More footsteps came and went outside the door. Sally reached for her backpack on the floor and pulled it onto the bed. She dumped out the contents on the ecru and gold duvet and sorted through the wooden runes Managarm had fashioned.
“What are you doing?” Opal asked.
“I want to work a spell of protection, for you and Baron.” Sally picked out the runes she wanted and arranged them in a circle on the bed.
Opal sighed. “Don’t you think you’ve worked enough magick? Look what it’s doing to you.”
“But this is important.” Sally glanced at the door, knowing Managarm could barge in any minute. She was supposed to be resting in preparation for doing another spell for him. “And it’s something you can help me with.”
Opal looked down at the circle of runes and the thee polished stones Sally had placed in the center. “Okay. But we’re adding you to the protection, too.”
“Call the quarters,” Sally whispered.
Opal stood up and pointed toward the window. “Is that way east?”
When the knock came at the door a few minutes later, Sally stepped into the hallway to find Managarm waiting for her.
“Now, my Rune Witch,” he said. “You will locate the Yggdrasil.”
Clutching her backpack, Sally followed Managarm down the hallway and into the apartment’s great room.
Sitting at a desk in front of a high-end desktop computer, Adam looked up at Sally and then went back to work on the keyboard. The Berserker seemed right at home as he followed breaking news stories and accessed online maps, but Managarm couldn’t stop fidgeting and looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. Being indoors didn’t suit the old Warg.
“You want some mood music?” Adam jumped up and grabbed a remote control from a nearby bookshelf. He pressed a few buttons, and soft jazz filtered down from tiny speakers mounted in the rafters of the vaulted ceiling.
“Excellent surround sound!” He sat down and scanned more news stories on the large screen in front of him. “Sweet computer system, too.” He typed in a new search and ran his finger along the list of results.
“Yeah, here’s the Raven Dojo,” Adam called over his shoulder. “Says they’ve been open for nine years in Beaverton. I guess all this stuff about Freya and Freyr studying in Japan, Korea, and India is just a bunch of bull, huh?”
Adam turned to Sally. She just shrugged in response. From what she’d gathered from Managarm’s comments and tirades, the old gods had roamed the globe for centuries. Some called the Pacific Northwest home while others clung to their Scandinavian roots or established new lives elsewhere. She imagined Freyr and Freya could have studied in those places, and in other countries that no longer existed.
“Where is everyone?” Holding Baron, Opal stood just inside the great room.
Sally tried to motion her back to the bedroom, but Managarm beat her to it.
“You,” he pointed down the hallway, “will remain in there until you are summoned.”
Baron flattened his ears and hissed.
“It’s okay,” Sally said. “Barry will keep you company.”
Opal retreated to the bedroom, and Sally glanced around the large space, decorated in a minimalist Asian style with clean lines and gentle curves of what looked like custom-made furniture. Rita’s upper-floor apartment had a brilliant view of downtown Portland, and the lights of the nighttime skyline were framed perfectly in the broad window.
Sally listened to the airy music and marveled at the impressive amount of state-of-the-art technology—from the computer where Adam was working and the tiny but powerful sound system to the huge flat-screen television that took up most of the far wall. But save for Adam, the room was empty of Berserkers.
Sally frowned. “So, really, where is everyone?”
The corners of Managarm’s mouth twitched as he motioned Sally toward the camel-colored sofa. “They are . . . making arrangements.” He settled into an upholstered chair and waited for her to sit. “Let us begin.”
Sally moved as deliberately and languidly as possible—anything to delay Managarm from getting what he wanted.
“So, they’re really here.” Adam muttered. “All that time, I was being trained by an ancient nature god. Kind of funny when you think about it. You know, gods standing in line to get a business license, hook up the utilities. Probably had to get social security numbers, too. Gods paying taxes!” Adam laughed. “You should have seen the look on Freyr’s face when he realized who I was.” Adam swiveled in his chair to face Managarm and Sally. “Turned white as a sheet. I swear he almost wet his pants.”
