“No training today,” Bow said, as he poured Xain a third mug of ale.

  To Xain’s delight, his body had fully recovered overnight, as he slept another blissfully dreamless sleep. The moment Xain had woken, he had used Hale Frame in an attempt to make it something he did unconsciously, and found it came even more easily than it had before.

  He had been looking forward to testing out if his other powers had grown as well, so the pronouncement took him off guard.

  “Why?” Xain asked, tossing Fen two strips of bacon.

  “I have something else planned. We're going on a little journey.”

  “Okay…” Xain said, wondering at Bow’s reluctance to explain.

  “It's… a surprise,” Bow said, and the shy smile he wore looked ridiculous on his bearded face.

  “Okay,” Xain said again, with a smile of his own.

  “Finish up, and we will head out. It's a bit of a hike from here,” Bow said, ringing his hands in a very rare display of nerves.

  The fuck is he going to show me?

  But Xain didn't push it. Instead he drained his mug in one long pull, and gave Fen the last of his food.

  “Let's go,” he said, and headed for the door.

  …

  Where in Hel’s Realm is he taking me?

  They had been walking for nearly five hours, winding through the forest as Bow followed a path clearly only he could see.

  Xain had thought he had known every part of the forest around them, but the further they went, it became very obvious how wrong he had been. Two hours into the hike Xain had completely lost track of where they were, and an hour after that the trees had changed from the ones he had known his whole life, and slowly turned into massive redwoods that he had only ever seen drawings of in Bow’s extensive library.

  He had asked Bow about it a few times, but his dad had only given him that weird shy smile, and said “You’ll see,” before continuing on without another word.

  Fen on the other hand, seemed more at home here than Xain had ever seen him. The wolf bounded through the trees, running up banks, and leaping out in attempts to catch Xain off guard, before rushing off once more.

  Aside from the three of them though, Xain had yet to see the presence of any other beings. He had heard a few birds in the trees, but when he looked in the direction of the sound, he only caught sight of shadows disappearing into the thick canopy which loomed over them.

  The climate was unlike anything he had ever felt as well, the air so thick with moisture they had more than once walked through various pockets of fog that quickly turned into little drops of ice when they made contact with his armor.

  Xain had decided that even if they were not going to train today, there was no reason he couldn't practice his other skills. Bow had not protested the idea, and had actually agreed that it would be good if he got comfortable moving in the armor, which after five hours in it, seemed far easier said than done.

  Despite its light appearance, Xain felt like he was carrying a good thirty extra pounds, and while he was used to hiking with additional weight, it was becoming clear he had a long way to go before he could wear the armor all the time.

  When Bow stopped again, looking in one direction and then the other, Xain didn't think anything of it, until he raised his hand in a silent gesture for him to pause. After a good three minutes where Xain could hear Bow muttering a variety of curses, he turned and said, “This way. I… no, it is. This way.”

  Xain followed, glancing around for Fen who he could feel was watching them, but was not able to find his massive form hidden among the trees.

  Fifteen minutes later, Xain heard the sound of trickling water, and at the same moment, Bow increased his pace, forcing Xain to practically jog to keep up.

  “Hah,” Bow laughed, “I knew it. I knew it was around here. Come on, just down this bank,” he said, almost sliding down the dirt in his excitement.

  “There,” Bow said when they got to the bottom, pointing towards a small stream, and the massive willow tree which sat beside it.

  …

  Bow could remember the day he planted the tree like it was yesterday, though it was in fact close to 1,000 years before. Since then, he had visited it during all the important moments of his life, finding its sturdy presence a constant source of strength and support when he needed it most.

  It was there when he obtained his 19th rune, which progressed his array to the rank of High Elder, and he nearly was pushed into a state of dissonance. It was there after everything with Nidhogg, not judging him for how he had left things with the Dragon and her daughter, Squall. He spent weeks under its long drooping branches when Hel had banished him from her Realm, and in doing so, caused him to lose a part of himself he had thought gone forever until the day he found Xain.

  The tree, his tree, was a part of him as much as his array. In its branches were the memories of his life, and today it would bear witness as Bow once again stepped on a path he had tried so hard to escape.

  But this time is different. Now I'm doing it for him.

  Bow didn't know if he was making the right choice, or if there even was a right choice. But he had felt the gentle nudge of Yggdrasil enough times to understand that, while the World Tree did not force one down a specific path, that didn't stop her from trying to show the way.

  He knew that beneath the willow branches was the place where Yggdrasill's touch was strongest for him, and while he hoped that Xain would one day plant his own tree, for now, this one could serve that purpose for them both.

