“It’s an impressive feat of human power,” Alanna put in. “Even before Pelagia started her workings we had a cozy space large enough for everyone to spread their branches, with sun and rain that come and go on command, but all of it protected by a mountain of steel and stone. Then Daniel became lord of the Bloody Thorns, and gave them more power than the Olympians ever deigned to share. Now we can make space for your whole grove if we can get them out.”
They seemed intrigued at that, so I went on with my explanation. “As far as prices go, the only hard rule is that everyone in the fortress works together to defend it. Some of our dryads work as scouts, and others grow crops to keep our human troops fed. If an enemy ever gets inside the walls everyone needs to be ready to fight, but aside from that we’re happy to let everyone contribute according to their talents.”
“What about our apples?” Bodil asked. “Idun said we should each give up one apple as payment for being rescued, but people always want more.”
“I take it growing them costs you something?” I asked.
Both dryads nodded.
“It’s hard work,” Bodil said.
“Idun compares it to having a baby,” Runa added. “We need a good environment with strong magic, and even then they take years to mature. Each of us can make enough for several people, but overdoing it can cause us lasting harm.”
“The Aesir have strained us badly this last century or so,” Bodil complained. “The true gods don’t need us, but Odin has encouraged them to have hordes of children. Asgard has been overrun with young demigods all rushing to reach their potential, and a diet of our apples is the best way to speed their growth. We’ve been wasting away, trying to keep up with their demands.”
“Well, that’s over for you two,” I said. “We have other sources of both power and immortality, so we’re not going to be pushing you to overdo it. It’s more important for you to rest, and regain your strength.”
They both looked at me like I’d grown a second head.
“Our apples are the greatest treasure in the Nine Worlds. I can’t believe your master would have so little care for them!” Runa exclaimed, sounding almost offended.
“Do you think I risked my life to visit Idun because we don’t value you?” I responded. “No, we just aren’t in a rush. Odin pressed you for everything you could give because his back is against the wall, and he needs every edge he can get to win this war. We don’t have that pressure, and at any rate we’re well past the point where trying to rush the ascension of a bunch of demigods would help anything. So instead, we’re looking towards the long term. In Kozalin you’ll have the chance to rest, and rebuild your strength.”
“My wizard has a habit of taking in the bereft, and building them up to new heights,” Alanna told them. “He offers a bargain of protection, kindness and limitless magic, and all he asks in return is loyal service. For you I think he means to offer a temporary bargain, to last until Idun is free and your grove is able to find a new home.”
Bodil nodded along eagerly. “I see. His divine patrons hope to recruit Idun to their faction, don’t they? Well, I’ll be happy to take that bargain. After so many centuries of being locked away in Idun’s realm, I’d be happy to fight for a worthy cause.”
“I’d rather stay safe behind his walls, and content myself with meeting new people,” Runa disagreed. “But if he can truly offer us safety I’ll be happy to pledge my loyalty in return, and use my rune craft to support his efforts. And my apples, of course. Even if I’m resting, I could still give three or four per year.”
Bodil chuckled, and put an arm around her. “I don’t know where you get the energy, Runa. I can maybe manage two, if I’m going to get my strength back sometime this century.”
“That’s more than enough,” I said. “We appreciate your help, but there’s no need to push yourself.”
I visited with them for a few more minutes, just trying to get a feel for their personalities. But it felt a little awkward to talk with them when I wouldn’t even give my name. Before long I made my excuses, and retreated into Alanna’s bower to check the progress of my work.
The web of enchantments I’d set up was still humming along, growing my new body and infusing it with magic. Another day and it would be ready for me to start enchanting the skeleton. I was thinking a good set of structural reinforcements to make the bones unbreakable, and then some wards and utility spells. A power tap, a flight enchantment, a personal force field and a weapon or two. Yeah, the first assassin who tried to surprise me in the bath was in for a rude surprise.
By the time that was all done the enchantment factories I’d made in Asgard would have turned out enough components to replace my equipment. It had proved almost good enough to deal with the Lightbringers, and I already had ideas for improvements. The next time they came for me I was going to be an even tougher target, and I wouldn’t be fighting alone either.
It still wouldn’t be enough if I had to fight a god. I was hitting the limits of how much magic I could tie to my personal equipment, and gods were still a hundred times more powerful. But that wasn’t an insoluble problem. It just meant that I’d have to go… bigger.
I’d been wearing maybe forty pounds of enchanted gear in my fight with the Lightbringer assassins. A hundred times that only came to a couple of tons, which wasn’t especially big for a golem. There were all kinds of interesting possibilities there, if I could make time to work on them.
“Alanna, are Bodil and Runa going to be offended if I don’t spend much time with them?”
“Hardly. Unlike animals, trees have no need to spend every minute rushing about. They will be quite content to simply bask in the sunlight and rest for a time.”
“That’s good.”
“Besides, I will visit them from time to time. We have known each other since the days of Romulus and Remus, but the rift with my sister has made it awkward to visit. It will be good to catch up with them again.”
