Helheim
Book Two of the Nine Worlds Trilogy
By
Debbie Champion
Text copyright © 2016 Debbie Champion
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission from the author.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
For all those who read book one and couldn’t put it down!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Chapter One
The early morning sun glistened on the dew-covered grass and warmed the monolith at the centre of the henge. Wisps of steam drifted into the air, as the warmth of the sun grew stronger and the dew evaporated. The sound of birdsong filled the air and a gentle wind rustled the leaves on the trees surrounding the field the henge was nestled in.
A group of teenagers, two adults and a small man stood in a semi circle in front of the granite stones. They stared at the grey central monolith, each lost in their own thoughts. The valley was so peaceful and picturesque, it was hard to comprehend the scene of horror and devastation that had taken place the day before. It was as though nothing had happened.
Alex heaved a big sigh and looked around at his friends. Strands of Becca's long chestnut brown hair were blowing about in the breeze. She reached up and tied it back into a messy ponytail with a band from around her wrist. Alex smiled at her and she reached for his hand and squeezed it. Standing next to her Sasha looked like a total ninja, dressed head to toe in black with long black boots. Her long blonde hair was already scraped back into a neat high ponytail. Matt whispered something in her ear grinning and she dug him in the stomach with her elbow. He brushed his messy, wild brown hair out of his eyes and nudged her back gently.
Alex's stomach lurched as he looked each of them in the eye and recalled one was missing; their friend Pete, who was killed by the cursed sword which was now hanging from an old leather scabbard tied around his hips. Alex shuddered as he recalled the scene from the day before. He could still picture the Hel Hound Garm, with his five golden eyes glaring at him and the giant bird Hraesvelg bursting through the earth, ready to tear them all to pieces. He had only just managed to strike the sword into the central stone of the henge in time, sealing the portal and sending the beasts back into the bowels of the earth.
Here they were again though, getting ready to open the portal to Helheim, the Underworld, as it was their only route back to Niddhogg’s lair where they had mistakenly left their friend Sven.
Alex swallowed nervously. "So, this is it. Are you guys sure about this? I don't mind going on my own.”
"Drop it Alex, we've discussed this enough, we're all going," said Becca firmly, squeezing his hand again.
"Yep the four musketeers strike again," said Matt. "Let's do this."
"Er, excuse me. There are five of us," said Dvalin, peering up at them from under a wide brimmed straw hat.
His cheeks were rosy red from being in the sun too much and the tip of his bulbous nose was peeling already, where he had burnt it the day before.
"Sorry, four musketeers and their trusty sidekick, the immortal dwarf. Yeah that's got a good ring to it." Matt slapped Dvalin on the shoulder and grinned.
Dvalin staggered forward a step and glared at Matt.
"I'm not immortal, that apple just added a few extra years to my life."
"A few extra years? A hundred is more than a few extra," called across Alex.
"Yes well, it's better than nothing I suppose," said Dvalin moodily.
He wasn't too keen on the task ahead. He had been enjoying being out in the daylight far too much and would have preferred spending more time in Midgard. Having spent his entire, very long life underground, it was easy to understand why.
"Come on Grumpy, cheer up. Look on the bright side, we get to meet the soul sucking badass dragon from hell again and with any luck we'll bump into Alex's cousin, the queen of death herself. All providing of course that we get past the beast from Hel, who very nearly ate us yesterday. Oh and let's not forget the giant dinosaur looking bird, who let's face it made us all pee our pants yesterday," said Matt stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Saying it out loud really doesn't make us feel any better Matt," said Sasha glaring at him. "For the record, you may have peed your pants but I didn't, thank you."
"Sorry, I forgot, of course nothing scares you. You're the daughter of a god after all. Hey I meant to ask, what's your super power? I mean Alex here is Lightning Bolt Man. What can you do?" asked Matt grinning at Sasha cheekily.
"Nothing yet, I'll come into my powers when I reach eighteen, like Alex did. I won't know what I can do until then," she replied tossing her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder nonchalantly, as though it were perfectly normal for a teenager to have special powers.
"Oh god, is Samuel L Jackson going to rock up at your birthday party and try and recruit you into the Avengers?" asked Matt, ducking down as she tried to slap the back of his head.
"Cut it out Matt, or you'll be the first person I'll try my powers on," she growled at him.
"You can try anything on me baby," he murmured, draping his arm across her shoulders.
She shrugged him off and turned to Alan and Nancy, who were talking quietly together.
"So what happens now then?” she asked them. “I texted my dad but he hasn't replied. I haven't managed to contact him at all since the initial breach happened.”
Alan looked around at the group over the top of his glasses. "We were just discussing it. What you are going to attempt to do has never happened before and we have no idea if it will work. This could actually backfire on us so we need to be really careful. If we don't open the portal correctly, so it's just a one-way door into Helheim, then Hel could try and escape again and she won't be coming alone. Our worst nightmares could pour through Lokson's henge and we will be back at square one."
