by Alane Adams
“What is happening?” she screamed.
Geela watched in horror, holding Mavery close, as Helva’s flesh disintegrated off her, falling off in big patches. In moments, her entire body became a hollowed skeleton with only a thatch of blond hair left attached to her skull. The fabric of her dress hung limply over the bony structure. Green vapor began lifting from her skin, forming a trickle that snaked up to the ceiling, whirling in a circle as it grew, as Sam’s magic was drawn out of her, and then, as the last drop left her, the cloud vanished, as if it had never been.
“What have you done?” Helva hissed in a crackling voice as her remaining lung shriveled into a black lump. “You said I could be beautiful!”
Geela stepped back. “I said you could become whole. Just like you asked.”
“No, this wasn’t what I wanted,” the skeletal creature cried pitifully. She collapsed to the floor, dragging herself forward with her bony fingers.
“But it is who you are. Come”—Geela turned to the girls—“it’s time to leave.”
They left through the front door.
At the gates of Helva’s mansion, Geela held the others back. The guard dog, Garm, stood waiting, paws planted as it lowered its head to growl at them. Wearily drawing her sword, Geela prepared to fight the canine when a blast of green witchfire incinerated it into a pile of ash.
Geela gaped at Perrin. “How did you—”
But Perrin snarled at her. “How could you let him do it? Sam can’t survive without his magic; he won’t be able to protect himself. You should have stopped him.”
Guilt sliced through Geela. The girl was right. “I’m sorry. It happened so fast. Sam would do anything for you two. How could I stop him from saving you?”
Perrin’s face twisted with grief. “I don’t know. But you should have,” she said in a husky voice. “Where is he, anyway?”
“He went after Odin.”
Mavery nudged the older witch. “Sam will be fine. He’s not just a witch, he’s a Son of Odin. We need to find Skid-bladnir and get back to Skara Brae. Sam’s gonna need our help when he gets there.”
“Uh, about Skidbladnir,” Geela began.
An hour later they were back at the stone pier where Skidbladnir had sunk. It had taken some negotiation at the gate with the gatekeeper that had ended with Perrin promising not to incinerate him if he returned Geela’s golden cuffs and breastplate.
The scarred walls of the cavern displayed the black streaks of Sam’s rage.
“So it’s really gone?” Perrin said, nudging a pebble into the black water.
“Yes, we couldn’t save it,” Geela said.
Neither of them noticed Mavery peeling off her boots until the little witch stood on the edge in her bare feet and dove in.
“Mavery!” Perrin cried.
The little witch disappeared into the murky pool. Geela flashed on the underwater creatures that lived there. She and Perrin exchanged a quick nod, and then they were shedding their boots, but before they could jump in, Mavery’s head bobbed up. She looked like a seal with her black hair slicked back. Perrin hauled her up onto the stone pier.
“What kind of crazy stunt was that?” the witch shouted. “Do you remember those horrible creatures that snatched you up?”
“I had to get Skidbladnir.” She held up her fist. Wrapped around her hand was the end of a rope. It snaked down under the water.
“And what are we supposed to do with this? Haul the ship up?” Perrin asked snarkily.
Mavery stomped her foot. “Stop treating me like I’m a child! I am a witch, and I have magic. Magic is you needing something and believing it can happen. Didn’t you ever pay attention to your lessons? We need Skidbladnir to rise, so, by the gods, I’m going to make it rise. Now step back if you’re not gonna help.”
Geela’s eyes met Perrin’s. The older witch shrugged. “Okay, imp. You’re right. We have nothing to lose. I’m in. Geela, you take the rope. When we say pull, start to pull it up.”
Geela took the rope, wrapping the wet twine around her hands until she had a firm grip. She had no idea if this was going to work, but something about Mavery’s bravery made her want it to. Bracing her feet, she nodded at the girls.
They dropped into a stance and began moving their hands through the air.
“Go ahead, Mavery. This was your idea,” Perrin said.
Mavery began chanting. “Mighty Skidbladnir, ship of the gods, rise and sail again.”
