The Cursed Sword (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 1)

by Debbie Champion

  Suddenly a dark shadow fell over her and she looked up. The sight took her breath away. Looking down on her was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen in her life and that was saying something. Hadron was handsome; all elves were but this boy looking down on her made her heart stop. He was tall, broad shouldered and the sun glowed behind him lighting up his blonde tousled hair.

  "Is this guy bothering you?" he asked glaring at Hadron.

  Hadron leapt to his feet and looked Alex up and down disdainfully.

  "No, I am not bothering her," he snarled in Alex's face. "You are the one bothering her, now turn around and crawl back into the hole you slithered out of."

  He went to push Alex back by the chest but Alex stepped back a pace.

  "Dude don't touch me or you will regret it," said Alex taking another step back again.

  "Is this guy serious?" Hadron asked Lexi.

  "Hadron leave him alone, come on let’s eat lunch," she said standing up quickly and putting her hand on Hadron's arm.

  "No, this punk needs to apologise," said Hadron stepping forwards quickly and pushing Alex in the chest.

  There was a brilliant white flash and Hadron went flying back ten paces.

  "Dude I told you not to touch me. Are you ok? I think your hair might be on fire," said Alex in a panic.

  He looked around quickly to see if anyone had noticed but it didn't look as though anyone had. Hadron lay on his back and groaned. He raised his hand shakily to his head. The smell of burning hair brought him to his senses and he jumped up quickly yelping, patting at his hair with his hands.

  "What the hell was that?" Hadron cried glaring at Alex.

  Lexi looked from one to the other completely confused.

  "Look I warned you not to touch me," snarled Alex. "I take it you are the little elf who has been bugging Lexi. Leave her alone, it looks to me as though she doesn't want you around anymore." Alex went to stand by Lexi's side.

  "Who are you?" she asked looking up at him.

  "Alex...you may have heard of me recently?" he said arrogantly hoping to impress her.

  "Er no and where do you get off zapping my boyfriend like that?" she asked moving to Hadron and brushing his singed hair back. "You got a Taser up your shirt or something? That was dangerous," she said, her eyes flashing with anger.

  "No Lexi, let me explain but not here and not with him. Let's get a coffee and I'll tell you everything, it's quite a story," he said pleadingly.

  "I have no idea who you are or how you know my name, I'm not going anywhere with you," she said.

  "I suggest you get out of here you psycho before I kill you," Hadron's eyes turned to liquid silver and he grasped hold of Lexi's arm possessively.

  "Hadron you are hurting me, let me go," she said squirming and trying to pull her arm away.

  "No we are getting out of here. It's time you came home with me and stopped all of this nonsense," he said glaring at her.

  "What nonsense? You mean school, having friends, having a normal life? No Hadron, I need some space, leave me alone for a bit," she cried still trying to get loose from his tight grip. She expected there would be bruises on her arm.

  "Lexi we are getting married, don't be ridiculous. We might as well do it now, then we can enjoy married life in peace away from all these distractions," he said sweeping his arm around to encompass the school and students.

  "No Hadron, we are not getting married. I’m only seventeen for goodness sake," she shouted.

  "But you just told him I'm your boyfriend, you love me you know you do," he whined.

  "That was when I thought you were hurt, then I realised you are just as obnoxious as ever. I'm serious Hadron leave me alone." Lexi wrenched her arm free bent down grabbed her rucksack and stalked off towards the canteen. Hadron went to follow her but Alex stepped in the way.

  "You'll be sorry for this," hissed Hadron.

  "Somehow I don't think I will," smirked Alex walking backwards towards Lexi and not taking his eyes off Hadron. It was obvious already that this guy was dangerous.

  He turned around when there was a good distance between them and jogged to catch up with Lexi.

  "Hey wait up, please, it's important," he called to her back.

  She stopped and turned around slowly. Her beauty stunned Alex. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Even more gorgeous than her mother, if that were even possible. She was tall, slim, her long blonde hair swept down her back in soft waves and her eyes were a clear sparkling blue. He yearned to draw her to him, touch her hair and kiss her full red lips. There was something about her, which was calling to him, and he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her.

