Illusion

by C. L. Roman

  "Don't speak of Jotun that way," she said.

  He shrugged. "Call him what you will. Destroying the entire Earth is a madness I cannot tolerate."

  "Then return me to my true form and let me help you," she said.

  He shook his head. "Changing you back now will do no good. It is too late, and I have no choice."

  "We all have a choice."

  Loki slid the slotted lid over the bottom edge of the case and his face twisted into a look of such torment that she caught her breath. "If that is so, then all of mine are bad. I am sorry Gwyneth." He pushed the lid into place and she felt the balance of her prison shift until she was riding upright, tightly held but not uncomfortable, through the dark.

  She could feel the shift and sway of Loki's gait and began to count steps. Her cage swung to the left and she realized he was turning right. Abrupt, intermittent feelings of weightlessness told her they were going down a flight of stairs then she felt the box vibrate around her as it scraped against something hard. Gwyneth scratched marks into the soft wood of the lid to mark her passage. If she could get free and resume her natural form, it might be the only map she had to get out again.

  "All I can say is you better stop before I run out of space I can reach," she grumbled under her breath.

  Several turns and a set of stair later, they stopped and Gwyneth heard the base and tenor rhythms of two men in conversation. Then they were moving again and she resumed her map-making. Some time later the wood in front of her was full of tiny marks and symbols and she was forced to begin relying on memory for the rest of the journey. Two lefts, twenty steps, stairs down, right, ten steps, left, twelve steps, right, down stairs, forty steps, down stairs, right... A fine mist formed on her face and shoulders.

  Finally, he stopped. There was a murmur of indecipherable voices and then she felt her box being lifted. Her prison opened at the top, just enough so that she could see out and he could see her face. "There is someone I would like you to meet."

  "I do not think so."

  He sighed. "It is just as well that you have no choice then." A metallic jangle sounded in the chill air, followed by creaking and shards of light fragmenting against stone walls. He turned her cage away from him and she saw an open door, beyond which lay a lamp-lit room. Two little boys looked up at them expectantly.

  "Fader!" The boys leapt from the bench, knocking over the table they had been sitting at. The remains of what looked like dinner tumbled to the floor as the children launched themselves into Loki's arms.

  "Gwyneth, please meet Váli and Nari, my sons."

  CHAPTER TEN

  Surt leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head, stretching his legs out to rest on the coffee table. "Best possible situation, is what we have here."

  Standing at the window, Jotun said nothing, but a scowl darkened his face as he stared out onto the moonlit landscape below.

  "Oh come on, you have to admit this has turned out well for us." Surt rolled his eyes. "Attacking the woman maybe wasn't the best way to get there, but now she's disappeared and her little pet is out of the picture. Conroy thinks she and Loki are his only enemies."

  "The problem is that he knows he has an enemy at all," Jotun said, his voice a soft menace in the dim light. "We had him thinking his security issues were fixed, that the measures they took in moving the summit had worked. Now he knows they didn't and he will be on his guard."

  "When nothing else happens, he will relax. You are a worrier, Jotun."

  "You are a blood-thirsty idiot." Jotun faced him, arms loose, weight forward just enough. "And I am through paying for your mistakes."

  Jumping to his feet, Surt doubled-up his fists. Anger vibrated from him in waves. "You wouldn't even be here if it weren't for my help. When I found you, you didn't even know who you were."

  "I have had a belly full of your so-called help. Go back to Muspelheim and drink ale until it runs out your ears. Listen for the screams of the dying and join the fight then, if you wish. But for now, get out of my sight before I destroy you."

  "This is my mission too. You will not deny me the glory of bringing Ragnarӧk to pass."

  "You denied yourself by indulging your every whim."

  "I have given up everything that gives me pleasure for the sake of this mission." Surt howled. "I saw a problem and I dealt with it."

  The skin along Jotun's arms took on a faint, golden light. "You are chaos made flesh, without discipline or self-control, and I am done with you.”

  Surt's fists unclenched and he licked his lips. "Jotun, you need my help. This is not a thing you can do alone."

