Eye of Hel: Stories of the Nine Worlds (Ten Tears Chronicles - a dark fantasy action adventure Book 2)

by Alaric Longward

‘Very well … mistress,’ I said coldly.

  We danced around each other. Her spear ripped into me, but I swatted it aside with the Famine, renewing the stone skin spell. She called for icy and stony arms to rip at me, and I did feel pain as they ripped at my stony flesh, but I didn’t care and released a spell of healing, which I still knew and kept attacking. She dodged and parried and scored a wound across my chest. I stumbled away and knew she could actually kill me. She attacked, her snakes entwined themselves around me and pulled me to her. I slashed at the things; she howled as a stump spewed maggots, but she also released a lightning bolt that hurled me across a fleeing group of Daxamma elves. I stabbed one, turning him into a mound of worms with the terrible dagger. The rest ran away. I got up, and Euryale was there, having walked shadows, and I barely dodged her spear. I cursed, saw her disappear again and fell away, only to feel her fires rip at my back. I healed myself and felt strange fatigue, knowing I could also, finally, tire. I sought for the denied powers, found ways to call them.

  I felt nauseous as I weaved a spell I knew and had seen used twice. I gathered it inside me, staring at Euryale, who was also calling for a powerful spell, making the ground shake, toppling tons of stone to the yard, some stones pelting me painfully, and I saw she thought she had won. She was going to do what I had done and bury me with rocks.

  I released the spell.

  It swirled in my hands sickeningly, and then blasted out, rippling in the air, cone-like, forceful, merciless, and everything it touched, decayed. It was like the spell Timmerion had used, but much more powerful. A Jotun howled and fell dead and rotten, twenty Gorgons fell in heaps of rancid dirt, elves died soundlessly, wrinkled yet still beautiful, and Euryale screamed. Her lithe legs were struck fleshless, and she fell on her back heavily, gagging at the power washing over her. One of her arms shriveled to pus and most of her snakes died and cracked and dead maggots spilled out. Behind her, a thousand battling creatures fell into stinking heaps, the old stone around the Palace’s gate and the walls dissolved and what followed was a pandemonium of fetid death. The ones who died and did not turn to ash rose up. Hundreds of them. Ghouls of mindless hunger, rotting and dead, bizarre abominations of flesh, ghosts, and howling, misshapen things.

  ‘What have you done!?’ Ulrich screamed, charging towards me. ‘Stop it, Shannon! You are—’

  ‘Paying back for their arrogance and treachery,’ I said, spitting the bile from my mouth. A once beautiful elf maiden was crawling at the edges of the destruction, dead, a group of half-living ghouls were fleeing the area like stumbling puppets.

  ‘They will not stop at this!’

  ‘This city is theirs,’ I said harshly. ‘My gift to them. And they are like I am. And I am like this thanks to my dear sister and this stinking rotten bitch.’ I stalked closer to Euryale, who was trying to crawl away, trailing pus. I placed a foot on her back, feeling the skin crackling by the power I had released and turned her around with a savage kick. Her eyes flared, but I slapped her. Two remaining snakes twirled around my torso and arms, biting me, but I crushed them, burst them open, and she howled. Around us, the elves were fleeing. The Gorgons and the dark elves were abandoning their ranks, horrified at the carnage. Many were jumping to the gateway. Coinar and Daxamma were still fleeing over the walls. Safiroon dregs were fighting to reach the northern gate with Almheir’s troops. ‘Where is Anja?’ I asked Ulrich.

  ‘She’s with Bardagoon troops. Swore to fight you and your sister to the end. They forced me along when Lex and Dana ran to the Shadowed Hall after Thak. I am here, Shannon. But I think …’ he shrugged, staring around us. He blanched as a trio of dead elves, their eyes pale approached him, but I shook my head at them, and they sullenly kneeled, eyeing us.

  ‘Will you serve me?’ I asked.

  ‘I … yes. If you will hunt for your sister. If you find your senses again.’

  ‘I will hunt for her. As for sense? I will do what Albine is doing. Where is Hannae?’ I kicked Euryale hard, and she hissed.

  ‘With the Bardagoon liar. She was cursing him—’

  ‘Wise girl,’ I grinned. ‘As for the snake-faced cow, I will—’

  ‘Kill her,’ Ulrich stated.

  ‘You cannot slay me,’ Euryale laughed painfully. ‘I am not mortal. I have been slain by a mortal before but I rose again. I am a First Born, near god.’ She was craning her ugly neck for her sister, trying to spot her in the ongoing, ceaseless battle around the Svartalfheim’s gate, but she was not there.

