Unfortunately, I was now sure that the real problem was in the spire. The rod was supposed to be connected to a giant soul trap mechanism hidden somewhere inside the massive artifact, but that link was broken. If I wanted to fix it I’d have to go exploring inside that nightmare of broken magic, a prospect that gave me decidedly mixed feelings. I really wanted to get a look at the enchantments there, and see what I could learn from them. But crawling around inside that thing wasn’t going to be safe, even for me, and risking my life to help Odin didn’t sit right with me.
I was distracted from my musing when a curvy redhead plopped into my lap, and threw her arms around me. A tantalizing expanse of tanned cleavage filled my vision.
“Good job kicking ass today, ‘master’,” she said teasingly. “I bet there are some pissed off faeries up in the mountains tonight. We’re going to have to give you an extra special hero’s reward, aren’t we girls?”
Caitlyn chuckled. “I hope so. Usually he’s too busy with his familiar to have time for us.”
Wait a minute. This wasn’t one of the twins. But I recognized that voice.
“Mara?”
She snickered. “You should see your face, Daniel. Yeah, it’s me alright. Did you miss me?”
“What are you doing here?” Good God, the balls on this girl. How the hell did Loki’s daughter manage to infiltrate Valhalla on the eve of Ragnarok?
“I’m just itching for another dose of wizard dick, stud. You don’t mind helping a girl out, do you? I’m sure these guys could spare you from the party for… oh… a couple of hours?”
Arnor laughed, and clapped me on the shoulder. “You’ve got a saucy one there, Daniel. Go on, no need to hold back on enjoying the hall’s hospitality.”
Wait, he thought she was a hall wench? Come to think of it, the twins hadn’t questioned her presence either, and they were supposed to be on their guard. But how could anyone mistake Mara for one of the servants?
She jumped up, and dragged me to my feet with a laugh. “You heard the man. Don’t worry, guys, I’ll try not to break him.”
That broke me out of my shock. I swept the crazy demigoddess off her feet, and threw her over my shoulder. She shrieked in delight, and I gave her a firm smack on the butt.
“We’ll just see who breaks who,” I announced, and swept out of the hall.
She giggled, and kicked her feet ineffectually. “What are you doing, you silly wizard? Put me down! I’m not wearing anything under this skirt.”
“Well, that was naughty of you.” I reached under her skirt with my free hand, and groped her. Yep, she was telling the truth. Nothing under there but lusty woman.
She squirmed in my grip. “You know what a dirty bitch I am. What are you doing? Checking to see if your present is still there?”
It was. The little loop of enchanted gold had been intended as an earring, but the crazy girl had decided to hide it by using it as a clit piercing instead. She gasped when my fingers found it, but I ignored her reaction in favor of testing the enchantment. Yes, it was really mine. So this was the real Mara, and not some fake created by Odin to test me.
She whacked me on the back hard enough to stagger me.
“Hey! Are you listening? Stop that, or I’m going to cum all over your shiny new gear.”
“Really? Since when are you so easy?” I teased.
By then I was floating up the stairway that led to my rooms, so our only audience was the twins trotting along behind me.
“Since you unfucked my shit by fucking the shit out of me,” she shot back. “I could get off on a stiff breeze these last couple of weeks, so don’t blame me for being hard up when it’s all your fault. Are those your wards?”
I stopped at the door of the suite, and set Mara down. “Yeah, mine and Alanna’s. Girls, keep watch here and don’t let anyone in, alright?”
“Of course,” Fiona said, sounding a bit grumpy.
“When do we get a turn, master?” Caitlyn asked. “Or did you decide we’re too much to handle?”
Mara chortled. “Daniel! You’ve got your very own naughty twins, and you’re not fucking them? What’s wrong with you?”
“There’s mystical bullshit in the way,” I told them all. “It’s going to have to wait until I keep my end of our deal, girls. Besides, I need you on duty until I’ve got the assassins handled.”
“Assassins? What assassins? Who did you piss off this time?” Mara asked.
