"Can you narrow that down? There are millions of waterfalls, we can't visit them all," said Alex pacing around frustrated. He could feel static electricity start to build up in his fingers tips so he took a few deep breaths to calm down.
"There is only one person who could say for sure," said Dvalin grinning from ear to ear.
"Please not a Volva. I've really had my fill of them already," moaned Alex.
"Sorry yes a Volva, it's the only way. They always track him, I think they are a bit obsessed with him," said Dvalin laughing.
"There is no way that we are going back to Cassie, she is crazy," said Alex.
"I think scary would be a more accurate description," said Matt.
"We don't need to bother Cassie, we have our own local Volva here in Ostleheim. Come on let's go summon her," said Dvalin hurrying off down the tunnel. They followed him back to his house and watched as he scurried around gathering random bits and pieces from all over the room.
"So how do you summon a Volva?" asked Becca watching him root around a small cupboard and bring out a bottle of what looked like eyeballs.
"Very carefully," said Dvalin clearing a table and placing his items in a row.
"If I get this wrong, she'll be really mad at me. Goodness knows what she will do to us. She can be a bit mean sometimes. The last time she was summoned, the dwarf who did it used the wrong feather and she came through naked. She was livid, she made a portal and sent him to Midgard," said Dvalin.
"Well that's not so bad is it?" asked Becca.
"It was daytime and he turned to stone. All because he used the wrong feather. So careless.," said Dvalin tutting. He double-checked all of the items on the table carefully.
"Right that should do it," he said. "A phoenix feather, a mermaid scale, a tear of a virgin, they are hard to find these days I can tell you," he said tutting and pouring one drop from a small jam jar. "One goat eyeball and a hint of dragon's breath."
"Dragon's breath, how do you get that?" asked Alex peering over Dvalin's shoulder.
"Carefully, very, very carefully," said Dvalin. "I nearly lost my beard getting this last lot. The dragon coughed just as I got near and he singed me. It was very painful, I had nightmares for weeks," he said gathering all of the items together and placing them in a small bowl.
"Right everyone stand back, you don't want her landing on you," he said waving everyone back.
They all moved back as far as they could against the stone walls and watched Dvalin as he muttered what sounded like a spell over the bowl.
The flaming torches on the wall flickered and a mini tornado whipped up in the centre of the room sending all of the loose papers flying around in the air. The wind picked up and Alex had to shield his eyes from the debris flying around the room. Suddenly there was a loud sucking noise, followed by a big bang, then all became still and there was just the sound of paper fluttering to the floor. Alex opened his eyes and in the centre of the room stood a haggard old woman dressed all in black. Her eyes were completely jet black, no white showed at all. Her skin looked like it was rotting and hanging off her bones. She scanned the room and hissed.
"Dvalin is that you? What do you want? I was waiting for my shopping to arrive. This had better be good you scoundrel,” she said glaring at him.
"Hello Maggie, you are looking well," said Dvalin coughing and raising his eyebrows at her.
"What? Oh Odin," she said looking at her gnarled hands. She swept them over her face and she suddenly transformed into a slim young girl with long luxuriant chestnut coloured hair and bright blue eyes.
"Ah that's better. Sorry about that folks, I didn't have time to prepare before I was so rudely interrupted," she said glaring at Dvalin again. "Oh well, hello there," she said eyeing up Alex and sidling over to him. She scanned him up and down and literally undressed him with her eyes.
"You must be Thor's new son, quite the piece of gossip at the moment. Yes, yes very handsome, oh and I can sense the power in you. You are going to be very strong when you learn how to control it."
“Fat chance,” said Pete sniggering. Her head snapped around to him. Her eyes were black fathomless pits and she snarled at him.
"Don't interrupt me you rude boy," she said gliding over to him. Her feet were hovering two inches off the ground. "Well well, what have we here?" she asked sniffing the air around Pete. "I can smell him on you, oh yes I will never forget that smell," she cackled. She turned to face the others and her eyes were normal again. She walked in front of all of them sniffing the air carefully.