  “It's… huge,” Xain said, standing a few yards from where the outer branches brushed the ground, his neck craned up to take in the tree.

  “I have cared for her since she was just a seed,” Bow said, brushing the branches to the side as he made his way to the trunk.

  From the outer branches to its center was now over 20 feet, and had grown so dense that if not for how the tree responded to his touch, it would have been impossible to push his way through the long shoots that draped down around the enormous trunk.

  “Willow,” Xain said, thoughtful, his words so muffled by the branches Bow only heard them through his connection with the tree.

  “Hysteria,” Bow called back, trusting the tree to relay his words. “Her name is Hysteria.”

  “Hysteria,” Xain said, and Bow could feel the tree’s approval of the reverence in his tone.

  “She is your…” Xain said, clearly unsure how to ask exactly what the tree meant to Bow.

  “It’s complicated,” Bow said, his eyes closed as he gently ran his hands over her trunk. She had grown since his last visit, but it still only took a minute for him to find the right string of runic patterns in her bark. When he was sure they were the ones, Bow gently activated his array and pushed a trickle of his energy into the runes.

  The moment he did, the tree began to glow, its leaves emitting a low green light, the branches becoming suffused with a hushed blue, and its trunk radiating a soft yellow that reminded Bow of the Midgardian sun.

  Bow smiled as he heard Xain’s small gasp of surprise, and could picture how his different colored eyes went wide at the sight.

  “Umm,” Xain said, and Bow knew he was playing with Fen’s fur, just as he did whenever he started to get overwhelmed.

  “I'll be out in a moment,” Bow said, feeling Hysteria’s glee as she drank in the moments of his life since his last visit.

  When she was done, he rested his head on her trunk, and promised he would be back soon, before leaving the same way he had entered.

  “Right,” Bow said, as he found Xain and Fen staring up at the tree, whose branches slowly moved as they found the chest he had stored in her center, wrapping around it like ropes and lowering it down beside him.

  “I… have something for you,” he continued, not looking down as Hysteria placed the chest beside him and retracted her branches, her light dimming as she did.

  It took Xain a few moments before he heard the words and was able to pull his focus from the tree back to Bow, and several more before his eyes found the deep brown wooden chest, edged in dark black metal, to his side.

  “What?” Xain asked, his mind obviously having difficulty catching up with what was going on.

  “Well, I can't very well send you out into the Nine Realms looking like that, can I?”

  …

  Xain looked down, seeing his white linen shirt, brown leather pants, and dark brown leather boots, which, aside from the addition of a few jackets for the colder seasons, had been the only clothes he had ever owned, and asked, "What's wrong with them?”

  “Nothing,” Bow said, waving his hand as he dismissed the question. “They are fine for our little forest. But you are about to enter the Nine Realms, and begin your Path of Discovery. And what kind of father would I be if I let you go unprepared?”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  It seems like training would do more to help than some new clothes.

  Xain didn't voice the thought, but it was clear Bow heard it anyway.

  “How you present yourself out there makes a difference. But more than that, we can't give those twats sent out by the Houses more of an advantage than they already have. And while they may only give some low-level runic garb to the husks, I can promise you the natural children of the Houses will have nothing but the best.”

  “The money those families spend on healing and protective items for kids who take the fuckin ship directly to a realm where they have already taken root is more than most people could dream of having in 10 generations. Even for Yid, it's excessive. But every once in a while, one of those kids gets the idea to test out the new dagger they got for doing nothing but being born. And it doesn't take any ability to do damage when that dagger was forged on Svartalfheim, and inscribed with enough runes to make Thor’s lost hammer look like a fuckin trinket.”

  “You will already be a target. An unknown, from some backwater part of Yid. They won't think twice about using that fancy new toy to look big in front of the other Houses. And I'll tell you now, stupidity, ignorance, and their need to prove they are more than the pampered whelps they are, is a recipe for disaster.”

  “This,” Bow said, nudging the chest with his foot, “should help to minimize the risk.”

  Without saying anything more, Bow bent down to open the chest. He passed his hand over the front of it, and Xain watched as a complicated pattern of runes lit up under this touch, followed by the sound of numerous locks grinding until it let out a final click, and Bow lifted the lid.

  Xain took a step forward and looked inside. He was not sure what to expect, the last week of his life making it clear that he had no right to expectations of any kind, but upon seeing nothing but neatly folded clothes, Xain felt oddly disappointed.

  “Is there… something else?” Xain asked, unsure how these were supposed to help him.

