Excerpt "Song of Hel"
He never should have done it, never should have behaved that way. But the transformation had changed him, and not just physically. He just wanted to live forever and he got his wish, but at what cost? Now the woman he thought he had loved, thought had loved him, had cursed him. She took away his ability to die forever, but at the time it didn’t seem to feel like a curse.
“I curse you, Vilhjalmr Sharp Tooth, to a million lifetimes of walking on Midgard, but never seeing Death herself. There is no Valhalla for you, Drinker of Blood. The sun shall not harm you, piercing weapons your heart will not fall to. May you feel pain, but never be free of it.”
A tall, slender woman with hair the color of molten gold hovered over a well that had been dug deep into the icy earth. She dropped something into the well before she withdrew a dagger from her dress and sliced her forearm, dripping the blood in the water.
Harlow watched as this happened, watched as the young woman screamed into the sky as if her heart was breaking. Whoever she was, she had no idea that anyone could see.
“Your only possible solace, the one thing to save you, will be the one thing that can kill you. The Song of Hel shall be your ultimate release. But it is up to the Nornr whether you find that song or not. Whether you are worthy of redemption or doomed to an eternity of loneliness.” The woman commenced her ritual, cast a few more things into the well, and gathered herself and all her belongings before she made her leave.
Harlow felt like it was safe enough for her to retreat from her hiding spot and she carefully made her way to the well, all the while looking about to make sure no one saw her.
There were still remnants of the magikal ritual that had just been performed in front of the well where her settlement got water. She peered in to still see the droplets of blood floating about in the water like jellyfish in the ocean. There was herbs and bits of flowers that refused to sink as well as strips of bark plastered with a dried paste, runes carved all over them. Harlow wasn’t sure if she should fish this items out so they didn’t contaminate their water, or leave it all be and just back away.
“Don’t touch it, young one. We cannot interfere with another’s magik; it is not our place.” A voice behind her made the decision for her.
“But she involved us. She used our water source, our well between worlds. That can’t go without consequence. It wasn’t hers to use.” Harlow responded boldly.
“And what would you have us do? We are a peaceful people. We are meant to be mediators between the living and the dead, the wights and the flesh. We aren’t meant to fight anyone.” The person, who she could now see was a much older man, questioned her.
“She cast a curse on someone in our water; that we can’t change. But we can’t allow this to happen again. The witch even used our mother as part of her curse! I’m not saying it wasn’t justified, but not in our well. She crossed the line.” Harlow seethed, becoming angrier and angrier the more she thought about the action she had seen.
“Then I will leave that up to you. You decide what needs to be done to keep our well from outsiders.” The other responded with a nod before they turned and walked away, leaving Harlow alone with the well.
