Farnír's POV
The bunker that the Drakes were staying in was quiet today. Normally it would be a bit chaotic, because so many different teams were staying together. Getting rowdy between assignments, training, or patrols was the norm for the last few days. But today, most of the teams were out doing various tasks. Most of them were helping to dig out the mountain, but some were probably training what I'd shown them earlier. For now, it was only two squads in our bunker: squad one, and ours. I walked in holding a wooden tablet in my hand, and gave it directly to Captain Gigoales, who'd been mana training with Lieutenant Datahu. Nearby, watching their training, were Nine, and the two new members of our squad: Twenty, who was an unnamed Neame, and Ungi. Apparently, they were the last surviving members of their squad after an ambush on a scouting mission. Lauric was also in the bunker, but was asleep in his roost.
"What is this?" He asked, taking it from me with mana wrapping and looking it over. "Orders from the Queen?" He studied it carefully. I'd read the orders myself as well. They were written in a dialect of Old Norse, similar to what I'd taught them as Zachariah, but with clear differences that probably developed over time. It was a simple set of instructions.
Directly translated it said, "Locate enemy birds beneath treetops. Raid supplies." What followed was the last known location of the Neame. They'd clearly lost most of what I'd taught them, but supplemented it on their own. Which explained why runes were fairly rare now, despite them being widely used when I was Zachariah. It was probably a side effect of Deyja's rampage.
"I see." Captain Gigoales nodded, placing the orders down. Lieutenant Datahu woke up Lauric. "Squad. Prepare yourselves. We have a mission directly from the Queen herself."
"What is it, Captain?" Nine asked.
"I'll explain on the way, but prepare for search and destroy maneuvers. We will likely see combat today." He said.
"We're fara í viking." I said, mostly to myself.
"What's that mean?" Nine asked.
"We're going raiding." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ungi talking with Suma, and could feel her uneasiness through our connection. It made sense to me in the moment. She'd never liked combat, and had always been more pacifistic. Of course, so had I… before. Even after merging with Zachariah, I still didn't like fighting, but I stopped shying away from it. Now I knew what violence meant, and what it was used for. More than I did as Zachariah or Jake. Now I remembered how Zachariah's father died because I was too afraid to pick up an axe, and how I hated myself for it. And I remembered how Suma had nearly been killed time and time again, because I was afraid to use my magic. I remembered all my training across two lifetimes, the wars I fought as both men. I don't like fighting, but I will… for them. For Suma, to see Mum again, to protect this new family I'd made in Atmosia.
"Jake?" Suma said, landing on my shoulder armor. "Are you… you?" The entire squad turned to her, in various states of shock.
"Suma, it's Farnír now." Lieutenant Datahu reminded her. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed she got my name wrong because I still wasn't used to it fully. It was her question that took the wind out of my sails.
"Right! Yes, sorry. I meant-"
"It's fine." I cut her off. There was no need to ask her why she felt the need to ask me that. I knew. Over the last couple of weeks, I've changed. "Yeah. I'm me. Just… different." There was a moment of tense silence as she looked into my eyes. For a moment, I felt something inside me go taut, like something was being tested. Never one in either of my lifetimes had I felt this, but knew exactly what it was, as if by instinct. She was testing our connection through the familiar's pact. Making sure it was there. Trying to feel me using it. For a moment, I felt her closer than ever. Like I could touch her soul to mine. And then, I felt her relax, and knew she'd found what she was looking for. Finally, she sighed.
"Okay, good."
"If we are done with the soft-feathered feelings, we have a mission to do." Captain Gigoales said.
Everyone flew out of the entrance, except me, because I had to crawl, and we were off towards the forest. On the way out, I did overhear Twenty and Ungi talking to Lauric.
"Is it always like this?" Ungi asked.
"No. Sometimes the Viking sleeps. Then it's normal again."
"He's actually a Viking?" Twenty said, opening his wings to catch the air. Then I caught Lauric glancing at me.
"More or less." He said, and took off as I summoned Chariot.
The raid was nothing difficult. I didn't even really participate. What I actually did was act as a battery. Once we arrived, I doled out my mana like a vending machine to everyone, except the new members, Twenty, Lauric, and Ungi. Since we'd become a team and come up with this idea, each of them have devoted a few hours each day to training to use my mana, learning how it affects their spells, and what they can or can't do with it. Overall, most of them had decided that, at least when it came to our normal strategy of strike and retreat, then having me hold back and give out mana while they did the work was most effective.
