"I'm sorry, Becca. I'm a bit stressed. I honestly have no idea; I've never been here before. I don't even know if we are going in the right direction. All my knowledge comes from Cassie. I called her before I met up with you guys. Oh yeah I forgot, Alex, she asked why you haven't been responding to her Facebook messages."
Alex looked over at Ellewen and shrugged. "You can tell her that I'm not going to answer questions on the size of my body parts on social media. It's inappropriate, dangerous and none of her business."
Ellewen laughed. "That's Cassie for you, she gets a bit obsessed when she likes someone. She's not as bad as Maggie though. You really don't want to get mixed up with her," she said winking at Alex.
He shoved her to the side of the path with his elbow. "Watch it witchy or I'll zap you one."
"Ooh I'm scared. Try that and I'll turn you into a frog," she said waving her hand in the air as though she were about to cast a spell.
She was interrupted by Matt who pushed past them clutching his head. "Oh my god, oh my god, my head hurts. A Nifs got me," he cried in a panic.
Ellewen and Alex spun around quickly and Sasha jumped to Matt's side protectively, scanning the landscape for the threat.
"I can't see anything," said Ellewen. "How bad is it Matt?"
"Not too bad come to think of it," he said, rubbing his temples.
"You've just got a normal headache. You're probably dehydrated, I haven't seen you drink anything in ages," said Sasha. "Here sit down and drink this." She pulled a water bottle out of the rucksack she had brought with her and handed it to him.
"We could all do with a break," said Alex, looking at Becca. She was looking tired and drained and had dark shadows under her eyes.
They sat down on some boulders, which were on the side of the path and had a drink and an energy bar from their provisions.
"The light from the sky can't be helping your headache, it's really oppressive," said Becca looking up at the purple tinged sky. "Is it always like this?" she asked Ellewen.
"No idea, I guess so. It's just an eternity of dusk, neither day nor night. That weird in-between time."
"Well I hope it doesn't get darker, I don't fancy being in the middle of nowhere in the dark," said Alex, getting to his feet and brushing the dust off his trousers.
A loud wretched howl echoed in the distance, making the others jump to their feet quickly. They all looked around, fear etched into their faces.
"What was that?" asked Dvalin nervously.
"I don't know and I don't want to find out, come on let's get moving," said Ellewen, prodding him forward.
"I don't think we’re anywhere near where we need to be," said Sasha. "When my mum and dad died, his brother Hermod tried to get them back. The legends say it took him nine days travelling through valleys so deep that he couldn't see a thing."
"I reckon he was exaggerating," said Ellewen. "This isn't a deep valley and it's not that dark. He was just trying to create a good story to tell his kids."
The eerie howl echoed in the distance again and made the hair on Alex's neck stand on end. He increased his pace and they all started to jog. The sword banged against his legs annoyingly.
"Hey you lot, wait up," cried Dvalin.
Alex looked behind him and saw Dvalin struggling to keep up. He stopped and waited for Dvalin to catch up.
"It's alright for you," wheezed Dvalin. "My legs are shorter. I'm doing two steps to your one. If you go any faster I'll be sprinting the whole way. I know that golden apple took years off me but it didn't make my legs any longer," he complained.
The howl sounded again, closer this time. Dvalin's face drained of blood and he put his head down and sprinted forward quickly. His legs were pumping fast but he didn't make much headway. Alex sighed, shook his head and caught Dvalin up in a few strides. As Alex passed him, he scooped Dvalin up with one strong arm and threw him onto his back.
"Hey what are you doing?" squealed Dvalin.
"Protecting my back," shouted Alex as he increased his speed to catch up with the others. They were all running full pelt as though the hound from hell were breathing down their neck. Dvalin struggled to get down but Alex held his arms tightly about his neck and he held the sword away from his legs to stop it tripping him up.
Matt was the first to slow down. He doubled over and gripped his side wheezing.
"Agh, a stitch," he moaned. "Hang on I need my inhaler."
He grabbed his asthma inhaler from his pocket and took two deep puffs.
"Are you ok?" asked Sasha concerned.