She repeated it as they moved their hands. The third time she said it, she raised her foot and brought it down in a sharp stomp. A loud rumble sent ripples across the water. At the same time, Perrin released the ball of energy that had gathered over her head, throwing it at the surface.
“Pull!” Perrin shouted to Geela.
The water boiled and bubbled furiously. Geela put all her Valkyrie strength into tugging. At first, nothing happened. Perrin kept up an onslaught of crackling energy at the water as Mavery kept up her chant. Something budged. The rope slackened, and she pulled it in.
“Keep it up, it’s working!” Geela shouted.
Slowly but surely, the ship rose out of the water. The mast broke through first, and then the railings of the ship followed, and then the hull with the gaping hole in the side appeared.
Perrin drew her hands up, drawing water from inside the boat like a fountain spraying through the air until the little ship bobbed on the surface.
Mavery pointed a finger at the hole, sending a small blast of witchfire to dance around its edges as she shouted, “Mighty Skidbladnir, you were built to carry the gods. One little hole cannot destroy you!”
The ship vibrated, rattling its timbers. They stopped to watch as light began to glow around the edges, lighting up every timber in the ship. Then the hole began to fill in, inch by inch, until it was sealed up. The ragged tears in the sail stitched themselves up, and the grime and holes in the deck from the giant squids repaired themselves until the ship was shiny and new again.
Mavery clapped her hands, squealing with glee. Geela dropped the rope, panting with exhaustion. “You did it!” She hugged the little witchling. Perrin just grinned, nodding as she folded her arms. “Mavery did it,” she said, giving her a wink.
A long plank extended from the boat to their stone pier. Mavery skipped on board. Geela strode to the wheel, grasping it with both hands. “Take us to Skara Brae!” she shouted. A crack opened up in the ceiling. Rocks fell until a small hole opened up. Stars twinkled through the opening. The ship launched itself in the air, and they sailed out of Helva’s underworld into the night sky.
Chapter 31
After his encounter with Loki’s ice queen, Leo did his best to shield himself from the connection he shared with the evil creature. He crouched in the corner of their cell, not speaking, not looking at anyone. He ignored the offers from the boys to eat. He repeated the prayers, the chants of his forefathers, to drive out the ice prickles in his head.
It was bad enough that he had released Loki. He wasn’t about to double his bad choices by releasing Loki’s evil wife. Even if it meant she shredded his brain.
Be still, child, I know you are listening, she whispered in the middle of his thanksgiving prayer.
Leo dragged in a deep breath, refusing to be drawn in.
I can make you feel me. I will not be ignored.
Chanting, keeping his lips moving, Leo armored himself, but a shadow fell over him. Like a living thing, it chilled him to the bone. His jaw froze in place. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. The shadow entered his body, and then the pain began, radiating from his fingers up his arm, down his chest and torso to his legs, even down to his toes, until every cell pricked with needles. He was immobilized, unable to speak or even scream.
I can have you anytime I want. You belong to me now. I must be released. Tonight. Get out of that cell and bring a pick with you.
Icy sweat beaded his brow. He resisted, but the words were torn from him. “I can’t get out; I’m locked in,” he
whispered.
The pain increased, making his back arch.
Find a way.
Rising to his feet, Leo shook his head to clear the fog.
Eithan stood in front of him, looking worried. “Are you okay? You were talking to yourself.”
Leo grabbed his arm. “I have to get out of here.”
“Now? Tonight? But we agreed we’d wait until we had a plan, or are you leaving without us?” The boy looked betrayed.
“No, there’s something I have to do. Can you help or not?”
Eithan’s eyes speared into his. “You swear you’ll come back?”
“I swear on my father’s life.”
The boy fished into his pocket and pulled out a wooden key. “It’s fragile, so be careful. We pinched the real key off the guard and put it back after we made a carving of it.”
“I’ll be careful,” Leo vowed, grasping it in his palm.
After he opened the door, he moved silently down the corridor.