I sat on Chariot, waiting high in the sky, as they delt with the SU members. Occasionally, one of the members would come for a top-up, then they'd dart back below the canopy, and a minute later I'd hear squawking or see a heat mirage rise up, or some other evidence of a spell being cast. Truthfully, none of the SU members even realized the squad was there until they were attacked, or until their numbers were so low that the quiet was suspicious. I did participate in the last few minutes of the attack, but only as a show of force.
Three SU members were left, huddled together, ready to cast a spell at anything that moved. Captain Gigoales contacted me via a telepathy spell directly, which meant he probably wasn't near Suma at the moment. "Farnír, move in with your defenses prepared. We have taken out most of their members, but we need to keep these alive to interrogate. Break their will to fight. But don't kill anyone."
"Understood." I said, and landed Chariot. Lieutenant Datahu flew up, and landed nearby.
"I will guide you to them. Follow." She ordered. I jogged after her, eventually finding the members. Casting my barriers, I walked into the open where they could see, with the expected results. Each of them cast their spells. One used the ground to create a massive stone pillar that shot straight at me. The second tried a fire spell, and the third did nothing. At least not to me. He did cast a spell on the other two, which caused them both to glow faintly red. Both spells collided against my barrier, either freezing in place as it got stuck, or getting absorbed and redirected. So of course they tried again. And again. Nineteen times actually. All the while I was walking closer and closer, until finally we were face to… beak.
"Surrender?" I asked.
Exhausted and panting, the three looked at one another. But one of them had a fiery determination in his eye. "Sure, we accept your surrender." He said defiantly. So I dropped the barrier and kicked him like a football, and he flew through the air without a single beat of his wings.
"What about you two?" I asked, looking down at the two remaining members, once their comrade landed with a crunchy thunk.
"We surrender." One of them said, as the other nodded in agreement. Suma tended to the third's broken body as Lauric and Captain Gigoales interrogated the other two.
"Did we get the supplies?" I asked Lieutenant Datahu.
"These three are the ones responsible for carrying the bulk of the supplies on their familiars, I am sure of it. All we need to do is find out where their dugout is for the rest that was already offloaded." She said.
"How can you tell it's them?"
"Their attack spells are terrible, their wings are dirty in all the wrong places, and their ranks are low. It is them."
Suma flew up and landed on my shoulder. Lieutenant Datahu glanced up at her from the ground. Part of me thought that maybe she didn't like being so low, but she rarely summoned her familiar, and there were no branches or logs close enough. "I have healed the Southern Union soldier, but he is still unconscious. I have wrapped him in vines for now." Suma said. Something Suma said caught my attention. I had definitely given her my mana as well for the attack, and could not picture her fighting enough in such a small amount of time to burn through it all. Which meant…
"Good work, Corporal." Lieutenant Datahu said, either not noticing or ignoring the obvious.
"Corporal?" I asked. "Weren't you're a Specialist?" Glancing at the insignia she's had on her wings for a long time, I noticed it had changed. The golden vertical line had been replaced by a golden triangle; worn proudly near the middle of her wing. No idea how it was being held in place though.
"I was promoted." Suma beamed. "There was no time for a ceremony, of course, but the Queen herself ordered it."
"She skipped second and third ranked Specialist and went straight to Corporal. It is a big deal. Very rare." Lieutenant Datahu said, watching the Neame who Suma had tied up.
"That's fantastic Suma. Why didn't you tell me? We should celebrate." I offered.
"We are in the middle of a mission." Lieutenant Datahu said.
"Right sorry." I said.
"Sorry, Lieutenant." Suma said.
Nearby, Lauric and Captain Gigoales seemed to have been struggling with their 'interrogation,' and hadn't managed to convince the captured SU members to help us. And then I remembered something from a long time ago.
"Are they slaves?" I asked.
The Lieutenant turned her head slightly towards the two, then back to the unconscious one. "Yes." She answered.
"I'll be back." I said, and started walking towards them.
"What are you doing?" Suma asked, still on my shoulder.
"Making them an offer." I walked up to the Captain, who looked like he was trying to be as intimidating as possible. Lauric was holding his curved claws to one of their throats, as if he were about to slice it. And I knew he would. "Sir, can I speak to them?" He looked at me, confused, then back to them.
"Make it quick." He said. Lauric pulled his claw back, but stared intensely at them.
"You two, you're slaves, right?" I asked. They looked at one another, but said nothing. "I can free you from your slave crests. And if you help us, I will."
Everyone looked around at me, shocked or curious. Some probably assumed I was lying, others may have believed me. "Your sweetened words mean nothing. Breaking the crest is impossible." I picked him up with one hand, and began to examine his body in search of the crest.
