Dead Chaos (A Valkyrie Novel - Book 3) (The Valkyrie Series)

by Ayer, T. G.

  "And I feel the same about you too," Sigrun answered with a kind smile. For all her goodness it seemed hard for her to admit her affection.

  "Right. Norns, here I come," I said, flicking a glance at the team walking soberly behind us.

  The ragged fingers of rock behind us didn't end there. It hedged us in like a fence, coming down on both sides and descending down the mountainside, stretching almost endlessly into the distance. A layer of fresh snow topped the craggy rock and crunched under our feet, dirty and brown, yet still icy.

  "Watch your step as you walk down the hillside," warned Sigrun. "It is very slippery."

  We followed her in silence. I still felt the pressure of this world bearing down on me despite the height of the sky. A sky that far away should make everything feel so much more grand and expansive, but all it did was make me feel colder and smaller and more insignificant.

  I risked a brisk trot to catch up with Sigrun. "Is this really the nearest Bifrost entrance to the Tree?" I was annoyed that despite the bridge, we ended up deposited in a place that seemed too far from our destination.

  "Yes, unfortunately it is. The Jotunns do not provide generous access to either the Aesir or the Vanir. But the Tree of Life belongs to us all, thus the Jotunns have no choice but to allow the Bridge to open as near as possible. This is the nearest entrance to the Yggdrasil."

  "Nearest?" I scoffed. "The Jotunns have a warped sense of humor. This entrance is about as far as you can get. They certainly didn't want to make it easy for people to visit the tree."

  "I suspect the placement has more to do with the fact that the All-Father has direct access to the Yggdrasil."

  "Oh, so he can go there directly? Like the way he sent you to fetch me to Asgard, or how he took me straight to Freya's Hall in Hel?"

  "Yes, that is exactly the way."

  We descended the mountainside without incident, but I noticed the team was unusually silent. Aidan walked by himself, followed by Aimee and Joshua. He stood apart as if he was already extricating himself from our team, barely talking to or looking at anyone. He and I were no longer together, and I wasn’t crazy enough to think I could force him to stay with the team. It may be best if he found a different team and I would be surprised if he hadn’t already made arrangements.

  At least my heart didn’t ache for him. I wondered if I was in some kind of denial—that I wasn't devastated about our parting because deep down, I wasn't accepting that we weren’t together anymore. But, when I thought about it more, I knew. It was over and I was okay with it. Maybe we could still be friends.

  Maybe.

  We walked on, winding between the immense shards of rock scattered across the ground as if hundreds of lightning bolts had shattered on impact and turned into granite.

  We'd left Asgard straight after a hot, fortifying breakfast, but soon, that meal began to feel like it was hours ago. I was still on automatic, it seemed, as I glanced at my watch. The clock face was blank. Watches didn't work in the other realms, digital or otherwise. I'd strapped it on automatically as I'd dressed.

  Looking up at the sky didn’t help to tell the time, either. The roiling clouds covered every inch of the heavens and it was easy to assume that no sun ever shone here in Jotunnheim. But as much as I wanted to stop, rest, and eat, we needed to cover as much ground as possible. At last, when I felt like I wouldn’t be able to take another step without imploding from hunger, Sigrun slowed to a halt and said, "Let us stop here. Eat and rest. The next stop we make will be for the night."

  As if on cue, Hugin circled and descended, landing on a nearby rock that looked dangerously jagged. But he perched there just fine, his impassive bird face giving nothing away.

  We dug into our packs for our rations and I glanced at Sigrun. "So how long will it take to get there?" I asked, unsure if I wanted to hear the answer.

  "We should get there by tomorrow evening as long as we keep up the pace. We will have to rest for the night though."

  "Why can't we just keep going?"

  "The nights in Jotunnheim are brutal. Ice, snow, and sleet fill the air, making it difficult to travel, let alone survive. We have to find a place to take cover during the night-storms," said Sigrun.

  I leaned against one of the huge rocks, the action reminding me that my wings were no longer there to cushion my back as they used to. Even when I thought it would be too hard to do, I’d gotten used to life without them.