  "So tell me Alex, who are you and how do you know my name?" she asked looking at him intently.

  "It's a long story," he sighed.

  "Well I have no more classes today so we have plenty of time. Come on let's get some coffee," she said entering the canteen.

  Alex smiled to himself and followed her. He looked around and noticed that all of the guys in the canteen had stopped in their tracks and were staring at her. He didn't blame them; he could barely tear his eyes away from her face himself. They grabbed a coffee at the counter and sat at a table in the corner next to the window. Alex looked out and saw a large black bird eyeing him up. He rapped on the window and it cawed loudly and flew away.

  "Hey don't do that, it's rude, he was just keeping an eye on me," she said stirring sugar into her coffee.

  "What? What do you mean?" he asked.

  "Oh it's Gramps checking up on me. He drops by every now and then to make sure I am behaving myself," she said.

  "Gramps? You are saying that bird is your grandfather?" asked Alex confused.

  "Odin, the all father, he is my Gramps and it's my guess that you are part of the club too. That lightning that came out of your chest was a bit of a giveaway. So who is your pops then?" she asked, sipping her coffee and looking at him over the edge of her polystyrene cup.

  "Thor apparently. I just found out a few days ago when all this crazy stuff started to happen," he said.

  "Uncle Thor, cool, he's nice, you are lucky. You only found out a few days ago, how come?" she asked.

  "I was taken away from my mother at birth. They think it was Loki but we don't know yet, apparently Thor, er my dad is looking into it. It's all a bit confusing. What I do know is that when I turned eighteen a curse was triggered which would allow Hel to be freed from Helheim. My mum is a human you see and Thor shouldn't have been with her. As soon as I turned eighteen some weird stuff started to happen. There has been a breach at a henge near me and some spirits have come through. Nothing big yet and it's quiet at the moment but at any time Hel could break free." Alex took a deep breath, this all sounded ridiculous saying it out loud.

  "Anyway there is a prophecy that the last born son of Thor can close the breach if he finds the sword of Tyrfing and uses it to seal her in forever. So in a nutshell I am on a mission to find the sword. I know where it is but I need to help my friend first as he might be able to lift the curse which he placed on the sword which will probably kill me. I needed to get a golden apple to save my friend so he could save me when I used the sword. So I went to Asgard, met your mother and...."

  "Wait," Lexi interrupted his monologue. "You saw my mother? Hang on, she sent you here didn't she?" asked Lexi suspicious.

  "Yes, she's worried about you. You haven't returned her emails or her texts. When I saw her she was crying her heart out. She's worried the elf has bewitched you," said Alex.

  "I'm not bewitched, that's ridiculous, she just wants to lock me up in that house off hers and never let me live," said Lexi grumpily.

  "Hey calm down, I really didn't get that impression. She loves you; she let you come to school so you could have a normal life. She's just worried that he'll carry you off or something and marry you. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you, you need to live it, not be tied down to that guy..elf...whatever he is. Anyway it's dangerous here at the moment. Tak
e a break, go see your mum for a bit until I can sort out this portal, then it will be safe and you can make up your mind about what you want to do," he said.

  "Come on Alex, you can't fool me. You just need to get me back to Asgard so you can get your precious apple," she said looking at him with half closed eyes.

  "I'm not going to lie to you, yes I need an apple, yes I need to get you home to get it, but I can't force you. If you want to go off with that elf and become his elf bride at seventeen be my guest. I'm pretty sure I can persuade your mum that I tried. Personally I think you need to get away and clear your head. You didn't look completely happy with big ears earlier."

  "Big ears? He doesn't have big ears," she giggled.

  "All elves have big ears, it's in all the books. His hair was probably hiding them," Alex grinned.

  "Ok I admit they are a bit pointy," she giggled again and Alex felt his heart melt.

  "So how come you are allowed to stay here? I thought Asgardians were banned from mixing with humans," asked Alex.

