16
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“S kuld?” Baldur said with genuine surprise in his voice. “I didn’t expect to see you here. This realm is not visited by many.”
“Baldur,” she cooed. “You’re looking fit and fashionable as ever.” She made a show of looking him over, and my jaw clenched. “It’s been a long time, has it not? Of course you would not expect me. You’ve been gone from Asgard far too long and do not know what has transpired.” She turned her cool gaze on me. She looked the same as last time, like a bad copy of a Disney princess, complete with long, golden locks cascading around her ridiculously petite shoulders. Her features were calculatedly exact. She had bright blue eyes that held a twinkle, perfectly bowed pink lips, and high, candy apple cheekbones.
But it was all a façade.
What lay beneath her glamour was truly hideous—death and decay, peeling skin, and not much else.
Despite her words, I was genuinely shocked to see her here. I shouldn’t have been, but my hope for a quick retrieval of my mother before the Norns knew I’d left the stronghold had occupied my brain, likely so I didn’t let my worry take over the mission.
But she was right. She did predict the future. This shouldn’t be a surprise.
And once I’d left the Valkyrie stronghold, she would’ve been monitoring my every move, seeing ahead of time what I would do, waiting to pounce like an evil future-reading cat with her claws out.
“Yes, indeed,” she answered, like she’d been reading my mind. “So there is absolutely no need to look so stymied. You should really learn to cloak your features as well as you do your body from the elves. Your face is an open book. It relays everything I need to know.” It was clear she could see through the cloaking fabric, so I reached up and pulled the hood down. She paced forward, her sky-blue dress swaying. “You might be relieved to hear that I’m not here to whisk you away to a torture chamber. I know! You can imagine my surprise as well.” She laughed. It sounded like bells chiming. Ugly, tinny, awful bells. “Oh, no. I can’t possibly take you away from here. What they have in store for you is far more fun! And because of this, my sisters and I have decided to let the elves keep you. Verdi was a hard nut to crack at first, you see, because she wanted you to herself. But eventually she gave in. Of course, I had to explain your fate in graphic detail before she approved.” Verdandi was Skuld’s sister, who saw the present, and was no friend of mine. “Knowing that you will never leave this place gives me such delicious feels.” She licked her pink lips. “And to think you were so close to reuniting with your precious mummy.” She mocked a sad face, like how a child would look if their ice cream cone landed wet side down on the pavement. “So very close, yet so, so far. But you see, it wasn’t meant to be.” She spread her hands, palms up. “This was the perfect time for me to arrive. It’s just too bad my sisters couldn’t accompany me here to witness your undoing.” She shook her head. “But Invaldi is unpredictable, so it couldn’t be helped.” She glanced over her shoulder, then back at me, her expression conniving.
“You’re admitting Invaldi is unpredictable?” I said. “But I thought you could see all?” I followed the direction of her gaze and noticed what had to be two milfs standing sentinel beside a cell door.
Immediately, two fists pounded on the inside of a door, and a voice, one I’d never heard before, but was low and melodic, yelled, “You will pay for this, Skuld! We will hunt you down! You are not all-knowing, even though you pretend to be. You will not win this fight!”
It was my mother. She was ten feet away.
She sounded a little like me. My heart sped up, and my hands felt tingly. This wasn’t exactly the way I’d imagined I’d meet her, but I wasn’t going to complain. She was here!
“Ah, ah, ah!” Skuld lifted her index finger in the air, stopping my forward progression. “Don’t move.” Her eyes narrowed. When she was sure I’d stay put, she tossed behind her, “Shieldmaiden, you’ve already done enough damage by siring this…this bastard ”—she directed her gaze back at me and scowled—“and keeping her from us, hidden like the dirty secret she is. You will not be allowed to do any more harm. Your fate is equally as dismal, as you get to go live with the skogs. They love Valkyrie meat, or so I’ve heard.” She tried to affect casual by twirling a finger through her long hair, but I sensed her unease. She wasn’t as in control as she’d like us to believe. I held on to that. “Honestly”—her voice was light and airy—“I never met a skog I didn’t like. They will tear your mother’s flesh apart, wait for it to grow back, and do it all over again.”
