Chapter 7 (part 1)
Copenhagen, kingstead and seagate
Of the royal Danes, by rash-taint shent
To a troll haunting, yet treasure holds
In the dripping steads of the stink-brooks
And slime-clad ruins, rotting witnesses
In streets time-felled. Strays kin-bonded -
Cat guard-mother and kitten unweaned -
In a hole woning - a haven safe
From corrupted beasts and roaming foes -
In a long-shent school. But the lore-seekers
Camped not far off, cat-tank and bodies
Wash from rash-taint, for work preparing
Sigrun and Emil, their sye that school,
That wet, decayed, weather-ruined shell
Of the cats' dwelling, ken-hoards seeking
And riches unguessed. Reynir, callow-lad,
Yearning to be held a useful wight
To the group members, grasps the moment:
Tuuri skald-maid for tasks he begs,
Pesters for work, as she pores over
The reft volumes; riled and cunning
She inveigles the lad into leaving the van
And locks the door. His lesson grasped,
In cold sadness callow Reynir,
Mood-fallen lad, by Mikkel blamed
For risking taint of the rash sickness,
Is told to sleep, for tene are dreams
In the Silent World. Sad-hearted Reynir
Denies dreaming, but knowing Mikkel
Suades him all sleep with swevens is weft
Forgot at dawn. So good Reynir
His bed cosies to a better mood.
But the reiving pair a rough way trace
To the derelict school, doors and windows
Jammed with creepers and junk tumbled
From ceils and floors. Sigrun, wise-eyed,
Hard-handed thegn, to thump a hole
In the door offers, but Emil unfettled,
Eager to shine, a shoulder hurls
At the flimsy door - the floor halts him
On the shent panel. Unsure in schools
Sigrun war-maid assistance asks
Of her grounded thegn where the gradely reif
Likely is kept. Reluctant, Emil
Queries how safe is seeking wide
In an unkenned holt; canny troll-hunter
Sigrun sword-wise safety proclaims;
In so crap a stead creatures rash-marred
No protection find. So the two search
And unshroud a hoard, shelves of goodies:
Books for the skalds, and boxed plastic
Iridescent discs, that Emil kens
And clepes 'gramophones', clapping for delight
At the perfect find. But pattering hoofs
Of running deer interrupt scanning –
The band are smit with beast terrors.
Callow Emil cocks his weapon
But Sigrun wise, war-fettled maid,
His aim counters, the eyes of the deer
Unwemmed, taintless, well reveals them
Untouched by rash - then turns again
To see the meat safe to dine on
But late her thought as the leapers weave
A quick escape. Quiet in wain-home
Reynir dreaming drifts as a mage
To the waters cold, waking in sweven
On a skiff resting in the scaup's playground,
The main's fringes, mid frozen shores
And rocks iceclad. But a rogue visitor,
A doglike beast, doomed by the rash,
Climbs the gunwale of the galder-boat,
The mage-sea scow, scaring Reynir
Out of the wherry to the whale’s domain,
To the fearful deeps. Yet forth he wends
As the seal-realm's skin, unscathed by his heels
Bears Reynir's weight, well supporting
The mage dreamer. Merry he hirples
To the realm-shore, to the rock-gated path
Closing the sea-road. Clambering in
Reynir herd-mage his hound welcomes,
His fylgja greets, fondling, cuddling,
Watched by the sheep on the way forward
On the path unsought to a portal dern
Where shadows hint at a shore unknown
To Reynir's feet. Redeless, searching,
The sheep-lad threads the gateway's throat.
His way takes him to a water land
Willow-clad meres, that wading feet
Can pass wet-shod to a pool of quiet,
A water-holt, wound with a board-path.
There wise-eyed scout work-tired Lalli
Rests in slumber on a raft of planks.
Callow Reynir, courtesy lacking,
Wakens Lalli, welcome expecting,
Wrath answers him - roots and branches
Erupt from the pool and wrap the noita.
In an osier holt hiding from Reynir –
Lalli night-scout lurks in safety
While Reynir stunned reels from his anger
Lost in rejection, his lesson grasped,
In cold sorrow callow Reynir,
Mood-fallen lad, the mere crosses,
Wandering lost till a wall hits him
And Onni’s face - ominous vision –
Looms in anger and lugs Reynir
Through the barrier, misthinking the lad,
Callow, harmless, for a kade ill-willed,
To condemn swiftly to the dark beyond -
A fate merciless. But the feckless boy,
Reynir, startled, recognises
The face, treasured in a photo seen
In a sister's charge; he softs Onni,
Protective mage, of Tuuri speaks
Reassuring words of a shaping team
And a sister skald safe as can be
And happy in face, but hiraeth’s blain
May lurk within. Lalli mage-scout
Onni’s dream-realm entry granted
Denies fellowship with novice Reynir
Mannerless boy, mage untested,
Frommed stowaway, friendless weakling,
Defenceless seidh. But fearful sib
Canny Onni a cautious word
On his tongue framed, a tactful speech
Not unwelcoming to a new mage,
Seidh-guardian for a sister far
From a brother's care. Callow Reynir
Newness-fearful fades to waking
As cousin-mages recount their news
Acknowledging their need for links
Through the mundane and the mage worlds
That sele Reynir, seidhkarl clumsy
Should not be asked to open for them
For fear of It that for Onni noita
And scout Lalli scans incessantly,
Their only holt Onni’s mage-realm
Where Lalli scout his lair downsets
Safe till waking. Settled, Onni
Frains his cousin if friends he's found.
