Suddenly, a wall of flame roared into existence in front of Henry. He took a step back and threw his hands up in front of his face. The heat washed over him, and he could almost feel his arms blistering. He almost turned away but caught sight of the ruby through the flames. It looked more enticing than ever. He yearned to hold it in his hands. He had to have it. He knew he shouldn't. The fire was obviously hot enough to overcome the protection granted by his cloak, but the ruby called to him. He needed it. The flames would kill him. He had no doubt of that, but neither did he care, and he took a step into the fire.
CHAPTER 19
Pain blurred his vision, and smoke clogged his nostrils. He didn't even know if he screamed. Only once before had he felt anything like this, when his skin had burned off in a volcano. There was only pain. He fell into the fire, and didn't move. Then, without warning, his body went cold. He felt more than heard the gentle humming, pulsing inside his chest. Something rushed out of him. The crackling of the fire quieted, and for a moment, Henry thought he was dead. Gradually, the pain receded, and strength flowed back into his body. He opened his eyes, slightly surprised to find them intact. The treasure room had dimmed, and the only sign of the flames was the blackened ground. Henry stood on unsteady legs. The charred line at his feet curved around, and Henry guessed that fire had surrounded the entire room. He examined his arms and found them free of blister or other injury. Not even his clothes were singed.
Bragi clapped his hands. "I knew it!"
"Knew what?" Henry asked. "Why am I not dead?"
"You're a curse breaker, Henry," he said. "That's what the dragon's blood did to you. No curse can stand before you."
"How did you know about the dragon?"
Bragi brushed it off. "It's not important."
"No," Henry said. "I think it is. How did you know about the dragon, and how did you know that fire wouldn't hurt me?"
"Truth be told, I didn't" Bragi said. "I suspected though. Sometimes, risks need to be taken."
"Risks?" Henry cried out. "I could've been killed."
"You could've been killed when you fought Medusa or when you opposed Zuab. This was no different. In any case, there's still much to do. I suspect the girl you're looking for is somewhere among these treasures. Do you want to find her, or do you want to continue asking me questions?"
Henry scowled at Bragi but nodded. They wound their way through the treasures until they came to a stone slab nestled between two hills of gems and coins. Atop it lay Andromeda.
Her skin was paler than he'd ever seen it, and she wasn't moving. As far as he could tell, she wasn't even breathing. She'd been covered in armor made of interlocking plates of black steel. Runes had been engraved on the metal, though the color made it impossible to see what they were. It might've been his imagination, but they almost seemed to shift and writhe as light touched them. A black helmet hid everything but her face. A thin lock of hair ran down the side of her face. It had changed from golden yellow to fiery orange. Henry reached out to lay a hand on her forehead, but an inch away, his hand stopped, and his fingers went numb. A chill shot up his arm and raced through his body. He pulled back. His hand came away limp and a momentary panic seized him, but a few seconds later, he could wiggle his fingers. Gradually, feeling returned, and Henry looked at Bragi.
"You wouldn't happen to know how to work this curse breaking power of mine would you?"
Bragi shook his head. "It's never been an ability I've had, but you don't really need to break a curse here."
"I don't?"
"The curse is not on the girl, but on the armor. The gods of these lands are not craftsmen like those of other realms. They rely on the skill of the dwarves, and while items made by such beings far outstrip anything crafted by mortal hands, they can't really stand up to a weapon forged by a god."
Henry nodded and drew his sword. Momentarily, he harbored the illusion of cutting the armor away with a few swift strokes, but he had a feeling that was more likely to gut Andromeda than free her. He bent down and got as close as he dared to examine the armor. There wasn't much room between the black metal and her flesh. He slipped his blade under the plate joining arm to torso and tried to saw it away, but his curved weapon was ill-suited for that kind of cutting. He pulled it back and took in a breath. Angling the blade slightly upward, he slashed. The sound was a little like aluminum foil tearing. His aim was off, and he only got a small piece of the steel. It fell to the ground and sizzled before evaporating into dark smoke. Henry looked into the quarter-sized hole he'd cut in the armor, but darkness hid everything inside.
"At least I know it works," he said as he drew back again.
His aim was better this time, and the entire top half of the plate fell to the ground. The thick smoke billowing from the metal made him cough, but it only lasted a second. When it was gone, Andromeda's shoulder showed between a gap in the armor. Tendrils of black energy reached out from edges of the hole, but they only extended out an inch. He bit his lower lip and struck again and again, each blow cutting more of the armor free. Eventually, he could touch her arm. Her skin felt cold and clammy, and as soon as he touched her, the black energy squealed and tried to reach for him, but he was far from their limited range. He pulled back and continued the work of freeing her.
It wasn't difficult work, but after a few minutes he was sweating. Andromeda's dress had been cut in several places. Once, he nicked her right wrist. He let out a strangled cry, but the cut wasn't deep and didn't bleed much. When he cut away the iron boots, he saw her bare feet underneath. That wouldn't be good in the snow outside.