"Yeah, just give me a sec," he said, taking deep breaths.
"I can't hear the howling anymore," said Becca cocking her head to the side, listening.
"What the hell was that?" asked Matt recovering.
"You should say, what from Hel was that," said Ellewen looking around them carefully. "There are beasts who patrol the outer lands who herd the dead to the bridge. If you're too slow, or veer off the path they'll encourage you to get a move on."
"Encourage how exactly?" asked Alex.
"Oh they might nibble your ankles a little bit, something like that," said Ellewen, smiling as she saw the look on Dvalin's face. He tried to climb up higher onto Alex's back.
"Hey, look over there," said Dvalin, pointing directly ahead. "I saw a light, just up there."
Alex squinted his eyes into the gloom. Dvalin was right, there was a bright light up ahead.
"It's the Gjallarbru," said Dvalin, bouncing up and down on Alex's back in excitement. "The bridge that crosses the Gjoll, the river which marks the border of Helheim proper."
"Dvalin, keep still," said Alex, squeezing his legs none too gently.
"It's the golden roof of the bridge," agreed Ellewen. "Come on, it's not far."
*
Three hours later, the exhausted group finally reached the bridge. Distances were deceptive in the Underworld; it had looked much closer than it was. Alex nudged Dvalin's leg with his hand.
"Hey you're quiet, look we're here."
Dvalin jerked his head up with a start, he had been fast asleep. He looked guiltily at the wet patch of drool he had left on Alex's white t-shirt and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, hoping that no one would notice. Alex swung Dvalin off his back and he looked ahead. He could see a long line of people queuing to get over a bridge, which was covered with a gold thatched roof.
"Great, we don't have to queue do we?" grumbled Dvalin.
"Looks that way," said Ellewen. "I can't see any other safe way to pass, the river’s too wide."
She left the path and walked over to the bank of the river to get a closer look. The smell of death filled her nostrils and she looked into the fast running water. The murky water was forcing its way around rusty old weapons, which were crammed into the river. Alex joined her and looked down into the foul smelling water.
"What's with all the weapons?" he asked, pointing at the river. "Look, there's a sword there. Can I get rid of this thing?" he said, holding up the sword strapped to his side.
"No, you need to destroy your sword completely to make sure no one else ever touches it. Anyone could find it in there," she replied. "No one can enter Helheim with a weapon, only those who fought bravely in battle and died with their sword in their hands can keep their weapon when they reach Valhalla. Any warrior who was a coward or traitor has to throw their weapon in the river Gjoll before they can enter. It's one of Hel's rules. She doesn't want a bunch of cowards and misfits running around her land armed and dangerous."
"Armed and dangerous? Everyone's dead, how can they be dangerous? I mean what are they going to do, kill someone a bit more?" asked Alex sarcastically.
"Wait and see Alex, just wait and see," she said ominously.
"Come on let's join the queue," she said steering him back to the path.
They joined the others at the back of the queue and Alex did a rough count in his head, there were at least twenty people ahead of them. The man in front of him had a dagger stic
king out of his back. He turned around and smiled sadly at Alex. "Welcome to the queue from hell. Hope you brought a book, I've been standing here for five days now."
"Five days? That's ridiculous, what's taking so long?" asked Alex craning his neck forward to try and see the front of the queue. The line of people led right onto the bridge and he couldn't see the front.
"Can anyone see Pete?" he asked hopefully.
"No, I had a quick look whilst you were over there," said Matt. "Oh man, this isn't one of those queues you get in a theme park, where you think you’re near the front then you enter a covered area which hides another queue line that takes you longer to get through than the original queue?" asked Matt, pushing forward, trying to see into the covered bridge.
He bumped into the man with the large dagger sticking in his back and winced. "Ouch, dude, do you know you have a dagger in your back? Do you need a bit of help with that?"
The man looked over his shoulder and shrugged.
"Oh, that's how I died, stabbed in the back. Such a shame, I was gearing up to be Prime Minister one day. I was told I can't remove it until I'm judged."
"Judged?" asked Becca, peering around Alex's arm.