"Farnír!" Suma said, shocked. "What are you doing?"
"Found it." I said, noticing a small mark on his body, hidden underneath his wing.
"Put me down!" He yelled.
"Did you know that Inversion Magic can be used to forcibly break a Familiar's Bond by turning its energy against itself?" I placed a finger on the slave crest, and filled it with inversion magic, then kept filling it.
"AH! Stop! OW! AH!" He yelped, acting like a big baby. It didn't hurt that much. Not this part anyway, but the next part… "ARGH!" The crest popped, and a bit of flesh went with it, leaving a small hole in his side. Blood trickled out, but I cast a healing spell using Death Magic and had him as good as new a moment later.
"There… you're free." I said, putting him down. Everyone was astonished, watching what happened. He examined his side, lifting his wing and looking at the newly regrown feathers that covered the area.
"You…" He started to say.
"Now that you're free. Will you help us?" I asked.
"You cur!" He shouted.
"What?"
"I was a proud warrior of the-"
"Free me and I will tell you everything!" The other Neame said, stopping the first from finishing his sentence.
"How dare you?"
"He already unloaded his supplies in the dugout. I'll tell you where it is. Just free me!" The second pleaded.
"I will not allow yo-" The first said, but without a word, the Captain raised his claw to the first Neame's throat, and slit it. I felt Suma's weight shift, probably as she turned to look away. He gargled on his own blood, apparently unable to heal himself.
"Farnír, free him." The Captain ordered. I did, and he kept true to his word. I honestly couldn't tell if the amount of supplies we found in their underground space was enough, but everyone seemed pleased. It certainly seemed like a lot of seeds at least. At least ten sacks filled to the brim with different seeds.
Breaking the slave seal was easy enough just like before, and he seemed extremely grateful. He spent hours telling us everything he knew. So much so, that the sun set on us before we made it back to base. We took him as a prisoner, but with more privileges than a normal one, since he was cooperative. He got his own room, rather than a cell, his choice of food from the soldier's selection, and apparently he was given meat too, from one of the higher rank's supply. Of course, he did have to wear an iron shackle that had an anti-magic rune engraved inside. But otherwise, as long as he provided actionable intelligence, they seemed to think this was a fair trade. I was told by the Captain to not give him a name though, under any circumstances. Which… was a fair warning.
I got to my room late that night after everything, and fell onto my makeshift bed. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I heard a scratching on the wall. "Come in!" I groaned. The wall opened, and Suma flew inside.
"Hello Farnír, I hope I did not disturb you."
"Hey, Suma. What's up?" I asked, not lifting my head from my straw pillow.
"Well, I wanted to discuss something with you. About how different you have been lately."
"Oh? Can… can it wait until morning? I'm wiped."
"Yes, it can. I have just been worried about you. And I know, and believe, what you said earlier, about you being the same, just different. But after what happened with my parents-" She began.
(Welp, I guess we're doing this.) I thought, sitting up.
"- I wanted to ensure that we did not drift apart as they did. So, could we talk about this new you? Or rather, the new side of you."
I took a deep breath, "Okay, what do you want to know?"
"Well… why Farnír? I know you said something about its meaning, but why that name specifically?"
"Because it's something that reflects who I am now, and how I see myself. This is a bit corny, but I have been thinking about Nidhögg. He wasn't just one dragon with multiple minds in his own. He considered himself as all those dragons at different times. Not only that, he liked to think that it wasn't only the lives he lived that made him who he was, but those around him in each of those lives. And then I got to thinking about my Mom, and Dad. My Móðir and Faðir, Bjorn, you, Ambos, Odens, Vindicta and Ceil; everyone. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be me. Farnír is a name that makes me remember that."
"You are correct… that is a bit corny." She said, trying to play it cool, but I could tell she was touched.
"But it hasn't just been me who's changed. You're very different than when we met."
"Am I?"
"Yeah. When you told me about that promotion, I started to think about how much we'd changed. You used to be so scared of disappointing others, or standing out. But now you are here, on the front lines, meeting the Queen without me, rubbing wings with nobles."
"Well, you are exaggerating." She said, embarrassed. "But I suppose you are somewhat correct. When I received my promotion, I realized how different my reaction was now than it would have been some years ago. Now, I am proud to have my skills recognized."
"At the rate you're going, you'll be a Captain soon." I joked.
"Oh, no. My plans to retire after all of this have not changed… Have yours?" She said. Honestly, I'd nearly forgotten. I'd planned to retire after getting back from that island, but between the dragon, the new memories, everything… it had all started to feel like a distant memory, or a dream.
