Xain, Bow, and Fen, shared one last dinner together which consisted mostly of Bow drinking mug after mug of ale and recounting story after story of their years together, while Xain nursed his own mug as he tried, and failed, to keep his thoughts off of his journey.

  It wasn't until Xain helped Bow into one of the chairs, covered him with a blanket, and laid down on the couch with Fen between his legs that he finally admitted how scared he was. It wasn't fear about the journey Bow had outlined. That still felt too far off to actually be real.

  He had seen the Norns, sure. But the idea that he was supposed to find some Realm Bud hidden by the last true gods of the Tree, well it was all just too surreal for him to truly fear.

  What scared him was much more simple. He had never before ventured outside the forest which surrounded him, and the nearby town. Now, all at once, he was supposed to not only leave all of it behind, but unless he could somehow reach the rank of Elder, he would never be able to come back.

  Any rune holders with the rank of Ash or below were only permitted to return to Yid on two conditions. The first was if they were sent by their own realm as a sort of emissary to trade with Yid, or perform some function on their House's behalf. The second was to take root with Yid, and become part of the 10th Realms House.

  Neither of those seemed possible based on what Bow had told him, which meant the only way he was ever going to return was to grow his array to the point he was able to freely travel the Tree.

  15 runes. He would need an array of 15 runes before that would even become a possibility. And assuming he could both survive, and gain an Elder rank array, coming back to Yid would require his array to be verified, which was yet another thing he could not have done.

  I… I'm never coming back.

  Unless Bow knew something he didn't, which was likely, it seemed like Xain was destined to stay in the Nine Realms.

  If these hidden paths which connected the outer Realms existed within Yid, Bow surely would have had him take such a path to leave. The fact he didn't made Xain think Yid, who was the only realm that existed inside the safety of Yggdrasil trunk, and the only realm immune to Ragnarok events, was likewise insulated from these peculiar connections.

  One step at a time.

  Xain knew this was the mindset he needed to have, and tomorrow he would, but as he lay on the couch it was hard to not wonder at why the fuck Dagaz had chosen him. Had it been any other rune, even Raido or Gebo, Yid’s other two banned runes, it could have been different. It may have been difficult, sure. But even if he had been forced to join Yid’s house, at least he would not have been alone.

  As if reading his mind, Fen stirred and let out a little yip of irritation, before immediately falling back to sleep.

  Right. Not alone.

  Still, if what Bow had said was true, it made Xain the first one to have Dagaz as his core rune since the time when gods walked the branches of the Tree.

  Little was known about that era, so much of its history was lost through a series of cataclysmic level Ragnarok events, but what had managed to survive told of a Tree very different from the one he lived in now.

  It was said that back then, while only Odin and Loki were known to hold the status of Hyperion, most other beings held arrays of 19 or more. Xain couldn't begin to imagine a place where such power was constantly on display, and even if he could, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

  However, while much of that time had been forgotten, some stories remained. This was especially true when it came to the events surrounding the Ragnarok which marked both the end of that era, as well as the period of upheaval that followed.

  While Odin had foreseen a Ragnarok that would destroy most of the Tree, it was commonly believed that his own insanity had been the true threat. In the end, the only prediction which had come to pass was that the event had taken the life of his son Thor, and in so doing ended his notorious feud with the Jotun.

  The exact circumstances were often debated, but all agreed it had been Nidhogg’s intervention which had finally stopped their slaughter, as she slew the Primal God with her own hand.

  His was the only death attributed to that Ragnarok, but it had acted as a catalyst for the eventual fall of the others.

  It was also said to have been the last time the Realms had shifted tiers within the Tree, with Jotun falling from the Canopy to take its place in the Roots where it still resides.

  Despite the fact that the positions had remained unchanged since Jotun’s fall, it was still taught that the tiers of the Realms were set at the end of each Ragnarok, their place within the Tree being determined by the number of veins of Sap they held after each event.

  Xain had always found this curious, since if this had been the only factor, Jotun with its four veins should have fallen not to the Roots, but to the Understory instead.

  As it was, the current distribution of the Realms which made up the Canopy consisted of Hel, Vanaheim, and Asgard, who each held five veins.

  The middle Realms of the Understory included Midgard, Svartalfheim, and Alfheim with four veins each.

  Only Niflheim and Muspellsheim, the other two Realms within the Roots, held three Sap veins, but so far as Xain knew, they had also never shown any interest in rising higher.

  Xain had thought the whole thing seemed arbitrary, but he well knew that wars were fought between Realms during each Ragnarok in attempts to claim the other Realms' veins as their own.

  As this only mattered during Ragnarok, and only came up every few centuries, it had never been something that Xain took much interest in.