Sally’s sharp look stopped Adam’s laughter cold. “I will not have you disrespecting the old gods in my presence.”
Adam nodded somberly.
Managarm leaned toward her. “I trust the next Berserkers you summon for me will be less talkative.”
Sally shuddered as he laughed. She cringed at the thought of anyone else carving that bloody mark into their flesh, but she reached into her bag for the wooden runes and laid them on the glass coffee table.
Managarm rested back in the chair. “And the elements.”
Sally pulled out a small jar of loose earth. “The dirt you had Rita collect from the site of the Sitka Spruce.” She gave a nervous smile. “All trees are connected to one another, the world over, through their overlapping roots. So they can communicate with each other. So this dirt from the Old Yggdrasil will connect us with the reborn Tree—”
“I am familiar with the concept,” Managarm said wearily.
“Right. Of course.” She reached again into her bag and slowly produced a few candles, a bottle of rainwater, a few rounds of self-lighting charcoal, and a jar of incense she’d made from dried leaves, tree resin, and ground herbs.
“Now, Sally.” Managarm gave her a hard look. “You wouldn’t want to make any mistakes in your spell-work. If your magick went somehow . . . awry . . . It would be a shame for any harm to come to your friend or to your cat.” Managarm tilted his head toward the bedroom where Opal and Baron were sequestered. “Do you understand?”
Sally swallowed hard and nodded. With her Book of Shadows open in her lap, she unfolded the rabbit skin she always used as her altar. With shaking fingers, she arranged the wooden runes in a spiral.
“This is the receiving pattern you spoke of, that will pinpoint the location of the Yggdrasil?” Managarm asked.
Sally nodded and kept laying out the runes.
“And with my warriors dispatched to the wider area you divined earlier, you know they will call instantly with confirmation.”
Sally pressed her lips together and nodded again. “I’ll get it right. I promise.” She believed him when he said he’d destroy the young warriors who had pledged themselves to her. And then he’d crush her, Opal, Baron, and who knew who else like bugs.
Sally pulled several polished stones from her bag and placed them at the four points of the compass. Citrine in the East. Hematite in the South. Amethyst in the West. She dropped a piece of Aventurine on the floor.
Feeling her throat tightening, Sally glanced nervously at Managarm. She could sense his growing annoyance, but he just gestured for her to continue. She bent down to pick up the smooth, green stone and sat staring at it in her hand.
Maybe Opal was right, and locating the Yggdrasil for Managarm meant betraying her entire world. Feeling stupid, Sally still held to the thin hope that Managarm wasn’t as nefarious as he now seemed. Hadn’t he been sincere in his plea for her help? What god wouldn’t lose patience with her constant questions and ignorance? Maybe he made threats out of desperation. Maybe he was just as anxious as she was to save the world from falling deeper into ruin.
“The tracking, please,” Managarm said. “And then you will call up an entire army of Berserkers for me.”
Sally checked the layout of runes on the coffee table against the sketch in her journal, then struck a match and lit the candles she had positioned in a spacious triangle around her altar space.
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“A ritual bonfire would be better,” she ventured.
Managarm sighed darkly.
Sally poured a mound of salt on the table and was about to light the piece of charcoal on top of it when Adam swiveled around in the computer chair again.
“Hey, I’ve got something here,” Adam called out.
Managarm turned his head toward the desk. “Speak.”
“Okay, so you wanted me to look for any unusual information or news stories about trees, right? I mean, any news about anything funny going on in the forests.”
Managarm huffed irritably. “Yes.”
“Okay, well, there’s something here about some vandalism in Forest Park.” Adam turned back and read from the screen. “Somebody was camping or something, and . . . Hey! That’s us!”
Managarm rose from his chair, glancing briefly at Sally as she pretended to pick through her jar of incense. She watched him rest a hand on Adam’s shoulder and lean over the computer.
“What news of the campsites?” he asked.
