Loki's Wolves

by K. L. Armstrong

  “After almost everyone dies. That’s messed up.” Fen shook his head. Then he looked at Laurie and said, “We’ll go to your place first. It’s closest. He and I will stay outside. Aunt Janey won’t let you go anywhere with me. Then we’ll stop by the garage for my stuff.”

  They didn’t have to worry: her mom wasn’t home, so Laurie left a note and they headed to Kris’ place. Leaving Blackwell seemed scary, but the other descendants weren’t here—and the Raiders were. Plus, there was the whole Matt’s-family-wanting-the-end-of-the-world problem. Leaving home was necessary.

  But she was still nervous, and she was sure the boys were, too.

  Once they had backpacks and a couple of sleeping bags they’d borrowed from Kris’ garage, she turned to the boys and asked, “Okay, where to?”

  The boys exchanged a look. Neither spoke. Day one and they were already lacking any sort of plan. They had no idea what to do. They were kids and supposed to figure this all out… because Matt said his family and some women claimed he and Fen were to defeat monsters. It was crazy. No one was saying it out loud, but she suspected they were all thinking it.

  Fen turns into a wolf.

  There was that one detail, proof that the crazy was real, that kept her from thinking it was all a great big joke. The rest of her “proof” was just her instincts and a conversation with a blue-haired boy. It wasn’t much. The wolf thing was real, though. She’d seen it.

  After a few moments, Matt said, “I can do this.”

  “Riiiight.” Fen drew out the word. “Didn’t we already decide that?”

  “Not that,” Matt said. “Maybe I can…” He stood straighter. “I’ll talk to my brothers. They’ll know about this. They’re smart. They can help.”

  “Are you sure?” Laurie asked.

  Matt nodded, but she didn’t believe him, and from the look on Fen’s face, neither did he.

  “I’ll go with you,” Fen suggested. “You”—he looked pointedly at Laurie—“need to stay out of sight in case the Raiders come back.”

  She wanted to argue, but she was pretty sure that Fen wouldn’t need much of an excuse to decide to leave her behind. She nodded as meekly as she was able. “Fine.”

  This time, she added in her head. I’ll hide and wait this time.

  Fen and Matt both looked tense, but she knew they were trying to hide it. They had a start of a plan of sorts. For now, that would have to be enough.

  This is going to be a disaster. The world is going to end because we don’t know what to do.

  TEN

  MATT

  “NIGHT FRIGHT”

  Matt stood on the corner, looking at his house. For the first time in his life, he realized how much it looked like every other house on the block. Each was painted a different color, but otherwise, they were identical—split-level houses with single-car garages and exactly the same size lawns, sometimes even the same flowers now dying in the same size gardens.

  “Come on,” Fen whispered. “We don’t have all night.”

  Matt tried to hurry, but his feet felt like they were made of lead. Shame burned through him. Some champion he was, too frightened to even face his family. That was nothing new, but—like looking down this street—it felt different now. Maybe it was because Fen was here, and he was seeing things like Fen would, just a bunch of nice houses, all in a row. Just an ordinary family living in the third one down. Nothing special. Nothing to be afraid of. Not for a kid who was destined to fight a giant serpent.

  Matt took a deep breath and imagined Jake standing there. Man up, he’d say, like he always did, with that look on his face, like he couldn’t believe they were actually related.

  Man up. Matt wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but he was pretty sure Fen would say the same thing. Stop dragging your feet like a baby and start acting like a man.

  Matt straightened and started forward before Fen noticed him hesitating.

  “Wait,” Fen said. He was even more prickly now that Laurie wasn’t with them.

  Matt ignored him. He wasn’t trying to be rude; he needed to keep moving or it’d be morning and he’d still be on this street corner.

  “I said wait,” Fen snapped, and moved in front of Matt. He looked left and right, head swinging. Like a wolf, Matt thought. Watching for trouble.

  “Back,” Fen said.

  “What?”

  Fen shot him a glare and motioned him back around the corner, behind the Carlsens’ garage.

  “Raiders,” he said.

