Goddess: A Runes Book

by Ednah Walters

  “You, on the other hand, give them closure, and I admire that. You’ll find out that a lot of them don’t need it because they’ve dealt with whatever problems they had while still alive. The ones that didn’t must accept the consequences because usually I don’t have the time to help them.”

  I caught a glimpse of the tough goddess everyone had told me about. Compassionate yet tough. “I guess if you gave them closure, you wouldn’t have time to welcome all of them.”

  She smiled with approval. “Exactly.”

  “When are you going to send these ones off?”

  “Later tonight.”

  “Can I watch?”

  She chuckled. “You can stand right beside me if you want. Come on. I’ll finish the tour Trudy started.”

  We visited the Resting Halls as they were often called. Some of the staff called them Eternal Halls instead of the more formal title Eternal Resting Halls, the goddess explained. She called forth a soul using their name and birth time narrowed down to the second they were born. Seeing people’s memories was interesting. It was like a 3-D movie, only better. Like something happening in real time.

  “Trudy sits outside halls for hours, watching memories. Now she has introduced Jessica to the same habit. They think I don’t see them sneaking into the hallways at odd hours, but nothing goes on around the halls without my knowledge.”

  I guessed that meant I couldn’t sneak into Echo’s quarters. “Where’s Raine’s father?”

  “Tristan is in one of the east halls reserved for the gods. It was the least I could do after he and Svana helped raise your brother. She came down to see me before Tristan died, and we had a very interesting chat about Eirik’s childhood.” She took my arm and led me down a hallway made of glass.

  I could see the frozen tundra, and to our right was an arena of some kind. “Is that for winter sports?”

  The goddess chuckled, but before she could answer, a portal opened and Baldur walked through it to join us. “What did I miss?” he asked.

  “Einmyria would like to know if that’s a sports arena.”

  “That, dýrr mín, is where your mother’s warriors practice. Are you into sports?”

  “Yes. Swimming, of course, and football and basketball because of Dad’s influence.” And I’d interview the jocks for my vlog. “He is not athletic, but he has his favorite teams.”

  “He must visit and watch the Grimnirs play. I’d like to meet him and his wife.”

  “I told her the same thing,” the goddess said. “She brought pictures and videos.”

  Baldur rubbed his hands and grinned. “Then we can catch up on what we missed. What does your father like to do? Or should I call him Mr. Jemison? No, he must have a name. Something strong and manly.”

  The goddess was trying hard not to laugh. “Jeffrey is his name, dýrr.”

  “Then Jeffrey and I must have a chance to enjoy a few games when he visits. Let me show you what I have in mind.” He wedged himself between us and took the goddess’ arm and mine. “So what happened in the Sorting Hall? I heard excited whispers.”

  The goddess and I exchanged glances.

  “We talked to a few souls,” she said.

  “You had a conversation? You? What happened to ‘There’s no time for idle chatter?’”

  “It hasn’t changed, but our daughter has a knack for communicating with them. They wanted to touch her.”

  Baldur gave a mock shudder. “They are cold.”

  “Why aren’t you?” I asked.

  “Your mother warms me with her touch and love.” He kissed her cheek and stopped outside a set of stairs. “Here we go.”

  We went up the stairs, and my jaw dropped when we reached the top. The setting was like an arena. There were seats on either side of the upstairs hallway, some facing what looked like ice hockey rinks, which were empty. We continued on and came to basketball courts, two of them occupied. The players were brutal with each other, all of them using runes for speed and strength, knocking each other. The boxing area was packed. It had a ring and punching bags. The dojo area had hand-to-hand combat training mats and a hard floor. On the walls were training sticks and swords, which didn’t make sense until I remembered that these people came from different civilizations and some were more comfortable with swords than a basketball.

  “Are all these Grimnirs, or are some of them warriors?” I asked.

  Baldur chuckled. “These are Grimnirs. Your mother’s warriors are in Corpse Strand. They come out every day to train and then go back. Ragnarok will give them a chance to redeem themselves and earn their freedom, if they survive.”