I opened the door, and ushered her through. The twins were pouting at me now, and I couldn’t take much of that. Maybe making them so manipulative hadn’t been such a clever idea after all.
Once the door was safely shut Mara turned to me inquisitively, but I shook my head. “Help me sweep the place for traps and spies, first. The wards haven’t been disturbed, but all things considered I’m not going to rely on just that.”
We didn’t find anything, and a couple of minutes later Mara cornered me in the bedroom. She put her hands on my chest, and looked up at me with eyes full of hunger.
“You got taller,” she said. “I like it. Hey, is this dryad armor? Nice! I bet you’ve got some little tree slut sucking you off under there, huh?”
Daniel, who is this bitch, anyway? I’m minded to put her in her place, Alanna grumbled.
“Her name is Alanna,” I told Mara. “And I know she’s seen you before, so why the hell doesn’t she recognize you? How did you even get here?”
“I’m undercover,” Mara replied with a mischievous grin. “You first, though. If some crazy guy is going to break through the window and try to kill you in the middle of shit, I need to know how to handle it. Assassins?”
“The Lightbringers think I’m an Atlantean wizard,” I said. “They’ve got an agent here trying to kill me, and I’m sure he’s sent for backup by now.”
“Oh. Shit. Well, why don’t you just tell them they’re wrong? They’ve got to have some way to test that.”
“Because they got their information by spying on Odin, and telling him that would cause even more problems. You didn’t think I was here of my own free will, did you?”
“Dad was wondering what you’re up to,” she replied. “I figured there was no way you’d leave your girls alone like this if you had a choice, but he thought you might be trying to make a deal to protect them. Big sis doesn’t want to lose any more troops to those wizard weapons of yours, so I can make you a better offer if that’s what it takes.”
“Honestly, I just want to defend my island and stay out of the main fight,” I said. “But I’m not sure that’s an option anymore. I showed up at the temple in Kozalin one day thinking the priest had something urgent to talk about, and found Odin and Thor waiting to shanghai me. I went along with it because I’d be a smear on the floor if I tried to say no, but I’m mostly just trying to get out of this in one piece.”
“That makes more sense,” she said. “Good, that means I can fuck you into a coma without worrying about heavy shit. I really have been missing you.”
Her hands went to my cloak clasp, and she deftly removed the garment.
“Crazy girl. What are you doing here?”
“I’m on a mission,” she said. She tossed the cloak onto a chair, and went for my tabard. “This is new. Hey, this overlapping shield thing is kind of cool.”
“Like I said, assassins. Why doesn’t anyone recognize you?”
“Divine magic,” she said smugly. The tabard joined my cloak, and she pushed me down onto the bed.
“But your aspects are fire and freedom,” I objected. “How do you get a secret identity out of that?”
She pinned me to the bed, and looked into my eyes. “Your dryad doesn’t need to hear about my secrets. But you should be able to figure it out if you think about it. Those are my aspects, but you know I’m not alone. My hidden partner is secrets and subterfuge.”
I’d seen Mara turn into a giant two-headed fox before. Most people would assume that was just a cosmetic thing, but I’d drawn a different conclusion. Tw
o heads, two brains, two people. She had a twin sister sharing her body, like some mystical version of conjoined twins. It had never occurred to me to think about it before, but if Mara was a demigoddess it stood to reason that her sister would be too. Which meant she’d have her own aspects, which might or might not be the same as her twin.
I wondered, suddenly, if my realization had really been an accident. If Mara’s twin had secrecy as an aspect, shouldn’t her magic have kept me from suspecting her existence? Unless she’d wanted me to know about her. But why?
I didn’t have long to wonder, because Mara whipped off her top and tossed it over to land on the growing pile of discarded clothes. My eyes were immediately drawn to the tanned mounds of her breasts, sitting high and firm on her chest. She gave me a smug look, and rapped on my breastplate.
“Hey, Alanna, time to open up. You don’t really want to cockblock your wizard, do you? Your namesake wouldn’t do that.”
The layers of steel and wood melted away, reforming into a wiry female form draped against my side.
