by T. G. Ayer
The prince lowered his nose, still taking tiny sniffs as he followed whatever scent had piqued his curiosity. I tensed and held my breath, then wanted to laugh. As if holding my breath would mean he wouldn't still get a good whiff of me. I swallowed the laughter and kept a bead on him.
Gravel crunched under his boots as he approached us.
Closer, closer.
I tensed.
But when he walked right beside us and paused, following his nose right to Mika, I had to force a gasp of shock back down my throat.
He smelled Ulfr.
Mika's eyes went wide as realization dawned on her too, and we stared at each other, horrified. We had no plan for what to do next. The cloak concealed us well enough, but sweat began to form on my forehead as we waited. The lack of fresh air added to our discomfort. He'd smell us soon enough.
If he didn't trip over us first.
We had to get away from him. Quietly. Curling my fingers around Mika's arm, I waited for her to meet my eyes. I jerked my head sideways toward the forest, and she nodded slowly. Together we took a cautious step back, pretzeled together in a deathly waltz.
Something solid touched my heel and I almost screamed. I clamped my jaw shut, just about taking a chunk of tongue with it, and craned my neck, not sure what I expected to see.
In the shadows at my feet lay a short, broken branch.
Relieved laughter bubbled in my throat, but I swallowed it down. I leaned over, a micro-inch at a time, and lifted the branch high enough to swipe Mika's waist with it.
A wet, phlegmy sniff from behind Mika made me lose my grip on the branch. Panicked, I grabbed for the dead tree limb, catching it just in time before it hit the gravel.
The prince was now so close, we could see each individual coarse black hair on his oddly shaped skull.
I rubbed the stick up and down against Mika's torso. She glared at me, her jaw pumping. Boy, was she mad. Too bad. She'd know why soon enough.
I held up the branch and parted the cloak on the other side of us, well out of the prince's view. After flinging the stick as far as I could, I crossed my fingers as it sailed into the trees and landed with a resounding crack.
Mika and I grinned, triumphant as the prince spun away and rushed off into the trees to investigate, leaving us free at last to approach the doorway.
We waited until he disappeared into the forest of shadows. Waited until we were safe. Beneath the cloak, the glance we shared overflowed with relief. We straightened, ready to get the job done. I nodded at Mika.
And then I turned, almost walking right smack into the dwarf prince.
The other dwarf prince.
Chapter 27
The guard stood before us, almost identical to the prince we'd just sent scurrying into the barren woods, right down to the sadness in his face. The only difference was a glint of mean in his eyes. Eyes currently trained on my chest. A hairsbreadth away. I wanted to wriggle away despite knowing he couldn't see me hidden beneath the cloak.
This prince-guard had followed right in the footsteps of his brother. Or rather the nose trail. He sniffed, his bulbous nose glinting in the weak evening light, his nostrils flaring wide with each breath. He stared straight at me, sniffed once, then snapped his gaze in Mika's direction.
Not another walking Ulfr detector!
I stood very still and risked a worried glance at Mika, who wore a look of fury on her face. Damn it. The vein at her neck throbbed; blood must be racing through her veins now, as her body steadily emitted the odor of her adrenalin. She'd be reeking eau de Ulfr any second now.
My heart pounded, urging me to turn and run. A dwarf and Ulfr show-down? No thanks. I backed away in one smooth, silent step. Just in time.
The dwarf prince took a step closer. If he reached out, he'd poke me in the gut with his stubby fingers. If I made the slightest move to get away, surely he'd hear. I could see the blue veins in his yellow eyes. Eyes that stuck out of his head, hooded by bushy, straggly black hair. His lip lifted in a silent snarl as his frustration increased. He could smell the Ulfr. So close. But he could see nothing.
I pretty much had no idea what to do. We were so dead. No stick lay conveniently nearby that I could chuck into the tree line. I glanced desperately around the clearing. My eyes darted to and fro, looking for a way out.
And then I noticed Mika.
She shifted beside me, and my heart raced as I realized what she was doing. She slinked past me toward the parting of the cloak, careful not to jiggle armor or weapons. Mika really meant to risk both our lives. I grabbed at her arm, bent on stopping her foolishness.