"One problem at a time," he said to himself.
Eventually, only the black helmet remained on her head. He'd saved it for last in the hopes that once enough of the armor had been removed, he might be able to take it off by hand, but when he tried, is fingers went numb again. He laid the flat side of his blade against her cheek and worked it until he fit the tip between her face and the helmet. Carefully, he pushed it in until he encountered resistance. He bit his lower lip and flicked his wrist. The blade sliced through the top of the helmet. All at once, it split and turned to smoke. Andromeda took in a deep breath, and her eyes shot open. She sat up scanned the room until her gaze fell on him.
"Henry, you're alive!"
She took in her surroundings, and wrinkled her brow at the stone slab she was laying on. She swung her legs to one side and stepped off. Her knees buckled, but Henry helped her keep her balance. She gave him a sheepish grin.
"Was I dead again?" she asked.
"No, just cursed."
"How long?" She brought her hand to her head before he could answer. "A few days."
"That's right," Henry said. "How did you know?"
"Soldiers." Her voice was distant, and her gaze empty.
"Yeah, soldiers took you."
"No," she said. "They're coming now. They knew you were here as soon as you crossed the circle of fire."
CHAPTER 20
"How do you know?" Henry asked.
Before Andromeda could answer, half a dozen men clad in gold armor rushed into the treasure room. These were the same warriors Henry had seen in the hall. None were very big. In fact, they were all shorter than he was. They wore no helmet and had pale skin and thick hair. They moved with liquid grace and ran so lightly that their armored feet made no sound on the ground. They carried curved swords that more closely resembled Henry's sword than any Norse weapon he'd seen. They encircled Henry and his friends. He looked over his shoulder. Andromeda was still weak from the curse, and Bragi was leaning heavily on his staff.
"I don't suppose there's anything you can do to help," he said.
The old man shook his head. "This is your task."
Henry groaned. "I was afraid you'd say that. Try to keep me between you and them. I'll try to clear a path for you to escape."
"I'm not just going to leave you here. I have too much depending on this."
"I'm not asking you to leave," Henry said, "bu
t fighting these will be hard enough without having to protect you too."
"You can't fight an elf in a straight fight, boy," Bragi said. "Much less six."
"Elves?"
"Yes."
"Great," Henry said quietly. "What can you tell me about them?"
"They're nimble, easily faster than a man, and many have access to potent magic."
"Listen to the old man," a raven-haired elf said. Now that Henry knew what to look for, he could see the slightly pointed ears, and the face was just a little too flat to be human. "We've no desire to kill you. Leave the girl, and you can go."
A few of the elves shifted their weight back and forth on their feet, and a drop of sweat ran down the face of a bald one with grey eyes.
"Is it just me, or are they afraid?" Henry pitched his voice low, hoping those ears didn't allow the elves to hear him.
"You are Henry Alexander Gideon," Bragi whispered. "How many monsters have you destroyed? How many armies?"
"Those aren't exactly everyday things."
"And this is?" Bragi asked. "They'll fight you if they have to, but they're not fools."
"So I can fight them?"
"They'd tear you apart, but they don't know that."
"What am I supposed to do then?" Henry asked. "I'm not leaving Andromeda."
"I'm sorry," Andromeda said loud enough for the elves to hear.
"This isn't your fault," Henry said.
"I wasn't talking to you." She walked up to the raven-haired elf. "Allger, does the loss of your son still pain you?"
The elf's mouth dropped, and his sword fell from his hand, but he snatched it out of the air before it had fallen six inches. He sputtered at Andromeda, and it took a few seconds for his speech to become coherent.
"How do you know my name? How do you know about my son?"
Andromeda's hand went to her head, and she closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a second. When she opened them again, a tear ran down her cheek.
"Idun had no reason to kill him."
"Idun didn't kill Noll. It was a man who crept into our camp and slit his throat along with a dozen other elven warriors. He didn't even have the courage to face him in battle."
"Your party was sent to destroy a village who committed no crime other than bowing to Odin before Idun. She sent you against them for no reason other than petty pride."
"Don't listen to her, Allger," an elf with tan hair and eyes said. "She's trying to lay a spell on you."
Andromeda turned to him. "I've no magic save the truth, Elric. Don't you wish for this senseless war to end so you can go back to Vena and fulfill your promise to make her your wife?"
"How did you..." Elric shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'll return to her when our task is done."
"Generations of men have lived and died since your task started. How many more before it ends?"
"As many as it takes."
"Do you know the plan Idun divulged to the other gods?" Before he could answer, Andromeda closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, of course you don't. She intends to conquer new worlds as they are being created. She wishes to claim every story as it is being told. Your task will go on so long as one mortal exists to tell a story."
"You're lying."