  “What?” Bow said, mock hurt in his voice. “This not good enough for you?” he continued, taking out the top two pieces.

  Bow held up the long black coat in one hand, with matching dark pants in the other, and looked over them with genuine admiration.

  “They may not look like much, but these were gifts from my own time walking the path. Here, try them on,” he said, proffering the garments to Xain.

  Xain looked at Fen, who sat watching the whole interaction with far more interest than Xain felt, his eyes glittering with anticipation.

  You see something I don't?

  It was possible. Fen’s sense for objects that held power was far greater than his own, but even as he took the items from Bow, he could feel nothing but the quality fabric and craftsmanship with which they were made.

  But Xain had no interest in dampening his dad’s excitement, so without another word he handed the new pieces to Fen, who took them gently in his mouth, and slipped out of his clothes.

  Bow continued to rummage through the trunk, nodding and muttering to himself, as Xain put on the pants, which to his surprise, seemed as if they had been tailored just for him. While they were close in height, Bow was just bigger than he was in basically every way. He’d had no plans to refuse this gift, but at the same time, had held little hope they would fit.

  “Good,” Bow said, looking over at Xain approvingly.

  “Here,” he said, handing Xain a long-sleeved white shirt, which looked as if it had been newly pressed, though Xain suspected it had been in that trunk for more years than he had drawn breath.

  Both the pants and shirt were made from a fabric he had never felt before. It was surprisingly soft, yet clearly durable, showing not a single sign that they had been previously worn.

  As he buttoned up the shirt, he could feel the little runic inscriptions on the white and what he assumed to be bone buttons, but when he looked down at them, they seemed to be completely smooth.

  Xain left the last two undone, as this was the first shirt he had ever worn that had a collar, and while he had seen them from time to time in town, he still had no idea what he was supposed to do with it.

  In another first, he tucked his shirt into his pants, feeling more like a merchant and less like a hunter by the second.

  “Here,” Bow said again, handing him a black vest with five silver buttons on either side, which ran down the front.

  Again, as he did put on the vest, it felt as if it had been made for him, fitting to his body so perfectly that when he had finished with the buttons, instead of restricting his movement, Xain was able to move with the ease of wearing nothing at all.

  The silver buttons were each etched with an odd pattern that to the eye looked like a dragon in various stages of flight. When he ran his thumb over them, though, it wasn't a dragon he felt, but more unfamiliar runic sigils.

  Xain knew that runic arrangements were broken into two main categories: arrays and sigils. Arrays commonly referred to the arrangement of runes on a runic user's body, while sigils often described the arrangement of runes placed on specific objects. Sigils were everywhere across the 10 realms, while arrays, prevalent as they were on Yid, were a rarity in the outer 9 Realms.

  He had learned that, while everyone born on Yid carried at least one rune, no matter if they were natural born or Husk, being born with a rune in the outer Realms was far less common. Similarly, those from Yid were able to acquire every rune in the futhark, but those in the outer Realms were restricted to the runes held by their Realm.

  Xain had never understood why this was the case, and when he had pressed Bow on the subject, his dad had given him perfunctory non-answers, which had made him wonder how true it actually was.

  Sigils, on the other hand, were everywhere. The efficacy of the sigils varied greatly, but basic sigils were used to do everything from heat water, to protect a field from scavengers. Xain knew that the lack of sigils in their own house was an oddity, but he had never questioned it too deeply, assuming it was just another one of Bow’s quirks.

  Now though, he wondered how many of Bow’s peculiar traits were directly related to his array.

  “Good,” Bow said, scanning Xain, and handing him a pair of black leather boots.

  As Xain slipped them on without a word, he quickly confirmed that there was some unseen power at work which shaped the garments to his body. Boots were one thing he and Bow had never been able to share before, but like everything else, the moment he had them on, they fit better than any he had ever worn.

  Xain barely had to adjust the three silver buckles on each boot before they were perfectly snug, but maintained a level of flexibility he had never felt in leather.

  “Now the jacket,” Bow said, taking it from Fen, and helping Xain slide it on.

  After brushing his hands down the front, feeling the nine dark black metal buttons and confirming they held yet another set of sigils, Xain had just opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again as Bow circled back around his front, and proffered a silver necklace from which hung a silver disc that been masterfully etched with a willow tree.

  Xain reached out to grab it, but pulled his hand back, noticing how Bow’s eyes refused to meet his own.

  “Bow?” Xain asked, his hand held awkwardly between them.

