Fall of Thor's Hammer (Levi Prince Book 2)

by Amy C. Blake

  We have to help her, she mouthed, and pulled him from the door.

  Next they went down to the great hall where a bunch of kids played billiards and Ping-Pong, but there was still no sign of Morgan. They raced past the still-buzzing dining hall, intending to check the foyer, and if they still hadn’t found her, to go out the south door to look in the cabin area. But as he passed the kitchen doorway, Levi skidded to a halt. “Wait. I’ve got to check something.”

  Sara gave him a puzzled nod. He peeked around the doorframe and sucked in a breath as Mr. Forest bustled by with a load of dirty dishes. The pixie clunked them onto the counter and, muttering to himself, started back toward the dining hall. No one else was in the room.

  Levi crept across it, Sara close behind. When he halted near the dark alcove beside the cellar door, she stared at him, wide-eyed. “What’re you doing? We can’t go down there.”

  “Shh.” He put his finger over his lips.

  Her eyes flashed, but she shut her mouth.

  Levi inched into the dim alcove, hoping for some hint of whether Morgan had come that way, and almost fell over something bulky.

  His heart skipped into triple time. “Morgan?”

  36

  Back to the Cellar

  “What is it? Did you find her?” Sara’s nails dug into his forearm.

  He bent low. A bag and a bedroll. He felt for a tag.

  Sara knelt beside him and gasped. “That’s Morgan’s stuff.”

  He squinted at the red sleeping bag and oversized pink duffel. “How can you tell? I can’t find a tag.”

  “Thanks to you, she’s been my roommate for the past six weeks. Don’t you think I ought to recognize her stuff?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He stood up straight. The sound of clanking dishes from the direction of the pass-through window told him the kids were finished with lunch. That meant the kitchen staff would be coming in to wash dishes any minute. He had seconds to decide what to do. Because if this was Morgan’s stuff, there was only one place she could’ve gone. He rested his forehead against the old wooden door. “She’s down there; I know she is.”

  “What? In the cellar? She can’t be.”

  He gestured toward the bedroll. “She has to be.” He didn’t want to go down there again. He couldn’t. But what if it was like his dad said . . . sometimes a man had to do a thing, no matter how much he didn’t want to? But it was still against the rules, no matter the circumstances. He couldn’t disobey again. He was finished with all that. Surely there was another way.

  “Your dad.” He fixed wide eyes on Sara. “We need to get him. He’ll know what to do.”

  She shook her head. “He’s gone. Something got the leprechauns all upset out beyond the Medicollis. He, Mr. Sylvester, and Mr. Drake left before dawn to settle them down.”

  Levi’s shoulders deflated. All three gone? Now? “How about your mom?” He paused. “No, she’s with Morgan’s momma. We can’t get her without . . .”

  He slumped against the stone wall, eyes on the cellar door. What do I do, God? I can’t just leave her down there. She’ll die. He pressed his thumbs to his temples, willing himself to think.

  Finally, he whispered, “Go get your mom and dad’s key.”

  She flinched as if he’d slapped her. “What?”

  “I have to go down after her, but without a key, I can’t get back inside the castle. I doubt she can survive the trip down the waterfall like I did.” Levi didn’t mention the fact that he probably couldn’t make himself jump back in that underground river, no matter what was at stake.

  “But—”

  “There’s no time.” He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a small shake. “Go.”

  Sara’s mouth opened, but at a loud clatter from the pass-through window, she clamped it shut. With a quick nod, she ran from the room.

  Levi huddled in the corner hoping no one would come in before he got the key and went down after Morgan. Because any more delays could mean Morgan’s death.

  Several agonizing moments later, Sara rushed into the alcove and thrust a piece of heavy metal into his hands. “Here.”

  “This is the key?”

  She nodded, her mouth wobbling at the corner.

  Pushing away guilty feelings, he studied the key. It was six inches long and hung on a thick gold chain like an antique necklace. Even in the dusky corner of the kitchen, the green and blue jewels on the key’s handle glittered.

  “Sapphires and emeralds,” Sara whispered.

