Blades of Ash: An Unbreakable Sword Series Prequel (The Unbreakable Sword Book 5)

by S. M. Schmitz

  “Isn’t Thor’s mother a giant?” Horus asked. “Is that whole feud some kind of self-loathing or something?”

  “Not now,” Badb hissed. “Time and place for everything, Horus.”

  Horus just shrugged.

  “How do we know this isn’t a trick?” Apollo asked quietly. “As soon as we enter Jötunheim, the giants will slaughter us.”

  “I doubt it,” Badb said. “The giants are enemies of the Aesir. I think his offer is sincere.”

  Lugh nodded smartly and called out, “Do you have giant snakes over there?”

  The giant just blinked at him, so Lugh grinned. “Fair question that will have a significant impact on my answer.”

  “Look,” the giant sighed. “My name is Thrym, and I am king of my realm. If I’m here offering you safe passage to Asgard, you’ll receive it. And if we encounter any… giant snakes… I’ll dispose of them myself.”

  “Thrym,” Lugh whispered then shouted, “So I’m guessing Thor didn’t really kill you at your wedding reception with Freyja.”

  Thrym grunted at the sun god and argued, “I’m ten times Freyja’s size. How would that have even worked?”

  “Don’t know,” Lugh admitted. “How did Odin knock up some of your women?”

  Badb slapped his arm, so he yelped and cried, “Fair question!”

  “When he steps on us, we’re all blaming you,” the Dagda said.

  “Fair enough,” Lugh agreed.

  Thrym sighed again and asked, “Are you coming or not?”

  “I’m game,” Lugh decided. “And I’m also holding you to this agreement that you’ll kill any and all snakes we may encounter.”

  “Yeah, because snakes are our biggest problem right now,” Poseidon teased.

  “Snakes are always my biggest problem,” Lugh argued.

  Thrym shook his head and mumbled, “This group can’t possibly destroy Asgard.”

  “You can get your people to help us,” Lugh said.

  Thrym shook his head again. “There aren’t enough of us left. Once Midgard decided it had no use for the Aesir and Vanir, Thor had far too much time on his hands to fight us.”

  “Yeah, he’s a real gem,” Badb agreed. “Don’t worry. My sword has his name on it.”

  “Wouldn’t that make it his sword?” the Dagda countered.

  “I am this close to retracting my offer,” Thrym warned.

  Lugh walked toward the giant, waving a hand at his family and friends to follow him. Badb still suspected there was more to Thrym’s offer than just his hope that Asgard would be destroyed, but they had few options for reaching the walls of the Norse gods’ realm undetected.

  “The sea,” Lugh said. “Is that the real Mimir’s Well?”

  Thrym glanced down at him and reminded him, “You’re in Vanaheim, Sun God.”

  “Doesn’t it border your kingdom?”

  “If it really granted infinite wisdom,” the giant replied, “I’d recommend you all go drink from it.”

  “This is going to be a long trip,” Badb complained.

  “I suggest we make it in silence,” Thrym offered.

  Athena snickered. “Good luck with that.”

  “We have to cross the sea,” Thrym told them. “My boat is at the dock. Climb aboard, while I untie it and push off.”

  “There’s no wind,” Poseidon pointed out. “Do you intend to paddle across?”

  “I did to get over here. But considering who you are, I’d think it would be faster to control the water, and I really want this trip to be as quick as possible.”

  “I’m starting to think he doesn’t like us very much,” Lugh observed smartly.

  The Dagda paused on the pier and eyed the calm sea warily. “Are there any giant snakes in it?”

  “What is wrong with you gods?” Thrym demanded.

  “We don’t like snakes,” Lugh answered. “We’re Irish. It’s genetic.”

  “Are you being a smartass?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Get in the boat,” Athena groaned.

  Lugh stepped off the pier, and Badb immediately followed him. If this were some kind of trick by the king of giants, then she wanted to be by Lugh’s side to protect him. She caught him giving her the same look, promising that he intended to defend her at any provocation.

