EPILOGUE
“Do you believe him?” Jade asked the others. It was the next morning and Truda was off with Thor, celebrating her birthday by bringing Spring to Midgard. Ragnarok had been averted. The companions were seated comfortably around a long table in Truda’s home, Bilskirnir. After Loki’s departure Odinn had wearily dismissed the charges against them, healed Phoenix’s wounds and sent them all to Bilskirnir with a careless wave of his hand. There, Thor’s wife, Sif, fussed over Truda and then over all of them. They slept in wonderful beds; bathed luxuriously and ate until they were stuffed and sleepy. Sif even managed to trim Jade’s singed hair neatly, although it was a lot shorter now.
“Who?” Phoenix asked, yawning. Brynn was attempting to slice an apple in half in mid-air with his hand-me-down sword. Phoenix and Marcus had been teaching him swordplay while Jade replenished her strength and her herb supply in Sifs garden. Unfortunately, the only real result was Sif getting annoyed at the number of bruised apples lying around.
“Loki,” Jade sighed, sorting herbs without really paying attention. “Do you believe that he only just met Zhudai and doesn’t care where he is?” Marcus looked up intently. Nearby, Brynn picked up the bruised apple and tossed it in the air again.
“No idea,” Phoenix shrugged. “Anyway, it’s not really important now. We still have to complete this level, remember?”
“I know but it doesn’t seem right to just steal the hammer after all this,” she shook her head, frowning at the bunch of aconite in her hand.
“WHAT?” Thor’s booming voice made them all jump guiltily. Phoenix’s hand dropped to his sword. Jade gasped as Thor shouldered his way into the room and bore down on them. Truda was right behind him, hurt and anger clouding her big blue eyes. Thor thumped a massive fist on the table, making the herbs bounce. “You are trying to steal Mjölnir, just as Loki said? Guards!”
“No, no!” Jade jumped up and ran to the thunder god. “No,” she pleaded, feeling sick that he and Truda thought they’d go through with it, now. “Please listen to us. Truda, please?”
Thor hesitated, looking down at his daughter. Truda poked out her bottom lip then nodded reluctantly. Thor waved the guards away and the two sat down.
Feeling like she was once again on trial, Jade paced the floor. She outlined their first two quests, prudently leaving out bits that related to coming from another world. Phoenix nodded at her encouragingly, so she hoped he was in agreement with her. There’d been no time to consult, after all.
“So you see,” she spread her hands, “we can’t continue without your hammer. With the hammer, we’re supposed to go to Egypt and release the goddess Anuket. She’s trapped in a tekhen there. That’s all we need it for. Then we can go on to the next quest, and the next and finally we can kill Zhudai, the one who’s behind all of this.” Jade finished, looking hopefully at Thor. “We’d return it straight away, I promise,” she added in a small voice.
There was a long silence as Thor glared at all four. They each met his eye as bravely as they could. He drummed his thick fingers on the wooden table and stared at his daughter for a long moment. Then he slapped the palm of his hand on the table, startling them once more.
“By Odinn’s eyepatch, I’ll do it!” Thor grinned, his bushy red beard quivering and his blue eyes glittering with anticipation. “It sounds like you’ll only need it for a week or so. With Loki gone things should be pretty peaceful for awhile. I can live without Mjölnir for that long.” He looked down at Truda again, stroking her bright hair. “Besides, I do owe you a favour for bringing my daughter safely home. Without her, Midgard would have been locked in winter and thousands of gods and mortals alike would have died in the ensuing battle. Anyway, Hrothgar would only have given my gift-sword to a true hero. Here,” he got up and unhooked Mjölnir from his belt. Striding over to Marcus, who was nearest, he held the short-handled hammer out.
Standing, Marcus hesitantly reached out and grasped the handle. Thor let go. Marcus yelped as the hammer smashed to the ground, cracking the granite floor. Thor laughed uproariously at his own joke. Still chuckling, he unbuckled his belt and stripped off his iron gloves.
“Sorry. Couldn’t resist. You’ll need Megingjörð – the belt - and my gloves. They give you the strength to lift the hammer, boy.” Thor explained, still laughing as Marcus strained to lift the weapon.
