"He did. I banished Loki to Jotunheimr."
"The land of the giants," explained Lexi, when she saw the blank look on Alex's face.
"I made Thor take him there as his punishment. If he hadn't disobeyed me and met your mother, none of this trouble would have happened."
"You banished him too?" asked Alex aghast.
"No, he's not banished but he'll have a terrible time getting his brother there and ensuring he stays there. You might have noticed, Loki is a bit of a trickster. Thor will have to keep a constant eye on the slippery wretch. Then he'll have to negotiate with the Jotnars to secure a deal to keep Loki there. Thor hates the giants, he wouldn't normally go anywhere near them. Perhaps this will teach him not to stray from his wife's bed," he said sternly.
"Will he be long?" asked Alex hopefully. "I was hoping he could help me get rid of this sword. It's done enough damage already."
"Ah, Dvalin's cursed sword," he said, looking at the sword hanging by Alex's side. "That dwarf has a lot to answer for. More to the point though, why is it strapped to your side? We only ever wear our swords on our backs so it doesn’t trip us up. Silly boy,” he said shaking his head.
Alex bowed his head in embarrassment, recalling the moment when the sword did indeed trip him up when he was running from Fenrir.
“Anyway, in answer to your question,” continued Odin. “I don't know how long he'll be. If he keeps his temper it should be straight forward enough. If not, well you saw Dvalin's golden door, you know, the one with bones from giant's hands? That's exactly what Thor thinks of the giants. Knowing him, he'll probably trigger a war."
"Why would you send him there then?" asked Alex, confused.
"You can't beat a good war. Ensures my hall is filled with brave warriors. You'll see them later, they'll come in after their fighting for the feast," he said.
"They're fighting?" asked Alex.
"Of course they're fighting, what else is there to do in Valhalla? They're behind the hall battling it out. When they get tired they'll come in for food, have a magnificent feast and get drunk. That's their reward for being brave warriors during their lives."
"What they do this every day?" asked Alex, fascinated.
"Of course. Ah, here come some now," said Odin, pointing to the doors to the right of the throne.
A group of heavily armed warriors came through the doors noisily and threw themselves down at a table.
"Alex, you're getting distracted," interrupted Lexi, sweetly. "Gramps, you know you asked me what I wanted. Well, you know you let Hadron kidnap me. That wasn't very nice," she said pouting prettily. "You were there and you let him take me. You owe me for that."
"Ha, ha, oh Lexi, you were more than capable of handling that oaf. I was curious to see how far the Light Elves would go."
"Odin, we have discussed this already, she could have died. Or she could have been forced to marry him and I would have had to give up the golden apples," interrupted Iduna.
"Oh for goodness sake Iduna, I wouldn't have let that happen and cover yourself up woman, I've said this a thousand times, you can't keep walking around here half naked you distract the men."
He was right, Alex noticed. The group of warriors who had entered were all staring at Iduna appreciatively.
"I will wear what I like," she said huffily, crossing her arms.
Odin sighed and shook his head. "Women," he grumbled.
"Grampsie," cut in Lexi.
She was looking at him with her best Puss in Boots eyes.
"When we were in Helheim, Hel said she would finally release Baldur and Nanna."
Odin's ears pricked up suddenly. "She did? What's the catch? There's always a catch with that monster."
"Grampsie, she's your granddaughter and she's very unhappy down there, give her a break," scolded Lexi.
"Give her a break? I'll break her neck if I ever see her. She's a monster. All of Loki's children are monsters and they'll be the end of us," he shouted, his temper rising.
"Gramps, calm down, I'm sorry and you're right, she does want something."
Lexi took a deep breath before continuing.
"She wants Sleipnir. If you give her Sleipnir she'll give you Baldur and Nanna back."
Odin went pale and staggered back up the steps to his throne. He sat down heavily and put his hand to his head.
"Gramps, I'm sorry. Alex and Sasha tried to dissuade her but she wouldn't budge."
Odin raised his head; his one eye stared at them icily.
"When you say she wants Sleipnir, you mean she wants me to sacrifice him, don't you?
"Yes," Lexi whispered.
