Hal and Baldur looked at each other fearfully. At last Baldur said: "It must be some magical device of Wodan's. As soon as we emerge it will slay us—or at least it will follow us and lead more of Wodan's berserkers to us."
The Valkyrie was shaking her head and frowning. "I do not think that this—thing—belongs to Wodan—I have never seen anything like it in Valhalla. Or anywhere else."
Then she brightened and reached into one of her saddlebags, producing a package that looked and smelled unmistakably like a loaf of fresh bread. Moments later she brought forth a flask of mead and some meat.
Baldur and Hal both expressed their profound thanks.
"How long have we been in here now?" Hal asked, sitting down again, mumbling his words past a mouthful of bread and sausage. Food and drink always made a man feel much more human. Now it seemed the world was going to go on for a while yet, and he would still be in it.
She reassured the men as to how much time had passed—outside the sun was setting, on the same day of their flight. And she reported incidentally that, to the best of her knowledge, Andvari and his comrade had not been seen in Valhalla since Hal and Baldur had fled. She assumed the gnomes had started for home, and she knew of no pursuit.
"And what about the battle?" Baldur asked. "Is Thor taking part?"
"I have not seen Thor since I saw him with you. As to the battle, it's hard to say. I have not been near the actual fighting, but I think so far there have been only scattered clashes. Not all the forces have yet been mobilized on either side. Wodan is grim and determined as usual."
"Has he forgotten about us?" Hal asked hopefully.
"For the moment. He has much greater matters on his mind—and as long as he concentrates on them, his mind is keener than it has been for a long time."
"In a way, I am glad," she added slowly. "It will be better for him to fight, even if he must die, than to go on . . . as he has been, these last few years."
"Then do you think he'll lose this battle?"
Alvit catalogued what she knew of the forces arrayed against Wodan and his few allies. Aside from some local human warlords, it was a roll call of giants and monsters, including certain names Hal could remember from Wodan's reading in the great hall.
She said that Wodan had gathered his handful of living troops around him, including whatever Valkryies were in range of his summons, and made them a speech, while an army of wraiths hung in the background and appeared to listen also. He had delivered to his assembled forces a version of his usual sermon, about the Twilight of the Gods, and of monsters of unspeakable horror being called up from the Underworld by his demonic enemies to overthrow his rule.
"But make no mistake, though his mind is confused, it is still powerful." She stared at Baldur's look of disbelief, and added: "You have not seen his powers in use, and I have."
After a little silence, Hal asked: "What will you do now, Alvit?"
The Valkyrie shook her head slowly. "If I can think of any way to save him, his honor and his life, then I will try. If he is at least partly right about this battle, despite all his delusions, and the monsters of the Underworld are really going to overwhelm him, then I wish to die with him." She paused. "I loved him once."
After a little silence, Hal said: "I think you love him still. But whether gods or monsters win this round, I do not think the world will end."
Alvit only gave him a sad smile.
Now Baldur was saying: "Can you be sure this final conflict isn't all in Wodan's imagination? Possibly there is no real attack at all? He doesn't have a lot of real force to mobilize, as I recall."
"Thor, too, spoke of a great battle brewing," Hal reminded him.
Alvit was shaking her head. "The attack is real enough, I have seen evidence of that. And Wodan's power is greater than you think, when all the wraiths are called to duty. You never saw anything like their entire number."
"But what can they do?"
"They are more effective against certain of the Underworld creatures than they are against humans. At least that is what we are all hoping." After a pause, she asked: "What are you two doing now?"
Baldur had an instant answer ready. "We are of course going to reach Brunhild, somehow, or die trying." Then, looking at Hal, he amended. "I am going to die trying. I do not require such sacrifice from my friends."
Hal winced. "Baldur, I hope you find a way to get your girlfriend back. I really do. If I could think of any way . . ."
But Baldur had turned back to the Valkyrie, and was saying: "We had been talking riddles, and were about to go around in rings." When Alvit looked puzzled, Baldur amplified: "The gnomes are supposed to have forged gold rings of great power in the past. The Earthdwellers have powers that are truly legendary."
