by J. A. Pitts
I glanced at her, my eyes coming back into focus. She and the rabbit were covered in gore. The door, the walls and the hallway were covered in it.
I stepped out, making sure that there were no other monsters, ready to kill and kill and kill.
When I turned back, Skella was on her knees at Jimmy’s side. She was struggling to flip him onto his back with only one arm and not succeeding.
“Here, let me,” I said, laying Gram on the ground at my feet. “Just keep Katie safe.”
Sixty-one
Dead is dead, Gletts had told me a lifetime ago in the dead lands. Hard to argue with logic like that. But I was sure as hell gonna try.
Jimmy’s helmet caught the brunt of the axe stroke, which surprised me once we got a look at him. It looked like the bones in his face were crushed.
Skella poured the last of her little bottle of white smoke over him while I was working on wrapping his face in bandages. I was surprised that the wounds didn’t close once the smoky liquid had washed over him.
“Thought that was a healing potion.”
She looked at me with disdain. “This isn’t a game, Sarah.”
Jimmy’s plate had turned the axe aside, but it had bitten deep into the chest muscle peeling it back in a thick slab. It bled like hell, but we packed it as tight as we could and wrapped his face in bandages.
“So, what does that stuff do, then? If it doesn’t heal. What did it do for me?”
She smiled a bit that spoke of pain. “Keep your spirit tied to your body,” she said. “So you don’t get lost and wander here forever, or until something eats you.”
“A last resort when one of us was close to dying?” I asked, both shocked and impressed.
She only nodded.
We constructed a travois from the assorted weaponry and clothing of the fallen. The bear didn’t argue one bit when we lashed it to her. We managed to get both Jimmy and Bub onto the structure and made good time going back. Twice we had to fight off shades, but they were no real trouble. Good thing, too. Most of them were driven back by Skella’s torch. When I asked her why she didn’t do that clapping thing with the flash of light, she assured me it was a sometimes treat.
By the time we found our way back to Katie’s classroom, Skella and I were wiped out, emotionally and physically.
She opened the mirror, giving us access to the real world. Skella scrambled through to keep the mirror open. The bunny vanished as she crossed into the real world, like a bit of smoke in too much wind.
“Katie?” Skella said, looking back at me it the mirror.
“It’s fine, I said, looking back at the bear. I think she’s found her way home. Call Melanie, get her in here.”
Skella nodded and ran to the supply cabinets where we’d stashed our gear. Soon she was standing in front of the mirror, talking on her cell phone.
The bear nudged me with her large nose, pushing me toward the exit.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Time to get this mess home.”
The bear stepped forward through the mirror, though it was too small for her bulk. The travois hung half-way, in both worlds, when she fell to the ground, a battered and bloodied stuffed animal once again.
Melanie and Dena were able to pull the travois through the rest of the way and begin working on Jimmy.
Bub hadn’t moved, hadn’t breathed.
“Did you use that spirit smoke on Bub?” I asked Skella.
“No,” she said, tears running down her face. “He isn’t like you and me. It wouldn’t have any effect.”
I sat down beside the small form, stroking the side of his scaly face. There was a second ambulance on the way. Not sure how we were going to explain all this, but I didn’t care.
We sat there in shock as Melanie and Dena worked on Jimmy. It was surreal. All the things we’d done, the battles, the library, the monsters. Yet here we sat in a colorful classroom where the children’s desks had been pushed aside and the floor was sticky with blood.
At first I thought it was just exhaustion. The sound started to fade to a low buzz then ended altogether. I glanced up, nearly numb but surprised at the creeping quiet. The world was pushed aside as a greater power imposed itself on the scene.
Then I heard them. Horses. My mind froze for a moment, realization striking me. The door to the classroom opened at the same time Melanie sat back, wiping hair out of her face with the back of her bloodied hands.
“Sarah?” Gunnr said from the doorway
“Gunnr?”
There she was, shield maiden, Valkyrie. Spear maiden for Odin and chooser of the fallen.
