he one-eyed Elder walked across a metal world.

He knew that there was life in this Shadowrealm, but none of it was recognizable.
Gritty black sand swirled and formed arcane patterns beneath his feet, and huge unnaturally regular boulders shook, shifted and inched toward him as
he strode past. Bubbles of mercury rose to the surface of shining silver lakes, and when they burst, tiny globules bounced toward the solitary figure. There
was no sky, only a distant metal roof covered in varicolored lights. There had once been an energy source in the center of the roof, but it had long since
burned out.
Odin did not know who had created this metal Shadowrealm. He believed that it had once been a thriving world, and he knew it must have been
importantthe effort of creating it was unimaginable, beyond his limited powers. Yet now it did not even have a name.
The Elder crested a low mound of glittering black silica and turned to look back across the landscape. A series of dark undulating sand dunes
punctuated by slabs of metal disappeared on the horizon. The air was still, but his long gray and black hooded cloak shifted on his back. Millennia ago,
one of his human servants had slain a hideous Archon dragon beast and presented him with a cloak made from the skin of the creature. Its natural color
was blue, but it changed with its surroundings, and at times of danger the scales grew rigid.
The cloak had turned hard as iron and hung heavy about his shoulders.
Whos there? Odin called. The metallic landscape sent his voice echoing across the sands, bouncing it off the ceiling and the irregular wedges of
metallic rock. The gnarled fingers of the Elders left hand tightened around the staff he carried, a remnant of the original Yggdrasill, which had grown in the
heart of Danu Talis.
Odin brought the staff to his left eye. His right eye was covered by a faded leather patch; he had sacrificed it a long time ago to the Archon Mimer in
return for eldritch knowledge, and hed never regretted the bargain. A chunk of bloodred amber was embedded in the top of his staff, held in place by a
tracery of delicate silver wires. Trapped within the amber were creatures that had become extinct even before the Earthlords lived, tiny delicate beings of
crystal and bone, ceramic and chitin.
Odin gazed through the amber and allowed the merest hint of his aura to flow into the Yggdrasill staff. A wisp of gray smoke curled off the wood, and
the oily-smelling metallic air was suffused with the clean sharp odor of ozone.
The world shifted, colors flowed andfor a brief instantOdin saw the Shadowrealm as it had once been: a soaring metropolis of alloy and glass,
where sentient metal shaped and reshaped the landscape, creating architecture of extraordinary beauty. The Elders solitary eye blinked and the image
faded to reveal the world as it was now and the creature stalking him.
It crawled on its hands and feet. Short and squat, it looked like a woman. Long greasy black hair fell in two thick braids on either side of her head, and
the flesh of her face and bare arms appeared diseased, speckled with black and white patches. Raising her head, she sniffed the air like a beast.
I can see you, Odin said.
The creature stood, dusted herself off and staggered toward the Elder in a peculiar stiff-legged walk. She had been beautiful once, but no longer. Her
features were almost canine, with two thick fangs jutting from beneath her upper lip. Her eyes, sunk deep in her skull, perpetually leaked a foul-smelling
black liquid down her face. Now and then her overlong tongue would dart out to lick the ichor. For as long as he had known her, she had dressed the
same way: gray leather tunic, matching leather trousers and high boots with thick stacked heels and soles.
Odin noticed that while the sand about his feet formed smooth circles and spirals, the ground beneath the creature was patterned with jagged lightning
bolts. The sand seemed to be flowing toward him but away from this creature. What do you want? he called.
The creatures mouth moved, but it took her a moment to form words, as if she was unused to speech. I want what you want, she mumbled. She
staggered forward and almost fell on the shifting black sands.
 Odin shook his head. No.
The creature attempted to climb the mound of sand, but her knees would not bend and she fell forward. Odin knew that the same terrible curse that
had robbed her of her beauty had taken the flesh and muscle off her legs, and now they were little more than bare bones, fragile, hardly able to support her
weight. Crawling again, painfully slowly, she inched up the hill toward the Elder. I want what you want, she repeated. Justice for the death of my world.
Revenge for the dead.
Odin shook his head again. No.
The creature lay on the sand and raised her head to look up. He destroyed our Shadowrealms. He attempted to loose Coatlicue, she said, panting.
There are others hunting him. When Isis and Osiris declared Dee utlaga, they offered a huge reward for him. Shadowrealms. Immortality. Incalculable
wealth and knowledge to the person who brings him in alive. The creature attempted to clamber to her feet, but her stiff legs betrayed her and she fell
back. But you and I do not want to bring him back for trial and judgment. Our argument with this immortal humani is personal. He killed those we loved
and we will have our revenge.
Odin took pity on the creature and stretched out his staff. She caught hold of it, fingers with broken black nails wrapping around the ancient wood. Her
aura flared bloodred, and for a single heartbeat Odin caught a glimpse of the woman she had once been: tall, elegant and very, very beautiful, with eyes
the color of a morning sky and hair like storm clouds. Then the image faded, leaving the stunted, mottled creature before him. Odin raised her up and set
her down beside him. Even with the stacked heels, she barely came to his chest.
Isis and Osiris came to meboth of themand offered me my beauty if I would lead them to him.
Why did they ask you?
They knew I had sent the Torbalanthe Sack Menafter him.
What did you tell them?
I said I did not exactly know where he was.
A lie? he asked.
Not the whole truth, she said. I did not want them to find him first.
Because he would be taken for judgment.
The creature nodded. Just so. Once they have him, he would be beyond my grasp.
It seems we are both in search of revenge.
I prefer to call it justice.
Justice. What an odd word to hear coming from you. Odin put his hand under the creatures chin and tilted it up. How are you, Hel?
Angry, Uncle. And you?
Angry, he agreed.
I can help you, Hel said.
How?
The creature produced a cell phone from a pouch on her belt and turned it toward the Elder. The screen showed a photograph of a black car. Dr. John
Dees face was dimly visible through the darkened glass. I know where Dr. Dee is right now. I can take you there.