"He can't eat that he's unconscious," said Sasha looking at the apple. It was glowing bright gold lighting up the room.
"Let's cut a bit off and place it in his mouth, the juice might work," said Becca looking around for a knife.
"Here," said Sven pulling a penknife from his pocket and handing it to Becca. She cut a small piece of the apple with the knife and placed it in Dvalin's mouth. A golden glow replaced his grey pallor and his eyes flickered open slowly.
"What happened?" he croaked.
"It's ok, you’ve been unwell, the portal was too much for you and you collapsed," explained Becca as she gently rubbed his hand. He was feeling much warmer and started to have a healthy glow about him. Sasha helped him to sit up.
"What's that?" he asked pointing at the apple in Becca's hand.
"One of Iduna's golden apples. Alex went to fetch one for you," Becca explained. "Maggie said it was the only way to save you, you were dying."
"But that means..." he said his eyes lighting up.
"Yes Dvalin, you now have at least another hundred years to live," said Alex grinning.
"I feel fantastic, this is amazing," he said feeling his face with his hands. "I can't thank you enough," he said jumping to his feet and skipping over to an old broken mirror on the wall.
He looked at his face and gasped. The old wrinkled lines had disappeared and his face was smooth. He looked like a dwarf in the prime of life. He looked around at them all and grinned, clapping his hands in excitement.
"What about the sword, did you get it?" he asked.
"No that's next on the to do list. I had to save your life first," said Alex.
"Oh Alex, you shouldn't have," said Dvalin moved.
"Hey what are friends for eh?" said Alex grasping Dvalin's hand.
"I hate to break up this beautiful moment but I would really like to get out of here now and Alex you really do need to get that sword. We’ve wasted enough time," said Pete standing up.
"Relax, I went back home and everything's ok at the moment. Pete I saw your dad, he was at the henge. It's all cool, there have been no more breaches, just some smoke coming out of the ground," he said.
"Did you see my mum?" asked Matt hopefully.
"No, just Alan, Nancy and Pete's dad. I asked Alan to call all of your parents to let them know you’re ok."
"Ok, so we have time. How do we get to where the sword is?" asked Pete. "We’re not using a portal again."
"With this," said Alex pulling the crystal from his pocket. "Iduna gave it to me, we can create a door with this to wherever the dragon's lair is."
"A crystal door," said Dvalin impressed. "I've heard of those but have never seen one. Iduna gave you this? She must really like you," said Dvalin grinning and winking at Alex.
"What?" asked Becca, not liking the knowing look on Dvalin's face or Alex's nonchalant shrug.
"She knew I needed it for you guys. It won't last forever though, just a few trips but she said it was safer than using a portal, no side effects or anything," said Alex.
"You sure about that?" asked Pete skeptically. "I was kind of hoping we could grab the train."
"You won't find a train to Niddhogg's lair," said Sven seriously. "The only way we could get there is a portal or with Alex's crystal door."
"Well we are definitely not using a portal so the crystal it is," said Pete. "How does it work?" he asked.
Alex went over to the wall of Dvalin's house and scratched a door in the rock. Before he drew the doorknob he hesitated. "Guys, I think I should take you all home first and then go get the sword on my own. This is going to be really dangerous and I don't want anyone else getting hurt," said Alex looking at his friends.
"No way, we’re in this together. It was bad enough that you had to go on your own to get the golden apple. Let's just stick together for now. I'm guessing you’re going to need our help," said Matt shaking his head.
"Ok, just us though. Dvalin and Sven should stay here, they’ve done enough. I don't want them getting hurt. From what Heimdall said this dragon is pure evil," said Alex.
"Heimdall?" asked Becca, "As in Heimdall who guards the rainbow bridge?"
"Yep the very same. He gave me a lift to Asgard," he said grinning. "It was awesome, we rode through the sky on his horse and the bridge, you guys really have to see that, it's amazing," he said his eyes shining.
"We can catch up later. We need to concentrate," said Sasha. "I hate to say it but I think Dvalin should come. He might be able to help with the curse," said Sasha.
