by Alan Early
‘What now?’ asked Ellie, still panting.
‘We don’t have much time,’ said Arthur. ‘Those wolves will notice the guard missing and will raise the alarm if they can’t find him.’ He turned on Ex. ‘What were you thinking pulling a stunt like that?’
Ex stared stolidly back. ‘We needed to get inside. Here we are.’
Arthur reached for the pendant around his neck. He could feel a distinct warmth from it, but when he pulled it out it was only glowing faintly. He took this as a good sign – it meant he wasn’t in immediate danger. He looked back at the staircase. He was overwhelmed by a strong feeling that he should go up the stairs. He didn’t understand why but he sensed that it was important.
‘OK, I need to go upstairs. You two wait here.’
‘But–’
‘Please, Ellie. You’ve both done enough. Just wait here, keep an eye on him,’ he indicated the still unconscious guard, ‘and yell if anything happens.’
As Arthur cautiously disappeared upwards, Ellie turned to her brother.
‘I don’t care what Arthur says,’ she whispered, ‘someone should check downstairs.’
‘Naturally,’ he said.
And with that, they descended quietly to the basement of the tower.
Ash was trying to think of an escape plan, turning the little webcam over and over in her hand to help her concentrate. Fenrir was hunched silently in his own cage, quiet again now that he had finished his story. Ash could hardly believe all that he’d told her. Part of her wondered if it had been a lie, one of Loki’s tricks maybe. But she doubted it. It all seemed so plausible. And Fenrir really had given her the impression that he was genuine. After all, he’d saved Drysi from that collapsing building. And he’d saved his–
‘Wait a second,’ she said out loud, thinking as she spoke. ‘You said you brought your sister here. Do you mean Loki’s third child?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Well, where is she now?’
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘I’ve hidden her.’
Suddenly there was a noise outside the door, which sounded suspiciously like a cry of triumph.
The door swung open to reveal Drysi. She wheeled forward into the room and right up to Fenrir. Ash put the webcam back in her pocket before the gloating girl spotted it.
‘I knew it!’ Drysi crowed. ‘I knew she was alive all along! And I knew you’d eventually confess, Father!’
‘Drysi,’ Fenrir muttered weakly, ‘please don’t.’
‘Don’t what? Tell the Wolf-father? I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what I’m about to do!’
And with that, she pivoted her chair and wheeled back out the entrance. But she failed to close the door properly and Ash had a clear view of what she did next. Drysi went straight for a central column in the adjoining room. Steps wound up around the iron pillar, but she ignored them and opened a warped wooden door in the column. She wheeled herself inside, shut the door behind her and, shortly afterwards, Ash heard the sound of grinding, ancient clockwork gears. That must be the elevator Fenrir mentioned, she realised, as the sound receded upwards.
Ellie and Ex were surprised to find that the stairwell went down further than they’d thought at first glance. Ellie had been counting in her head as they went and reached seventy-eight by the time they arrived at the first lower level. This was essentially just a small landing with a single door in the stone wall. She put her ear to it and listened to the chattering from within. By the sounds of murmuring and general hustle and bustle, there was a large crowd inside. She really hoped Ash wasn’t in there. She shook her head at Ex and the pair of them continued further down the stairs. Eventually the steps came to an end. The room they found themselves in was similar to the one they’d started in – a circular stone area with torches flickering on the walls. There were two aged wooden doors here, though, opposite each other – and one of them was open.
Torchlight flickered through the door, but it wasn’t bright enough to make out anything beyond, apart from shifting shadows. Ellie started to move towards the door but Ex held her back. He shook his head, held up his hand to tell her to wait, then proceeded cautiously himself. She followed, keeping two steps behind her older brother at all times and peering around his bulky frame.
‘Ex?’ she heard a startled voice say from the room. Ash!
‘We found you!’ Ellie exclaimed, racing into the gloomy little cellar then stopping in surprise when she saw two cages. Ash was on the ground, sitting in what looked like an old dog cage. There was a hefty man hunched in another cage next to her, gazing up with surprise at the Lavender siblings. She looked at Ash’s face, expecting to see gratitude, but was met with pure distaste.
