“Well, that actually won't be a problem.”

  What?

  How could that not be a problem? Before Xain could ask though, Bow continued.

  “Dagaz is a rune with some interesting properties. No one truly knows what it is capable of, but the Norns made it clear when it was altered, when we masked it as Uruz, it was more than just illusionary. As far as it knows, it is Uruz, and will remain so until you tell it otherwise.”

  “I can’t say I understand it either, but for now, not even the Valkyries will know the difference. This will at least be enough to get you past the initial check. After that though, it's impossible to say. Which is why once you get to Niflheim, your goal should be both to grow your array, and gain an understanding of how your rune will react.”

  Okay. Well at least I know what I need to focus on. That's something.

  A gust of wind suddenly pushed its way through the barrier, and Bow looked up, his face dropping.

  “We have to go. This Realm cannot sustain us both for much longer. When we leave here though, remember not to mention anything about Odin, Loki, or your rune. The Norns have aided in shielding me so I may help you train. But their protection only extends so far.”

  Xain nodded as he curled his hand into Fen's fur, took a deep breath, and inwardly said, ‘It's you and me now. You ready?’

  As if hearing the words, Fen turned, and hopped up so his massive paws rested on Xain’s shoulders, giving him the optimal position to lick Xain’s face several times.

  “Right,” Xain said, unable to hold back a smile. “Of course you are.”

  …

  “Hold it, feel it, sense it. The rune is not something you can control, anymore than you can force your blood to flow, or your heart to beat.”

  Bow had wasted no time in starting Xain’s training. Two hours after leaving what Bow had called the Realm Bud, he had led Fen and Xain to a little clearing in the forest near their house and told him for the next week their only focus would be getting Xain familiar with using the power of Uruz.

  According to Bow, he had been training Xain for this moment his whole life, but feared using the rune directly would draw too much attention. While it was true that Bow had spent years teaching him in the art of combat and survival, Xain was unsure how this would actually translate to using the power of his rune.

  It was odd. Xain had been aware of his rune his whole life, but up until now, he had barely given it much thought. He wasn't sure if it had to do with the way it had reacted to whatever power Bow had used before, or if it was just the fact that he was now giving it the proper attention, but all at once it seemed impossible he had ignored it for so long.

  Bow was right. It was alive. Xain could feel its power pulsing through him, stretching out from the point between his shoulders, and coursing through every part of his body.

  How could I have not felt it before?

  “Okay” Xain said, closing his eyes and focusing on the power, willing it to his hands. For a moment nothing happened, but just when he thought it wasn't going to work, Xain felt the shift. It was responding!

  His palms became cool, then cold, then freezing. He snapped his eyes open, and found a thin layer of ice covering both his hands, small frozen crystals of moisture sparking in the air around the tips of his fingers.

  “Hah!” Bow boomed, slapping Xain on the back, breaking his concentration, and shattering the effect all at once.

  “You know, it took me months before I could do that. Uruz is a stubborn bastard.”

  “That was…”

  “That was your rune!” Bow boomed again, his voice proud.

  “Is that all it can do?” Xain asked, suddenly worried how the fuck he was supposed to survive if all he could do was make his hands a little chilly.

  “Of course not,” Bow said, grabbing both of Xain's hands in his own and inspecting them. “This is just the first step. Every rune is different. And the longer your array becomes, the more you will be able to do. Not just with Uruz, but with all of them. An array is like a story, and your powers are a manifestation of the tale it tells.”

  “Uruz is the second rune in the Futhark. It is the story of the primordial ice that came from the Void from which the World Tree grew. It was when Uruz and Fehu combined, when the primordial fire and ice clashed, that the Tree was formed. Aurochs, those massive bovine beasts which roam the plains, came to represent the rune’s physical aspects of strength, sturdiness, hearty body, and strong will. Even within this single rune, there is a story. You just need to understand it.”

  “Watch here,” Bow continued, turning to face a large oak tree to his right.

