The Lost Runes Saga [Epic Fantasy]

"What is this place?" Vidar asked again, stepping inside into what looked to have once been a storage facility of some kind. It was just a single room, large enough to fit a hundred people. Similar metal doors led into other rooms. Some were open, showing people inside. Most were closed. A corridor led away from the main room. Kenaz runes affixed to the low ceiling gave them light to see by, so Vidar rendered his inactive.

Rune scribe students and thieves clustered in groups around the chamber. Some older men and women stood off to the sides, talking amongst themselves. Proper rune scribes, Vidar realized.

"What do you mean?" Ida asked. "We're in the sewers. Home for you, are they not?"

"I wouldn't say that," Vidar grumbled. "I have seen nothing like this room. How did you even find it?"

"Some maps found their way into our possession. And a key, as it happened. We've been looking for entrances the last few days and finally found one accessible from the inside of a building. Neat, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Vidar said, nodding in approval. "Fjodor knows about the building up there."

"I'm not surprised. But what would he find if he decides to do away with us? Dust and debris," Ida replied with a grin.

Siv stood up from where she'd been sitting in one of the groups, with Erik by her side, and they both hurried over and exchanged hugs.

"You won't take Fjodor up on his offer, then?" Vidar asked Ida.

"Nothing has changed," Ida said. "The thieves' guild is the thieves' guild. Full of men. He says we're welcome, but we won't stay alive for long if we join. Fjodor will see to that."

"He seems like a decent man to me," Vidar countered.

She gave him a dark look with her one eye, "Then you still carry some of that naïve boy Siv and I rescued with you."

Vidar cleared his throat. "Fair enough. We have little time, and there are things to discuss."

He grabbed Alvarn's arm and pulled him forward to stand next to him.

"I will leave for a while, so you'll have Alvarn to work with."

"Leave? What?" Ida asked. "Why?"

Vidar explained the task ahead of him.

"You really think that's possible?" Erik asked. "Becoming friends with them?"

All eyes turned to Vidar, who did his utmost to project confidence. "Of course. You just need to keep everyone alive long enough for me to get there and convince them. And now it sounds like I will have an escort sent from the steward himself."

Rather than stand around, they continued into one of the separate rooms where they could speak in peace.

Alvarn spoke in a low voice with one of the rune scribes before following inside. Once he joined them on the floor, he let out a sigh, a troubled look on his face. "Viktoria is Fjodor's prisoner."

"How are the other rune scribes here with you, Ida?" Vidar asked.

"When I decided to pull away from Fjodor's men, we took the captured ones with us. The old ones might be assholes, but it felt wrong to leave them as prisoners. Siv brought the students."

"We'll have to figure out what to do with them," Alvarn said. "From what Orjan just told me, none of them wishes to return to a guild led by Viktoria. Not after I told them what Viktoria put me through."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Ida said, excitement bubbling in her voice. "I've decided on a name for my guild."

"Let's hear it then," Vidar said.

"The Sisterhood."

"Simple. Not as mysterious as something like The Daughters of Shadows, but I suppose it works."

"The Daughters of Shadows?" Ida asked and made a face. "That stinks worse than you used to."

"The Sisterhood..." Alvarn muttered.

"What?" Ida asked.

Alvarn waved it away. "Nothing. Just thinking."

The small group set to talking about their plans going forward, deciding how to go about protecting Halmstadt, The Sisterhood, and what to do about the captured rune scribes, among a myriad of other issues."

Vidar pulled away and let Alvarn do most of the talking. His leaving Halmstadt for a while meant his friends needed to step up, keep things going, and plan. Solutions from him often meant throwing himself at the problem and trying to stay alive. Without that option, the others needed to find better ways. Looking at Alvarn, Ida, Siv, and others in the room, Vidar felt confident they'd get it done and stay alive until he returned, his mission completed.

Dragon's essence pulsed in his heart, its power singing to Vidar. He'd lied to others, saying he felt the dragons, that he knew of their intentions by instinct. It'd been just that, a lie. But there was something in the essence, shimmering in all colors of the rainbow, that made him feel connected to the dragons, despite all that had happened. If he could pull on that emotion when he arrived and speak to them from a position of kinship, he knew convincing them wouldn't be an impossible task.

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The others rose around him, and Vidar blinked, coming to and getting to his feet.

"It's decided then," Alvarn said. "I'll be going to the steward first thing tomorrow."

"W-what?" Vidar spluttered.

Leaving that meeting through a series of underground passageways, Vidar emerged near Runes Aplenty, unsure if he'd made the right decision to leave everything in Alvarn's hands. The decisions made in that small room were so different from the plans he might've hatched himself. He sighed and looked up at the empty sky as wind buffeted his face and set his coat flapping. No, he shouldn't doubt his friend. In many ways, Alvarn was the more capable of them. A planner, going about his tasks with consideration and due diligence. His coming up with a different path forward was something Vidar should've expected. His friend would get things done, would see the others, and even Halmstadt, safe. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the silence of the night and even, he found, the cold.