Adam shrugged. “Ah, just some damage to the forest, maybe transients or somebody trying to live in the woods.” Adam giggled. Managarm squeezed his shoulder, and Adam flinched in pain.
“What else, Adam?” Sally interjected.
Managarm looked back at her. “I’ll handle this so you may continue without distraction.”
“Okay, here.” Adam scrolled through the web page and pointed at the display. “It says some rangers took a look around to see who’s been causing all the trouble. Two different campsites, and some vandalism at a third place. Some stuff about why it’s important to protect the wilderness—littering is bad, don’t start fires. It doesn’t say much else.”
Adam scrolled farther down the page. Managarm squeezed his shoulder again. “Stop!”
Sally leaned forward to catch a glimpse of the screen and saw a photo of a well-built blond man in uniform.
“What? You know that guy?” Adam leaned away from the desk to give Managarm more room. “He’s just a ranger.”
“That is no ranger.” Managarm smiled. “The god of light looks nothing short of ridiculous in a government uniform.”
Clutching her journal, Sally rose from the sofa. “Heimdall?”
Managarm turned on her with a sharp expression. “I thought you were going to concentrate on your work, little witch.”
Sally sank back down onto the sofa and her heart dropped into her stomach. She didn’t like the way he called her little witch. She looked at the runes spread out in front of her. She was a few steps away from completing the spell, and then the runes would light up to indicate the direction and distance to the Yggdrasil inside Pierce Forest.
She glanced again at the computer screen. Heimdall was a forest ranger? Was it possible he had located the Tree already? A spark of hope lit up her face, and she couldn’t suppress a tiny giggle.
Managarm turned around again and scowled. “What are you smiling about? Do you have the Tree yet or not?”
Sally forced a more solemn expression onto her face and shook her head.
Managarm gestured with impatience. “Well, get on with it!” He grabbed Adam by the shoulder again, and the boy yelped. “Call Rita and David. Tell them where the rangers are investigating the vandalism at the third site. That will be their cover for seeking the Tree.”
Trying to wriggle out of Managarm’s grasp, Adam motioned toward the screen. “But they didn’t say exactly where. Just a general location.”
The Moon Dog smiled. “That’s no matter. Our talented Rune Witch will provide those details.”
Sally glanced up at Managarm and actually squeaked when she made eye contact with him from across the room. Her face burned hot and her Book of Shadows slipped off her lap to the floor. She scrambled to retrieve it as he stepped toward her.
“What progress?” Managarm demanded.
Peter emerged from the kitchen looking like a circus performer as he carried three bags of chips, a few jars of salsa and processed cheese, a box of low-fat Twinkies, three bottles of diet soda, and two bags of microwave popcorn in a not-so-delicate balancing act.
“Who’s hungry?” Peter made his way to the dining room table on the far side of the room and dumped the food onto the polished surface, then wiped his hands on his college sweatshirt.
Managarm surveyed the dining table and sneered in disgust. “You call that food?”
“I got through four semesters of finals on pretty much the same as this.” Peter unscrewed the cap of one of the soda bottles and cola fizzed up through the narrow neck and onto the table. Peter licked his fingers. “I’m not a big fan of diet, but it’s all Rita’s got. You know, women.” His face brightened. “How ‘bout we order pizza?”
Managarm sighed angrily and waved him off. Taking this as permission, Peter pulled out his phone. “Anyone got a credit card?”
Adam turned in his chair. “I have Dad’s AMEX number memorized, for emergencies.” He grinned. “I think this counts as an emergency, don’t you?”
“Excellent!” Peter lifted the phone to his ear.
“Hey! Get a load of these guys!” Adam scrolled through another news story. “There’s a biker gang that’s come to town to help bury some soldiers killed overseas. Says they’re unofficial military funeral escorts. And get this: They’re called the Valkyries.”
Adam snorted, then turned serious. “They’re like the angels of death, right? I mean, for real? When all this is over, do we get to go to Valhalla as heroes, too?” He glanced over at Peter. “Make sure you get two supreme, three pepperoni, and at least one with jalapeños and Greek olives and sardines. Maybe extra cheese.”