The guards were arguing among themselves. They seemed to disagree about what to do with Angerboda when they found her. Some wanted to kill her on the spot; the others wanted to move her deeper into the mines.
Leo made his way back to the tunnel he’d been in earlier, bringing a pickax and a torch from the rack. The tunnels were deserted.
At the opening to Angerboda’s chamber, he knelt and started taking down the rocks until he could crawl through. He stepped into the space. The walls had been chiseled out of stone. She was encased in a block of ice that stood on some kind of pedestal.
He held the pick, hesitating, wavering.
She pulled him forward with that mental tether, but he resisted even as she sent shards of pain through him.
“What do you want?” he asked, unwilling to be part of something that would make the situation worse.
Freedom from this prison.
“And then what? When you’re free, what will you do?”
That is my business, she hissed.
He stepped back. “No. I won’t help you unless I know.” Pain lanced through him. Gritting his teeth, he held his ground. “Tell me, or turn my brain to mush, I don’t care. I already made one big mistake to save my own hide. I’m not going to make another.”
When she didn’t answer, he took another step back. Agony shot through him. He dragged his foot back, and the pain increased in his skull until he thought it was going to explode with the pressure.
Another foot. Although she was immobile in the ice, she was not unaware. Her screaming echoed in his head.
Another step, and I will kill you.
“Then we will both die here. The dwarves will find you and kill you.”
The pain ratcheted up another notch, and then stopped. Leo’s nerves ran out of him, turning to Jell-O as he sank to his knees, grateful the pain was gone.
I want to see my children one last time, she whispered in a sad voice. To kiss my husband goodbye.
Leo raised his head. “Goodbye? Where are you going?”
Home. A journey I cannot take trapped here.
“That’s it? You just want to say goodbye?”
Yes. It is all I can do. My time here is done.
Leo got to his feet and stepped closer, studying her face in the ice. He could swear a tear ran down her cheek.
Gripping the pick, he steadied himself. It might be the wrong choice, but, somehow, it felt right.
“Here goes.” Leo raised the pick and swung it.
Before it could hit the ice, a whip cracked through the air, and the handle was whisked out of his hands and flicked aside. Staggering with the effort, Leo turned, finding Altof the dwarf.
“Step away from her,” Altof called, raising the whip and flicking it again at Leo.
Leo was faster and dove to the side in a tuck and roll.
Stop them! Angerboda screamed in his head.
More dwarves spilled into the chamber. Leo was backed into a corner. He had no weapon, and this ice queen had no power over the dwarves. They circled him menacingly, each holding a dagger in their grimy, meaty hands.
“Come on, boy, make it easy for yourself,” Altof said. “You got no hope of getting out of here.”
“Oh yeah? What about us?” came a familiar voice.
Leo looked up. Behind the dwarves, the cavern filled with the slave boys, led by Eithan. Some held pickaxes; others wielded rocks. They looked ready for battle. Leo couldn’t stop the grin that creased his face.
“You all right, Leo?” Eithan called.
Leo nodded. Leaping forward, he grabbed the pick from the floor and swung it at the ice queen. The solid block shattered with a loud explosion, spraying the room with shards of stinging ice and a gray mist.
As the fog cleared, a woman stood before them with long iron-black hair and a face that looked like it had been chiseled from granite. Her skin was pale, her cheekbones high and angular. Her chin jutted out as she stared at the dwarves.
Black fire danced in her eyes as if there were a furnace of hatred burning inside her. She raised her finger and pointed at Altof. A bolt of ice shot from her hand and hit the dwarf dead center in one of his eyes, killing him instantly as he fell backward.
She swept her arms across the cavern, and bolts of ice shot out of her hands, sending the dwarves screaming and running.
She stopped as the surviving dwarves cowered in the corner, and she turned to Leo. “We need to leave now.”
“What about them?” he asked, nodding at the boys.
“Oh, they know what to do,” she said, and she sailed forward.
She was right. Eithan flashed him a thumbs-up as the boys began exacting revenge on their former captors, pounding on them with fists.