"Hmm interesting," she said. They stood still, petrified, no one dared to say anything but they all wanted to ask her about what she could smell on Pete. Alex turned to him and mouthed, "What?" but Pete just shrugged his shoulders.
"Maggie dear we need your help," said Dvalin, breaking the uncomfortable silence. She turned to face him smiling broadly showing off perfect white teeth.
"Of course I will help Thor's son, what is it?" she asked.
"We need to find Grim, do you know where he is?" asked Dvalin. Maggie sighed and her eyes glowed.
"Of course I know, as if I would let that young hottie slip away. Why do you want him?" she asked narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the girls.
"I would like him to create some music for me, something original for a birthday gift and these fine youngsters agreed to talk to him about it for me. You know, me not being able to go outside and all," said Dvalin studying a feather intently, which he had plucked off the table.
"Ah, a birthday gift is it? Who for?" she asked.
"Why the Grandmaster of course. I want it to be a surprise so please don't tell anyone," said Dvalin. Alex looked at him with raised eyebrows and Dvalin shrugged.
"Liar," she hissed, as she flew over to Dvalin and leaned over him. "Now why would you lie to me?"
"I'm not, I'm not," he squeaked backing away.
"Are you still trying to open that door?" she laughed.
"I might be but that's none of your business," he said haughtily.
"You are a fool, but you make me laugh so I'll help you. Grim was hanging out under the Seidrfossen falls yesterday," she said moving back to Alex's side and running her hand down his arm. He shivered with distaste and moved away.
"Ah the one in Norway?" asked Dvalin excited.
"Yes. Now I need to go home or I'll miss my delivery," she snapped.
"I don't suppose you could do us one more favour?" asked Dvalin. "We are in a bit of a rush, if you could open a portal to the falls that would really help," he said looking at her pleadingly.
"Oh is that all? Can you do this? Can you do that? What am I your slave? What do I get out of all of this?" asked Maggie. Her eyes had started to turn black again and she spun around to face Alex.
"Tell you what," she said eyeing him up again. "If this handsome young god takes me on a date I'll do it."
"You what?" cried Alex in a panic.
"Why what's the matter with me? Do you think I'm ugly? Am I not good enough for you?" asked Maggie looking very hurt.
"No, no of course not. Er I just don't think my girlfriend would be too happy about that," said Alex moving to Becca's side and reaching for her hand.
"Girlfriend? Her?" screeched Maggie her eyes blacking up fully. She stood over Becca menacingly. She was a good head taller than her when she was hovering off the ground.
"Ok, ok, I'll do it," said Alex stepping in front of Becca and holding his hands up.
"Take us to the falls first, give me a few days and then I'll sort a date out. Dinner, the movies, whatever you want," he said desperately.
"Lovely, ok but you have to swear an oath first, I don't want you backing out of this," she said smiling and stroking a finger down his chest. She brushed over his mark and a tiny spark made her jump back.
"Yeah right whatever," he said moving out of her reach again. "I swear to take you on a date sometime in the future," he said. That future could be a long time from now he thought to himself and he grin
ned.
"Right ok then, let's get you to the falls so you can get your music for Dvalin's 'Grandmaster'," she said sarcastically. She moved over to the table waved her hand and it moved to one side making more space in the centre of the room.
"I'll get you as close as I can. Portals can be a bit hit and miss near water. If I try and get you too close you could end up in the water. Gather together really closely in a circle and give my love to Grim," she said winking.
"Wait hang on, what about Dvalin and Sven, I take it you guys can't come?" asked Alex.
"No we can't go outside, especially not in the day. We will wait for you here. I am sure we have lots to catch up on,” said Dvalin looking around for Sven. He was sitting comfortably on a sofa playing Candy Crush on his phone and did not acknowledge the others at all.
"Go on you had best get going, you don't have much time," said Dvalin.
