I didn’t have time to worry about that, though. I needed to get the water from this well so I could get back to Nidhug and save the dragons.
I pulled out the two remaining vials and started toward the structure in the center of the room, but as I did, Blar leaned further over the edge, and I watched as something rose out of the water toward him.
“What is that?” Kas gasped.
Blar scurried back and fell off the side of the well when he saw the strange thing coming toward him, and as it broke out of the water, I realized what it was.
A hand.
There was a hand coming out of the well.
Chapter 11
“Fuck,” I spat as I reached for my sword.
“Ah, ah, ah,” a female voice said, and I looked around the room but saw no one except my crew.
“What is going on?” Asta asked, and her voice was high-pitched with panic.
The hand reached out to the side of the well and grabbed on, and then an old woman pulled herself out from the well and shook herself off. She had long white hair and milky white eyes, and a long black robe over her tall, bony frame.
I instinctively reached for my sword again, but before I could even grasp it, the strange woman was right in front of me.
“That won’t be necessary boy-o.” She glared at me and stuck a bony finger into my chest.
“A little help here!” another female voice called out, and before I could blink, the woman who had just been in front of me was now over at the well again.
She reached her arm into the water and moved it around a bit, as if she were looking for something.
“Ah, gotcha,” she said after a moment. Then she pulled her arm out, along with not one, but two other women.
The first woman held onto the white-haired woman’s hand, and the second woman held onto the first woman’s hand. It was like a strange rope of elderly women had been yanked out of the center of the world.
The other two women looked much like the first to come out of the well. One of them was small and plump, with short, spiky gray hair, milky blue eyes, and a large, bumpy nose. The other was tall and full figured, with long black hair, eyes that were sewn shut, and tight, thin lips. Both of them wore the same long black robe the first woman wore.
“Took ya long enough,” the one with short spiky hair said, and she tilted her neck from side to side. A loud, horrible cracking sound filled the air, and I couldn’t help but cringe.
“Excuse me for telling our friend here to keep his sword put away,” the first woman scoffed.
“Hello, Rath,” the woman with long black hair said, and though her eyes were sewn shut, she turned in my direction as if she were looking at me.
“Um, hello.” I glanced at Kas and Asta, but they both looked as confused as I felt. Blar was on the ground in front of me, and he also still appeared shaken up from his encounter with the hand protruding from the well. “How do you know who I am?”
“Are you the guardians of this well?” Kas inquired.
“Of course, we know who you are,” the spiky-haired one said.
“Yes,” the first one added. “We know everything about--”
“You, and your friends here,” the dark-haired one finished the first woman’s sentence. “You’re early.”
“But we already knew you would be,” the spiky-haired one said as she stepped toward me.
“It was expected,” the first woman added. “We figured--”
“You would be here soon,” the dark-haired one finished.
The three of them spoke quickly, and they circled around me as they talked. I couldn’t follow who was speaking, because as soon as I figured it out, another one took their place.
“Who are you?” I asked as I spun around and tried to make eye contact with one of them.
“We are the Norns, of course,” all three women said in unison.
“Did they say Norns?” Asta whispered.
“Norns?” Kas asked at the same time.
The word sounded so familiar, and then it hit me. The Norns were the keepers of fate. Not just the fate of the Aesir, but the fate of all the nine realms. They were said to be the caretakers of Yggdrasil, and I remembered reading about them many years ago when I was just a child.
“I am Urd,” the first woman to come out of the well said. Her white milky eyes stared at me blankly, but I suspected she could still see me somehow. I also recognized the name from the old language, it meant ‘fate.’
“Verdandi,” the spiky-haired one said with a wide grin that revealed her missing teeth. I recognized the name, too. It meant ‘to become’ in the old language.
“And I am Skuld,” the dark-haired woman finished with a soft smile that almost made me forget about how off putting her sewn up eyes were. Skuld was from the old language as well, and it literally translated to ‘future.’
“It’s very nice to meet you.” Asta smiled at the three strange women before us.
Blar scurried up my back to my shoulder and peered at the women cautiously. The hand that had popped up from the well had really done a number on him. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him so startled before.
“You are the keepers of fate,” Kas said, and her violet eyes widened with realization.
“That’s right.” Verdandi smiled smugly.
“You are the guardians of this well, then?” Asta inquired. She was not from Asgard, so I wasn’t surprised the elf girl didn’t know the old story of the Norns.
“We are the guardians of all,” Verdandi intoned.
“Everything past,” Urd added.
“Everything present,” Verdandi said.
“And everything future,” Skuld finished.
“What are you doing here?” Kas asked with a furrowed brow. “The old story says you are the caretakers of Yggdrasil.”
“We have to get water from somewhere.” Urd smiled, and her milky-white eyes turned to Kas.
“This well feeds Yggdrasil?” Kas inquired.