Over her shoulder, she shot me an almost vicious back-off-I-know-what-I'm-doing glare. I let go fast enough. Her funeral, if she wanted to be daring.
She slipped away, hidden from the prince's view by my invisible bulk. I tensed, my eyes never leaving the prince's strange features, but he just glared at the spot before his face that stank of Ulfr. Mika's dash to the tree line went unnoticed. The beauty of the cloak seemed to be its ability to reflect back the viewer's expected line of sight. So even though Mika ran in plain sight behind my cloaked figure, she still remained invisible to him because I blocked his view of her. At least that's how I hoped it worked.
The prince sniffed again, a deep, disgustingly wet sound that made me grimace. His brow furrowed, confusion dulling his amber-rimmed eyes. He looked away from me and drew another breath, his face twisting with frustration.
I waited.
The prince inhaled raggedly. He paused, then began to take another step forward, right toward me. . . .
The low rumble of a savage growl erupted from the depths of the stygian forest. The prince stiffened, his jaw almost twisting with tension as he listened. I could have sworn I heard his heartbeat begin to race, but surely, I must have been mistaken. More likely, I'd heard my own heart chugging away in my chest.
Before I had time to contemplate the speed of my own heart, a howl rent the air, followed closely by a ferocious growl. The sounds of a struggle echoed through the dead trees. Branches snapped. A sudden thud echoed, followed by a grunt. Then a shout broke the reigning silence of the descending night, the vain cry for help fading into the shadows.
I stepped silently to the side, preferring not to have the guard run headlong into me if he rushed off to save his brother.
Good choice. He barreled off into the woods, crashing through the trees and dry brush, calling out in a strange, low voice, almost like a bark. Gathering shadows had by now transformed the stark, ghostly fingers of the dead trees into great shadowy specters.
A hand touched my back and I jumped, swallowing the urge to scream. Mika slipped back into the safety of the cloak. "Perhaps we should get inside before the brothers return."
I didn't like the hint of nasty in her smile.
Grabbing her arm, I twisted her to me. "What exactly did you just do?" My voice unleashed a growl, maybe not as feral as Mika's but with a respectable amount of ferocity.
She answered with a haughty curl of her lip. And maybe I didn't want to know. We had a job to do; the more time I spent trying to get an answer from her, the less time we had to get in and out with the goblet.
We approached the stone doors. I glanced over my shoulder, back at the ghostly specters of trees and shadows, expecting the brothers to race out of the forest and behead us for trespassing. But the forest remained dark and shadowed, and our heads remained firmly attached to our bodies.
My heart thumped.
We had no idea what lay beyond the stone barricade. But we'd come this far. And besides, it wasn't as if I could return to Asgard empty-handed. We'd just have to deal with whatever lay beyond those doors.
But first we had to get them open.
Mika pushed against the door but it refused to budge. Her biceps bulged and strained against her coat as she used every bit of her strength to try again.
Nothing.
My heart sank. Was it possible that we could still be stranded, with no way of getting inside unl
ess one of the missing princes opened up the door for us?
I decided to give it a go, leaning my full weight into it—and fell forward so fast I almost hit the ground with my face. The merest touch, and the great stone door slid open at my fingertips. Just another little reminder that a latent power lay inside me.
One that I had yet to understand.
One I had yet to accept.
***
We shut the door behind us and plunged into solid, cloying darkness—so solid that for the first time in my life I was overwhelmed by claustrophobia. It felt like being buried alive.
Entombed.
I gasped for breath, even though I knew very well I could breathe just fine.
Beside me, Mika's breath remained steady. She showed not a hint of fear or trepidation, and that calmed my panic very quickly with a sharp reminder that I was supposed to be a warrior and not afraid of the bloody dark.
Oh yeah, she'd be plugging into her Ulfr sight right now. What I wouldn't give for a pair of wolfy night vision eyes.