  Corpse Strand was for condemned souls, and Ragnarok was eons away. Not that I felt bad for the criminals, but I glanced at the goddess to see her reaction. She was busy studying one of the Grimnirs with a frown.

  “I didn’t set the rules on what criminals and oath-breakers must endure, but I enforce them,” she said, and I wondered if she could read my thoughts. She sighed. “Echo is in one of his moods, dýrr. Do you think you should step in?”

  My eyes flew to the men sparring with swords. My heart hurtled to my throat when I recognized Echo. He was wielding two swords and so was his opponent. They rushed each other, swords clanging as they parried left and right and attacked. I didn’t realize I’d moved closer to the glass wall when a blade missed his chest by inches. Why was he fighting without a shirt or runes?

  “He’s been like that since the beginning of this week,” Baldur said. “Something is bothering him.” He glanced at the goddess. “Has he talked to you yet?”

  “He asked for an audience last week, but I told him to wait. I’m not discussing Grimnir matters until this crisis with Celestia is over.” The goddess smiled when Echo knocked the sword off his opponent’s hand and nicked the man’s neck. “He’ll always be one of my finest fighters even though he abhors violence. It is the Druids’ way,” she added for my benefit.

  I was still trying to wrap my head around what she’d said. Echo had asked to talk to her. He must have planned to tell them about us before I arrived in Helheim.

  “What is he doing now?” the goddess asked sharply, and my eyes flew to the floor below. Echo was fighting two people.

  “I kept hoping whatever was bothering him would pass,” Baldur said. “Maybe you need to talk to him before he hurts someone, dýrr.”

  “He’s more likely to get hurt. He’s exhausted and is making mistakes. Look at that. He left himself wide open and would have gotten a blade in his gut. He doesn’t even have his runes on. I don’t know what’s bothering him, but let him exhaust his demons. Eirik would stop this, but this is not the right time to ask our son to referee Grimnirs.”

  I didn’t know anything about sword fights, but I could tell when a person fought like a drunken sailor. The goddess was right. Echo was exhausted. I winced when he got nicked on the thigh and then the arm. Even though he was bleeding, he still didn’t engage any of his runes. His opponents backed up while he continued to swing. Thoroughly annoyed, I turned and faced my parents.

  “Is it okay if I stop him?”

  The goddess traded a look with Baldur and nodded. “Go ahead.”

  “Thank you.” I must have engaged my speed runes, because I cleared those stairs like a sprinter. Through the glass wall, I could see Grimnirs working out, but I couldn’t find the entrance to the damn gym. Luckily, the same two guards who’d stayed with us during the tour had followed me downstairs.

  “Where’s the entrance to the gym?” I asked them.

  “You passed it back there, young goddess,” one of the guards said.

  “Show me.”

  We retraced our steps, and I entered the dojo area to find a crowd had formed around the fighters. Echo was still fighting, except his opponent was now Syn, his reaping buddy. I could tell Syn was toying with him, which only seemed to piss off Echo.

  The person beside me noticed me first, and his eyes widened.

  “Einmyria,” he whispered, but the per
son next to him overheard him and looked back. They stepped aside to let me pass and tapped on the shoulders of those in front of them. In seconds, I had a path.

  “Thanks,” I said and marched forward, too furious to care that they were staring and whispering. Most of them probably knew about me and Echo.

  I reached the front of the crowd and waited to catch Echo’s eyes, but instead I caught Syn’s. I shook my head, and he stepped back, ducking to evade Echo’s blade. He dropped and swept his leg under Echo in an attempt to bring him down, but Echo jumped back, almost losing his balance. Yep, he was definitely exhausted. The Echo I knew was graceful. Syn sprung to his feet and joined me.

  “I can’t stop him today. He’s been like this since last week and won’t talk about whatever crawled up his ass. I had to snap his neck several times this week. This time, he was expecting it and nearly gutted me.”

  “Give me your sword.”

  Echo turned to face Syn but found me. I had no idea how to use a sword, but if he needed a target, he had one.

  “Cora?” he asked, peering at me.