  “This…” He started, clearing his throat as if something had gotten caught, before continuing, “this marks you as my pupil. I know, it's not much. And it's selfish for me to ask you to wear it, seeing as I haven't been much of a teacher. But…”

  Xain didn't wait for him to finish, taking the necklace and quickly lowering it around his neck.

  Bow looked at him, at the necklace whose pendant fell in the center of Xain's chest, and smiled as he placed his palm over it, gently pressing so Xain could clearly feel its outline.

  “You have been my teacher since the moment you found me,” Xain said, placing both of his hands atop Bow’s.

  “But you have been so much more than that. How many Husks can say they have a dad?” he asked.

  The sudden tears in Bow’s eyes surprised Xain, but he kept still, letting the moment wrap around them.

  Finally, Bow sniffed and wiped the back of his hand across his face, before pulling away so he could fully take in Xain’s profile.

  “Keep the necklace under your shirt,” Bow said.

  “I doubt anyone still knows what it means, but best not to risk it. The rest of it though, while I haven't been to the outer Realms in some time, and fashion was never a specific talent of mine, I can say with some confidence, you look good. Like a man ready for adventure.”

  Though Xain couldn't fully see himself, as he looked down and noticed the silver lining that ran along the jacket's bottom hem, cuffs, and lapel, he had to agree.

  “It fits,” Xain said, not hiding the surprise in his voice.

  “Of course it does,” Bow said, running his hands down Xain’s arms.

  As he did, a series of silver runic sigils, which spiraled around the jacket's sleeves, lit up, before fading away so quickly it could almost have been a trick of the eye.

  “But it does more than make you look the part. The pants, vest, and shirt all share a common sigil which will keep you a comfortable temperature no matter the climate. It might not seem like much now, but take one step into Niflheim or Muspellsheim, and you will be glad to have it.”

  “The jacket is inlaid with sigils that will provide you a bit of protection, as well as a bit of healing. It's less than your Hale Frame, but it also doesn't take any power to activate. I wouldn't rely on it too much, but it has saved my ass more than a few times.”

  “The boots are truly special though. One of Svartalfheim's head guilds made them for me after I did them a favor. The soles will never wear out, and they will adapt to any terrain.”

  “The only drawback is, the whole outfit sees itself as a singular relic. Take off any piece of it, and the rest won't work. It was the only way to so heavily reduce the toll.”

  The toll, Xain knew, was the cost associated with using sigils. For basic sigils it was often something small like infusing one's own power into it by letting the sigil draw from your array. For items sold with more intricate sigils, they would often come infused with the power of whoever created it, and could be reinfused by other runic users who had an artisan focused array. This was most common in the outer Realms, as most of the population didn't hold even a single rune.

  For the more powerful sigils though, the toll was often more involved, and the effects varied wildly.

  Xain had read about a bow from Vanaheim which found its target every time within a mile radius, but the user had to be perfectly focused on the target, holding nothing else in their mind, otherwise it would seek out the person the user held most dear within its range. More than one hunter had been lost as they released an arrow only to find it seconds later protruding from their own chest.

  The fact that the outfit had such a particularly low toll spoke to how incredibly well designed it was. What had at first appeared to be nothing more than some old clothes, would actually cost enough at auction to buy a mid-sized villa in Yid’s capital.

  “The necklace,” Bow said, pulling Xain’s attention back to the moment, “is a little different. It has some more… interesting traits. But it also won't reveal them until it finds you worthy. Right now it is little more than inert silver, but don't be surprised when that changes. And with you, I don't think that will take long.”

  “Oh that reminds me,” Bow said, turning to the trunk and rummaging around for a moment before turning back with a huge black leather collar inlaid with silver thread in his hand.

  “I didn't forget about you big guy,” Bow continued as he walked over to Fen.

  Xain was about to say that wasn't a good idea, but to his utter amazement, instead of snarling at such an idea, Fen lowered his head so Bow could wrap the collar around his neck.

  “This,” Bow explained, “is tuned to the necklace. No matter where the two of you are, you just need to push a bit of your power into it, think of the other, and it will guide you to them. I expect you two to stay together, but if you get separated, with this you can find each other again.”

  Fen lifted his head and shook, before curling back his lips in what Xain knew to be a smile, though to anyone else it would seem like the last thing they would ever see.

  “Now then,” Bow said, clearly trying and failing to cover the sudden weight in his chest, “I think you two are ready.”

  We're ready.

  The thought brought a weight to Xain’s own chest, but he forced a smile and nodded, while reforming the armor of ice he had let drop when they had reached the tree.

  After another moment of looking between Xain and Fen, Bow shook his head and said, “Let’s go. I need a drink.”