters of the deepest lakes. Within, she saw faces of both man and beast. Each of them was trapped in their frozen prison. Their faces cried with agony or sorrow to the direction of the heavens that were smothered by the mountain. It was the story she’d seen in the underhalls of Lokken. Almost in exact duplicate. She’d seen the birth of the world until they’d reached the gateway. It was upon those dark walls, that only death told its tale.

She saw that tale once more, only this was no carving; these faces were real. People wielded sword and stone as they were locked in battle with beasts she had never seen. They appeared as wolves but larger, and more vile. They had no touch of gray upon their fur, but the embrace of black as dark as the deepest hole. Jaws severed limbs, and swords sliced through furry flesh. Whatever happened in this place, was ended by the creation of the great mountain.

The men were of a different race than those that walked the lands of Xalimfal. They were not as tall, or muscular, but the size of them. They, like the sons of the island, wore heavy furs, and armor. Their swords as nearly as tall as they, and they looked as though they handled them with ease. There were others that held no weapons, but rather long, gnarled sticks. Some pointed them at their attackers while others pointed them at the heavens. Almost all of them were hunched as though they braced against a falling stone.

They continued down deeper into the earth beneath the weight of the mountain of ice. Men and beast vanished within the frozen portrait, and braches with green leaves stabbed through the ice, in frozen stillness. The corridor’s air no longer chilled her, as a warm, gentle breeze carried scents of dew upon grass. Rushing water echoed through the corridor, and she heard splashing and trickles as though it came in every direction.

Alongside, branches grew ever thicker within the ice all around her. The frozen walls grew thin, until they were no more, as they stepped beyond the frozen dream, her feet thudded against wood. It was not planked like that of a floor, but solid wood that spanned the floor, walls, and ceiling of the entire corridor. It turned this way and that, and smelled sweet of bee pollen, though there were no bees. Gnarled, green tendrils grew upon the walls and ceiling, and deep green leaves poked from the twisting vines. They were of no leaf she was familiar with, though nature was quite obscure to her. Yggdrasil was in fact more real than she thought, for she was walking into it. She was walking into creation.

The floor was slick with moisture, as the gentle thunder of waterfalls reverberated through the gnarled hall that grew ever more in circumference. The wood darkened to a deep brown as the surface changed once more. They stepped through the doorway, and a great, round room rose from where they stood to as far as she could see. It had no ceiling that was visible, and high above her, greenery and vines tangled together all about. Pale blue orbs of light twinkled on hanging vines all about, and bathed her in their cold glow.

Water flowed from above to small baskets of tangled vines, each pouring their own water to more baskets below. It cascaded tall stairs down to a pool that glowed a deep blue and rippled all about. It was the shape of a crescent, and plants she’d never seen grew all about its waters. In front of the pool, within the center of its embrace, a single stone stood. It was as tall as she, and much wider. Though the edges were rather rough, the front of it was smooth as glass. It was a twisting array of blues and purples that continuously shifted like smoke. Upon the surface, runes of a different language glowed in dancing colors of light.

“This is the realm of Yggdrasil, and we are now within the trunk of the great tree. This is the well of Mimisbrunnr.” He turned and faced her.

“And what is that?” She pointed to the great pillar.

“The Runestone.” Haggra said. “It is the beginning of this world.”