The belt and gloves shrank, becoming a perfect fit when Marcus pulled them on. He wiggled his fingers, raising his eyebrows at the flexibility of the iron. Reaching down, he yanked at the hammer, staggering back as it lifted easily now. Brynn giggled.
Marcus turned to Phoenix. “You should carry it.”
Phoenix shook his head and patted Blódbál. “Not a chance. I’m sticking with my little friend, here.”
“Jade?” Marcus looked at her, the hammer held out toward her.
She backed away, hands behind her. “Iron gloves? I don’t think so. It’s all yours.”
Marcus glanced at Brynn who grinned cheekily and shook his head. “You’re the warrior. I’m just a thief, remember? I can barely handle a normal sword, let alone a magic hammer. Besides,” he shrugged, “whoever heard of a thief giving things back at the end?”
Sighing, the Roman nodded, accepting the burden. Thor patted him on the shoulder and led him to one side, explaining how to handle the weapon.
Jade drew the others to Truda. “I guess it’s time for us to say ‘good-bye’,” she said sadly. She’d had become quite fond of the girl. It had been nice to have another female along.
Truda threw her arms around here and squeezed tightly. “You’ll take care of Brynn for me? He picked the lock to let me out of jail, y’know.”
Jade smiled and tweaked one red braid. “Of course we will but he has a habit of taking care of us, really. We’d be lost without him.”
Brynn came up, blushing furiously. Truda hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He flushed even more. Phoenix rescued him by tapping Truda on the shoulder. The girl looked at him doubtfully for a moment before wrapping her arms around his stomach and hugging him, too.
“Thanks for bringing me home in time to balance out the seasons again like I’m s’posed to. You take care of yourself, ok?” She frowned up at him like a little mother.
“You take care of yourself too, brat,” he said. “This must be what it’s like to be an older brother, huh? It’s not so bad. You’re alright kid.” He gave her an awkward, one-armed hug.
Truda sniffed and nodded. Without looking back, she ran to Marcus, gave him a flying hug and dashed out the door, bawling.
Thor looked after her with an indulgent smile then came back with Marcus to join them. He rubbed his hands together and grinned broadly.
“Right then, off to Ægyptus is it?”
They nodded, looking at each other doubtfully.
“Stupid place, that.” Thor turned away, waving at them to follow. “Full of arrogant gods with the heads of animals and the brains of them, too. It’s the heat: makes them idiots.” He snorted and shook his shaggy, red head. “Now when you’re done, all you need to do is make some small sacrifice to me, call my name and I’ll know you’re ready to give Mjölnir back. In the mean time,” he shook a warning finger at Marcus, “look after it. I’d hate for that thing to fall into the wrong hands.”
They followed him for some time, through the twisting stone corridors of Bilskirnir. Finally, Thor led them outside. Three servants waited, holding their horses and all the gear. Jade blinked. She’d forgotten about the horses.
Thor smiled. “Ready then?”
“Umm,” Jade began. “How do we get there?”
Thor chuckled and pointed toward a stone gateway in his garden. It looked remarkably like the three-stone doorway they’d stepped through in Stonehenge. Extremely like, in fact.
Phoenix eyed it then looked around. “Another Spring Equinox ceremony, I suppose?” He sighed, his shoulders twitching, probably at the thought of more Roman arrows.
Thor waved a ha
nd dismissively. “Nah. Those Druids have no idea. You don’t need a ceremony to use their portal,” he winked, “just timing. It only opens at the Equinoxes. Stupid mortals. This portal, however, links up with Midgard anytime and anywhere you want. Just say where you want to go, walk through and there you are.” He walked up, laid a thick-fingered hand on it and said “Ægyptus” in a clear voice. Then he nodded with satisfaction as the liquid-looking surface shimmered into existence. “I know the Elves use those tapestries of theirs but this has so much more dramatic flair, don’t you think? Makes a good garden ornament, too.”
The group was silent a moment.
“You mean that whole Spring Ceremony thing back in Albion was a waste of time and people!?” Jade couldn’t help the surge of anger and grief that welled up in her heart at the thought of the sacrificed druids and destruction of Stonehenge.
“And we didn’t have to ride up that bloody rainbow bridge to Alfheim?” Phoenix chimed in.
