Valhalla Beckons

by Alex Steele

  I wondered if that was entirely true with the new magic their necromancers had created, but for Yamashita’s sake, it was best if she believed it.

  “If you need to leave at any point you can. My hope is that he’ll be more willing to help us if he understands you are on our side, and that we need his help. Was I correct in assuming you were friends?” I asked.

  Yamashita nodded, her eyes still glued to the bag on the table. “We were. Very close. Until we left the Mage’s Guild, of course, then we hardly spoke. He was paranoid. Apparently not paranoid enough though.”

  Viktor reached in and pulled Patterson out with two hands, not grabbing him by the hair this time. He set the wriggling head on a kitchen towel they must have laid out for this reason. It was getting burned after this.

  “Let me go––” Patterson stopped, his eyes locked on Yamashita. “Why are you here?”

  “These people saved my life,” Yamashita said quietly. I had to hand it to her, she was coping with this shock very well. None of the emotions that had showed on her face when I’d told her were there now.

  Patterson wobbled slightly, his eyes flicking around the room in suspicion. “I saw this necromancer kill one of them before he took me, but that doesn’t mean we can trust them.”

  “Fiat absque dolo,” Yamashita said quietly in Latin.

  That roughly translated to ‘let there be no lies’, and must have been some kind of code between them because Patterson sighed and asked, “What do you want to know?”

  “Are you aware of the attacks on Moira?” I asked.

  He snorted. “Of course I am.”

  “Do you know who, or what, is behind it?”

  “Not important,” he snapped. His chin hit the towel he sat on causing the decapitated head to list to the side. “Moira is a deathtrap, and everyone needs to get the hell out of there, but the Lord High Chancellor would never let that happen.”

  “Why not?” Swift asked.

  “Because he can’t get that damned box out of there, and without it, he is nothing,” Patterson said, trying to shake his head and almost tipping over.

  Viktor caught the head and adjusted him, then bunched the towel up under Patterson’s chin so that he was better supported. I forced the bile back down my throat. We had to find a better way to handle him after this conversation. The whole thing was disturbing.

  Yamashita frowned. “The Chancellor is using Pandora’s box for himself? That’s insane, no one would be able to withstand taking in that amount of magic.”

  “He found a way. I saw him with my own eyes the day I told you we had to leave. The only reason I wasn’t killed sooner is because he didn’t know I saw that,” Patterson said angrily.

  “Why are you saying Moira is a deathtrap?” Lopez asked. “Other than these attacks, no one has ever been hurt there.”

  I realized we hadn’t explained the situation with the gods to either of them yet. It was past time to fill them in. “This is going to be a lot to take in, but I need you to just trust me on this.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lopez asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

  “Gods exist, and they’re meddling somehow. I don’t know why now, or how many there are. Swift and I have only spoken to one. He calls himself Fate and he told us a war is coming. I think this is the first strike.”

  Viktor glanced at Lopez and she nodded. “He’s telling the truth. Or at least thinks he is.”

  “I can accept this for now,” Viktor said with a shrug.

  “And Moira is a deathtrap because these gods are fighting over it?” she asked, looking between Yamashita and myself.

  “Yes,” Yamashita said. “Fighting over Moira perhaps, and over Pandora’s Box, which is kept there. It powers the city, among other things I cannot speak of.” She tugged her shirt down, showing them the geas tattooed on her.

  “Alright, accepting that there are gods, people might be more willing to leave Moira after these attacks,” Lopez said tiredly. “The Rune Rail has been almost empty since the first one.”

  “Pah, people are idiots. They’ll forget about it soon enough and return to their supposed oasis. Ignorant sheep, all of them,” Patterson scoffed.

  “Do you know anything about the necromancer that raised you?” Viktor asked, drawing Patterson’s attention.

  “No, the bastard raised me, then handed that bloody device to someone else. I never got their name, only questions I can’t remember,” Patterson said, his head wobbling once again. The cut had been clean, but not perfectly level.

  Viktor frowned. “That’s interesting. I wouldn’t have expected the device to affect your memory.”

  “Who did you see there? Anyone you did recognize?” Swift asked.

  My phone rang. I glanced at the caller id and saw Billy’s name. Answering it quickly, I headed toward the door so they could continue without me.

  “Billy?”

  “We have a problem,” Billy said breathlessly. A crash drowned out the next thing he said and I froze.

  “What the hell is going on? Where are you?”

  “Rune Rentals. There is some kind of attack going on, but not just here. There’s more than one this time,” he shouted over the background noise. “The Rune Rail is down I think. The whole thing.”

  “Go to the IMIB. Get away from the Rune Rail. Do not stop to help anyone,” I said urgently.

  The screaming in the background nearly drowned out his reply. “I don’t know if I––”

  “Billy?” There was no response. I pulled my phone away from my ear and saw that the call had dropped. I tried to call him back but it immediately went to voicemail.

  “What’s going on?” Swift asked.

  “The call dropped, but there is another attack on Moira. Worse this time. Billy said the Rune Rail isn’t working, none of them.” I dragged my hands through my hair. “Shit.”

