by Linsey Hall
“Not us?” His brow lowered. “You sound like you are, in fact, accusing us.”
“No!” I held up my hands, placating. “Of course not! But we were advised to come here to seek our answers. That you might have…someone to help us find her. Or direct us toward her.”
A murmur went through the crowd of giants. Clearly annoyed. Offended, even.
“You think to impose upon our hospitality?” Utgard-Loki said. “You sneak in here and think to steal information from us?”
“Of course not!”
He scowled, his heavy brow drawing low over his eyes. He snapped a finger at someone behind us.
I turned and looked up, just in time to see a massive hand come down. I nearly peed my pants, but the hand just pinched the back of my jacket and lifted me up. I swung in the air, rising higher and higher. A hundred feet up.
Holy fates!
I froze. Don’t drop me!
I wouldn’t be able to unfurl my wings before I hit the ground. The giant dipped his other hand down, snatching up Cade. He appeared at my side as we both dangled in front of the giant’s chest.
“Well, this is undignified,” Cade said.
Terrified laughter collided inside me. “This is not how I expected to go.”
“You’re not going anywhere yet.” Utgard-Loki flicked his fingers. “Come. Bring them to the great hall.”
My jacket cut into my armpits as the giant carried us through the massive courtyard and into a huge entry hall. If I lived to tell the tale of this, I was going to run out of words to describe a place this huge. I needed to read Gulliver’s Travels, but from the Lilliputian perspective.
“If you break free, can you use your wings to save yourself?” Cade whispered.
“No. And I’m not leaving you.” I knew we would find answers here. Maybe even Idun.
And I wasn’t going to ditch him. Not now, not ever.
We rode along with the procession of giants, entering a banquet hall with a fireplace as big as the whole Protectorate castle. The flames flickered high and huge, looking like the gates to hell.
I averted my gaze, following Utgard-Loki to the main table. He sat in an enormous throne carved of wood—no doubt from the huge trees we’d seen in the forest. How was Odin the famous one when these guys existed?
The giant who carried us dropped us on the table in front of Utgard-Loki, and my skin chilled.
“I really feel like dinner down here,” I said.
“At least we’re not on plates.” Cade gave me a hard look. “Fly out of here.”
“No.” I swallowed hard and looked up at Utgard-Loki.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The giants who had seated themselves around him turned their heads to stare at us.
“I am Bree Blackwood, the Valkyrie Dragon god.”
“I am Belatucadros,” Cade said.
We’d really spent way too much time today introducing ourselves to massive creatures that could destroy us.
Utgard-Loki stared hard at us, then turned and bellowed. ”Syn!”
I waited, breathless, until finally, I could hear someone enter the room. Her footsteps sounded light. Like she was human. Or human-sized, at least. I tilted my head to hear better. Sounded like she was nearing the table. Then there was a crackle of magic, and a person grew up from the floor.
I saw her head first, appearing at the edge of the table. She continued to grow until she was the size of one of the giants, but it was magic rather than nature.
She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, and her magic was that of a god’s. It rolled over me, strong and fierce, feeling like clarity of mind and hard steel pressed against my throat.
I swallowed hard and met her gaze.
Syn, he’d called her. That would make her the goddess of truth.
I could definitely make use of a power like hers.
“Why do you call me, Utgard-Loki?” Her voice resonated with power.
He pointed to us. “Are they who they say they are?”
She stared hard at us, blue eyes glinting. “And who are you?”
We repeated the introductions.
“Truth,” she said.
“Humph.” Utgard-Loki crossed his arms over his chest. “Why are you here?”
“We seek to right a wrong, not cause any harm to you.” It was true, but would it satisfy them?
“Truth,” Syn said. “But which wrong?”
“The abduction of Idun.”
Syn frowned. “Hmm.”
Utgard-Loki dipped down until his head was level with mine. “Interesting.” He sniffed, trying to get a sense of my magic. “If you aren’t here to cause us harm, but require our help”—I wasn’t sure I’d go that far—“then I think this calls for a challenge.”
“A challenge?”
“Yes. Traditional.” He grinned. “Also entertaining.”
“What is the challenge?”
“It will be a traditional hero’s challenge. If you accomplish the tasks laid out for you, we will allow you to ask three questions of Syn to help you in your task.” He looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded. “If you fail, however, you become dinner.”
Shit.
Right, so we didn’t want to fail.
But succeeding could help us find Idun. Syn’s guidance could come in very handy. If only she’d give me some of her power. Since I didn’t think that would happen anytime soon, this was our best option.
Our only option, since they could squish us like bugs in a heartbeat.
I glanced at Cade, who nodded.
Hero’s challenge it was, then.
Which wasn’t dissimilar to what Frigg had said we would face.
“What is our challenge to be?” I asked.
Utgard-Loki leaned back in his chair, a delighted expression on his face. “It will be for someone your size, of course, and begin with a race. Then a strength challenge, then a fight.”
Cade and I could do all of those things. “All right. Let’s start.”
Someone grabbed the back of my jacket again, hoisting me into the air. My stomach plummeted as I swung two hundred feet above the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I could spot Cade, swinging just like I was.