  I tried to distract myself by watching my companions. Joshua had built a fire while the rest of the team had prepared the food. Soon a meat pie and an apple filled my belly, making me feel human again. I must have daydreamed a bit because I started when someone sat beside me, armor tinkling softly beneath a thick fur coat.

  "How you holding up?" asked Joshua as he settled in. His dark eyes roamed my face as if he'd find some kind of sign there.

  "I'm fine," I said, smiling. I found myself staring into his face too, and soon, I wasn’t sure if it was the newly built fire or something else that warmed me from head to toe. That brought a blooming warmth to my cheeks.

  From the look on Joshua's face, I could tell he felt the same as his gaze landed on my lips and stayed there a bit longer than necessary. When he looked up at me, I had to remind myself to breathe. And remind myself that we were surrounded by people.

  I glanced away from Joshua and looked straight into Aidan's face. His expression was dark and twisted into an angry frown. Had he seen more in our exchange than he should have? Or was he just suspicious? I looked away, staring into the fire in silence.

  Aidan's expression made me wonder if I owed him an explanation. I'd thought of him as my boyfriend even though he'd never asked me. We'd been apart for most of the time that we’d been together. What kind of a relationship was that anyway? Our attraction had been instant. Had I bluffed myself into thinking it was more than just chemistry?

  And now that the "relationship" was over by his decision, he really had no place making any judgments on my choices or getting pissed off about them either.

  We rested for half an hour more before setting off again into the white, wintry wilderness. The trek had taken its toll, and even after the lunchtime rest, nobody was in any mood to chat. They probably felt the same as me—just put one foot in front of the other until we get there.

  Twilight was a welcoming sight, if only it meant rest and a little warmth. Sigrun found us a good spot in a hollowed out space at the base of one of the gigantic stones. We were fortunate too that we'd found a cave that faced away from the gusting winds. We barely made it inside before icy, white snowflakes began to drift to the ground.

  We stamped some warmth back into our feet and moved closer to the fire. Everyone else was oblivious to it, but I could feel the tension resonating from Aidan. But I wasn’t sure it made sense to hide the way I felt. Or rather, the way I no longer felt about him. Everything seemed so mixed up right now that a little honesty could only do us some good.

  With the wind and snow howling outside, we decided to settle down for the night, angling ourselves toward the fire. Aimee threw her blanket beside me and gave me a sneaky grin.

  "You okay?" I whispered.

  "Yup, just fine." Aimee snuggled in her fur coat and let out a sigh. Then, face full of mischief, she whispered, "So are you two going to stop making googly eyes at each other and just get on with it?"

  I stared at Aimee in silence, wondering how much she knew. "What do you mean, googly eyes?"

  "Come on, Bryn. I'm not blind. Besides you and Joshua were an item even before either of you knew it."

  I snorted. "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Remember when I came back to school for that one day?" I nodded, recalling her rainbow patchwork bandana and her cheery smile. "I'd passed Cherise in the hallway. She was furious because Joshua was head over heels for the new girl. See, everyone knew it except for you and Joshua."

  The rustle and rumble of movement and conversation around us began to die as everyone settled in and be
gan to fall asleep, signaling the end of our conversation. Aimee winked at me and shut her eyes. Soon she was asleep, breathing evenly like Sigrun who slept on the other side of me.

  I watched Aidan as he took up the guard, his back stiff and profile hard as granite. I sighed. He was pretty much a lost cause right now.

  I listened to Joshua’s soft snores and the occasional snuffling from one of the girls. I fell asleep soon enough, the journey having tired my body out.

  ***

  I stood frozen in place, blinking as the noise around me solidified into a battle scene.

  A blade swiped at an Ulfr as he charged a frost giant. The vicious edge caught him in the neck, sending blood spraying everywhere, covering my hands and face. I could taste the copper on my tongue and I gagged. Shocked, I stumbled forward, screaming.

  Everyone was dying around me.

  What was happening? I screamed for Odin but he couldn’t hear me; he was too busy fighting off Loki. I struggled to get closer to Fen. I had to stop Vidarr from getting closer to him. I knew the god of Silence and Vengeance wanted only to kill Fen because of the prophecy. Kill Fen now and perhaps Odin may survive this war.