Minutes went by until my eyes adjusted, and at last I managed to just make out the edges of the smoothed rock walls and a carved archway supported by two carved pillars, so similar to the pillars in Valhalla. Myriad-colored jewels blinked happily at us from little cracks within the black rock walls. Odd how they seemed to shimmer with an eerie light even when Mika and I remained plunged in darkness.
Beside me, the shadow of Mika assumed a more human shape.
"Come on, Bryn," Mika whispered, urgent and impatient. I swallowed an annoyed sigh. She was right of course. We were here for a reason. But first, I needed some answers.
Grabbing Mika's arm, I pulled her to a stop. She glared at me, her lupine pupils flaring, glowing brighter in the dark passage. "What?" she snapped, trying to tug her elbow away.
I frowned at her prickly response but didn't release my grip. I had to ask. "What did you do to them?" I shivered, very afraid she'd say she'd had them for a snack.
Mika laughed, though at least she was still aware enough to keep the volume down. "Never fear, dear Valkyrie. They are still very much alive. The most they suffered was perhaps the worst fright they have received in a while. They are tied to a tree right now. Perhaps they are struggling to free themselves. Perhaps they are bickering, as brothers do. Or perhaps they are in a fit of terror for failing their hellish mother." She sneered, ripped her arm free and strode off.
I didn't run to catch up with her, although it did annoy me that she'd taken the lead. Better not to upset her, though, considering she'd just managed to get us inside this black dungeon. I pondered her abrupt response. What had I done to evoke such a visceral reaction? Following her, I studied her as she scanned the walls and the handful of tiny passages we passed, making a note of the slope of her shoulders, the stiff way she held her back. All signs that I'd done something to piss her off.
I didn't have time for Mika in a snit. Shrugging off my worries, knowing they'd probably come back later, I matched the Ulfr's pace until we walked almost abreast.
A moment later, we both came to a skidding stop. Up ahead, light flickered, this way and that.
The light at the end of the tunnel. Ha ha, Bryn the wise-ass.
Mika squinted, concentrating on the passage ahead. "What's that? Some kind of torchlight?"
"Or possibly another guard," I whispered. "Who knows? The princes may have a whole army of guards helping with security. There have to be more of them around here somewhere."
We crept along, our feet barely raising the fine dust covering the floor. And as we approached the stuttering, buttery light, the strangest thing happened. Warm air bathed my face and hands—a soft, seeking warmth that patted my skin lovingly, more comforting than searing.
Our gazes met so suddenly that it took me a few seconds to comprehend that I could see. No more shadowy gloom, no cloying darkness. I could actually see clearly for the first time since arriving in this awful realm of the dwarfs. Mika's wolf eyes stared back at me, and I swallowed hard, trying to appear nonchalant. The only other pair of Ulfr eyes I'd ever stared into from this close had belonged to Fen. The same Fen who'd skin my hide when I finally crossed paths with him again.
The light swayed only a few feet ahead. Mika whispered, "I will surprise them. Knock them out before they raise the alarm." She stepped forward.
But something didn't sit right. I grabbed her arm again, finally certain what was bugging me. "Wait. Can you hear that?"
A rhythmic pounding reverberated from deep within the walls and floors, so low I'd barely registered it before. And as we approached the flickering torchlight, the beat intensified. It pulsed now, through my bones and ears; it even pounded alongside my heart.
Mika's eyes widened. "Yes," she said, nodding. "The forges. I had forgotten about those. No doubt why it is so hot here."
"Forges?" I felt stupid.
Great, Bryn, why not barge right into the kingdom of the dwarfs, knowing pretty much nothing about it. Why the hell not? I gritted my teeth. Even if it was on Thor's recommendation, it didn't mean it was a smart thing to do.
Why do people assume I know more than I really do about Asgard and its many realms?
If anything, my ignorance justified Mika's presence, something that irked me more now than it did when we'd left Asgard. I hadn't wanted her along in the first place, and now I had to admit I needed her. No friggin' way.
Mika inclined her head, her eyes on my face as if pleasantly contemplating my ignorance. "The dwarfs are talented metal smiths. They run the forges night and day. I am surprised we did not hear them sooner." She smiled, clearly loving the fact that I'd missed Dwarf Culture 101.