  ‘She went home, dear,’ I chuckled. ‘But what did you once tell me?’

  ‘I said I cannot die!’ she hissed.

  ‘You once told me it takes a god’s blade to kill you,’ I grinned. ‘This is Famine. You have seen it, no? When you used it to slash the eye off the poor, mad goddess.’

  ‘No!’ she shrieked, and I didn’t care. I punched it through her heaving chest, and she died, sinking to the ground, folding over, her flesh crackling. What was left of her, was nothing but small, fragile bones that the wind stirred. I picked one up.

  ‘I’ll eat with a spoon made of this, mistress. Tell Hel hello,’ I laughed victoriously.

  ‘It’s over,’ Ulrich said.

  ‘Far from over,’ I told him.

  I reached out to the dead hosts. The draugr turned to look at me, and then at Ulrich. They were chattering in the shadows unkindly, rebellious, but I exerted my will over them, and they bowed, save for the spirits and ghosts as they slinked away to the dark corners, searching for a place to claim. The dead draugr formed ranks, though. I gazed at Almheir’s standards, still flying high above perhaps eight thousand elves hemmed in by the wall. I moved that way, again reaching out to the dead. Their mean, hungry minds bent to my will, and they took up positions around the rattled elven ranks.

  ‘Shannon,’ Ulrich said softly, sweating with fear as the terrible things whispered at the sight of him. ‘You should not—’

  ‘You can be my conscience, Ulrich, but I won’t stop until I’m happy, and that is not my state of mind right this moment. Is Dana with them?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said and braved a question. ‘You are not alive, are you?’

  ‘No, I am not.’

  ‘What do you intend to do?’ he asked, eyeing my bony hand. ‘I am sorry I failed to enter with Lex and Thak and Dana. I was too slow. Perhaps you would be … alive.’

  I shook my head, and my red eyes took him in. I felt his fear, a bit of revulsion, dread. I pushed away a call to enjoy that fear. ‘What do I intend to do? Their oppression will stop here.’

  He scoffed. ‘Really? With whose oppression will you replace it with?’

  ‘Mine.’

  He cursed. ‘It’s a wide world, Shannon. Do not kill them. Send them away. Gods know the elves are fools, but—’

  ‘They are fools,’ I agreed. ‘Unkind and unwise, uncaring and even unlovely in their greed. The draugr are a perfect weapon to punish the arrogant vermin.’

  ‘This is their world, Shannon,’ he said.

  ‘Only for as long as it takes for me to take a part of it,’ I stated, wishing I could breathe. I missed breathing. I pushed to the front of the dead host. The elves were murmuring and holding still, eying the dead and me bravely. I was seeking Dana and Almheir, but I spotted the latter, standing still, surrounded by his sons and daughters. At his feet lay a dying Kiera.

  ‘Attack—’ Almheir began tiredly.

  ‘Hold!’ I yelled, my voice thundering across the gate area, and they did hold.

  Almheir turned to stare at me. He shuddered, superbly exhausted and wiped a bloody hand across his face. ‘Hand of—’

  ‘Death. Of Hel. You sent me there to die.’

  It was a statement. He nodded. ‘Shannon. What you did for my wife was a thing worthy of praise—’

  ‘Praise?’ I hissed.

  ‘Yes, praise,’ he said. ‘But you humans are reckless, deadly in your ignorance, and flawed. Look around you. Look what you did!’

  ‘
Look what you did!’ I screamed, and the elves shuddered at the hideous voice. ‘You fools! You lost everything. You have killed each other gleefully for ages, silently agreeing to keep the gods far away from your little games, and here you are. Fools! This is no work of humans.’

  He looked down at Kiera. ‘Do not judge me. Only a few of us remember what the gods were like. Not all were like Frigg. Freyr? He was like we are. He enjoyed the hunt, the intrigues, lovemaking, and he made the rules, which we played with in Aldheim. We do not wish him returned.’

  I turned to look at the host of the dead. I felt them simmering with resentment and anger, formerly beautiful elven faces pale and dead, rotting. Some were braiding together spells, some to disguise their dead condition, others to enhance it, to seem more terrible. They would be rebellious allies, merciless foes. There were twenty thousand of them, at least near the number.

  Almheir sighed. ‘I don’t know what you are, Hand of Death, but the spell you released? It will spell doom to countless lives all over the Nine Worlds. You will not control these either. They will wish us no happiness, no matter what we agree on.’

  I bowed slightly. ‘Likely so. I think you shall be better for it. Let the elves fight them, instead of humans and each other,’ I spat. ‘Let it be so you have something to unite for. I shall see to it. I shall use them and anyone willing to smite down your evil from Aldheim, elf. I’ll smite until you have grown wiser than your gods.’

