But I still had my powers, so as I got to my feet, various parts of my body protesting, I pulled on the heat again. It chose that moment to go out.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Chapter 8
My heat power wasn’t working, so I had to assume that my speed and agility were gone too, and I was having a hard time catching my breath. Fenrir tugged Excalibur out of his paw with his teeth and for a second I panicked, thinking he was going to eat my sword. Instead he flung it away and it disappeared into the darkness.
Fenrir came at me again, and yep, my speed was gone. I tried to dodge and failed. At the last second I dropped to the ground. His hot breath poured over me, smelling of burned flesh. On hands and knees I scrambled away. It took two tries to get to my feet and I ran under the huge wolf, thinking it would buy me a few seconds. He twisted around, trying to stomp on me, and I spent a while just barely keeping from getting squashed as I got more and more out of breath.
My left leg throbbed and felt sticky and I remembered his tooth had grazed me. I had no idea how deep the wound was. Just as I made it out of the way of his paw yet again, his claw caught me, scraping down my back.
Pain flared and I fell. Part of me knew I had to get up, that he would squash me if I didn’t move, but I couldn’t get my body to cooperate. Move, fucking move! And I did, but it was too slow.
Then the huge wolf yelped again and air rushed by me as his paw came down inches from my head. I finally got to my feet and stumbled out of the way as fast as I could. Fenrir wasn’t paying attention to me anymore and I looked over, expecting to see Stefan, fearing to see Odin, but instead Emily stood there holding a shield that glowed blue.
She looked terrified, but she faced the wolf with the shield held out in front of her. My heart went into my throat. Emily wasn’t a fighter, and she was the youngest of us, and she shouldn’t be facing Fenrir alone. That shield looked fucking small and flimsy. I tried to run over and join her but my leg had gone stiff and it made me limp. Fenrir lunged forward with his jaws half open, which was wide enough to chomp down Emily. I tried to force my damaged, tired body to go faster but there was no way I had enough time to get there.
Emily made a high-pitched squeak, closed her eyes tight, and kept the shield in front of her. The blue light blazed brighter, almost blinding. Fenrir looked like he had collided with something solid. He stumbled back and the blue light died down. Emily was untouched. I kept running toward her as fast as I could, which at this point wasn’t very fast. Then from behind her appeared Stefan and Elliot. They were both carrying coils of a shimmering ribbon.
“Alex, are you okay?” Stefan called as I kept limping toward them. Fenrir’s attention was still on Emily and not me. If he decided to turn on me now, I didn’t think I would be able to get out of the way. I would be dead fucking meat.
“Still alive,” I panted. I finally made it over to them, now behind the protection of Emily’s magic shield.
“Can you help us?” Stefan held up the ribbon, gesturing to it.
I stopped, breathing heavy. What I really wanted to do was sit down for a long, long time, and get some fucking painkillers. Instead I said, “Sure,” and held my hands out for the ribbon. Up close, it was a very fine gold chain. It didn’t look like it could hold up to so much as a Chihuahua, but the magic in it had been strong enough to hold Fenrir for thousands and thousands of years.
Stefan dropped several coils into my hands. “We need to get the chains around him and they should work to weaken him a little. Then we can try to get him back to the cave where he was locked up.”
“Okay,” I panted, pain lancing through my back. How deep had he scratched me? Would I be able to move enough to help them get the chains on Fenrir? I had to fucking try at least. I wished my damn powers were still working.
While Emily held him back, the rest of us got into position. When Fenrir attacked again we ran forward, lifting the section of chain over Emily’s head and throwing it as high as we could. It just barely cleared Fenrir’s ears and settled around his neck. It looked like the chain wanted to be there, like it was meant to be there. I took one side, Elliot took the other, and Stefan went down the middle, just barely missing Fenrir’s snapping teeth. He ran the chain around his left front paw as I went around the right and Fenrir stumbled. Elliot took a farther section of the chain and looped it around his left rear leg.