  "True but Gramps has a soft spot for me. When I told him how bored I was he let me visit and he could see I loved it here. I mean you don't get Starbucks in Asgard."

  "But the city looked beautiful from what I could see if it."

  "That's the trouble, it's all so perfect and big, I got sick of it. I know I will have to go back but I can have some fun for a few years."

  "Well it would really help if you could pay a quick visit now." Alex winked. "Doesn't have to be for long, just go show your mother that you are ok and you have no intention of running off with elf boy."

  "Oh yes and who says I don't want to run off with Hadron?" she asked indignantly.

  "Do you?"

  "No"

  "Well then."

  "I can look after myself thank you, I don't need to go running back to mummy every time Hadron becomes a pain. I'll deal with him."

  "Lexi it's more than that, look I'm running out of time. If I don't get the sword and seal the portal soon, Hel will break loose and she will destroy this world. No more Starbucks, no anything, just a wasteland. Please just come back with me now, the sooner we do this, the sooner you can reassure your mum and the quicker you can return," he pleaded.

  "Ok, fine you win, I'll go. I could do with some time away from Hadron anyway. How are we getting back though, my mum normally comes to collect me?" she asked.

  "With this apparently," said Alex plucking the pink crystal from his pocket.

  "Great a crystal portal, cool. Let's go to my room, no one will see us there. It will look a bit strange if we disappear here," she laughed her eyes twinkling.

  Alex's stomach did a somersault at the thought of being alone with Lexi in her room and he stood up quickly crushing the cup in his hand.

  "I'll have to sneak you in, guys aren't allowed in the building," she said gathering her bag and tossing her coffee cup in the bin.

  Alex held the door open for her and as she walked past he caught a whiff of her perfume. He closed his eyes savoring the moment.

  "Alex are you ok?" she asked looking back at him.

  "Er yeah all good," he grinned.

  Lexi strode across the green towards her dormitory. There were not many people around as the students had returned to their afternoon classes. She looked back at Alex who was looking at her like a lovesick puppy and she smiled to herself. He was hot and she really liked the attention. She didn't think he had noticed all of the girls in the canteen drooling over him and the look of envy on their faces when she left with him. She was really looking forward to getting to know him a bit better and wondered if he had a girlfriend.

  A loud cawing broke her out of her thoughts. She jumped and looked around quickly at the warning. She saw a black raven with one piercing black eye and one milky white eye sitting on the signpost to the science labs. It cawed again loudly and looked up into the sky. Lexi could hear the beat of wings and she looked up into the sky too and jumped back in fright. An enormous eagle as big as a car was swooping down towards her with its talons outstretched reaching for her. The raven cawed a final warning and took off into the air flying away from the eagle.

  "Lexi look out," shouted Alex. He sprinted towards her but it was too late, the eagle's talons grasped her around the waist and lifted her up into the air. She screamed and struggled, kicking her legs wildly but the eagle held on tightly.

  "It's Hadron," she shouted desperately to Alex as the eagle climbed higher into the sky.

  Alex stood there helplessly as the eagle flew further away into the distance with Lexi dangling in the air.

  "Damn it," called a voice behind him. Alex whipped around and saw a girl looking up into the sky, shielding her eyes from the sun. She was very petite, had short, black spiky hair and was dressed all in black.

  "He's taken her, I knew he would try something like this, I should have seen it coming," she sighed and looked at Alex.

  "I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked confused.

  "Lexi's room mate. I was meant to stop him from taking her by force. Iduna is going to kill me," she said.

  "You know Iduna?" asked Alex.

  "Yes she hired me to keep an eye on her, she knew Hadron was up to no good. I’m meant to protect her. I saw her with you though and thought she would be ok for five minutes. How wrong could I be?" she said accusingly.

  Alex felt terrible; if he had reacted quicker he could have grabbed hold of her or used his electricity to fry the bird.

  "I have never seen a bird that big," said Alex scanning the sky to see if he could still see them. They had completely disappeared.