Hal put in: " 'Legendary' isn't going to do us much good right now. What we need are powers truly practical. And what the gnomes may have . . ." He suddenly fell silent.
"What is it?" Both of his companions asked at once.
But the northman was not listening. He had risen to his feet, and was staring at the mysterious base of the blazing inner circle. Especially he was concentrating on the way its tongues of fire kept rising, like those of its outer counterpart, seemingly from nothing. He scuffed his booted feet on the solid rock where he was standing. Then he stamped both his feet hard, first left then right, one after the other. He let out what sounded like a battle cry, a kind of screech of triumph.
"What—?" Baldur recoiled from him, but Alvit remained standing just where she was, leaning on her Horse, as if she were too tired to be excited by anything short of a physical attack.
Hal gripped his companion by the front of his worn quilted jacket. He said: "Yes, the gnomes. The Earthdwellers do have great powers, and they just might be able to do us some good. But sometimes the simple method is the best."
"What do you mean?"
Hal waved his arms. "How might we attack the problem if this fire were a solid wall, too hard to break?"
"Well, how?"
"If we are going to take the risks of making a foray back to Valhalla, I have a better goal in mind than ransacking the tyrant's rooms for rings that probably would be of no use to us anyway. I want a juicier bait than a few gold rings before I put my head in the mousetrap."
Baldur and Alvit looked at him in bewilderment.
Once more Hal stamped his right foot hard on the hard ground. "We're going to liberate ourselves a pair of gnomes, along with whatever tools they think they need to do a little job."
"What job?"
"I think they'll do it, out of sheer gratitude. I think they'd better, if they know what's good for them."
"What job?"
"What do you think? Andvari and his friend are going to dig a little tunnel for us!"
* * *
16
We must waste no more time," Baldur said after another silence. His voice was alive with renewed hope. "If we are going to find the gnomes, and make them dig a tunnel for us—" He suddenly turned his head and shouted, as if he expected her to hear him: "I'm coming to you, my Brunhild!"
Alvit remounted her Horse, and promptly disappeared through the outer wall of fire. Half a minute later she was back again, reporting that the way seemed clear—there was still no sign of Wodan, or of any entity that she thought might be an agent of the god. She added that the strange phenomenon she had observed earlier still persisted: a faint, sharply curving streak, traced out by something like a spark of flame. Still the spark maintained its course, circling the crag at a distance of about a hundred yards.
The Valkyrie also assured the men that the All-Highest would very likely be distracted now, and for some time to come, by the needs of combat, so he would not be likely to interfere with their endeavor to recruit gnomes, even if their search carried them near Valhalla. "But if you see Thor, or even Loki, remember that my lord needs help desperately. Even when gods have quarreled, they should stand together against the Underworld."
"I'll remember," Hal said.
Impulsively Baldur grasped her by the hand. "We owe you our lives," he said. Hal, standing beside him, solemnly agreed.
"You were never Wodan's enemies," she sadly observed, looking at them in turn. "Nor was Brunhild."
"Then help us save her!" the young man pleaded.
Alvit shook her head. "It may be that you will be able to reach her, with the help of gnomes. I can be of no more help—but I do wish you success. Now I must hurry away."
As soon as Alvit was on her way again, Hal and Baldur hastily conferred, sketching out a plan for the mission they were about to undertake. Then they mounted their Horses and rode out separately through the outermost ring of fire.
It was Hal's idea, at the last moment, for the two of them to take their departure simultaneously but not together, emerging from opposite sides of the outer circle of fire. Then if, in spite of everything, Wodan or one of his creatures was waiting to pounce on them, either Hal or Baldur might have a chance of getting away.
Keeping a sharp eye out as he urged his mount back out through the flames, Hal emerged into the glow of late sunset. He and Baldur were immediately confronted by the strange phenomenon that Alvit had mentioned. Hal could think of no better way to describe it: a small, fiery object of unknown nature, whirling around the crag at about the speed of a thrown stone, while keeping a steady distance from the center of the curve.
