Iduna

by Maya Michaels

  Iduna slid from the dragon's back onto one of the many sandy beaches of Okeenos. The ride had been exhilarating and its own kind of revelation.

  “Thank you, Rubino.”

  “You're most welcome. Good luck to you, stick. I hope you free your people.”

  “Thank you. I do too. I still don't have the answers,” she lamented.

  “You figured out how to free us. I think you will be fine.” He looked back in the direction of the island. “We'll be leaving the island for good once our son’s wing is healed enough. Maybe our paths will cross again. Until then.”

  “Until then.” She waved as he left.

  She watched the dragon fly away and dropped down to sit on the white sand. Her thoughts turned to the puzzle before her. She didn’t share Rubino’s confidence. She'd learned how the dragons go about breathing fire, but her goal had been to learn how to fight Vilir's power over people's emotions. She doubted trying to roast him with fire breath would work, even if she could figure out how to exhale fire.

  She watched the ocean's flat horizon. A light breeze blew steadily with small gusts kicking up sand. She reached out with her power, sensing the wind and sand, pulling them together into the shape of a dragon. She made the dragon fly in circles and spew sand in the shape of fire. It gave her an idea.

  Breathing in deeply, running through the routine, she thought of Lexonia's kindness in coming back for Iduna when she was wounded. She felt the image made of sand tighten, grow more detailed and sharp. One limitation had always been size. A single Spellcaster could only work with so much material. What if she pushed for a larger size? Continuing to breathe and focus on Lex's kindness, she drew more and more sand to the flying dragon. More and more and more. The sand dragon flying through the air was now as big as a galleon. Startled and not wanting to draw attention to herself, she dispersed the image over the water.

  Using the dragon's technique seemed to dramatically improve her spells but still didn't provide her with a weapon against Vilir. She wouldn't be able to cast any spells if he sang, wringing the emotion out of her.

  “Unless …” she whispered quietly.

  She popped up and ran to Akio's shack.

  Chapter 55

  Iduna pounded on Akio's door, eager to get her theory confirmed. When Akio called out to enter, she rushed in.

  “Akio! I'm …” She stopped short.

  Freya, her friend from the Ull camp, stood behind Akio and was cleaning her nails with a dagger. Akio was handcuffed to a chair, but smiling.

  “You made it. Good girl.” Akio beamed at her.

  Freya smacked Akio upside the head. “Yes, good girl. Welcome.” Freya's words oozed with sarcasm.

  Iduna looked back and forth between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on here. She couldn’t wipe the large smile from her face, even if Freya appeared uncharacteristically mad. It was good to see her.

  “Iduna, girl, you should fix her. She waves that dagger around way too much. My drunkit's going to come out any minute and trip her or something, and someone will lose an eye.”

  Puzzlement turned to clarity in a wink.

  Running through the dragon’s fire-breathing routine, Iduna ignored whatever Freya was saying in response and focused on memories of laughing with her by the stream, cleaning pots, and basking in the sun. She found the dark foreign cloud of anger and hate in Freya and pulled it out, as easy as if it had been sand.

  Freya collapsed in a heap.

  “Well, now, you could have given her a chair or at least a pillow,” Akio said.

  “How was I to know she'd fall?” she called as she ran over to her friend on the floor.

  Akio went to the kitchen and brought back a glass of water for Freya.

  “Hey, what happened to your cuffs?” Iduna asked. She took the glass and lifted Freya's head to drink.

  “The cuffs are one of my favorite toys. I can get out of them very fast now. They weren't easy at first.”

  “Why were you in them when I arrived?” she asked quickly before he continued.

  “It made her feel better, and I'm a patient fellow.”

  Of course he was, Iduna thought to herself. Freya was coming to, her brow wrinkled in a wince. Freya sipped the water, then opened her eyes slowly, as if she never wanted to open them again.

  “I'm sorry,” Freya whispered.

  “Not your fault, my dear,” Akio chimed. He was perched on a stool and petting the drunkit. The drunkit’s face was skewed up in a grimace, but a purring sound indicated all was well.