They gathered together into a tight circle and wrapped their arms around each other. Maggie drew a circle around them with a stick of chalk that she pulled from her pocket.
"Chalk? Cassie took all night creating some sort of potion for the portal she created for us," said Alex confused.
"We all have our different methods," said Maggie closing her eyes. She started to chant repeatedly.
"Hyrr, logr, mold, lopt. Hyrr, logr, mold, lopt...."
The chalk began to glow a bright white and flames licked up around them. Sasha squealed and moved in closer. Alex could feel an intense heat rise up his back and he felt as though he were on fire. Then suddenly he felt icy cold, as though someone had poured a bucket of icy water over him and then he fell through a hole in the floor.
Chapter Nine
"Not again," cried Matt falling down uncontrollably.
The wind rushed passed Alex's face and he struggled to breathe. He tightened his grip on Becca and Sasha; he didn't want to let them go. There was a sudden flash of light and they landed on a soft surface. Alex felt himself being sucked into a pillowy softness and then he felt himself bouncing up and down a few times. Looking down, he could see the earth rippling and undulating under them. It was like they were on a big bouncy castle.
Once their fall had been broken the earth became firm again and they got to their feet unsteadily.
"Oh my god I'm going to puke," said Matt bending over at the waist and taking some deep breaths.
"That's like the freakiest fairground ride ever," he said straightening up.
Alex flattened his hair, which was standing on end and looked around at the group.
"Everyone ok?" he asked. Pete was patting the back of his legs where his trousers were smoking.
"That witch burnt me, look, there's a hole in my jeans," he said angrily turning around so they could see the scorch marks.
"Well she did say to get in close, you'll live," said Alex laughing. He looked around and took in their surroundings. "Where are we? There's no waterfall here," he said confused.
They were standing in a green valley with mountains rearing up on each side. Tall trees covered the slopes and the sun glistened on a river in the distance. There were no houses in sight and no signs of life anywhere.
"Oh wow, this is beautiful," said Becca looking around in appreciation.
"Stunning," agreed Sasha. "It's so peaceful."
It was nice to be out in the light again. It had felt like they had been underground for days.
"Listen," said Becca cocking her head to the side.
Alex stood still and listened. He could hear the rumbling noise of a waterfall in the distance.
"Over there," he said pointing to the river, which was curling through the valley.
"If we follow the river, we'll come to the waterfall. It sounds like it's over that way."
They started to walk towards the river, casting looks about them as they made their way through thick lush green grass.
"It doesn't look like anyone lives here. Look, there are no houses, sheep, cows, goats, nothing," said Pete looking down the valley into the distance.
"Pete what was that witch talking about when she said she could smell him on you? That was really weird," asked Sasha. Alex had forgotten about that and listened closely.
"Dunno, weird old bag. Maybe she could smell my dad, he wears really strong aftershave," he joked. "I'm more interested in where Alex is going to take the lovely Maggie on their date," he said changing the subject quickly.
"Man there is no way I'm taking that crazy old woman on a date," said Alex pushing Pete away from him playfully.
"But you promised Alex. You need to be careful. If Cassie finds out, then you'll be in trouble." Pete skipped out of the way as Alex swung a punch in his direction.
"Well I figured I would be dead anyway. As soon as I draw that sword then from the sounds of it I have more or less signed my death warrant," he said plucking off the head of a stray piece of corn and crushing it between his fingers.
The enormity of his situation struck him and he started to feel angry. He had never asked for this, it was so unfair he thought to himself. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and echoed between the mountains. Alex looked up to the sky and saw dark clouds gathering covering up the sun. A flash of lightning lit up the clouds and it started to rain. The others had stopped in their tracks and were staring at Alex horrified.
"Alex that is not going to happen. Look we'll figure it out. There must be some way to break that curse. You are a god, it probably won't even apply to you," said Matt draping an arm around Alex's shoulders.
