by S. T. Bende
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
“Stubborn Asgardians,” I muttered as I squeezed lemon into her cup. “I’ll get it out of you eventually. You may as well tell me so I’m not distracted for the rest of the night. You know I need to focus.”
“Very well.” Olaug took the teacup gratefully. “But I do not want you to tell Ull just yet. He worries enough about things.”
Truer words had never been spoken. “What’s going on with you?”
“I do not know.” Olaug’s forehead wrinkled as she furrowed her brow. “I have never felt ill a day in my life. Gods cannot be sick; you know this.”
“I do.”
“But these past few days have been so different. I feel like I have lost strength. It started two days ago. When I woke up I was tired, and I am never tired when I wake. I have gone to sleep and gotten up at the same time for the past—well, for a long time.”
“I’m sure.” My own grandmother had been a creature of habit after seventy-two years. I could only imagine the kind of routines one could establish after an eternity.
“But I was exhausted from the minute I woke up. I would have gone back to bed if I weren’t so confused. How can a god feel sick?”
“What happened?” I sat across from her and poured a cup of tea for myself.
“I went about my day as usual, but with each hour I felt weaker. It was like something was taking my strength from the inside. At first I could handle the physical rigors of the day: cooking, tidying, my calls to Asgard, but by early afternoon, I had to lie down. I slept through the rest of the night. And of course, by morning, I’d heard about Balder.”
“Did you feel at all rested in the morning?”
“No. I felt worse. My bones ached and I was exhausted.”
“Do you need apples? Do you want me to call Idunn?” Apples seemed to be the answer to everything around here. The goddess Idunn had developed a special hybrid to provide the gods with immortality. I’d have run to Asgard that moment if I’d thought it would help, but my gut said differently.
“She dropped off a fresh batch three days ago. I am fully stocked.”
“Have you told anyone what you are feeling?”
“With all that is happening in Asgard, my body should be the furthest thing from anyone’s mind.”
“Don’t say that Olaug. How could we not worry about you, especially now? That creep I’ve been dreaming about made it very clear that he was going to do everything he could to stop us from interfering with ‘his plan,’ and right now someone very evil is executing a very dark plot against our family. And Elfie gave you some magical disease. I think it’s all related.”
“I had not thought of it that way.”
“If it’s the same guy I’ve been seeing, the only way to get you better is to defeat him.” I locked my jaw. “So help me, if he does anything to you we can’t undo I’ll knock him halfway to next Tuesday.”
“Kristia. I am certain I will be fine.”
“You will be. Because I am going to find his sorry hide and rip it limb from limb.” Nobody was going to hurt my granny. Not if I had anything to say about it.
“Kristia.” Olaug pursed her lips, but there was a smile in her cheeks.
“I mean it. I love you, and this is just not acceptable to me.” I stood. “Are you well enough to work tonight? If you need to lie down…” I paused. What could we do? The fate of Asgard rested on our shoulders. If Olaug and I couldn’t manage to locate whoever was doing this to us and identify their plan of attack, we’d have a lot more to worry about than Olaug’s illness.
“I am well enough. Thank you for the tea.” Olaug stood on shaky legs. “You know Ull is going to be very angry with us when he finds out what we are doing.”
“If Ull’s angry, it means Ull’s alive. That’s all we’re trying to do; preserve our worlds. He’ll be upset, but he’ll understand.” I carried Olaug’s teacup to the kitchenette, and came back with a frown. “Where’s Elsker? Isn’t she coming?” When Ull had talked to her yesterday, she’d promised to be at Ýdalir to help.
“She was called away.”
“By Odin?”
“He wants the Norns working together. In case…” Olaug looked down.
“I see.” It didn’t take a great visionary to piece that one together. In case I failed. Or was kidnapped. Or killed. Odin needed a backup plan in case I couldn’t finish my job. But I needed a teacher: someone to guide me through a journey this enormous. How was I supposed to go to the darkest part of the tenth realm without Elsker? What if I screwed this up?