"That’s something I’ve been wondering about,” said Becca thoughtfully. “I don't get it, why's it called Lokson's henge? I take it, it means Loki's sons henge right? But it's a portal to his daughter's realm."
"Ah, now here is an interesting fact," said Alan, pushing his glasses up his nose with the tip of his finger.
"Remember I told you that Loki had three children?" he asked looking around.
They all nodded slowly and Alex sighed inwardly. Alan tended to drone on a bit and he was keen to get going. The quicker he could get Sven and Sasha's parents, the quicker he could get rid of the sword. It felt like a huge weight around his waist, dragging him down.
Alan cleared his throat. "Well Fenrir, Loki's son the wolf, was originally tied up to that central stone. The three Norns had told Odin that the wolf would cause his death so he told the gods to forge a chain that would be strong enough to bind him forever so he wouldn't be able to kill him. They forged the strongest chain ever created and wrapped it around Fenrir and then tied him to this rock," said Alan, pacing forward and planting both his hands on the central monolith.
"It
didn't work though, Fenrir burst the chain and the force tore chunks off the top of this rock. It used to be much taller. Well the pieces of rock scattered and happened to form a circle around this central stone. Hence why people call it a henge. It's not really a henge, well not in the sense that you would think off. No Druids built this to worship their gods, or welcome the rising sun etc."
"So where’s Fenrir now?" asked Alex looking around the field as though he expected a wolf to suddenly jump out on them. "Don't tell me he's under this henge sniffing that Hel hound, Garm's butt because I really don't think I can handle that.”
"No, he's tied to another rock far from here. He's bound by dwarf rope. The type of rope Dvalin used yesterday to stop Garm," said Alan.
"Oh yeah right, the rope created with cat farts, or something like that," said Alex skeptically.
"Cat footsteps," Alan corrected.
"We use cat farts to create invisibility hats," said Dvalin jumping in. "A very powerful ingredient."
"Yeah right, you can't collect those. How do you know a cats done one?" asked Matt.
"Well it's obvious when they have done one but you can never see the cat. That's why they are good for invisibility spells," said Dvalin, grinning.
"Come on you lot. It's time to focus," interrupted Nancy. "Look, Alan and I were talking last night and we have just discussed it again now. We really think it would be best if you just concentrated on destroying the sword. I know you feel responsible about Sven but I'm sure he would agree. This is just too dangerous."
"Er, you don't know Sven. I'm pretty sure he'll be mad at us. There is also Cassie to consider. I don't think she'll forgive us in a hurry. An angry Volva is not something I ever want to deal with again," said Alex.
Cassie was the Volva they had met in Manhattan and was waiting for Sven to deliver a gold bracelet to her that she had already paid for. She had already sent Alex several Facebook messages warning what would happen to him if she didn't get her jewellery soon.
"We'll be fine," said Sasha confidently. "I'm definitely going. If there’s a chance to bring my mum and dad back, I'm taking it and we might even see Pete down there. We might be able to rescue him too."
"Sasha, that is highly unlikely. Pete will still be being processed. That can take some time," said Alan, returning to the semi circle.
"Processed?" asked Alex. "What do you mean?"
"Hel will have to judge whether he should stay in Helheim, be eaten by Hraesvelg or be thrown down to Niddhogg," said Alan seriously.
"But Thor told Pete's dad that he would make sure he was ok," said Becca confused.
"Yes but there’s all the paperwork to complete. It will take weeks to sort it all out," said Nancy.
"Paperwork? In the Underworld?" asked Alex surprised.
"Of course, the dead government officials need something to keep themselves busy. If they weren't tied up sorting out pointless red tape they would have far too much time on their hands. Goodness knows what they would start to think up. They would start to make ridiculous changes about things they really don't understand, just to make a name for themselves. Best they just tie themselves up in red tape and paperwork instead. It keeps them happy," said Alan smiling.
"We'll keep an eye out for him. You never know," said Alex hopefully.
Alan looked at Nancy and shrugged. They both knew it was an impossible task but didn't have the heart to tell him.
Suddenly a loud popping sound echoed across the clearing and the ground beneath them heaved up throwing them to the grass.
"What?" cried Nancy in a panic.
She looked quickly towards the henge but everything seemed normal, the stones were still standing erect. Alex jumped nimbly to his feet and looked over his shoulder.
"Ellewen," he grinned. "What are you doing here?"
"Well that's a nice greeting. How about 'Ellewen, hi, great to see you, I've missed you'," she said with her hands on her hips.
"Er, excuse me, who are you?" asked Becca as she stumbled back onto her feet.
"Guys, this is Ellewen. The Volva who helped me rescue Lexi," Alex explained as he leaned forward to kiss Ellewen on the cheek.
She reared back and pulled a face. "Hey hands off. Only one guy gets to kiss me and it's not you sunshine."
"Ok, chill out," Alex laughed, putting his hands up in defence. "How's the arm?"
"Healing thanks. Eir helped me. Look it's just a bit pink now."