  “What?” Matt repeated, and then caught himself before he sounded like a total idiot. He took his voice down a notch like Jake did sometimes. “The Raiders are there?”

  “Watching the house. We gotta go back.”

  Which was, Matt admitted to himself, exactly what he wanted. Forget grabbing stuff from his house. He’d happily stay in the same shirt and jeans for a week if it meant he didn’t need to face his family.

  Coward.

  He peered out.

  “I said—” Fen began.

  “Just taking a look.”

  “Because you don’t believe me?”

  “No, I just—”

  “Who’s the guy who can see better at night?” Fen asked in a voice that sounded a lot like a warning growl.

  “I know, I just—”

  “Look at the house on the other side of yours. By the garage.”

  Matt peeked out and saw a young Raider hiding in the shadows.

  “Three of them,” Fen said. “Maybe more. Skull’s not with them this time.”

  “Skull?”

  “The leader. He was at the field.”

  “Right.” Matt remembered the big Raider and was glad at least he wasn’t here, but still, three Raiders were three too many. “We need to draw them off.”

  “Um, no, we need to get out of here before they see—”

  “You go,” Matt said. “They’re looking for me. If they don’t see me come home, they’ll think I snuck in later. They might go after my family.”

  “So?”

  Matt looked at him.

  “Isn’t this the family that was going to sacrifice you to a dragon?” Fen asked.

  “Serpent. Well, it’s kind of like—never mind. My brothers don’t know. They can’t.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He was certain Josh didn’t know. But could he help? He was only sixteen. No. He had to do what Jake would. Man up. Protect his family. Prove to them that he could do this.

  “I’m drawing the Raiders off,” he said. “They need to know I never went home. That’ll keep my family safe.”

  Fen snorted.

  He thinks I’m an idiot. I shouldn’t care. But I do. Matt shook his head. Doesn’t matter. I’m still a Thorsen. Family comes first.

  “You go on,” Matt said. “I’ll—”

  “Walk,” Fen said.

  “What?”

  Fen made a move, as if to shove him. “Go. Move. Pretend you’re walking home.”

  Matt stepped out and started down the sidewalk. It took a moment to realize Fen was beside him. When he did, he started to protest, but a look from Fen shut him up.

  “So, um, how’s…” Matt struggled—and failed—to think of any sports or clubs Fen was in. “School. How’s school?”

  Fen looked at him like he’d asked how he liked ballet lessons.

  “Mr. Fosse is being a real jerk this year, isn’t he?” Matt continued.

  “What the—?” Fen began.

  “I’m making conversation.”

  “Seriously? We’re on the lam together, Thorsen. Not buddying up.”

  “I’m doing it for them.” Matt jerked his chin at the Raiders. “So it looks normal.”

  “Us talking does not look normal,” Fen pointed out.

  They continued in silence. It took a minute before the Raiders noticed them. Matt kept going, like he hadn’t seen the figures sliding from behind the neighbor’s garage.

  “I’ll just grab some clothes and a toothbrush,”
Matt said, as loudly as he dared. “Then we’ll run away together. I mean—”

  “Shut it, Thorsen,” Fen hissed. “Just shut it.”

  There were five Raiders. They’d all come out now. Matt looked straight at them.

  “Uh, Fen?” he said. “Aren’t those the—?”

  “Go.” Fen wheeled and ran, Matt racing after him, the Raiders giving chase.

  They managed to ditch the Raiders before they got back to Laurie. Then, as they were heading out of town, they saw them again. It didn’t seem as if the Raiders noticed them, but they weren’t taking a chance. They ran from Blackwell and didn’t look back.

  Late that night, Matt awoke smelling the sharp tang of wet grass. A distant coyote yipped. Beside him, someone groaned in sleep. Camping, he thought. I’m camping.

  He started to drift off again, then he felt the wet grass, dampness seeping through his sleeves, and he bolted upright, remembering his father yelling at him for leaning his knapsack against the tent.

  Anything touching the tent lets in the rain. You’re not a child, Matthew. It’s time you stopped acting like one.