"Yes, Modgud needs to know how I died. She'll be the first one to decide if I can get to travel to Helheim or if I should be left to the Nifs. I'll have to give her my life story, how I died and then she'll decide. Apparently she likes a good story so I hope you have good ones lined up. Only trouble is it takes ages."
"Oh, we have a story to tell don't worry," said Alex.
Suddenly someone barged into his back and he swung around quickly, hands raised up ready for any challenge. A teenage boy, wearing a black school uniform jumped back in fright. He dropped the mobile phone he had been engrossed in.
"Oh sorry, I wasn't looking. Gnuke just appeared, I was trying to catch him," he said, picking up his phone from the dusty ground and pushing his wire-framed glasses up his thin nose.
"Gnuke?" asked Alex confused.
"There he is," the boy said excitedly looking at his phone and then holding it up in front of Dvalin. He swiped his finger over the screen a few times and then looked up and saw Dvalin standing there.
"Oh, hang on, that's not right, how can I see you without the app?" he asked, scrunching up his forehead in confusion, looking up and down from Dvalin to his phone.
"What are you talking about?" asked Dvalin. "Stop pointing that thing at me," he said, pushing the mobile phone out of his face.
"I'm playing Pokemon Go. I thought you were Gnuke, that's a really rare Pokemon. Hang on where am I? I don't recognise this place," he asked looking around bewildered.
"Helheim, the Underworld. I hate to break it to you dude, but I think you're dead," said Matt, patting the boy on the shoulder sympathetically.
"Dead? I can't be dead," cried the boy, frightened by the looks of sympathy on their faces. "I was playing my game on the way to school. How did I get here?"
"What's your name?" asked Becca, coming over to stand next to him.
"William, my friends call me Wills."
"William, could you perhaps have stepped into the road without looking? I only ask as it looks like your leg is broken. Look there’s a bone sticking out. You also have blood coming out of your ears and nose. This could be a wild guess but I think you may have been run over and you died. Matt here is right, this is the Underworld," said Becca, looking at him sadly.
William looked down at his leg. She was right, a large white bone was poking out of his thigh through his trousers. He rubbed the back of his hand across his nose and looked at it. It was smeared in red blood. He sank to the floor in shock.
"But it doesn't hurt. How can it not hurt?" he asked, looking around at them.
"You won't feel pain down here from your death," Sasha explained. "You'll need to join the queue and wait your turn to be processed. Sounds like it could take a while, this man here has been here for five days."
William shook his head. "No, this isn't happening to me. You're a bunch of liars, this is just a trick. There's a Pokemon here and I'll find it, then I'll retrace my steps back. I must have taken a wrong turn when I wasn't looking."
He stood up carefully, trying not to put any weight on his leg. Whilst it didn't hurt, he figured it must be the shock, so best not to chance it and make the injury worse. When he found the Pokemon he would go to hospital. He stared down at his phone, turned his back on them and limped off back down the road.
"Wait," cried Becca.
"Becca, leave it, he's in denial. He'll be back soon enough," said Sasha, holding onto Becca's arm to stop her chasing after William.
"He's just a kid," Becca said sadly.
"Yeah, he learned the hard way unfortunately. There's nothing we can do. We'll just have to wait our turn here and I bet he’ll come back soon. Let's just hope the Nifs don't get him," said Sasha.
"Guys, we can't wait here for five days," said Alex. "Ellewen, how about you do your sleep spell? These people must be tired waiting here for five days."
Alex winked at her and grinned.
"Queuing jumping is rude Alex. I thought you Brits were good at waiting in queues."
"We are but I'm thinking of Sven, every minute we delay he has to deal with Niddhogg. We don't even know if he's still alive."
"Dead people don't sleep so that won't work," she said, tapping her forefinger on her teeth in thought. "I've got it," she exclaimed, smiling. "All of you stand behind me."
Ellewen muttered repeatedly under her breath, "lagr, lagr, lagr..."
The people ahead of them in the queue started to shrink rapidly until they were the size of ants.
"Come on it won't last long. Be careful not to tread on anyone, they might be dead but if we squash one when they grow again they won't look too good and will probably not be very happy."
