by Justin Sloan
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Among Giants
Not wanting to be found on board, Valerie went back to one of the airship’s portholes and climbed out, noting that the ground was less than twenty feet below. She was preparing to jump when she saw what was no doubt their destination.
Rising from the ground ahead of them, silhouetted against the clear night sky, were the shapes of large Viking swords, as if they had been stuck into the ground by giants. These had to be some monument from the days before the Great Collapse, unless giants too existed in this world of vampires and Weres. She doubted it.
She stared in awe, then realized the ground was coming up fast. She even saw the forms of people moving ahead, among the monuments.
Without another moment’s hesitation, she released her grip on the ship and rolled as she hit the ground, careful to hold her sword close so it wouldn’t cut her or snag on something.
The airship came in low, forcing her to duck to avoid hitting her head as she came to a stop. It landed at the edge of a clearing, with the sword monuments just on the other side.
A glance around revealed the ocean on one side, which explained the distant roar she could now hear, and trees and hills on the other. Looking toward the horizon provided another reason to stare in awe—the sky was glowing an almost turquoise green, unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Between the giant swords and this beautiful sky, she came close to understanding how one could feel a connection to the gods.
Someone ahead shouted, and she quickly picked herself up and darted partway around the clearing to approach from a different direction.
She recognized Barskall’s voice shouting orders, though the language sounded slightly different then Norwegian. Valerie imagined it was Icelandic, meaning he was now among his true followers. Maybe a group of them had settled here with bigger plans to reach out into the world, expand their domain. Or maybe it was some form of worship for the ones who had come before, in some twisted way.
Tree branches brushed her as she snuck forward. When she reached the edge of the shadows, she saw that the green sky was casting its glow across a field of grass between the swords. Barskall and his three largest Weres, along with several others, had gathered in the field.
Many of them were shouting now, but Barskall stepped forward, raising the stump of the arm that had apparently healed enough to not be bleeding or nasty anymore, and shouted a string of words. One of them was easily understood. War.
Valerie had a feeling that would involve more people being hurt, as ‘war’ wouldn’t simply refer to her.
A woman stood there gesturing at the ocean, and Valerie’s best guess was that they were discussing whether to get their homeland and Barskall’s family involved in some way. He was shaking his head.
Of course, these were only guesses.
He lifted his good arm, and one of them offered him a sword. He pointed north with the blade, and the others gave a roar of approval, pulling out swords and guns.
This had gone on long enough.
Valerie drew her sword and moved along the outer edge of the clearing to where a couple of stragglers stood with their backs to her. With vampiric speed she dragged one back, covering his mouth as she thrust the sword into his chest, pulling him into the shadows. When he stopped moving she chopped off his head, held it by the hair, and lobbed it up and over the others so it hit Barskall in the chest with a thump.
She moved quickly so that she wasn’t in the direction it had come from, and saw them all gazing at the head at Barskall’s feet in shocked silence.
One of them sniffed the air, then another, and without a word, everyone except Barskall and his three henchmen stripped and transformed into wolves.
In quick movements, Valerie moved through the trees, being sure to drag her hand across their bark, hoping that would leave her scent.
The wolves formed a semicircle looking out, ruffs raised on their necks, teeth bared.
It was working. They couldn’t get a clear scent, so they weren’t sure where she was. To them, it was probably like being faced with an army of vampires, but they all smelled like the same vampire.
“So you are out there,” Barskall shouted, stepping up behind the wolves. “How very fucking brave of you. First you slaughter my innocent army of gods, now you come to Asgard itself and want to take us down? Come on, then! Show yourself! Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Hel.”
The female werewolf growled and stepped forward, and they all started moving. The hunt had begun.
Except that while the wolves thought they were the ones hunting, Valerie knew it was quite the opposite.
If only her friends were here to see this! What a fun time it would be. She moved back and climbed a tree, waiting. When the first wolf passed under her she was on it in an instant, plunging her sword down just as it looked up to follow her scent.
It managed a yelp, but by the time two other werewolves had arrived, she was farther into the forest dealing with another one.
As soon as that was done, she circled back and picked off those two, one at a time.
The large female he’d called Hel leaped out of nowhere, and Valerie cursed herself for getting careless. Teeth sunk into her shoulder and Valerie tried to swing her sword, but the angle was wrong.
Knowing she would heal, she slammed Hel into the nearby tree, scraping her along its bark, then dropped the sword and kicked it against the tree so that when she brought the wolf down, half her hide was skinned off.
Hel let out a yelp and released Valerie’s shoulder, and that’s when Valerie struck. Three good kicks to the wolf’s head and it exploded all over the tree. The arm would take a couple seconds to heal, so she picked up the sword in her other hand and turned to see one of the bald men charging her.
