by Kate O'Hearn
Tanks and jet fighters from the world’s united military forces took on the giants but couldn’t stop their advance. Despite humanity’s best efforts, their weapons had little effect on the large invaders—though they were having success against the trolls, Dark Elves, and dwarfs.
With each passing moment, Maya felt despair coming from the three soldiers in the room. “We can’t win against them, can we?” the corporal asked her.
Maya shook her head. “Not even Asgard will stand long against the united giants.”
“I should be there,” Kai said as his white wings fluttered, and he punched the back of the sofa. “I’m doing nothing here but watching my brothers fight!”
One of the soldiers nodded. “So should we.”
“You are where you must be,” Brundi said. “I am sure Vonni will send for you when you are needed.”
Maya stayed to watch a little longer. But with each new report showing the path of devastation left by the invaders, she felt despair crush her. Finally she walked back out to the balcony to be alone.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Grul said. The raven was finally recovered and back on her shoulder. “You want to join your mother and sisters in the battle and be there too.”
Maya nodded. “Midgard is overwhelmed, and I feel helpless here.” She walked up to the railing and grasped it tightly as she slowly opened her wings. They were stiff and sore but healing quickly now that they’d been properly set. She winced as she flapped them lightly.
“It won’t be long,” Grul said.
Maya massaged her right wing and nodded. “They’re feeling much stronger. I’m ready to try to fly tomorrow—just a short flight at first.”
“Then what?” the raven asked. “Please don’t say you’re going to join the fight. You’re not ready for that.”
Kai arrived back on the balcony. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do. The moment Maya can fly again, we’re leaving.”
“But what about Brundi and Mims? What about the baby? They need your protection.”
“They have the human soldiers. Grul, we can’t stay here doing nothing while the world falls,” Maya said.
“Then it’s decided,” Kai said. “Tomorrow, if you can fly, we’ll go.”
* * *
They remained glued to the television, watching the reports of the invasion until late into the night. Of the combined forces of Asgardians and humans, the only ones with any success against the giants were the Asgardians, finally winning them acceptance as allies.
When Maya retired to bed and lay down in the room she shared with Mims, she was unable to sleep. She was more conflicted than she had ever been in her life. Part of her wanted to join her family in battle, but another part was called to find Freya. Neither option held any hope of success. Finally, she decided what she would do. She would join her family against the giants, but she had no illusions. They were fighting a losing battle.
Maya turned onto her stomach and flexed her wings open and closed. She could feel them getting stronger with each passing moment. By morning, she was confident they would be healed enough to carry her to the East Coast.
When she had finished her exercises, she rolled onto her side and tried to sleep. She needed all the rest she could get. But just as she started to doze off, she felt a blaring alarm going off in her head.
Maya jumped up and went to the window. The moment she and Grul looked out to the dark ocean, her jaw dropped. Two frost giants were emerging from the water.
“Mims, get up!” She ran for the door and out of the bedroom. “Everyone up!” she shouted. “It’s the frost giants—they’re here!”
Kai was first to appear in the hall. “From where?”
“The ocean! There must be a tunnel entrance we didn’t know about just offshore—”
Any further comment was cut off as the timber beams of the house creaked and the ground beneath them shook. Suddenly a frost giant’s voice boomed like thunder. “Kill the Valkyries!”
“They’re tracking us!” Brundi entered the hall, pulling on her robe.
There was no time to react or move as the ceiling suddenly exploded. Timber flew in all directions and debris rained down. The last thing Maya saw before darkness overwhelmed her was the horrifying sight of a massive frost giant fist smashing down through the house.
14
“SO THIS IS THE ROOT of Yggdrasil?” asked Skye, staring at the rough walls covered with glowing green lichen. Freya had led the group into the cave leading to Earth.
Freya nodded. “If you touch it, you can feel it vibrating with life.”
The two young Vanir stopped and touched the living wall. “I can hear her singing!” Skye cried.
“Who?” Archie asked, pressing his ear to the root. “I don’t hear anything.”
“It’s Yggdrasil. If you know how to listen, you can hear her. She’s beautiful.”
Archie shook his head. “I still don’t hear anything.”
“Me neither,” Freya agreed as she touched the dark brown root. “But I can feel it humming with life.”
Quinn closed his eyes and listened to the song of the Great Cosmic Tree. “Let us never forget, this is what we are fighting for.”
* * *
When they reached the halfway point, Archie became a ghost again. “I hate this!” he complained. “One moment I’m solid, and the next I’m not. I just wish the realms would make up their mind. Am I alive or dead?”
“You’re both,” Freya said.
Archie gave her a black look. “That doesn’t help.”
“You’re alive to me,” Skye offered.
Color rose on Archie’s face.
“Who’d have thought a ghost could blush?” Orus teased.
Freya smiled at her friend but said nothing as she took the lead, guiding the Vanir through the tunnel. Soon the passage began to incline up toward an opening. Spread out before them was the underground lake that would take them to the surface of Midgard.
“All right,” Freya said, standing on the shore. “I should warn you. To get to Midgard, we have to swim. The water is freezing cold, and you’re going to need to hold your breath for a long time. Can you do that?”