  Bow extended his right hand, palm out, and produced a beam of ice that struck the tree, shattering its bark, before creeping up its branches. In only a few seconds the tree was covered in a sheet of dark blue ice several inches thick.

  Without saying anything, Bow walked up to the tree, pulled his fist back, and struck the ice covered trunk in its center. The moment his fist made contact, the tree shattered, showering Bow in fragments of ice and wood.

  Xain could only watch, his mouth slightly open, as Bow brushed off the debris and turned to him with a smile.

  This was the power of a true runic user, Xain knew with a shudder.

  Before Xain could say anything, Bow looked over his shoulder, spread his arms wide, closing his hands into fists, and brought them together in front of his chest. The moment his fists met, the broken shards of wood sprung up from the ground, the ice melting off in a sheet of water, and the tree began to knit itself back together.

  In less than 10 seconds it was as if nothing had happened at all, the oak once again standing tall, its dark green leaves fluttering in the light breeze.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Even Fen, who had been laying a few yards away, perked up at this, his ears standing tall as he cocked his head to the side.

  Xain had seen runic users in town performing a variety of divination, rituals, and powers, but nothing had come close to what Bow had done in the last two minutes. It was clearly the difference between a novice and master, but that didn't begin to describe it. Bow was working on a level that the others he had seen could not even imagine.

  “What in Hel was that?” Xain asked when Bow stood by him once more.

  “Cone of Ice, Auroch Strength, and the last one was something of a specialty of mine I call Renewal of the Void.”

  Bow had been teaching Xain about the runes all his life. It was part of his daily studies, learning the names of the runes, the Realms in which they are held, the basic powers they granted, how arrays change the powers depending on their arrangement, and a vast variety of other things pertaining to them, but until now it had all just been theory.

  He had listened, learned, memorized, but Xain was quickly understanding the difference between what he had been taught, and applying that knowledge. There was more to it though. Until he had come in direct contact with Bow’s power at the cabin, his rune had never felt like anything more than an afterthought. Xain knew it was there, but most of the time he completely forgot its existence.

  Bow had said it was going through an awakening, and Xain was just beginning to understand what he meant.

  As if reading his mind, Bow continued “Designating names to different abilities helps direct the power, giving it a path to take, and aligning it with your will. Remember, the runes are as alive as you are me. More so, really. They have intentions of their own, and it is up to the rune user to incorporate the runes story with their own.”

  “While each array and rune tells a story, the person who holds them are the ones to narrate it. You give the story a voice, channeling the power in ways that draw out and direct the power.

  With the names, we give the power different shapes, different ways to express its various aspects.”

  “I know, it sounds complicated. And it is. But I promise, the more you use the power the more this will all make sense.”

  Xain didn't doubt Bow, but after seeing the difference between some ice on his hands, and what Bow had done, it was clear how far he had to go.

  “For now, don't worry about all that too much. The names will come to you, as your bond with the rune deepens. They will aid you, guide you, teach you, so long as you let them.”

  “The Houses teach that the runes are something to be mastered, that you must dominate the runes, and bend them to your will. But it is a short sighted view, and one that, with longer arrays, is a sure path to dissonance.”

  “Respect the runes, and they will respect you. Treat them as if they are tools whose only purpose is to enact your commands, and well, don't be surprised when they fight back.”

  Dissonance had only been a thing in books to Xain up until now. But with his new reality, the danger suddenly took on a whole new meaning. From what he understood, dissonance occurred when the runes rejected the holder, and had a variety of consequences ranging from draining the user of their life until nothing but a shell remained, to creating an explosion of raw power that could wipe out everything within a two mile radius, and everything in between.

  His books had been filled with horror stories of users experiencing dissonance, and was often used as the main argument for both following a predetermined arrangement and restricting the length of one's array.

