“Hello again, friend,” said Kuthbyuhrn.
“Hello, Kuthbyuhrn. I’m glad to see you.”
“And I you.” The great bear hung his head. “Though, I am ashamed to say I’ve forgotten your name since you were last here.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “My name is Hank.”
“Ah, yes! Hank. The strange name.”
“Yep, that’s me. Did you speak with the lantvihtir?”
“The lantvihtir? Why would I… Oh! Yes, I remember now. You asked me to speak with them, and I went to them, but when I returned you had disappeared.”
“Sorry. I seem to have no control of myself at the moment.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. I can see your fettle is in the hands of others.”
“What does that mean?”
“I have no idea. I’m just a bear.”
I smiled up at him. “You are much more than a bear, my friend.”
“If this is only a troymskrok, a meaningless dream, then I’m really part of your mind, and what you say is true, but if this isn’t a meaningless dream, I’m only a bear, I’m sorry to say.”
“Well…”
“It’s okay, Hank. I enjoy being a bear. I’m good at it.”
I chuckled, and he chuffed through his nose. “Okay. What did the lantvihtir say?”
“The lantvihtir? Oh! Yes, I remember now. Keeping things straight without an actual brain is hard. Mine rotted, you know.”
I nodded, smiling.
“Yes, well, the lantvihtir. They said they don’t care what you are doing here—that I should kill you all. I told them I wouldn’t do that, of course. Now that we are friends, it would be unthinkable.” He turned his huge head and looked into the darkness behind him. “They are massing for an attack. They say the short little one is running out of endurance.”
“My friends have a plan to take care of that.”
“Good. The lantvihtir… Well, they hate the short one particularly. Not only because he sings a horrible song that hurts the lantvihtir, but also because they used to be as he is.”
“They were Tverkar? On Osgarthr?”
“Sure, why not? The Isir aren’t the only ones who can use the preer.”
“I should speak to them. Will you take me there?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Hank. They detest the living.”
“I get that, but right now, I’m not really living, am I?”
The bear glanced past me, no doubt looking at my body. “Well, your body is technically alive, though an empty shell right now. It’s a gray area.”
“So I was told by a guy hanging in a tree.”
The big bear was silent for a moment before saying, “Hank, sometimes I think people are quite strange.”
I nodded, smiling. “Lead on, brave Kuthbyuhrn.”
The bear mimicked my nod and drew the skin back from his teeth, but the effect was ruined by his incredible fangs. He turned and shambled into the darkness.
I floated into the cave with him.
“You move well for one so recently alive,” Kuthbyuhrn remarked. “Oh! Forgive me, Hank. I sometimes speak without thinking.”
I laughed. “My people have a saying, Kuthbyuhrn. It goes like this: It is what it is.”
“What a strange sentiment.”
“It means there’s no point feeling bad for what we can’t control.”
“Oh! Yes, very wise. We bears usually say Uhrluhk, and chuff through our noses.”
As we approached the lantvihtir, I began to perceive more of them than blurs and shadows. Their ghostly forms were similar to the Tverkar.
“Step no farther, Hank. You are at the edge of the protection your friend offers. If you were to take two more steps, the lantvihtir would swarm you like a hive of angry bees.”
“Thanks for the warning. Can they still hear me?”
“Yes!” said one of the lantvihtir. “But you have nothing to say that matters to us!”
“My friends and I will leave you in peace if you will do the same.”
“You will stay with us in this cave, no matter what your friends do.” The lantvihtir laughed with a nasty smile stretching across his ghostly face.
“That’s quite rude,” said Kuthbyuhrn.
“So is going back on your word, you great steaming lump of rotten meat!”
“I gave you my word based on your lies. I’m not bound by untruths.”
“What can I say or do to earn our passage through your domain? There must be something you want.”
“Besides your death? I suppose you could change our uhrluhk, so we aren’t trapped in this damn place.” The lantvihtir said it in a nasty, sarcastic tone, but I felt a glimmer of hope.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
The lantvihtir laughed and a bolt of pure agony twisted through my head.