  “It's Vilir who is to blame,” Iduna told her.

  “Probably not,” Akio said.

  “But it's Vilir who brought this darkness to her.”

  “My brother Obi is most likely behind all this. I doubt a nonmagic-using Ull, no matter how foul he might be, would suddenly start using powers over emotions.” He paused. “In fact I don't think the Ull have ever been exposed to our abilities before.”

  He looked down at the drunkit and put a finger on its pink nose. “Iduna, you said you came here to stop Vilir, who was leading a horde of warriors and had the ability to tap into a well of sadness within you as well as everyone around him.”

  “Yes.”

  “Obi can't do that. We can't do that. We can affect ourselves or someone else very strongly, using whatever style we learned in our training, but our power over more than one person is so weak as to be nonexistent. If we work together, sometimes we can do something temporary, but nothing much. You remember Kai's attempt in that pub in Gaelen.” When he saw her surprise, he said, “Yes, Kai told me everything.”

  “You are Okeeno, and Vilir is Ull,” Iduna said, while she thought about the dragons' repeated insistence that each dragon's fire was personal. “Maybe there's something about the Ull way of using the power.”

  “If that's so, you may have the same ability now,” Akio told her quietly.

  Iduna looked down at the floor as she absorbed what this meant.

  “You'll come back, yes?” Akio asked, already thinking three steps ahead.

  “Yes. If we succeed.”

  “That will do. Good luck and watch your back. My brother is clever and, unfortunately, a very unhappy man. My mother always feared his ambition would lead him astray. It's not a compulsion most of us have. We like our island, but he doesn’t. I shouldn't have let him go.” With a deep sigh, Akio left the house, leaving the women alone.

  Freya had put down the water and was still sitting on the floor with her face buried in her hands.

  “We can beat them and end this,” Iduna said.

  “You don’t understand,” Freya replied through her fingers.

  Iduna knelt down beside her, keeping a small distance as she let Freya collect herself. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Talk to me,” Iduna said.

  “You don't understand. I've already killed too much. I don't want to kill anymore. You don't know what I've done.”

  “It wasn’t you. You have to believe that. They made you do this.”

  “I was supposed to bring you back to them. If I don't, then they'll kill Unger.”

  “Let's use it.” Iduna pulled Freya up to standing, and they went over to the kitchen table. “You'll take me to them, and, while I counter their powers, you can go in for the strike.” Seeing Freya blanch at the mention of violence, Iduna added, “Vilir and Senbo need to die.”

  “I can’t do it.”

  “Not even those two?”

  “I can't. I can barely live with the deaths I've already caused. I don't know if I can hold it together enough to come with you.”

  “You have to,” Iduna said.

  Freya did appear fragile. Maybe Iduna would be able to get her friend to change her mind later, but Iduna needed her to at least come along and help her get in close. “Just take me to them. I'll take care of the rest,” she assured Freya.

  Iduna wished someone could assure her that it would work. Even if they managed to get Vilir and Sen
bo alone, it would be dicey. The more people who were there, the worse their chances. She remembered how strong his two commanders were. She didn't want to face Skuld or Dagna if she didn't have to. And if Iduna didn't manage to undermine Vilir’s and Senbo's powers, then Freya could turn on her as well. It was a risk she'd have to take.

  Seeing Freya's recovery gave her hope that some of the damage could be reversed. Some, not all.

  A heavy guilt haunted Freya now.

  Chapter 56

  Iduna and Freya's small boat landed about a mile south of the Ull camp off the coast of Lawan in the dark of night. The camp's fires had been a convenient guide. Kai and Pua had talked Iduna through basic navigation, and she had closely watched Kai sailing. She’d handled the single-person sailing rig just fine, so the boat was no problem.

  Kai and Pua had wanted to come with her, but she'd said no —Vilir and Senbo expected Freya to bring back Iduna. Having two Okeeno there might only tip off Senbo, destroying any advantage Iduna had. And she needed every advantage she could get.

  She'd strengthened the wind, and the journey had been swift. The boat slid up on the beach smoothly, and they hopped out. After making sure there was no one around, Iduna turned to Freya.