"He's done enough already, he nearly died helping us. I can handle the sword. Iduna gave me a golden apple, I reckon that will help," said Alex.
"Excuse me but I can decide for myself. I'm coming, I can't lift the curse but I might be able to help in another way. I have been to Yggdrasil before remember," said Dvalin.
Alex was standing right next to him and saw him shiver. "Matt's right we need to stick together until this is over," Dvalin continued.
"Ok our Scooby gang just got bigger," said Alex turning back to the rock wall and drawing a door handle. "Are you ready for this guys?" he asked.
The door glowed yellow and Alex looked around at his friends. They all nodded and stepped forwards. He said firmly, "Niddhogg," opened the door and stepped through into what looked like hell.
Chapter Fifteen
The heat was the first thing Alex noticed and then the smell. As soon as they stepped through the door they all gagged.
"Oh my god what is that smell?" asked Matt bending over double and retching.
"Death," said Dvalin looking around nervously. "Remember, Niddhogg feeds off dead souls, it's the smell of death."
Alex looked around; they were standing in a small cave with a tunnel leading downwards. Alex peered into the tunnel and felt a blast of heat on his face. The smell was stronger down the tunnel and he gagged again.
"Ok guys we need a plan. We probably should have thought of that before we stepped through the door but what the hell, we are making this up as we go," said Alex trying to be cheerful.
He felt sick to the core with nerves. He had no idea what lay ahead but judging from the heat and the smell it wouldn't be good. He had to put on a brave face for the others though, they all looked terrified. Pete was feeling the wall trying to find the door they had stepped through.
"Well the only way to go is through that tunnel, so I guess we start there," said Alex pointing down the tunnel.
"Dvalin what happened when you gave Niddhogg the sword? Did you see him put it somewhere?" asked Sasha.
"It was a long time ago. I remember Maggie creating a portal for me. It didn't come here though," said Dvalin looking around. "There was a lot of fire, the smell was the same, you don't forget that in a hurry. I remember he was in front of me, I asked him to keep the sword safe and to never let anyone touch it again. He could have eaten it for all I know.”
"Do you think we could just ask him nicely for it back?" asked Pete hopefully.
"Pete, he will eat you before you get within thirty paces of him," said Sven.
"Why didn't he eat Dvalin then?" asked Pete.
"He doesn't eat dwarves," said Sven. “We are far too good for him. He only eats the lowest of the low. You know people like Matt here," he said nodding in Matt's direction and grinning.
"What not even as a snack? A little appetiser?" asked Matt.
"If you don't shut up punk I will feed you to him myself," snarled Sven.
"You started it Grumpy," said Matt skipping out of the way as Sven aimed a punch at him.
"Cut it out you two. Come on let's focus, this is serious. We have no idea what we’re doing," said Becca exasperated.
"Let's just look down this tunnel, we'll have a better idea of what we are dealing with if we can see more," said Alex leading the way.
The tunnel was only wide enough for them to go single file. Alex walked slowly, careful not to make too much noise. He had no idea what he would find at the end of the tunnel
and his heart was beating really fast. The heat was becoming almost unbearable and Alex could make out a red glow up ahead. The tunnel led into a large cavern and steam was seeping through cracks in the rock walls. The smell of sulphur filled their noses making them choke.
"Now what?" Alex whispered as the others gathered into the larger cavern.
"Over there," said Dvalin pointing to what looked like another tunnel directly opposite them.
They crept forward, looking around, paranoid that they were about to be discovered by the dragon. Alex could feel his shoes crunching beneath him and he slipped a few times on the loose ground. He looked down and stopped moving.
"Oh my god, whatever you do don't look down," he whispered. They immediately all looked down and Becca shrieked. She grabbed hold of Alex's arm and held on tightly.
"Are they what I think they are?" she whispered.
"Bones," whispered Sven. "Human bones."
"There are so many, thousands," Matt said shocked, "I thought you said he only ate really bad souls, why are there bones down here and why so many?"