The rest of the world grew still, frozen. Melanie, Dena, and Skella stopped moving, caught between one breath and the next.
Skuld and Róta came into the room next, their winged helms under their arms. “Rest assured,” Skuld said, nodding at me. “We are not here for you.”
I looked down at Bub. Him, surely.
“Not him, either,” Gunnr said, squatting next to me and touching Bub on his forehead. At her touch he melted, a rapid transformation from kobold to vapor.
“He will return in time,” she said, looking into my eyes and touching the side of my face. “We are here for the other one.”
The breath caught in my throat. “No,” I whispered.
“I know this pains you, dear one,” her eyes bored into mine, the depths a swirl of galaxies. “He fought to save those he loved and has died valiantly,” she said, smiling. “Let us take him home.”
“No,” I said, pushing her hand away. “He’s not dead. You can’t take him.”
Skuld shook her head, and Róta stepped past her, stepping toward Jimmy. “We have no time for this,” she said, her voice firm but without anger.
“Leave us a moment,” Gunnr said, glancing at her sisters.
Skuld jerked her head toward the door, and Róta backed away, shaking her head.
“It is always this way,” she mumbled as they left. “He should be honored for his glory. Why must they weep and wail?”
The door shut off any reply that Skuld may have made.
“Please,” I said, trembling at Gunnr’s touch. “He’s a good man. He deserves to live.”
“He has lived,” she said, smiling at me. “And he has led his people with honor. But he has fallen, sweet Sarah. To hold him here would be a horror beyond reckoning. Let him ride with us. I promise you it is for the best.”
“What do I tell Katie?” I asked, the numbness spreading through my limbs.
“You have brought her home, have you not?” she asked, motioning toward the door. “She has rejoined spirit to body. Her brother died saving her, died saving her true love.” She paused at this, letting out a deep sigh. “As much as I crave you,” she said, touching my lips with her fingers. “I cannot deny the love you share. She will wake in due time. And you will be there to help her through the pain.”
I couldn’t help it. Tears ran down my cheeks, tickling the flesh and making my eyes sting.
Gunnr leaned forward and kissed me on the left cheek, kissing away the tear.
“Rejoice,” she said, sitting back. “He will be a true leader among the Einherjar. His glories will multiply until the time the old man returns to us and we have the final battle.”
I bowed my head as the tears fell in earnest.
After a moment, Gunnr leaned forward and kissed me on the top of my scorched head. “Your locks were comely,” she said. “Even when shorn in the odd fashion you favored.”
I choked out a laugh. My locks were comely. And Jimmy was dead.
“He is a great man,” I said, wiping my face.
“Of that there is no doubt,” she said smiling. “Let him ride with us, give us leave to take him from this place.”
Why was she asking my permission? What if I refused, that then?
“My fierce warrior,” she said, standing and pulling me up by my hands. “He will remain dead, no matter your decision. You only choose the manner of his eternity.”
&
nbsp; What was I going to tell Deidre? What about Gunther or Stuart?
“Take him,” I said, pulling my hands out of hers. “He deserves a glorious afterlife. But don’t think I’m doing this with a glad heart.”
She stepped around me, knelt at Jimmy’s side and touched his shattered face. “So very handsome, he was. He will be even more so in the next world when his valor will show through.”
She rose, and Jimmy rose with her. Rather his spirit did.
“What is this?” Gunnr asked me, brushing thick strands of white from Jimmy’s spirit.
“Something of the elves,” I said, pointing to Skella. “To keep his spirit from being lost in the Sideways.”
Gunnr glanced down at Skella and smiled. “She was right to do so,” she concluded, brushing several more strands of white goo from Jimmy’s form. As a spirit he looked as handsome as the day I’d met him, tall and strong, his gaze confident and his will strong.
“Tell him I’m sorry,” I said as Gunnr pulled him free of his body finally.
“When he is ready for the hearing,” she assured me. “But let us go.”