They moved carefully to the side of the path and tiptoed forward towards the front of the bridge. Five steep wooden steps led up to the entrance and they climbed them quickly. The tunnel glowed yellow from the golden thatched roof and Dvalin licked his lips eyeing the gold greedily. Alex nudged Dvalin out of the way and walked forward cautiously towards a huge desk, which was blocking the way. A giant woman wearing silver body armour and a giant horned helmet was seated behind the desk. She held an enormous feather quill in her hand and was busy scribbling down notes. Alex coughed politely to get her attention and she laid down the quill, shuffled the papers and peered over the desk down at him.
"Well what have we got here?" she asked beaming.
Her teeth were enormous, each one as large as a hand. She had sparkling blue eyes that twinkled with amusement and her long brown hair was split into two plaits, which hung either side of her wide red-cheeked face. She folded her meaty arms and sat back in her chair with a sigh.
"Oh this should be good. What is a bunch of live Midgardians doing in a place like this?"
"Hello, we're so sorry to trouble you but we need to reach the Yggdrasil tree root which lies above Niddhogg's home. We left a friend there you see and we need to rescue him," said Alex, smiling his best smile.
"Oh you have to do better than that," said Modgud still grinning.
Alex sighed and rubbed his hand through his hair. He really wasn't in the mood to explain to this giant of a woman what had happened over the last few days. He just wanted to find Sven and get out of there as quickly as possible. Sasha nudged Alex to one side.
"Modgud, hi, I'm Sasha, Baldur and Nanna's daughter, remember me?"
"Sasha! Of course, my how you have grown. The last time I saw you, you were a wee baby. I was so glad Hel agreed to allow you to grow up in Midgard. I still can't believe your mum got pregnant down here. We had a big debate about it at the time and figured it must have been the immortal blood still flowing through them. It takes decades to finally drain from the system. Are you with this lot? Your mum and dad will be thrilled."
"Are they near here? I can't wait to see them," said Sasha her eyes shining in e
xcitement.
"No, they’re at Hel's palace. As you know things have been a bit hectic down here recently. I was rather hoping you could shed some light on what really happened up there," said Modgud, leaning forward.
"Of course, let me introduce you to Alex here," said Sasha, placing her hand on his arm. "He's the son Thor had with a human and who triggered Odin’s curse. Poor Alex was taken away from his mum when he was a baby by one of Loki’s henchmen. He was meant to kill him but the man couldn’t do it. He placed a cloaking spell on Alex instead and hid him with a foster family. When Alex turned eighteen, Odin’s curse kicked in and a portal to Helheim started to open at Lokson’s henge. The Asguardians managed to contain the breach whilst Alex fulfilled the prophecy to seal Hel away forever. He found the sword in Niddhogg's lair and he sealed the breach at the henge just in time. You must know about Garm and Hraesvelg escaping and how the sword sent them back?"
Modgud nodded excitedly. "Oh yes, that was hilarious, Garm was furious, all trussed up like a chicken. I had to unwind all of that ribbon, it took me ages, I couldn't break through it at all. Dwarf rope eh?" she asked Dvalin, winking.
Dvalin nodded slowly. His mouth was wide open and he was gazing up at Modgud in adoration.
"Yes madam, I created it myself," he said proudly, puffing out his chest so much that the buttons on his stained grey shirt looked like they were about to pop off and poke someone in the eye.
"Well I would keep a wide berth from him if I were you, he’s not very happy and Hel gave him a really hard time for failing her."
"I have no intention of ever setting eyes on Garm again, once was enough," said Alex seriously.
"That could be hard. You say you need to get to the Yggdrasil tree root?" she asked.
Alex nodded.
"To do that you have to travel across the Plain of Aeora to face your greatest fears. Then you have to enter the land of Tilgivelse to seek forgiveness from those you have harmed. Finally you will need to prove that you are worthy of entering Helheim by completing a task in the realm of Vaskr. If you survive all of that then you need to get past Garm and then you can make your way to the Yggdrasil tree root."
Helheim (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 2) Page 3