  “Yep, it’s me.” I gripped the sword with both hands and widened my stance. “You want someone to fight, come and get me.”

  He frowned. “I’m not going to fight you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…” He glanced around, surprise flickering on his face at the audience. He’d been so caught up in the fight he hadn’t noticed the crowd. “I can’t.”

  “Then drop the swords.”

  He dropped them and swayed on his feet. I wanted to run to him, hold him, scold him, and kiss him, but I fought the urge and passed the sword back to Syn. He looked puzzled by my behavior. I glanced at Echo, and once again fought the urge to rush to his side.

  “Engage healing runes. You are bleeding.”

  He glanced down and frowned. He didn’t engage his runes, and concern coursed through me. Did he think the goddess refused him a meeting because she knew about us and didn’t approve? I glanced up at my parents. They waved.

  Not caring what they thought, I stepped closer to Echo and looked into his eyes. They looked so tortured my heart cracked and my resolve not to touch him slipped a notch.

  “Heal your wounds, Echo.”

  “She won’t let me talk to her,” he whispered. “I changed my mind. I was going to tell her everything and surprise you, but she won’t listen to me.”

  And being Echo, he’d assumed the worst. Thank goodness his thinking things through phase had passed. He might be impatient and melodramatic, but that was part of his charm.

  “She will,” I reassured him. “Her concern right now is Celestia. Please, heal your wounds.”

  “I need the pain until you are mine again. It keeps me from going crazy.”

  Gah, he could be such a baby.

  “I am yours, silly. Always.” I didn’t care if the Grimnirs watching us heard my next words. I reached up and palmed Echo’s cheek. “Seeing you like this breaks my heart, Echo. Please, heal yourself.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Fine. Suit yourself.”

  Even as the words left my lips, I wanted to wrap my arms around him and never let go. It took all my energy to drop my hand, turn, and walk away. The crowd parted. When I glanced back, he was looking at me with so much longing I almost ran back to him.

  Shaking my head, I kept walking until I cleared the crowd. A glowering Nara was on the outskirts and fell in step with me. We’d moved from her dislike of me to grudging acceptance to some kind of sisterhood because of Dev. It looked like we were back at the beginning.

  “Why didn’t you tell us who you are?” Her voice dripped with ice.

  I didn’t need to explain myself to her. “Nice to see you again, Nara.”

  “He’s hurting,” she whispered, following me to the door.

  “He’ll be fine.”

  “He’s been like this since last week. Coming here and challenging anyone who’d fight him.”

  All because the goddess had turned down his request? I glanced back, but Echo was now punching a bag as though to obliterate it. He was a hot mess over nothing. I wasn’t sure what I’d do, but I needed him to get his act together.

  “I can’t help him. Not now.” Rage flashed in Nara’s eyes, but I didn’t let it bother me. “Keep him out of trouble until Celestia gets better.”

  Chapter 12. My Echo Is Back

  “How is Echo doing?” the goddess asked when I joined them.

  “Better. He is impossible and intense and tends to blow everything out of proportion.” I realized what I’d just said and wondered if I’d given myself away. “I’ve known him for over a year now,” I added.

  My parents didn’t comment, but unasked questions hung in the air. Part of me wanted to tell them the truth about us, but I remembered the story Mom had told me. Men had big, yet delicate egos. Dad would have been humiliated that his in-laws knew he hadn’t defended her. Echo wanted to be the one to tell my parents about us, so I wasn’t going behind his back and upstaging him.

  We went back to their quarters, which had a gorgeous 3-D mural of a pillared hallway. It gave an illusion of a larger hall and a gorgeous sunset that seemed so real it was uncanny. My bedroom used to be a baby’s room and still had a rainbow mural and gorgeous snowflakes on the wall, but instead of the crib, there was a large canopy bed. Jessica had used it, but now she had Eirik’s old quarters.

  “We are still working on your quarters,” Baldur explained.

