by S. T. Bende
“Did you bring the horn?”
I rolled my eyes. “I was kidding. Obviously.”
Tore reached out and opened the flap of my pack. Slipping his fingers inside, he withdrew the golden horn. “Remember what Milkir told us? The horn doesn’t have boundaries, and neither does Scarlet. If you call her, she’ll find a way to get to you. No matter what realm you’re on.”
“Seriously?” That sounded like something out of a fairytale.
Tore nodded. “So . . . option three. We hike out, summon the Bifrost and your dragon, then hustle back and save Bodie’s butt. Sound good?”
“It’s worth a try,” I agreed.
Tore nodded. I could practically see his mind working to pull together all the pieces. We only had one chance to do this right; to rescue Bodie and get out of Muspelheim alive.
With a sigh, I crossed to the mouth of the cave and stared into the red-tinged sky. “Are the constellations the same as the ones we see from Earth? Sorry, Midgard?” Darkness was falling on Muspelheim, but the handful of stars that poked through the red smog bore no resemblance to the Big Dipper or Ursa Major. They shone together in tight clusters, their crimson light different from the white glow I was used to seeing. “If we don’t have any kind of navigational marker, how are we supposed to find a safe spot to call the dragon, then get back here without losing track of where Bodie is?” God, I hoped the cave near the drop site was Nott’s. If Bodie wasn’t in there, we were in even more trouble than I thought.
“Skit. Get back.” Tore’s thick forearm struck my chest as he shoved me behind him.
“Hey!” I protested.
“Quiet,” he ordered softly. His footsteps were nearly silent as he herded me away from the opening of the cave and into the darkness of its depths. The steely glint in his eye was enough to tell me that he was simultaneously on alert and excited.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
Tore gave me a look I had zero way of interpreting. But the vein along his jaw bulged as he quietly drew his sword, and I knew something was freaking him out. Bigtime.
“Tore?” I whispered, drawing my own sword.
He met my eyes with a steely gaze, before mouthing the words that sent a fresh wave of terror coursing through every fiber of my over-stressed being.
“It’s Nott. She’s here.”
CHAPTER TEN
MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN so quickly that my jaw popped. The last thing we needed right then was to be discovered.
Tore tilted his head toward the mouth of the cave. Outside, hurried footsteps scuffed toward our hiding spot. I pressed my back to the rocky wall and tried not to panic at the wave of energetic darkness that washed over me. It was thicker, more cloying, and far more intense than anything I’d sensed from a regulation night elf. My heart pounded, pushing against the fear that threatened to overtake me. I’d already paid my dues to the darkness; no way was I going back to that world of paralyzing despair. I locked down my centers to shield myself from Nott’s energy sight. Since Tore was on perpetual lockdown, I knew he’d be invisible to her energetic radar, too.
“What do you mean, you lost her?” The deep, female voice was coarse, as if its owner had endured a lifetime of tobacco use. I was pressed so far against the wall, I didn’t have a visual on the voice’s owner. But my gut had a pretty good sense.
Nott was close. And she was furious.
“The girl took the bait—she and the demigod came through the portal.” The scratchy voice of what I could only assume was a night elf sniveled. “But they vanished without a trace before our ground team was able to retrieve them.”
“You were instructed to summon me immediately upon their arrival,” Nott bellowed. “Your predecessors more than proved your abilities are insufficient to combat the Asgardians’ . . . powers.”
“We did summon you.” The night elf’s voice trembled. “You did not come.”
“Liar!” Nott shrieked. “I heard nothing.”
I glanced over at Tore. Was the night elf lying? Or was it possible something we’d done had impeded whatever communication the goddess and her minions had in place?
Tore’s gaze moved from my face down to my satchel. He pressed a finger to the tan leather, confusion in his gaze. In one swift movement, he raised the fabric of the cover and withdrew one of Greta’s crystal wands. Recognition colored his features as he held the tool in his palm. “It’s these,” he mouthed. Then he quickly waved the wand in front of the pouch, up and down in front of my body, and in a circle around my head. A dense pressure pressed in on my ears as he moved, and the sounds around me became muted—as if I was suddenly underwater.
