Nokken

by Mary E. Twomey

  The night faded into morning, and I awoke to Britta sitting up, watching Jamie sleep. Her expression was wistful, but also filled with concern.

  “Hey,” I whispered. “Did he attack you last night?”

  She turned, offering up a half smile. “Good morning, sister. No, he had a bad dream, though. He got worked up, and that’s usually when he strikes. He starts panting in his sleep, and then gets up and attacks.” She turned her attention back onto Jamie. “Jens tells me dreaming is normal where you come from, but here it’s a curse.”

  “It’s so strange to me that Undrans don’t dream. Nothing at all happens in your mind when you go to sleep?”

  Britta shook her head. “His father’s afraid of him because of it. If word got out about his affliction, everyone would be afraid, too.”

  “Huh.”

  She bit back a grin. “Foss’s afraid of you for it, too.”

  My eyes widened as I stretched. “Wow. Superpower I didn’t even know about. Dreaming’s no big thing in my world. Everyone does it almost every night.”

  Tor shuddered and whispered over his shoulder from the mouth of the cave where he’d taken Nik’s post halfway through the night. “It’s not normal, scheming up plans while ya sleep. Yer dangerous, female.”

  I chuckled and sat up, frowning at the empty space beside me. “Where’s Jens?”

  “Making sure we weren’t followed and trying to hunt us up more food. He’s used to your food now, and hasn’t lived off the trail in a long time.”

  Jamie stirred, his eyes fluttering open and landing on Britta’s adoring face. Emotion so heady welled up in him and clenched my gut, too. He reached his hand up and cupped her cheek, pulling her down for a simple kiss.

  “Jamie!” she admonished him, her head darting around to see if anyone was looking.

  I kept my eyes on my lap. Tor kept focused on the stillness of nature outside the cave so they could have their moment while everyone else slept.

  Jamie’s voice was thick with all the things he wanted to say to her, but couldn’t in proper company. “Cursed though I am, I’m blessed every time I see your face.”

  It was a simple compliment, but given the nightmare he’d just endured, I swooned on her behalf.

  “I didn’t hurt anyone in the night?”

  Britta shook her head. “At one point you looked like you might, but you calmed down. You’re learning to control it,” she said, hero-worship clear in her voice.

  Jamie turned and looked over at me, wondering if my part in his nighttime musings was imagined, or if we had the same account of the night. I gave him a thumbs up and nodded, letting him know that we’d gotten through the upset together just fine.

  His chest heaved with relief and joy. Do you know what this means? he asked, trepidation making him almost too nervous to believe this happiness was attainable. We found a way around my curse! If I can come over into your dreams, I can escape mine. He closed his eyes in reverent respect for our connection. Thank you, Lucy. You saved me.

  I nodded again, keeping my eyes on my lap so our conversation would remain between us. You can thank me by making out with Britta for real someday. I told you we’d find a way through this. I cast up a half-smile. I’ll share my dreams with you any day.

  Thirteen.

  The Truth about Nik

  It had been six days of traversing around the fat mountain. Six days of Britta sleeping holding onto Jamie’s hand, lest he hulk out in his sleep and attack us. Six nights of Jamie crossing over into my subconscious, and me altering my dream to accommodate him. Six days of crusty bread, berries and water, that is until Jens caught and skinned four more kanins. Jamie and Jens were still not speaking, nor would they look at each other.

  Charles and Jens were being pissy with each other, too. They’d fought over Huldra magic and when it should be used. They bickered about how my arm should be wrapped, and were still sore about it when I stomped off and took care of it myself.

  We were on our way to Nøkken, which meant that Nik was all about educating us on his greatness, as if we hadn’t heard every amazing story about him a zillion times already. That didn’t make for extra smiles as we traveled, though I still thought his stories were sweet.

  We migrated down the mountain on the far side from the Warf, coming closer to ground level, even though it took a little longer. There was rumored to be several nests of those creepy spiders up there, so Uncle Rick voted we not take our chances this time. We were nearing the path to Nøkken as we exited the mountain, and there was a mixture of emotions about that. The air was ripe with tension, relief and a touch of fear.