Andromeda touched her forehead again and bit her lower lip. She looked at the elf standing to Elric's left, and told him of his family and of what this war had already cost him. One by one, each elf heard the story of his past and of those he had left behind. None could bear her words for a short while before looking away.
"Who are you?" Elric asked.
"I am one who Idun intended to use, and who she might have killed if not for the interference of another. Under Idun, your work will be eternal." She turned to Henry. "You have heard of Master Henry. If anyone can stop Idun, it is he."
The elves exchanged glances. Allger nodded first. He laid his weapon on the ground and walked out of the room on silent feet. The others stared after him for a few seconds before placing their weapons next to his and following. Henry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"How did you do that?" he asked Andromeda. "How did you know all that?"
"A moment," she said as she looked at Bragi. "Who are you, and how is it that I can't see your past?"
Bragi inclined his head. "I am another who has drunk the waters of the past."
Andromeda's eyes went wide.
"How many of them have there been?"
"Look into the past and find out."
Andromeda closed her eyes, but they shot open a second later. She looked at Bragi and said a word, but her voice was so soft, Henry couldn't make it out. She tried again.
"Odin."
CHAPTER 21
Bragi let out a laugh and allowed his hood to fall from his head, revealing one grey eye and one covered by an eye patch. The pointed nose and long beard attached to a face that looked old, but it was old in the same way the sky was old. It was a face that had seen more years than Henry could imagine and that would see many more long after Henry himself was nothing more than dust and bones. Even the Greek gods he'd met hadn't radiated the sheer sense of eternity emanating from this being.
"Odin," Henry said in shock.
"Yes."
"The king of the Norse gods?"
Odin bowed his head. "There are some who would call me that, though I don't know how true that is."
"You healed me at Yggdrasil."
Odin looked at Andromeda. "Is he always this dense?"
Andromeda stifled a laugh, and Henry felt his face heat up. "Why?"
"Because if I hadn't you would've died."
"So all of a sudden, you're on our side?"
"Hardly all of a sudden." The god lifted a hand and a long spear materialized in his hand. He held it up to show it to Henry. Runes ran along a polished steel shaft and the point glimmered in the light. "Gugnir can hit any target, and not even the creatures that live in the space between worlds can easily survive its strike."
"That thing in the valley we crossed to reach Yggdrasil," Henry said. "You killed it."
"That and more," Odin said. He tossed the spear into the air and it vanished. "Do you recall the pike that drove you into the rocks?"
The image of the one-eyed fish flashed through Henry's mind.
"That was you? Why?"
Odin smiled and approached him. Henry raised his sword, but Odin chopped with his hand and struck Henry on the wrist, sending the weapon clattering to the floor. He'd moved too fast for Henry to see. Odin stopped right in front of him and lifted up Henry's shirt, revealing the wound that still hadn't quite healed. For the first time, Henry realized the slashes weren't random. They didn't even look stationary and seemed to shift under his gaze. They looked exactly like the mark on the door in the village at the base of the mountain. His head even started to hurt if he stared at it too long.
"Eighteen charms I learned which are known by neither man nor gods," Odin said formally. "The last I speak to no one save my sister and the one who shares my bed." He winked his single eye. "And you, I suppose. I learned it from the Oracles themselves. Whatever is marked by that charm is hidden from the sight of Delphi, the Mirror, and Mimir."
"You hid me from her."
"Obviously."
"Why are you helping us?"
"Because I want you to win. My kind has its place in mortal imagination. We were never meant to rule it."
"If that's how you feel, then stop Idun."
"It's not that simple."
"You're more powerful than she is, aren't you?"
"Of course."
"Then, why not?"
Odin gave him a smile that vanished a second later. "Few beings in the nine worlds could ever truly cause me harm. Even among those, there are but a handful that I have need to fear. The rest are like children with swords. Yes, they could technically harm me, but it's not something I'll spare any concern for. Idun, however, has no need to harm me. All she need do is withhold her hand."
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Andromeda let out a sharp breath, and her legs gave out from under her. Henry leapt to her side, but Odin was already there and caught her. She opened her eyes.
"The apples," she said, "just like before."
"Yes," Odin said.
"What's wrong with her?" Henry asked.
"Mortals, even those born of these lands, were never meant to drink from the well. Your minds can't handle all the knowledge of the past."
"Can you help her?"
Odin touched her forehead. "Not entirely. Only the well can do that by taking what it gave. I can give her a little more time, though."
His fingers made a series of quick gestures on her head. Andromeda blinked and stood up.
"Thank you," she said.
"Now, can you explain about the apples?" Henry asked.
"The apples are a source of life, one that Idun alone can give. Once, long ago before she was corrupted, she was prevented from giving us the apples, and we nearly died because of it. It is a terrible thing for an immortal to see death approaching. No god among the Aesir would oppose Idun directly for fear that she would send us down that path again. I can do little more than what I've already done."
Mimir's Well (The Oracles of Kurnugi Book 3) Page 8
