The Stone of Sorrow by Brooke Carter

Author:Brooke Carter
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459824416
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2019-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

When we emerge, night has turned to day. After a while we stop to rest and eat, though I do not feel like consuming anything.

Einar gathers moss, roots, and herbs and cooks them into a stew, and Oski runs their sword through a weasel and roasts it over the fire. It’s heartening to have meat again after such a long time, and Einar watches me until I have chewed every last bit of my portion. Every bite imbues me with strength, and I feel my old self returning. Einar prepares tea for me and offers a salve to rub on my chest. I notice he is most content when he is caring for someone and looking after them in this way.

We must leave the relative protection of the trees now and pass back across the barrens, retracing our steps toward the rocky badlands. Then we will have to pass the steep rocks that jut from the earth and will have to bypass the glacial fields to find the great geyser.

We set off walking, me struggling to keep up, and by afternoon we are at the edge of a volcanic field dotted with scalding jets of steam and lava. Somewhere out there is the geyser. And Wyrd.

“It is no wonder she was banished here,” says Oski, their anger apparent in their voice. “This place is like the realm of Hel.”

“Which way?” Einar asks, and it takes me a moment to realize he is asking me.

“Oh,” I say, glancing at my vegvisir. It isn’t moving. I pull out my runes and cast them onto the black earth, among the lava stones and strange green flowers growing between.

“Show us the way to Wyrd,” I say. My runes spark, and an image of a bindrune appears in the air before me. It’s a new vegvisir, this one made from burning light, and it rotates beyond my reach. I try to touch it, but it moves farther away, as if wanting me to follow it. I have never seen such a thing before. Sýr has never spoken of this.

“Runecaster,” Oski says. “What are you doing?”

“Do you see it?” I ask them, and they look around, everywhere but at the vegvisir.

I gather my runes and walk forward in the direction of the burning vegvisir. “This way. Follow me.”

We walk on as the sky grows darker and the blood-colored moon hangs ever higher in the sky. We don’t have many days before it eclipses and the competition at moonwater commences.

We spot a small hot spring along our path that is so enticing we all agree to take a moment to soothe our aching muscles. I’m reluctant to break our momentum yet again, and it’s a little odd that Oski doesn’t want to press on, but the steaming water is too inviting.

I’m not fond of the idea of Einar seeing me without my clothes on, given how skinny this journey is making me, but I can’t wait to slip into the warm waters. I peel off my gear and hurry to join Oski, who is already reclining in the pool.

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