  When a runic user was acquiring a new rune, they went through four main phases: Discovery, Embodiment, Scripting, and the Blaze. Dissonance was most common to occur in either the second or fourth phase. Once a user had completed the Blaze, and their rune had been fully integrated into their array, the risk of dissonance decreased significantly, but it was never entirely gone.

  “Right” Xain said, trying and failing to hide the shudder that ran down his spine.

  “Oh,” Bow said, throwing his arm around Xain’s shoulders and pulling him close. “Don't get too worried about that yet. Dissonance shouldn’t be a problem until your 7th or 8th rune. You got some time. Though, don't let your guard down. Unless you get some help, you won't have access to the sap the others use to pass through the Blaze. You should be fine, but I can't say it will be enjoyable.”

  “Thats a problem for later though. For now, I just want you to focus on doing what you can with the rune. The stronger you are before the trip, the better.”

  So… why bring it up?

  Xain couldn't help but shake his head, knowing Bow meant well, but also acutely aware of the gap in power between them. The things Bow saw as trivial were currently mountains Xain had to climb.

  “So, ready to try again?” Bow asked.

  Xain took a breath, pushing away his creeping doubt, and nodded.

  …

  By the time Bow called it a day, Xain had successfully covered his arms in ice, and managed a pitiful puff of frost the size of his fist that evaporated in less than two seconds under the fading sun.

  Despite this, Bow was encouraged by his progress, and as they sat down to dinner, he was pretty sure he could feel a sense of satisfaction emanating from the spot between his shoulder blades where his rune sat.

  It wasn't until Xain had eaten three servings of the hearty stew Bow had made, along with two loaves of dense bread, and drained three mugs of their home brewed ale, that he finally felt the exhaustion set in.

  He only barely made it to the couch before his eyes closed, and was fully asleep by the time Fen had hopped up, curling into a ball, and resting his head on Xain’s legs.

  …

  Bow sat down on a chair by the fireplace, looking at Xain and his wolf with a smile that slowly turned sad as the reality of their situation set in.

  He had taken for granted the notion they would have more time together. A week, less now, and he would be gone.

  “No,” Bow said to himself, his face setting in determination. Xain would make it. He was a survivor. And he held a strength that early on had terrified him. In the wrong hands, the boy could be a force of pure destruction. There was so much he didn't know. About the rune, about those fucking crones plans, about what was to come, it could drown him.

  He had to trust Xain would find his way. The boy had a unique view of the world which would serve him well on the journey ahead. On top of that, he had Fen. Bow had his fair share of experience with runic creatures, but even among them, Fen stood apart.

  For one, he was smarter than any wolf, runic or otherwise, Bow had ever known. He had long suspected the wolf was capable of understanding everything they said. But he had a growing suspicion that when it came to Xain, Fen was able to see at least some of his thoughts.

  The array which ran up the wolf’s spine was already 10 runes in length, and showed no signs of stopping. How Fen had been able to acquire the runes was a complete mystery to Bow, and even the Norns had seemed puzzled at this development, a fact which had brought Bow a great deal of joy.

  Still, Bow well knew the dangers he was likely to face while traveling the hidden paths. It would of course be far worse for Yid or one of the other Houses to discover the rune he held, but those paths were hidden for a reason.

  Traveling them, Xain was sure to encounter no small amount of underground rune holders, smugglers, and organizations who made the shadows their home.

  With this in mind, Bow quietly etched a rune in the air before him, and sent several messages to people who he had once considered, maybe not exactly friends, but not enemies either, which was about the closest thing to allies he had.

  To his surprise, within 20 minutes he had received two replies. The first read “A meeting will occur on the ship.” It wasn't entirely clear what this meant, but it was better than nothing.

  The second reply made Bow wince, and he had to resist the urge to not call the whole thing off. It said “L will await his arrival.”

  That one could have been a mistake.

  Bow silently chided himself, but it wasn't as if he had a lot of options. If L had become anything like her mother though… Well, Xain could take care of himself.

  I hope.