Norns of Fate: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Descendants of Thor Trilogy Book Two)

by S. A. Ashdown

  Not knowing, it was an itch behind his eyes.

  He squelched along the soft edge of the sand, squinting at the tiny map segment in his hand. I’ll have better luck finding a single grain of sand, he thought. I need Ava. At least, he wanted her skill set. Could she get a read on those cliffs, striped with layers of sediment?

  Up ahead, the rock jutted into the mud. Of course, he could walk round it now, during low tide, but he’d have to be quick. He picked up speed, the exposed sand curving away into a hidden cove, with a mix of shingle and sand. A set of stone steps created a deep V-shape into the grassland above. Menelaus judged they were rarely used, cracked as they were in places and non-existent in others.

  Caves pocketed the rock like cavities at the mouth of the cove. He skirted the damp beach and ducked into the first, water pooling in groves around his boots. He used the bigger rocks as stepping stones, blinking back the darkness. He switched on the torch on his phone and peered into the cave. If Toby and Jenny were hiding from location spells, they must be using magic, somehow. They would be protecting their hiding places too.

  If he’s even here. ‘Toby? Jenny? It’s Menelaus.’

  Silence, except from the flock of seagulls on the sand outside. He cupped his free hand against his mouth. ‘Toby! Jenny! I just want to know you’re both okay!’

  Even his echo sounded desperate. Menelaus retreated. The tide wasn’t far out; he’d have to go soon. He called into each cave. The final one on the opposite side of the crescent was the deepest. He delved in, walking as far to the back as he dared. ‘Tobias! Jenny! I know you’re around here somewhere! Come out!’

  The harshness of his echo made him shudder; he didn’t have a good record with showing up near cliffs and surprising people. What if Toby and Jenny had committed some terrible offence, like Isobel had been attempting the night of her death? If something had happened to them, maybe they deserved it.

  ‘Where’s Jenny? Did you do something?’

  This is ridiculous, he thought. He was talking to himself in a cave, the slow trickle of the tide now audible. Menelaus sighed, and turned towards the light, his vision patchy from the sudden contrast. He stepped forward, resting his foot on a slippery stone.

  Wack. Something smashed into the back of his skull.

  Menelaus stumbled forward, dazed. Jagged rocks cut into his forearms as he broke his fall. He rolled onto his back, blinking hard. A blurry figure stood above him. He could make out a rough beard, a long wooden stick. A sage in the cave. The stick came down on him, pinning against his throat. Menelaus grappled it but the stick was thick and etched with symbols. Unbreakable. Water chilled his back.

  ‘I can’t let you go.’ Menelaus instantly understood. ‘You’re one of them.’

  One thing that Menelaus wasn’t, was weak. He levered against his bent leg and shoved the stick away, unbalancing Toby as he scrambled to his feet. ‘I’m not here on orders!’ He gasped. ‘Where’s Jenny?’

  Toby laughed. Whoever this man was, it wasn’t the lad he remembered, cracking jokes on his birthday. He appeared far older, thin, his beard greying. This was Tobias. Tobias held up the stick in both hands. Menelaus snapped out his baton – a regulation bit of kit, but something he’d only started carrying after Theo had tried to skewer him on the end of his sword.

  ‘At least the last one didn’t have the nerve to ask me that.’

  The stick swooshed toward his head. Menelaus ducked and jumped back as the other end stabbed at his stomach – he only just realised that end had been sharpened. ‘Stop it, Tobias! I’m not here to hurt you. What the hell had happened since January?’

  Tobias didn’t reply. His attacks matched the quick movements of his eyes, his mouth twisted in fury. Menelaus countered with his baton, swiping at Tobias’s arms. He didn’t want to hurt him, but Tobias had no inhibitions. Water trickled into the mouth of the cave. The tide was coming. Whatever grievances Tobias had, they had to deal with them quickly.

  Menelaus lunged for the stick but ended up grinding the stones against his knee. Toby pulled back his arm, ready to crack him again, but Menelaus threw a fistful of pebbles into his face. Toby fell backwards, tripping in a pool of water.

  ‘We need to get out of this cave!’ Menelaus roared, angry and cold, and aching. ‘Unless you want us to drown!’ He grabbed the stick out of Tobias’s vice grip but the lunatic flipped him over by lodging his foot against Menelaus’s stomach.