“That it does,” Verdandi answered, and her spiky hair bobbed as she nodded her head.
“Nidhug sent me here,” I said. “I need to gather water from the well.”
“We know,” the three women said at once.
“Would you permit me to gather water?” I asked.
“It is not whether or not we will permit you that is the question,” Verdandi said, and she circled around me slowly.
“We cannot stop you from achieving your destiny,” Skuld murmured in a low, but commanding, voice, and I sensed she was the leader of sorts.
“We can only warn you of what’s to come,” Urd added.
“You should take the water,” Verdandi told me. “But know if you do you’re agreeing to fulfill the prophecy foretold about you.”
“I’ve already agreed to do that.” My brow furrowed with confusion.
“You have agreed in words,” Urd started.
“But not in action,” Skuld finished.
“If you take water from the well, then you will have no choice but to complete your destiny,” Verdandi said as she came around my side and trailed her plump finger along my bicep. “You should think wisely, young warrior.”
I didn’t understand what there was to think about. I had the opportunity to save an entire species from enslavement. Why wouldn’t I agree to that?
I shuddered to think of the kind of person who wouldn’t agree to save someone if they had the opportunity.
“Once you take the water,” Skuld went on in a monotone voice. “Your life will never be the same. My sister is right. You should think carefully before you seal your fate.”
I thought about how much my life had already changed in the last month. I’d bonded with two amazing women, both sorceresses, and they’d brought magic to my dull life. I’d hatched three dragons from eggs and watched them grow and learn. I’d been sent on a magical quest by a massive dragon, fought against a giant snow leopard, a snake woman, and had a magical sword created just for me by a man as big as my
boot.
At this point, I had nothing left to lose. I didn’t see my life going back to the way it was anytime soon, and I was more than okay with that. My life hadn’t been anything special until recently. I’d lived a boring existence, mostly on my own. If this was my opportunity to seal my fate in the direction it was currently headed, toward greatness, then I wouldn’t hesitate. I never wanted to go back to my cottage alone again. I wanted my dragons and my women by my sides.
I wanted to free the dragons and bring them back to Asgard.
I wanted to clear their name and show the Aesir that dragons were intelligent and beautiful creatures deserving of respect.
I wanted to free Ove from his cell in Helheim.
There was so much I wanted to do, and I couldn’t do any of it unless I fulfilled the prophecy. The fates told me to think wisely, but I couldn’t imagine walking away from my quest. Whether that was wise or not, I wasn’t sure, but it was my destiny, and I wouldn’t back down from it.
“I choose to seal my fate,” I declared, and I walked to the well.
“Good choice.” Verdandi smiled at me and tried to reach up and pet Blar, but the little dragon edged away from her.
“You know animals don’t like us,” Urd chastised her sister. “I don’t know why you try.”
“Why don’t animals like you?” Asta inquired.
“We are all encompassing,” Skuld explained with a soft smile. “We are life, and we are death. Animals find us confusing and strange.”
Animals weren’t the only ones, but I didn’t want to offend them, so I kept that thought to myself. Instead, I pulled the small vials out of my pocket again and held them up to look at.
There were two left: the small round purple vial, and the tall green vial.
I had no reason to know which bottle was correct, but something told me it was the green one. Green represented life, growth, and nature, and this well watered the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree of life.
Green had to be correct.
“Good pick,” Verdandi said before I moved the bottles.
“Stop showing off,” Urd chastised again.
I almost asked how she knew which bottle I’d picked, but I reminded myself she was a Norn, and there was nothing she hadn’t already seen. It made sense then why their eyes were all either milky or sewn shut. The Norns were gifted with the sight, past, present, or future, but in receiving the gift they were cursed to never see in any other way.
I thought how strange it must be to be blind physically, but mentally be able to see everything in the nine realms. What a great, but burdening, power.
I palmed the green vial and started to lean over the well, but the sound of the dungeon door up above made me whip my head around.
“Someone’s coming,” Asta gasped.
“Rath, get the water!” Kas hissed, and her voice was three octaves higher than usual.
I quickly filled the green vial up, and it emanated a bright yellow light for a second before I put it back into my pocket.
“What do we do?” Asta asked. “Should we make a portal to get out of here?”
“We can’t leave the secret door open.” Kas frowned. “This isn’t a place just anybody should be able to find.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “We have to go shut it before they see.
“The spell isn’t going to hold much longer.” The sorceress bit her lip nervously.
“We don’t need much longer,” I said. “We just have to close the door. Come on.”
“So long, Rath,” Verdandi said with a wave.
“We will see you again soon,” Urd added.
“Be safe, young warrior,” Skuld finished. “The fate of the nine realms is in your hands.”
With that, the three of them dove backward into the well, and a large splash of water spilled out.
I had no time to unpack what Skuld just said about the fate of the nine realms at the moment. I had to get out of the castle first, but the Norns’ words were definitely something I needed to come back to.