  "Perhaps, perhaps not. I am willing to leave the outcome in greater hands than our own."

  "What do you mean?" Surt's scars stood out in dark relief against suddenly pale skin.

  "It occurs to me that Delaney was right. I have no proof that the time of Ragnarӧk has come. I have only your word that this is my mission, and you have proven yourself — unreliable — to say the least."

  "I am no liar!"

  "You are. And a murderer and above all, a demon. I should never have trusted you."

  "I am a fire giant!" The demon insisted, desperation rising from his skin like mist. "Who will you trust then?" Surt asked. "Freya? Will she tell you the truth, do you think?"

  Shaking his head, Jotun turned back to the window. "I have seen all I need of Freya. She will pursue her course and I will pursue mine. Sabaoth will decide the outcome."

  A scream of rage ripped through the apartment as Surt jerked Brunjharta free of its scabbard and launched himself at Jotun's unprotected back.

  The angel sidestepped, pivoting. "Hamar," he called, and the weapon appeared in his hand, already on the down stroke. Surt countered, deflecting the blow sword to sword. Celestial steel wailed and sparks flew as the blades slid against each other. The demon slammed Hamar aside and stabbed at Jotun's belly. A thin, burning line stroked the top of his hip as Jotun blocked the blow a heartbeat too late. He brought his sword up, around and slashed down in a single, fluid cut. Surt screamed, blood pouring from the gaping wound that ran from his shoulder to his fingertips. The sword fell from nerveless fingers and the demon whimpered in pain.

  Surt sank to his knees. The wound sluggishly began to heal over.

  Jotun laid Hamar's tip against the base of Surt's throat. "You have complained often enough of my penchant for mercy. Shall I do as you would, then? And show you none?"

  "Jotun, you will not kill me." A rusty laugh wheezed from Surt's lips. "I am your friend."

  "You are a mad wolf set among the lambs." He stepped back and wiped Hamar's blade on the curtains. "Be gone or pay with your miserable existence." When he turned back, Surt was gone but the stench of brimstone and blood hung in the air.

  "Your sons?"

  "Boys," Loki said to the children, "is that any way to greet a guest? Fix the table please." Chagrined, but clearly overjoyed to see him, they did as he said and then rushed back to him. He set her down on the table and hugged them close, ruffling their hair and giving them a tickle as he spoke.

  "Twins. Lucky stole them from me almost a year ago. He said that he had a job for me and that when it was completed, he would give them back."

  "And catching me was the job?" Gwyneth asked.

  His bitter laughter sent a chill over her silver skin. "Oh, there have been several jobs. Each time he finds some excuse to be dissatisfied. He claims it adds to my debt."

  "What debt?"

  Rubbing his hands over his forehead, he scowled and the twins backed up a step. "He says I owe him, as if his defeat was my fault. It wasn't but when you are the oldest existing angel you have enough leverage to do pretty much whatever you want. So, he claims the right to keep the boys until I 'complete a job correctly' as he puts it. Something I feel certain will never happen."

  Gwyneth's felt a sinking inside, as if she were standing on a high cliff and the ground had suddenly dropped away. "He never planned to release them."

  Loki's
eyes were black with pain. "Of course not. But this time, he will have to."

  "What will you do, Loki?"

  He took a deep breath and straightened. The boys crowded close again as he stared down at her. "You know, I've always found that, if the game isn't going your way, it helps to change the rules. And that is what I'm doing."

  "By using me to even the odds."

  "Yes. You will stay here while I speak with him, arrange the trade. Then, when my boys are free and safe, I return you to your normal appearance and give you to him." His eyes took on a peculiar intensity and he leaned toward her. "With everything that comes with you."

  "What are you..." Gwyneth heard a noise in the hall outside the cell. Loki grabbed her box and darkness invaded as he closed it. Muffled voices reached her and then the lid was sliding open again as she was placed back on the table.

  "My apologies, my dear. I thought it might be Heimdall and we do not want him to know you are here." Váli and Nari were clinging to him, one on either leg, but Loki seemed not to notice.