  Tobias scurried to his feet. ‘I told you, I can’t let you leave!’

  The blows rained down on his back and shoulders. ‘Where is Jenny?’ Menelaus sheltered his head with his hands, trying to escape from Toby’s range. ‘Whatever happened, you’re no good to her floating in the ocean!’

  That made him pause, at least. Menelaus glanced at the exit. Soon the water would be too deep to escape. His heart hammered. Theo would be happy at least, to know he died in such a similar way to Isobel.

  Except of course, he’d never know. No one would find him.

  Menelaus turned his gaze back to Tobias, just as the blunt end of the stick caught his chin. His head snapped back, the cave’s darkness seeping into his vision. The waves swirled around his legs, pushing him farther into the cave. Oh shit. He started to wade towards the light but Tobias chased him down. Menelaus held his throbbing head. It was lighter nearer the entrance, enough to see the blood covering his hands. His hair was slick and sticky.

  Menelaus felt the point of Toby’s stick in his back. It broke the material of his sodden jacket, sharper than it should’ve been. He’d have to start swimming but his boots were lead weights. Tobias was barefoot. Was it night already? He could see stars glittering. No, no…it was still day.

  Menelaus surged forward as Tobias pressed the stick deeper. The strength drained out of him with each footstep. He must’ve lost more blood than he thought.

  An arrow whistled past his ear.

  Menelaus shouted in surprise.

  Tobias grunted as he slammed his shoulder against the cave wall.

  ‘I don’t approve of your extra-curricular activities, Professor Knight,’ Lorenzo said, drawing another arrow.

  Lorenzo. Standing like an angel, dark clouds alighting like wings on his back. Menelaus fought against the waves. ‘Get him out of here!’ Menelaus shouted, pointing towards Tobias. ‘And knock him out.’

  ‘But he was—’

  ‘Do it!’ Menelaus leaned against the wall and yanked off his boots and his jacket. He swam against the tide, not looking back. The vampire would be okay. He could manage it.

  Once out of the cave, the tide pushed him towards the broken steps. He looked over his shoulder and saw Lorenzo dragging Tobias on his back over the water. Menelaus spat the salt water out of his mouth; the wind whipped up the waves. It felt like swimming in a cauldron.

  The tide slammed him against the rock. Menelaus searched for the submerged steps with his feet and climbed out of the water, a gash leaking down his arm. He waited for Lorenzo, helping to drag an unconscious Tobias up the steps. Menelaus collapsed onto the grassy bank, his chest heaving with relief.

  ‘My bow and arrows are soaked.’ Lorenzo threw them onto the ground. How had he managed to carry all that and Tobias too? Vampires got all the best perks.

  The salt stung his wounds but on dry land it didn’t hurt so much. ‘Thanks, Lorenzo. I think you just saved my life.’

  ‘I’m a diligent student.’

  ‘Thank Christ.’ Menelaus laughed.

  Tobias stirred.

  ‘You better heal the both of us, Lorenzo.’

  ‘’Ere, why was he attacking you?’

  ‘He thinks I’m trying to kill him or something. I don’t know. It’s a long story and there’s a few pages missing. At least in my version.’

  His once-student shrugged, picked up a sharp stone, and jammed it into the vein in his arm. ‘You only have a few seconds to drink it before I heal.’ He held out the soft flesh of his forearm. Menelaus grimaced but clamped his mouth over it. It t
asted…

  Good. Actually, great.

  He pulled away when it stopped flowing and wiped his mouth. It’s not like he wasn’t already covered in his own blood. ‘Do you swallow spices or something? That was…’

  ‘Or something. That reminds me. You need to have a chat with Theo.’

  ‘I’m sure Theo wishes I drowned down there.’ He leant his head in the direction of the caves. The crack in his skull had healed, as far as he could tell.

  Lorenzo picked at the grass, his grey eyes harmonising with the moody sky. ‘He’s come around quicker than you might expect. He sent me to protect you.’

  ‘From what?’

  ‘This guy, for one. Are you sure you want me to heal him?’ He prodded Tobias doubtfully as he tried to sit up, still clutching his stick. Menelaus was hoping to see the back of that thing.