  And that had not changed.

  For him, what mattered now, was much more simple. He had to survive. Everything else could come later.

  Still he couldn't help but wonder at the thought which had begun to nag at the back of his mind.

  Why did Dagaz choose me?

  Maybe if he lived long enough, he could find the answer. But in the end, it all came back to that. No matter what he chose, the first thing he had to do was live.

  …

  “So you know where you're going?” Bow asked for the tenth time that morning.

  “Yes,” Xain said again, unable to keep his eyes off the road in front of him.

  “And you know what to do,” Bow said, more a statement than a question.

  “Yes,” Xain answered anyway.

  “Remember when you get there, go straight to the ferry. It won't be hard to find. Don't talk to anyone you don't need to. Just go straight to the boat and get on. Keep your head down, and try not to draw any attention to yourself. Niflheim is the first stop, and they will tell you when to get off. When you arrive, go to the Inn of the Path. They won't charge you for the first night. After that,”

  “Bow,” Xain said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I know. Save the money you gave me. Find Nidhogg. She will help me.”

  “Right,” Bow said, nodding. “And,”

  “I will be safe,” Xain said, pulling Bow into another hug. “I need to go,” he continued, but didn't fight it as Bow only pulled him tighter.

  After a few more moments, Bow finally let go and wiped his eyes.

  “Ill see you soon,” he promised, leaving out the fact that soon was relative to a man who had lived as long as he.

  “Soon,” Xain promised. Before Bow could pull him in again, Xain slung the leather pack over his shoulder, which held his food and several thick stacks of Midgardian leafs, the common currency in the 9 Realms, and took his first step.

  He had walked this road more times than he could count, but even without the increasingly familiar feel of the Ice Armor he wore under his suit, he knew this time would have felt different.

  “Come on,” Xain said, looking at Fen, and smiling as the wolf hopped up, and began to bound forward.

  “Oh, that's how it is?” Xain said, and without looking back, ran to catch up.

  …

  Five hours later, Xain began to wonder if he actually did know where the fuck he was going. His journeys rarely took him in this direction as he often preferred to go into the forest, and it had been two hours of their light jogging pace since he had seen anything he could recognize.

  If it had not been for the steady increase of other people on the road, Xain may have actually thought himself lost.

  Fen showed no such worries though, as he loped along the edge of the road, ignoring the surprised looks of the fellow travelers as he passed by them, and darting off every few minutes to smell a tree or rock or patch of grass, before lifting his leg and marking it as his own.

  According to Bow, they should be able to reach the port in about seven hours, but that was assuming they moved at a normal jog. Xain had been too nervous to keep a steady pace, and had spent the first two hours at a full run, before finally slowing down. In his estimate this cut an hour off their time, and the port should be visible within an hour.

  This seemed to be confirmed by the snippets of conversation Xain overheard from the others on the road, who all appeared to be traveling for the singular reason of being among the first to lay claim to the various goods the Heimdall Company had brought from the outer Realms.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  It sounded to Xain that most of them had been sent by their associated Houses, marking them as low level array holders whose position in the House was closest to that of a servant. The rank one held in their House, Xain knew, was often dictated by the length of one's array. Houses would purchase Husks born with only a single rune, and offer them a contract to take root with terms that dictated their array would never grow past that of Sapling.

  Of course, per the laws of Yid, even if a House purchased the Husk, they still had the option of declining the contract and testing their luck with the other Houses. It was rarely done, as once a Husk was purchased, if they chose to take root with another House, they would need to negotiate with that House to buy the option to hold their contract.

  Husks who manifested with more than one rune were often slated to have their array grown by the House, and would either serve a higher position on Yid, or be sent out to the Nine Realms.

  Those born naturally on Yid were typically claimed by the House they were born to, while paying Yid a small fee for having the child within their Realm.

  The genesis of this system stemmed from the fact that all of those who are born in Yid’s Realm carry a rune, while the chances outside of Yid are much lower. On top of that, only those born on Yid have the ability to hold runes from every other Realm. Again, Xain wasn't clear on this point, as he had a hard time understanding what would make a runic user born in Yid different from that of any other Realm, but everything he had ever read was clear that this was the case.

  In order for families with elevated positions to ensure their children would be runic holders, they would confirm the birth happened on Yid. As the Houses of the 9 outer Realms were not considered citizens of Yid, any child born in the Realm was technically born into the 10th Realms House.

  To certify the children remained part of their native House, each Realm held contracts with Yid which stipulated a child of their House born on Yid would be purchased back upon birth, making them once more a citizen of the House they were originally from.