“I fear you’ve mistaken me for one of my admirers, Mara,” she said. “Perhaps I should credit you for knowing even that much of dryad lore, at your tender age. But be warned that any treachery will go poorly for you.”
Mara blinked at her in surprise for a moment, and then looked her up and down. “Whoa. Wait, are you saying you’re the Alanna? Alanna Firescorn, the immortal dryad?”
“I am.”
“And you’re Daniel’s familiar?”
“Yes.”
“How the fuck did you land the strongest dryad in Midgard, Daniel? Addict her to your magic dick? Drown her in mana? No, never mind, you can tell me later. Right now it’s time for my turn.” She kissed me fiercely, and then pulled away for a moment to tear my shirt off.
“Hey, easy on the clothes,” I protested. “Getting more here is a pain in the ass.”
Not that I really cared, with her grinding her breasts into my chest like that. Her body was hot under my hands, an enticing landscape of toned curves burning with barely controlled passion. She dragged her breasts slowly down my chest, and went for my belt.
“Want to double team him with me?” She asked Alanna. “I’ve never done a two-girl blowjob before, but I bet you could show me how it’s done.”
“Perhaps later,” Alanna replied, more calmly than I’d expected. “But first, I wish for you to reveal what mad scheme you seek to seduce my wizard into.”
Mara frowned at her. “Hey! I’m not like that. Can’t I just be happy to see my guy again?”
“Yet you fail to deny the charge. Come now, any fool can see that Daniel is fond of you. Set aside your womanly wiles, and lay out your case with words of reason instead. Surely he will not deny you, if your request is reasonable?”
Mara sagged, letting her face fall to rest against my belly. She sighed.
“Damn it, Alanna, I just wanted to have the reunion sex first. I wasn’t going to spring it on him in the middle of things, like some manipulative bitch.”
“No? Yet the thought comes quickly to mind.”
“Hel suggested it,” she admitted. She sat up, and glanced up at me with a surprisingly vulnerable look. “I just, well, look, I know I could say you owe me one, but I didn’t want you to feel like we’re just trading favors, Daniel. This thing we’ve got? It means more to me than that.”
I smiled, and held out the arm that wasn’t wrapped around Alanna. “Come here, you. No need to make things weird. I’m glad to see you, too.”
She settled herself against my side, and laid her head on my shoulder. I hugged her, and she made a happy little sound.
“So, what’s the story?” I asked.
“I’m here for mom’s third task,” she said. “The one where I get my immortality back if I survive.”
“That sounds like a good thing, but you don’t seem very happy about it. What are you supposed to do?”
“I’m here to free my brother.”
Alanna choked. “You can’t be serious. Fenrir? The Thunderer’s sons stand guard over his prison night and day. Mara, you’ve a respectable strength for one so young, but you can’t fight the likes of Hurd or Ragnik.”
“I don’t need to beat them, Alanna. I just need to get past them, and distract them for a minute while I get my furry brother free. Then he can eat them, and we ride out of Asgard before anyone can stop us. But it’s going to take everything I’ve got to break Gleipnir, so I need some help with the guards.”
“You want Daniel to fight a pair of godlings for you?” Alanna said incredulously.
“He’s done it before. Come on, Daniel, I know you can do it. These guys aren’t that much tougher than Korak, and you’ll have all your gear this time.”
“Can you really break the unbreakable chain?” Alanna asked dubiously. “How can you be so certain that your magic will succeed, where all Fenrir’s devouring power has failed?”
Mara actually rolled her eyes at that. “I’m not stupid, Alanna. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know how to do it. I’m sure these dumb Vikings think they’re real clever, but I figured it out the first time I heard the story of how they bound Fenrir. Think about the ingredients they used to make Gleipnir. The breath of a fish? The sound of a cat’s footfall? None of them are real things, Alanna. They bound him in an illusionary rope made from things that don’t exist, because you can’t devour nothing. But it isn’t only physical barriers that fall within my domain. I can free him from a conceptual prison, it’s just a little harder than a physical one.”
