Blood steadily flows down my arm until it escapes off my fingertips as droplets. I apply pressure to my wound, my arm beginning to go numb. My companions stare at me with worry, their faces growing increasingly blurrier.

"Asger, are you alright?" One of them asks me but their words sound so far away.

My mouth refuses to move and tell them I am alright, to thank Haralda for saving me from becoming snake food. The muscles in my legs loosen until they finally give out. I'm falling. My mind spins in my head on its way to the floor. My eyes close to my companions standing over me.

*****

"Asger!" A voice sounds from the longhouse in front of me. Thick tree trunks support its mossy roof sitting nicely on the walls carved from dark wood. Pale stones line the doorway with stairs hand-carved into the ground. Lanterns light the entryway providing the only light in the dark void I find myself in. Nothing else is here. It is just me and the longhouse in a vast emptiness that goes as far as I can see.

The door opens with a creak, gesturing me to come inside. Whatever is in there, it can't be any worse than being stuck out here. I follow the stone path to the door and step inside. A fire flickers in the center of the room. Its hue dances on the walls covered in animal pelts and a small assortment of weapons. Straw completely covers the floor. In the corner of the room lies a bed with the woman in the nightgown standing over it.

The light casts small shadows on her sharply defined face while she folds laundry. She stacks the cloth neatly on the corner of the bed. Her white nightgown hangs delicately from her shoulders and follows the curves of her body. She sings quietly to herself as I stride across the longhouse to the other side of the bed.

Her gaze meets mine and she stops singing, "Asger, can you grab the other clothes on the line outside?"

The words roll sweetly off her soft lips and her solid blue eyes captivate me. She is beautiful. It is hard to believe this is the same person who has been calling out to me. How does she know who I am? Where even am I? My eyes dart around the room remembering the dark void that awaits outside the door.

"Asger? Did you hear me?" Her words interrupt my thoughts but I can't find the words to answer her.

"Fine, I will get them myself. That's what I get having a big lug like you for a husband."

Her last word bounces around inside my head. Husband? Can that even be true? How could I possibly forget the woman I call my wife? The woman heads towards the door with a woven basket in hand. She hums gently, continuing her song from earlier. She opens the door revealing the nothingness that awaits behind it.

"Wait! Stop! No! Edlyn!" I shout, finally able to speak. Her name finally surfaces in my mind and sparks a few of my memories. The first time we met, the day I asked her to marry me, and just how much I love her. I run across the longhouse to stop her from leaving but never move any closer.

"Don't worry I'll be back," she yells back to me. Pure happiness and love radiates from her eyes. Please gods can I stay. Even just one more night with her would be everything. She walks out the door and disappears into the void. Gone. Lost to me forever.

*****

"Asger? Are you with us?" Langley whispers, shaking me gently.

I grab his hand and sit up to find myself in a new room. Old stone cell walls surround us on three sides with a broken cell door lining the fourth. The only light is what seeps in from the hallway. The smell of stale blood poisons the air. Haralda paces in the corner of the room with her sword clenched tightly in her hands. Frode sits on a flimsy wooden cot, one of the few things populating this open room.

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Torn cloth from my cloak wraps the wound on my arm. A quick solution to the blood that was pouring from my arm before I passed out. Before I got to see my wife.

"Hey glad to see you awake," Iver says as he walks into the room with Bjorn and Bo.

"Should have just let his weak ass die." Bjorn scoffs.

I ignore his instigating, "How long was I out?"

"A couple of hours at the most. Seems like your wounds finally caught up to you. I think we all needed this rest though so do not worry," Iver answers trying to comfort me.

"Did you find anything out there?" Haralda says as she steps closer to Iver.

"No nothing. It was too dangerous to continue without risking the hallways removing our path back here. Once everyone catches their breath we can begin our search for the key again."

The key had slipped my mind until his words refreshed it. Too focused on just surviving to even consider leaving Niffheim in one piece. I guess that is what makes Iver such a natural leader. Calm and collected. Being in this castle doesn't even seem to faze him. Him leading the way is comforting.

Bjorn sits down with a thud and points his hammer at me, "You know I could've taken on ten times the amount of snakes that did you in back there. Even with one of my hands tied behind my back."

"My blurry head still remembers you standing and watching. Do you need everyone to hate you or is it just a special skill?" I respond in retaliation.

Haralda slams her sword into the ground and shoots me a nasty glare. "Enough! You both can compare sizes once we are out of this hell hole."

Why is she glaring at me? I guess I do feel a little bad stooping to his level.

"No harm done," Frode interrupts the silence. "Are you sure you have no idea where the key could be"

"Yeah what about in like a vault or a secret shrine or something," Langley chimes in.

"Even if that were true, this castle is massive. Paired with the problem of the hallways, it might be best if we get out and regroup." Iver answers.

"It might be just as difficult to find our way back. We should stand our ground and fight our way through!" Bjorn says providing his input.

My mind drifts away from the conversation and focuses back on Edlyn. My wife. I wish I was back in that house, listening to her sing. Her gentle voice carrying me to far off places. Far away from here, from Bjorn, and the damn snakes. This castle! The exhaustion that screams in my muscles. Curse this place for making me forget her.

Langley's voice snatches me out of my thoughts, "what do you think Asger?"

"Well if we don't get those keys then we are as good as dead anyway. So I agree with Bjorn. Let's fight." I say with confidence.

"Alright, I guess that decides it," Iver says consolidating our thoughts. "My best guess is it's deep in the castle. Probably the bottom floor."

"Ah hell. Where all those snakes are?" Frode whines.

"Hazzah! Let's go! I've been itching for another good fight!" Bjorn shouts, raising his weapon above his head.

"Calm down before you get us all killed. We need a strategy going into this. But you are right. It might be a little fun being outnumbered like this." Haralda says, a hint of excitement in her voice.

The spark of hope we kindled at the fire still burns in my companions. Their once worn out faces now have a slight smile and radiate confidence. This is how we were going to get through this. This is how we survive.

The ground begins to shake violently with an ear-piercing screech following. We all grab onto the cracking walls, hoping they have just enough left in them to stop the ceiling from caving in on us.

"What is this?" Langley yells over the shaking of the castle.

"This has to be the Nidhogg. It must be coming back to its nest!" Iver shouts back at him.

I look out into the hallway afraid that the Nidhogg will burst through at any moment, "How far are we from the crevice?"

"We only moved a few cells down from where you went unconscious. We thought it would be dangerous to move you without knowing where the hallways would take us," Frode answers.

A piece of the ceiling dislodges and falls toward Haralda who quickly bats it away with her sword, "We need to move. Now!"

"I'm ready for round two you overgrown garden snake!" Bjorn triumphantly cheers as he runs to the door.

He stands in the doorway with his hammer drawn with not even an ounce of fear leaving his body. He looks back at us and smiles, the desire of battle burning in his eyes. The rest of the party readies their weapons and starts to cross the room to meet Bjorn and join in his conquest. Bjorn just might be the spark we need right now.

Bjorn starts to holler a battle cry as he raises his hammer above his head but he is cut off by the Nidhogg crashing into the hallway and wrapping its jaws around his body. He was gone in an instant. Our spark extinguished. Swallowed by the Nidhogg weapon and all. Its blue eyes staring at us still hungry.