"Thou you shall be free from roaring flame of fear and become one with the sword."
— Fire Giants (the Jötnar of Muspelheim)
"Where.. am I?" The man gasped, his eyes were darting around the dim room.
Above him, the deeply carved wood of the ceiling captured his full focus. The roof was constructed from dozens of rotted stems, meticulously bound and knotted together with dried vines. It was a fragile but stubborn canopy. It was sealed tightly with mud and ash to protect whoever lived inside from whatever the crying sky was trying to tear apart, enough to handle the heavy rain and thunderstorm.
He screamed through clenched teeth, looking down at his mud-stained white robe but terrifying horror had come about how bad his state was. The horrific 'S' curve of his shattered leg was still there, throbbing with agonizing heat.
"You.. finally, awake young lad." a raspy but subtle voice had replied to the man.
It caught his attention and shift his focus to the sound. Just when it arrives to it's ear, he turned right but nothing had been seen with his eye as well. He turned to the other way around again and find his nose had just touching the face of an old lady that had spoken.
"Who... who are you!?" he choked out, clutching his knee. "The beast... the fall..." He stared at her, the memory of the beast flashing in his mind. A teribble misfortune luck situation to overcome, make the hut around him, a comfort bed, felt like a miracle.
"Calm your mind. I am the fall and the dawn. Meet me, the Lady of the Hut. Eir is the name," she whispered, her milky eyes reflecting the firelight as he smiled to the young man.
"You.. saved me," he rasped, but sudden pause because his mind trying to knot the piece together to what happened with shattered memory caused by the worst crash of his lifetime.
"I heard a bell.. but my leg..It's pain!.. my leg! It's pain!" He cried again, because the throbbing heat strikes back.
"I saved you from the jaws of the forest," Eir replied, her face unreadable to see but a smirk had just been spotted.
"..but a miracle of the flesh requires a toll. Thou the Bell of Sorrow grants a final wish, but the fate it brings must be comes along side with it." he cried. It's as if, he can't tell wheater it was a dream or the afterlife but for sure, he is breathing the air.
From the deep, shadow-drenched folds of her heavy cloak, Eir drew an intricate brass artifact. The tiny bells shifted, elongating into a myriad of sharp, scuttling legs.
"Thou it's named after the maidens of east culture, Kagura Suzu. It's final bell ring will heal you entirely." Eir explained. The holy artifact morphed into a massive, mechanical centipede, gleaming with cold, ancient metallurgy. It moved with terrifying speed, its metallic legs clacking against the wood.
"Wait! What is that?" the man demanded, pressing his back against the wooden wall dodging the creature.
"Your salvation," she murmured.
The man tried to scramble backward, but his shattered leg anchored him in place. The brass centipede surged forward, coiling its heavy, segmented body tightly around his broken calf.
"Shall not, don't fight, be friend with the unexpected guest, as it's fate had served you." Eir whispered.
It moved with terrifying speed, its metallic legs clacking against the wood.
The man tried to scramble backward, but his shattered leg anchored him in place. The brass centipede surged forward, coiling its heavy, segmented body tightly around his broken calf.
The man threw his head back and roared. It wasn't venom flooding his veins, but molten, liquid fire. The sensation was absolute agony. A searing terror of heat that forced his shattered bones to violently grind, shift, and snap back into their original alignment. He could feel the marrow fusing, the muscle fibers knitting together under the crushing grip of the brass coils.
The pain crested into a blinding flash of white light, and then... absolute stillness, a miracle that even fairy would disbelieve it happened.
He collapsed against the floor, his chest heaving, soaked in a cold sweat. He opened his eyes and looked down.
The creature was gone. Lying harmlessly beside his completely healed, perfectly straight leg was the brass Kagura Suzu, silent and still.
"Your wish," Eir said softly, picking up the bell from the ground, "to be alive, has been granted.. by fate.."