Alanna was silent for a moment. Then she reached across my chest, and put her hand on Mara’s shoulder.
“You’re more clever than one would expect from your manner,” she said. “I had thought you a mere servant to your passions at first, but now my eyes have pierced the illusion. Perhaps I can see why Daniel cares for you, beyond the lure of the flesh. Only, what happens when we return home, and the Aesir take their revenge on us?”
“If we time it right, Asgard will be under siege by then,” Mara told her. “But you don’t have to just hide, and hope they’re distracted. Dad’s ready to make peace with Hecate, and offer you a place in the alliance. You can be a general while the war rages, and have your own kingdom after we level this place. Dad doesn’t care about ruling Europe, he just wants revenge on the bastards that bound him to be tortured forever.”
“Maybe so, but Gaea wants to exterminate humanity,” I pointed out. “I don’t think she’s going to just let that go, as long as she’s been working on it. Besides, there’s a bigger problem. You’re assuming I’m just another wizard, and if I disappear and show up with your dad’s army the Aesir will shrug and decide they have bigger things to worry about. But they brought me here for something a lot bigger than you’d expect, and I’m sure they’re keeping a close eye on me. Considering what I know, I’d be amazed if I could get outside the city without a god or two showing up to stop me.”
Mara shrugged. “So Fenrir eats them too. Problem solved.”
“He can’t fight all the Aesir at once, Mara,” I objected. “Do you really think Odin doesn’t have a plan for containing him if he gets loose? They don’t want to get… eaten…”
I trailed off, struck by a sudden realization. I’d been wondering how either side thought they could accomplish anything in this war. Dying is only a temporary inconvenience to a god, since they can just reform their avatar as long as they have an anchor in the material world. Hecate had told me that family was an anchor, and practically all of the gods on either side of this war have divine relatives. So how would you ever sever their anchors? Maybe if you killed them all at once, but as long as both sides were closely matched that would be impossible.
But Hecate had mentioned how the old gods got around that kind of problem.
“That’s why the Aesir are so worried about keeping Fenrir imprisoned,” I realized. “He can devour gods. Like that thing your mom keeps in the basement, that we feed Korak to.”
/> Mara chuckled. “You just figured that out? Yeah, divine monsters can do that shit. Jormungandr is the same way. Only, the flip side is that all the mortals think giant monsters stay dead when you kill them, and that makes it a lot harder to claw your way back to life. Weapons like Gungnir and Mjolnir have magic that does the same thing, too. So our big boys can eat the enemy, but if they get killed we’d have to take a time out from the fight to do a resurrection ceremony if we want to get them back.”
“I could have told you this,” Alanna said. “But interesting as the intricacies of divine warfare may be, they do nothing to divert our current troubles from our trail. As long as Gaea bears a grudge we would not be safe with Loki’s army, and your mates would be at even greater risk.”
“Oh, come on, we can protect them,” Mara protested. “It’s not like Thor is going to show up at your island in person just to get revenge.”
“No, he’d do it to collect hostages,” I said.
“Daniel, what could you possibly be doing that would get that much of their attention? What, does old One-Eye think you can undo Fimbulwinter?”
“Worse,” I said. “He wants me to repair the Sunspire.”
“The what?”
“The Great Spire of the Sun,” Alanna explained. “The weapon that the greatest wizards and shamans of Atlantis dreamed into existence to subdue the power of the gods, and bring all the world under their dominion. The artifact that was so fearsome that all the world’s quarreling gods united to destroy it, and to break the dreams of men so that no one would ever dare to recreate it. Somehow, the Allfather has stolen it away from the dreams of drowned desolation where it has lain for five thousand years, and now he seeks to use it himself.”
Mara’s eyes had gone huge during Alanna’s recitation.
“Shit,” she breathed. “Daniel, we can’t let that happen. You won’t really… you can’t mean… Daniel, could you really fix it?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I’m a mana sorcerer, Mara. When it comes to understanding magic, there’s not much I can’t do.”
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