“I’ve got you,” he shouted, and the shout became a roar as he transformed into a bear. His paw’s swipe nearly knocked over the tree, but Valerie had ducked and come up behind it. Her left-handed sword strike wasn’t as well aimed as her right would have been, so she cut his backside instead of plunging the blade into him as she had meant to do.
He roared and spun, connecting with a paw to send her flying back into the clearing.
She landed hard, but quickly sprang to her feet and recovered her sword.
“There you are, little kitty,” Barskall said through gritted teeth, and now he and the two Weres at his side transformed into bears, though he still only had one arm.
The bears roared and came at her together. With so many of their wolf companions down, though, their confidence had been dealt a blow. Valerie used that against them, pushing fear and shouting her loudest warcry as she brandished her sword. Two of them hesitated, leaving the third exposed.
She rolled to her left, slicing through his legs so that he stumbled forward and made the earth tremble with his fall. As he tried to recover, she moved on to the next. He swiped at her with both paws at once, mouth open in a roar.
“You have horrible breath,” she noted, then stabbed the sword up and into his throat. When he fell face first into the ground, dead, she sniffed the air. “Ah, much better.”
The next one plowed into her, knocking the sword from her grip. His claws dug into her flesh, but she had claws too. Hers tore into his neck and eyes, growing long like knives, and soon he was nothing more than a twitching mass on top of her.
She had started to push out from under the dead bear when Barskall was suddenly there in human form, swinging her sword at her head.
“Shit!” she shouted, barely moving out of the way in time. The sword struck stone and cut off a chunk of her hair. Oh, now she was pissed. She kicked the bear off her and went at Barskall, claws ripping him to shreds even as he tried to step back and swing her sword.
A good strike to the wrist and he dropped the sword, but she caught it, spun and sliced, spilling his guts onto the rocky ground.
“Witness your god,” Valerie said to the last of them, then stepped forward, swo
rd raised. “I give you a man.” The sword sliced through his skull, stopping when it was lodged in the ground beneath. “Actually, I give you…a corpse.”
The final one transformed into a man upon seeing this so that he could shout his leader’s name as the sword fell and Barskall’s life ended. He knelt because of the strike Valerie had landed on his legs. With heavy breaths, he stared dumbfounded at his companions’ corpses.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he grunted. “We were gods. We were invincible.”
“None of us are gods,” she replied. “You could’ve fled. You know that, right?”
“We’d rather die with him,” the Were said, motioning to the corpse of Barskall, and glaring at her.
As she raised her sword, he transformed into a bear and lowered his head, ready for it.
“Your will be done,” she hissed through gritted teeth, and brought down the sword, separating head from body. It was over.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Trondheim
Sunrise came too early. Cammie glanced around the hall, sad to see that there was still no sign of Valerie.
But there hadn’t been any sign of violence on the part of the gods, either.
“If I find out she’s lost out there and we could be in the sky searching while we’re down here relaxing, I’ll kill myself.”
“Which way, boss?” William asked.
Cammie glanced around to find Royland, only to remember that he had returned to the ship the night before. She vaguely remembered him saying something about that; to keep watch and so that he wouldn’t have to figure out how to get back in daylight. She wanted to ask him, but even while she was thinking this thought, it hit her.
“We go to these so-called gods.”
William scratched his head. “I’ve been asking around, and I’ll be honest… I don’t think we have the strength to take them down.”
“Maybe not, but if Valerie is there and needs our help, we can give it. If she’s not there yet, you can be sure she’ll find her way to them at some point, and that’s when we strike.”
They said their farewells to those who were awake, then began the trek back to the ship. Before heading out, they had agreed to take only one and leave the other ship for the people of Trondheim.
It wasn’t long before they were airborne, William helming the ship so Reems could get some rest. He had insisted on standing watch for most of the night, since he was apparently much less of a party animal than William.
Cammie found Royland in bed, and she sat next to him, watching him sleep. It amused her, how powerful this man was, how scary he could be to his enemies—and how much he reminded her of a cute little kitten, the way he curled up and let out an almost purring sound in his sleep.
When she stood to go, his eyelids twitched, then slowly opened.
“Hey there,” he said, reaching out to take her hand and pull her back down next to him. “Couldn’t be without me?”
“More like I needed a booty call.” She winked. When he raised an eyebrow and started to get up, she held out a hand, laughing. “Only joking. As much as I’d love it, you need your rest and we’re just setting off. They’ll need my eyes up there, and I have to be ready in case we face trouble.”
“Ah, you don’t want me wearing you out then,” he said, lying back down with a sleepy grin.
“Exactly.” She held his hand, rubbing it with both of hers. “You know…I’ve been thinking.”
“Hmmm?” His eyelids grew heavy, but he was still listening, she knew.
“Maybe when we get back, we go find ourselves a dog.”
“They don’t exactly have dogs for sale at the local market,” he replied with a laugh. “Where are we going to find one?”