  ‘You are here for me?’ he asked softly, tiring of the discussion. ‘I have family elsewhere who will fight on, sons—’

  ‘I don’t want your sons, Regent. I want you. Liar.’

  He looked down at his feet, at Kiera, beautiful even in the throes of death. ‘Me?’

  ‘You. Will you agree?’

  ‘Yes, if—’

  ‘And I will spare your army now. Only today. You will take all the elves to the north,’ I hissed. ‘Away from Himingborg.’

  ‘Are you the Regent of Aldheim now?’ he asked spitefully. ‘Few will agree to it. But I will do as you say, for now. Or someone will; since you want me.’

  I laughed gratingly. ‘Yes, I want you. And no, I am not the Regent. I am the Queen of Aldheim now. And I know you will not truly submit. I don’t care. I will sit here in the Citadel of Glory and govern whoever bows to me. Who will not, I will punish. It is so simple. Is it not?’

  ‘It is,’ he said. ‘But surely you cannot think you can overcome the combined elven nations. There are millions of us.’

  ‘We will see. But you won’t be amongst them. Where are Anja and Hannea?’

  He smiled. ‘Hannea fled. I ordered her to. Anja could be anywhere. They will be fighting for me. Get on with it. I will not fight,’ he said with fear in his eyes. ‘I will not fight if you help her.’

  ‘Her? And you will go to Hel? She will put you with Cerunnos Timmerion, and I have a feeling you would fight fiercely to avoid that. She told me,’ I whispered so he heard it, ‘that he drowns every day. For eternity. He will do so until he is mad, gibbering with fear and only then she shall think of another punishment.’

  He shook his head, swallowing. ‘I will submit to Hel, if—’

  ‘Yes,’ I told him simply. I looked at Kiera. ‘I’ll help. She is near gone, though.’

  ‘Do what you can,’ he said miserably. I stepped forward, and the elves rippled into formation. They took steps back, and Almheir followed them, though he stopped just a few steps away from Kiera. I searched for a solution. Famine, the dagger whispered an answer. It guided me, and I followed its terrible wisdom. I gathered the powers from the edges of mists, caressed the world of the spirits, eyed the dry dust around the void’s edges and pulled at a special, sad spell, braided it, and it reminded me of what Hel’s Seed had done. I kneeled to Kiera and kissed her lips, and she shuddered. Almheir gave a small shout of relief and took a step forward. I stopped him with my bone hand.

  ‘She stays with me,’ I said evenly.

  ‘No!’ he protested, pulling his spear. He faltered and looked at his daughter. Kiera looked back at him, and her eyes were dark, black, and her skin white as mine.

  ‘Yes,’ I told him. ‘For she is going to be dangerous to the living.’

  ‘You did not restore her?’ he asked in a horrified whisper.

  ‘She was dead. I cannot resurrect like Euryale,’ I said as Kiera got up, bloodless, holding her head.

  ‘Father?’ she asked. ‘I—’

  I pushed her back. ‘She is bound to me. Think of that, Almheir, husband, as you suffer. And this is for you, as well.’ I placed my bony hand on his face and the Rot drained from it. I let him go and saw a stick man walking his skin, furious and hungry, and he was groping at his face.

  ‘You—’

  ‘It will gnaw you to death,’ I told him.

  ‘No! I—’

  ‘Give me my sister.’

  He calmed himself, fighting his fears visibly until he straightened his back. He said nothing, but another elf stepped forward. ‘We do not have her,’ said the young elf with blue eyes, pulling his father away. ‘She is amidst the dead, perhaps? You saw her. She was not with us.’

  ‘I see.’ I gazed at the scared faces of the elves and raised my voice. ‘Himingborg is the city of the dead now. They are mine to command. You shall go to the north. Let the elven houses flee that way. You have one month to empty the city. After that, I shall release them all across the city. Your cruelty earned you a queen crueler than you are, and I do not give audiences. Come, my friends, and you scum, leave.’

  The dead lined up around the gate, whispering, and the elves left slowly, fearfully staring at the army of the draugr. My eyes glared at Almheir as he stared at his hand, which he had wiped on his face. Kiera was gazing after her father, resentful and confused and so, the elven refugees departed Himingborg. It took two hours. The bells tolled across the city as the Safiroons evacuated, and so were the invading southern troops.

  Finally, I placed a hand on Kiera’s shoulder. ‘Come, my dear.’ I grinned. ‘Ulrich?’

  ‘Queen?’ he asked, looking around at the dead creatures. He looked lost.