  ‘Be quick. He’s almost—’

  The vampire cut into his arm and forced the blood into Tobias’s mouth before he could object. Lorenzo looked satisfied as Tobias spluttered and spat out the remnants. Why? Menelaus wondered. Vampire blood was… He wished he could have more. He shook his head and shivered. Blood couldn’t heal wet clothes.

  Tobias leapt to his feet. Lorenzo snatched the stick and threw it like a javelin into the sea. Toby clocked the bow and arrow and dived for it but Menelaus yanked it away. ‘Will you stop trying to kill me!’

  ‘And let you drag me back there, lock me up with Jenny?’

  ‘Where? Where is she imprisoned?’

  Tobias threw up his hands. ‘Under your feet, Menelaus! In the HQ. Like you don’t know. They wouldn’t have sent you unless they’d let you in.’

  ‘They didn’t send me. I found you because Guillaume and his family have gone missing, and weird things are… I wanted to make sure you were okay.’

  ‘It was you using a witch? No one else?’ Tobias asked.

  Menelaus and Lorenzo exchanged glances. The vampire’s questions would have to wait. ‘Yes. I don’t trust anyone else, Toby.’

  The tension wormed out of Toby’s shoulders. ‘Neither do I.’

  ‘I could’ve left you in that cave,’ said Menelaus. ‘I didn’t.’

  ‘Technically, I didn’t.’ Lorenzo smirked. ‘No need to thank me.’

  Menelaus ignored him. ‘Why did they imprison Jenny?’

  Tobias stared at him. ‘You really don’t know?’ A flicker of his former self animated his face.

  ‘For God’s sake. Look, Lorenzo here is a vampire as you probably guessed. I can ask him to Enthral you to tell me everything. I’m choosing not to.’

  ‘Fine,’ Toby said. ‘But first can we go somewhere warm?’

  ‘That’s the first rational thing you’ve said,’ said Menelaus.

  A smile threatened to crack through Toby’s shaggy beard. ‘Follow me.’

  Tobias led them uphill towards the main coastal road. The road itself crowned a high bank, and hidden behind a small cluster of fir trees, a low tunnel ran through the slope. Lorenzo was carrying his bow, an arrow resting in his fingers. Menelaus felt for his baton but realised he’d dropped it back in the cave.

  They walked along the edge of a shallow stream, heading into the tunnel. Menelaus stuck to the middle so he didn’t have to stoop. At least they were sheltered from the wind. Toby immediately squatted by a pile of wood, a patchwork of grass and hard soil carpeting the floor. He quickly lit a fire with some flint. ‘You’ve been here a while?’ Menelaus asked.

  ‘A few days. I have to keep moving around.’ He gestured at the backpack resting against the bank by the back exit. ‘It’s a wildlife tunnel.’

  ‘That explains the fox poo,’ said Lorenzo, wrinkling his nose. ‘And the other smells.’

  They approached the fire. Out of the wind, the air retained its summer warmth. Menelaus peeled off his trousers and shirt and spread them out over some spare logs. Tony gave him a strange look, then sighed, peeling off his own ragged T-shirt.

  Lorenzo prowled around the fire. ‘I suppose I should dry off too.’ He whirled on the spot, moving faster than helicopter blades, and when he finished, he was bone dry.

  ‘Show off.’ Menelaus grunted. He collected up his clothes and handed them to his student. ‘Dry these, would you?’

  ‘Sure, because saving your life isn’t enough for one day?’ Another whirl later, his clothes were dry too. He put them back on, even though his boxers were still wet. I’m not giving him those. I’d rather have a soggy arse.

  ‘How did you find me, Menelaus?’

  ‘First answer me this: how are you hiding? Whose magic is protecting you?’

  Toby scratched his beard. ‘I won’t reveal my sources.’

  ‘Okay,’ Menelaus said, too tired to keep the frustration from leaking into his voice, ‘what happened? Last I see of you and Jenny is at New Years, blissfully riding into the sunset. Why are the Praetoriani after you?’

  The fire moved the shadows around the tunnel. Outside, the sun was retreating. Menelaus checked his phone but it was as dead and waterlogged as driftwood. He waited for Toby to answer, hoping he still had time to meet David. ‘It’s the Praefecti, Laus. The Praetoriani is Akhen’s loyal bitch hound. The Praefecti have a very different motto to Serve and Protect. Do you know it?’

  Menelaus shook his head.

  ‘I’m not surprised. We didn’t know. Now it’s too late.’