"By tomorrow," added Alex. "I'm sorry, there wasn't anything we could do."
The hall was deathly silent, they stood frozen to the spot, waiting for Odin's reaction. He was sitting on his throne, head bowed, forearms resting on his knees. His shoulders started to shake and Lexi ran up the steps to comfort him. Suddenly he threw up his head and laughed a great bellowing laugh. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he held his sides, gasping for breath.
"Sacrifice Sleipnir for Baldur," he gasped. "Is she crazy as well as ugly? I can't believe it, after all this time."
"Grampsie, I know it's impossible but it's Baldur, your son and Nanna too."
"Finally," shouted Odin to the rafters.
The sound was so loud that the shields rattled on the walls and the ceiling. "Finally she makes a mistake. Sleipnir for Baldur. I can't believe it."
"Gramps, it's just a horse," said Lexi, pleading.
"Exactly," cried Odin. "My horse for my son. You just couldn't make it up. Heimdall, find Sleipnir, we're going on a journey. It's time I paid my granddaughter a visit."
"Odin, what are you planning?" asked Heimdall confused.
"A sacrifice," he shouted, making them all tremble. The greatest sacrifice ever seen in the Nine Worlds." He roared with laughter and slapped Alex on the back, making him stagger. "I can't wait to see her face and Baldur, my son, he will finally be back where he belongs. Ha, Loki will be thanking me for packing him off to Jotunheimr. Baldur will want to give him the beating of his life."
Odin strode towards the entrance to the hall, his arm slung over Heimdall's shoulders, laughing with joy.
Alex looked at Sasha and Lexi. "Am I getting this right, he's going to sacrifice his horse without an argument? What about all this 'oh he'll be furious, he'll kill you all'."
"That was way too easy, he's got something up his sleeve," said Lexi, thinking hard.
"He's brilliant," said Ellewen, her eyes shining. "I've just seen it. It's perfect. By Odin, I can't wait to see Hel's face."
"What? Come on, what is it?" cried Sasha.
"I can't say. If I tell you the Norns will weave another story and I really, really want this one to play out. It's pure genius."
"I can't take this in. He's really going to get my mum and dad freed? I honestly didn't think it would happen," said Sasha, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey, come here, don't cry. We're not out of the woods yet. Let's just go through with this and see what happens," said Alex, drawing Sasha to him for a friendly hug.
"Come on," said Ellewen tugging on their arms. He's getting ready to go, he can't wait."
Sasha and Alex walked briskly to the doors.
"Hey wait up. I'm coming too," called Lexi.
"No," barked Alex and Iduna together.
Iduna turned to her and held her hand. "You've done your bit Lexi and I'm proud of you. Helheim isn't somewhere you can just drop into and out of and not expect repercussions. You need to stay here with me. Alex will be back soon won't you?"
"Er, sure. I reckon if we pull this off we should have the biggest party ever. You know a chance for me to meet my other relatives. It's so cool to know I have two cousins," he said looking at Sasha and then Lexi. "I hadn't really thought about that before, it's cool," he said blushing and looking at his shoes.
"Yeah, we can be like your two new annoying sisters," said Sas
ha, laughing.
Lexi looked horrified. "But I thought..."
"Ok this is getting awkward," cut in Ellewen. "Lexi, it's safer if you stay here. You're in charge of the party. Alex, you and I need to chat, but not here. Come on or they'll go without us."
She plucked at Alex's sleeve and he backed away from Lexi slowly. "Hey, take care. Look let's talk once this is over, ok?"
Lexi nodded and Iduna placed her arm about her waist and gave her a quick squeeze. Lexi gave Alex a quick wave as he turned around and followed Sasha out of the door.
A large group of warriors had gathered beside the golden tree and they were raising drinking horns and toasting Odin. He was seated on top of a grey stallion with eight legs and was waving a long golden spear above his head, roaring with laughter.
"Sleipnir," whispered Alex, in awe.
The horse was magnificent; it's grey coat looked like liquid silver and its mane glowed bright white. It pawed the ground restlessly and Odin patted his neck fondly.
"Hurry up you three," he called over, impatiently. "I want to see my son."