“Go, go, go,” I urged, and the girls and I began to run back up the spiral staircase that led to the dungeon.
Blar clung to my neck as I ran, and I sped up when I heard footsteps up above.
I reached the secret door, and my momentum carried me into the bars on the opposite side of the cell.
“What was that?” a male voice asked.
“Filim,” another said. “Is that you?”
Fuck, that meant they were close.
The girls came through the doorway, and I quickly found the brick I’d used to open the door earlier. I pulled it back to its original position, and the door shut with a soft thud.
A few seconds later, the guards from the dungeon door walked by the cell and stared inside.
It had been my plan to have Blar create a portal for us to leave through, but that wasn’t an option at the moment.
The guards might not be able to see us, but they would be able to see the portal, and there would be nothing to stop them from going through it.
Kas held up the piece of paper, though, and I could just barely see one of the corners had reappeared.
The spell was wearing off, and it was only a matter of time before it wore off completely, and we were once again visible to anyone and anything.
We needed to be out of the castle before that happened, which meant we needed to get past these arseholes.
I waited for the guards to pass by the cell, and then I grabbed Kas’ arm and led her and Asta up the staircase. We slipped through the door and into the hallway, and I was about to have Blar create a portal for us, but a group of servants passed by, and I could hear more coming.
“What’s going on tonight?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” Kas shook her head. “It seems like there’s a party or something.”
“Shit,” I breathed. I should have thought about that. Odin and Freya were constantly hosting balls and parties at the castle, of course the night we were here would be one of those nights.
Usually, it wouldn’t make too much of a difference, but if there was an event tonight, then that meant there were more servants, as well as more people in general, inside the castle for the evening.
Another group of servants carrying large trays passed by, and I grabbed Kas’ arm again. It was too risky to try and have Blar create a portal right there. The teleportation entrance would only cause panic if someone found it during the party. Not to mention that would alert Odin to the fact something was going on under his nose.
I didn’t want there to be any suspicion someone had been in the castle uninvited. No, we needed to get out of the castle before we were spotted.
I waited for the servants to pass, and then I quickly led the girls down the corridor toward the back entrance where we’d come in.
There were servants everywhere as we rushed around the castle, and though they couldn't see us, we could see them, and it was clear they were getting ready for something big. There were loads of food and drink being hauled out of the kitchen to the ballroom, and I wondered if there was a holiday or something I’d forgotten about. That seemed to be the only explanation for a party this large, though perhaps it seemed larger than it was because I was running away from it.
We rounded the corner that led to the back entrance, but as soon as the door was in sight, my jaw dropped with disappointment.
Guests were filing in from the back entrance, and there was no way we’d get through without bumping into someone. Everyone was tightly packed together, and the women were in long gowns that trailed along behind them.
It would be bad enough if we got caught sneaking into the castle, but then at least we would be able to explain it, maybe say we’d snuck in to try and crash the party. But there was no way to explain why we were in the castle, and also invisible. That looked bad, like we were trying to steal, or spying on someone.
I imagined the punishment for attempted theft was much worse than the punishment for getting c
aught in the castle uninvited.
Kas tapped on my shoulder and held up the small piece of paper. About a third of it was now visible, and I knew we had to get out fast. Soon, we would be completely visible, and we couldn’t get caught somewhere where there were guests or servants.
Though, if we were going to get caught anywhere, I’d rather it be with the servants. They might work in the castle, but at least it wasn’t Odin or Thor, who could strike us down right there.
If we got caught by the servants, it would give us enough time to get out before the guards arrived.
I nodded to Kas and spun us around so we could head back the way we’d come. The castle was massive, and with all the white walls and floors, it was difficult to tell where we’d been. Everything looked pretty much the same, except for a few random decorations here and there, but I didn’t have time to pay attention to those small details. I needed to figure out a way out of here, and I needed to do it fast.
I looked down at the paper in Kas’ hand, and it had grown in just the time we’d been running away from the back entrance.
I skidded around a corner and nearly ran into a servant carrying a tray of mead, but I quickly threw myself against the wall and pulled the girls with me.
Then I took a deep breath to steady myself. Panic wouldn’t help me get out of here, and it was a color I didn’t like to wear often.
I glanced around and thought about where we were inside the castle. I didn’t know it very well, but I knew the Council building was attached to the western wing of the castle.
I closed my eyes for a second as I visualized where the rear entrance of the castle was compared to where we were at the moment.
“We need to find the council building,” I whispered to the girls. “This way.”
I led the girls to the right in the hopes of finding an entrance to the council building. I was sure we were headed west, though, and for the moment that was all I could do.
The council building was the one part of the castle where it wouldn’t be strange for us to be. Or at least, it would be less strange for us to be there. We could claim we needed to see one of the council members immediately about a grievance.
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