  Lorenzo knelt down. ‘Well, what’s this motto?’

  ‘Why is he here? Are you that desperate, Menelaus, that you court the company of vampires?’

  ‘Dark Elf, actually.’

  They locked stares.

  ‘Just answer the question,’ said Menelaus.

  Toby chucked a few more twigs on the fire. ‘Reclaim the Earth.’

  ‘From what? Sapiens?’

  ‘No,’ Toby said, getting up and rooting through his rucksack, dressing as he spoke. ‘Not so obvious. It comes down to this: our Imperi Ducis believes that the Nine Realms are fed from the veins of a wasting tree.’

  ‘Yggdrasil? He thinks the World Tree is sick?’

  ‘Yes, and the source of the infection is a very specific strain of magic. He wants it. Locating and eradicating that strain is the whole reason for the Praetoriani’s existence, but he needs help to do it. He wanted me and Jenny because we’re trackers.’

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Lorenzo.

  ‘Means we can sniff out the unique fingerprint of Vital Essence that each Pneuma man or woman possesses – once we know what we’re looking for. We can track that essence across continents. I told Jenny once I would find her wherever she went. It sounded romantic at the time. I never imagined I wouldn’t be able to get to her.’ He sat down again by the fire. ‘Jenny and I believed the Praefecti’s Head Office wanted our skills as Guardians. Imagine our surprise when they flew us by private jet to Cairo.’

  ‘Did you meet Akhen?’

  ‘No, the Consul. At the Praefecti’s HQ, a building fit for the Pharaohs. Akhen is fond of gold.’

  Menelaus recalled what Julian had told him about his nainai. She had gone to the Consul once, with information, and ended up floating in the Nile. A shiver spread from his skull to his chest. Whatever Toby said next, it wouldn’t be good.

  ‘We were briefed on our new role. The Consul called it an education. The true history and destiny of the Praefecti.’ Toby echoed Menelaus’s shiver. ‘I went to a Catholic boarding school when I was a child – before my gift manifested. Did you know that? I suppose not. The stuff those nuns came out with was a nursery rhyme compared to what we heard during our initiation. The Consul failed to mention that if we didn’t swear allegiance to their cause and sign our lives over to them, those lives would be forfeit.’

  ‘But why wouldn’t they just let you go?’ Impotent childish rage forced him to ask the question. Of course they wouldn’t let them go. They knew too much.

  Toby rested his chin on his knuckles. ‘A silent war can’t have a resistance.’

  He processed that. Toby, living
in this tunnel – what kind of resistance was that? Neither of them had any real power. Lorenzo had some perhaps, mainly speed and strength. ‘What – who are they searching for, Toby?’

  ‘If I tell you that, you will rescue Jenny – if she’s still alive.’

  It wasn’t a question.

  ‘I will try.’

  ‘Give me your word.’

  Menelaus held out his hand over the fire. ‘I give you my word.’ What am I doing? I have enough problems already. He never could leave a bird with a broken wing alone. He cursed softly as Toby shook his hand.

  ‘There are two forces working on this Earth. The magic comes from somewhere. Something is syphoning it from the World Tree. The other force is there to protect the Syphon. Yet, that protector also holds the key to destroying the Syphon.’

  ‘Let me get this straight…’ Menelaus said, glancing at Lorenzo, who had resumed pacing the tunnel, bow and arrow at the ready. ‘Akhen wants to destroy the Syphon; is that what you’re getting at? Why would he want that? What would happen to magic?’

  Toby held up his hands. ‘He’s crazy, Menelaus. The Praefecti have a vision for a New Earth. A new civilisation that will rise out the ashes of the old.’

  ‘By “old” you mean current. The current civilisation. The one we all live in.’

  Tobias nodded. Menelaus sat back on his haunches, dumbfounded. ‘Fuck. No wonder you wanted to kill me.’

  ‘They have already sent several agents. The last took Jenny while I was washing in the river. I left her asleep…’ Anger and pain flashed over his face. Guilt.

  I know that look, Menelaus thought.

  ‘Tobias, I think they’ve taken Guillaume too – and his family.’

  He looked up, his vision still hazy with grief. ‘Children?’

  ‘Babies.’

  ‘Pneuma without Essence!’ Toby punched his rucksack. ‘Men without souls!’