Ellewen held out her arm to show Alex. Where there had been a huge gash on her forearm where Hadron had attacked her, there was just a thin red shiny line.
"Eir? Don't tell me, another of my relatives?" asked Alex.
"Yep, goddess of healing. You definitely want to keep on her good side. I hear you have a death wish," she said glaring at him.
"What do you mean?"
"This little planned day trip to Helheim. Are you serious? I couldn't believe it when I heard."
"Afraid so. We can't leave Sven with Niddhogg and we reckon we can get Baldur and Nanna out, Sasha's parents," explained Alex. "Anyway, why do you care? Why are you here? You gave us a heart attack arriving like that."
"Lexi sent me. She said you could do with the help and wanted me to keep an eye on you," said Ellewen looking Becca up and down with interest.
"Lexi? Is she ok? You shouldn't have left her after what Hadron did. What if he comes back for her?" asked Alex shocked.
"She's in Asgard you idiot. Nothing will harm her there. She's chilling out with her mum. I was glad to get away to be honest. I left them building the London Underground and a shopping centre on Minecraft. I mean, what is it with that game? I really don't get it."
Alex sniggered and Matt stepped forward and nudged Alex on the arm.
"So are you going to introduce us or what?" he asked winking at Ellewen.
She was dressed all in black too and looked like Sasha's ninja warrior sidekick.
"Yeah sorry, Ellewen, these are my friends, this ugly guy here is Matt and that’s Sasha and Becca over there," he said nodding towards the girls. "This young dwarf is the famous Dvalin and over there...."
"I know Alan and Nancy. You have guarded the henge well," she said acknowledging them with a nod of her head.
"I can't believe you condone what he's planning," she said looking at Alan fiercely. "It's a suicide mission."
"We were just discussing that but Alex is determined," said Alan shrugging
"Ok let's say you manage to open the henge. What's going to stop Hel and her army of dead, depressed spirits from escaping?" she asked glaring at them all.
"We’re just going to open it a crack and then seal it with a Baldur prayer. He should be able to keep them away from the opening, long enough for them to slip through. We’ll then seal it again with myrrh oil," explained Alan.
"Ok, so say you get through then. How are you going to get past Modgud and Garm?" she asked Alex. "They only let dead people into Helheim and unless I'm mistaken you are all very much alive."
"Crikey Ellewen, you sure put your negativity pants on this morning. We'll figure it out as we go. Stop worrying about me so much," said Alex frustrated.
"Don't you flicker your eyes at me Alex," she warned him.
Alex looked at her confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Your eyes are sparking, cut it out. If you make it rain and my hair gets wet I will not be held responsible for my actions," she snapped, pointing a finger at him.
"Look I'm sorry. I just don't have any answers. We've managed to make it this far without a plan, I figured we would wing it and see what happened."
"Look, I'm not worried about you. You're a demigod and have a golden apple running through your veins. You're the next best thing to being completely immortal at the moment. Your friends on the other hand are human. Well apart from Sasha but she has no powers which are going to help you yet. I mean I'm good but I'm not that good. I can't protect you all."
"I can take care of myself," cut in Becca, annoyed. "We survived Nid
dhogg's lair, I’m sure we can survive Helheim."
"Fine, it's your funeral and I mean that literally," said Ellewen scowling at Becca.
Ellewen made a mental note to find out what was going on between the chestnut haired brunette and Alex. She had no intention of risking her neck for him if he was carrying on with another girl. Lexi had specifically given her instructions to make sure he came back to her in one piece. Lexi had told her that she was pretty sure she had felt some chemistry between them in Iduna's garden but the girl Becca was clinging to his arm possessively.
"I said I would go on my own, but they're insisting," said Alex.
Ellewen threw her arms up in despair. "Whatever, I just hope I live long enough to tell you I told you so."
Matt grinned at her. "You're not getting rid of us that easily. We're all in this together."
"Oh Odin, you sound like you've been brain washed by High School Musical fans. This isn't a Disney film where all the heroes fight the baddies and get to live. It's real life and there are some real horrors you will need to face down there."
"I'm pretty sure we won't face anything worse than what we've seen already. We have met Garm and Hraesvelg and we dealt with them....well Dvalin did most of the work. What I'm saying is that we're up for this. Oh and by the way, that's a great idea about a movie. You just couldn't make this stuff up. It would be a blockbuster," said Matt looking around at the others and grinning.
"Yeah right and who would play a loser like you?" asked Alex sarcastically.
"Oh I dunno some fresh new talent. Probably a stunning male model who wants to break into acting," said Matt, winking at Sasha.
"Of course Matt and we could get Johnny Depp to star in it," said Sasha rolling her eyes.
"I'm not sure we can afford him," said Matt thoughtfully.
"That's enough guys, come on, we have a job to do, we need to focus," cut in Alex. "Alan, are you ready to do this?"
Alan looked at Nancy and sighed. He was really wishing he hadn't mentioned that this was a possibility yesterday.
Helheim (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 2) Page 1