"He eats the flesh too, I guess there have been a lot of bad people over the years. Niddgodd is thousands of years old," said Dvalin.
"Guys, we are really not prepared for this. We need to go back and rethink this," said Matt backing away.
"We can't go back now, we need to see what we’re dealing with first," said Alex.
"Dude if I'm about to become a dragon's dinner I will haunt you forever," said Matt following Alex towards the tunnel.
"Matt I'm pretty sure I'll be his afters if you are his dinner," Alex joked weakly.
"If he eats Matt first he'll have indigestion and we can make a quick getaway," Pete added grinning.
Alex entered the second tunnel, the smell was even worse than before. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it up to cover his mouth and nose. His eyes were streaming and he could barely see. As they reached the end of the tunnel, Alex held up his hand indicating that they should stop. He went forward on his own slowly, sticking closely to the sides of the tunnel and trying to be invisible. At the edge of the tunnel he poked his head forward cautiously to look around. The sight was staggering. He was standing at the edge of an enormous cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling and were dripping with what looked like blood. A huge tree root filled the cavern and Alex could make out a large scaly green body wrapped around the root.
"Niddhogg," he whispered to himself.
Alex gestured to the others and they all came forward to take a look.
"Is he asleep?" Matt whispered poking his head out of the tunnel cautiously.
"Well he's not moving," Alex whispered back.
As soon as he said it the green scaly mass shifted and a long tail swung out in an arc sweeping the floor. Alex and Matt jumped back and stood as still as they could. The tail curled back around the tree and Alex could hear the sound of crunching.
"Oh my god, he's eating," said Matt, pulling Alex back into the tunnel.
"We need to move from here quick," Dvalin whispered urgently.
"Why? He can't see us here," Matt replied.
"When I was here before when he had finished eating he spat the bones out into a hole. Judging from the bone yard we just crossed I am assuming this was the hole. Quick over there," said Dvalin pointing to another tunnel off to the left.
They hurried over to the dark open space casting worried glances in the direction of the dragon. Alex brought up the rear and just as he was about to enter the tunnel, a splatter of liquid fell from the stalactite overhead and landed on his neck. He stifled a cry and wiped his neck with his hand. The skin on his neck was bubbling and burning. He looked at his hand; it was covered in a thick red sticky substance. The skin on his hand was blistering; it burst open and started to bleed. Alex looked at the others horrified.
"Alex are you ok?" cried Becca pulling him into the safety of the tunnel.
"It's burning, aghh it's agony," he moaned through clenched teeth.
"Venom," said Dvalin looking up at the ceiling. "The whole ceiling is coated in snake venom."
"Venom?" asked Matt looking up. "Snakes have venom, that's a dragon. What's going on here?"
"Dragon...snake, Niddhogg is one and the same," said Dvalin looking at Alex's wounds.
"Alex did you eat a golden apple?" he asked.
"No, it's in my pocket," he said through clenched teeth.
"Quickly eat it, it will help with the healing process," said Dvalin.
Alex reached into his pocket with his good hand and retrieved the apple. He took a large bite and his wounds immediately started to close over and heal. He sighed in relief and inspected the shiny new red skin on his hand. He tucked into the rest of the apple eating all of it even the core. It was the sweetest apple he had ever tasted.
"Dvalin, you could have mentioned the snake venom filled roof from hell before we just ran under it," hissed Pete. "Details, we like details please."
"Shush," whispered Sasha urgently.
Niddhogg's body was moving again. His tail swept out, narrowly missing Alex's foot. It had a jagged spine on the end and looked lethal. The giant body writhed around the tree root and suddenly his head appeared between two thick roots. Everyone froze to the spot terrified to move. Niddhogg opened his mouth lifted his head and gave a massive belch. Venom flew from his sharp jagged teeth and covered the ceiling. As it dripped onto the roots there was a large hissing noise and smoke rose into the air. Niddhogg slithered from between the roots, sniffed the air and looked around with red gleaming eyes. He had long twisted black horns on his forehead and dark green jagged spikes along his back. They were barely breathing now, trying to press themselves as far back into the tunnel as they dared without making any movement or noise. Niddhogg stretched out his black talons and scraped long deep grooves into the jagged stone floor. He reared back his head and then darted forward spitting bones into the tunnel they had just vacated. He then retreated back to the gnarled tree root, wrapped himself around it and was still. All they could hear was a rhythmic gnawing sound.