‘I knew you two couldn’t be trusted as soon as I saw you snooping round Arthur’s room. Don’t tell me – you’re another of Loki’s little pets, aren’t you,’ sneered Ash, turning her head away.
‘Not at all,’ Ellie said coldly, stung by Ash’s accusation. ‘We’re here with Arthur. We came to rescue you.’
‘Arthur’s here?’ Ash turned back. She felt like whooping but kept her composure. ‘And the Viking army too, right?’
‘Uh no … no army this time.’
‘What? So it’s just you?’
‘Just us.’
‘You mean to tell me that you two and Arthur came here to rescue me from an army of crazed wolves led by a Viking god and you didn’t think it would be sensible to bring along some help?’ cried Ash, her voice rising in pitch with every word.
‘Look, I don’t think you’re in any position to object to your rescue party. Arthur was frantic with worry and thought the sooner we could get to you the better.’
Ash drew in a breath, secretly pleased that Arthur was so worried about her and aware that now was probably not the time to be quibbling over their rescue plan.
‘OK, so where is he?’
‘He went upstairs while we came down.’
Ash’s momentary euphoria vanished. ‘He shouldn’t have gone off on his own like that. If Loki finds him … get me out of here, quickly!’
‘We will if you tell us where the keys are.’
‘They’re in the room opposite,’ the man in the cage said. ‘We keep them in a cabinet there. But be warned, there are other prisoners in there as well and there may be guards.’
‘OK, thanks.’ Ellie turned and took a step towards the door, then suddenly turned back to the man. ‘Wait, what do you mean we? Who are you?’
‘It’s a long story, but we don’t have time to go into it now.’ Ash rattled the bars of her cage impatiently. ‘Just hurry!’
Ellie left the cellar and crept across to the opposite door, with Ex on her heels. She put her ear to the door and could hear faint whispers but nothing too loud. Shaking, she swung the door open slightly and peered in. This was a much larger room, except it was long as opposed to round. It was full of tired, frightened-looking people all locked up in one big cage. Their eyes widened with apprehension when they saw her, but when they realised she was not one of Loki’s servants they started calling to her, pleading for help. There was nothing else in the room apart from a small wooden cabinet fixed to one wall. She opened the doors, but in her haste used too much force and managed to yank the cabinet off the wall completely. About thirty keys – all identical – clattered onto the floor. Frantically, she flung them all back into the cabinet and carried the whole lot back to the little cellar.
‘I had an accident,’ she said apologetically, holding up the cabinet for all to see. When Ash saw the mess of keys she groaned loudly and turned to the man.
‘Any idea which is the right one?’
‘Haven’t a clue, sorry.’
‘All hope may not be lost,’ Ellie said, falling to her knees by Ash’s cage. ‘Ex, will you go and listen by the stairs to make sure no one is coming?’ As he did as she asked, Ellie pulled two hair clips from her bob. Using her teeth, she straightened them out and pushed them both into the padlock on the cage at right angles to
each other.
‘You can pick a lock?’ Ash asked.
‘I hope so.’ Ellie’s face was tight with concentration. ‘I’ve never actually tried it before, but I’ve read enough about how it’s done. This looks like a pin and tumbler lock so if I just push this in here …’ she twisted the upper clip slightly, ‘and raise the tension with this one …’ she jammed the other clip in tighter, ‘and I think I’m at the last pin now …’ With one final screw, the lock clicked open.
She stood up triumphantly, lifted the lid and helped Ash step out of the cage.
‘Do you think you can open the other cage?’ asked Ash.
‘No problem!’ Ellie crouched down by the man’s cage and jammed the clips in his padlock. ‘It was actually much easier than I expected. I should be able to do this one qui–’ There was a loud snap as one of the clips broke off inside the lock mechanism.
‘Can you get it out?’ Ash leaned over her shoulder to get a view of the lock.