  As soon as Thrym pushed the boat away from its dock, Poseidon caused the sea to swell and undulate, propelling them across the surface of the water. Badb watched the opposite shore as they neared it, and the impossibly high walls of Utgard combined with the constant swaying of the boat made her seasick. “Please tell me we don’t have more seas to cross,” she begged.

  “No,” Thrym assured her. “But there is a river.”

  “A river,” she repeated. “Does it have a bridge?”

  Thrym shook his large head. “If there were a bridge, it would be as well guarded as Bifröst.”

  “I should have just flown across,” she muttered.

  “I’d ask why you didn’t just fly across then, but I really don’t care,” Thrym replied.

  Poseidon calmed the sea again as they reached another pier, and the Giant King reached for the rope tied to a post so he could secure his boat. He ordered everyone onto the dock then motioned for the gods to follow him. Now that they were in Jötunheim, they had no choice but to obey.

  “We’ll go around the walls of Utgard,” he said. “Only we giants are allowed inside the city. The Ifing River won’t be easy to cross as the currents are always strong, but Poseidon can calm it long enough for you to get across.”

  Badb grabbed her boyfriend’s hand and took a deep breath. “Yeah, this seems like a foolproof plan.”

  Osiris grinned and reminded her, “You waited until we were in Vanaheim to tell me my part of this whole thing. This actually isn’t the dumbest part of our invasion.”

  “Stop whining. It’ll work.”

  “Possibly,” he agreed. “And it could possibly get me killed.”

  Badb froze, which caused Lugh to trip over his feet, but how could hauling spirits out of Valhalla kill her old friend? As a god of the dead, he had command over spirits. They weren’t supposed to be able to hurt him.

  “We don’t have a choice,” Osiris continued. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t have agreed if you’d shared your idea with me back in Murias. I probably would have… eventually. But if I can’t control them as well as I can our own or our allies, or worse, I can’t control them at all, they will kill me.”

  “Which is why I’m going with you,” Horus insisted.

  “No, you’re not,” Osiris argued.

  “You’re my father!” Horus cried. “How could I not help you?”

  “And because you’re my son, I’m not letting you near something you can’t fight,” Osiris insisted.

  “Osiris,” Badb breathed, “we didn’t…”

  But the Egyptian god cut her off and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Badb, you know my nature. I’m cautious while you’re spontaneous, and it almost always works in your favor. I’ll follow your lead as I have for thousands of years.”

  Thrym rolled his eyes and urged them on. “Touching. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to reach Ifing before nightfall, and we have a long way to go.”

  Badb nodded and offered Osiris, who had served as the head of his pantheon for several centuries now since Ra’s death, a forced smile. But the weight of their situation had suddenly crashed down on her, and she fully realized for the first time that despite having some of the most brilliant gods of war among them, they could lose.

  And there was a good chance not all of her friends would be making it out of Asgard alive.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thrym led the gods to a wide river with such strong currents that whitecaps formed on the waves as the water rushed past them. Jötunheim’s sun had long since set, but its moon was so bright, the realm hadn’t fallen into complete darkness. On the opposite bank where the world transformed into the realm of the Aesir, the dusk of Jötun
heim melted into the blackness of midnight in Asgard.

  “I doubt Poseidon will be able to stop the current completely,” he said, “so slow it enough to swim across.”

  “Swim?” Badb repeated. “We have to invade Asgard soaking wet?”

  “Not you,” Lugh replied. “Those that can fly across should just go over the river.”

  “You can’t fly across the river,” Thrym told them. “There are shapeshifting gods among the Norse, and if it were possible to fly over, they’d be here all the time.”

  “How does Thor get across to fight all of you then?” the Dagda asked.

  Thrym shrugged. “He’s strong and swims across.”

  “Just out of curiosity,” Macha said, “what would happen if I tried to fly over it?”

  “You’ll fall into the river and be swept away. Loki tried and only survived because Thor pulled him out,” Thrym explained. “That was obviously long before he turned on the gods.”

  Poseidon sighed and eyed the river warily. “Let’s get across then before we lose the advantage of night and surprise.”