  Without the contract, Yid could claim the child as their own, no matter their familial lineage.

  It was a complicated solution that only truly benefited the 10th Realm, but runic users were seen as Yid’s primary export, and the system ensured that the Realm would be compensated for the benefits it provided.

  Along with this, every Husk was considered to be part of Yid’s House, but they would auction off Husks prior to them gaining full awareness, to the Houses of the other Realms. The price of the contract was split, where a portion would go to the Husk to start their life, and a portion would be paid to Yid for the transfer.

  The rights of Husks, and those born naturally on Yid, was a common topic of discussion between the Realms, as the notion of slavery was banned within the Realm. In truth, Xain had a hard time understanding the difference between purchasing a Husk’s contract, and just forcing them to be part of a House, but numerous books he had read were quite fervent; there was indeed a distinction.

  In practice though, it meant that Houses were able to purchase Husks, and provide them no hope of ever growing their array in any meaningful way, unless of course they were selected by the Norns, thus providing them with a constant supply of labor.

  Some Houses had much better reputations than others, with the Houses representing the Realms in the roots being known as a far superior place for those who had little potential in their initial arrays.

  There were of course non runic users who resided on Yid, but it was a small population composed mostly of skilled servants brought over from the Nine Realms to carry out specific tasks, as the fee to bring a non runic user into the Realm was incredibly high.

  In general, outside of a Ragnarok event, each House kept a relatively small contingent within Yid, seeing as their benefits were far greater in their home Realms. It didn't make much sense to spend a vast sum to purchase a Husk, only to have them remain in a place they were of no use to the main Realm.

  Politics had never been something Xain paid much attention to though, as he had been content to live out his life with Bow and Fen far away from such issues.

  However, it was quickly becoming clear that he would have to learn about such things if he wanted to fully grasp his situation.

  One step at a time.

  For now, Xain had to just do his best to handle the onslaught of smells which came with the increasingly crowded road.

  Luckily, while many types of public and private transport existed on Yid, the path they had chosen for him to take was restricted to those on foot, and was an option only chosen by a small few. Had he taken a train to the port, Xain was sure it would have been completely packed, and the enclosed space would have likely been enough to make him physically ill before his journey had actually begun.

  With Fen tagging along though, the option had been chosen for them.

  His wolf would be allowed to accompany him on the ferry, as it was common for those venturing out to the Nine Realms to do so with the companion of a runic creature, but such allowances were not extended to most other modes of transportation.

  After another thirty minutes in which his jog had slowed into a brisk walk due to the sheer volume of people on the road, Xain caught an unfamiliar scent in the air which was distinctly different from the sweat and dirt he had been trying to ignore.

  “Fen,” Xain said, as he pulled off to the side, his exit completely ignored by the other travelers.

  The wolf halted his sniffing and looked at Xain, ears perking up in a question.

  “You smell that?” Xain asked.

  Of course Fen did, but as this was the furthest either of them had ever traveled in this direction, the number of odd smells was staggering, so Xain pushed his chin up indicating where the scent came from.

  Fen lifted his nose and began to sniff, his eyelids dropping with concentration. It only took a second before the wolf opened his eyes again and looked at Xain with his tongue hanging to one side, as his front paws nearly danced with excitement.

  Xain had read about the vast ocean which surrounded Yid’s only continent, and academically understood that while it didn’t connect the Realms directly, one had to venture far into its waters to reach the bridge connecting Yid to the outer Nine Realms.

  Only those within the Heimdall Company or who held a high position in their House knew the actual details of how travel between Yid and the branches of the Tree was accomplished, but this much at least was common knowledge.

  In the outer Realms there were other companies who facilitated trade between the worlds, but only Heimdall Company ships were permitted to make the journey within the Trunk, giving them a monopoly not only on trade, but also on the seasonal journey that ferried runic users out to the Nine Realms.

  “It’s… it's the ocean, right?” Xain asked, the salty scent different than anything he had ever smelled before.

  Fen gave a little yip of agreement, startling the travelers passing by them, but Xain barely noticed.

  It’s real. I’m… I'm going.

  The thought was as exciting as it was terrifying, and Xain had to run his hand through Fen’s fur to calm himself down.

  “Ready?” Xain asked after a moment, to which Fen excitedly yipped once more in response before nearly pulling Xain forward.

  …

  Twenty minutes later Xain and Fen found themselves in a line leading to a massive stone arch, the only visible entry point in the wall that stretched out in both directions, and was so tall Xain could barely make out the rounded top above.

  It was the first time he had ever seen such a structure outside of his books, and while he knew sights like this were commonplace in the capital, for Xain it was as if they had already entered a different Realm.