Fenrir twisted this way and that, trying to get at all of us at once. I was almost too tired and in too much pain to be afraid. I just had to get the chain around him and that was all I could focus on. I finished the loop and went for his right rear leg. Two times around, a sloppy job but as long as we could tighten it, the chain would stay. Fenrir kept twisting, which made the whole thing harder, but he seemed to be losing strength. Stefan threw over the middle section of chain and I took it and tossed it back to him under the wolf’s belly. I made another loop around his front right paw. Fenrir twisted again, his jaws coming close to me and I dodged, dropping the chain.
The huge wolf was in a rage now, not knowing which way to turn, the three of us moving along his body, tying him tighter and tighter with the supernatural fetter. As he moved again, snapping at the other side of his body where Stefan and Elliot were, I bent to grab my part of the chain again, gasping as the wounds on my back and leg flared with pain.
It was frustrating and my back was getting stiffer and stiffer. I didn’t think I could do this for much longer. Even though Fenrir was slowing with every loop we passed around him, he was still in a frenzy, which made it hard to get the chain where it was supposed to be. When I tossed the loop of chain back to Stefan, Fenrir twisted all the way around and he ended up stepping on it. On the downside, it didn’t get over to Stefan where it was supposed to be, but on the bright side, it tripped the wolf up and he went tipping over.
Oh, and one more downside: he fell toward me. I tried to scramble away, but I was too tired and in too much pain to run fast enough. I almost made it out, but Fenrir fell on top of me, knocking me down and pinning my legs. I cried out in pain, wondering if he’d broken them.
The huge wolf thrashed, trying to get to his feet, and that made his body slam back down on me. I screamed and dug my fingers into the ground, trying to get away from him. Then Stefan was there, shoving his hands under my arms and dragging me away. Elliot ran to Fenrir’s head and taunted the wolf until he surged upward again and Stefan was able to get me out from under the huge beast. I cried out at the sensation of my lower legs being dragged along the ground.
“Oh, shit, you need a doctor,” Stefan said.
“Just get me as far from Fenrir as you can and finish chaining him up. You can worry about getting me a doctor later.”
He gave me a grave nod and dragged me several yards away. He called Emily over to protect me with her glowing shield and Stefan went back to chaining up Fenrir. The wolf wasn’t able to get to his feet again, the fetter thoroughly tangled in his legs. Unable to loop the chain around his middle anymore they ran around, twisting it through itself over and over until Fenrir looked like someone had done a very poor calf-roping job on him. The important thing was that it held, and as much as he fought and writhed and cursed us, the chain had him trapped and he couldn’t get away.
Stefan came over to me, glancing back at Fenrir every few seconds to make sure the monster wolf wasn’t loosening his bonds. Elliot hurried over, pale and sweating. He looked like he was going to faint any second. “We need to get you to a doctor.” Elliot laid a shaking hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head, even though pain throbbed all over my body with every heartbeat. “We need to get him back to the cave and make sure he’s secured.” I didn’t trust that the fetter alone would keep him. We had to put things back the way they were as much as possible.
Stefan shifted around so he could see both me and Fenrir at the same time. “I could try to teleport him. I’ve never tried to teleport something that big before, or anything that wasn’t willing to come with me.”
“And we’re supposed to trust you? How do we know you won’t set him free and then jump into his mouth?” I tried to lean up a little more, but both my legs and my back screamed in protest. When the rest of the adrenaline wore off, I had a feeling the pain was going to get much, much worse.
“Little half-breed, you proved yourself brave in battle, so I will forgive the insult,” Odin said. “You misunderstand. We would not hasten Ragnarok, but we accept that it must happen. Fenrir is no longer free and rampaging through Asgard, so today is not the day of my death. Loki’s son will go back to his prison until he is free again, and I will meet him on the battlefield then. But I will not free him myself, nor will any of the other gods. You have my oath on this.”
I knew how seriously the Norse gods took their oaths, so I nodded. “Okay.” To be honest, I was relieved someone else was taking over, someone who knew what they were doing and had the power to do it.
“Son, you will come with us. I have words for you,” Odin said.