  “They can’t sense you from this world,” Thrym assured him. “Their sun will rise in a few hours though, and as soon as you step foot on Asgard’s bank, they’ll be able to feel your arrival.”

  “Remind me again who had the brilliant idea of invading Asgard?” Apollo asked.

  “You wanted revenge for Olympus, didn’t you?” Badb snapped.

  “Yeah,” he admitted. “But this seems so impossible now that we’re here.”

  “If a bunch of scorpion men can destroy Olympus, then we can handle the Norse in their own world,” Athena argued. “Poseidon, slow the current. I’m going across.”

  Badb took a deep breath and inched toward the water so she could join her best friend. She glanced over her shoulder where Thrym stood watching Asgard’s bank, his eyes narrowed at the shoreline of their common enemy.

  “If you want to make sure the Norse can’t threaten you anymore, you’ll want to bring your warriors to Vanaheim and destroy it as well,” she advised. “Otherwise, they’ll move and just be on a different side of you.”

  Thrym nodded. “Assuming you succeed, we’ll handle Vanaheim. Good luck. You’ll need it.”

  Nemain snorted and shook her head. “We don’t need luck. We need a miracle.”

  “Swim,” Poseidon ordered. “There’s no turning back now.”

  The currents of Ifing slowed and Badb stepped carefully into the surprisingly cold water. Athena held onto her arm as they waded deeper into the river, because Thrym had been right. Even Poseidon couldn’t still this river, and the current incessantly pushed against them. When the water reached their chests, Athena let go of Badb’s arm and offered her a small smile. “After all we’ve been through together, we’re not dying by drowning. We’ll die on the battlefield as we should, so swim quickly, Cousin.”

  Badb swallowed but smiled back at her. “And we’re not dying in Asgard. Uscias may not allow us into Findias if we died here.”

  Lugh snickered and kissed her head as they waited for the rest of the gods to catch up to them. They would have to swim across at the same time or risk the Norse amassing on the shoreline and slaughtering each god as they reached its bank.

  “This is it, old friends,” Osiris offered. “If we fall at each others’ sides, it will be an honor. And I’ll carry us each home.”

  “Osiris,” Badb said quietly. “I’m sorry. For not telling you…”

  “Don’t apologize,” he interrupted. “As I said, I know why you didn’t mention it sooner. I would have only delayed us by arguing.”

  “I can’t hold this river much longer,” Poseidon said. “We need to go now.”

  “Count of three?” Athena asked.

  “One,” Ares replied. “Two…” Each god took a deep breath and prepared to swim. “Three.”

  The gods dove into the river, which pushed back angrily against them. At times, it seemed as if they were actually swimming backwards but Badb eventually touched the grassy bank of Asgard and pulled herself out of the water. She wanted to lie on the dry ground and rest, but she could already hear the hooves of Svadilfari as whomever rode him and guarded the wall of Asgard approached.

  Lugh pulled himself to his feet and extended a hand to help Badb up. She quickly counted bodies to ensure all of her friends had made it across Ifing. The muttering and cursing alone should have told her they were all there—drenched and exhausted from fighting against a river most gods wouldn’t even try to swim across but all alive.

  “I thought Thor killed the guy who owned that horse?” Ares complained as the hooves pelted the ground. They could see its shadowy shape riding close to the wall now.

  “He probably did,” Lugh said. “But they kept the stallion and had one of their own gods use it to guard the wall.”

  “The Norse are such assholes,” Athena muttered, wringing the water from her long hair.

  “Go take care of that guard,” Badb instructed. “My sisters and I will bring the wall down.”

  She grabbed the Blade of Ash from the sheath she wore on her right side and offered a quick prayer to Danu that Lugh’s spell would actually work. She’d witnessed countless enchanted items accomplish remarkable feats, but a wooden sword bringing down Asgard seemed impossible. Macha and Nemain drew their Blades of Ash and marched toward the wall with her. In the dark, it looked as if the wall had no end but stretched endlessly into the Asgardian sky.

  “Question,” Nemain whispered.

  “Most likely don’t have an answer,” Badb whispered back.

  “Is all the debris going to fall on us?” Nemain asked anyway.

