by Lisa Olsen
As we descended lower, bearing straight for the fjord, we all braced ourselves to crash into an invisible forcefield at any time. More than once I started to doubt we were on the right track, but then it opened up below us like a hidden jewel. There were no cars, no power poles, no modern conveniences visible, and the lights shining in the windows flickered from natural candle or fire light.
Lee pulled over by a copse of trees and we approached on foot, not wanting to be stoned as witches for showing up in a devil cart in case most of these people had never seen modern transportation before. About fifty feet from the village, Rob tugged at my sweater, his steps slowing.
“Hold up now,” he murmured, his hands coming up to test the air.
“What is it? The barrier?”
“Getting a bit of a tingle, yeah,” he nodded, doing his best impression of a mime until he gritted his teeth and plunged his hand forward. His face instantly relaxed and he stepped through, no worse for wear. “I can feel the magic fine but there’s nothing keeping me out.” Lee and I approached the line gingerly, and I felt a tiny tingle myself, but it could’ve been nerves. We both passed through without incident though and focused on the village up ahead.
There were very few people out and about on the streets, and it was difficult to make out what the huddled shapes wore as they hurried inside once spotting us. As we drew closer, some of the buildings proved to be somewhat more modern, reminding me of some of the structures we’d seen back in Vadheim. The air was perfumed with smoky peat from the fireplaces and the smells of horses and leather. I did catch the occasional whiff of something else – like kerosene – and I wondered if they didn’t have some modern conveniences hiding behind closed doors.
This was it, the village where Jakob had been born over three thousand years ago. He’d played on these same rocky paths and laid back on these same grassy knolls to look up at the same starlit sky. There was a large outcropping of rocks ripe for climbing, the largest boulder carved with childish scrawl. Would I find Jakob’s initials there?
I tried to see it as he must have seen it – peaceful and pure, unknown to the outside world but for the people he’d grown up with all his life. This was where he’d glimpsed the gods. This was where he’d taken a wife.
My eyes went to the ring on my finger, the ring of queens, Jakob called it, and I remembered his homecoming to Sanna. How had she felt living there with Jakob by her side? What had her days been like? Keeping house, going to market, taking the wash down to the water.
A simple life, a beautiful lie made possible by Jakob’s compulsion. There but for a few thousand years would I be. If I’d been a simple village girl, would I have had the strength to stand up to Jakob when he claimed me? I wanted to think so, but standing where it all began, I couldn’t be sure.
The fjord beckoned to me and I couldn’t resist the urge to see the crystal clear water up close and personal, mission or no mission. My boots crunched on the rocks as I stepped away from the smooth wooden sidewalks designed to keep the villagers from treading in the mud during the rainy season.
“Where you off to?” Rob asked, when I left the village behind to explore the rocky shore near the dock.
“I want to go down to the water.” The salty kiss of the night air on my skin sent a tingle of anticipation as we got closer to the shore.
“Ain’t going to find what we’re after down there.”
“That all depends on what you’re looking for,” I insisted, my mood inexplicably buoyed by the sight of the silvery moonlight on the shimmering surface of the water. It must’ve been breathtaking in the daytime with all the greens and blues, and for the first time I missed the sun.
“Fine, but you’re not going swimming,” Rob grumbled, keeping pace beside me as Lee chuckled.
“Let her have a few minutes, amigo, she’s earned it. Hell, take all the time you want, darlin’. I reckon that spear’s been here for a coon’s age and it’ll be here a mite longer.”
I flashed Lee a grateful grin, skipping down to the waterline like a kid, my boots splashing as I reached the edge. Even under the darkened sky, I could see the stones winking from the bottom of the crystalline water and all of a sudden I just had to touch it. I couldn’t come all the way around the world and not be a part of at least one pure thing my forefathers had shared.
Crouching low, I trailed my fingers through the water, smiling over the shimmering eddies they created. The water was untainted and pulsing with life. It made me want to camp out under the stars and hike and fish. As much as I’d smirked over Rob’s warning not to go swimming, it was tempting to strip down and go for a moonlit skinny dip just to immerse myself both literally and figuratively in my heritage.