They carried us out of the great hall and into the courtyard. We rode along for what felt like ages, never leaving the walls of the city.
I took the opportunity to use my healing magic to fix my frozen toes. They were probably a bit frostbitten, which would do me no favors in a race. Then I pressed my fingertips to my comms charm, whispering into it, “Ana, Rowan. Any luck with the crystals?”
“Almost,” Ana whispered back, mimicking my tone.
“Good. Keep going.”
“Good luck there.”
“Thanks.” I would need it.
When we neared a tiny forest, I frowned.
They had human-sized places here?
I caught sight of a cabin in the woods—a creepy old cottage that looked haunted as hell. Then the giants put us on the ground at the edge of the forest, and I lost sight of it.
From above, Utgard-Loki’s voice boomed. “You will race to the cottage, where you will pick up the cat. Be careful to choose the correct cat, or you will forfeit your life. Pick up the cat, then the fight will begin.”
What the heck? I leaned toward Cade and whispered, “Talk about some properly weird mythological challenges.”
“That’s the truth, and you don’t need Syn to confirm it.”
Many of the old stories I’d read had been similarly strange. But pick up the cat?
What the heck?
A man appeared at our side, small and slight. “Ready to run?”
I looked at him, taking in his short stature and even shorter legs. “Are you our competition?”
“That I am.” He grinned and shook his blond hair off his forehead.
We had a shot against a guy of his stature, definitely. I sucked in a deep breath, glancing at Cade. He nodded.
“Yes, we’re
ready.”
The man pointed down the path. “That will lead to the cottage. First one there, wins.”
I could do that. “Can I fly?”
He grinned. “Sure. It won’t help you, but sure.”
We’d see about that. I hiked a thumb at Cade. “Can he shift into a wolf?”
“All right.” The man chuckled.
Competitive fire rose in my chest. I wasn’t going to let this chuckling lunatic beat me. Hell no. Not just for Idun. For my honor—what there was of it, at least.
I stretched, looking up at Utgard-Loki, who loomed so far overhead that he could have been a mountain. “Will you call it?”
He nodded. The giants around him rustled, clearly getting excited.
Cade and I got into a running stance. I wouldn’t fly unless I had to, and he seemed to be of the same mind about shifting.
Utgard-Loki cleared his throat. “Three, two, one.”
At one, I sprinted ahead, Cade at my side.
Our competitor raced forward.
We ran, side by side. Air heaved in my lungs as I pushed myself, muscles aching. But the man pulled ahead. His short legs seemed to do him no harm at all.
“Damn it,” Cade growled. Magic swirled around him, golden and bright, and he shifted into his wolf form.
I called on my wings, feeling them unfurl from my back, and took to the sky. I pushed myself upward, but not so high that I lost any time on vertical gains.
My new speed was faster, and I shot forward, zipping down the path. Below, Cade raced in his wolf form. His huge paws ate up the ground, and he gained on the man.
Then the man stopped, and turned. He ran back toward Cade. Did a circle around him.
What the heck!
He was just showing off.
I flew faster, and he didn’t seem to notice me as I passed overhead. He was busy running circles around Cade, who was clearly pissed, his muzzle drawn back from his fangs as he sprinted along.
Though I’d been able to see the cottage from above when I’d been held in the giant’s grip, I was too low and far away right now.
But I kept flying, trying to put as much distance as possible between the man and me.
A shout sounded from behind me.
He’d seen me!
I pushed myself faster, but soon, he was sprinting along underneath me, taking the lead.
Frustration burned in my chest as my head pounded. Oxygen was in short supply in my body, and everything ached.
Without warning, the path cut off, running into a wall of water that appeared out of nowhere. It rose hundreds of feet high, clear and blue, sparkling in the sun. I could see straight through it, making out trees and rocks and even the path.
It was not a true body of water, else it’d be full of seaweed and fish. Instead, it was just plopped down on land.
I’d have thought that it was trickery on the Jötunn's part, meant to slow me, but my opponent had to deal with it, too.
He plowed right into the sparkling liquid, slowing as he became surrounded, but he continued to run on the path.
Not swim—run.
That should’ve been impossible.
I looked up. Could I fly over?
Eventually, maybe. But it’d take time, and it would leave Cade behind. We were strongest as a pair. I wouldn’t be the one to break that.
I called on my water magic, feeling the heavy liquid deep in my body, like it was part of me. Maybe this was part of the challenge—to use the magic the gods had gifted me.
It only made sense, for a hero’s challenge.
That way, I could become the Master of my Magic and earn my victory.
It took every bit of magic I had to part the water. For some reason, it was more difficult than normal. My breath heaved as I gave it everything I had, eventually splitting the water to reveal the sodden path.
I made sure not to clear the way for our opponent, who was still ahead of us, and flew between the walls of water.
Below, Cade caught up, racing on the muddy path, flinging dark droplets up behind him. I panted as I flew, trying to keep the water away from us. It pressed in on me, as if the goddess Rán herself was fighting me.
Every muscle in my body ached as I fought my way through, holding back the water.