He reached down to haul Sasha up behind him.
"Ellewen, are you going to portal in?" asked Alex.
She shook her head. "No it's too dangerous to portal into Helheim direct, the out lands are ok but it's dangerous to go any closer. I'll go with you guys."
She sprung up onto Sleipnir's back nimbly with no help and settled herself behind Sasha.
"Come on Alex," said Odin, looking down at him.
"Er, I need some help here," he said eyeing up the horses rump. There was no way he could jump up on that, it was as least ten foot tall.
Odin reached down with one hand and grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and hauled him onto the horses back unceremoniously. Alex's cheeks flushed scarlet as the warriors around them snorted with laughter.
"Looks like you have some training to catch up on grandson," chuckled Odin. "Can't wear a sword properly or even get on a horse, honestly."
Alex felt his temper suddenly flare, his fingertips tingled and electricity sparked from his eyes. Sleipnir neighed loudly and Odin looked at Alex carefully. "Yes you do need training. I sense great potential in you Alex but you will need to learn control quickly."
"Everyone needs to stop telling me what I need to do," Alex hissed between clenched teeth. "I can handle myself thank you."
He focused on calming down quickly and he felt the power melt back into his bones. He glared at the warriors surrounding them and they took a step back respectfully.
"Enough of this, let's be gone," said Odin, calmly.
He nudged Sleipnir's sides and he began to walk towards a massive tree trunk in the far distance. It was as large as a football pitch and rose up into the air.
"The Yggdrasil tree," said Ellewen.
Sleipnir started to pick up his pace and they all had to hold on tight as he started to gallop Alex struggled to keep his balance and kept bumping up and down, out of synch with everyone else. Every time he went up, the horses back went down and then they came together with a judder. He felt like his teeth were rattling around inside his head. He gripped on with his thighs and held on for dear life. Soon they were cantering towards the tree, Odin pointed his spear at the middle of the tree trunk and a bright white light shot out and struck the wood. Alex could see a round golden, shimmering hole had formed and they cantered towards it. Suddenly they burst through the hole and Alex felt his stomach drop as they hurtled downwards into a black abyss.
Chapter Eleven
Sleipnir rode through the blackness for what felt like forever to Alex. He couldn't see a thing and all he could hear was the heavy breathing of the horse and the jingling of his harness.
"Where are we?" he asked Ellewen.
"Riding through the Yggdrasil tree. We're following the root down to Helheim. Look, up ahead."
He looked past her shoulder and could see a pale purple glow in the distance. After a few more strides Sleipnir burst out of the tree and skidded to a halt. They were standing beneath the tree root where they had met the squirrel, Ratastok. They were immediately enveloped in a thick white fog and Alex could feel the damp seeping into his bones immediately. He focused on creating a small amount of energy and Ellewen sighed when she felt the benefit of it.
Odin looked over his shoulder. "Good, I didn't lose anyone," he grinned.
He clicked his tongue and nudged Sleipnir in the direction of Hel's palace. They made their way up the winding path, past the wailing heads. The sound was deafening as they all entreated Odin to forgive them. He scowled at each one and shook his head.
"Traitors," he spat. "Cowards."
"How long do they have to stay like that?" Alex asked Ellewen.
"Until Hel releases them to the battlefield. Then they can fight for eternity, neither winning nor losing."
"That sucks, no wonder they keep moaning," said Alex.
"If I had my way I would feed them all to Niddhogg. The good for nothing, cowardly miserable wretches," said Odin, with disgust.
When they reached the top of the hill, the final head was still silent, staring off into the distance at the battle beneath the hill, which could just be seen through the fog.
"Harold," cried Odin. "You're still here then?"
"Yes my lord. I've been enjoying this view for the best part of nine centuries now," said Harold cheerfully, acknowledging Odin by trying to bow his head.
"Harold here was the best berserker Ragnar had," explained Odin to Alex.
"Berserker?"
"A great warrior who went into battle with no armour, just a wolf skin," explained Sasha.
"In other words a crazy idiot," added Ellewen.
"It's where we get the term going berserk from. You know, going crazy and acting like a madman," said Sasha.