  “Tie me now, just in case we run into anyone.” Iduna clasped her hands behind her back and turned around, presenting them to Freya. Freya wrapped the rope around her hands, tight enough to stay, but loose enough for Iduna to break free. The mile to camp passed slowly. They walked in silence. As they neared the camp, Iduna said, “Take my arm. Go ahead and be rough.” At Freya’s glum look she added, “We can do this. It will be worth it.”

  Freya nodded, and they walked forward. A guard at the perimeter stopped them.

  “I have a prisoner for Leder Vilir and his adviser,” Freya said. She gripped Iduna’s arm hard enough to leave bruises.

  The guard told the man next to him to run ahead to wake Senbo. The guard escorted them to Vilir's tent. Senbo arrived at the tent entrance the same time they did. He looked winded and excited. Senbo preceded them into the tent.

  “Leder Vilir, good evening,” Senbo said. He smiled and bowed to Vilir who was reclining on a chaise getting a back rub.

  “Ah, she returns.” Vilir stood up, brushed away the servant, and wandered shirtless to stand by his table. Dagna was standing behind the table when they entered, apparently working with a map. As they neared, Iduna could see that it was a map of Okeenos.

  Iduna had forgotten just how physically powerful Vilir looked. Dagna was smaller, but still formidable. Iduna remembered the sharp conversations she’d overheard between Skuld and Dagna. She was not to be underestimated.

  Senbo came to stand next to Vilir, and Dagna came around the table to stand on Vilir's other side.

  “I have brought what you asked for.” Freya shoved Iduna to her knees in front of Vilir.

  “Good. Cook, tell us about the day you left camp,” Senbo said.

  This was the moment.

  Iduna concentrated and went through each step of the dragon’s routine. Her breathing was slow and deep. She looked up to watch them react. To see if it was working.

  Senbo's face turned suspicious just at the moment when Dagna grabbed her ax and hurled it at Vilir. Vilir stood shocked with the ax in his chest. Blood bubbled from his mouth. No sound left his lips.

  Senbo turned his power on Iduna, and she felt him will the emotions of doom and defeat on her. She focused harder. Flying on Rubino's back, watching Rubino and his son play in the pool. A small crack opened in her concentration. She felt it widen. Senbo's face looked intense as he realized what she was fighting him with. She was using the focused Okeeno power, the magic of his people, against him.

  An Ull warrior came running into the room with a fierce battle cry. He had a wicked curved blade from Cha in one hand and an ax in the other.

  It was Unger, and he went straight for Freya. As he drew closer, Freya turned to him, dropped the dagger, and the arms by her side opened slightly as if welcoming a killing blow.

  Iduna would not let this happen. She turned some of her attention from Senbo and zapped the darkness out of Unger. It cost her dearly. She felt a small black mass in her chest that Senbo was trying to grow until it overwhelmed her will.

  Working hard to stay focused on good memories, she found an unexpected one came to mind. She reached for the elements around her. On top of the Okeeno map had been some rocks used as paperweights. She pulled them through the air, knocking Senbo in the head. Hard. The rocks pummeled him and left him wide open. He was in her control now.

  Senbo sank to the floor like an empty sack.

  Dagna swung down, grabbed Senbo’s dagger from the ground, straddled him, and slit his neck. His life left him quickly, his eyes closing in eternal sleep.

  The tent was silent.

  A blood-splattered Dagna turned to Freya and Iduna. Iduna had rolled from her knees to sit with her legs crossed, panting and centering, recovering from the emotional battle. Freya stood mutely. She'd been right. She would not kill again. Unger was passed out on the floor, and Freya slowly sank to her knees and crawled over to him, whispering his name.

  Dagna panted from the exertion and release. “Thank you,” Dagna said. “Thank you for the opportunity to avenge my friend. Skuld would be glad to see this.” Tears rolled freely, forming rivulets in the blood on her face.

  Iduna rose to her feet and extended a hand to Dagna.