Stefan gave me an eye-roll where his father couldn’t see and I managed not to laugh and give him away. “I need to take my friends back to Earth first. Alex needs a doctor.”
Just then I got a flash of what would happen if I went to a hospital—my father would find me and drag me back home. I was so fucked up right now that he might not even bother with beating me, but I didn’t want to take that chance. I was about to protest, but then Odin said, “The young warrior is welcome in my hall and Eir will heal him.”
I blinked at him. After all the bullshit about not interfering and not even trying to stop Fenrir from eating him or Sköll from eating the sun, I figured he would just kick us all out. That was if they weren’t mad enough at us to try to hurt us. But helping us? That I definitely wasn’t expecting. “You… would heal me?”
“You should not have interfered in the affairs of the Aesir, and you should be punished for that. But I am impressed by your bravery. If you did not already belong to another, I would offer you a seat in Valhalla after your death,” Odin said.
“Oh. Well, thank you.” I took about a second to decide if I wanted to accept his offer, but just then another bolt of pain shot through me and I had to grit my teeth to keep from crying out. “I accept. Can my friends come with me? We can wait at the hall for Stefan to take us back to Earth.”
Odin nodded. “Your friends may come. They too have shown bravery worthy of the gods.”
He took us to his hall, leaving Thor to keep an eye on Fenrir. He dropped us off in a very peaceful, comfortable-looking room with a huge, soft bed. The covers were red with brown and gold designs, so were the chairs and rug near the fireplace on the other side of the room. I sank into the bed, the soft covers feeling much better than the hard ground had, but the pain was getting worse as my adrenaline wore off. A beautiful woman walked into the room carrying a bowl and white cloths. Just seeing her made me feel at peace and the wounds didn’t hurt quite so bad. She smiled at me and that made me feel even better. “Greetings. I am Eir, handmaiden of the goddess Frigga. I will tend to your wounds.”
“Thanks.” I settled back into the pillows and winced as that made the cut on my back worse.
She sat at the edge of the bed and put a warm hand to my forehead. “Rest easy, I will soothe your pain.” She looked over at Elliot and Emily, standing at the bedside. “If you would wait outside, please. I need to remove his clothing.” Both of them nodded and went out, Emily blushing a little. It didn’t even bother me that she was going to strip me. How else was she going to tend to my legs and back? Besides, she was a healer, like a doctor or a nurse. Not that I’d ever been to one, but I’d seen how that worked on TV. As she tended to me, the pain slowly eased out of me and as she was wrapping the last of my bandages, I fell asleep.
Chapter 9
I woke up some time later, blinking in confusion at my surroundings for a moment before I remembered where I was. The fire was still roaring and Emily and Elliot were sitting in the chairs near the fireplace. They had a pack of cards and were playing a game, murmuring quietly to each other. My body ached. I wiggled my toes and felt only stiffness. I shifted to sit up, the wound at my back tugging uncomfortably. It felt like I was stretching new skin rather than risking opening a fresh wound. “How long was I out?” I said in a voice thick with sleep.
They both started and looked over at me. “A few hours,” Emily said.
“Are you okay?” Elliot asked.
“Better than I was.” I sat up a little more. “Is Stefan back yet?”
Emily nodded. “He came back about half an hour ago and came in to check on you. I think he’s with his dad still.”
I sat up a little more, testing just how stiff I was. I felt way better but I didn’t think I should risk getting out of bed yet. “I hope he’s not in too much trouble.” He sure the fuck didn’t deserve to be. Nobody should be punished for saving the world.
“I don’t think he is,” Emily said.
Elliot got up. “Eir wanted me to get her when you woke up. She wants to check how you’re healing.” He left the room and came back a few minutes later with the healing goddess. Eir chased the other two out of the room again while she unwrapped the bandages and checked my wounds. I got a good look at the slash on my left leg and the bruises all over both of them where they’d been crushed by Fenrir’s heavy body. It looked nasty but I knew it had been much worse when I got here. She put a salve all over both of them, cool and pleasant-smelling, and also put some on my back. Then she wrapped me back up and offered me a cup.