“What are you doing?” I mouthed the words, not sure what effects whatever Tore had done would have on my voice.
He raised a finger to his lips before repeating the motions along his own body. Then he circled his head with the crystal before tucking the wand back into my pouch. “Cloaking us,” he whispered. I furrowed my brow at his distorted tone. He stepped closer so our faces practically touched, and when he spoke again, his whisper sounded normal. “I didn’t realize, but it makes sense. Greta must have set the wands to shield before she threw them at us. Our bodies, and now our voices, should be indiscernible to everyone outside of this protection. Not sure how the shield messed with Nott’s communication system, but I’ll take any advantage we can get.”
“So, we’re invisible? That’s awesome. We don’t need my dragon; we can just go get Bodie right now.” In my excitement, I flailed my arms and accidentally knocked a rock loose from the cave wall. The sudden growl from outside alerted me to my mistake.
“Where are you going?” the night elf asked.
“Silence,” Nott hissed. Oh, God. Her footsteps were muted, but they were definitely getting louder.
Tore held the hilt of his sword to his stomach, keeping it vertical with the tip peeking over the top of his head. He stepped in front of me, pressing his back to my chest. His body completely covered my own, so I couldn’t see Nott when her voice echoed from inside the cave. But I could feel her. The intensely dark energy that seeped from her being made me want to gag.
“They’re close,” Nott croaked. My hearing was adjusting to our protection, so Nott’s warped words sounded slightly clearer. The hiss of a deep inhale let me know the night goddess was sniffing the air. I desperately hoped Greta’s wand-shields covered odor, too. God only knew how awful I smelled after a day fighting fire giants and running from dark elves. Note to self: invest in demigod-level deodorant before embarking on future missions.
My plan in place, I peeked my head around Tore’s shoulder to catch my first glimpse of the Goddess of Night.
Holy Mother of all things scary. She was terrifyingly close—her bone-thin body stood a few feet outside the base of the cave. Long, black hair tumbled down her rail-thin back, and her arms looked like they desperately needed plumping. But I couldn’t deny there was a ghostly beauty in her hollow face. With her black eyes and plump lips, it was easy to see that she had once been stunning. Now, she was nothing more than a shell. She stretched those thin arms over her head and moved her hands in a circular motion. Given what little I knew about her lack of moral compass, I figured she was doing some kind of evil spell. I desperately hoped Greta’s crystal-sticks were Nott-proof.
“Do you see them?” The night elf spoke from outside the cave.
“No.” Nott continued her hand motions. “But I sense them. They are nearby.” She turned a slow circle before stepping closer to the inside of the cave, letting her gaze move from the soot-covered floor all the way up to the stone-lined ceiling. I bent quietly to draw my dagger from my boot while Tore kept his sword raised. His muscles tensed against me as Nott pinned us with her black-eyed stare, but the look didn’t stick. She completed her visual scan of our hiding spot without lingering any longer than necessary on the two breath-holding demigods huddled together.
Nott turned on one heel with a huff and stormed out of the cave. “Return to
the hostage,” she seethed. The night elf scurried past the opening to follow her. “No doubt our targets will attempt to retrieve him. We can kill them then.”
The footsteps grew quieter until only our shallow breathing filled the cave. When I could no longer sense the energetic blackness of Nott’s soul, I permitted myself one shaky inhale. A loud whoosh sounded in my ears as I whispered, “Good God. That was terrifying.”
“No skit. Greta saved our lives.” Tore turned to face me, his voice once again at normal volume. He lowered his sword so it dangled at his side. “You okay?”
“Not even a little bit,” I answered honestly. “But that doesn’t matter. Now we know for sure that Bodie’s in this realm. And now we know that Greta’s magic wands have super awesome invisibility powers. Thank God you did . . . whatever you did with them. Nott didn’t see us.”
“They’re crystal wands, not magic ones.” Tore corrected me with a smile. “And that kind of cloaking device is very temporary. The vibrations can only hold for so long. We’re lucky they didn’t wear off while Nott was in here. Still, we owe Greta a big thanks, don’t we?”