Mika opened her mouth again, as if to continue to fill in the overly large gaps in my dwarfish knowledge. But before she could start, I said, "We should get moving. I need to get in fast and get out faster." I injected a bit of spine into the words.
Mika's eyes grew large and she did a tiny double take, as if assessing if it was worth it to challenge me. Then she shrugged, gripped her sword, and slid along the wall the few feet to the corner. She popped her head around the edge, pausing only a moment before she disappeared into the light without a backward glance.
I hurried to the corner and peered around it. The deserted passage glowed bright with torchlight.
Great, we're afraid of a bunch of scary old torches.
Mika strode down the passage, her back stiff. The girl's fast, wide stride forced me to trot along after her like a little puppy. For a mean second I wondered if she was doing this deliberately, trying to make me feel weak by making me run to keep up with her.
We barely made it a few yards down the hall when a cacophony of raucous laughter and the tinny notes of some strange instrument floated towards us. Up ahead, the corridor ended in a large doorway, doors flung open into a dining hall, the source of all that noise.
Mika froze in place and looked back at me, her face expressionless and waiting. I ran to her, shook out the cloak and threw it around us, hoping we could get through the room undetected. And hoping the tension between us could handle small, confined spaces.
Dozens and dozens of dwarfs filled the room. Now we had to navigate this teeming pit of bodies. So not part of the plan. My heart thumped so loud it almost seemed to drown out the sound of the terrible music. But I swallowed the throb of fear.
"Well, pretty much looks like we have no choice," I whispered, glancing back the way we'd just come. "That's the way out and the way to the forges. Guess that is not the way to go."
Mika nodded, oddly silent. Together, wrapped within the cloak, we shuffled toward the entrance and stepped inside.
***
Inside the large, cave-like room, dozens of tables stretched out in long lines. I smiled. The tables and the accompanying stools were all so small. Dwarf size. Cute. And scary at the same time.
Two guards flanked the entrance, and we tiptoed right past them, walking down a path dividing the room into two. Of course, we were invis
ible, but I was still terribly afraid we'd be caught. All we needed was to step on someone's toe, or bump into someone, or trip ourselves up and we'd be dead meat.
A loud burst of laughter and a shout drew our attention to the back of the room. A rather rotund, red-headed dwarf on the dais stared out into the crowd, shock and soup plastered on his face. Clearly his audience had failed to appreciate his musical talents.
Shouts from the crowd bade him to get off the stage. Another shout went up, and a name was chanted, over and over. It sounded like "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," but I couldn't be sure.
A group of dwarfs, decked out in garish blood-red tapestry tunics, which did nothing for their grotesque faces, escorted a girl through the crowd toward the stage. Although I couldn't see her face, my gut twisted. She was really only a tiny bit taller than her guards, but still as tall as a short human girl might be.
Once on stage they spun her to face the audience, and one dwarf guard poked the girl in the ribs. "Sing!" he roared.
The girl flinched, her eyes downcast. Dark shadows underlined her eyes, and her thin shoulders hunched over in a defeated slump. Her hands, hanging before her, were bare except for twin bands of brutal red burned into her skin.
The crowd began to chant her name again, "Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!" until the guard bellowed at them, shaking a pair of black iron shackles. The chanting subsided, and many of the onlookers eyed the shackles with almost palpable fear. A silence fell. And a melodious sound rose within the room.
The girl lifted her chin, her face devoid of all emotion, and sang—each note clear and perfect.
I blinked, startled as I studied her dark hair, high cheekbones, wide eyes.
A human girl?
I could be wrong. Glamored Valkyries looked human. So did the Ulfr in their non-wolfy form. Even Steinn's so-good-to-look-at form hid his real dragon self.
Her sweet, sad notes rose into the air and captured the attention of the crowd. Captured the guard's attention, too. Both lookouts pivoted to face the singer, transfixed by the melody. Enchanted by the voice of the poor girl, I almost forgot where Mika and I stood—in a broad aisle flanked by hundreds of boisterous dwarfs, protected only by a flimsy invisible fabric.