“Drink this. It will help you heal and will put you to sleep so you can rest. When you wake, your wounds will be gone.”
I took the cup. “That sounds fantastic. Thank you.” I drank it down. It tasted of honey and herbs I couldn’t name. As soon as I’d finished the cup my eyelids started drooping. I fell into a deep sleep and if I had any dreams, I didn’t remember them.
When I woke again only Elliot was there waiting by the fire. He’d fallen asleep, huddled on his side in one of the huge chairs. I stretched my legs and felt no pain. I shifted around and my back didn’t hurt either. Slowly, I slid to the end of the bed and sat up. Still no pain. Eir had been right. I stood up with one hand against the bed for balance and my legs held me with no trouble. The bandages were tight enough that they made it too hard to walk, so I sat back down to unwrap them. I was wearing just my boxers, but at least I wasn’t naked. I got the bandages off my legs and walked slowly around the bed, testing out my legs.
They were a little stiff, but a bit of walking would fix that. I looked around for my clothes and found them folded on a table near the window. I opened the thick curtains and blinked at the bright daylight. Large areas of Asgard had been torn apart by Fenrir, but this window looked down onto an untouched garden. It was beautiful and peaceful, and I spent a moment just looking at it. Then I pulled on my torn and bloody clothes, tiptoed past the sleeping Elliot, and went out the door.
Outside was a huge long hall and I wondered which way I should turn to find where Stefan or Emily might be. I ran into a servant and he pointed me to a room down on the right. It was a dining room with a large table, but only Stefan and Emily were at it, making the whole room as well as the table look large and empty. Two more places were set, obviously for me and Elliot. They were excited to see me up and about and asked me how I was feeling. I told them my wounds were totally healed and the stiffness was almost gone just from the short walk down to the room. I sat with them and a huge rumble from my stomach let me know I was starving.
A servant brought food, anything and everything I asked for, and I don’t remember if I’d ever eaten that much. The food was so good I just couldn’t stop eating. When I was finishing up, Elliot came in, his expression worried until he saw me sitting there.
“Sorry. I guess I should’ve woken you up.”
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br /> “It’s okay.” He shrugged and sat down. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. Totally healed. Order some food, it’s awesome.” I took another piece of bacon, hoping I could squeeze more into my stomach. I munched on it while a servant came over and took Elliot’s order.
“Odin said he’d come by after we’d all eaten, and if you were healed he’d escort us out of Asgard,” Stefan said.
“Kicking us out, huh?” I said without any real venom.
Stefan sighed. “Yeah, he’s still angry about us interfering. You should have heard the earful I got while we chained Fenrir back up. Duty and fate and accepting what must be. I mean, isn’t it obvious things can be changed, since we just did it? Twice? It’s so frustrating listening to him go on about destiny when we just proved him wrong.”
I gave a little snort of laughter. “Hey, at least your dad isn’t telling you your job is to end the world.” I lifted my almost-empty glass of orange juice (I wasn’t going to ask where they got it. Asgard sure as hell didn’t look like Florida.) and gave a toast. “To free will beating fate.”
Stefan laughed and lifted his own glass. “Damn straight.” The four of us touched glasses and drank.
Elliot finished his breakfast and the servants cleared away the dishes. A few minutes later Odin entered the dining room carrying a sword. I recognized it even though his huge fist covered half of it. “Good morning, young warriors. I trust you found my hospitality acceptable?”
“Yes. Thank you, Father,” Stefan said.
“Alex, we found your sword.” He held it out to me. “We found a suitable scabbard for this powerful blade, as well, and give it to you as a gift.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking the sword and feeling the familiar, welcoming hum. I’d had Excalibur for less than a day and I already knew it was going to be hard to give up. It wasn’t mine to keep, I knew that, and I wasn’t going to try. That’s the kind of thing my father would do. Not me. I put the belt around my waist and the sword sat perfectly against my side, my right side. “You noticed I was left-handed.”
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