  "You've been at it again, I see." The low, musical voice came from somewhere behind him, but Gwyneth could not see the speaker until Loki moved aside.

  "I told you I had a plan, Eir." He sat down on the bench and Nari clambered into his lap.

  "You always do." The woman was tall, her ample curves revealed by the crossed bands of braided leather that held her tunic in place. Small vials and bits of animal skin hung from the leather, some tinkling faintly every time she moved. She pushed her face close to Gwyneth's smaller one and peered at her. "At least you've improved your technique. That poor seagull that you changed is still trying to clean feathers that are no longer there."

  "Are you sure there were enough onions in your last meal?" Gwyneth waved her hand in front of her nose. "Back away before you suffocate me."

  Eir jerked back, turning wide eyes on Loki. "You've improved more than I thought! How did you manage to allow her to keep movement and speech?"

  Setting his son to the side, Loki put both palms flat on the table and stared at Eir. "I've been practicing. Look, I need you to stay here. Keep Heimdall out until I get back."

  She sat down and pulled Váli onto the bench next to her. Taking out a tiny, cone shaped magnifying glass, she looked into his ears. "And where is Heimdall, by the way?"

  Loki smiled a slow, mischievous smile. "He somehow got the impression that a courier had come bearing a message from Odin."

  "And he believed you?"

  "Did I say I was the courier? I'm just a humble go between with many faces." He closed his eyes and his face rippled, briefly becoming that of a gnarled goblin before settling back to his normal visage. "He tipped the messenger a gold piece and scurried off to retrieve the missive." Loki flipped a coin in the air, his grin growing harder in the dim light.

  "You are unkind, Loki. You know his dearest wish is to be welcomed back to Asgard. And since you are the one responsible for him being thrown out in the first place —"

  Loki waved his hands airily. "Never mind. I'll make it up to him some day. I promise. For the moment, I need you to stay here and watch over the boys and our guest. I have an appointment with —" he stopped and cast his eyes ceilingward.

  A wary look crept into Eir's expression. "What are you plotting, Loki?"

  His jaw tightened and his eyes traveled from the boys, to Gwyneth and back to Eir. "I am plotting a way to keep my promise to you and Sigyn. I'm going to bring you and the boys home. Today."

  "Loki." She shook her head. "Try to trick him and he'll know.”

  He shrugged. "If things go as planned, he won't discover we're gone until it’s too late."

  "Then he'll chase you."

  "Let him. He can't catch what he can't find."

  "You've found a sanctuary." She eyed him with a glimmer of respect but then frowned. "It doesn't matter. Once he has her, he'll just find another way to chain you."

  "That is why I'm leaving her here, as is. That way, he'll have no choice but to agree to my terms." He nodded toward Gwyneth. "I'm the only one who can change her back without killing her."

  "He could kill you. That would release her."

  "It would," Loki said with a gleam in his eye. "But it would be an uncontrolled transformation. And you know how messy that can be."

  Eir stroked her throat and grimaced. "All right then. You go. I'll stay. But remember your promise Loki. All or none."

  Loki's buoyant smile faded, leaving his features dead white and blank. "I will remember," he said, and walked out of the cell, his cloak fluttering in the dank air as he left.

  "He tells me you are a healer." Gwyneth twisted her head to look at Eir who had gone back to checking Váli over.

  "I am," Eir said. "Of a sort, and less so now than I once was."

  "He says you know how to help people who are hurt by the Shift."

  Eir stopped what she was doing and set Váli on the floor with a pat on the shoulder. "You are well. Go play with your brother, little one, and mind you don't bite him as you did yesterday." She turned Gwyneth's box to face her and stared down into the tiny face. "What do you mean, 'hurt by the Shift'?"

  Gwyneth explained and as she spoke, Eir's face lost its look of weariness and pain. Something akin to excitement flushed her cheeks and brightened her eyes. When Gwyneth finished, Eir was silent for a moment.

  "This is very interesting. Safeguards were put in place to prevent things like this after Ouroboros damaged himself so badly."

  "Loki told me about him. Can anything be done?"