“You bet we do,” I muttered. I patted my satchel, where the wands now rested safely. They clacked against my dragon horn and the piece of my other weapon—the one that would be a lot more useful if somebody hadn’t broken it into eight pieces. “Guess we’d better call for Scarlet now, huh? If Nott’s gearing up for our capture, we don’t want to give her any more time to prepare to kill us.”
“Agreed.” Tore raised his sword so the flat side of the blade rested atop his shoulder. “But we’re going to need to trek out a ways to make that call. I don’t like being this close to Nott. You remember how loud the horn is. Nott already suspects we’re near the mountain somewhere; let’s not help her narrow her search parameters.”
“Fair enough. I’ll follow your lead.”
Tore lightly kissed the top of my head and turned for the entrance. I kept my dagger drawn as we walked over Nott’s footprints, past a jagged boulder formation. Tore held up a fist, and I came to a silent stop. He peeked around one of the rocks, and with a flick of his wrist we were on the move again. We jogged quietly away from Nott’s stronghold and into the rocky forest of Muspelheim. As we traveled, I shot a glance over my shoulder to ensure we weren’t being watched. My breath caught at the sight of the huge fire giant patrolling the cave’s entrance—no wonder Tore had proceeded with caution. The monster’s back was to us, and a further scan revealed no pursuing night elves, but I didn’t breathe easier until we were far from Nott’s stronghold, hidden deep within the woods. We traveled for at least another hour beneath the smoggy sky, finally stopping at a thick grove of grey-barked trees. Their trunks were charred, and their branches devoid of leaves, as if a fire had ravaged each tree from root to tip. The entire grove reeked of desolation, destruction, and death.
“I hate Muspelheim,” I grumbled.
Tore turned around with a smirk. “What ever happened to, ‘I love fire. I want to marry fire.’ Hmm?”
“When did I ever say—oh, right. Jotunheim.” I sighed. “How about we stick to light realm travel once all of this is over?”
“Don’t have to ask me twice.”
We hiked deeper into the grove. After a short eternity, the foliage gave way to a field of black lava rocks.
“Okay, Pepper.” Tore kept his sword drawn. “Call Scarlet. Just pull out your horn and blow.”
I bit back a smile. “You know what Bodie would say to that if he was here.”
Tore smirked again. “Just do it.”
Keeping one hand on my dagger, I withdrew the golden horn from my satchel. I pressed the metal to my lips and exhaled forcefully. A loud baritone rang out, echoing across the lava field.
“God, I hope Nott didn’t hear that,” I muttered.
“She might have,” Tore said casually. “But we’re far enough out that it will take her minions a solid couple of hours to figure it out and track us. And by then, we’ll be riding Scarlet high above her den.”
Seriously, whose hideout was called a den? Oh, right, a psychopathic night goddess’s. That’s who.
“Awesome.” I tucked the horn back in my pouch and stared at Tore. “So now what do we do?”
“Now, we strategize. Were you able to catch any of the logistics conversation with Hjalmar?” Tore asked.
“Not much,” I admitted. “I was worried about Greta, and I knew you’d fill me in.”
“Well, if we’re correct about that mountain being Nott’s stronghold, then this is what we’re looking at.” Tore lowered his sword so the tip touched the ashy ground. He used the weapon to sketch a map into the ash at our feet. “Somewhere in that mountain is a den populated by one crazy goddess and a horde of night elves.”
“You’re not exactly selling the mission so far.” I nudged Tore’s ankle with my boot.
“No skit,” Tore agreed. “We need to follow the energy trace into the den. I’ve never been inside Maldraul Mountain—I’m presuming that’s the volcano we dropped in near. But I’m inclined to trust Hjalmar’s report of its internal structure.”
Tore sketched a series of lines into the soot.
“He said its caverns were numerous but connected to one central location through a series of tunnels. It was once an active volcano, but it’s dried up over the years.” Tore drew a circle in the center of the lines and marked it with an X. “That central location sits underneath an old lava pool that used to run off the nearest volcano. If that’s where Nott is keeping Bodie—and since it’s a seemingly secure location, it makes sense that it would be—then we can assume Nott’s got the entrance to every cavern heavily guarded.”