It was easy to picture the longboats skimming over the water, the terrain likely unchanged for millennia. Easy to see the men repairing nets on the dock and arguing over the day’s catch. How it must break Jakob’s heart not to be able to return there. Sure, he could go visit other parts of his homeland, but knowing he couldn’t return to this particular vale until he made peace with Maeja had to sting. Especially since he had a tendency to avoid confrontation with anyone strong enough to fight back.
Men’s raucous laughter startled me out of my reverie, thinking my vivid imagination had somehow brought the ancient Vikings to life, but it was only the men in the village, reminding me that we weren’t alone at all.
It was time to find what we’d come for.
Only the residents were less than helpful. Anyone we got within ten feet of suddenly found an elsewhere they had to be. Sure, I could’ve put on a burst of speed and forced them to talk to us, but then again, I had no idea if any of them even spoke English in the first place. Besides, with a powerful Ellri for their protection, the last thing I wanted to do was throw my weight around and out myself as a vampire.
Jakob had made it sound like the great hall would be so easy to find, but none of the main buildings in the village center looked anything like a meeting hall. It was Lee who suggested we focus on the oldest buildings and expand our search beyond the main drag. Sure enough, we found the ancient structure to the south of the village, the entrance hidden by row of ginormous spruce trees. The hall bore the traditional Viking architecture of sloped oval walls and a thatched roof over huge wooden beams.
Once we slipped past the protective wall of trees, it felt like we were completely cut off from the rest of the world, the moon all but obscured by the towering branches, the village sounds effectively muted.
“Holy smokes… this truly is like stepping back in time,” I whispered, not wanting to disturb the eerie quiet.
The main doors opened just as we approached, casting a golden glow from the firelight within. A tall woman in an ankle length dress of blue wool stepped out with a wicker basket on her hip. Instead of long flowing hair to match the old fashioned dress, her blonde hair fell in a blunt cut, reaching just past her jaw without wave or curl. Her blue eyes narrowed immediately and the basket shifted to her other hip, revealing a sizeable dagger strapped to her waist within easy reach.
Deciding to be bold, I stepped right up to her with what I hoped was a friendly smile. “Hi, do you speak any English?”
“You may not pass,” she said in heavily accented, but perfectly understandable English. Her eyes remained wary, but I tried to smile past the waves of barely restrained menace I caught coming off of her, despite feeling Lee and Rob tense behind me.
“Oh good, you do! Listen, I know we don’t have an appointment or anything, but we were wondering if maybe we could see Maeja? Is she in there?”
“Is she knowing you?”
“Ah, no, we’ve never met, but we’re kin in a roundabout way.” Okay, so that was a stretch of the word kin, but I had to try something to get my foot into the door.
Her mistrustful stance didn’t lessen one bit. “Maeja is not liking your kind. You would be best to leave the village before the dawn.”
“Blondes? Cause there seems to be plenty of…” N
othing. Not a twitch of humor or even a roll of the eyes over attempt, just that steely gaze. “Sorry, I was going for a joke, which I can now see is completely stupid.” But just as stupid as not liking vampires considering what Maeja was. “What’s your name?”
“Why you are needing my name?”
“Told you this was a bad idea,” Rob muttered under his breath, but I ignored him.
“To be polite?” I tried again. “I’m sorry, I should’ve gone first. I’m Anja, these are my friends Rob and Lee.”
“I am Nelleke,” she said with a short nod.
Progress! “Oh, that’s pretty. Listen, Nelleke, I really need to get in to see Maeja. We’ve come a long way and we need her help.”
“Maeja does not concern herself with vampyr affairs.”
“This is more of an Ellri affair. I’m caught in a feud between Lodinn and Jakob.” This time I saw interest come into those light eyes, as clearly the names had some meaning for her.
“A moment,” she said, slipping inside the hall.