Quinn nodded. “We swim a lot back home.”
“But this water is freezing—will you be able to cope with it?” Freya asked. “I heard it never gets cold in Vanaheim.”
Skye shook her head. “It doesn’t, but that doesn’t really matter here—we won’t get wet. Take our hands and we’ll show you how.”
Freya tucked Orus into her breastplate and took Quinn’s outstretched hand. Then she caught hold of Skye.
“And you, Archie.” Skye offered her free hand to him. “Join us.”
The moment their hands were all linked, Freya felt a strange sensation, as if an electric current were flowing through them. Her hair started to stand on end. Beside her, Quinn’s hair also started to rise.
“Show us the way,” Skye said to Archie.
They entered the water together, and it was as if they were traveling in a big bubble of air. The freezing water never touched them as Archie gave instructions to Skye on the route that Loki had taken.
Safe within the protection of the bubble, they looked around in wonder at the Arctic Ocean. Soon they burst through the surface of the water. To Freya and Archie, it seemed they had only just left. But here the ocean water was almost solid ice, and Kaffeklubben Island was covered in snow.
When they touched the shore, Skye let go of Freya’s hand and the bubble vanished.
“That was awesome!” Archie said. He slapped Freya playfully on the arm. “Why can’t you do cool stuff like that?”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Freya said, “but I’m just a poor Aesir, remember? We use crude weapons and brute force, not magic.”
Quinn looked at Freya and grinned mischievously. “Just so long as you remember that.”
They walked around the small arctic island. The sun was sitting sluggishly on the horizon, giving
no clue as to whether it was day or night. There were no signs of life anywhere. “Well, at least the giants haven’t been here yet,” Quinn said.
His comment brought home the danger. Urd and Verdandi had said that the giants were already on Earth. What damage had they done? “We’re too far north,” Freya explained. “The tunnel to Asgard is much farther south. That’s where we’ll see the real damage.”
Orus cawed, “I hate to imagine what they’ve done.”
“Well, we won’t know until we get there.” Freya looked at the two Vanir. “How are you two for endurance flying? It’s a long way south.”
Quinn grinned. “We’ll keep up with you, Aesir. Don’t worry about us.”
Freya grinned back at him. “Really, Vanir? My feathers against your insectoid wings—the first person who needs to land loses!”
“Deal!” Quinn cried as he flapped his four dragonfly wings and launched into the arctic sky.
“Go get ’em, Gee,” Archie cried.
Freya caught hold of Archie, flapped her larger, feathered wings, and took off behind Quinn and Skye.
The journey south was much longer than the journey up had been. Then they’d ridden a large black dragon. This time they were using their own wing power and could fly only as fast as Skye’s butterfly wings could manage.
Freya could sense Quinn and Skye growing fatigued. For all their bragging, they obviously weren’t used to long-distance flying.
The sun had set hours ago, and with thick storm clouds above them, they were traveling in total darkness.
“There is no shame in stopping for a rest,” Freya called as she maneuvered closer to the two Vanir. “I’m used to this. You’re not.”
“We’re fine,” Quinn panted.
“Don’t be a jerk!” Archie called. “Skye’s really struggling. Her wings aren’t built like yours or Gee’s—it’s harder for her to keep up with us.”
Quinn looked back at his companion and saw Skye battling to match their speed. But with her light wings, she fluttered in the windswept sky, unable to fly in a straight line. She nodded to the others but was too tired to speak.
“All right,” Quinn said. “Let’s take a short break.”
Freya slowed down and glided over the snow-capped mountains of northern Canada. They touched down at the top of one of the mountains.
Quinn waved his hand in the air, and suddenly a large, warm campfire appeared in the thick snow. He pulled out a small cloth and wiped a film of sweat off his brow. “I don’t think I’ve ever flown that far before.”
“Me neither,” Skye gasped as she fluttered down to the ground and gulped air. Her butterfly wings drooped and her shoulders sagged. “I hate to admit it, but I’m exhausted. It’s true, feathers are better for long distances.”
Freya wanted to say “I told you so,” but she didn’t have the heart. After all, she was the best flyer in Asgard. Mentioning it would only sound like bragging. “But I can’t use magic,” she said instead.
“True,” Quinn said. Then he grinned at Freya. “Which means we can do this and you can’t!” He waved his hand again, and a banquet of food appeared on a leafy blanket beside the roaring fire. From breads to exotic fruit Freya had never seen before, it all looked delicious. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
As Freya took a seat on the leaf cover, Archie harrumphed. “It’s just not fair. It all looks delicious, but I can’t eat!”
Orus emerged from Freya’s breastplate and cawed, “But I can—I’ll enjoy it for you!”
While they ate, Quinn and Skye stared around them. “We’ve never been to Midgard before,” Skye said. “Does it all look like this?”
Freya shook her head. “No. This realm is really special. It seems to have a bit of all the realms in it. There are even a few jungles that look just like Vanaheim.”
“Really?” Skye asked. When Freya nodded, she continued. “When this is over, I want to come back here and see more.”
“I’ll be glad to show you around,” Archie offered.