  I screamed Fen's name and struggled against the push of bodies and the slash of swords and the screams of dying men and giants and gods.

  And then I woke, gasping and choking for breath.

  ***

  Chapter 18

  "Bryn, wake up. Bryn, are you okay?" Sigrun and Aimee both faced me, shocked expressions on their faces as they waited for my answer.

  "Yes, yes I'm fine," I gasped and took another shuddering breath. Behind the girls Aidan and Joshua looked on, concern clear on their faces. "It was just a dream, nothing more."

  "What was it about? Maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it," suggested Sigrun.

  I considered not telling them. Considered keeping the dream to myself. But something told me they deserved to know. What if the dream was some kind of message for us? They were all here with me, and what if the dream meant we were in danger?

  "It was a dream. It’s the second time I've had this same dream," I said, taking a deep shuddering breath and tasting the blood again. I swallowed and continued. "I'm in a field overrun with Warriors and Ulfr and gods. There are giants too, Jotunns and Surts and even Nidhogg. It felt like all the races of the nine realms were fighting in this one place. And there was so much blood. So much death. Loki was fighting Odin this time. And Vidarr was about to kill Fen."

  "Oh my," said Sigrun. Then she rose to her feet and said, "Oh my. I think I know the place you are dreaming of, Bryn."

  "You think it's a real place?"

  "Well, sounds like the place the prophecies say is the location of the great war of Ragnarok. It is called the Vigrid Plains," Sigrun said. But a shadow of what looked like fear flitted across her features. Then she continued, "And the Vigrid Plains is located in Jotunnheim, not far from the Yggdrasil."

  "What?" I breathed the word out in shock. "You mean it's near here?"

  "Yes. We will reach it sometime this morning. We have to pass the Plains to reach the Tree of Life."

  I was quiet, unsure of what to say about the fact that I would soon be facing a place I'd assumed was nothing more than a horrible dream. More like a nightmare. I could still taste the copper on my tongue.

  "So I dreamed about this place and it was real. What about the rest of the dream? Could it also be real too?"

  "You mean Vidarr trying to kill Fenrir?" asked Sigrun.

  "Yes, and Loki stabbing Odin in the back?"

  "It could be a premonition or a foretelling of some sort," offered Hugin as he fluttered down to me.

  "So maybe it's best to assume that some of it were true. Sigrun do you know this Vidarr person?" asked Aimee.

  Sigrun nodded and said, "Vidarr is a son of Odin, god of Silence and Vengeance.

  "Yeah, I've seen him," I said. "And he certainly wasn’t happy that Odin accepted the Ulfr's pledge. He actually broke his silence to voice his disagreement with Odin's choice."

  Sigrun paled and nodded and I noticed the rest of the team had drawn closer.

  "And in your dream, you saw him kill Fenrir?" asked Hugin.

  "No, he was about to kill him when I woke up," I said, somehow glad I hadn’t seen that. As it was, just the thought of Fen dying made me want to bawl my eyes out. What I really needed now was to stop thinking about the dream. It seemed to have affected my whole body, even the pit of my stomach roiled in response. "Okay, I think we'd better get moving."

  As I got to my feet, the rest of the team set about rolling up blankets and collecting bits and pieces. We cleaned up the cave, then put out the fire while Joshua buried our trash in the soil just outside the caves entrance.

  Soon we were tramping along, following Sigrun and heading for Yggdrasil. As inevitable as it was, I dreaded the thought of passing the real Vigrid Plains.

  As long as I didn't have any more dreams, maybe I'd be fine.

  ***

  Boiling black clouds rumbled overhead, and thunder grumbled every so often. Jotunnheim certainly didn’t have the cheeriest weather. I guess they didn’t need a weatherman to predict the day’s weather, either. Always cloudy, never sunny.

  Sigrun had led us across an endless field of craggy rocks until we reached a mountain range. My spirits crashed at the thought of scaling the monstrous mound of rock when Sigrun pointed out a pass that ran through the belly of the hulking, granite beast.

  We headed for the pass at a brisk pace. I bet everyone else felt the way I did; no way did I want to be stuck in the pass. Just the thought of being caught beneath the weight of so much black rock was enough to make me break out into a run and head screaming for the exit on the other side.