  Bootstrap came barreling into the kitchen. “Something bad is happening in Moira.”

  “Can you get us any footage of what’s happening? Has the IMIB been hit?” Swift asked.

  He shook his head. “The cameras all cut at once, then every connection I have to Moira cut as well. Every single connection. I don’t think I can emphasize enough how fucking bad that is. It’s...everything. It shouldn’t be possible.”

  “Where is the nearest Rune Rail terminal?” Lopez asked, grabbing her jacket and pulling it on. “We have to go see if we can get in.”

  “We have to start the emergency protocol as well,” Swift said.

  The emergency protocol involved alerting every IMIB agent to the crisis. Local governments and the prosaic police would go on alert as well. However, the only way to do that that I knew of was in Moira itself.

  “We better hope the Rune Rail is still usable so we can activate it,” I said, pulling on my own jacket. “We can start that on our way to the Rune Rail terminal here. If it is still working, it may not be for much longer.”

  Just before we got outside, Yui appeared near the front door and pulled me aside.

  “Hurry up, Blackwell. We don’t have time for this,” Swift said impatiently.

  “I’ll meet you at the car. Just give me a moment.” I turned back to Yui, who looked frustrated. “What?”

  “I...can’t help you tonight,” she said haltingly.

  “Why?”

  She sighed and looked away. “I just can’t. Try not to get yourself killed.”

  “That’s always the goal.”

  She smirked, but her brow was still creased with frustration. “If you don’t see me for a couple of weeks, don’t fret too much.”

  Before I had a chance to ask any more questions, she stepped back into the shadows and...disappeared.

  Forty-Six

  Graffiti marred the outer wall of the London Rune Rail terminal. I parked in a no-parking zone and jumped out of the car, not even bothering to turn it off. Swift was right behind me as I jogged toward the entrance.

  Lopez’s car slid to a halt next to mine
and the others followed us down into the terminal, which was surprisingly empty. Something in the air felt wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  “Do you feel that?” Swift whispered.

  I nodded, picking up my pace. The stairs let out into the ticketing area, which was all automated. I swiped my card and waved our group through quickly. The platform was one short flight of stairs away.

  We full out sprinted, none of us needing to suggest haste. My heart dropped as it came into view. This couldn’t be possible. The portals the Rune Rail cars came in and out of were gone. There was no trace of them, and no sign of damage, but they weren’t there.

  “It’s too late,” Viktor said solemnly.

  “Like hell it is,” I ground out. “We can’t just leave all those people trapped in Moira. We have to find another way in.”

  “There has to be another way in.” Lopez froze, horror creeping across her face. “Danner was still at work. I won’t leave my partner there without trying to help him.”

  “Bradley would still be in custody at the Mage’s Guild,” Swift added. “And Billy. You said he was at the Rune Rentals still.”

  The mayhem magic shifted inside of me, eager to destroy something as anger settled in my chest. I took a deep breath and everything went quiet. I knew it was Fate again even without turning around.

  “What do you want now?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  “It’s time. I hope you are ready,” Fate said, his voice strangely quiet.

  I turned to face the god. He stood before me in Billy’s form, however his face held none of my friend’s innocence. “Considering you broke my katana, I’d hardly call myself ready.”

  “This is only the beginning, Blackwell. Do not hold back, or you will not be able to win.” He lifted his hand and I was immediately back with the others.

  Swift was looking straight at me. “It was him again, wasn’t it?”

  I nodded, belatedly realizing my fists were clenched so tightly my fingers ached. “He offered no help, as usual. He just said he hoped I was ready and warned me not to hold back.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lopez asked.

  “Fate gave me a...vision, I guess. He shows up every so often to do that.”

  Lopez raised a brow. “Are you the chosen one or something?”

  I snorted. “Nothing that exciting. Just another unwillingly drafted soldier.”

  “If you’re determined to get in, then what now?” Viktor asked.

  “I have an idea,” Swift said, her face set in determination.

  “What is it?”

  “That rune, I think...I think it can help us.”

  This wasn’t something any of us had ever dealt with before. It was beyond a disaster. If there was ever a time to use a rune we didn’t fully understand, I suppose this was it. “Alright, back to the Manor.”

  Forty-Seven

  The others waited outside the room at a safe distance as Swift drew the rune on the floor. It was one of the few sections left intact after I’d lost control here. The whole wing would have to be torn down soon, which made it the perfect place to use potentially dangerous magic.

  “Are you sure about this?” I asked nervously, my magic crackling at my fingertips in anticipation of having to cast a shield.

  “Of course not, but my gut is telling me this is some kind of summoning spell, and that if the valkyrie gave it to you she meant no harm. It’s a calculated risk.” Her finger hovered over the final piece. She took a deep breath, then added the last stroke of the rune.

  Her magic rushed into it, filling the lines of the rune like molten steel. A whirlwind of pink exploded into a flash of light.

  All the air in the room was sucked toward the intricate rune on the floor. My feet slid as it pulled me in as well, as if gravity had shifted to that point. The walls groaned under the strain and dust fell from the ceiling as it began to crack.

  With a crack of thunder and a flash of blinding light, everything exploded outward.