  I was so glad I had my regular clothes, including my sneakers. The dresses came with sandals that were not built for day-long hikes. Not that my Chucks had a crap ton of padding, but still.

  Charles moved to my other side (Jens was permanently affixed to my right) with a hesitant expression. His voice was quiet, as if he was afraid his question might evoke a storm. “Am I allowed to ask you about our mother? It’s just that I don’t have many memories of her, and I always wanted a bigger picture.”

  “Of course.” I swallowed down my immediate flood of flight that came over me whenever I was forced to talk about my family. My arms banded around my stomach as we walked and talked. “She’s taller than me. About your height. Hair like yours. She was funny. Smiled a lot.”

  “What else?”

  “I dunno. What else can you say about a person? She was great. Giant hippie. Awesome cook. Vegetarian, but could whip up a mean pot roast for the rest of us. Always knew when Linus and I were up to no good. She had this game when we were acting up. Linus and I had to go to separate rooms and try to think of a number between one and twenty, write it down and try to sync our brains until we came up with the same one.”

  “Did it work?” he asked, his curiosity evident. “I’ve not met any twins my age before. It’s not common on our side. They only come from Huldra women, so after they were banished, no more were born here, only on your side. It’s a fifty percent chance a Huldra’ll give birth to twins.”

  “Oh, really? Huh.”

  I mentally cataloged all the twins that had popped up, knowing statistically the number had increased by a wide margin in the past two decades. If every set of twins was the result of a Huldra procreating in my world, I couldn’t imagine how many there were that got kicked out of Undraland so long ago.

  I tried to get back to the conversation at hand. “Linus and I had about a seventy percent success rate, but our brains have always been on the same wavelength.” I pressed my arms to my stomach and held myself tighter.

  “It must’ve been difficult to lose him.”

  I laughed with no humor in the sound. “No. Difficult is this mountain. Difficult was figuring out how to pick myself up and live on my own. Life without Linus is… Everything was impossible for a long time. It’s hard to make people understand without them thinking I’m being dramatic.”

  “Try me,” Charles challenged as he climbed over a particularly large obstruction along our path.

  “It’s like suddenly going through a quadruple amputation and a head injury. All the things only your best friend knows are useless, because he’s gone. It’s like you can’t complete a thought, because he always knew the other half of it. And then everyone expects you to do all the things you could do before you had the quadruple amputation, so you learn to.” I shook my head. “I’m not explaining it right.”

  “I’m keeping up. Do you need help getting across?” he inquired, offering his hand. It would have been easier to get past the uneven rocky surface if I could use my hands for climbing, but they were frozen around my stomach, and I did not think I could move them without my personal guts spilling out all over the place.

  Jens understood. His arm went around my back to steady me as we made it across to level rock. The hollow feeling in my bones set in, and I fished for a change of topic. “How about you? What was it like with Uncle Rick?”

  Cha
rles put on a polite smile. “It was nice.”

  Uncle Rick spoke over his shoulder to us. “Charles is being kind. It’s miserable for him. I was not home as often as I should’ve been when he was young. I was a wretched parental replacement, focusing more on developing his magic than taking him out to play.”

  “You were fine,” Charles allowed graciously. “And it’s not like you could’ve taken me to play with other children.”

  “Why not?” I demanded.

  Mace’s face twisted to a malodorous grimace. “I’m a half-breed. Not many parents wanted me around their kids. And the few that were willing to give it a try at first changed their minds when I was not a joy to be around, what with being abandoned and all.”

  I knew I could not, but I wanted to hold him, scratch his back to soothe him for hours as he confessed his childhood to me. He was so lonely, even now. I could tell he wanted more information, but was being sensitive to the fact that I was wussing out.

  I clutched my stomach and muscled onward. “If it helps, we didn’t stay in one place long enough to make many friends. We picked up and moved at least twice a year. Sometimes it wasn’t even worth unpacking. But I had Linus, so it’s not the same. I’m sorry you were so alone. That’s not cool.”

  He offered me a small curve of his lips. “But now I have you, so life is sunshine again.”

  I noticed Foss shooting Jens a wary look. Jens stomped ahead to converse quietly with him.

