I feel overcoming
me a dread that once before I felt, only once before. And that
when I fought 'neath murky waters with the mother of Grendl. Is
there no end? Have I come here once more to meet a fiend in
mortal combat? And each more powerful than that which went
before?"
Demo eyes lit up. "It was Athena. She knew of you, though you
had never been. And if she has brought you here, it is with good
cause. Grendl, and the mother of Grendl. Who, or what, are these
of which you speak?"
"Fiends, creatures of night and corruption, that prey on good
folk, weak and helpless. Alone I have met them, and that in
their own lair, and brought upon them such destruction as they
had sown. Monstrous though they were, yet did I feel not dread
as I feel in this dark cove. What manner of creature dwells in
yonder tarn. In my mind my thoughts are dark, and Wyrd himself
peoples them."
"Wyrd? I know of Zeus, of Pluto, and of others of like ilk. I
know not Wyrd."
For a moment Beowulf sat silent, eyes on the ground before him.
"Wyrd is he who awaits us. Before all, he was. When all has
faded and passed on, he will be. Though I fear him, I shall not
bow to his power. Strangely, I believe he dwells here. I know
not why."
Demo spoke now, glancing at the tarn in apprehension. "Legends
have it that, before the Titans ruled, another walked this
world, held it in a grasp of iron. Then the Titans beguiled him
in some strange manner, and with fetters formed of dreams
entangled him.
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