“Sounds like a plan. Well, I suppose I’d better take care of my obligations before I get too lost in work. I can’t risk sneaking back into Kozalin right now, but I can at least write the girls a letter. Only before that, I’d better check in with the boss. Will it work if I try to call Hecate from here?”
“You have such an odd way of speaking about the gods,” Alanna said with a shake of her head. “Don’t call on her within my bower, please. If she appeared here we would both be uncomfortably vulnerable, and she might well take it for a betrayal. Let us do this from my dream of desolation, instead.”
She led me back out to the desert, and I set up the ritual of invocation Cerise had taught me. Magic circle marked with her signs, wards against spirits and divination, an offering of power to open the connection and a polite request for attention. That last bit usually involved a lot of abject self-abasement and lofty praise for Hecate, when a coven of her witches dared beg for her attention. My own version was a lot more straightforward.
“Hecate, your errant Champion has a bunch of information for you if you have a moment to talk. If not I’ll put it all in a letter and leave it with Cerise, so she can get it to you-”
The moment I began to speak the ground inside the circle had darkened with pooling shadows. I didn’t get any further before they erupted, flowing upwards into the outline of a female form. Then they fell away, revealing the goddess of witchcraft.
As usual she was wearing an outfit of tight-fitting leather that covered her from the neck down. But there were gashes here and there where it had been damaged in some recent battle, and her cloak was nothing but a few tatters of cloth. Her pale face was lined with fatigue, but the same steely determination still burned in her eyes.
She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Finally, you call upon me. Really, Daniel, I was beginning to think you’d cast me aside for some other goddess.”
“What, like the goddess of making men do stupid things? No thanks, ma’am. I just didn’t think it was a good idea to call on you from the mid
dle of Asgard. Odin didn’t show any sign of realizing I’m your Champion, but I didn’t want to push my luck.”
“So you decided to try your wits against all the powers of Asgard alone? How is that working out for you?”
Her face was cold, but there was a twitch at the corner of her ruby lips. A hint of a smirk that even a goddess couldn’t fully suppress.
“Well, let’s see. I blew up the Sunspire, made it look like the Lightbringers were responsible, helped Mara break the Fenris wolf out of his prison and escaped with two of Idun’s apple trees. Granted, I had to blow myself up to fake my death, so now I’m getting in touch with my feminine side. But I’ll be back to my old self as soon as I’m sure Odin is too busy to show up in Kozalin and demand answers in person. Then I can brag about how a little thing like death doesn’t keep a real wizard down for long.”
A smile full of vicious delight stole across her face, and she gave up the stern pose.
“I knew it!” She crowed. “My agents are telling me young One-Eye is furious with Ra, and threatening to drag his decrepit old ass into the war. Mara’s feat is the talk of the Nine Worlds, but everyone thinks she did it with only Aphrodite to help.”
Alanna draped herself over my back, and wrapped her arms around me. “You should have seen my wizard handle the golden bitch. She tried to seduce him, and he told her the game wasn’t worth the candle!”
“No! Really?”
“Really. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Although captivity has softened her a bit. It seems she’s finally learned that some acts have consequences even she can’t avoid.”
“Hmm.” Hecate came closer, gave Alanna a speculative look. “You’re looking well, old tree. No defiant speeches for me today?”
Alanna sighed. “How can I hold on to old grudges, when it would cost me such a magnificent wizard? We have had our disagreements over the ages, Hecate, but there is nothing I could not forgive. If this is an offer of peace?”
“It is,” Hecate said seriously. “I have always respected you, Alanna. Sometimes our interests have diverged, and at the time I did what I thought was necessary. But with the wisdom of age I have come to regret some of my rasher actions.”
“Then let us let bygones be bygones,” Alanna said. “I always support my wizard, and as long as you have his loyalty you will have my aid as well.”
“He’s a surprising fellow, isn’t he? I thought I was going to have to arrange a rescue from the heart of enemy territory, and instead he’s brought ruin to our enemies and escaped on his own merit. Although I really must hear how you came to inhabit the form of a Vanir maiden, Daniel. I hadn’t thought you were that sort.”
I could feel my ears heat. “It, ah, wasn’t exactly the original plan. But it’s only temporary, and I don’t think anyone suspects me.”
“Excellent. Then you must tell me the tale of this adventure, my champion.”
It took a while to bring the dark goddess up to speed, starting with the moment when I walked into the temple and found myself face to face with a pair of gods. Alanna played hostess while I talked, laying out a blanket and cushions for everyone to sit on and bringing refreshments. By the time I got to my conversation with Idun I’d gone through half a pitcher of sun tea, and Hecate was on her second bottle of wine. Not that it seemed to affect her.
“Well done,” Hecate said when I finally wound down. “You’ve struck a greater blow against Asgard than any champion before you, and the bastards don’t even know you did it. I wish I could offer you a suitable reward, but my influence in Midgard is sadly depleted.”
“I’m just happy to be alive,” I told her. “Do you think Odin will buy the misdirection?”