The flying spark did not react to the appearance of the two men on their Horses. It made no move to approach or attack, as Hal and Baldur had been at least half expecting, but only maintained its smooth and rapid revolution.
More ominous were certain loud rumblings in the far distance, accompanied by a trembling that must have come through the very bones of the earth, for it made the wall of Loki's flames shiver slightly. There was also a strange glow along the edge of the visible world, in the wrong place to be either sunrise or sunset. Along the far horizon, in the direction of Valhalla, Hal observed strange flashes of light that could hardly have been lightning, flickering as they did where the sky was clear.
Even Baldur was distracted from his great purpose for a moment. "Then it is true," he muttered. "The gods must be already engaged in serious battle. But who are they fighting? Each other, or their common enemies?"
"Either way it ought to keep them out of our hair," said Hal. "Come, I want to get some digging done, so we can reach Brunhild—and also I want a better look into Loki's secret sanctuary."
Sometimes Hal had trouble understanding his own behavior. Here he was, mounted on a steed that few or none could overtake, and with the package of undefended gold in easy reach. Why not simply take his treasure and ride away?
Well, for one thing, Baldur had probably saved his life when he was fighting the berserker, and deserting Baldur now would not be honorable. Honor did mean something to most northmen. Sometimes to this one it meant a lot. Hal thought stealing gold from strangers was about as respectable as most forms of business, but letting down a shipmate who depended on you was another matter altogether.
Besides . . . having entered the outer room of Loki's sanctuary, had a sampling of its wonders, Hal knew he would regret it for the rest of his life if he retreated now, without even trying to probe its inner secrets.
Tugging his Horse's mane, he made the animal rear and turn around. This riding through the air at terrific speed could get to be fun, as addictive as certain drugs, if a man were granted the chance to practice it a little.
To Baldur, whose mount was galloping beside Hal's—it was still amazing, how quiet hoofbeats were when they fell on air!—Hal said: "It will be safer, I think, if we keep to the interior of clouds as much as possible."
Baldur nodded. "As long as we don't get lost. Now, we must decide which end of the trail to start at—near the village, or near Valhalla."
"Starting halfway between should do the job. If the gnomes ran away from Valhalla at the same time we did, they've only been on the trail for one night—maybe a little more. They can't have made many miles just yet."
Finding the proper road at night was not too easy, even with their Horses trotting through the air only a few yards above the ground. The broad curves of the Einar tended to be confusing in the darkness, but the light of the waning moon led them at last to Andvari and Ivaldr's village. From there it was easy to pick out the right road. Soon Baldur and Hal were cantering briskly along the way to Valhalla, covering in mere hours distances that had taken them days on foot. Yet they dared not go too fast, for fear of missing the men they were trying to find.
"If Wodan sent Valkyries after them . . ." Baldur left the thought unfinished.
"All the pursuit he could scrape together probably came after us. But if we don't find our gnomes on the trail, we'll go to Valhalla. I'd bet the place is undermanned, if Wodan's got his army out in the field. But I'm afraid that in this gloom we'll miss our quarry. They'll see us riding the air, and think we're Valkyries, and hide."
Baldur agreed. Moments later, the two men landed near the trail, tethered their Horses, and allowed themselves the luxury of sleep.
At first light they were up again and in the air. No more than half an hour passed before Baldur stretched out an arm and cried: "There they are!"
Two weary, goggled gnomes looked up from where they had just turned off the trail, evidently in search of shelter against the rising sun. For a moment Andvari and Ivaldr were poised to run, but then they harkened to Hal's bellowing and waited for the riders to arrive.
The two Earthdwellers were also hungry, and made short work of the food Hal brought out from his saddlebags. Of conditions in Valhalla they knew no more than Hal and Baldur, having fled at the same time. And they were much relieved to learn that little of the blood that stained Hal's clothing was his own.