  “We did it. They will never control anyone again,” Iduna said. Dagna grasped Iduna's forearm, and she did the same. It felt like both congratulations and a promise.

  “What about the rest of our people?” Freya asked. She knelt by Unger’s side as he gradually awoke.

  “You don't have to worry about them,” Dagna answered. “Without Senbo or Vilir here to feed off their emotions or influence them, they'll return to normal gradually. It’s clear now that Senbo was behind the plague that took many of our young warriors. That will end now too. Skuld and I had both started to come out of it once they stopped using their power on us all the time … when they wanted us to recover our energy so they could turn us into murderous animals.” She shuddered slightly, not in full control yet. “They didn't tap us as heavily as the others because they needed us to be capable of leading.”

  Iduna did need to find out what had happened in Lawan but feared that knowing would tempt her to go back there. She knew she couldn’t go back, but she pushed the reasons aside until later. For now, she had to know something.

  “Dagna, I have to ask. How is Cha? Did you kill everyone?”

  Dagna’s guilt was palpable. “Not everyone. Senbo had us kill all their leaders. Then Vilir drew on the emotions of the citizens. Every survivor was left barely functioning, like you saw in Gaelen.”

  Iduna’s mind reeled with the loss, and she dropped to her knees. Angko was dead. Surat might have been spared. Grief racked Iduna.

  “I … I … I couldn’t stop him,” Iduna said. She thought of the council’s stubborn refusal, their slowness to act, and wished that she had been quicker.

  “You did stop him,” Freya said. “We are alive and free because of you. The survivors will recover.” Freya’s eyes turned dark. “We may be different, but we are alive.”

  Iduna braced her hands on her knees. Freya spoke as a survivor. Iduna wanted to believe her. Time would tell.

  “We could speed their recovery if I toured around,” Iduna told Freya. But, even as she said it, she knew that she couldn’t. She gave a tired sigh. “But no person should decide what someone else feels.” She remembered Kai’s hesitancy at the pub in Gaelen. And he'd known he would likely be ineffective. She, however, could do it. Her Ull blood had given her the breadth of effect that the Okeeno lacked. “I won't do it. I'm going to Okeenos.”

  “Not Lawan?”

  “No. This magic needs to be contained. Senbo never should have been allowed to leave. In Okeenos they already know about the power, and they won't be able to twist it like they c
ould in Lawan or Ull. They can help me keep it under control.”

  At least she hoped so.

  Chapter 57

  It was another beautiful day in Okeenos, and Iduna lay on a straw mat stretched out on the sand. She’d just come from the ocean and was still wet. She loved the taste of the sea and the feeling of the water drying on her skin. Waves spilled toward the shore in a reassuring rhythm.

  She savored the moment since it could be one of her last.

  The sun beat down on her, burning red behind her closed eyelids.

  Someone sank down next to her.

  Ani.

  “Have you decided yet?” Ani asked.

  Iduna hadn't talked about it with anyone. The woman was uncanny.

  “No,” Iduna said.

  “It's really silly, you know.”

  “Oh?”

  “You can trust yourself. You're not Senbo. Everyone knew he was a rotten mango.”

  “And you didn't stop him. You couldn’t stop him, could you?” Iduna asked pointedly.

  “And so you think we couldn’t stop you? You’ve learned so much, Mistress Iduna.”

  Ani’s use of her Lawanian title took Iduna back to the day she’d first come to Okeenos, desperate and looking for answers.

  “We’ve already stopped you,” Ani said.

  At this, Iduna laughed despite herself. She wasn’t sure if Ani was referring to Pua punching her or making Iduna face dragons. She did know that the dragon’s technique for breathing fire had brought her a new calm that managed to have passion and focus at the same time. She could enjoy her emotions without fear that they detracted from her powers or made her weak.

  “You do know that my power could be even worse.”

  “Yes, you’re Ull by birth with Lawanian and Okeeno training. Spellcrafting gave you the ability to combine these three powers together. You could do all the types of magic now. It is true.” Ani laid back on her elbows, eyes focused on the horizon. “It doesn't mean you should kill yourself.”