Twenty feet ahead of us, our opponent burst out of the water and onto the cleared path. My magic split the rest of the water.
Almost there.
I raced toward it, Cade putting on a blast of extra speed.
I was shaking by the time I flew out of my water tunnel and dropped my control immediately. Nothing happened—nothing but dead silence.
I glanced backward to see the water hadn’t crashed back together—it’d just disappeared.
Oh, I don’t like that.
I turned back and flew harder, trying to keep up with the man who was now leaving us in the dust without the water to slow his way.
When the first lightning bolt struck, I nearly jumped out of my skin, faltering on the air. It pierced a tree to my left, sending smoke rising into the sky.
Another bolt struck the path in front of us—only feet from Cade’s muzzle.
Shit!
Another challenge.
Another one that related to my magic.
I called on Thor’s power, trying to feel the lightning in the sky. Soon, there was a crackle and burn in my chest. It connected me to the clouds, helping me feel where the lightning was forming.
A bolt plowed out of the sky and struck our competitor in the head.
He shook and stumbled, going briefly to his knees, but didn’t seem overly bothered. What the hell? We used the few seconds advantage to catch up, but he was on his feet soon, still racing ahead of us.
I focused on the crackle of energy in the air and in my chest, feeling where the lightning would strike next. When it plunged from the sky, headed right for me, I darted left, trying to grab the lightning’s electrical energy and divert it away.
It worked—kind of—striking a nearby branch instead of me. The light was so close and so bright that it temporarily blinded me, and my eardrums were probably bleeding from the crack of thunder.
Oh, shit.
I shook my head and blinked, vision coming back in flashes. A tree appeared in front of me, and I swerved just in time.
Lightning crackled in my chest again, right before it struck. It nearly plowed into Cade, but I caught it just in time, reaching out with my magic like it was an extension of me. A third hand able to grab the lightning and hurl it away from Cade.
Power flowed through me as I heaved the lightning away, forcing it to strike a tree instead of the man I loved.
Wow.
Was this what Thor felt? True control over the lightning?
It was amazing.
The rest of the bolts were easier—I could sense them sooner each time and grab them quicker. Soon, I quit sending the bolts at the trees. Instead, I directed them toward the path in front of our opponent, forcing him to dodge and dive.
I never sent them straight at him—there was no way to tell if he was a prisoner like us. Even with so much at stake, I couldn’t just light up an innocent man, electrocuting him. That was no way to win.
Anyway, this was working well. He had to dodge so many bolts that we were catching up, gaining on him with every step.
By the time I spotted the cottage up ahead, we were nearly to him.
Then, the lightning stopped coming.
The man sprinted ahead.
Oh, hell no.
I called on the lightning, trying to conjure more to distract him, but he was so fast that he reached the house in seconds, leaving us in the dust.
He was so fast I could hardly see him.
Holy crap, had he been holding back all this time?
Frustrated rage welled in my chest.
We’d lost.
And something felt totally off about it. Maybe I was a sore loser—it was possible—but I still didn’t like it. This felt like a trick.
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Cade loped up to the house, joining the man just as I landed.
The man turned and grinned at me, looking as refreshed as he had the moment we’d started the race. In contrast, I heaved like an old car trying to make it up a hill, sweat pouring down my face and my muscles aching.
“That was nice!” the man said.
“Nice?” I wanted to punch him.
In a swirl of gold, Cade shifted back to human. He was red-faced, too, and his scowl was just as strong as mine. Neither of us was used to losing, and we definitely didn’t like it.
“Who are you?” I panted.
“Hugi.” He smiled again.
The name was familiar, but I couldn’t grasp it. “What is your magic?”
“Enough!” Utgard-Loki bellowed. “Be gone, Hugi.”
Hugi nodded and scampered off, zipping back down the path like he’d never run it in the first place.
Panting, I turned to Cade. “That was weird, right? Like he was holding back the whole time, then bam! So fast it hardly seems possible.”
He nodded, opening his mouth to answer, but Utgard-Loki cut him off. “Enter! And choose wisely.”
I looked up, wanting to ask if he meant pick up the cat in the literal sense, but the door to the cottage swung open and a massive finger poked me in the back, shoving me through.
My wings barely fit, and I lost some feathers on the way. I retracted them into my body, studying the house I’d entered.
Cats sat on every surface, each with gleaming fur and bright eyes. Orange, black, yellow, white, brown. Even a blue one.
“Holy shite,” Cade muttered.
He’d been pushed in, too, and stood next to me, jaw hanging open.
The room was large, and I could see bits of other rooms as well, doorways leading to more spacious areas cluttered with furniture and cats.
So many cats.
11
“They really meant I have to pick up a cat,” I said.
“Aye.” Bewilderment filled Cade’s voice.
“Myths are weird.”
“Aye. And this is the weirdest.”
“That’s how we know it’s legit, at least.”
I studied the room and the cats. The space was entirely done up for their pleasure. Cat beds rested on every surface, and fancy wooden towers reached for the ceiling, giving the animals a place to climb. Windows were open so the cats could go outside, but most seemed content to stay within the house.
