Chapter 17: Harbardford

The clear sky above the forest began to darken as a bank of clouds rolled in. Sigyn called the party to a halt silently with a raised fist while sniffing the air.

"We need to find shelter. It's going to rain. Hard."

"How can you tell?" Rebecka asked.

"Aside from the clouds?" The dragon woman growled then pointed to her snout.

"Right."

"It's been some time since I was out this way, but Harbardford should be nearby," Rifa said.

"That was the next town on the map, right?" Rebecka asked.

"Yes, it's a small village," Rifa confirmed.

"We'll find an inn if the town is big enough, or pay someone to let us use their shed if it's not," Sigyn grunted. "Let's go."

It took them another hour to reach the village, but the smell reached them first. The unmistakable sweet and acrid scent of rotting flesh turned Rebecka's stomach anew. Sigyn had shown no signs of having noticed the odor, but Rebecka was certain the seven foot tall dragon woman had picked it up well before anyone else did.

"What the fuck is that?" Rebecka asked while covering her mouth when they arrived at the outskirts of the Harbardford.

The village looked peaceful. Quiet. Too quiet. Given the horrible odor, it was easy to assume the worst. The knights remained on the road with Baby and the wagon, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Mokie alternated between fluttering through the air and hopping on the ground after Rebecka and Sigyn as they searched, home by home, for the source of the smell. Every door for the cottages was left unlocked and open, with no signs of inhabitants. Some personal belongings and food were strewn around. People had left the area or been forced to leave in a hurry. After searching for half an hour, they found the bodies near an arched stone bridge that spanned a small river on the southern end of the village.

"Oh, my gods," Rebecka said.

Sigyn snorted in agreement.

Most of the corpses had been cut cleanly into pieces of varied size, making it nearly impossible to count how many people there had been. Some had been cleaved cleanly through the middle. Wayward heads laid in the grass a few yards from their bodies, but which body each one went to was a mystery. Every unfortunate soul was wearing rags and makeshift armor, made of leather, plastic, and metal, just like the group who had attacked the party. Their weapons were also similar, shoddy homemade swords and axes constructed out of scrap metal and old car parts. Several nearby trees had suffered perfectly clean cuts through them as well, resulting in the severed and diced trunks rolling to the river bank below. It was as if the group of attackers and trees had been hit by a massive lawn mower.

"We'll clean this up tomorrow," Sigyn said as she glanced up quickly. The trees swayed as the wind picked up and large water droplets began to rain down. She started back up the hill to the village proper. "One of the cottages has an attached barn large enough for Baby and the cart."

Rebecka followed her, Mokie hot on her heels. "You think the villagers are safe?"

Sigyn hooked a clawed thumb over her shoulder to point back the way they'd come. "If they have someone with them who could do that, then they're fine."

"Good point."

Rifa and Dyr weren't exactly happy about commandeering one of the homes, but neither protested much. Especially, once the wind and hail started to bear down on the area just as they and Rebecka finished securing Baby and the wagon in the small attached barn. The home was connected to the barn via a doorway, which meant none of them had to go into the storm to meet up with Sigyn inside the house.

"Huh," Rebecka said when she saw the dragon woman.

"What?" Sigyn asked.

Instead of a seven foot tall wall of muscle, Sigyn was only a few inches taller than Rebecka. Her clothing was baggy on her still muscular frame. She had rolled up the cuffs of her jeans so they wouldn't drag on the floor.

"Just a little surprised, though, I don't know why this surprises me when you turned into a giant full-on dragon and carried everyone as if we were potatoes last night," Rebecka said. "Sorry. I guess I'm just still not used to knowing a dragon person."

"Believe me I don't like this either, but I kept hitting my horns on the door frames," Sigyn said. She looked over to the elven knights behind Rebecka. "Baby's doing alright?"

Dyr nodded adamantly. "Yes, he's great. You look beautiful, by the way, Lady Sigyn."

Rebecka and Rifa both turned slowly to look at Dyr, who blushed and covered his face with his gloved hands. His pointed ears turned pink before they drooped.

"You're not my type," Sigyn huffed.

Rifa put on a pained smile as she gently grabbed Dyr by his shoulders. She pushed him out of the room into a hallway adjacent to the main living space. "We will look through the home for other supplies and report back soon!"

The storm grew louder, thunder rumbling heavily enough to vibrate one's bones. The hail, knocked leaves and branches off the trees. Rebecka hoped the thatched roof would hold. She was thankful the cabin had a wooden floor instead of dirt like the home that had appeared in Havamal's bar.

"How long do you think we should crash here?" Rebecka asked.

"Not sure. Never thought I'd miss radar as much as I do right now," Sigyn said as she moved to search through the small kitchen area next to the open living space. There wasn't much left in the home, but she found a steel pot in a cabinet.

"You know what radar is?" Rebecka asked as she too started looking through lower cabinets. She found the plumbing for the sink when she opened the door under it. It seemed weirdly modern and reminded her of home.

"Yes."

"You said you'd seen wild guesses on other worlds, and you're wearing stuff I recognize so that makes sense, I guess."