  It was beautiful. “Did you have any trouble getting it? I mean with them in there?”

  A crease formed between her eyebrows. “Why would I?”

  “Isn’t your mom with Morgan’s mom in their study?”

  She frowned. “The key’s not kept in their study.”

  “Oh. In their bedroom then?”

  She shook her head. “It’s kept in the foyer.”

  The foyer? “But everybody’s allowed in there.”

  “I know.”

  He blinked. “How can they keep it safe?”

  Sara’s expression turned sly. “Remember? My dad says things are best hidden in plain sight.”

  Levi started to argue, but the sound of heavy footfalls on stone stopped him. He yanked Sara deeper into the shadows and mouthed the words I’m going down.

  “Time to be getting on with these dirty dishes, I suppose.” Mrs. Forest’s high-pitched tones came from someplace way too near their hiding place.

  A sigh, then Mr. Forest’s deeper voice. “It’s a never-ending job.”

  “I’m going with you,” Sara hissed in Levi’s ear.

  He shook his head violently. “No way. Think what Deceptor would do if he got hold of you again.”

  “At least let me get somebody—Miss Althea or Mrs. Sylvester, maybe.” A beam of light sparkled on her tear-filled eyes, glinting the same brilliant blues and greens as the jewels on the key.

  Mrs. Sylvester? What if she and her husband were in league with Deceptor? The cut dragons . . . the unhappy leprechauns . . .

  “Did you hear something, dear?” Mrs. Forest’s question made Levi suck in a breath. Then she answered herself. “I guess I’m hearing things. That silly old cellar dwarf has me on edge.”

  “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, tell somebody,” he murmured in Sara’s ear. “I have to go now or Morgan might not make it out.” He patted the hammer strapped to his waist, thankful Mr. Sylvester hadn’t talked Mr. Austin into confiscating it. Then he untucked his shirttail, hiding the hammer beneath it. “At least I have a weapon.”

  She offered him a weak smile as he pulled the key’s gold chain over his head and tucked it beneath his shirt. Levi eased the knob until the door opened with a soft squeal. At least this time that wind didn’t slam it in his face. Did that mean he was right to go down?

  It wasn’t like he had time to analyze the situation. Levi rushed into the blackness and shut the door behind him.

  37

  Darkness

  Why hadn’t he scrounged for a flashlight or even a candle while he waited for Sara? Idiotic. Levi scrabbled with his fingertips against the rough stone wall while inching forward with his toes. He didn’t want another accelerated trip down those stairs.

  “Just what do you think you’re doing, young lady?” Mrs. Forest’s raised voice reached Levi from overhead. “Did I just hear that door?” The volume went still higher. “What do you mean Levi Prince went down after Morgan Whitman?” Her tone rose to a shrill squawk that hurt his ears a good ten feet below. Poor Sara.

  He tried to hurry. Who knew how long Morgan had been down there. The steps felt endless. When his toes finally struck the floor, he almost fell flat.

  Now where? Had Regin taken him left or right the last time he was here? Which way would Morgan have gone? Had Regin, or worse, Deceptor already found her? His stomach clenched.

  Levi moved straight ahead, feet shuffling and hands groping, completely blind in the pitch darkness. His breathing grew shallow in the dam
p dankness. Slowly, fear began to edge into his mind. He couldn’t see. Didn’t have a clue where he was. Had no idea if he was moving toward Morgan or even whether she’d actually come down at all.

  Much later, it dawned on him how foolish he was, rushing headlong into this horrible place with no proof Morgan had ever opened the cellar door.

  How long had he been wandering in the darkness? Must be hours. Surely Mr. Dominic would show up any minute with flashlights blazing.

  But Mr. Dominic had been called away from the castle. And Levi’s only companions were silence and inky blackness.

  “Morgan?” Levi’s whisper was sucked into the vast emptiness. No echo. No answer. Just dead air. About then, he realized he’d never been this way before; at least, he didn’t think he had. His footfalls no longer clattered on stone. The floor had turned squishy, and he could only imagine the nastiness he walked on. There was no sense of walls with branching tunnels, no scent of water beyond the heavy muskiness. There were no sounds at all, other than his own panting breath and pounding heart. He did his best to make as little noise as possible.