“Shouldn’t you be making a call of your own?” Managarm snapped at Adam.
Adam turned back to the computer. “I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not like the stupid Tree isn’t going to still be there.”
Managarm lifted his face to the ceiling and roared. Two of Sally’s candles toppled over, and she batted at the flames with her journal to keep the runes and rabbit skin from catching fire. On the other side of the room, Peter stammered into the phone, “I’m going to have to call you back.”
Managarm glared at the two Berserkers. “This is no game!” His voice echoed off the skylight windows. “The Tree is the very breath of this world. Without it, all is for nothing. Do you understand?”
“They don’t call it the World Tree for nothing,” Sally offered with a weak smile as she re-lit the candles.
Managarm turned toward her with surprised relief. “Show me.”
Sally fumbled with the incense as she spooned small amounts of it onto the still unlit charcoal. “I’m still setting up. It takes some time.”
“Okay. I’m ordering pizza.” Peter dialed again and held his phone to his ear.
Managarm looked hard at Sally. “No mistakes. And no dawdling.”
Sally spilled incense on the table and floor. Heimdall has the Tree, she told herself, willing it to be true. Heimdall has the Tree already. She steadied her hand and added another spoonful of fragrant powder to the small round of charcoal and then held a lit match to its edge. The charcoal sparkled and spat as it ignited.
“Hey, there’s also something about a bunch of animals getting killed.” Adam ran his finger over the text on the screen. “It’s almost 2 a.m., so this is just a couple of hours old. Farm animals, neighborhood pets. Starting around Olympia and headed south. A couple of campers on the Kalama River got chased out of their tent by some kind of creature. They say they think it might be related to the campsites the rangers are investigating, because they found some blood there.”
Adam touched the still raw crescent moon beneath his shirt. “Sure, there’s blood there. But this wasn’t us, all the animals and stuff. It wasn’t us, right?”
Sally’s felt a chill at the sight of the dark smile that unfurled on Managarm’s face. “Fenrir,” he hissed with delight.
Adam spun around in his chair. “The wolf from the sanctuary.”
His grin widened. “So, yeah, it was us.”
A thick plume of smoke rose up in front of Sally, and she breathed in the pungent scent of the incense. If Heimdall already has the Tree, then I can send Managarm there and the other gods can deal with him. She opened the jar of dirt and sprinkled some of it over the runes, then dribbled drops of water on them.
Managarm nodded at Adam. “The call.”
“Right.” Adam spun back around in his chair and picked up the landline phone from its cradle.
Managarm walked across the floor and stood before the window but instead of looking out over the city, he gazed skyward, watching—Sally guessed—for the last sliver of waning moon in the sky before it disappeared altogether and became the Black Moon.
“Hey, Rita,” Adam said into the phone. “I’ve got a more specific section of Pierce Forest for you to check out.”
Sally held her hands over the runes and waited. Everything was in place. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized that everything she’d sought to do, she’d achieved in one way or another. The old gods were again in the world, and ancient magick was doing its work.
The symbol Raido hung heavily on the pendant around her neck, and she felt Uruz tingling across the pad of her thumb. Sally closed her eyes and willed the power of the runes to come alive within her. She felt a coil of energy unfurl in her stomach and rush out through her fingers.
When she opened her eyes, the runes laid out before her were not only glowing—they were spinning slowly in the lazy spiral she had designed.
19
Saturday, several hours before dawn. Less than twenty-four hours ‘til the Black Moon.
Heimdall approached carefully along the path they’d worn through the stand of Oregon White Oaks. The Yggdrasil loomed out of the darkness ahead of him. Freya knew he was coming. She could probably sense him already, even at this distance. But with Managarm scheming and the Fenris Wolf on the loose, Heimdall wasn’t taking any chances. For all he knew, the forest was already teeming with Berserkers in the service of the Moon Dog.
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