War of the Realms

by Kate O'Hearn

  “But why now?” Orus cawed. “After all the times I told you not to do something and you did it anyway, why would you care what I have to say now?”

  “Because this is more than us—it involves all the realms.”

  “Freya,” Orus finally cawed. “What does your heart tell you to do? That has never steered you wrong before.”

  “He’s right,” Archie said. “Your instincts are good. You know I’ll go anywhere with you and support whatever you decide. But this is up to you.”

  Freya looked at Archie and then up to Orus. This was the biggest decision of her life. Stay and fight with her family and maybe make a difference. Or go off with Loki on a crazy quest to an unknown realm that could get them killed—but if they succeeded, could save all the realms.

  Finally, she turned to Loki.

  “All right, let’s go!”

  5

  LOKI STARED AT FREYA FOR several heartbeats, his expression unreadable. Freya wasn’t sure if she saw gratitude in his eyes, or doubt. Whatever it was, it lasted for only a second, then vanished.

  A moment later he said, “Good. Now, before we leave, you need to change. You can’t go to Vanaheim dressed as a Midgard country bumpkin.” He handed the bundle he was carrying to her. “Don’t take too long. Every moment counts.”

  Freya looked down at the clothes she was wearing from Mims’s wardrobe: a floral skirt and lacy top with slits cut in the back for her wings to fit through. He was right—it wasn’t exactly standard Valkyrie attire.

  Inside the bundle she found the clothes she had worn during her visit to Utgard. It was a Dark Searcher uniform, complete with black helmet. She sighed at the thought of having to wear it again. She lifted it and gasped. Hidden underneath was her golden, flaming sword—the one she’d won at the Ten Realms Challenge—along with her dagger and Valkyrie armor. “How did you get my armor? I left it in Utgard.”

  “I went back, remember? I collected it from where we hid it. Good thing I did, too. You may need it where we’re going.”

  Freya frowned. “How did you know I would agree to go with you?”

  “You’re not stupid. I knew you’d see that this is the only way to stop the war.”

  Freya wasn’t sure if she should be flattered by him saying she wasn’t stupid. She took the bundle and went behind the boulder to get changed. She emerged wearing the Dark Searcher uniform, with her armor breastplate over it. She drew the gauntlets up her arms and then pulled the heavy black cloak around her shoulders to cover her wings. Finally, she wrapped the sword belt around her waist and stowed the helmet away for later. “All right, where do we go to find the root down to Vanaheim?”

  Loki looked up into the star-filled night. “It’s going to be a long flight, but there’s only one exit I know of that goes down to that realm.”

  “Where is it?” Archie asked.

  “A small island off Greenland called Kaffeklubben Island. It’s the closest landmass to what the humans call the North Pole.”

  “We’re flying to the North Pole!” Archie cried. “That’s thousands of miles away from here. Gee will never make it in one night.”

  Loki looked Freya up and down and then glanced back to Archie. “She could if she tried, but she won’t have to. I’m going to carry her . . . and you too, I guess.” He stepped away from them and started to shimmer and grow. A moment later, the large black dragon was standing before them. It lowered its head to the ground and invited them up onto its back.

  Freya stole one final look down into the valley—knowing this might be the last time she saw it. Finally, she nodded and climbed up onto the dragon’s back.

  * * *

  As Dragon Loki climbed high into the sky, Freya used one hand to hold on to a tall spinal plate, while the other held tightly to Archie. Orus was tucked under her cloak. Having never ridden a dragon before, Freya had not realized how uncomfortable it would be. Loki not only had slippery, pointed spinal plates, but he also had razor-sharp scales running down his sleek dragon body. The scales caught her cloak and cut painfully into her legs. Yet despite the discomfort, with each powerful wing beat they were moving faster than she’d imagined possible.

  Heading north and then east, they watched the midnight sun sitting sullenly on the polar horizon. This time of year it set only briefly, never rising high in the sky, casting the area in a kind of strange twilight.

  “It’s beautiful,” Archie said, gazing around. “Look, it’s the middle of the night and you can still see. It reminds me of Utgard.”