  "Not for Ouroboros. But for Jotun? Oh yes, though far more difficult to do than to prescribe. He'll have to go back through the Shift."

  Gwyneth's mouth hung open. "That's it?" she asked. "Just go in, go out, done?"

  "No, he'll need a portal."

  "That makes no sense."

  "It does if you understand the nature of the Shift. Think of a colossal mansion, with many floors, many doors and windows. Each floor is a different point in time, each room a different place. To go from room to room on the same floor, you use interior doors."

  "But this is not what Jotun needs?"

  "Like a person trying to travel upstairs and downstairs simultaneously, your husband passed through two lights, in essence attempting to visit two times at once. The soul cannot be divided in such a manner and survive."

  "But he lives. If what you say is true, how is that possible?"

  Eir tilted her head to one side, her gaze sharp on Gwyneth's face. "A good question. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that he was touching you when it happened. You provided a kind of anchor so that his body and spirit, though damaged, were not destroyed."

  Quiet settled between them, punctuated by the shout and tumult of the boy's play. After several minutes Gwyneth asked, "You said he could be healed. How?"

  Settling onto the bench, Eir said, "It isn't enough to simply enter the Shift and come out again in the same time. He'll have to pass through one of the lights." Her gaze sharpened, homing in on Gwyneth's with star like intensity. "And only one, mind. Another instance of multiple downloads would likely kill him." She thought for a moment and shuddered. "Or worse."

  "And why is this going to be difficult?" She waited, but Eir didn't respond, momentarily lost in her own thoughts. "Eir? You said earlier that it would be hard to make him go through. Why?"

  "Hmmm?" The healer startled. "Oh yes. Well, because he'll be terrified of going back into the Shift."

  Gwyneth laughed. "Jotun isn't afraid of anything."

  Eir's eyes darkened for a moment and the lines of her face drooped. "We all fear something, Gwyneth. And if it is as you say for your Jotun, his dread of the Shift will be monstrous."

  "That can't be so." Worry creased Gwyneth's forehead and her voice. "He doesn't even remember what happened."

  "Some kinds of pain leave their fingerprints on your bones, dear girl. This is one of them."

  "Then how will I get him to go through?"

&nbs
p; "I cannot tell you that. It will take something stronger than his terror to get him there, and guide him through."

  Silence settled over them for a few moments. Finally, Gwyneth said, "Thank you Eir. I will find a way. I have to."

  Eir shook her head. "Do not delude yourself child. You will never leave this place if the Master has his way." She looked toward the door and the light faded from her eyes. "And he always does."

  "Unless he wants the Earth destroyed, he will have to let me go."

  Eir snapped her head around to stare at Gwyneth. "What are you saying?"

  "We think Jotun's delusion is that he is to bring on Ragnarӧk. Loki says that is the Norse legend for—"

  "— The end of the world," Eir sagged back on the bench, her face suddenly gray but for a hot spot of bright pink in each cheek. She lurched to her feet and shooed the boys into a corner of the cell, handing Gwyneth to them in her box with the instruction to "be careful of her now, and turn your faces away."

  The boys obeyed her, turning so that their backs were to the room, with Gwyneth between them and the wall. A resounding crash vibrated through air suddenly thick with wood splinters.

  "You can turn around now boys. Sit down over there and be very quiet. Put Gwyneth where I can see her, there you are. Now Gwyneth, try not to move around and please, whatever you do, don't talk."

  "All right, but —"

  "Shhh!" Eir held her finger to her lips with a fierce look and Gwyneth pressed her mouth tight.

  Brows furrowed, cheeks tight, Eir stared at the kindling she had made from the table. She began to hum. The sound grew more intense until the dust on the stones began to dance. Bits and splinters of wood vibrated, twisting and jumping until they clumped together. The hum gained strength and Eir swayed on her feet, her face growing paler with each second.

  A form took shape in the center of the kindling. A five pronged appendage groped about on the surface until it was joined by a longer stick. A sharp click echoed in the chamber as the two pieces joined, followed by another, and another until the snapping sounded like a heart beating time to wild music and a vaguely human sculpture stood trembling in the center of the room.