Sigyn rolled her eyes.

The pair silently searched for supplies for several more minutes while Mokie hopped around the wood floor near a cushion covered wooden chair and sofa. He jumped into the air, fluttering his wings, when lightning struck nearby.

"Mo momomo!"

"This would be easier with some light," Rebecka said.

"House isn't wired."

"You mean like the castle? How is it they have electricity and robot suits but no cars?"

Sigyn snorted as she got to her feet. She moved into the living area and set the pot she had in hand on the wood burning stove.

"Sorry, I'm asking too many questions."

"No. It's not that," she said through her teeth.

Rebecka stood up. Sigyn stared at the pot, her long gold and white snout hung low. Pain filled her eyes as they began to water.

"Are you okay?"

The dragon woman shook her head while waving her hand at Rebecka, then swallowed hard. "I'm fine. They have electricity but no cars because when a world has magic things advance in different ways than one without it. Why have cars when you can cast a spell to make your wagon lighter? Or use magic to speed up the horse? I wouldn't be surprised if magic was a factor in their electricity generation."

"Again, you don't sound like I thought a dragon would."

Sigyn snorted. "I've been around a long time."

"To different worlds."

She nodded.

"What are the chances we can save this one?" Rebecka asked.

Sigyn shrugged.

Dyr ran back down the hallway. "I've got terrible news!"

"What is it?" Rebecka asked, ready to find some way to plug a leaky roof or fight someone.

"There's only one bed," he said.

"I don't want it," Rebecka and Sigyn both said at the same time.

***

The food was good. Rice with re-hydrated meat and boiled vegetables. The meat gave it a savory and salty flavor. Still, Rebecka picked at it, eating slowly. Over the last day she hadn't eaten much and didn't want to overload her stomach. She and the knights sat at a small wooden table in the kitchen area while Sigyn lounged on the floor near the stove, her back to the wall. She had stretched back out to her larger size while sitting.

"So, about earlier. I would like to apologize for making that comment about you, Lady Sigyn," Dyr said as he too poked at his bowl.

"Don't worry about it," Sigyn said with a snort.

"I dishonored myself by dishonoring you, a friend of the Blade Wielder," Dyr explained.

Rebecka pursed her lips. "You know you and Rifa are my friends now too, so, does that exempt you from that weird law?"

Dyr dropped his spoon into his food. "What?"

"Both of you are part of this party. You're my friends now," she said between bites of food.

"Just because we're in the party doesn't mean we're your friends. A party can be made up of anyone," Rifa said.

Rebecka sighed. "If you don't want to be my friends that's fine."

"No, that's not what I meant," Rifa replies quickly.

Sigyn snorted.

"I haven't known Sigyn for long, but I think she doesn't hold what you said against you, Dyr. I know I don't," Rebecka said as she rummaged through her bag at her feet for her idols. She sat them down on the table in front of her.

"No, it's just that, we're your-"

"Royal escorts," Rebecka said as she lined up the figures of Odin, Freyja, and Loki.

"That's not it," Rifa said.

"We're your slaves," Dyr replied weakly.

"Nope. If that's the way your laws work I hereby free you both," Rebecka replied flatly.

"You what?"

She looked up at the knights. "If I wrote that down would you be able to go back to Heiligvagr without shame or something?"

"No, we'd still be failures."

"And likely executed for abandoning our mission," Rifa added.

"We still owe you our lives and we both want to be here. We want to help defeat Yggdrasil," Dyr said firmly.

Rebecka nodded, then spooned a large plop of her food out, dropping it on the table in front of the statue of Loki. "Change-maker. Father of death. Guardian of the hearth. Loki Laufeyjarson, please protect us with your flames and knots on our journey."

"You're praying in the middle of your meal?" Rifa asked, confusion in her voice.

"Yeah, I probably should hav-"

Mokie hopped up on the table, knocking the statues of Odin and Freyja off. Rebecka lunged to catch the figures before they hit the floor. By the time she got back to the table Mokie had finished scarfing down the offering she had made and was heading for her bowl. She scooped her bowl up just before he dipped his paws into the rice.

"This is my dinner," she warned.

"Mo momo," Mokie chirped.

"He ate the offering," Rifa breathed while covering her mouth.

"It's fine, he can have it. I would've had to clean it off the table later anyway. "After I finish eating I'll make you a proper bowl," she said.

"Mo mo mo," Mokie replied before fluttering back down to the floor and wobbling around on all fours as he went back to examining every piece of furniture in the house.

Sigyn just snorted and shook her head.

Rebecka picked up her Loki figure and put it back in her bag with the others, then sat down to finish eating. "I don't care what your laws or customs say. Neither of you is bound to me. Neither of you is my slave. Neither of you has a life debt. If you're sworn to protect me and want to come along fine, but no slave shit. You're both free people."

Dyr hung his head. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Rebecka," Rifa said.

"No need to thank me. No one should be a slave. Ever. Everyone should get to choose how they live and what they want to do with their life."

Rebecka didn't hear a word from Aettartangi, but she had the distinct feeling that it was paying attention.