“At the moment he seems to think Mara recruited the Lightbringers to aid her mission, and blames Loki and Ra for the disaster. Returning from the dead will stir his suspicions a bit, but such feats are not unheard of for the wizards of Atlantis. As long as you remain missing for a few weeks first I think he will hold you blameless, especially after your warnings of sabotage in the Sunspire. Mind you, I’d recommend you never allow yourself to fall under his power again, for he will likely interrogate you if he has the opportunity.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “Although I’m not sure what I’d do if one of the Aesir shows up at my door demanding answers. I’ve got some ideas for another round of equipment upgrades, and now that I’ve gotten a good look at them I’m confident that I can build weapons capable of killing a Great Beast. But that’s going to require huge, bulky mechanisms, so it would be awfully easy for a god to just avoid them. I’m sure there are plenty of ways to get into my fortress without getting shot at.”
“I think it unlikely that they will travel so casually with so many enemies at their gates,” Hecate said. “But If all else fails, I give you leave to call upon me. Your citadel holds the last of my followers, and my best hope for an age of renewal after Asgard falls. I will fight the Aesir to defend you if I must.
Alanna frowned. “But Hecate, if they know where to find you they will stop at nothing to see you ended,” she protested.
“That is why this is a last resort,” Hecate said with a faint smile. “But they would not find me easy prey. I have won new allies for myself of late, and time is on our side. Asgard’s position weakens with each passing day now, and we grow stronger. The pair of you will soon be a force to be reckoned with even in a battle of gods, and all those who you have empowered are growing in strength. My own martial skills have only grown sharper in my years of exile, and together I believe we could defeat even the Thunderer. Not that they would risk sending him in this dark hour.
“But we have other allies as well. Surely at least one of these ancient gods you freed will contact me, and be open to an alliance. The same is true of Bastet, who was a notable war goddess in her prime. She may be a child now, but that won’t last for long.”
“So I missed the birth? Damn, I was afraid of that.”
“You might have missed it even if you’d been home,” Hecate said. “To hear Cerise tell the tale, the whole affair scarcely lasted a minute. Just make sure you get home again before Bastet imprints on someone else as her father.”
“She’ll need a year and a day to grow up, at the very least,” Alanna said. “We have time. But this is an interesting group you’re putting together, Hecate. Hestia isn’t much of a fighter, but her blessings are quite powerful, and Idun is another enviable support resource. Do you intend to form a new pantheon, with yourself at the head?”
Hecate took a delicate sip of her wine, and stared into the cup. “A new pantheon? What an interesting thought. Such a thing could benefit all of Europe, especially if it were a strong one. Who knows who might flock to our banner, if we could offer protection from the chaos unfolding in Asgard? But I fear that I must acknowledge my limits here. I have a deft touch with magic, and a fair mastery of the warrior’s arts. But even at my best, I could never hope to match the power that Zeus wielded. A proper monarch of the gods must hold the power to command respect, as well as a sharp wit and a head for diplomacy. There are few candidates for such a post, and fewer still who are not already committed to an existing regime.”
Alanna gasped. “You can’t be serious!”
“Can’t I?” Hecate said blandly. “Daniel has already suggested it once. Granted, there are obstacles in the path that he had no knowledge of, but can we not see a solution to the greatest of them?”
“No god can even approach the mountain,” Alanna protested.
“Mara has not yet claimed her full divinity,” Hecate pointed out. “Yet if Gleipnir was unable to resist her power, I scarcely think an adamant chain will give her trouble.”
“The eagle would kill her,” Alanna said.
“Yes. But a modern wizard is the perfect answer to Zeus’ sentry, wouldn’t you say?”
Well, if they were talking about someone imprisoned by Zeus there was really only one possibility.
“You�
��re talking about Prometheus,” I said.
“Indeed I am. He is a fine warrior, charming and insightful, and a schemer of such depth that even today many suspect that his imprisonment is some sort of ploy.”
“He didn’t want to rule,” Alanna pointed out. “How will you convince him?”
“I have some ideas in that regard,” Hecate said. “But first, someone must convince Mara to leave her father’s side long enough to free him. What do you think, Daniel? Could you persuade her?”
“That would be tough. She’s obsessed with winning her father’s approval, and right now he needs all the help he can get. But she’d like the idea in principle, and it’s not like we don’t have anything to offer her. Gaea is pregnant again, and Mara is pretty desperate to save her sister from growing up the way she did. I’d say it might be possible if we approach her the right way, but it isn’t going to be easy.”
“The timing would be delicate,” Hecate conceded. “But Rome was not built in a day, and there are many other matters before us. All across Europe there are voices calling for my aid, and some of them might be of use to you. The powers of Summer have taken offense at Loki’s alliance with their ancient enemies, hint that they may be open to an alliance. There are Great Beasts who chafe under Gaea’s leadership, and survivors of the ancient world who yet lurk dark places hoping for the fall of the gods.
“So let us consider our plans, my Champion. You have proven your worth in such matters, and I am no longer so pressed for time. A thousand opportunities lie before us, and many of them are tied to your own doings. I shall lay them out before you, so that together we may choose which ones to take.”
“This is a rare opportunity,” Alanna said. “It isn’t often I have the chance to learn firsthand what the gods plan.”
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