By the time morning rolled around, Alvarn still hadn't shown, so Vidar left a note and set off for Nordstan, where he crossed through the gate without issue. Seeing the imposing keep far up the slope to the north with its upper floors now reduced to ruin stirred something in his chest, which surprised him. He'd never held love for the upper city, the rich men and women who lived there, or the keep itself with the steward sitting atop mounds of gold, but it was still part of Halmstadt. His city. The dragons had a lot to answer for.

Few people braved the early morning cold in Nordstan. Those with means didn't need to. This meant Vidar walked up the streets alone for the most part. The occasional troop of soldiers or guardsmen crossed his path, but those who spotted him let him be. Most of their eyes were up in the sky, scanning for threats from above, rather than thieves prowling the streets.

A wave of nostalgia hit Vidar when he realized where he'd ended up. It was the same cluster of buildings where he'd met with the city officials in charge of mapping stoppages in the sewer system, where he'd learned just how little they knew of what would become Vidar's own little kingdom. The dragon bones resting, the gold that allowed him to purchase the rune shop, and the spear covered in styrka runes. He looked down at his hand, at the pocketed grooves and deep valleys where the runic symbol burned into him. It hadn't been an enjoyable experience then, but that rune allowed him to learn about essence manipulation, which allowed Vidar and his friends to slay a dragon. Rend's dragon.

"Stupid dragon rider," Vidar muttered as he searched the buildings, trying to find the right one from the instructions he'd received. There, on the far left of the street, opposite a butcher's shop for the wealthy. A candle burned in the window near the door. Before Vidar even had the chance to knock, the door groaned open, and a pale face appeared.

"Vidar."

Vidar blinked, his mouth falling open. "Embla?"

She gave him a thin smile and opened the door wider. "Please, come in. Tea?"

"Thank you," he said, following her in and closing the door behind them.

The inside looked much like the last place he'd seen her in, the building where she managed the Rat's Nest. Orphans with nowhere to go, receiving food and shelter in exchange for a hard day's labor. Desks were crammed together across the bottom floor, each of them with stacks of papers or ledgers on them. Embla guided him through an open door with a sign above it, but the letters danced and spun too much for Vidar to catch their meaning. Inside were four desks squeezed into a far too small place.

"Please, sit," Embla said, gesturing to a chair in front of a desk as she made her way to a corner where a kettle simmered over an open flame. No sowilo runes for her, but he noticed kenaz runes set into metal in the ceiling.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, leaning back in perhaps the most uncomfortable chair he'd ever sat in.

"Once I gathered myself after the accident and found that no similar positions to my previous one were available, I approached some city officials I knew," she said. Embla poured tea into two cups, then returned the kettle to the corner and sat down behind the desk. "What I found was that the oversight for the wayward children of Halmstadt didn't exist in the form that I would have liked. So I made them see things my way, and they were wise enough to offer me the position."

"So you are in charge of everyone who had your old job?" Vidar asked.

She grabbed her cup in both hands and drew in a breath with her face over it, savoring the scent before taking a small sip and nodding. "That's right. And now you're here. I've heard a lot about you, Vidar."

"None of it is true," Vidar said, narrowing his eyes.

That made her chuckle. A strange noise coming from her. "At least the smell still lingers," she said, looking over the rim of her cup, laughter glittering in her eyes. It was like she was a different woman from the one he'd met. A hard façade having melted, or perhaps she was just feeling nostalgia over lost days.

Vidar took a sip of his own, savoring the warmth going down as he swallowed. "I was supposed to meet an administrator here."

"Another one of my duties," Embla said. "With the recent upheaval, the crown has lost a lot of clerks and administrators in Halmstadt. Few of us have the luxury of only one area of expertise."

"Oh," Vidar said.

"Indeed." Embla put the cup down and grabbed a thin stack of papers. She placed the papers side by side in a row in front of him. "I need your signature on these."

Vidar scanned the pages, but they were just gibberish to him. So he looked up at Embla instead. "What are these?"

"You are going on a journey to Stalheim. The caravan leader has requisitioned food and water, as well as protection for you."

"Protection?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't need protection."

"So you'll fight whatever monsters you find all by yourself?" Embla asked with a smirk.

Vidar paled a little.

That made her grin. "So that story was true, at least."

"Fine, fine. I'll sign," Vidar said, grabbing the pen off her table and dipping it in a vat of ink. He signed his name at the bottom of each page and took another, larger gulp of tea. It was quite good.

"So, is it true?" Embla asked.

"Is what true?"

"That you're part dragon."

"What?" Vidar asked. "Who told you that?"

"It's a rumor," Embla said.

"There seem to be a lot of rumors going around," Vidar said. "You shouldn't trust everything you hear. Just a rune scribe with a writ from Stalheim, leaving this forsaken city behind for a life of riches and respect."

"I'm sure you are, Vidar."

They exchanged a look, and then Vidar sighed. "So, are the little urchins of Rat Town safe?"

A fire ignited in Embla's eyes. "They will be. Even if I have to crack a few wealthy heads to get it done."

"The Fallen Angels have mercy on anyone standing in your way," Vidar said with a smile, standing. "I wish you luck."

Embla scanned the pages he'd signed and nodded to herself. "Best of luck on your journey. The caravan leaves in a few hours from the eastern gate."

"Then off to adventure I go," Vidar said with a grin.

That made her look up and give a slight shake of her head. "Perhaps you'll need more than a little luck."