“Real friendly bunch here,” Lee drawled, looking around. Apart from the occasional scurry of woodland creatures, there wasn’t a sign of life anywhere.
“You’d probably be wary of strangers if you lived in a hidden village too,” I pointed out. “Let’s just do our best to be polite and hope she’s more curious than hostile.”
A minute later the door cracked open again and Nelleke stepped through, the basket gone, but not the dagger. “Maeja is knowing this feud, she will see you.” She opened the door wider. “Leave your weapons outside.”
“Do it, guys,” I said when it looked like they might object. “I’m sure we can trust that they’ll still be there when we come out.” Besides, it wasn’t like a gun would slow an Ellri down much if she turned on us.
The inside of the hall was largely bare, with several large oil lamps and fat yellow candles providing the light. A massive wooden throne sat in the rear of the building, ornately carved with runes and knot work. Perched primly on the edge of the throne sat a woman, apple cheeked and rosy with dark eyes that shone with excitement at our arrival. Long flaxen hair hung to her waist, the front braided back from her brow and held in place with a circlet of hammered gold. The perfect picture of eternally youthful beauty.
Her dress struck a familiar chord with me. The underdress was the color of marigolds, the outer layer was a heavier, blue wool that matched Nelleke’s dress, held up below the shoulders by two round metal broaches adorned with three running horses, their legs intertwined. Just like the outfit I’d been found in at the morgue when Jakob turned me. I was still reeling from the similarities when Nelleke spoke.
“I will translate,” she said, coming to stand by Maeja’s side.
“Snakke da, datter,” the Ellri said in a musical voice.
“You may speak now,” Nelleke translated.
Cool beans. “Your excellence, I’m Anja Evans, daughter of Jakob.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t own up to that, all things considered,” Rob cautioned a tad too late, but I shook him off.
“I’m not going to lie to her, not when we’re here to beg for her help.”
The two women spoke at length before Nelleke asked, “What proof do you offer of your lineage?”
“Proof?” I was willing to bet they didn’t have a reader for the chip in my wrist, but my eyes fell to the amber ring on my hand. “I have his ring.”
There was a rapid exchange between the two ending with Maeja staring at me, her hand opening and closing reflexively. “She want you to give it to her.”
My hand closed into a fist of its own accord. “I can’t. I’m sorry, but Jakob compelled me never to remove it. Ask anything else of me, but I can’t give you the ring.”
“Men at ringen er rettmessig mitt!” Maeja pouted as soon as the words left my mouth and I started to get a sneaking suspicion.
“Wait… you speak English, don’t you?”
“Of course, I speak English very well. I am ancient, not ignorant,” the Ellri replied, her accent heavier than Jakob’s but I could see the shared root of it.
“I meant no insult, your… What should I call you?”
“Maeja will do fine.”
“Thank you, Maeja. And I’m sorry to bother you out of the blue like this, but I’ve been put in a very awkward position thanks to Lodinn and Jakob.”
“What is this to do with me?”
Here goes nothing… “I’m told you have the spear of Odin.” I’d expected it to be on display or something, but there was no sight of it in the empty hall.
“And you wish the spear for your Sire, Jakob?” she sniffed, turning up her nose at the idea.
Uh oh… I was losing her already. “Not exactly. I mean I guess I’m more on his side than Lodinn’s, but I’m not here to retrieve the spear for Jakob. That would end up almost as bad.”
“You are not here at Jakob’s behest?”
“No, I’m here because Lodinn demanded I retrieve the spear in exchange for my sister’s life.”
“Or he compelled you to come and tell me this sad story so as to stir my sympathies.” She fixed me with a penetrating stare and I scrambled to prove my point, digging out my phone. Nelleke tensed, her hand going to the hilt of the dagger until she saw what I withdrew.
“No, Lodinn absolutely has her. Look… see, this is my sister, Hanna.”
