When Jess returned to the lodge on Monday, things were too quiet. Over and over again, she expected to find Sigyn around the corner only to be disappointed. She should have been happy; she had achieved what she set out to do, and proved Sigyn was guilty. Though she would never admit it outloud, she didn't care about the wolf anymore. Nor the illegal guns. The only person who could answer the questions she really wanted to know was about to be sent off to prison for a long time.

  At her break, she borrowed a pair of cross-country skis and hit the trails - specifically, the same trail she had taken the night she first saw Sigyn. She was worried she wasn't going to find the same spot again, but the symbol on the tree stood out like her own personal beacon. Kark had told her it was a warning, and looking at it now, it definitely had a sort of alien, uncanny aspect to it - much like Sigyn herself, but there was no way of knowing what it meant unless you knew exactly what it was.

  Staring at the symbol for a long time hadn't magically given her the breakthrough she hoped for, and she was about to continue on when she noticed a hidden, adjacent trail snaking through the alder trees.

  Fifteen minutes left of her break - it only took five to get back. There was no reason not to do a little extra exploring.

  After a while of breaking through twigs and ducking branches, Jess came to a ramshackle log cabin nestled in the snowy meadow. Dark, scraggly wood sunk under the weight of the snow piled on the roof. The remains of what once was a fence circled its perimeter.

  The front steps groaned under her weight as Jess climbed them one at a time. She rested her skis against the post and pushed on the front door, which swung open with no reluctance. Sunlight could not filter through the dirty windows as easily as the mountain wind slid through the planks, making the large single room cold and dark.

  The only sign the place had once been inhabited was a row of trinkets on top of the fireplace mantel. A small wooden horse, a duck, and a dragon - specks of joy from long ago. At the end was a wooden plaque covered in symbols - symbols that Jess recognized from Sigyn's journal. She wrestled her phone out of her pocket to take a picture.

  "You just can't stay away, can you?"

  Jess jumped back, and her phone clattered on the floor. Sigyn looked down at her from the top of the stairs she hadn't noticed in the back of the room. She stammered, unsure of what to do. "...You live here?"

  It was hard to believe, considering the thin fabric covering her arms and legs. No person could last a night here without freezing to death, but still Sigyn managed to withstand the cold.

  The cracking wood amplified her footsteps, loud as the footsteps of a monster barreling towards its victim. "Not really, but I have to stay away from the lodge, being a wanted criminal and all."

  The severity of the situation dawned on Jess. Here she was, alone with a wanted criminal with a motive to do her harm. Even with a running head start, snow pants and ski boots would not get her far.

  Even standing at the bottom of the stairs, Sigyn towered over her. Her voice and body were calm, but Jess stayed on alert, knowing things could change instantly. Like they had in the shed when she first confronted her.

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  "Are you alright, Jess? You're so jumpy."

  And then she realized: Sigyn didn't know she was the one who took the damning photo. That was why she wasn't angry at her!

  Sigyn scooped Jess' phone off the floor, peaking at the photo before handing it back. "This catch your eye?"

  "Um...yeah..." Jess played with a strand of hair sticking out of her beanie. "It looks like old Norse runes."

  Sigyn laughed, and picked up the frame for a better look. "They're way older than that! This is some of the oldest writing you've ever seen."

  "Do you know what it says?" Jess asked, leaning forward with big eyes.

  Her curiosity was so pure. Flattering, even. To have someone take such a deep, genuine interest in something so personal to Sigyn, it touched her heart. "You really want to know?" Her thumb traced the engravings as she thought. "I really shouldn't tell you. Can you keep a secret?"

  Jess nodded in earnest. Telling her more went against every survival instinct Sigyn had, but since meeting Jess, something had wriggled through the cracks in her armor. Though she knew it was a weakness, she didn't want to kick it out, knowing it would take away that tiny spark of companionship that felt so nice.

  In a low voice, Sigyn spoke in a foreign tongue that made Jess shiver. It was the sounds a dragon would make if they could speak - and if they were real. Strangely beautiful, with rolled r's and crips, hissed vowels. The more Jess heard of it, the more she realized how well-suited it was for Sigyn, like it was a part of her very soul.

  "It means: Eternal love, mine life will forever belong to thee, longer and stronger than the ice upon the mountains." Sigyn set the frame back in its place. "Basically the world's oldest 'live, laugh, love' sign."

  "Is it the same language as the symbol on the tree by the trail?"

  "Oh, you caught that! Any idea what it means?"

  "Kark thought it was some kind of warning, but-"

  Sigyn cut her off with a laugh. "And you still followed it?"

  "It's not like there's anything to be scared of out here."

  "Really? The birthplace of myths. All those stories of gods and giants and monsters and you can't think of a single thing to be scared of?"

  "I don't really believe in any of that stuff. What - is that the big secret you're not supposed to talk about?

  Sigyn gestured to the room. "This whole place is the secret. The people who built it came here long ago from far away. They were banished from home, and could not show their face anywhere else, so they lived the rest of their lives here alone."

  "That's so sad." Jess wandered closer to the center of the room. "How old do you think it is?"

  "Oh...I'm bad at estimating years. Old."

  "This place oughta be in a museum. We're probably the only people who know it exists."

  "It's better off this way. You never know how people may react to something so different."

  The words reminded Jess of the photo, and guilt flooded her mind. As much as she didn't want to expose herself to Sigyn's wraith, she knew she could never move forward with her past actions looming over her shoulder. "There's something I should tell you...I'm so sorry. I'm the reason you got arrested. I was angry about the wolf and I took a picture of your closet. I should have deleted it...I didn't mean for my dad to get it but...it's still my fault."

  She waited for Sigyn's face to change, like it had in the supply shed when her eyes went white.

  Sigyn nodded, and paced the room a little. "Why did you want to tell me this?"

  "Because I feel awful about it. I don't think you're a criminal, and you shouldn't be treated like one."

  "What do you think I am?" Sigyn asked, leaning over an old table with her face resting in her palm.

  The question put Jess in the line of fire. She stumbled through her words, backing up a few steps to escape Sigyn's lazer focus on her. One of the floorboards made an especially loud creak, then snapped in half. The ground disappeared from beneath her. Jess screamed as she fell into the abyss.

  "Huh," Sigyn said, peering down into the hole. "I thought there was a basement..."

  Jess landed on a soft mattress that sent a cloud of dust into the air as she bounced. She let out a sigh and thanked whoever the gods of luck were, and relaxed against the pillow.

  When she turned her head to the side, a pair of empty black eye sockets were staring back at her.