  Levi felt like he was in a cavernous tomb. Like he was the only thing alive for miles. How long could he stay alive down here? He tried to pray. He tried to think of Bible verses he’d learned. Anything to get his mind off the feeling that he’d entered an open grave.

  A portion of the psalm they’d sung in chapel Sunday replayed in his mind: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” He couldn’t imagine anyplace more like hell than this.

  God, are You here?

  His right ear bashed against solid rock, and he dropped to the ground. With a moan, he huddled, clutching his ringing ear while hot wetness seeped through his fingers. When the pain subsided a little, he drew in a deep breath, and the scent of blood filled his nostrils.

  Something scuttled not far away. Levi strained his eyes to see through the unrelenting darkness. There it was again, closer than before. His pounding heart made the blood surge from his cut ear, and he pressed harder to stanch the flow. He wished he had a handkerchief or a rag.

  The scuttling sounded nearer.

  His blood. It smelled his blood. Not again. What was it this time? Something worse than Regin?

  All the monsters from his nightmares crept into his mind.

  He was about to die. Why did he keep getting himself into these situations?

  Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please, dear God, get me out of here.

  38

  Morgan and the Dvergar

  “Levi?”

  The tiny whisper might as well have been a shout. Was God talking to him?

  No, that was crazy. Even for a place like Terracaelum.

  “Is it you, Levi?” Morgan’s voice.

  “Morgan?” He scrambled forward a few paces, hand held high to ward off another collision with the rock.

  “Yes—”

  “What were you thinking coming down here?” He sounded like his mom on a scolding rampage, but he couldn’t stop himself as the anxiety of the past hours spewed out. “It’s pure idiocy. You could’ve gotten yourself killed.” He flapped his hands. “You might still get yourself killed. Not to mention me. Did you ever think about that?” He ignored the fact that she hadn’t invited him down. “Everybody’s got to be worried sick about us by now. Sara’s bound to have told her parents, and Trevor and the others are searching, and your mom—” Oh. Her mom was what had started all this mess in the first place.

  “Have you completed your rant, boy?”

  The blood nearly clotted in his veins at the sound of that horrible voice. Regin. Light burst before Levi, and he clapped his palms over his eyes at the sudden stabbing pain it brought. After a couple seconds, he lowered his hands.

  Regin held a white-faced, blinking Morgan by the wrist. She looked so miserable Levi couldn’t hold on to his rage.

  He blew out a ragged breath. “Now what, Regin?”

  The albino dwarf grinned at him. “You know the answer to that already, I think.”

  “You’re gonna take us back to the stairs and let us go home?” Sarcasm spiked Levi’s words.

  Something like melancholy flickered in Regin’s eyes, but his grin stayed fixed, like a mannequin’s. “I am sorry to say that I cannot.”

  “Figured as much.”

  “Come.” Regin waved the torch, making the shadows loom and bend in the vast emptiness beyond. “We should go.”

  Levi followed the two, knowing he couldn’t run off and leave Morgan. “How’d you find me?”

  Regin gave his head a derisive shake. “You made enough noise to wake all the dead in Hades. How could I not find you?”

  Levi grimaced. He thought he’d been pretty quiet.

  Besides, did Regin really have to mention the dead?

  They marched so long Levi lost all track of time and place. At first he tried to pay attention to the shapes of caverns and tunnels, the areas where moss gave way to clean rock or dirt, the stretches where the walls were rust-colored or dripped moisture from some underground spring. Several times he heard rushing water not far off and wondered if he was hearing the river that had carried him out last time.

  He fingered the hammer strapped to his waist, its handle barely covered by his shirttail. How had Regin missed the weapon? Why hadn’t he searched Levi?

  At least Mr. Austin would be pleased at how much time he was getting in carrying the thing. Not that he’d likely ever know, since Levi probably wouldn’t ever get out of this pit. Though the weight of Mjolnir still made the left half of his back throb with every step, he wouldn’t give it up now for anything. Because if Regin did bring them to Deceptor, the rusty hammer represented their only defense against the demon sorcerer.