“You can instruct me just as well from that chair.” I pointed. “Sit back down, Olaug. You’re going to need your strength—I have a feeling we’re in for a long night.”
Chapter Nine
I HAD NO IDEA how right I’d been when I’d predicted a long night. Seven hours into our trial, it hit me that there was a very high probability I could fail.
“Again,” Olaug instructed. I closed my eyes tight. This was excruciating. We’d worked through the night and made only marginal progress. Olaug was unrelenting in her guidance, pushing me to take the visions again and again. Thankfully, I hadn’t physically transported anywhere, so in that way things were going well. Now that I was a goddess, I could tap into Asgard’s magic, and I hadn’t revealed myself to any giants or dark elves.
Yet.
But every journey to the tenth realm left me weak and more exhausted. And though I described everything as I saw it, Olaug’s transcriptions left us little to go off. I wasn’t sure where to find Asgard’s enemies, and though the whole purpose of this alternate plane was to provide information, it sure wasn’t coughing any up for me. Everything I saw was hazy, and the places I went weren’t familiar at all.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Ull and Olaug had kept me from the darkest creatures of their world. They were way more terrifying than the monsters I’d conjured in my dreams, and left me with no doubt that my nightmares were about to come true. I willed myself to the scariest demons, returning again and again in a failed attempt to crack their plan. By dawn, my mind was filled with visions of wicked giants, cold and steely in their determination to kill my family; bloodthirsty animals led by the oversized talking wolf who planned the brutal massacre of those I held most dear; and the deadly tree-trunk serpent who let out a guttural hiss through fangs so large, I knew he would kill anything the others missed. I saw them all, but in spite of Olaug’s coaching I could not see how or when they would move to destroy us. I had no idea how to protect Asgard.
And it was nearly dawn.
Panting, I wiped my face and moved to sit on the couch in the hidden room beneath the library. “No, Kristia,” Olaug said brusquely. “You have to push on. You are the secret weapon none of the Fates could see. Again.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting against the needles piercing my skull. It was excruciating to maintain this level of focus. When I forced the visions, they hurt. A lot. Every muscle in my body ached, and I felt like a fiery poison had been poured directly down my spine and was making its way through my extremities with agonizing slowness. But I had to keep going. The fate of our worlds rested on my exhausted shoulders.
Summoning my last bit of strength, I furrowed my brow. The needles seared through my brain, but I ignored them. I drew on everything Elsker had showed me the morning of my wedding, and everything Olaug had reiterated tonight. I focused on the quiet center in my head. Immediately I pictured the beach from our honeymoon. I stood where the warm, blue water lapped against the white sand and focused on my breathing. In and out. In and out. When I felt centered, I pictured the enormous redwood engulfing my body, shooting to the center of the earth and anchoring me with its roots. My body was grounded.
I placed the protection around my aura and left my body. I kept contact with the cord, like Elsker instructed. These were scary times, and who knew what darkness was waiting on the other side?
I was about to find out.
<
br /> I stepped outside Ýdalir, and found myself in a fog. The haziness slowly gave way to the crystal clear night of a world far away. The cord stretched up, and I floated after it, traveling just below the clouds. I scanned the ground beneath me searching for…for what? How was I supposed to find what I was looking for when I didn’t even know what it was? This was a glaring oversight in the Fates’ plan. I didn’t know who our enemies were, what they looked like, or where they would be. I was failing Asgard miserably.
As the thought made its way across my battered brain, my spirit moved through the cracked window of a worn building.
I was in a big, cold hall, and the grumbling of a small group drew me to the corner. I hesitated; did they know I was there? A stumpy man looked quickly in my direction, but he returned to the muffled conversation in front of him. He sounded like he was underwater. I stayed where I was, listening.
The muted sounds grew less murky as the seconds ticked by and for the first time I could hear their voices clearly. Finally. I focused on their words.
“By midnight tomorrow, Asgard will fall.”
Hot potato, this was it—the meeting I’d been searching for. I held my breath as I waited for more.