  They were flying over snow-covered ground. Freya reckoned they were soaring over northern Canada. This far north, there were no signs of human habitation, and the terrain remained wild and untouched. Well above the tree line, very little grew, with only the hardiest of animals able to survive in the harsh environment.

  Hours later, they were passing over the ocean and then approaching Greenland. Continuing north, they saw a few scattered islands along the shores. Loki started to descend as they passed over water again. In the distance, the small outline of a narrow island appeared. Ice floes were floating in the water, making it difficult to distinguish between land and water.

  The dragon glided smoothly over the rocky surface of the island until he approached the northern tip. Tucking in his leathery wings, Loki touched down. While the dragon shimmered and returned to human shape, Freya and Archie looked around.

  “Wow,” Archie said. “It’s hard to believe we’re still on Earth. I never dreamed a place could look this barren. I bet it’s cold, too. It’s a good thing I’m a ghost and can’t feel it.”

  “I can,” Freya said. “It’s not as cold as Utgard, but it’s sure not warm either.”

  Loki stepped up to them. “Well, it’s better than being in the center of New York City. At least here no one will follow us to Vanaheim. Come. Time is not our friend.”

  “Where?” Freya asked, turning in a circle. “There’s nothing here. No fjords, caves, or mountains. It’s all flat and empty. Where’s the entrance to the root system?”

  “It’s not on the island,” Loki said, charging forward. “It’s under it. I’m afraid we’re about to get very wet.”

  “Figures,” Orus complained, flying up to Freya’s shoulder. “Have I ever told you how much I hate water?”

  Freya patted the raven’s back. “Every chance you get.”

  “But still, here we are—about to go for a swim in the freezing ocean.”

  Loki stopped and turned on the bird. “If you’re not happy, you can always stay here.”

  “No way,” Orus said. “I’m not letting Freya go anywhere alone with you.”

  “Then stop complaining and shut that black beak of yours!”

  Orus was about to protest when Freya grabbed his beak. “Let it go, Orus. I’m not looking forward to getting wet either, but I don’t think we have much choice.”

  “No, we don’t,” Loki snapped.

  At the shoreline there was more frozen slush than free-running water. It became solid ice just a few yards out. “In a couple of weeks, it’ll all be frozen over,” Loki said. “At least now we can still reach the entrance. Any later in the year and we’d need to burn our way in. Come. It’s this way.”

  Showing no reaction to the cold, Loki entered the water and waded out to chest level. He turned. “Well, are you coming or not?”

  Freya caught hold of Orus and tucked him into her breastplate. Then she reached for Archie’s hand. “Come on, let’s get wet.”

  Despite living in Asgard, which was much colder than Earth, Freya inhaled sharply from the shockingly cold water.

  “You should see your face.” Archie laughed.

  Freya shot him a withering look. “Just wait till this is over. We’ll go back to Utgard and I can laugh at your face.”

  “No one is going anywhere if we don’t stop this war,” Loki said. “Hurry up—the water’s not that cold.”

  “Says who?” Freya called. Her teeth were chattering and she was sure her lips
were turning blue.

  “It’s going to be a treacherous swim,” Loki said. “But I’ll be there to guide you. Now, hold on tightly to Archie and Orus. If you let go, you won’t have enough breath left to go back for them.” He gave Archie a dark look. “And don’t expect me to come back for you, because I won’t.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Archie said. “But if this is a trick—”

  “How deep are we going?” Freya cut in.

  Loki glared at Archie a moment more. “Deep enough that I’ll have to transform into a whale to get you there. When I change, I want you to put your hand in my mouth and keep it there. I’m going to bite down on you, hard. But it’s so I don’t lose you.”

  “You’re going to bite her?” Archie cried.

  Loki narrowed his eyes. “Consider yourself lucky that I can’t bite you!” He turned to Freya. “Now, do you understand? Don’t pull your hand free of my mouth.”

  “I won’t.”

