The Cursed Sword (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 1)

by Debbie Champion

  "You were brilliant Alex. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't got the sword in the stone when you did," she said squeezing his hand.

  "That Hel hound nearly had me there, if Dvalin hadn't helped I would be dead. Hey Dvalin," Alex shouted over. "How did you stop Garm? One minute he was flying through the air about to tear my head off and the next he fell over." Dvalin looked up and grinned.

  "Dwarf rope," he said. "It's the only rope in existence that is strong enough to hold a creature like Garm. I originally created it for Odin to bind Fenrir, Loki's other monster child," he said tucking a daisy into a buttonhole in his waistcoat

  "Fenrir the wolf?" asked Becca.

  "That's right, when he grew too big Odin got worried so he asked the dwarves to create a rope that would bind him forever. It took a long time but we got there in the end. Fenrir is still tied to his boulder by the rope. Odin help us if he is ever cut loose, he won't be very happy," he said.

  "But it looked like a bit of ribbon," said Alex confused.

  "The strongest ribbon you will ever find. We made it with six things, the noise of a cat's footsteps, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, a woman's beard, the breath of a fish and the spit of a bird," he said bending down and picking up a dandelion.

  "That's ridiculous Dvalin, you are kidding us," said Alex. "The noise of a cat's footsteps? Yeah right," said Alex shaking his head.

  "No, it's true, just because you can't see things doesn't mean they do not exist," said Dvalin winking.

  "Well I guess it did the job on Garm. Thanks Dvalin you saved my life," said Alex patting Dvalin on the shoulder.

  "As you saved my life my friend, now we are even," said Dvalin smiling widely.

  "What should I do with sword? I don't want anyone else getting hurt," said Alex looking at the blade in his hand.

  "We need to destroy it before the rest of the curse plays out," said Dvalin.

  "What do you mean the rest of the curse?" asked Alex worried.

  "Every time it is wielded, at least three people will die and then the one who has wielded the sword will perish," he said looking embarrassed.

  "Dvalin you didn't mention any of this before," said Becca horrified.

  "Would it have made a difference Alex?" he asked.

  "No, I still had to use it to close the breach." said Alex. "It just means I need to destroy it now before it hurts anyone else."

  "The only place which is hot enough to melt this sword is in Muspelheim, the land of the fire giants." said Dvalin.

  "Fire giants? Great that sounds fun. Ok I'll go there now. The sooner I get rid of this thing the better," said Alex determined.

  "Unfortunately it won't be that easy," said Dvalin smelling the dandelion and grimacing.

  "Why? I can just make a door with the crystal..ah, I gave the crystal to Sven," said Alex regretting handing over the crystal.

  "Yes and you can't portal in there either, the Volva's won't have anything to do with the fire giants, they think they are devils and they keep well away," said Dvalin.

  "Well there must be a way," said Alex exasperated. He wanted to get rid of the sword desperately.

  "Probably best if we ask Thor when he returns, he might know what to do," said Dvalin. "He has been there before," he said.

  "Alex, Becca," Alan called over. "Let's get you out of here, we have a lot to catch up on. We can go back to my place, we can get you cleaned up and you can meet your parents there," he said.

  "What about Magnus and Pete?" asked Alex.

  He looked over at Magnus. He was talking on his mobile phone.

  "We have friends who can help him. We can't really explain what happened to the police now can we? Come on they’ll be fine, Magnus will take care of his son," said Alan sadly.

  Chapter Seventeen

  A short time later they were all sitting in Alan's kitchen drinking steaming hot cups of sweet tea. Alan had called their parents and they were waiting for them to arrive. Alex held onto the sword firmly, he didn't want to risk anyone else touching it.

  "Alex, are you hungry?" asked Nancy.

  He shook his head, he felt sick to the stomach about Pete and incredibly tired, he hadn’t slept in ages. He was trying to process everything that had happened over the last few days and knew he couldn't relax until the sword had been destroyed. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he looked at the screen.

  "Cassie," he said as Matt looked at him quizzically.

  She had sent him a Facebook message asking him to call her. He dialed the number provided and she answered straight away.

  "Cassie, hi, it's over. We got the sword and sealed the breach," he said.

  "I know," she replied. "I saw it."

  "You saw it, how?"

  "I'm a Volva stupid, I specialise in seeing the future. I saw it all before you even came to me," she said.

  "Seriously? You saw all of this happen?" he asked incredulous.

  "Yep, good aren't I?" she said smugly.