“Which of Asgard’s entrances are weakest?” A disgusting creature covered in boils spoke in a gravelly voice. Entrances? Plural? That couldn’t be. The Bifrost was the only way in.
“We can use the bridge if you let me kill Heimdall,” said a dwarf. His voice had all the warmth of nails on a chalkboard, and the pounding in my head began with a vengeance.
“No,” a cloaked figure interrupted. “I will kill Heimdall and open the Bifrost myself. I’ll break into Odin’s Chamber first and cut off Frigga’s head on my way in.” The group grumbled in surprise; the chamber entrance was news to them, too.
“Are you sure, Loki?” the boiled creature shrieked.
The figure pulled back his hood to reveal features that looked all too familiar to me. It was Elf Man. He was the cretin orchestrating this plot against Asgard; the fiend draining the life out of my beloved Olaug; the demon trying to destroy my husband, my family, and both of our realms. And even worse, Elf Man was Loki, an Asgardian himself. He’d made sure Balder was killed, and he’d tried to do the same to me. I moved my hand to rub my temples, the pounding intensifying as I pieced together the things Loki had said in my visions. Somehow he’d known that if Ull married me I would mess up his whole Ragnarok attack.
Oh Lord, he’d already tried to murder me. What would he do if he found me spying on him now? I forced myself to stay very still.
“Dismembered Frigga.” Loki’s voice was smooth. “How better to show Asgard we have control?”
The huge wolf that had killed me a dozen different ways over the years let out a bark.
“What is it, Fenrir?” Loki asked. The wolf rose from the floor where he was resting. He let out a series of growls that made my insides cringe.
“Yes, my son. You may slay Odin in his chamber,” Loki praised. “A most excellent idea. I taught you well. Yes, Jörmungandr?”
The enormous snake that destroyed me whenever the wolf had failed let out a low hiss.
“No, my son, your brother is to slay Odin. You may devour Thor.”
The wolf and the snake were Loki’s children? Something resembling recognition clicked inside.
“Loki.” A misshapen giant stood. “Let me sail the ship Naglfar. It will open the sky and provide access to the Bifrost. Once we cross, the bridge will break under our weight. Asgard will be isolated and defenseless.”
“I wondered which of you would be brave enough to steer the ship.” Loki smiled cruelly. “I accept your offer. And then, my friends, we gather on the battlefield of Asgard to attack. When victory is ours, we burn the earth and swallow the sky.”
I was sick. What he described was the exact vision from my nightmares.
“But what about their defense? I heard they have a new weapon; a seer who can overpower us all.” The dwarf looked around with suspicion and I held my breath.
“Their defense? Oh, friends.” Loki shook his head in condescension. “Their defense is an untrained, unprepared human. Her skills depend on the teaching of an old goddess who has, unfortunately, been infected with my Crushing Curse. She will be too weak to teach the human now. First her spirit will go, then her body, as her bones implode. When there is nothing left she will plead for death, and I will be only too happy to grant her final wish.” He chuckled darkly. “No, friends, the old one will not be able to help their seer. She will be as inept as she always was.”
Ouch.
“But what if the old one is healed?”
“Ah, the beauty of the Crushing Curse. It has only two cures: the death of the one who cast it, or possession of a magical artifact. Asgard will never defeat me, so the first is not an option. And nobody has seen the missing artifact in decades. No, the old one will be dead within two dawns. Now, do any of you have any intention of losing this battle?” The monsters erupted in deafening cries as Loki threw his arms up in a victorious salute.
I had to get out of there. I turned and started to fly out of the building, but something held me back. I glanced down and squinted—something was moving just behind a locked door.
“Help!” The faint cry was familiar. Elsker.
It may well have been a trap. Olaug had spent a good portion of the evening making sure I understood how my body would suffer if my spirit got stuck on this plane—I’d lose my powers, I’d be susceptible to illness, and my immortality could be compromised. Not to mention that if someone kidnapped me here they’d have control over my abilities in every other realm. They could use my visions to do whatever they wanted to everyone I loved…and execute Ragnarok with the benefit of all-knowing sight. Therefore it was imperative I get out of the tenth realm unharmed.