Quinn watched the exchange between Skye and Archie. He frowned. “Archie, aren’t you and Freya . . . you know, together?”
“Me and Gee?” Archie choked. “Are you serious? No way. We’re just friends.”
Freya couldn’t resist kicking his foot. “Thanks, Archie, but you didn’t have to make it sound like the idea was a fate worse than death!”
Archie blushed. “I didn’t mean it like that! I just wanted Skye to know that we were just friends.”
“She knows now; that’s for sure,” Freya teased. She looked at Quinn, who was looking down and smiling to himself, as if pleased to hear this new piece of information. Freya flushed and cleared her throat, changing the subject. “So, after all these years without contact between our realms, what do the Vanir think of the Aesir?”
Quinn shrugged. “Not a lot, really. But we’re always preparing for war.”
“With Asgard?” Archie asked.
Skye nodded. “We’re raised to be ready for any kind of attack. From the moment we can fly, we’re required to train for battle and use our magic skills to fight.”
“So you’re all in the army?” Archie cried.
“He means you’re all warriors,” Freya corrected.
Quinn nodded. “Whether we want to be or not.”
“What do you want?” Freya pressed the Vanir. “You seem like a leader to me.”
A slight blush of pink rose in Quinn’s cheeks. “I always dreamed of exploring the other realms and cataloging the wildlife. There’s so much to see. But we’re forbidden to do anything like that. We can’t leave Vanaheim.”
“What’ll happen if you’re caught here with us?” Archie asked.
“We’ll be executed,” Skye said softly. “And because my father is the leader of our village, he’ll be executed too.”
“What?” Archie cried. “You never said that would happen. You shouldn’t have come here!”
“We had to,” Skye said. “If this war escalates to Ragnarök, nothing will survive. We must try to stop the giants, even if it means punishment for breaking our laws.”
Freya looked at her new Vanir friends. She hadn’t realized the risk they were taking coming with them. Vanir punishments were much harsher than Odin’s.
Silence fell as they gazed into the fire.
“Speaking of giants,” Archie finally said, “Gee, can you feel them? Are they really here?”
Freya had dreaded that question from the moment they arrived. But Archie knew how acute her senses were. When he asked again, she nodded reluctantly. “Yes, they’re here. So are the Dark Elves, dwarfs, and others.”
Quinn raised his eyebrows. “Can you really feel them? I can’t. Where are they?”
“Everywhere—all around us.” Freya pointed south. “But most are down that way. There are a few behind us, but not on this continent. They’ll be using the other tunnels.”
A renewed silence fell over the group. The War of the Realms had started, and the giants were moving on to Asgard—via Earth.
“I wonder what the military is doing about it?” Archie asked. “The people here don’t even believe in the other realms. How can we possibly fight them?”
“You can’t,” Freya said. “The safest thing for everyone would be for the military to stay out of their way and let the giants go for the other tunnels.”
“You know they won’t do that, right?” Archie said.
Freya nodded but said nothing. She stood up. “I can’t eat any more. If you’re all up to it, we should get moving.”
“And about time, too!”
Freya turned and saw Loki striding up to them.
“Loki!” Before Freya realized what she was doing, she ran forward and threw her arms around him.
“Puh—lease!” Loki said as he pulled free of her embrace. “A little decorum, if you don’t mind.”
Freya looked him up and down. He was dressed in the leather armor she hadn’t seen him wear since her First Day Ceremony. He carr
ied his staff in his right hand. It was taller than him and had a large jewel at the top.
“How did you get away from the Vanir? Verdandi said they were torturing you.”
“It was just a minor, but rather unpleasant, misunderstanding. When the Norns came and explained the situation, they released me. To make up for their actions, they re-created my armor and staff. Urd told me about the plan to rescue Skuld, and I had to catch up with you. Of course you’ll need my help.”
Freya smiled at his bravado. “Yes, I guess we do.”
“Do the Elders know that Skye and Quinn have left Vanaheim to come with us?” Archie asked.
“They do now,” Loki answered. He looked at the two Vanir. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when you get home.”
“I don’t care what the Elders say or do,” Quinn said bravely. “If we fail, Vanaheim will fall just like Asgard. Then breaking the law will mean nothing.”
“What about the Elders? Will they side with Asgard?” Freya asked.
“I believe so,” Loki said. “The Vanir will be drawn in whether they want to be or not. I can’t see them joining the giants.” Loki reached down for a piece of bread. “Now, if you’ve finished your little picnic, we should get going.”
“Loki,” Freya started, “Skye and Quinn aren’t used to this much flying. Do you think . . . ?”
Loki held up his hand. “Don’t say it. You want to hitch a ride.”
“Not for me,” Freya said. “I’m fine. It’s for the others.”
Loki made a point of sighing dramatically. “All right, all right. You don’t have to cry about it.”
Freya frowned. “I wasn’t.”
“Sure you were—just like you were worried about me and frightened the Vanir might hurt me. Admit it—you actually like me, and it’s so gosh darn sweet!”
Within seconds of his arrival, Loki had managed to irritate her again. “If you’re just here to cause trouble, you can turn around and go back to Vanaheim!”