“Then how are we going to get in?” I blew my hair off my forehead in a frustrated puff.
“Hjalmar’s secret entrance. The drop zone.” Tore’s teeth flashed with his grin.
My eyebrows shot to my hairline. I was pretty sure nothing good had ever come from a mission that began at something called ‘the drop zone.’ “Where are we dropping in from?”
“From here.” Tore drew another line with his dagger. “When it was active, the volcano had a second runoff—that channel doesn’t connect directly to the central location, but it’s separated from it by only a thin layer of sediment. We follow that runoff as close to Nott’s lair as we can get, then dig through the wall, jump down into the den, and ambush whatever’s waiting on the other side.”
“Seriously?” Tore had to be kidding me. “You want us to dig through a wall and hope the night elves don’t hear us coming?”
“They’ll be guarding every other entrance. And the ash walls near the top of the mountain should be pretty easy to kick through.” Tore raised one eyebrow. “You got a better idea?”
The pressure in my head built steadily. Everything about this mission was a bad idea. “Fine, Protector. Carry on.”
Tore returned his attention to the outline on the ground. “We enter through the mouth of the volcano, then traverse the unguarded trail until we reach the drop zone. It’s going to have a horde of guards, but we have enough energy sense between us to feel where they’re located. We’ll wait for Nott to leave and find a way to disable any night elves that stand in our way.”
“Can we hide behind the crystal wand cloak?” I asked.
“We’ll try, but we can’t count on that.” Tore shook his head. “Remember, that shield is based on a vibration, and I don’t know how long it will be able to hold inside of a volcano commanded by Nott. The sulfur dioxide, not to mention the slew of other gasses, may affect the air quality.”
“So, we’re going in hoping we’re invisible but knowing we may have to just . . . fight our way to Bodie?” It wasn’t impossible, but I wished we had a better plan.
“Yeah.” Tore ran his hands over his head. “That’s all I’ve got at the moment. But we’re smart. We’ll think of something on the fly.”
Right. Because so far, my time in Tore’s world had proven me to be an exce
llent on-the-fly thinker. Not.
“Uh, okay.” Going in without a concrete plan seemed risky, but I didn’t want to leave Bodie on his own any longer than necessary. Worst case scenario, I could use my light whip to do . . . something.
“We’ll need to have Scarlet on standby at whichever exit we’re able to get to. We won’t know which one will be vacant until we go in and see where the night elves flee, so keep your horn on you, and be ready to call her as we’re leaving the tunnel with Bodie.”
I patted my satchel. “Got it. So, we have an entrance plan, an extraction plan, and a way to get as far away from Nott as possible until we can call the Bifrost to pick us up. What do we do now?”
Tore sat down in the soot and leaned his back against one of the tree trunks. He patted the ground next to him, and I settled into his side. “Now, we wait. It’s probably going to take Scarlet a while to get here from Nidavellir. I’m not sure how dragons travel realms, but whatever system they use, it can’t be faster than the Bifrost.”
“You don’t think we should move out now and hope Scarlet will know where to find us? Bodie’s been in there for so long already, and—”
Tore silenced me by pressing his lips to mine. I gave myself over to the kiss, but he pulled away much too quickly and continued talking. “We need to ride the dragon to get to the mouth of the volcano. And we need her waiting to fly us out once we rescue Bodie. We don’t know what condition he’s going to be in, and we can’t count on him being able to outrun the night elves. There’s no point in rescuing Bodie if he’s only going to get recaptured because we didn’t set up a proper extraction.”
“But is it safe to just wait here like sitting ducks? I mean—”
“I understand your concern. Trust me, Pepper, I don’t want Bodie trapped with that monster any longer than necessary, either. And while I appreciate your willingness to go in blind, and frankly, I find it sexy as Hel, we have to be strategic. Going in without an exit plan in place isn’t going to do Bodie any favors. And it might cost me the girl I can’t imagine existing without. So, unfortunately, I need us to do things my way on this one.”