I took a bold step forward, tossing my cloak away from my shoulders and unsheathing my weapons. “You don’t scare me anymore.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. “Hear that?” She cupped a hand over her ear. “That’s the sound of your fate marching toward us. I wish I could stay for the party, but I must go. Invaldi is already furious that I came to his dismal realm unannounced. He made me meet with him and everything. I told him I was leaving, but decided to take a tiny detour.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It couldn’t be helped. But now my work here is done.”
I raised my swords and prepared to battle the future-seer no matter what the cost. But before I could make my move, a hand landed on my forearm, Baldur leaning in. “I’m not sure this is wise,” he said uneasily. “The Norns are protected by the laws of Asgard. You would pay a large penalty, most likely death, if you struck her down.”
Skuld giggled. “Listen to your dear brother. He knows the rules, unlike you.” She nodded at the god of light. “There is really no need to worry. She will not strike. I’ve already seen it clearly.”
Baldur squared his shoulders. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I do know your intentions are harmful,” he said to Skuld, then turned to me. “The elves are converging now. We must vacate this area.”
“It’s too late,” Skuld hissed. “They will be upon you in mere moments.”
“I’m not leaving without my mother.” I stood stoically, my arms still raised. “You admitted the first time I saw you,” I said to the faux princess, “you couldn’t see my future when I left your lair. I’m living proof you don’t see all. And I will not leave here without the Valkyrie I came for.”
Skuld’s eyes darkened, but I could tell what I said had struck a chord. She couldn’t foresee everything. “I see the totality of your ruin—”
“She’s lying!” a voice called. My mother was frantic. “The Norns don’t get everything right. Run, Phoebe! Get out of here! Leave while you are able.”
My mother knew my name.
I was almost too overwhelmed to move. “I came here to free you!” I called, my voice thick. “I’m not leaving empty-handed.”
“Don’t worry about me!” she insisted. “I will escape at some point. I want you to stay safe. Go!”
Spoken like a true mother.
Emotion threatened to disarm me, but I held fast. I took another step toward Leela’s cell, swiping my blades in Skuld’s direction. The witch just cackled, seeming absolute in the knowledge that I wouldn’t have a chance to engage her.
High-pitched voices shot into the hallway from both ends, sounding like a chorus of angry schoolchildren. The elves had arrived.
Baldur was right. There were too many to count.
Adding to the chaos, a loud, hearty bellow shook the area.
It took a moment before it sank in. Junnal was here!
“It matters not that your pet has arrived,” Skuld said testily. “He is no match for the army of elves that have surrounded you.”
I swung my swords menacingly. “I don’t care if they come,” I told her. “If you’re dead, I have nothing left to fear.”
She cackled. “That’s not going to happen—”
Baldur shot past me and charged Skuld, knocking her into the wall while yelling, “Free your mother!” It was a split-second decision on his part and obviously one the Norn hadn’t seen co
ming. That was even more proof that Skuld didn’t see all.
I took the advantage and ran toward my mother’s cell. The elves had amassed twenty feet away, crowding the hallway.
“Get the Valkyrie!” a few elves shouted.
“She must not free our prize!”
“The skogs will have her!”
I reached the door, my swords out. The milfs, who appeared more human than elf, glanced at me uneasily. “Stand down or die.” My voice did not waver. “Those are your only two options.”
They glanced at each other and smartly scampered away.
“Phoebe, you must leave this place! Don’t worry about me,” my mother called through the closed grate.
“I came here to free you,” I cried. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“There are too many of them, and they are more dangerous than you imagine.” Her voice was insistent. “Their magic can kill a Valkyrie. I do not have my weapon, so I cannot aid you in battle.”
