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Howl of the Hearthworld

Aaron Dembski-Bowden

His name was Thirteen Stars Falling. He was the one to spit upon the ground before the Lord of Winter and War.

‘There’s your answer, Russ.’

The Lord of Winter and War was a king without a throne. When he gathered the Einherjar blood-sworn, he did so without ceremony, holding a warriors’ court on the bare earth. Every soul stood equal to his kinsmen, and every warrior present knew that the day would end with the fall of an executioner’s axe.

All eyes lay upon the six souls awaiting judgement beneath the weeping storm. They stood without any attempt at formation, though instinct had each of them standing with enough room to draw and swing a blade. Rain drenched the brothers as they stood before their master, soaking their wolf pelts and polishing their grey ceramite to a greasy sheen.

The wind still carried the chemical reek of burned fuel, a legacy of the Legion’s recent planetfall. No warriors’ court would ever convene in the void; tradition was tradition, and not even the Lord of Winter and War could decree otherwise. Fenrisians and Terrans alike had a right to die with their boots upon honest earth.

Jarls and thegns from other companies formed a ring around the accused. Armed and armoured for battle, these chieftains murmured amongst themselves, their voices as deep and low as rousing bears. Talismans and charms were exchanged in place of meaningless coins as they gambled without shame on the lives of their kinsmen.

At last, Russ spoke. Outsiders often likened his voice to a canine’s snarl, yet here amongst his sons he was but one of many with a feral edge to his words.

‘That’s the last refusal I will hear from Howl of the Hearthworld.’

Thirteen Stars Falling nodded. ‘Then don’t ask us again.’

The high king smiled, a thing of bared teeth and flashing eyes. He was ageless in the way that only godlings are ageless, and scarred in ways that a coward would never be scarred. Two wolves prowled by his side, loyal and hunter-keen. The Lord of Winter and War idly ran gloved fingers through the nearest beast’s fur.

‘I offer you honour,’ he said, ‘and you return it with defiance.’

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First published in Death and Defiance in 2014.
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