  Loki closed his eyes and started to shimmer. A moment later, a beautiful white beluga whale floated in the water beside her. It let out a high, squeaky whistle and opened its mouth.

  Freya caught hold of Archie’s hand and looked down at Orus, hidden in her breastplate. “I hope you can hold your breath long enough,” she said to the raven.

  “Me too,” Orus agreed. “But if I drown, don’t worry. I’ll come back to you.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise. Just don’t let Loki eat or bury me.”

  “I won’t.”

  The beluga whale whistled impatiently and spat a mouthful of water at Freya.

  “I’m coming!” She looked at Archie. “You ready?” When he nodded, Freya placed her left hand in the whale’s mouth. Loki closed it on her hand, and his sharp teeth cut into her skin.

  “Ouch!” Freya cried. “Loki, not so tight!”

  The beluga whale whistled again but didn’t lighten his grip. Instead, he took a deep breath through his blowhole and dived down into the icy waves.

  Freya barely had time to take her own breath before she was pulled down beneath the surface. Her hand was stinging from the salt water and the ferocious bite of the whale. But as they sank deeper into the dark water, she found she was grateful for the tight grip.

  Deeper and deeper they descended. Freya could feel Orus squirming and his fear rising as he ran out of breath and slowly suffocated. Every nerve in her body shouted for her to go back to the surface, to get him back to air. But Loki wouldn’t let her go.

  Forgive me, Orus . . . , Freya called with all her heart. Soon the raven stopped squirming and passed out.

  There was little time for Freya to worry about Orus as she felt the pain coming from her own lungs. But still Loki drew her deeper into the ocean depths.

  Thought soon slipped into dizziness as she started to struggle against the grip that kept her in the water. Her lungs screamed for air. Suddenly her mind was cast back to the Ten Realms Challenge, when Dirian strangled her to death. This was just the same.

  The sound of blood started rushing in her ears. The pain in her chest intensified as her body fought for breath. A strange disorientation hit, and then, finally, nothingness.

  6

  “GEE, WAKE UP. . . .”

  “Come on, Freya, we don’t have time for this!”

  Freya felt warm lips pressing against her mouth and a full, painful breath of air being forced into her lungs.

  “Breathe!” Loki commanded.

  The lips and then warm breath again . . . This repeated several times as Freya struggled back to consciousness. Suddenly feeling very sick, she rolled over and coughed up a lungful of bitter, salty water.

  “Finally!” Loki said, sitting back on his heels.

  “Gee!” Archie cried. “Talk to me! Are you all right?”

  Freya’s head was pounding and her lungs felt like they were still filled with brine. “I—I’m fine. . . .” She coughed. “What happened?”

  “You disappointed me,” Loki said. “I thought you would be able to hold your breath longer than that.”

  “Wha—what?”

  “You drowned,” Archie said. “Loki had to resuscitate you. But I don’t think you died.”

  “Almost,” Loki agreed. “But not quite.”

  “Drowned . . .” Freya suddenly sat up and winced, as she was crushing her wings. “Orus!”

  Loki handed the limp body of the raven to her. He was wet and deathly still as his head lulled to the side. “We should bury him down here and get going. We still have a long journey ahead of us.”

  “No!” Freya cried. Her senses told her that a small spark of life remained in Orus. She opened his beak and, as Loki had done to her, she breathed air into his tiny lungs. “He’s still alive. He’s going to be okay!”

  Loki stood. “If you’re sure . . . But if he dies, don’t expect me to carry his smelly carcass around.”

  “I won’t,” Freya said as she clutched Orus to her and gave him another breath. “You promised,” she whispered to the raven, breathing into him again. “Come back to me, Orus. I need you.”

  With each breath, Freya felt more of the raven returning. Soon he was breathing on his own, but he remained unconscious. Satisfied that he was going to pull through, Freya climbed painfully to her feet. They were in a spacious cavern with a high ceiling rising far above their heads. “Where are we?”

  “In a big cave under the island,” Archie said. “Come here—this is so cool!”