But there was no way I was going to leave the woman responsible for my happiness trapped in this godforsaken warehouse. I floated back down and crouched outside the closet.
“Elsker? Is that you?” I kept my voice low and my eyes on the gathering in the main room.
“Kristia? Oh gods. You must get out of here.” Her voice was muffled but I could hear fear.
“No way. I’m not leaving without you. We have to break you out of that room.” I glanced around. A thin silver rope with one frayed end lay just outside the door. “Holy cow. Elsker, did they sever your cord?”
“Yes. Now go. If they sever yours it will be nearly impossible for us to find our way home.”
Crumbs on a cracker. My gaze landed on a rusty metal crowbar propped up in a corner. It wasn’t ideal but it would do. Careful not to make too much noise, I wedged it against the hinges and pushed. The door didn’t budge. I leaned into the bar with all my weight, and the door moved a fraction of an inch.
“I’m trying to break you out, but this door is stuck.”
“Try the lock,” Elsker mumbled.
“What do you mean?”
“Smash the lock. I saw it before they tossed me in here; it’s old and it will break.”
“But the noise will draw their attention,” I whispered back.
“Then we’ll have to fly like Helheim the minute the door opens. Do you see my cord?”
“It’s right here—just outside the door.” I assessed the lock, looking for the best angle of impact. I had one shot at this thing. “What happened?”
“Odin sent me on an information recon and I landed here, but they found me and cut my cord. I can follow it back to my body if I can get to it, but we have to move fast. Who knows what they will do with my spirit when they come back for me?”
Frost wove an intricate pattern between my vertebrae, coating my spine in an icy chill. I shook the feeling off. “It’s not going to come to that.”
“Just get us out of here. And if it comes down to it, take off without me. You are far more valuable to them than I am. Asgard needs you.”
Did she know me at all?
“Absolutely not. We
’re getting out of here together. Now I’m going to count to three and spring you. One.” I eyed the lock and took aim. “Two. Three!”
I swung at the lock and a deafening clang rang through the warehouse. Thirty pairs of beady eyes trained on me and I ripped the lock from the door and pulled the handle. Elsker tumbled out and grabbed her cord. She wrapped it tightly around her waist in a knot that would have made my old scout troop leader proud.
“Fly!” Elsker ordered. She reached for my hand and pulled me up after her. We shot from the ground through the window as the demons thundered after us.
“Which way did they go?” a grating voice cried. In seconds they were right behind us, and closing in.
“What do we do?” I asked Elsker.
“When I give the signal, turn and hold your palm to them. I want you to picture a lion charging at them, teeth bared, ready to pounce. Push that image out from your hands. Can you do it?” She didn’t stop moving as she spoke.
“Yes,” I panted.
“Okay…now!” Elsker shouted.
We stopped and turned toward the pursuing mob, palms out to project the image. I saw not one, but nine giant cats leap from our hands and bear down on the group. There wasn’t time to process the absolutely insane fact that my hands could congure magical attack animals in this realm. And there wasn’t time to absorb the shrieks of fear or the crunching of bones as the lions picked off the demons one by one, flinging their remains to the dusty ground until only a dozen of the monsters remained. Every bit of energy I could muster was focused on our escape.
“Now fly!” Elsker grabbed my hand and took off again. We shot through the air.
“Follow the light,” Elsker hissed and we directed our cords skyward. Up, up, until we reached a doorway nearly exploding with brightness. “Go through.”
“You first.” I opened the door and shoved her inside, tumbling after her.
“My path leads back to Asgard—my body is there, under Odin’s protection. Get back to your body quickly. And thank you.” Elsker gave me a nod and shot off to the left. I heard footsteps behind me but I didn’t turn to see which of the monsters was tracking me. I raced to the right until I saw the gates of Ýdalir. I flew through, back down to the chamber, and climbed back into my body.