Junnal lumbered down the hallway, helping Baldur with the elves that had filled the hallway behind us. I had no idea if Skuld was down for good, and didn’t care. I just needed five more minutes.
“The elves don’t have a giant-troll hybrid or a god helping them. I’ll take my chances.” I placed my back against the cell door and waved my swords at the elves in front of me. They seemed hesitant to strike, like they were waiting for something, even though most of them held guns. I reached behind me and grabbed on to the handle of her cell and yanked on it in vain. “Do you know the lock code?” I asked my mother.
“No, they keep changing it.” She spoke through the small grate, which was closed.
A sudden chattering and commotion erupted among the elves. My head swiveled in their direction as a loud voice boomed, “What do you think you’re doing?” It sounded like a cross between an elf and a human—if the human was a twelve-year-old girl. “Step away from that cell, or I will strike you where you stand.” The elves parted down the middle, and what could only be best described as a large man-elf paced to the front of the ranks.
He was too big to be an elf, but too short to be a human. He wasn’t exactly a milf either. He was taller—and much, much uglier. His nose was squashed, his ears were overly pointy, and nothing more than a scant pouf of white hair covered a skull that was blanketed in warts.
He was hideous.
I wasn’t surprised.
“I am Invaldi, and you have trespassed into my realm,” he yelled in a voice that cracked like a teenage boy in puberty. “Those who do so suffer the consequences.”
A vicious snicker sounded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Skuld standing between me and Baldur, Junnal just behind the god. “Ta-ta, Valkyrie!” She waved. “Have fun in your new home. I must leave now, or my sisters will worry, and it wouldn’t be wise to rile them up any more than need be, as that would mean even more death and destruction.”
“Why are you still here, Norn?” Invaldi accused, sniffing. He stood to my right, Skuld to my left. “This was not our agreement. Not even your kind is immune to punishment when you break our laws.” His small fists clenched and unclenched.
It seemed hilarious to me that this little runt of a man, with the weirdly pointy ears and a warty head, could be so authoritative and have everyone quaking in their boots. It didn’t look like it would take much to defeat him. But I obviously had no idea. Everyone seemed to respect his abilities, and the elves had to be somewhat skilled to keep Valkyries and gods and whages contained for this long.
I must be missing something key.
“Oh, I was leaving,” Skuld said. “Just took a little detour. My apologies. But I brought you plenty of compensation for your troubles.” She paced forward, her dress billowing. “I left it for you in the gallery. You will not be disappointed. The wealth is vast, to make up for my untimely intrusion. Had it not been an emergency, I would have stayed home. But this Valkyrie must be dealt with. As you can see, she’s a threat to us all.”
Invaldi looked mildly appeased as he directed his gaze to me, his face hardening. “She will be locked away. I will see to it.”
“He is more fearsome than he looks,” my mother whispered as Invaldi and Skuld exchanged a few more words about locking me up. “Do not underestimate him. He wields powerful magic.”
I answered under my breath, “I won’t. I’ve learned in my short time in these worlds that the creatures are vile, and they all have the capacity to hurt.”
“Indeed,” she answered. “I will help you if I can.”
My heart sank.
It was supposed to be the other way around.
Huggie trusted me, and I’d failed! Why in the world had the raven sent me here when I was so clearly unprepared? “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you out,” I told her, emotion thick in my throat. “I won’t stop trying.”
“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “When they take you, wait until you’re well away from Invaldi, then use your energy. It’s the only thing that will give you an advantage, especially if you have allies here. Then find your way outside and back to the tree as fast as you can.”
It sounded like a good plan, except there was a problem. “Um…” I hated to admit that I was even more incapable. “I don’t know how to harness my energy yet.”
“What?” she gasped. “Then why did they send you here? Without it, you have no advantage!”
She hadn’t seen my weapon yet, the swords I held out in front of me. “That’s kind of a funny story—”
“No!” Skuld screeched, suddenly charging forward. “Get away from that door!” Her face was red, her hands fisted at her sides, her very carefully placed glamour blinking away for a split second.