"If we manage to kill the dragon and live… I'm still leaving the army. I'll probably go home too. Not forever, but for a long while. I miss my Mum."
"What about Sela-Car?" She asked.
"I'll still work with her. But after an extended vacation. Honestly, I was really looking forward to being a researcher, or at least an assistant."
"How is your mother? You have not spoken of her much lately." She said, and I felt a pang in my heart.
"She… I don't know. She hasn't written much in a while. Not since the island."
"Oh my… Perhaps you have simply missed it? Have you checked your bag today? Maybe she sent you something."
"No. She hasn't restoked my bag in a while either. I've just been eating food I bought here, and washing my clothes every day. Don't ask what I've been doing for toilet-" I summoned the bag and opened it, only to be surprised when a letter fell out onto the floor.
"See! You have one right there. Read it!" Suma said happily. I picked it up immediately and opened it, reading aloud excitedly. But that excitement didn't last long.
"Jake. I'm sorry, I know we said no more lying, but I have been keeping a secret from you for a while now." I read, my voice falling with each word until I was silently reading the rest to myself. My chest and throat tightened. Everything around me was drowned out by my own inner thoughts. Worry, dread, sadness. Everything hit me like a car.
"Farnír?" Suma asked, concerned.
"Suma, I need you to send me back. Right now." I said.
"What? But the dragon?!" She said.
"I don't care. Just… just send me back."
"Why? What did the letter say?" She asked. I clenched it in my hands, crumpling up one side.
"It wasn't her handwriting, but it was her. Her…" I nearly choked on the lump in my throat trying to say the words. "Her cancer came back. She'd had it when I was young, but she went into remission. She says it's back, and more aggressive. I need to go." I stressed my words. I did have the ability to send myself using Inversion Magic, and would if it came to it, but it would be easier on the both of us if she were the one to do it. I'd had to do it a few times in the past, but Ambos always said he'd felt dizzy afterwards, and I would be burned by the familiar's curse afterward since I was responsible for it. But each time had been an emergency, and was always worth it. This time would be no different.
"Farnír, the dragon… what if it takes your body again? We have been so careful. If it happens now instead of at the portal when we are prepared, all will be lost."
"I don't think he will." I said. I couldn't deny she had a point.
"Why not?"
"Because he knows he will be free soon. He doesn't need me anymore. He will probably ignore me. And even if he doesn't, I'm going to my world. Not this one. He'll be trapped there. Even without me, the trap still works."
"But not nearly as well. And you cannot expect me to… there are too many dangers. Farnír… I'm sorry, but I cannot." She said. I understood. Part of me even agreed. But I couldn't not do this. Was it selfish? Yes. Crazy? Also yes. Could I be dooming my world? Maybe. But it was my Mum. I couldn't miss my opportunity to say goodbye twice. When my Móðir passed, I was too late. Too much was left unsaid. Not again. Never again.
"I'm sorry Suma." I said, and began the spell to send myself home.
She stumbled around, falling over just as I began to disappear. "What is… I do not feel… Farnír." She said, slumping down. Just as I fully vanished, I heard her weakly call for me, "Jake…" My cheeks burned. My eyes watered because I knew I was breaking her heart, because I was worried myself, because I was afraid, and because I was scared for my Mum. But I also knew I needed to try.
"Hello Jake." A voice called from that infinite darkness. From the shadows he emerges. Still wreathed in flames, but far more dragon than man now. Only a bit of Zachariah's soul was left. "What ironic timing. You arrive on the cusp of my release. You are no longer needed, however."
"Zachariah?" I asked.
"Less than half of his soul remains. He gave himself to you. How is it, by the way? Does he infuriate you as much as he did me for these last thousand years?"
"I know who you are now." I said.
"Oh? Which of his memories did he give you exactly? Did you see this one where he betrayed my trust?" He growled. "How about when he stood in judgment of me when I lost my name!? For what? For doing what was right? For forcing Ahshem to let go of that backwater world! For wanting to go home!" He shouted, and the flames that made up his body broiled and whirled like a bonfire. "But you are not him… Are you Jake?"
"It's Farnír now." I corrected.
"Oh? You changed your name? What is that… bond between generations? Zachariah taught me a bit of his language… when I started breaking down what was left of him to gain my freedom. Still though, he has kept some secrets." He chuckled. "Well then, I will give you what I was denied, the dignity of using your name. Goodbye Farnír. For your sake, I hope you stay in your world."
With that, he faded away, and the world… my world… came back into focus. I was in my room, in Mum's house, sitting on my bed.