  Matt scrambled up, trying to see what he’d left against the tent this time. But there was no tent. He was looking up at shards of night sky through the treetops. He blinked hard as he struggled to focus. Then he looked over, saw Laurie and Fen, and it all came back.

  He heard the Seer’s voice: Our champion is Matthew Thorsen.

  Then Granddad: My grandson is being honored in the highest fashion, and he will do us proud, and he will take his place in the halls of Valhalla as a champion with the long-dead gods. As a hero. Our hero.

  Matt’s stomach lurched. His foot slid on the wet grass, and he went down on his knees, his stomach tumbling with him. He fell onto all fours, retching.

  Mistake. It’s gotta be a mistake. They wouldn’t do that. Not Mom. Not Dad. Especially not Granddad.

  But even as he denied it, his stomach kept heaving, a thin trickle dripping as he coughed.

  “Matt?”

  He pushed up fast, his hand swiping the dribble from his mouth. Laurie sat blinking at him.

  “You okay?” she asked quietly. After a moment’s pause, she added, “Or is that a dumb question?”

  “I’m fine.” He wiped his mouth harder and straightened, letting his voice drop an octave. “Sorry about that. Just… fair food. Corn dogs taste great, then you wake up in the middle of the night, feeling like they were made from real dogs.”

  She didn’t smile, just kept peering at his face in the darkness. He tried to straighten more. He couldn’t let her see he was scared. She was a girl. She had to be protected. That’s what Dad always said.

  “Everything’s fine,” he said.

  “Um, no. It’s not,” she said. “You and Fen nearly got killed by Raiders. We all nearly got killed by a tornado. And now we’re sleeping in the woods, resting up so we can fight to stop the end of the world. Things are not fine.”

  “But it will be. Everything is under control.”

  No, it’s not, you idiot. You have no idea what you’re doing. No idea where you’re going. Morning’s going to come soon, and they’re going to find out you don’t have a good plan. You don’t have any plan at all.

  “Everything is under control.” Say it often enough, and I might even start to believe it. “Just go back to—”

  “Shhh!”

  Matt looked over at her. “Huh?”

  Laurie opened her mouth to say something, but another Shhh! came from beside her as Fen sat up, scowling. His head cocked. He motioned around them.

  When Matt frowned, Fen’s scowl deepened. “Are you deaf, Thorsen? Stop yammering and listen.”

  Matt did and heard the faint rustle of grass. He was about to say it was just the wind, but Fen already thought he was a clueless rich kid. When he listened more closely, he heard a thud, like…

  He wasn’t sure what it sounded like. Not the wind. Not a scurrying rabbit, either. It was familiar, but only vaguely, some memory locked deep in his brain.

  Then another noise: a click-click, like dice knocking together.

  “I’m going to take a look,” he whispered.

  Fen shrugged. “Whatever.”

  When Laurie gave Fen a look, he said, “What? He offered.”

  Laurie began getting up. “I’ll come—”

  Fen caught her arm. “The more of us go, the more noise we make. Thorsen can handle it.”

  Matt squared his shoulders and gave what he hoped was a confident nod. Then he slipped to a patch of bushes, crouched, and made his way along. He’d gone only a few steps when he heard the clicking again. Then a snort. A bump. All three sounds came from different directions. He tried to take another step, but his body wouldn’t listen, frozen in place.

  His amulet had started to vibrate again, like it had with the Norns, only it felt different. It felt like trouble.

  A whisper sounded behind him. Matt looked back to see Laurie leaning toward her cousin, her gaze on Matt as she whispered something. He couldn’t hear the words, but he could imagine them. Thorsen can’t do it. He’s scared.

  He wasn’t usually so jumpy—he’d been camping plenty of times. But after last night, he couldn’t be sure it was just a wild animal out there. It might be… well, there were lots of things it might be. Norse myths were full of monsters.

  He gritted his teeth and resumed walking, straining to see in the dark, leaning forward until he almost tripped. Then he glimpsed a huge pale form just beyond the forest. It had to be at least seven feet high and almost as long.

  That’s not possible. Nothing’s that big.