  "If you saw it all happen, why didn't you just tell us at the start where the sword was? We have been through hell," he said his voice rising in anger.

  He could feel static electricity prickling the tips of his fingers and took a deep breath.

  "Well that wouldn't have been any fun darling. Just think you wouldn't have met Lexi. I hear she has quite the thing for you," she said laughing.

  Alex stood up from the table and moved away from the others.

  "Cassie cut it out," he hissed. "What do you want?"

  "Lit contacted me, he wanted to know where Sven was," she said.

  "He should be back home," said Alex confused. "He had a crystal to make a door home." An uneasy feeling started to prickle down his spine.

  "Well I guess it didn't work because he didn't get home," snapped Cassie.

  "Oh god, this isn't good. The crystal must have run out. He must be still down there," said Alex horrified.

  "Nice way to treat your friend Alex," said Cassie sarcastically.

  "I didn't mean to," stuttered Alex. He felt hollow inside; he couldn't bear to think about what Sven must be going through.

  "Look tell Lit I'll sort it," said Alex.

  "You had better Alex or you'll have me to deal with, he owes me a gold bracelet," she said hanging up.

  Alex took a deep breath and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

  "Guys we have a problem," he said looking around at his friends.

  "What?" asked Matt. "Don't tell me, Cassie wants to join you on your date with Maggie?" he asked laughing.

  "Sven didn't make it home, he’s still down there with Niddhogg," he said miserably.

  Everyone looked shocked.

  "But he had the crystal," said Becca.

  "I know but Iduna warned me it wouldn't last forever. I thought it would last longer than that though," said Alex pacing around the kitchen. "I should’ve waited, made sure it was ok," he said rubbing his hand through his hair.

  "The door was closing Alex, you had no choice," said Matt.

  "I have to go back," said Alex slumping into a chair at the kitchen table. "I have to go get him, he must be terrified," he said resting his elbows on the table and putting his hands over his face.

  "We all have to go back. We’re in this together Alex,” said Matt. "I mean Sven's a complete pain but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

  "No I need to do this on my own. I won't let anyone else get hurt," said Alex pulling out his phone again.

  "Alex what are you doing?" asked Becca.

  "Texting Cassie, I need a portal to take me back," he said dialing her number.

  "Why Cassie, why not Maggie?" she asked.

  "Are you serious? I already owe Maggie a date and a favour. I need to keep well away from that Volva from now on," he said.

  "Alex, we all need to go, we’re a team. It was bad enough when you went off to Asgard on your own," said Becca. "We still need to talk about that by the way," she said walking over to him. He put his arm a
round her waist and pulled her onto his lap.

  "I know, I'll tell you everything. Let me go get Sven first though," he said tiredly.

  "You guys can't go, the only way back is through a portal and we all know the damage that can do," he said nodding in Dvalin's direction.

  "That's not strictly true Alex," said Alan pushing his glasses up his nose.

  "What do you mean?" he asked looking up at Alan.

  "A portal isn't the only way to Niddhogg's lair," he said mysteriously. "The root of the Yggdrasil tree where Niddhogg lives is directly underneath Helheim. You can get to Niddhogg by going through Helheim and climbing down the root," said Alan.

  "Fantastic, this just gets better and better. How do we get to Helheim then, kill ourselves?" asked Matt.

  "Well you sealed a portal to Helheim earlier. We just need to open it again," said Alan.

  "Are you serious?" asked Alex.

  "It's the only way. We can open it just a crack to let you all through and then seal it with prayers," said Alan warming to his idea.

  "We’re doing it," said Sasha firmly.

  "Sasha, no, we need to think about this," said Alex. "Oh and I haven't forgiven you yet for not telling me we are related.”

  "We are going, end of discussion," she said standing up with her hands on her hips.

  "If we can get Sven out of Helheim then we can rescue my mum and dad. I never knew you could get into Helheim, or I would have done it before," she said determined.

  "Can you imagine the look on Loki's face if we rescue Baldur?" asked Matt grinning.

  “It will be priceless,” said Sasha laughing. “You saw what Thor did to Loki earlier. My dad is going to seriously kick his butt. I want front row seats to that one.”

  “Right let’s get ready then,” said Alex. “I can’t believe I am saying this but we’re going to go rescue a dwarf and two gods.”

  “All in a days work eh Alex?” laughed Matt. “Look on the bright side, you’ll get to meet your cousin Hel. This is going to be fun!”