When Baldur offered them a ride, they were more than willing to be rescued. "Our hearts hunger to see our village again!"
Hal promised them: "And we will take you there, my friend, in good time. But there is something vitally important you can do for us first."
"Of course, anything—anything within reason. Twice now you have saved our lives." But still Andvari seemed a little wary. "What are we to do?"
"It is only a little job of digging. I will explain while we travel," Hal rasped in his best soothing tone.
Despite all their experience in handling Horses, neither gnome had ever flown before. Both admitted they were terrified of riding through the air, but they now feared Wodan even more. In a matter of moments, each was astride a Horse, clinging on behind a massive Sundweller. On becoming airborne, they both groaned and cried out in amazement and alarm.
Hal thought he was able to appreciate the courage this flight must have required of them. If the Earthdwellers found the act of simply venturing out into the open air from underground something of an adventure, how terrible must it be to risk their bodies at such a distance from Mother Earth?
The gnomes said that if digging was required, it would be necessary to stop first at one of several mining towns inhabited by Earthdwellers, where the essential tools would be available. Hal had to agree; even gnomes could not do much with their fingernails. The equipment the miners wanted to obtain included short-handled hammers, chisels, scoops, and shovels. Filter masks were also on Andvari's list of essentials. These were woven of some fine cloth and served to protect the miners' lungs against dust and dirt. Some minerals were notably more poisonous than others.
"Is the digging in a mine?" Andvari wanted to know.
"Well—no," Hal admitted.
"It's right out in the open, then? And I suppose if the need is so urgent, you'll want us to start in daylight? Maybe even with a lot of snow lying about, reflecting sun?"
Baldur was about to answer, but let himself be hushed by Hal, who framed his answer carefully. "The site is pretty thoroughly illuminated."
Andvari sighed. "Well, we have our goggles, and can wrap ourselves against the sun."
When Ivaldr asked him what kind of rock they wo
uld be expected to tunnel through, Hal had to admit that he didn't know, being no expert in such matters. Baldur was no help either. About all they could do was warn the Earthdwellers that it wasn't sandstone, or anywhere near that soft and crumbly.
The gnomes received this confession of ignorance in silence, leaving Hal with the feeling that they were too well-mannered to comment on their clients' appalling lack of knowledge.
But as long as they were available he thought he might take advantage of their presence to ask them a couple of very casual questions about matters involving gold. Of course it seemed that his stash of horseshoes would provide all the gold he really needed . . . but he was curious.
"This animal's the first I've ever ridden on that wore shoes made of gold," he began, with what he considered ingenious subtlety. The first with shoes of any kind, he might have added.
"And probably the last." Andvari, clinging on behind Hal, did not sound inclined to enter into any lengthy conversation.
On the other hand Ivaldr seemed ready to discourse on the subject—though Hal had trouble hearing him across the gap of air between the Horses. Gold, said Ivaldr, was the Earthdwellers' sunlight, the only brightness that many of their race ever saw. No punishment was too severe, he proclaimed, for thieves who stole the yellow metal. All gold, and, to tell the truth, all metal, by rights belonged to gnomes, and it was only by courtesy that they let anyone else use it.
Getting to the mining settlement required a journey of many miles, but at the speed of Valkyries it did not take long, and was happily uneventful.
They landed at a little distance from the miners' village, amid a raw, scarred landscape, marked by many mounds of excavated dirt and rock, some fresh, some very old. There were reddish piles of crumbled material that Hal could recognize as iron ore. Sentries had been posted at the village entrance, and Hal got the impression that regular work had been suspended, as the people mobilized for self-defense as best they could.
The sight of the Horses landing immediately drew a modest crowd, all goggled against exposure to the morning sun. Hal and Baldur remained on the surface, trusting to Andvari and Ivaldr to return from a quick trip underground to gather tools and arrange for an urgent message to be sent to their home village, informing their relatives and friends that they were safe.
Gods of Fire and Thunder Page 20