  Nothing natural.

  But there was nothing natural about giant serpents and kids who turned into wolves.

  Something had tracked them down. Some monster. His mind whipped through his mythology books. Trolls. Frost giants. Berserkers.

  Another snort to his left. When he turned, he could make out a second huge pale shape. And a third behind it. And a fourth…

  He swallowed.

  They were surrounded. These things had found them, and now—

  “I come for Thor’s son. Send him out!” It was a woman’s voice. But not like any woman’s voice he’d ever heard. There was no softness to it. It was as harsh as the caw of a crow.

  He took a slow step back.

  “You!” The pale beast moved to the forest edge. “I see you, boy. You cannot be the one I seek. The son of Thor does not cower in shadows.”

  Anger darted through him, and he almost barreled out to confront her. He stopped himself, but after that first jolt of Are you nuts? he thought maybe that wasn’t so crazy after all.

  Fen must be able to hear the woman. He’d know they were in danger and that Matt was the target. He’d take his cousin and run. And that, Matt reasoned, was probably their only chance.

  Matt strode from the forest. “I am a son of…”

  As he stepped into the moonlight, he found himself staring up at a white horse bigger than any he’d ever seen. On its back was a woman. But not like any woman he’d ever seen, either. She had bright red hair that rippled and snarled around her pale face. Her cheeks were stained with what looked like handprints. The horse was painted with them, too, handprints and lines and swirls that shone blue in the moonlight.

  The horse snorted and shifted, and when it did, he heard that clicking noise and looked over. The horse’s bridle. It was… it was made of bones. Finger bones strung together. More bones hung from the saddle, which almost looked as if it was made of… nope. He wasn’t thinking of that. It was leather. Just regular leather.

  “Are you Matthew, son of Thor?” the woman asked.

  He looked up at her. He had to. Even if his heart was pounding so hard he could barely breathe.

  He noticed then how young she was. Not much older than the elder Norn. Pretty, too. His stomach twisted as he thought it. He didn’t want to think it. She shouldn’t be pretty with that wild hair and blue-stained face. She should be t
errible—and she was. But as she sat there, perfectly straight, blue eyes flashing, shield over one shoulder, sword gripped in her free hand, he didn’t see a monster, he saw…

  He swallowed as he realized what he saw. What she was. They had mosaics of her, too—her kind—in the rec center. Only they didn’t look like this. The women in those pictures were tall and beautiful with long blond braids and horned hats and breastplates that didn’t totally cover… well, he remembered how much his friends liked that picture. And maybe he’d kind of liked it, too.

  The only thing this woman had in common with them was her sword and shield, but Matt remembered an older painting in a dusty book his granddad kept in his private library. In that painting, the women were wild-haired and painted, riding great winged steeds through the battlefields, stripping trophies from the enemy dead.

  “Valkyries,” Matt whispered.

  “Huh?” said a voice behind him.

  Matt spun to see two women on foot leading Fen and Laurie around the forest patch, as if they’d tried to escape out the other side. Laurie was struggling and snarling. Fen just walked, as if he’d realized he couldn’t fight.

  “They’re Valkyries,” Matt whispered as he stepped back beside Fen.

  ELEVEN

  FEN

  “READING MOUNT RUSHMORE”

  Valkyries?” Fen echoed. That explained how the women had managed to sneak up on them. He looked back at the woman who held him. She was blond, but otherwise looked like the red-haired rider, right down to the blue war paint.

  “The son of Thor is correct,” the red-haired Valkyrie said in her rough voice. “The son of Loki knows too little of his heritage.” She turned to Laurie. “And the daughter?”

  Laurie pulled herself straight. “I’ll learn.”

  “The descendants of Thor are taught their heritage.” Fen pulled away from the Valkyrie holding his shoulder. “Not all of Loki’s descendants are taught—because of the sons of Thor.”

  He sent a glare Matt’s way.

  “You must learn,” the Valkyrie said. “I am Hildar of the Valkyrie. We are pleased to see you have accepted the challenge. We have come to offer assistance.”