"I'm only a demi god and I'm not immortal, look what happened to Baldur, he died," said Alex shrugging off Matt's arm.
"He’s not really dead, he is just stuck in Helheim, with the niece from Hell," said Sasha.
"He might as well be dead. It's ok I'll join him for a few beers it's cool. We all have to go sometime. I might as well do it saving the world. Total hero and all that. You can build statues and worship me. It will be awesome," he said sounding braver than he felt.
He wasn't feeling very confident and he felt sick every time he thought about the sword. He was hoping there would be some sort of get out clause. There must be some perks to being a demi god and a son of Thor. His granddad was Odin for goodness sake he thought to himself smiling. He was pretty sure Odin wouldn't let his new found grandson die without a fight.
Becca came over to his side and slipped her hand in his.
"We won't let anything happen to you I promise," she said squeezing his hand gently. "Anyway you promised me a date first remember, the movies?"
"How could I forget," said Alex bending over and kissing the top of her head. She looked up into his eyes and placed her other hand on his chest and tilted her head up.
"Come on you two, we'll never get there," called back Sasha. "And Alex do something about the rain will you, I'm getting soaked," she moaned.
Alex grinned and quickly kissed Becca on the forehead and pulled her after him. The sky lightened with his mood and the rain stopped almost immediately.
"Just you wait until we get five minutes alone," he growled softly.
"Only five minutes? Really Alex I am disappointed," she said bumping into his arm.
"Oh my god, come on let's go in this direction, we'll catch them up later," said Alex as he tried to drag her over to a copse of trees. Becca pulled him back.
"We'll have plenty of time for that after we’ve saved the world," she laughed blushing furiously. Every cell of her body wanted Alex to drag her into the trees but they had a task to do and had to focus.
"But we might not make it. Who says this Grim has the right music? He might not give us anything then we'll never get the sword and it will be the end of the world. This could be our last chance, come on," he pleaded.
"No way we’re running out of time come on," she said pulling him towards the river. "Thinking about time, it’s been ages since we last spoke to Alan. He must be going out of his mind.”
Alex dug his phone from his pocket. "Damn, no signal," he s
aid holding his phone up into the air and twisting around in all directions. "You're right he must be going crazy. On the positive side I can't see any weird stuff happening, no wandering spirits, no monsters so I guess the henge is still holding up."
"That's true but I doubt we have a lot of time. Come on stop dawdling," said Becca. She started to jog to catch up with the others who were nearing the stream and Alex increased his pace.
"It's sounding closer already, come on guys, I reckon it's around that bend up there," said Matt, pointing up the river to where the valley narrowed about a mile upstream.
They followed the riverbed, scrambling over large boulders and pushing their way through tall grass. Eventually they came to a bend in the river and they made their way carefully around the corner. The sides of the mountains converged and just the water separated the thick trees on either side of the river. They stepped carefully between the trees, slipping on the muddy ground. When they came around the bend the trees opened up and revealed a lake completely surrounded by the tall mountains. At the furthest end of the lake a waterfall cascaded over a ridge protruding from the side of the mountain. The water plunged into the blue water of the lake sending up a fine mist and creating a glistening rainbow.
"Oh wow, this is amazing," said Becca shading her eyes. The sun was sparkling off the waterfall and the lake, making it hard to see.
"How do we get over there? There's no path and the sides are too steep to climb," asked Pete looking around.
"I hate to say it but I think we are going to have to swim," said Alex looking at the water. It looked really cold.
"No way man, that water will be freezing, we'll get hypothermia," said Pete backing away.
"Well unless you can see a boat we don't have much choice. Tell you what I'll go on my own. I don't feel the cold too much," said Alex stripping off his t-shirt.
Becca looked at Sasha and grinned. He really had a body to die for. She couldn't tear her eyes away when he started to unbutton his trousers. Becca's heart was thumping and her stomach turned over. A shout made her tear her eyes away.
The Cursed Sword (The Nine Worlds Trilogy Book 1) Page 10