  The smell of ozone filled the air as lightning streaked through the room. It hit the far wall and blasted a hole in it, sending chunks of marble and wood splinters raining down on the floor below.

  The quaking increased as the air swirled into a dust storm over the rune.

  “Are you sure it’s supposed to do this?” I shouted over the roar of magic and wind that tore at my clothes.

  “Just give it a minute!” Swift shouted back. Her face was set in determination and she didn't look the least bit concerned despite the destruction happening around us.

  “What are we waiting for? The ceiling to cave in?”

  Another long crack formed in the ceiling and I took a step back. We'd been buried under the rubble of a building once before, and I wasn't looking for a repeat.

  “Hopefully it works before that happens,” Swift said eyeing the new crack nervously.

  Lightning crackled within the churning air over the rune, then surged outward. On reflex, I threw my hands up to cover my face. My magic rushed around me and Swift, shielding us from…nothing.

  The destruction had stopped.

  I pulled the mayhem magic back slowly and the opaque magic flowed away, revealing the last thing I expected to see. A valkyrie stood over the rune, sword and shield in hand, her bright white wings fully extended behind her. Her eyes were lit from within as though she was filled with lightning. She was the same valkyrie I’d seen twice before now. Once when she retrieved her sister’s body, and the second time when we went back to the Rune Rail to try to get answers.

  “I expected to be summoned much sooner,” the valkyrie said disdainfully. “Was the meaning of the rune not clear?”

  “Uh, no, it wasn’t,” I said, still tense in case she attacked. We wouldn’t have much of a chance against her but I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Our last conversation hadn’t exactly ended well.

  A frown tugged at her lips and she lowered her sword. “I am not here to call you to Valhalla, you may relax.”

  I glanced at Swift –– who looked just as tense as I felt –– and she nodded. We both pulled our magic back.

  “I’m sure you’re aware that the Rune Rail has been stopped somehow,” Swift said.

  The valkyrie nodded. “It is all but destroyed. There is not much time if you are seeking to save the lives of your people, and Moira itself.”

  “Can you take us there?” Swift asked.

  “Yes.”

  After our last conversation, I was surprised by the easy yes. “Why are you helping us now? Last time we spoke, you said you’d kill me if I tried to talk to you again.”

  The valkyrie stiffened at the reminder. “I was under orders not to share information. It was necessary to scare you off before you were killed to silence you.”

  “So, you always wanted to help?” Swift asked, skeptical as ever.

  “We are called to protect Moira and its inhabitants. I believe some of my sisters have strayed from that cause.”

  It appeared even the valkyrie could be corrupted. That was even more terrifying than learning about the corruption of the Mage’s Guild.

  I turned to find the rest of our group –– minus Bootstrap who better still be watching Bradley’s family like I asked –– filing into the room. They all looked varying degrees of shocked, except for Viktor who observed the sight before him stoically.

  “How is this possible?” Lopez asked reverently, staring at the valkyrie with wide eyes.

  “There is no time for explanations,” the valkyrie said with a frown. “My absence will be noticed. Please come within this circle if you intend to enter Moira and join the fight.” She pointed at the blackened ring on the ground. I recognized it from the attacks but hadn’t realized it was a byproduct of a summoning.

  “What is your name?” Swift asked as we stepped into the circle the valkyrie had indicated.

  The valkyrie hesitated, as though she might not answer the questions, then said, “Alruna.”

  “T
hank you for your help,” Swift said, inclining her head slightly.

  The valkyrie returned her nod, then looked over our group. “We go into danger that none of you are equipped to handle. If any of you wish to stay behind, you will not be considered a coward.”

  Yamashita, who hadn’t approached since the valkyrie appeared, hovered by the door for a moment before turning and leaving the room.

  No one else made a move to leave, so Alruna nodded and began tracing the most intricate and beautiful rune I’d ever seen in the air. Her fingers moved even faster than Bootstrap’s, linking line after line. She layered the magic in a way I’d never seen done before.

  “Our enemy fights with magic and with fear. Stay as far away as you can. You can be the most help by helping to evacuate Moira. One of my sisters will reopen the Rune Rail when your people are gathered together,” Alruna explained quickly. She paused and looked at us one last time. “This will be uncomfortable, try not to panic.”

  Before we had a chance to overthink that, she added the last stroke of the rune, and the world faded away in a wash of lightning.

  Electricity raced over my skin. A riot of colors raced past us, blurring together faster than my mind could process. I couldn’t see the others. The magic I felt around me felt like the wave of magic that passed over me every time I took the Rune Rail, only amplified by a thousand. It was suffocating and disorienting to be wrapped in it. However, there was nothing I could do but ride it out.

  With a crack, the colors gave way to the backdrop of a city on fire. Smoke burned my throat and eyes as we were thrust into the heart of Moira. The street we were on was empty other than a few people that appeared dead. Every window was shattered as far as I could see, the broken glass glittering as it reflected the flames.

  Three valkyrie who were talking a few feet ahead of us turned around, startled by our appearance. Anger passed over the face of the tallest of them as she looked our group over.

  “What have you done?” the taller valkyrie demanded, advancing on her sister.