  Two guards, marked as members of the Valkyries, stood on either side of the arch, speaking quickly with those in the line before waving them through.

  The first check.

  Xain believed what Bow had told him, but still he couldn't help glancing at the pass Bow had given him every couple seconds, seeing his name, rune, and purpose for visit clearly written out, and wondering if it would actually work.

  From what he could tell, he was the only one in the crowd who was there for the ferry, but seeing as how he had never met someone leaving Yid before, he really didn't have any way to confirm his assessment.

  The line was steadily moving forward, the guards quickly moving people through the gate, but the closer they got the longer it seemed to take.

  “You!” a woman called somewhere off to Xain’s right.

  Her voice carried an air of authority that drew everyone’s attention, including Xain’s, but after a moment the majority of the group turned their focus back to whatever had held it before the interruption.

  “You!” The voice came again. “With the wolf”

  Oh fuck.

  Xain strained to find the source of the voice, but from where he stood in the crowd, it was impossible for him to identify anything but a general direction.

  “She’s talking to you,” someone said to his left, nudging him toward the side of the road.

  “Right,” Xain said, dipping his head, and moving out of the crowd.

  As soon as he stepped out of the line, Xain saw a woman dressed in golden plate walking toward him, a large helmet held in one hand, the other holding a spear which was pointed directly at his chest.

  It took everything Xain had not to turn and run, his instincts screaming that he was caught. If Fen had not been sitting down, watching the woman approach with an almost bored expression, he was sure he would have given in to the urge, but as it was, he put his right hand on the wolf's back, and forced himself to calm down.

  Xain didn't say anything, just waited as she continued toward them with an almost annoyed expression on her stony face, like he was the source of some irritation, her long curly blond hair bouncing with each step.

  “What are you doing?” She asked when she was about 15 feet away.

  “Umm,” Xain started, trying and failing to determine the mistake he had clearly already made.

  Without waiting for his reply, she said “You're a Seed, right? This is the lane for traders.”

  “Oh,” Xain said, finding his unknown breach of bureaucracy more stressful than any hunt he had ever been on.

  “Sorry, I…”

  “Come on. If you wait here, the ferry will be long gone before you get through this mess. I swear, every fucking season, there is at least one of you.”

  Not waiting for Xain’s response, she turned and started toward the gate, waving him and Fen to follow with her spear.

  “Right,” Xain said, looking at Fen who looked nearly as exasperated as the guard, and asked “I guess we should go?”

  They caught up with her just as she reached the gate, and waited as she spoke quickly but tersely with the other guards, catching only snippets of the conversation in which she seemed to blame them, Xain, and the Tree itself for causing her such an inconvenience.

  “Pass,” she said, leaning her spear against the stone arch, and reaching back toward Xain without looking.

  Xain did not hesitate in handing the single sheet of paper to her, which she quickly snatched away and shoved toward the nearest guard. After a quick glance between the paper, up to Xain, and back at the woman, the guard dressed in similar but less resplendent gold armor nodded, handing the pass back to the woman, who shoved it back at Xain, and continued forward.

  Xain could only give the guard a shrug of apology as he and Fen pushed past, ignoring the mutters of the crowd behind them, and rushing to catch up to the woman who was somehow already a good 20 feet ahead of them.

  From the road, Xain wasn't able to get a good look at the tunnel behind the arch, but as he quickly glanced around, careful not to lag behind the woman, it was clear the wall was not just tall, but so thick he had a hard time understanding how it was even possible to construct such a fortification, or why.

  The tunnel was close to a hundred feet long, and packed with people who quickly parted as the woman shouted terse commands to make way as she trudged forward, Xain and Fen following closely in her wake.

  When they came out the other side, the woman stopped and looked back at Xain, her eyes running up and down him in a way that made his whole spine tingle, before pointing her spear down the stone street that was lined with small vendor stalls on either side, and said “Follow this. Don't wander. Ferry is straight ahead. Can’t miss it. And keep that wolf in line,” she finished, giving Fen a look that made Xain instinctively reach out his hand and put on the wolf's chest.

  Fen, for his part, only barely pulled back his lips, before turning his growl into a snort, giving his huge body a good shake, and lifting his leg as he thoroughly marked the tunnel exit.

  The woman obviously wanted to say something about this, but after taking a steadying breath, she turned back to the tunnel and walked away while muttering something about ‘those fucking beasts’, though it was unclear if she was referring to Fen, Xain, or the people who scurried out of her way as she tromped forward.

  “Friendly,” Xain said, giving Fen a good pat on his side, before turning his attention back to the street before them.

  “Alright. Let’s do this,” he sighed, and started forward.