  But I took a deep breath and tried to calm my hammering heart.

  Joshua stepped in beside me, and I felt calmer with him walking next to me. I suspected it was Aimee's idea to keep him and Aidan apart. A quick glance behind me confirmed my suspicions. We walked along what seemed like a crack that ran deep through the very center of the mountain. The sides of the pass closed in on us and I made it worse by looking up, seeking a glimpse of the sky as if just the sight of the angry clouds would lessen the tightening in my chest. But it was a worthless exercise.

  Only darkness greeted my eyes as I strained to see the sky. I sighed. "It won't be long. We're almost there," said Joshua. He was right but it still didn't make me feel any better.

  "It's weird. I felt nothing when I went to Swartelfheim to retrieve the goblet. And there, I had to go deep into the Dwarf mountain and stay there for a long while. But this mountain is different. There's just something about it that makes me really uncomfortable."

  "I know what you mean," he said. "It's almost as if someone is watching us."

  I looked up and around but all that moved was Hugin as he soared ahead. At least he'd alert us to any dangers.

  I hoped.

  We made it to the exit without anything untoward befalling us. And as we passed out of the mountain, we gathered to stare at the wide expanse of land before us.

  "The Vigrid Plains," said Hugin from his perch on Sigrun's shoulder.

  "Wow," breathed Aimee. "That's beautiful in an eerie kind of way."

  The plains, dotted with trees, extended for miles. A range of dark, craggy mountains encircled the plains so far in the distance they looked like black shadows on the edge of the horizon.

  We made our way down a small path littered with rocks and stones until we stood level with the Vigrid Plains. An icy shiver ran up and down my spine as my eyes spasmed and I again saw the very same land filled with fighting men and blood and screams. It seemed the images in my dreams were now superimposed in front of me as if I were watching a ghostly reenactment.

  I shuddered and must have moaned because I heard Joshua's voice and felt his arm around me. "Bryn, are you okay?" His voice held more than a touch of worry.

  I blinked, trying to get those horrible images out of my
head. I focused on Joshua's face, stared at him until the other images faded, I was breathing evenly, and all I could see was him.

  Sigrun came to me too. "Bryn, perhaps it would be good for you to look at the plains and see them as they are, empty and . . . dying."

  As she spoke the word "dying" I focused on the land before me and realized how right she was. All the trees I'd noticed were dead or dying, blackened branches held out like emaciated fingers. No grass grew on these plains, just dried, cracked soil.

  And not a drop of blood in sight.

  I sighed and stared at the plains. It didn't matter that the land was dying. All that mattered was that my dream hadn’t come true. Not yet, anyway.

  Hugin fluttered to my shoulder. "Brynhildr, I would suggest your dream is a foretelling. I believe your dream may be a vision of the actual battle of Ragnarok. And perhaps that vision is so tied to this place that it may be very strong in this moment."

  "You're right, Blackbird. I can barely stop the visions from coming. It's taking all my energy."

  "Is there any more you can tell us about the dream?" asked Hugin.

  "No, I think I've told you everything I can remember."

  "Then there is no point in allowing the visions to return especially when it is so emotionally taxing for you," the bird said firmly.

  I nodded and Sigrun murmured in agreement when I repeated what Hugin had said. "We should be on our way. We still have a long journey ahead of us," she said as she looked to her left. "We follow the edge of the plains and come to another pass. Yggdrasil is just beyond that."

  I stared off into the distance, cursing the additional pass, but grateful the end was in sight.

  ***

  Chapter 19

  Hours later, as the light began to eke from the dull sky, with aching bodies and throbbing feet, we made it through the second pass safely, leaving the dying remains of the Vigrid plain behind. And for the second time in one day, we walked out of a mountain pass to be greeted by a stunning sight.

  We stood at ground level this time, in awed silence as we stared at the great ash tree that was Yggdrasil. I craned my head to see the top of the tree and wondered if perhaps the tree was the reason the land of the frost giants had such a high sky. The tree reached such great heights that the tops of it were invisible as they disappeared into the dark clouds above.