  Levi tripped in a small hole and the castle key bounced against his chest. Would he ever get a chance to use the key Sara had pilfered for him? He paused mid-step as another thought struck. Did it even work on the cellar door, assuming he could find his way back there? Why hadn’t he asked Sara that question?

  And if they didn’t get away, would Deceptor take the key from him? Would he know what it was for? Would he use it to enter the castle? A gulp—louder than he’d intended—escaped his stiff lips.

  Regin’s head twisted around. “What is it? Are you weary?”

  Levi shook his head. “I’m okay, but how much farther are we going?” He’d begun to think Regin was leading them in circles. How big could the underbelly of Terracaelum be anyway? Besides, he was worried about Morgan. She’d barely said a word since he found her. Or should he say, since Regin found him? “Maybe we should rest a few minutes. Do you have anything for her to drink?”

  Regin peered at Morgan. “Oh, I had not thought . . . Do you need a respite, young lady?” His mouth twisted slightly on the last words.

  What was that look about? Levi inched nearer, his gaze flitting to Morgan, who still faced straight ahead, as though oblivious to their conversation. “You okay?” He touched her arm. Regin yanked her out of reach. Levi glared at the dwarf. “She’s freezing. Don’t you have a jacket? A blanket? Anything?”

  Regin glanced uncertainly around the cavern, then back at Morgan with a shrug.

  Levi knew he’d have to make a move soon. Morgan was acting so weird she must be going into shock. Should he whack Regin with the hammer? Then try to find the way to the castle steps before he or Deceptor caught them?

  Levi peered into the shadows beyond the flickering torchlight. He had no idea which way the castle steps even were.

  But the almost inaudible whir and hiss of rushing water somewhere to his right told him the river might be that way. Should he head for it? Try jumping in with Morgan? Could he make himself jump into that water? If he did, what if he couldn’t get her out before they went over the waterfall into the lake? Could she survive the plunge? What if the lake monster showed up?

  What if it didn’t? />
  A violent shudder coursed through Morgan. With an oddly frightened expression on his face, Regin watched her for several moments, his thumb and forefinger a loose ring around her small wrist. This was Levi’s chance, probably the only one he’d get. If he didn’t do something now, they’d be led to Deceptor like lambs to the slaughter. And Morgan definitely couldn’t survive Deceptor. Neither could Levi.

  In one jerky motion, he slipped Mjolnir from his belt and leapt at Regin. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to strike the dwarf from behind. Instead, he bellowed, “Let her go,” and hovered with the hammer millimeters from Regin’s skull.

  The Dvergar slowly rotated his head until he saw the hammer, now millimeters from his bulging pink eyeballs. He didn’t release Morgan, who hadn’t so much as twitched at Levi’s bellow. “Mjolnir,” Regin whispered, his colorless face somehow losing more color.

  Levi frowned. What was the deal with these dwarves and this ancient garden tool? “Okay, so you do know this isn’t really Mjolnir, don’t you? There’s no such thing as a magic hammer. It’s a myth.”

  Extreme annoyance crinkled Regin’s mouth. “You know all there is to know about Terracaelum, do you? You, a foolish boy without enough sense to avoid this place a second time, can discern truth from myth?”

  Elves, dragons, pixies, Dvergar . . . not to mention invisible floating islands—all were things he’d believed to be mere mythologies before coming to camp. But he’d been wrong. “What are you saying? Thor’s real?” The hammer wavered in his grip, almost conking Regin’s forehead.

  Regin flinched but responded in a cranky tone, “Do not be foolish. Stories of your silly thunder god are mere exaggerations of the true history of my ancestor, Thorn the First. He forged Mjolnir. He used it in mighty battle. In latter days, he adjusted its use to secure peace for his people.” The corners of his lips turned down in sudden sorrow. “Now, its purpose . . .” As he trailed off, he turned a look of terror on Morgan and then on to the dark cavern looming ahead.