Thor shook his head, laughing. “You rode over Bifrost? Hah! I’d say Freyr just wanted to scare you. Well, there you go then,” the god nodded genially at the stone doorway.
The four companions exchanged grim glances. Thor’s scornful laughter at the Druids brought home, once more, the precarious nature of their quest. They were at the whim of the gods, whatever magic forces were pushing them on and an archvillain who wanted them dead. As soon as they stepped through the portal, it all started again – but harder.
Jade caught Brynn’s eye then Marcus’. “Are you sure you two want to do this? You can back out now and use this thing to go back to your homes, if you want.”
For a second, Brynn’s young face showed a flash of longing and fear. Then he squared his thin shoulders and shook his head. Marcus stepped forward and laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“We’re with you,” he said firmly.
“Let’s go then,” Phoenix grabbed the reins of the nearest horse. He waved thanks to Thor and marched purposefully toward the glistening doorway. Brynn, Marcus and Jade followed quickly, leading their mounts.
Thor watched a moment until first they, and then the shimmering surface vanished then shook his head and walked away. “What fools mortals are.”
.....
Nearby, a lean man in severe black robes emerged from the deep shadows of an oak tree. He gazed at the empty stones for a long time then smiled a particularly mirthless, unpleasant smile. Zhudai touched the grey granite and murmured softly. When the glistening portal appeared, he sent a last, contemptuous look at Thor’s castle....and vanished through the stones.
A taste of things to come…..
Book Three: The Tekhen of Anuket
CHAPTER 1
Phoenix stepped through the portal into warm, still darkness. Somewhat belatedly, he drew his sword, Blódbál, and held it ready. Peering into the gloom he listened intently for movement. Nothing. This unknown place was heavy with ancient, silent shadows; its air dusty and dead. As his eyes adjusted to the glimmer of light given off by the portal, Phoenix could dimly tell they were in a large, rectangular room of some sort. Regularly spaced stone columns supported a stone roof.
Carefully, he edged forward with his sword out, the other hand still holding firmly onto his horse’s reins. The stallion whuffled nervously, pushing at him with its nose. Hooves clattered loudly on a stone floor.
What was it with the darkness thing? Everywhere they went, he, Jade and their companions seemed to end up in some lightless hole – usually a prison. Didn’t anyone build with windows in the year 80AD? Or were the programmers of this benighted computer game just plain nasty?
After consideration, he favoured the latter idea. The geeks who wrote the game he and Jade were trapped in, had probably quite enjoyed dreaming up the unpleasant little nuisances he’d experienced so far: giant trolls, armies of Roman soldiers, evil sorcerers and power-mad henchmen.
So what was in store for his troupe now? They were in Egypt, so surely it would be mummies; or Sphinxes or maybe a horde of bad-tempered, stampeding camels.
“Ow!” Jade’s pained outcry told him the others were right on his heels. Stumbling in haste, he tugged his horse forward to make space for them. More hooves echoed. Brynn and Marcus stepped through. Marcus had his bow ready, an arrow notched. Brynn had drawn his new sword and was glaring into the gloom.
Abruptly, the faint light vanished as the gateway between Asgard and Egypt popped out of existence with a slight slorping sound. Come what may, they’d arrived on Level Three.
“Everyone ok?” Phoenix called over the stompings and nickerings. One by one, the others assured him they were all ok.
“So,” he continued, “on to the second question. Anyone know where we are?”
There was a small silence then Brynn’s cocky voice piped up. “Ægyptus?”
“Thanks for that. Helpful,” he said sarcastically. He heard a fleshy thump. Brynn squawked and Phoenix grinned, guessing Marcus had whacked the boy on the arm.
“Hang on,” Jade said. She tucked her quarterstaff under one arm and, seconds later, a greenish light appeared in her cupped hands. She’d cast her favourite light-spell. Next she murmured a few words over the glowing ball and blew on it gently. To Phoenix’s surprise, it wafted out of her hands and began to drift around the room.
“Nice new trick,” he admired.
Jade grinned. “Courtesy of that spell-book Ásúlfr gave me back in Sweden.” She sent another off in a different direction; then a third. Soon the room was eerily lit by what looked like a dozen giant firefly-backsides.
