The Coin of Judgment

Grimnir flew us back to his home, a large coniferous tree on the other side of the mountain peak. His home inside the tree had all its belongings strewn every which way and that. Treasures the raven had accumulated over the years were piled together in disorganized masses. Rocks, crystals, coins, sets of armour, and lustrous capes were a few of the things I saw.

“Oh! Oh, what happened here? My treasures! My poor treasures!”

“What do you think happened here?” I asked Marisa.

“I cannot begin to dream of how such doom befell this home,” said Marisa.

I looked around the home. The way the items were spread around gave the impression someone had been searching for an important magical item.

“I think Wode was looking for something when he possessed your body, Grimnir. Do you have any idea what it could be?”

“Perhaps the divine object?” Marisa said.

“Right! Wode and his possession of me. Where shall I begin?” he said, rubbing his beak with his wing. “It was a few days ago—no, yesterday? A shadow fell over this mountain; it’s aura dark and grasping, searching. It stood here, at the entrance, and asked me a question... What did it ask me?”

I looked at Marisa, unsure of what to say. She said, “Was the question ‘what is your name’?”

“What is my name? I already told you. Oh, you mean what did the shadow ask me? Yes, that very well could be the question. I don’t recall anything after that moment.”

“That must have been Wode. He knew we were coming here.”

“His power grows unchecked. We must hurry with gathering the divine objects.”

Caw “Divine objects you say?”

“Yeah, we’re looking for one that should have been in that tower...”

“There’s nothing in that tower except my collection of mirrors... My mirrors! Oh, my poor mirrors! Destroyed!” Caw caw!

“Uh, yeah, sorry about that. It was Wode’s fault. Anyway, there’s no divine object in the tower?”

“No, none. Ah yes, I was given something important from my friend Raphi some hundred years ago. Where did it go...?”

The raven started rummaging through the piles of treasure searching for the divine object. We joined him in his search for it. I had no idea what it would be, but this moment felt to me like one “you’ll know it when you see it” kind of moments. Grimnir took flight and landed on an upper ledge inside the hollowed out trunk. Dried grass and leaves rained down on us as he plucked away in his search. He flew to another ledge and repeated his actions until he stopped and looked around, noticing an odd section of the tree. He pecked at it, removing dried bark, and then grabbed a coin.

Placing the coin at our feet, he cawed triumphantly and said, “This is the divine object: the Coin of Judgment.”

I picked the coin up and stared at it. It was larger than the medallion King Eulerich had given me, being around a third of a foot in diameter and weighing just over a pound. The centre of both the reverse and obverse side had a pentacle in the middle.

“I had completely forgotten about it, but it’s yours to keep.”

“Thank you, O Grimnir. Your help is most worthful for our journey.”

“Oh, think nothing of it. It’s the least I could do since you freed me from that curse.”

I was staring at the coin while Marisa and Grimnir talked when an idea struck me. “Hey, Marisa, where is the next divine object?”

“That would be in the March to the south, the land of the salamanders.”

“Would you be able to guide us there?”

“Perchance I could but Luna has a deeper knowledge of the land than I.”

“Grimnir,” I said, pointing to him, “Could you fly us there? This Wode guy is getting stronger each day as the barrier holding him back weakens. We don’t have time for another weeks-long journey.”

Caw “It would be my pleasure. Hop aboard.”

“Ah, before we go, we need to pick up our third companion, Luna. Can you take us to the entrance of the dwarven kingdom?”

“Yes, yes, no problem.”

He brought us to the front entrance next to the rose garden, and we soon had Luna back with us.

“Hold on!” Grimnir said when we had returned.

Up we went and we flew over the mountain, the forests, and the plains towards the land of the salamanders, the land of fire. I was exhausted. We had had an eventful day with the tasks and fight with Wode. Who he was remained a mystery to me. So, why hadn’t anyone told me about him yet?

While we were in the air, Marisa leaned close to me and said, “At the tower... thank you.”

She was close, closer than when we were in front of the mirror. I should say ‘You’re welcome,’ but that was obvious. She knew it. We both knew it. Though, there was more to her words than she let on.

“When did you two get so close? What did I miss during the trial?” Luna interjected.

I immediately scooched away from Marisa and averted my gaze. I looked over the passing scenery below when I saw a black shape approaching us in the setting light. It moved with incredible speed through the night.

“What’s that?” I said to distract everyone.

The flying shape swung up and levelled itself at our altitude.

“King Eulerich!? What brings you here, your Majesty?” said Marisa.

“Hoo-hoo, it is comforting to see you all. I see you have acquainted yourselves with Grimnir. Greetings and salutations, old friend.”

“Eulerich? When did you get here? Oh, I see—we are over your oak tree. Hello, my Lord.”

“And now your journey guides you to the lands south of here. How interesting. Tell me, what events have transpired since we last conversed.”

We told him of our journey up to that point. The first trial in the undine realm, slaying King Boreas atop the mountain, our separation, reunion, and fight against Wode. He listened in silence to our story, asking no questions.

“Hoo, a magnificent journey it has been. Terrible though are some trials you faced, but stronger are you because of them. Your efforts are commendable. Yet, what most concerns me is the news of Wode’s return. It is not yet complete though, but biding his time and amassing the strength required to break out of his prison. Yes, you are correct to point out that your journey must be expedited.”

“King Eulerich, why didn’t you tell me about Wode? Why did you purposefully not tell me about him and what I had done?”

“I am at fault for this, Ferdinand. I thought it prudent not to trouble you further with details you had no interest in at the time. It was a lapse in my judgment, for I thought that the barrier would contain Wode’s malice and that his power was not mature enough to allow him to escape. We may take solace knowing that his true form still lies within the barrier.”

It’s true that I didn’t care much about the quest at the time. I was more concerned with going home but had agreed to fix the barrier since I had inadvertently caused damage to it.

“What can you tell me about him? He wants my soul for some reason. Why?”

“He is a mad king from a time long, long ago. He was corrupted with power and sought to rule not only this world but yours. He needs a soul to complete his evil machinations. Then, by divine intervention, he was sealed away, and we have lived in relative peace ever since. The four divine objects were left with us, but, over the millennia, information regarding them has been lost.”

The way King Eulerich glossed over the details made me suspect he was hiding information. It was also possible that there were facts he wasn’t aware about since the events with Wode were from so long ago.

“Now, I will accompany you three to meet with the Margrave Mordrau. We have nary a second to waste.”