Ellie’s fingernails clawed at the broken clip but she couldn’t get a good grip on it. She looked up at Ash.
‘I’m sorry …’
‘You go!’ said the man in the cage. ‘Quickly, children. Get to safety.’
‘No,’ Ash said resolutely. ‘We’re not leaving you here.’ She turned to the pile of tools. ‘If we can just find a pliers or something to pull the clip out …’ Suddenly, Ex pushed past her and picked something up from the pile. He took a firm stance by the cage and started swinging at the broken lock with the hammer he’d just picked up. The clang of metal on metal rang around the room. On the first blow, the lock bounced around but held fast. With the second, there was a distinct kerrunking sound. The third strike sent the lock clattering to the stone floor.
Fenrir stood up inside the cage to his full height, knocking the lid to the ground. Even though he was clearly malnourished, with black bags under his eyes and ripped clothes, he was still a sight to behold. He took the hammer from Ex and stepped out of his prison.
‘Thank you,’ he said to them. ‘But you need to go. Get out.’
‘But what about the others? We can’t just leave them there,’ Ash said, heading towards the door.
‘I’ll free the others.’ He held up the hammer to demonstrate how he intended to do so. ‘Just get out! This place is too dangerous for you, especially tonight.’
They didn’t need to be told again and the three of them bounded back up the steps together. They had just reached the next landing when they heard footsteps clattering down the stairs towards them.
They must have found the guard, Ellie thought.
The footsteps were just above them and approaching rapidly. They looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. Suddenly, Ash bounded forward a couple of steps.
‘In here!’ she whispered. Before Ellie or Ex could stop her, Ash was pulling open the door on the midway landing, only to find herself facing a room full of men, women and wolves. One by one they stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Ash, who was taking in the room before her. It was more of a hall really, she thought – circular-shaped, with time-ravaged tapestries hanging from every wall. Fires roared in hearths encircling the room and candlelight shone brightly from a priceless-looking chandelier. There were long banquet tables set for dinner but no one was dining right now. Some of the people were tending to their weapons: tightening or replacing old strings in their crossbows, oiling the workings, and sharpening daggers and swords on whetstones. Others were working out: weight-lifting or doing push-ups or giving some punching bags a seeing to. The rest were poring over huge maps of Ireland and the world. Ash took a wild guess at what they were doing: planning a war. Or, more correctly, they had been planning a war. Now they were all staring right at her.
Unaware of what was going on below, Arthur made his way slowly up the tower. He was halfway up when he heard the sound of rattling and rusty gears grinding. It started below him, then rose slowly past him and upwards, coming from inside the central column. He guessed that it was an elevator of some sort, but hadn’t a clue who could be inside.
He proceeded up the stairs, taking care to keep his footsteps light on the metal. Every time he passed one of the narrow windows, he looked out at the island. He could see a few watchmen on the ground below, walking the perimeter with their flashlights, along with even more wolves. This is a mistake, he thought. But it was too late to turn back now, and that strange sense persisted that he needed to continue upwards.
As he got closer to the apex of the tower, the spiral stairwell narrowed slightly. He could hear voices now, echoing back to him from the floor above. He made sure to be extra quiet, holding his breath as he neared the top.
He could see moonlight glinting off the metal of the top steps and he could feel a cold breeze now. He crawled up the last few steps on his hands and knees. Keeping low, he raised his head slowly over the top of the stairwell and peered onto the top floor.
He’d reached the open roof of the tower. A low stone parapet encircled the floor, above which was nothing but the wide, black sky. A single iron pole rose out of the floor. It was about ten feet high. The top of the pole was carved into a crooked claw, with fingers made for gripping. A series of small steps spiralled around the pole, also of iron. He could see a girl in a wheelchair whom he didn’t recognise and a man he did – Loki. He was wearing the green coat that he’d stolen from the museum over a pin-striped suit and he was in the middle of saying something to the girl. Arthur kept low in the stairwell so they wouldn’t see him.
‘–cellent help, Drysi, just excellent, but time is moving fast.’