  “Probably,” Badb responded.

  “Well,” Macha offered, “we’re assuming these swords will actually bring down the walls of Asgard. There’s a pretty good chance this won’t work and the gods waiting on the other side will just kill us.”

  Badb blinked at her then snapped, “Not helping. Just hit the damn wall.”

  Macha smiled innocently back at her but lifted her sword and swung it at the wall, breaking open a hole as the stones fell on the other side into the city of the Norse gods where Váli stared back at the Mórrígna. And honestly, Badb was as surprised as the Norse god that the sword had broken through the wall.

  Badb opened another hole in the wall before grabbing her iron sword from the sheath on her left and climbing through the opening. But Váli hadn’t been awaiting her alone. Freyr’s sword glinted in the dim light of the lamps that lined the inside of Asgard’s wall, and Badb lifted her own sword to deflect Freyr’s attack.

  Nemain and Macha followed closely behind their sister and engaged Váli, but if they’d hoped to reach Valhalla, the heart of Asgard, without battling their way there, they’d been awfully naïve. Thor stepped out of the darkness between a palace and its stable, swinging Mjölnir as if he were prepared to throw it at Badb. Odin and Tyr followed, descending on her sisters.

  But as gods continued to emerge from the darkness between the buildings, she realized the Norse weren’t in Asgard alone. Ninurta, the Sumerian god of war, was among them.

  “You,” Athena hissed. “It was your plan to destroy Olympus with An’s scorpion men, wasn’t it?”

  Ninurta just smiled at her and tossed his mace between his hands.

  “And he ran like the coward he is as soon as the battle in his realm turned against him,” Badb added. “No wonder the Sumerians are such a weak pantheon.”

  Odin glanced over his shoulder at the Sumerian god and told him, “They’re trying to distract us. Don’t respond—just kill them.”

  Badb grunted at the Norse god, but prepared to fight Ninurta anyway. She thought after all they’d been through lately, she and her Greek cousins deserved this chance to antagonize the Sumerian god, but Odin had fought them so many times, he knew they tended to talk too much, even in battle. Athena kept her eyes on Ninurta and told Badb, “Take care of Thor. This bastard is mine.”

  “Gla
dly,” Badb said. Thor was already heading toward her, but they had quickly become outnumbered. And Freyr was still within striking distance.

  How the hell were they supposed to get out of this alive?

  Arrows sailed past her as Artemis and Apollo jumped through the holes in the wall. Odin knocked one down before it could strike him, but Badb had distracted Váli enough for Apollo’s arrow to pierce his chest. As Váli crumpled, Freyr stepped out of the war goddess’s reach, which gave her time to slam her ash sword into the ground.

  It shook as if she’d resurrected the scorpion men and dragged them into Asgard. All around her, stones trickled down the sides of palaces and walls, and the Norse gods stumbled then regained their balance as the ground quieted. But Macha and Nemain brought their swords down too, causing another quake that rattled the castles and stables of the Norse.

  But since they couldn’t stay on their feet either and had to assume their friends who were still outside Asgard’s wall had fallen, they needed to get away from the Norse gods who had come to stop them. Badb called out, “Lugh, burn them!”

  She wasn’t even sure where her boyfriend was or if he could hear her. Tense seconds ticked by as the ground continued to shake and larger stones pummeled the foundations of buildings that were collapsing under the enchantment of Lugh’s swords. Badb held her breath, suddenly terrified that Lugh hadn’t come to her aid because he couldn’t.

  Please, please, please… she begged Danu. He can’t be dead.

  Shouting outside the wall interrupted her prayer, but she didn’t hear Lugh’s voice among them. The Dagda yelled at her to hit the wall again so they could all come inside, but she remained frozen, overwhelmed by the fear that the god she’d loved for so long, the god she’d love for the rest of this life and her afterlife, was dead.

  Macha scrambled to her feet and ran to the wall, widening the gaping wound near its base, and their friends poured inside. Even in the darkness, she’d recognize Lugh’s figure and the way he walked, but she didn’t see him.

  He wasn’t with the rest of the gods.