  ‘You will help evacuate the city. Then we must find you something to do. The draugr will be your guard.’

  ‘I am not sure I can do this,’ he said. ‘They will not obey me.’

  ‘You can,’ I said coldly. ‘They will.’

  ‘What will you do?’ he asked. ‘This is madness. I will not take part in the destruction of Aldheim!’

  ‘I will make war on them until they submit,’ I said. ‘But I will find the Horn, Ulrich. Serve me until then.’

  ‘Yes, my queen,’ he agreed sullenly, and so we walked to the Temple.

  She was there.

  A figure was standing by the gate. Heaps of corpses were scattered on the ground, and I saw it was Dana as she gingerly stepped past some of them. She spied me approaching.

  ‘Sister,’ she said carefully. She held the gleaming Gjallarhorn.

  ‘I will need that horn, sister,’ I told her.

  ‘You will take it and rule the land, no? You will close the gate and give Hel what she needs?’

  ‘Perhaps I shall rule after the gods return; perhaps I shall be restored to what I was. Gods are fickle. So am I, now. But I will need that horn.’

  ‘I never asked for this, you know?’ she said tiredly.

  ‘What?’ I spat.

  ‘Our hatred,’ she said. ‘This is why I didn’t want you to come with me. I told you I didn’t want you to drag me down, but I was afraid my greed and fear would drag you down. And I was right.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter now, sister. Are you ready?’

  ‘I am not, Shannon,’ she said, hoisting the huge horn. ‘You should thank me, really.’

  ‘I do not,’ I told her. ‘Give me the horn. I will send you to Hel.’

  ‘No, I think not.’ She smiled. ‘I loved you, I think. The only one I ever loved, truly. But I want my own world.’

  ‘Do not try to esca
pe. I will make it easy for you.’

  But she did. She took a deep breath and jumped to the portal. She disappeared.

  ‘She will close it,’ Ulrich growled. A raven fluttered down to land next to me. It blurred and changed, and Thak stood up. His dark skin and flaming hair looked dangerous as he looked down at me. He was grievously hurt, but still alive and grinning.

  ‘I told you to come back, but it seems Hel had some terms,’ he said softly, staring at thousands of dead warriors.

  ‘She did,’ I agreed. ‘Will the gate be closed?’

  ‘It cannot be closed,’ Thak said, ‘she won’t close it. She is not a First Born. Only such a creature can.’ He looked at me dubiously. ‘And perhaps you.’

  ‘I see,’ I said. ‘I bet she is trying right now.’

  ‘She will look red-faced and silly,’ Thak growled. ‘So, what are you?’

  ‘I’m undead, Thak,’ I told him.

  ‘A beautiful one.’ He laughed and transformed to a dard-skinned man. ‘I would serve you.’

  ‘For?’

  ‘It will be exciting? For the love we share?’ he said sheepishly. ‘If you can stomach my dining habits, that is.’

  I laughed, breathlessly and long until I shook my head. ‘I accept your offer. Of service. Ulrich, get out to the city. Thak as well. Get the people out of here. They are all exiles, save for the ones who will serve us. I will help you in a bit. Kiera stays with me.’ I looked at the strange dead elf. She was silent, confused. ‘She has to learn about her new life. So do I.’

  Thak bowed and left after Ulrich. The dead marched off to stand in the shadows of the Citadel that was closed by the dead high maa’dark. I stared at the gate. I was waiting. Euryale was dead. That meant the Dragon Pact had been fulfilled. I stood there for an hour, listening to the tolling bells.

  Then I had a strange feeling. Dread filled my undead heart.

  I gazed to the east and saw a shadow approaching. It was vast, long and slithering, its wings like those of bats. It glided across clouds, stealthy and fast. I grinned and mumbled to Kiera, who was taking steps away. ‘So, I saw one after all. A dragon as we think of them.’ The Masked One was no longer in his human form, and it was happy, victorious, elated. The dragon shrieked, venting its ravenous fury at the skies and circled the burning city. It spotted me and glided down and landed like a shadow, powerful beyond any beast, twenty feet tall, thirty long, old enough to challenge gods, but I had bested its strength already that night when I killed Euryale. Its eyes stared at me curiously, deep and green, and then it sniffed at the corpses, its eyes fixing themselves on the fragile, smoldering bones of Euryale. It smiled a many-toothed smile and then it rummaged in a pile of corpses near the Temple. A shadow moved, and the dragon pinned down a squirming figure. Cosia. She eyed the beast in terror and then me. She had not fled with the others, and I saw she was badly hurt. Her eyes looked at me with rewarding terror. I grinned at her. ‘Keep thinking about Ompar.’