  Uncle Rick fell back to walk with Charles and me. “I’m glad to see you two getting along. Charles, perhaps you could educate Lucy about trolls. They don’t exist where she comes from.”

  “Really? Wow.” He scratched his head. “Trolls are around twenty feet tall, strong as an ox and mean as a bull. They travel in herds usually. They eat things our size, including us. Skin us like kanin and eat us raw. They don’t bother the civilized nations much, and usually feed on wild animals out between countries.” He turned to Uncle Rick. “Oh, great. Is that what’s coming next?”

  Uncle Rick nodded. “Nik caught a whiff of them coming from up ahead.”

  “How many?” Mace asked, cracking his fingers as if readying his magic.

  “At least twelve.” Uncle Rick placed his hand on Mace’s shoulder. “Let Jens and Foss handle it. Hopefully you will not need to get involved.”

  “I can help,” Charles countered, eager to display his power. “I’ve been studying for years, and I know which whistles to use.”

  Uncle Rick touched his ears. “You forget the one detail that makes Jens and Foss a better fit for this job. Trolls are hard of hearing. A Huldra whistle won’t do much to them if they can’t hear it.” He mussed Mace’s black hair. “I prefer you stay with Lucy.”

  Charles deflated and walked closer to me, hands shoved in his pockets.

  “You alright?” I asked, keeping my voice quiet.

  Mace spoke with an edge to him. “I guess. I get to look useless while Jens is the hero.”

  I bumped my shoulder to him. “Better than being actually useless, like me. I think it’s cool that you’re the secret weapon. Stay close.”

  Charles chuckled. “I’m sure it’s nothing as glamorous as you make it sound. But I can’t think of a better place to be than by your side.” He gave me a look that was so sincere, it made me want to turn away in case he could see right through me. “And you’re not useless.”

  “Aw. You’re a sweet little liar.”

  Nik stopped walking up ahead and turned to address the group with his hands raised to garner our attention. His gaze was averted, and I could tell he was nervous. “Okay. Here’s the thing. There’s a group of trolls up ahead.” For once, he did not look like he was the most perfect man ever to grace our presence. His haughty expression gave way to regret and insecurity, and I noticed sweat beading at his bluish white brow as his feet shuffled from side to side. “The thing is, you don’t know these trolls like I do.”

  Mace’s eyebrows knit together as he tried to decipher Nik’s meaning. “What’s there to know? A troll’s a troll.”

  For the first time, Nik was uncomfortable. He massaged the nape of his neck as he tried to find the right words. “Being the celebrity I am, I sometimes come to these mountains for some peace and quiet.”

  I could feel Jens mentally rolling his eyes in perfect synchronicity with Foss’s actually rolled eyes.

  “Those rumors about trolls are somewhat true, but not of the ones in the tribe you’re about to meet. If you treat them like normal people, they’ll be friendly to you. If you treat them like monsters, they’ll… Well, the rumors you heard will become true. So no shouting. No looking at them like they’re scary or hideous. They’re quite sensitive. And civilized. In fact,” he said, wringing his hands. “Jamie and Lucy, if you could play up your royalty, that would help a lot. And I’m not sure how they’ll take to Henry Mancini. It would really help if we brought them a gift.”

  Foss nodded. “Would a few kanin help?” He stopped and frowned at Nik. “Wait. You’re famous for ridding your land of trolls. How do your special friends feel about that?”

  And here it came. I could almost guess the words that tumbled out of his mouth before they reached me. “I did get rid of them. Some of the stories of my methods may have been… exaggerated.”

  “By you!” Foss yelled, pointing his finger in accusation. “This is why my people hate the Nøkken. All talk, no substance. All this time you’ve filled our heads with nothing but lies. How much of it all is true?”

  Nik held his head up high. “I did rid our land of trolls. The tribe I came across agreed to move so they would not be a bother to us. They keep an eye on the territory to make certain other, more traditional trolls don’t infiltrate our land. In exchange, I bring tea and sit for afternoons with them, educating them about society life. The trolls stay where they are, and the Nøkken land is spared their occasional rage.”