Maeja reached out to touch the picture, her face lit with enchantment. Her fingers stroked the picture reverently as if the image came from magic and she frowned when the picture changed. “Bring her back, I wasn’t done seeing her.” she demanded. I swiped it back to the original pic, breathing easier when the delighted smile came back to her face.
“And here’s a picture of them together,” I said, letting her keep hold of the phone until she looked her fill. I’d received it right before setting down in Iceland, Hanna’s smile almost obscured by Lodinn’s arm around her neck, pointing to the watch on his wrist as if to say time was ticking.
“You seek to endanger countless lives to save one?”
I wasn’t about to quote Star Trek about the needs of the one. “What can I say? She’s my sister,” I said with a helpless shrug. “But I don’t intend on handing the spear over to him, I need it to kill Lodinn. That’s the only way she’ll ever be free.”
“Then you plan on striking at Lodinn yourself.”
“That’s the part I’m still trying to work out,” I admitted. “At first I thought I’d give the spear to Jakob and he’d use it to kill Lodinn, but I’m starting to think it should be me that does it.”
“That’s not what we talked about,” Rob balked. “You were to let Jakob clean up his own mess.”
“And where will we be when Jakob emerges the victor? Do you honestly think he’s going to hand that kind of power back over again? Or do you not remember those pretty words he gave at my inauguration about building a new nation? Not that the lot of vampiredom isn’t willing and ready to slit their own throats to make him happy already, but I’m thinking we don’t want to make him even more powerful. I want to take the West back, I’m tired of letting him step all over my reign. If we had this spear, we stand a chance of making that happen.”
“Lodinn is a canny fighter,” Maeja considered aloud. “What if you are unable to defeat him?”
“If I fail, I’m confident someone else will step up and finish the job.” I looked to Rob and he gave me a slow nod. “But honestly, Lodinn’s biggest failing is his ego. I don’t think he’ll perceive of me as a real threat until it’s too late. All I have to do is cut him with it once, right? That’ll slow him down enough for me to end him.”
Maeja appeared to mull that over for a few seconds, her smile returning, but too cautious to ease my mind. “It pleases me to hear you say this, however you seem to be under an important misconception. Gungnir can only be wielded by a shieldmaiden.”
I didn’t know what that was exactly, but I was willing to bet I didn’t have one on my crew. Why the h
ell had Lodinn sent me on this wild goose chase then? Was it possible he didn’t know?
“That’s it then, we’re screwed. Unless you’re willing to spare a shieldmaiden?” I gave Nelleke a hopeful look, surprised by the thoughtfulness that came over her expression.
“Fear not, all is not lost, Anja Evans, daughter of Jakob, son of Thor, son of Odin,” Maeja’s smile dazzled. “I will give you the spear if you agree to strike down Lodinn with your own hand.”
“What?” I gaped, still reeling over the confirmation of my lineage. Was she absolutely sure of that? “Wait, I’m no shieldmaiden.”
“But you are,” she beamed. “You carry the blood of Odin, that is why Lodinn chose you for this task. But you will need more of an edge than the spear can provide.” Her hand dipped beneath her dress and she drew out a small vial of cobalt blue glass topped in silver filigree. “This will make you invincible in battle.”
The vial winked in the candlelight, swinging back and forth on a leather thong, almost mesmerizing. “What is it?” I asked.
“My blood. With it you will instantly heal any wound, should Lodinn strike first. Take it before you go into battle and he will surely fall.”
My hand closed around the thong, feeling the heat of her body soaked into the leather. “Thank you, I’m sure this will be a big help.” Talk about an understatement. A potion of invincibility, how shiny was that?
“Nelleke will accompany you to deliver the spear and ensure its safe return,” Maeja added and an argument broke out between the women faster than I could hope to follow.
Finally Nelleke bowed her head submissively. “I will accompany you on your quest.”
“Hey, Nelleke doesn’t have to come with if she doesn’t want to.” It’d make our lives a lot easier if she stayed put at any rate. “I promise I’ll return the spear to you once I’m done with it. I have no interest in amassing any more power than I already have.”