She walked to the door, Jimmy trailing behind her, staring forward as if he were in a trance. I guess he was, being newly dead and all.
“Look for your friend,” she pointed to where Bub had lain. “In a day or so, he will come to you, drawn to the amulet.”
“Thank you,” I said. I really wanted the little guy back, but I couldn’t think through the pain.
“Take your love home,” she said, opening the door and ushering Jimmy out. Skuld and Róta took him by an arm each and walked him to a large horse. I stepped out of the classroom, stunned. “Blue Thunder?” I asked, and looked back at Gunnr who smiled. “Every warrior needs a worthy steed,” she said. “We would not let a beast such as this escape into oblivion.”
I watched them mount and gallop into the sky. Jimmy never looked back, but Gunnr did. The look she gave me was as much lust as loss.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Sarah!” Skella yelled from the classroom.
I looked back at the classroom. “Out here,” I said. But when I looked back to the sky they were gone.
Skella careened against the doorframe in a panic. “Jimmy’s … dead …” she said between sobs. And Bub’s gone. She swiped at her face, pushing the tears away with anger. “Why are you out here?”
“Long story,” I said, putting my arm over her shoulder. “Let’s get all this crap out of here. I’ll need to tell Deidre.”
Dena took the ambulance and headed back to Black Briar. We debated on calling the authorities for Jimmy but then thought better of it. If Qindra could make people disappear, I’m sure she could help us fake Jimmy’s death in a way that wouldn’t raise suspicions.
But I wanted to get his body back to Black Briar. Deidre would want to bury him, or whatever. For all I knew she’d burn him on a pyre. I would.
We loaded Jimmy into the back of the truck, covered him with tarps, loaded the mirror and the travois, making sure to gather up any stray bits of cloth or wood.
I set the teddy bear on the dashboard. She needed to be washed and mended. There were several rips and she was soaked in blood. Katie would want her when she woke up.
We took the time to mop the place up and reset the desks. When we were done, the classroom smelled of bleach. I’d ask Qindra to come here and do a cleansing. The kids didn’t need this form of energy.
Skella rode back to Black Briar with me instead of taking the mirror home. She wanted to be there, wanted to help with Jimmy, with Deidre.
I couldn’t call Deidre. I was too cowardly. But we called Gunther. He’d need to be there. It was only right.
I called Stuart as well. He and Qindra were on their way home from Portland. I didn’t say what the problem was, but I told him to bring Qindra to Black Briar. That alone told him something horrible had happened.
Sixty-two
We pulled into Black Briar, the ambulance first, then me in the pickup. When I crossed onto the property, the fence erupted, shooting flames a hundred feet into the air. Not just near the house, but the whole fence, all the way around the property. As far as we could see from the house, anyway. The flames burned long enough for me to pull around the house and park in front of the deck.
The yard was jammed with vehicles, and more were coming in behind me. Not sure if the flames cut off the driveway. Looked like Gunther had called the whole phone tree.
I was out of the truck and half way to the back porch when Deidre came rolling out of the house.
“Where’s Jim?” she asked, looking from my truck to the ambulance where Dena and Melanie were standing. Skella stayed back leaning against the truck.
I kept walking, eyes dry, looking at Gunther who stood behind Deidre, his hand on her chair. I know I looked like hell, covered in blood and bandages.
“Where’s my husband?” Deidre asked, her voice shriller and higher.
Gunther put his hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it off.
“God damn it, Beahaull,” she broke, a sob breaking her composure.
I dropped to my knees at her side, taking her hands in my own. “I’m sorry,” I said, looking at her, watching the light go out of her eyes.
“No,” she whispered. “Not Jim.” She pulled her hands away from mine.
“We found Katie,” I said, my throat felt like I had swallowed broken glass. “He saved her, Deidre. Saved us all.”
“Where?” she begged, reaching over her shoulder to take Gunther’s hand suddenly. He gently placed it on her shoulder where she grabbed it like she was drowning.