With a soft exclamation of delight, she hurried over to the nearest wall. Phoenix handed his reins to Brynn and joined her, wondering what she found so fascinating. As far as he could see, it was just a wall covered in pretty pictures.
“They’re hieroglyphs,” she breathed, brushing reverent fingertips over the jewel-coloured images.
Brynn and Marcus arrived, peering over her shoulder.
“Did you tie the horses?” Phoenix asked Brynn.
“Nope. Where would they go?” The Breton boy raised an eyebrow at him.
“Good point,” Phoenix glanced around the room. There were definitely no windows and, more concerning, no doors. Even the entrance they had come through was merely a three-stone door-frame set into solid wall. “Maybe we shouldn’t waste time on the walls, Jade,” he suggested. “Maybe we should be looking for a way out of here.”
“I suppose,” she agreed with obvious reluctance; but didn’t turn away. Phoenix waited a second then gestured to the other two. There didn’t seem to be any immediate danger. It wouldn’t hurt to let her stay while they looked for a way out. He and Jade had had their differences in the past but Phoenix was determined to be a true leader now and earn her respect and co-operation. Ordering her to come away from the hieroglyphs would be a poor way to start.
“Could you at least lend us some of the lights?” he prodded her gently in the ribs. All of the light-balls were dancing around her head, illuminating the wall she was examining.
Jade nodded, tucked a stray strand of shoulder-length, white-blond hair behind a pointed ear and waved a hand absently at the hovering lights. Three of them drifted down to bob just over the boys’ heads.
“Right,” Phoenix stared around, trying to see into the gloomiest corners, “there has to be an exit. Let’s split up and find it – but don’t get lost. We don’t know how big this place is.” The other two nodded and walked away, green lights dancing around their heads. Phoenix headed in the opposite direction.
As it turned out, they were in no danger of getting lost. The room was fairly small and was flanked by two rooms that were even smaller. Brynn found what had to be the original door but it had been built in with large, firmly-mortared limestone blocks. There was no exit.
Finally, the three gathered around a central stone altar and admitted defeat.
“Unless there’s some sort of secret entrance, I can’t see a way out of here,” Phoenix declared. “Ideas?�
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“We could look for a secret entrance,” Brynn offered.
Phoenix raised his eyes to the ceiling briefly but nodded. “OK. Noted. Any other ideas?”
“Let’s ask Jade,” Marcus advised. All three turned to look at her. Their half-elven companion was still staring intently at the hieroglyphs that covered the walls. Her mouth moved silently and her eyes were almost crossed with intense concentration.
“I’ve got it!” She turned and beckoned them, excitement making her green eyes glitter. Relieved, Phoenix jogged over. Trust Jade to come up with a decent plan to get them out of trouble.
“So?” He prompted.
Jade pointed at a set of pictures encircled by an oval. To Phoenix it looked like a hook and a shovel followed by a flying saucer and a small chicken. Outside the oval was a hamburger bun, a sailing boat and something that looked like a complicated showerhead. Perplexed, he raised his eyebrows at Jade.
She grinned at him. “See? It says we’re in the offering chapel of Snefru’s Shining Pyramid. A portal inside the pyramid chapel? Please. The game programmers are obviously fans of the Stargate Sci-fi TV series. Any minute now it will be aliens landing on the pyramid.”
Phoenix, Brynn and Marcus all stared at her with looks of blank astonishment for a moment before blinking again at the pictures. Phoenix decided to ignore the Stargate comment, as he’d never watched the show and had no idea what connection it had to their current problems. He examined the hieroglyphs again. He even tilted his head and closed one eye, hoping that would help. It still looked like a chicken and a complicated shower device.
“I’ll take your word for it,” he finally said. “Does it say how to get out of the chapel of Snefru’s Shining pyramid by any chance?”
“What? No, it’s all about what a great Pharaoh Snefru was and how he’s going to get to the afterlife.” Jade blinked at him. “Can’t you read it?”
All three of the boys shook their heads.
“Huh,” she pulled down her mouth. “I thought that language spell Ásúlfr cast back in Olshammar would work the same on all of us but I guess I’m the only one who can understand and read other languages. Weird.”
The Hammer of Thor Page 20