She shrugged. “There was more than one out there the day we found Elroy. I’d want a big one. Big and mean, so that it scares off anyone that might want to cause trouble.”
“Wait, if we have that, what do I need you for?”
She hit him playfully. “You need me for a damn lot, Mister. Or maybe I disappear and we see how you survive without me.”
“I’d be lost,” he admitted. “And very emotionally and somewhat sexually deprived.”
“Wow, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be happy you put your emotional fix above your sexual one. I mean, I’ve been known to—”
“Hey now,” he lifted his head, going up on one elbow, “I don’t want to hear or think about what you’ve been known to do. Trust me, you more than astound me in every way, especially that way.”
“Yeah, well, don’t forget it.” She stared into his eyes and asked, “So…”
“If you want a dog, of course we’re getting a damn dog.” His smile widened, and she could tell he loved the idea as much as she did.
Happy with the outcome of that conversation, she left Royland to sleep. Without Kristof and Elroy to keep her company, she would need the companionship of the dog, or have to figure out how to start sleeping in the day and staying awake at night. Maybe that could work out, too, once they got back. If the world was finally moving toward peace—or at least her section of it—she didn’t see why it wouldn’t.
Cammie made her way around the ship, checking on everyone and keeping watch for their destination. More trees and hills, and the clear fresh air she would miss like hell when they finally left this land.
Birds took off from an area south of them and at first Cammie thought it was nothing, but then she noticed movement below the trees—barely noticeable, like people wearing black or camouflage.
“What’s that?” she said, pointing to movement in the distance.
The sailor next to her just shook his head, unable to see it. Her Were eyes gave her that extra bit needed though, and she squinted to get a good visual.
“There’s a group of people on the move down there.”
“Is Trondheim at risk?”
She went to the other side of the ship and looked back, trying to calculate the direction from which they’d come and project it against the direction in which the group seemed to be headed.
With a shake of her head, she turned back to the sailor. “I think they’re clear.”
He frowned, looking ahead and then back in the direction of the group, even though he still couldn’t see them.
“You’re thinking about something,” she stated. “What is it?”
“If Valerie is fighting the gods, it might not be good to divert from our path at this point,” he replied.
“Agreed. We’ve waited long enough.” She stared out at the land, hands on the railing of the ship. It bothered her that there was a group moving around like that, but they really didn’t look like they were going in any direction that would matter to her people.
They couldn’t afford to stop and question every group they came across, after all.
Another half-hour of flying and they saw it—the military compound that she was sure was the place they were looking for. Her guess was confirmed by the smoke rising into the sky, fresh fires burning merrily in several places.
“What happened there?” Reems said, having asked one of his men to wake him when they spotted the facility.
“Valerie happened, I’m guessing,” Cammie replied. “Which means we’re probably too late. Take us over. Let’s see what we can spot.”
Others came on deck to get a look as they passed. The central courtyard was full of bodies, mostly Were, and most of the buildings were riddled with bullet holes or had been demolished by explosions. They kept going and saw tanks, one with smoke still coming out of the opening on top, and a nearby building partially in ruins.
There was a launching ground where maybe an airship or two had been, but none were there now.
“She’s gone,” Cammie stated, certain of it.
“What now?” Reems asked.
“It’s possible she’ll linger once it’s finished.”
“If she succeeds, you mean,” Reems interjected.
Cammie scoffed. “She always does
. She always will. Yes, when she succeeds, she’ll maybe look for us, but she’ll eventually head west. We should follow that group we saw, whom I’m now guessing were the survivors of this fight. See where they go, then…”
She didn’t want to say it, so she was glad Reems voiced the thought instead.
“We head back,” he said.
“The chances of us coming across her here are slim. More likely we’ll reunite with her when she returns.”
“I’ll tell William.” Reems turned to convey the message, leaving Cammie to stare at the destruction and wonder where Valerie might have gotten off to. The woman could certainly handle herself, but that didn’t make Cammie like it any better.
After a few minutes of this, the airship began to make the turn to go back. When it was straight and on a direct path west, Reems and William came out to brief the sailors.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Reems announced, pausing for dramatic effect, “we’re going home!”
The sailors cheered, likely glad to not have gotten involved with the kind of death and destruction they had just seen below.
Cammie wasn’t exactly sure how to feel, but found herself smiling along with the rest of them. She wished it had gone differently, that she could have stayed with Valerie, but now she was certain Valerie was taking care of the bandit problem, while they had brought Kristof home and helped solve his city’s problems. With the gods’ base destroyed, they likely wouldn’t mete out any sort of retribution on Trondheim.
Oddly, a part of her was relieved that she hadn’t spilled more blood on this trip. It was a weird feeling, because she tended to get a high from the fighting. She had always enjoyed it, even looked forward to it to a degree. Now she was happy to have kept it to a minimum; she wondered what was happening to her.
In fact, she was happy to be going home, and looked forward to spending some downtime with Royland.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