Gunther looked at me and I stood, turning back to the truck. “We brought him home,” I said, feeling the way the crowd that had formed held their breath. “It’s not a show,” I growled, scrubbing my eyes. I walked back to the truck. “Somebody open the barn,” I shouted, climbing into my truck. “And the rest of you clear the fuck out of here.”
I started the truck, pulled it around to the barn, where Trisha was pulling the big doors wide. I drove into the center of the barn and stopped, my head on the steering wheel. This was where we sparred, where no vehicle had ever been. This was Jimmy’s domain. The heart of it all. He’d built this place with his own hands and the hands of his clan after the dragon had burned the last barn. This was the focus of the rebuilding—not just of the buildings, but of our spirits.
Once inside, the big door shut and for a brief instant I was alone in the darkness with Jim in the back, quiet as a church mouse.
After a minute, the side door opened and Deidre rolled into the barn followed by Gunther. No one else. It seemed right for the moment.
Gunther flipped on the overheads and I climbed out of the truck, walked around and opened the lift gate.
“I can’t see anything in this damn chair,” Deidre said, her voice icy.
“Raise it,” Gunther said, walking around her to hop into the back of the truck.
Deidre fumbled with the controls of her chair, and the hydraulics began to whine as she raised the seat. It was the Harley Davidson of wheel chairs. She could damn near stand up in the thing, the way it contorted up all the while keeping her strapped in.
Once she was tall enough to see over the lip of the truck bed, Gunther knelt down and lifted the corner of the tarp. He dropped it quickly, looking back.
“It’s true,” he whispered, his face ashen.
Deidre began to wail. I sat on the lip of the truck, frozen in horror. Gunther knelt there, staring down at his hands and the world grew darker.
Time stopped with that wail. It was the worst sound I’d ever heard, worse than the dragon roar, worse than the necromancer curse, worse than the nightmares that haunted me night after night.
And Deidre wailed, her voice cracking and failing, only to renew again within seconds.
Soon an echo rose outside the barn, the voices of Black Briar rising to let the world know that their leader had truly fallen.
Six
ty-three
Bub showed up on Tuesday. He looked thinner than normal, but he remembered everything that happened up until the point he’d been killed. He never wanted to go back into the Sideways, understandably. We got him fed and bedded down with the troll twins that first day, keeping the harsh news about Jimmy from him.
But we couldn’t keep him in the dark forever. When we told him about Jimmy he cried and cried. The troll twins consoled him as best they could, but it wasn’t until Jai Li stepped in that he finally calmed down.
Deidre was in shock, as you might expect. She promised she didn’t hate me, but she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. I explained to her about the Valkyrie, but she didn’t seem to hear me. Gunther assured me he’d make sure she understood in the end. Stuart and Gunther rallied their squads once things got into motion. They took over the running of Black Briar while Deidre hid herself away in the great house. Qindra stayed briefly that first afternoon, but went back across the water to break the news to Nidhogg. She and Stuart held each other for a long time before she left, a mixture of two worlds. It felt right. She promised to go to the school as well. She’d make it right there, keep that from the students.
There was no dissent from the troops. While Qindra was an outsider, and a servant of the enemy, things were not quite so simple. All that was in transition. Jimmy had been the hardest to bend on that subject of who was an enemy, and his passing had broken the spirit of the most ardent hater. It helped that Gunther supported her being there, and Stuart was quick to defend her to anyone who made any noise.
Deidre voiced no opinion, glanced once at Qindra and Stuart holding hands, nodded her approval and looked way.
We had no idea what it meant that the fences burned. Gunther sent crews out to check on the entire length of it and start the rebuilding. I guess bringing Jimmy’s lifeless body home had broken the magic that protected the farm.
We’d have to do something about that.
In the meantime, Katie didn’t come out of her coma, not that day or the following days. Doubt began to creep through the farm. The thought that Jimmy had fallen for nothing was passed around the barracks from time to time, but Trisha and her crew squashed it whenever they heard it. It just took time. Her body was a mess, they reminded everyone. She’d recover any day now.