  “This is fine. Tonight I’ll probably stay up with Eirik anyway. Maybe even force him to sleep.” Astrid had unpacked my things, putting my makeup and paraphernalia on the vanity by a full-length mirror and my clothes and shoes in the large walk-in closet. They barely covered half of one side. The rest of my toiletries were in the bathroom, which was pretty modern.

  I grabbed my laptop and the external hard drive where I stored most of my videos and pictures and joined them in a cozy room with a fireplace and shelves of books.

  I shared my childhood while answering their questions. They had many. I was happy when the goddess called a halt.

  “You can show us more tomorrow. It’s time to finish my duties in the Sorting Hall.”

  The Grimnirs crowded the doorways leading to the room as I took my place beside her. Black runes like mine appeared on her normal side, so I knew she was glowing.

  “I know you are tired and scared, but everything is going to be okay,” she told the hall of souls. “We have a place you can rest and be with your loved ones. You can talk and catch up, and stay with them as long as you like. When you are ready to be on your own, you can rest with your happiest memories. You decide which moment of your life to revisit and relive, who you’d like to join you there. Some of you can correct some of the wrongs you did or were done to you. The Eternal Resting Halls are meant to be happy and worry-free.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Ready?”

  I wasn’t sure whether I was, but I nodded. A guard appeared beside me with the book the goddess had given me earlier. He turned it to a blank page. Several guards guided the souls to where we stood.

  They passed me before going to her. The first one, a man, reached out and touched my hand. His thoughts flowed into mine, and from my thoughts into the book.

  “Donovan Fuller, born October 1965 at 3:42:22 in Wichita, Kansas. Rest in peace,” the goddess said. The guards took him and disappeared through a portal to the entrance of an Eternal Resting Hall. The whole process was surreal and seemed never-ending because Grimnirs kept arriving with more souls. Luckily for me, there were not a lot who needed closure. The majority just wanted to connect with someone.

  When we stopped, I had a knot between my shoulders. I rotated them to remove the kinks. “You do this every day? It’s only been”—I glanced at my watch—“an hour? It seemed longer.”

  “It’s not bad once you learn to pace yourself.” She ran a hand along my back and the knot disappeared. “If you get tired, you will it away or sit. There’s a ch
air around here somewhere, and you can adjust it at will so you are at eye level with each soul.”

  The Grimnirs, who’d stayed and watched the whole process, stepped back as we left the room. I didn’t realize more had arrived until I heard the buzz. The Throne Hall and the adjacent Waiting Hall were packed with reapers, guards, and the staff.

  The goddess led me to her seat, but instead of sitting, she stayed standing until Baldur joined us. I had a feeling they’d planned this. He raised his hand, and silence spread through the halls. I tried to find Echo in the crowd, but there were so many reapers. I found the hooded ancients, or Idun-Grimnirs. There couldn’t be more than a dozen. At the very front, along the stairs leading to the throne, were the goddess’ private guards in their black and green cloaks. Behind them stood regular guards.

  “I had planned to have a big welcome home party to make this announcement,” Baldur started, “but we have to postpone it because our daughter Celestia is gravely ill. I’m sure you’ve noticed the lack of laughter in the hall the last week. We hope she’ll recover soon. In the meantime, I want to introduce you to our long-lost daughter, Einmyria. Some of you know her as Cora Jemison, the courageous young Mortal who selflessly helps souls find closure. We thought she died as a baby, but that was not the case.” He turned his head and smiled at me. “She was taken from this hall by Angrboda, left in Jötunheim, where the Norns collected her and took her to Earth with other orphans. She will be staying with us for a while, but her life is still back on Earth, where she was raised. Regardless of where she is, Einmyria is a young goddess, our daughter. Treat her with the same respect you give her mother and protect her with everything you’ve got.”

  The guards were the first to drop on one knee, bow their heads, and press their fists to their chests. The silent allegiance spread like a wave. Even the Idun-Grimnirs went on their knees and showed their loyalty.

  My throat thickened with all sorts of emotions, part of me touched, but the other part worried about my future. Echo was somewhere in this crowd. What must he be feeling? An invisible line seemed to have been drawn between us.