"What's it doing?" Alex whispered out of the side of his mouth. He still didn't dare move even though Niddhogg was facing away from them.
"Chewing the tree, those roots belong to the Yggdrasil tree. If he destroys the root the tree will die and he will be able to escape," said Dvalin.
"It will also mean the collapse of the Nine Worlds. The tree binds them altogether," said Sven.
"We really, really need to get out of here before he starts chewing on us," said Alex looking around in panic.
"We still need the sword," Pete reminded him.
"I know but it could be anywhere, we can't exactly stroll around and look for it," Alex hissed back.
"Think guys. If you were a dragon and were given a sword to hide where would you put it?" asked Sasha looking at the others.
"I would bury it in my pile of treasure," said Matt.
"Hmm something tells me this particular dragon isn't fussed about treasure," said Sasha looking over at the dragon.
"Well he seems hell bent on wrecking that tree so my guess is it's sticking in the tree somewhere doing it some damage," said Becca.
"That's a pretty good idea actually," said Alex. "Everyone look at the tree root, can you see anything shiny sticking out of it?”
Alex craned his neck forward to get a better look at the tree. He drew his head back quickly as a large blob of venom splashed down in front of him.
"Even if we do see it, we won’t be able to get it, what about the venom?" asked Becca pointing to the floor in front of Alex.
"I must confess I’m more worried about the soul sucking dragon than the venom," said Alex. "You guys can't do anything but I can. Look I'm healed already, no scar or anything," he said holding out his hand. No one could see any evidence of the burn at all.
"There, up there, look everybody," cried Sven excitedly pointing to the top left hand side of the tree root. Alex looked and could see a silver
glint shining in the wood.
"Great, it just had to be at the very top," he groaned.
"It's too far, he will never make it," said Matt. "Look how much venom is dripping from the roof. A blob of that on his head and he'll be floored even if he does heal quickly."
"It's ok guys I've got this. You can see the drips forming, I just need to keep an eye on them before gravity takes over," said Alex looking at the ceiling again.
"Ok so that's the venom, what about Niddhogg? He will hear you surely," said Matt worried.
"I can do ninja quiet, it's cool. Look it's not as though we have any choice," said Alex. "If anyone has any better plans please go ahead."
They all looked at each other and shook their heads. Before anyone could come up with any more reasons as to why this was a bad idea Alex ran out into the cavern, darting to one side as a large blob of venom splashed down again near his feet. He looked up and judging where the next one was likely to fall darted forward again. Just as he reached the base of the tree root a splash hit the floor and bounced up onto his leg. Hopping to a stop on his good leg he doubled over holding tightly to the skin just above the burn. The venom had burned through his trouser leg and the skin beneath was bubbling and blistering. Breathing in and out of his nose slowly, Alex concentrated on the intense pain which was firing up and down his leg. As soon as the pain receded he stood up again and placed his foot on the wood. There was a cracking sound like a branch snapping and Alex froze to the spot. Niddhogg continued to be still and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He placed his other foot gingerly on the root and it held. Looking back at the others he could see their pale faces peering out of the gloom of the tunnel.
Alex looked up and quickly planned a rough route up to where he could see the shining object. The wood of the root was ancient and gnarled; there were plenty of handholds and gaps for his feet. Alex started to climb trying to be as quiet as possible. Luckily there was no venom above him so he made quick progress up the tree. Very soon he reached the top and could see a silver crosspiece protruding from the wood. It was the sword. Stretching up his fingers he touched the pommel and a surge of power streaked down his arm. He pulled back quickly and gave a thumbs up to his friends.
The Cursed Sword (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 1) Page 19