Leo followed her up the dark tunnel. Every so often they would run into a pair of dwarves. Angerboda would simply raise her hand, and a shard of ice would fly from her palm, usually landing in some vital organ. The dwarf would barely have time to scream before he was impaled.
They climbed the steep path toward a sliver of light that was the sweetest Leo had ever seen. As they broke out into the open, tears clouded his eyes.
“Why do you cry?” she asked, pausing to look at him. Her eyes were like black crystal, glittering hard but curious.
“Because I didn’t think I would ever see the sun again.”
“Nor did I,” she answered, tilting back her head to take in the warm rays. “But here I am. Husband, where are you?” she shouted.
“Here, my queen.”
Out of the shrubs, a bushy head popped up.
Angerboda strode over to him, slapping him once hard across the face before pulling him into a strong embrace. “What took you so long?”
“I was delayed. But I’m here now, and I brought you a gift.”
Behind him, Leo spied a flash of color, and then someone hurtled herself at him.
“Keely!”
Feeling like it was Christmas and her birthday at once, Keely swept Leo into a hug. “I thought you were dead,” she whispered.
Leo hugged her back, his voice thick as he said, “I thought I would never see you again.”
“Break it up,” Loki said, prying them apart. He bowed to his wife. “I present you with your gift.” He beckoned Keely forward.
The woman before her was tall, with long black hair and skin like ice. She held a haunting beauty, with a thin nose and high cheekbones. Her lips were tinted blue, and her eyes held no trace of emotion.
Angerboda wrinkled her nose. “What use have I of a mere girl?”
“Not the girl, darling; look again.” Loki waved his hand at her neck.
Angerboda crooked her finger, and Keely felt herself drawn forward. She wanted to run, but her feet were dragged forward by a merciless force. The pendant began to glow brightly. Its magic made her veins sing with its power.
Angerboda’s eyes glowed in the light of the magic. “The Pendant of Helina. Where did you find this?”
“I swam with a ghost,” Keely said with just a da
sh of pride.
“Nehalannia. Her father was a fool, gifting her with this much power. It did her no good in the end. She perished for love.” Angerboda let the pendant drop. “Do you know what this trinket does?”
Keely shrugged. “She said in my time of greatest need, it would show itself to me. I know it’s powerful. I can feel it. It whispers to me in my sleep.”
“You are pleased, wife?” Loki looked anxious.
Angerboda ignored Loki as her gaze bore into Keely’s eyes. “The Pendant of Helina is powerful. Too powerful for a young girl to carry.” She held her hand out. “Give it to me, and I will safeguard it.”
Keely’s fingers went to it, wrapping tightly around it. Every bone in her body refused to give it up. It was important. She didn’t yet know why, just that it was. “I can’t give it to you.”
Angerboda’s eyes flared in surprise. “You would defy me?”
Keely swallowed her fear, concentrating on the strength coming from the pendant vibrating under her hand. “I know you can kill me with just your thoughts,” she said. “But if it’s as powerful as you say, we will need it to defeat Surt.”
“Surt?” Angerboda grew still. Her eyes went to Loki’s. “What is that red devil up to? He’s never dared challenge Odin before.”
Loki patted her hand. “Much has happened, wife. Odin is dead. Killed by the son of a witch.”
One of Angerboda’s eyebrows rose. “There hasn’t been a witch-boy since Rubicus lost his head. Why would Surt waste his time pursuing humans?” Her eyes narrowed. “Let me guess; you had something to do with it.”
Loki shrugged. “I might have passed the word along.”
“So instead of coming straight to me, you wasted time stirring things up.” Her lip curled in anger. “You haven’t changed one bit. I thought eons in the underworld would make you grow up, but, I can see, it was for naught.”
She turned back to Keely. “Where I am going, this necklace would be of no use. For that reason, and the life debt I owe this one”—she nodded at Leo—“you may keep the pendant. But, I warn you, power like that can be tempting. Be careful it doesn’t devour you.” She turned to Loki. “You have made me wait long enough. Let us gather our children.”