  "It was Hadron, he has the power to transform into an eagle. He would have taken her back to Alfheim, we need to follow them and get her back," she said firmly.

  "I don't believe this. There’s no time. If I don't get the sword soon the portal will be completely breached. We are talking about the end of the world here," said Alex exasperated.

  "Look this is your fault. If you hadn't shown up I would have been more on the ball. Odin help us if Iduna finds out. If she loses her daughter she'll get depressed and the apples will die. It's happened before you know. The gods started to age and it was a nightmare."

  "Ok, ok I get it. How do we get to Alf what did you call it?"

  "Alfheim, the land of the Light Elves, that's where Hadron lives," she said impatiently.

  "I need an address to use this crystal door thingy that Iduna gave me," he said showing her the pink crystal.

  "It's ok I'll create a portal," she said reaching into her rucksack and pulling out a small bag.

  "Hang on, you’re a Volva?" he asked horrified. This was the third he had met in a couple of days. What were the chances? He thought to himself miserably.

  "Of course I am. Who did you think I was?" she asked testily.

  "No idea. Nothing is surprising me today; I'm just going along with it all. When I get to catch my breath I'll have a think about it all and then I will probably freak out."

  "Come on stop rambling, we’re wasting time," she grabbed his arm and drew him close to her. Bending down and sprinkling what looked like salt crystals around both of them, she muttered a spell under her breath.

  "Here I go again..." Alex groaned as the ground fell away beneath them.

  *

  They landed in a clearing in the middle of a wood.

  "This is as close as I dare get," she whispered. "They have really good hearing and he'll be on high alert. He knows I'll come and get her."

  "Where are we?" Alex asked looking around. Trees surrounded them and Alex could hear the sound of water bubbling away close to them.

  "We are in Alfheim, in the woods surrounding the Light Elves capital city. He must have taken her there. It's like a fortress and heavily guarded," she said looking around cautiously. They were not safe in these woods, all sorts of strange creatures lived in them and it made her very nervous.

  "You sure about that? It's a bit obvious isn't it?" asked Alex.

  "He's arro
gant, he wants us to find them. We are on his turf here, he has power and friends, this is not going to be easy," she warned.

  "What's the plan then?"

  "No idea, I was going to ask you the same question," she said looking worried.

  "Can't you just do some magic and whisk her away?" asked Alex.

  "Oh yes I hadn't thought of that, how rubbish of me. Come on idiot we’re wasting time. He could have married her by now," she snapped at him.

  "Calm down, I don't know what you Volva's can or can't do. I didn't even know you guys existed until a few days ago," said Alex following her into the dense wood.

  "I don't even know your name.”

  "Ellewen."

  "I'm Alex."

  "I know who you are son of Thor. Now keep up."

  They pushed their way through a thick bush and followed what looked like an animal trail until they came to a small pond with a waterfall trickling into it.

  "Wait up," Alex called. "I'm thirsty," he said, dropping to his knees and cupping his hand under the waterfall.

  "No," shouted Ellewen kicking his hand with her foot.

  "What the...?" cried Alex rubbing his hand.

  "You can't drink from there. The sprites will claim you," she said.

  "The sprites?"

  "The water sprites that live here. If you drink the water they will drag you under and feed off you."

  "Ew gross," Alex stepped back a pace and peered into the crystal clear water. "I can't see anything," he said looking back at Ellewen.

  "Look now," she said. He looked back into the water and saw a silver flash just beneath the surface and heard a tinkling, bubbling laugh.

  "That was close, you need to be really careful here, not everything is as it seems. Come on we are getting closer and keep quiet."

  Alex followed Ellewen and gave the pond a wide berth. He made a mental note to not eat or drink anything until he was back home. He looked around but couldn't see anything unusual, just moss covered trees, grey rocks and spiky bushes.

  After walking for an hour Ellewen quickly pulled him behind a large gnarled tree and put her finger to her lips. Alex could hear voices up ahead and he crouched down next to her.