I was confused.
Why such an outburst right now?
“Seize her!” Invaldi commanded at the same time, jumping on the Get Phoebe bandwagon, directing a hand with long, grotesquely curved fingernails my way. The elves were going to close in on me.
The only thing that could help me now was Gundren.
I raised my blades high into the air, daring any elves to come closer.
“Phoebe,” my mother urged, “you must find your energy and use it. It lies deep within your body. When you bring it to the forefront, it’s a Valkyrie’s greatest asset. I know you can do it. I can feel your strength from here.”
“Shut up!” Skuld raged. Turning to Invaldi, she yelled, “What are you waiting for? Take her already!”
I was puzzled for one more second until a light went off in my head, almost like the elusive lightning bolt I couldn’t conjure up on command.
By giving me information, my mother was changing the outcome of the future.
I made a quick decision. “Junnal,” I yelled, “take them out!” I dropped to my knees in front of my mother’s door, grabbing on to the grate with both hands and yanking it open as Junnal stormed by to take the front as Baldur took up the rear.
Invaldi raged, “You cannot best us, troll! We are large in numbers. It matters not that you are resistant to our magic.”
Junnal bashed his club against the wall, and debris tumbled all over, creating a nice distraction as the elves scrambled.
I gathered enough strength to look at my mother. This was not how I’d imagined meeting her. Beautiful green eyes stared back at me. “Tell me more,” I urged. “How do I harness my power?”
“It’s not that difficult,” she hurried, knowing we didn’t have a lot of time. “The energy lies in your very cells, and you are always in command of it. Close your eyes and focus on it, and it will heed your wish. Have you ever unleashed it before?”
I bit my lip. “Yes, but only three times. It emerges at intense moments or when I feel severely threatened. It happened twice when I was kidnapped and tortured by the fire demons on Muspelheim, and”—and once when I was intimate with Fen—“one other time.” No need to go into details when I was meeting my mother for the very first time through a cell grate. Nor was I about to share that my boyfriend was a wol
f who was slated to kill my father, her lover, in the great war of Ragnarok.
Junnal gave a hollow shout that sounded like rage mixed with pain.
The elves swarmed him, and crimson smoke from their weapons filtered through the hallway. Baldur rushed up to me, grinning. “They are using their dark magic, but the giant is immune to it. Even though he is managing to divert them, we will not escape. Their numbers are too strong. A capture is inevitable. But that doesn’t mean we won’t break out again.” He winked.
“Baldur!” my mother exclaimed, spotting the god for the first time. “Frigg will be most upset to see you free.”
Baldur bent down to the opening. “Leela, it’s nice to see you again. Our paths have not crossed enough in this wretched place. You are looking well. My sister here has most graciously set me free.” He beamed, his dimples flashing. I smiled back in spite of myself. “I am determined to live out my destiny, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It only took the common sense of your child to see it was the right course of action to take. I will no longer be kept chained like a dog. It is time for me to live again.”
I heard my mother’s sharp intake of breath. “Phoebe, Frigg is not to be trifled with. If Baldur is hurt—”
A loud sound, like a mini explosion, whizzed near my ear, and a second later flames erupted on my back.
Holy crap, I was on fire!
“They have set your cloak aflame with magic,” Baldur said as he ripped the garment off in one motion, stomping it on the ground.
The flames had been dark violet.
Once the cloak was gone, elves surrounded us. Small hands gripped me all over, surprising me with their strength as they dragged me brutally away from the door. But I wanted to hear what Leela had to say about my brother. Her voice had been insistent. “If Baldur’s hurt, what happens?” I called. “Mother!”
Skuld’s laughter was the only thing I heard as the elves rushed me away. “Have fun in your new home. And don’t bother to try and escape. Your fate is set.”
That’s what you think, witch.
Freed: (Phoebe Meadows Book 2) Page 13