‘Thank you, Wolf-father. Now please listen to me. I have important info–’
Loki turned on the girl. He was smiling sweetly although Arthur could read the anger in his beetroot face. ‘Don’t interrupt me when I’m pontificating, Drysi dearest. It’s rude.’ He moved away from her and continued speaking.
‘We’re so close now,’ he said looking at the moon, the white disc reflecting in his eyes. ‘Mere minutes until the moon’s power is at its strongest. Midnight. The witching hour, when the real mischief begins.’
Suddenly, Loki burst into flames. His arms were outstretched and he just stood there calmly on fire. Arthur could see his grinning features through the blaze. The coat burned off and fell around him in snowflake-like ashes. He was now burning so brightly and so quickly that Arthur and the girl had to squint against the glare. As suddenly as it had come, the fire was gone. The god’s skin was a horrid, deep red, with creamy pus bursting out of blisters and sores all over. His clothes had been almost totally destroyed and his hair was all gone, leaving a scarred, bare skull behind. Loki, who seemed utterly unperturbed by his changed appearance, cracked his neck as if he’d just woken up. For a second his green aura enveloped him. When it was gone, he was whole again, as good as new and wearing a fashionable grey suit. He bent down to the ashes of the coat at his feet and picked up all that was left: a single glass-like stone. Hati’s Bite. He rubbed it between his fingers before climbing up the little steps and placing it in the claw at the top of the pole.
‘When I first got here,’ he said, descending again, ‘I was almost overwhelmed by my disappointment in your father, Drysi. He hadn’t created an army like I’d ordered. But then I saw the great possibilities. This tower – so close to the centre of Ireland – and home to all of you for almost a century …’ He paced around the floor, gazing over the edge of the parapet. ‘This tower would prove so useful. Then you told me where Hati’s Bite had ended up.’
‘Father thought he was so clever, hiding it as a button on his coat.’ The girl Drysi smiled. ‘But I always recognised it for what it was.’
‘That’s because you take after me, Drysi. You’re wily. You will get your reward.’
‘Truly? Because I hate being cooped up here, Wolf-father,’ she said, looking around her at the sky, at the tower. ‘All those years, I hated being cut off from the outside world in this tower. My only glimpse of
civilisation was when some of the hunting wolves would bring back newspapers and books for me.’
‘But those newspapers led you to the coat, my dear.’
‘True. I remember the day, last year, when I read about a new exhibition in the museum and I recognised a certain coat.’
‘And getting it was so easy. So much fun, too! Which brings us here, to this point. So very close to the moon being ready and to me enacting my greatest plan.’
‘And what’s that, Wolf-father?’ Drysi asked.
Without warning, Loki spun around, walked to the stairwell and looked straight down at Arthur. ‘Why, hello, Arthur. Did you really think I wouldn’t sense you there wearing that blasted pendant? I’m so glad you’re here, though, just in time to see my triumph.’ Loki turned back to the girl and continued in the same even tone. ‘In answer to your question, Drysi, I intend to do what Fenrir failed to. I’ll create the perfect army.’
Chapter Twenty-One
‘Won’t you join us, Arthur?’ invited Loki, gesturing towards Drysi.
‘I’m fine where I am, thanks,’ Arthur said from the stairwell.
‘I really must insist, Arthur. The pendant lets you stop me from inflicting any serious harm on you, but I’m sure I could manage to drag you up here without too much trouble.’
He’s right, Arthur realised, and he reluctantly climbed the last few steps, stepping onto the rooftop. So high up the wind was biting, cutting through his clothing and slicing into his flesh. The girl in the wheelchair glared at him with deep distaste. Her eyes burned with a hatred he had never experienced before.
‘Have you met Drysi?’ Loki waved a hand lazily in the girl’s direction. ‘She’s my granddaughter. I’m very proud of her.’
‘Oh, he’s met me, Wolf-father,’ Drysi told him, keeping her eyes fixed on Arthur, ‘except he knows me as Ice.’