  Tor was red with fury. Jens shrugged at me and shook his head, as if he’d expected as much. When Jamie tried to cast him a similar look, Jens scowled at him.

  Yes. I’m traveling with a bunch of children. I clapped my hands together three times to reel in the building arguments. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be caught on this mountain overnight anymore, so let’s all chill and focus. Foss, why don’t you and Jens hunt up a bunny or Bambi or something they’ll think is delicious. Get some space. Nik, tell Uncle Rick, Tor and Mace what you know about these trolls, in case anything goes south and you need help. Britt, could you and Jamie pick some of those wild berries? I’m medium starving, so I know you’re all ravenous.” I motioned to a bush a little ways off. “They’re not poisonous, are they? I don’t really know about that kinda thing.”

  Britta nodded gratefully and tugged Jamie off away from Jens. “Right away, Lucy. Great idea.” She pointed her finger toward the mountain and waved her brother off toward it.

  Foss grumbled. “I’ll not be ordered around by a rat.”

  “Hop to it, princess. Make yourself useful.” I snapped my fingers just to irritate Foss, knowing he wouldn’t beat on me in front of Jens.

  Foss’s expression mutated, looking like he’d just sucked on a lemon. “Get ahold of your woman, Jens!”

  Jens started off in the direction he deemed best for hunting. “If only that was possible. You heard her, princess. Time to go a’hunting.”

  When Foss and Jens started picking on Nik, I donned my mother’s get-to-bed voice and barked, “Ripcord outta here, or you don’t want to know what!”

  Jens turned to me with a cocky expression, arms crossed over his chest. “You know, I think I do. What exactly are you going to do if we give Nik grief for being a pompous tool? I mean, killing a troll is no joke. It’s a lot of work and it’s deadly. He walks around like it’s nothing. Like what we actually did is the same as what he did in his head.”

  I scowled at Jens. “Martin Luther King would be proud of Nik using words and diplomacy to solve his problems rather than warmongering.”
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  “Warmongering?!” Jens shouted in astonishment, our playful jeers mutating into an actual fight. “I fought because there was no other option. My parents and a slew of other people left for Be on account of those trolls! And how much exactly did your precious leader’s words mean when you and Jamie killed that bear and ruined your lives? Good luck getting your white picket fence now!”

  As soon as the words left him, I could see the regret on his face. I shirked back from him as if his words had grown a hand and slapped me.

  “That’s too far, Jens!” Mace growled.

  Uncle Rick clapped his hands twice, giving the argument a sense of finality. “Lucy, what a wonderful idea for Jens and Foss to acquire a gift for our gracious hosts. Be on your way, gentlemen. We’ll wait for you here.”

  “Loos, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

  “On your way, Jens,” Uncle Rick repeated. “Perhaps if you look hard enough, you’ll find some common sense in the bushes over yonder.” He motioned to a thicket that was quivering at the base.

  Foss was already on his way with Henry Mancini.

  I let out a shriek of surprise when Jens snatched up a bunny and broke its neck without a flinch. “This, Nik! This is what you told us all you did to the trolls. Use reason to get them to stop invading. Fine. But don’t lie about it. Don’t carry on like you’re some big war hero. What qualifies you to even be on this trip, other than that we needed a random Nøkken for the portal?”

  I sat down on a bed of moss and leaned against the mountain, wishing for a mattress and a pillow. Though it was only early evening, I was weary from everything and everyone. The gullin, the sleeping on rock, sharing my subconscious with Jamie, the fighting. Mostly the fighting.

  I hugged my knees to my chest and picked at the bandage on my arm. My head started to ache a little, but I ignored it, figuring Jamie would feel the tether and trail back a few feet.

  When I was sick, my dad would cook his famous chicken soup with handmade noodles. Mom would whip up a purple cold remedy concoction in the blender that fizzed and somehow tasted creamy. I’d never known what she put in it. Now that she was gone, I prayed I would never get a cold. Linus would keep me entertained by making up disgusting mad libs, using “butt” as often as possible. When he inevitably caught my cold, I was in charge of the mad libs. My noun of choice was usually pus, which could also be verbed in a pinch if you played it fast and loose with the English language just to get a laugh out of your brother.