  Freya followed Archie over to a massive, rough wall. Looking along the length, she couldn’t see the end of it. The texture was different from what she’d expected. When she touched it, it was warm and seemed to hum and vibrate. “This isn’t rock. What is it?”

  “Yggdrasil,” Loki said. “That’s one of its smaller roots.”

  Freya gasped. “This is the Cosmic World Tree?”

  “No,” Loki said. “I told you, it’s one of its roots.”

  Freya touched the root with great reverence. Then she pressed Orus to the wall. “Feel it, Orus. That’s Yggdrasil. Feel how warm it is. It’s humming to you, telling you to wake up.”

  “It’s warm because it’s alive, and those vibrations are all the lives in all the realms it supports,” Loki said. “But it won’t last long if we don’t stop Ragnarök. Now, come, put the bird away. We’ve got to move before we find we have very unwelcome company in here.”

  “What do you mean?” Archie asked. “Will the giants come this way?”

  “Not giants, but Nidhogg,” Freya explained as she tucked Orus gently inside her breastplate. “Do you remember the dragon Azrael fought during the Ten Realms Challenge? That was Nidhogg. It’s said that he guards the roots of Yggdrasil. That he patrols all these tunnels and will kill anyone he encounters. But I honestly thought it was just stories.”

  “No, it’s all true,” Loki confirmed. “I’ve met him down here more than once, and each time was unpleasant. I’m hoping that, with the giants using the other roots, he’ll be too occupied with them to come after us.”

  “But couldn’t he help us?” Archie asked.

  “Not really,” Loki said. “Nidhogg won’t take sides. His duty is to protect Yggdrasil from everyone—he’ll kill anyone he finds. But if the tunnels are filled with giants, he may be overwhelmed and defeated.”

  “Then we’d better hurry,” Freya agreed.

  As they traveled deeper into the tunnels, a kind of glowing lichen grew on the root and cast a greenish light. It was not enough to read by, but certainly enough to guide them down toward the lower realm.

  Time became immeasurable; whether it was night or day, they didn’t stop. The tunnel was too treacherous and winding for Freya to use her wings, so they had to keep walking, which slowed them even more.

  “How much farther is it?” Archie asked.

  Loki stopped and looked around. “By my estimate, we’ve only come a third of the way at most.”

  “Wow, it’s a long way.”

  “Of course i
t’s a long way, you idiot!” Loki snapped. “We’re traveling between realms. This isn’t a short walk around the park, you know. We are going to a new world.”

  “Hey, there’s no need to be a jerk,” Archie said. “I was just asking.”

  “Well, don’t!” Loki snapped.

  Archie looked at Freya and shook his head. She was thinking the same thing. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  They continued in silence as they carefully picked their way through the seemingly endless tunnel. At one point the way ahead narrowed and they had to squeeze around a particularly tight corner. Freya felt part of the root cutting into her wings and back as she pressed forward.

  “It’s a good thing we’re not claustrophobic,” Archie commented. “Mind you, if it stays like this much longer, I’m gonna be.” He pulled himself through an opening that was almost too small, and a sharp part of the root cut the back of his hand.

  “Ouch!” he cried.

  “Archie, you’re bleeding,” Freya cried.

  “It really stings!”

  Loki walked back to them and inspected the wound. “And you wonder why I call you an idiot!” He shook his head and walked away.

  “What?” Archie said. “What is it? Tell me.”

  Loki paused. “You really are that stupid, aren’t you? You’re hurt because you’ve regained your physical form. We’ve left the influence of Midgard, where you were just a ghost, and we’re now within the power of Vanaheim. Meaning you have a body again. A body that can be hurt and killed.”

  Of course! It made complete sense. Freya felt like the idiot for not realizing it sooner. She could even feel Archie’s presence with her again. She focused in on her Valkyrie senses and picked up on other things that she never felt on Earth. There were people ahead, but definitely not human. And she sensed a density of life that she’d never experienced before, even in the thickest of Earth’s jungles.

  Knowing they were drawing closer to their destination, they put on more speed through the narrow passage until Freya was sure she could see a faint light shining in the distance.

  “I think I see something.”