"If you were such a great warrior why are you here buried up to your neck?" asked Alex.
Harold didn't get a chance to explain, Odin spat. "He's a coward like the rest of them. This one refused to fight for his lord, said his wife foresaw his death so he thought it best to stay in bed that day and hump her instead of fight."
"Your Greatness, as I have explained before, it was a lost cause from the start. My lord Ragnar had no right to fight Eric Forkbeard. Ragnar only attacked him because Eric's daughter wouldn't marry him. I mean, she was only fourteen and he was forty. It was obscene. Ragnar was heavily outnumbered and suffered a humiliating defeat. It wasn't just because my lovely Agatha saw my death in the runes, it was not a worthy fight. When I died I wanted it to be honourable, not a fight to mollify an old man's pride."
"So how did you get here then?" asked Alex.
"Oh I had a heart attack humping my wife that day. When Hel judged me, she took into account I missed the battle so here I am, a marked coward for eternity. Could have been worse, if I had kept following Eric I would have been food for Niddhogg, that's where he ended up."
"Man, Hel is harsh," said Alex. "I'm going to see Iduna about another golden apple after this. Best not take any chances eh?"
Suddenly the doors to the palace swung open.
"Good luck," said Harold, winking at them.
Odin nudged Sleipnir inside the palace and the doors slammed shut behind them loudly. Hel was seated on her throne and Baldur and Nanna were standing to the left of her. Guards were lined up on either side of the hall and a pale looking Sven was crouched beside Hel's throne. Alex looked over towards Hel, her face was a picture of pure fury as she stared at Odin.
"This is my realm," she spat. "Why have you come? I demanded Sleipnir's sacrifice for Baldur and Nanna, you should have done that in Asgard."
Odin laughed bitterly. "Hel, do not forget that I gifted this land to you. I am the Allfather and have every right to travel to any land in the Nine Worlds."
"Gifted? That's rich. You threw me into a prison but I'm going to make you pay Allfather. Your precious horse for your son. That was the deal and don't think you can just take him away by force. I am all powe
rful here and I will not allow it," she snarled, angrily.
"I understand the deal and I have come here to sacrifice him myself. I wanted to ensure it was done properly."
"I don't believe you," she said suspiciously. "I swear, I will raise the dead if you take him by force."
"Hel, you haven't changed one bit. You're still the most suspicious, miserable, mean goddess ever to darken the Nine Worlds. Just look at this place," he said, sweeping his arm out to encompass the palace. "It's freezing in here. Why don't you get some heating? Brighten the place up a bit, eh? A few statues, carpets, electricity. You don't have to live in the dark ages Hel."
"You have no idea," she seethed, gritting her teeth. "The cold helps with the smell. Otherwise it's unbearable. I'm unbearable."
She took a deep gulp and quickly brushed a tear from her eye.
"Hel, what do you mean? You're not unbearable," said Alex, smiling at her with his winning smile. He was thinking a bit of flattery could work here and girls normally couldn't resist his smile.
"Really? she asked icily.
She stood up and tore open the bottom of her skirt.
"Flaming cows!" burst out Alex in shock.
The lower half of her body looked like a rotten corpse. The skin was black and wrinkled, maggots were oozing out of deep open wounds and the smell was unbearable, like rotten meat.
"Alex!" hissed Sasha from the side of her mouth. "Flaming cows? Where did that come from?"
Alex looked at her sheepishly. "I nearly said flaming hell but saved myself."
Sasha rolled her eyes and Ellewen stifled a giggle.
"Hel, I think you have made your point. Let's just get on with it shall we," said Odin, striking the floor with the butt of his spear.
The sound echoed around the chamber. Hel covered herself and smiled. The look sent shivers down Alex's spine, it was pure evil.
"Yes," she hissed. "Sacrifice your horse Odin and I will release your son and his wife."
"And Sven," added Alex.
Her eyes darted quickly to Sven who was crouched by the side of her throne.
"I still need Sven, he can go once he has completed level seventy five, it's impossible."
"Hel!" shouted Odin.
Helheim (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 2) Page 14
