by Angela Foxxe
“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Valemon comforted her as he embraced her. “You have no idea how sorry I am about this.”
“You can make it up to me by making sure your cub doesn’t kill me,” Rachel snapped. “Alright Igor, where do you think we need to go to fix this?”
Igor heaved a sigh. “That’s the thing; I have no idea where the Aerie could be. I just know it’s up in the mountains somewhere.”
“So we go north,” Valemon stated. “How much gas does the outboard have left?” he asked Igor.
“Not much. It took almost three quarters of it to get here. We can get half way to the ocean but we’ll have to row the rest of the way,” his cousin replied.
Valemon grunted, it wasn’t ideal but it would have to do. “Now if we need to go on foot, and we probably will, we won’t be able to carry you unless you really need it. Every time I shift into my bear form before I offer Angrboda her sacrifice, it increases the chance of me becoming locked in.”
Rachel swallowed hard. “So if I become too big too soon...”
“We’ll worry about that when we get to it. Just try not to get injured on the way,” Igor replied as he looked up at the blue sky above. “We need to get moving now if we are to at least try to get some distance to the mountains. Maybe we’ll run into someone who might know where the Aerie might be hidden; reindeer herders and shepherds out in those parts keep to themselves mostly and know the local area better than anyone.”
“You’re right. Let’s go.” With that, Valemon pushed his way out of the cave and made his way to the path Igor and Rachel had used to find him.
Rachel mutely walked between the two large men to where Igor had beached the rowboat. She was lost in her own thoughts as they trekked through the dense woods. She knew the deal was too good to be true; she kicked herself mentally for her impulsivity. She was so swept away by Valemon’s charm and wealth that she didn’t completely pick up that something was amiss. Sure, Hans gave her bad feelings and she sure was on to something when she found that rune stone on the internet.
“Hey guys,” she spoke up. Both men slowed down and looked at her. “I think I might know something that could help.”
Valemon arched a silver eyebrow. “Go on,” he said skeptically.
“OK, when you were gone one time, Hans gave me some serious skeevy vibes. I wanted to know more about your family and whatnot, because the maid said that old hatreds die hard and to be careful. Well, I got on the internet and I found this page in some kind of Norse dialect and there was a picture of this huge rune stone on it. It had a bear on top of a wolf and a bunch of old runes carved into it. I was about to look for a way to translate the picture but you showed up,” she said as a blush crept over her cheeks.
“So you saw a grainy photo of a rune stone,” Valemon said. “Do you remember the address of the site?”
“Well, it should still be in my laptop’s history. But my laptop is still at the manor,” she said sadly.
Igor smiled. “I think I might have a plan. Do you have your cell phone?” he asked Rachel.
“Yeah, but there’s no signal here,” she replied as she fished it out of her camera bag.
“We’ll get one when we leave this area. I’ll call Hilda and see if she can bring us the laptop into the cavern without Hans knowing. The manor’s WiFi should extend into the cavern so you can get that page up again.”
“That works,” Rachel said as she waddled behind Igor. Her belly seemed to be getting larger as the day wore on. At least it wasn’t as painful as it was when it first popped, but the pain still throbbed intermittently as the creature within her grew rapidly.
Igor looked back at her. “Valemon, she might have two, three weeks at the most before that spawn of yours rips her to pieces.”
“I know,” he barked, and suddenly went quiet. He heard a growl off to the right that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. “They’ve found us,” he whispered.
“We’re only about fifty feet away from the boat. If we make a run for it, we can make it and I can put it into the water. The wolves can’t swim, their bones are too dense and they sink,” Igor explained for Rachel’s benefit. “On the count of three, we’ll run. I’ll go first so I can get the boat ready; you and Valemon follow as fast as you can.” He crouched down as the snuffling and growling got closer.
“One...two...three!” The massive man bolted out of the brush and ran full tilt towards the mound of branches that concealed the large rowboat. He heaved it back upright and dragged it to the water. Valemon and Rachel followed as fast as she could go, holding her large belly as she ran towards the wooden craft.
Igor pulled the start cable of the outboard motor as Valemon lifted Rachel into the boat, and then climbed in himself. The black shapes of the wolves stood on the beach howling and yipping, disappointed that their quarry had escaped.
Igor steered the laden boat through the narrow channel in silence. Rachel pulled her phone out and stared at its cracked screen waiting for that elusive signal bar to spawn. After about ten minutes of staring, one bar blossomed on the phone’s display.
She handed the phone to Igor so they could attempt to retrieve Rachel’s laptop. He dialed Hilda’s private number and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, Hilda picked up the phone. “Hilda, If Hans hasn’t destroyed it yet, bring Rachel’s laptop to the cavern. Ssh, don’t say anything...just do it. We’ll be there in about an hour, two tops.” With that, he hung up.
Valemon seated the two wooden oars in their hinges. “I’ll row first.” He began to row with large, powerful strokes. “With both of us taking turns we can go twice as far,” he said.
Igor grunted in acknowledgment as he snapped Rachel’s flimsy smart phone in half and pitched it into the dark water. Njord will forgive him, he thought. He didn’t want the phone traced by Hans while they went searching for the Aerie. Rachel looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. “I’ll buy you a new one when this is all over,” he rumbled as he turned towards the bow to spot for Valemon while he rowed.
“You better,” Rachel muttered under her breath as she sulked angrily in the bottom of the boat. This adventure was probably the most miserable one she had ever taken in her life, and she’d been through a few. Attacked and held hostage by religious militants, sitting in a palm tree in the middle of a typhoon, and now this, first a broken ankle, a broken head and now a pregnancy that would probably kill her.
She would rather be with the militants right now than here, she thought as she shivered miserably as another pain ripped through her body. She felt a gush between her legs and looked down to see a bloodstain spreading around the crotch of her khaki trousers. Great, she thought, all the more smell for them to track me with, she quipped in her head.
Rachel felt the boat shift as the two men traded places. Valemon stood watch and navigated while Igor faced stern and rowed. She curled up and closed her eyes, lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat. All the stress of the day had finally caught up with her and her body and mind decided to shut down. Sleep was what her body screamed for at that moment, and sleep was what it was going to get.
*
The sun was setting as Valemon navigated the row boat into the hidden cove underneath his manor. He looked up and saw Hilda standing on the rickety old dock holding a closed laptop, waiting for them to arrive. He pulled up alongside the ladder and climbed out. Igor gently roused the slumbering Rachel from the bottom of the boat and helped her debark.
“Oh Master, I didn’t know if they were going to follow me here. I pleaded a female issue and was excused but I don’t know when they’ll track me down and find me. Here, take the computer,” she blurted out as she shoved the laptop in Valemon’s large hands and ran off.
Rachel walked up to Valemon and took the laptop from his hands and sat down on the old dock. She opened the lid and prayed there would be enough battery life to log on to the WiFi and get the web address.
The laptop
powered on and she entered her login credentials. She stared at the icon that indicated the machine was in the process of connecting to a wireless internet connection intently, praying for it to work. After a minute, the connection strength showed two bars and she sighed in relief. Her battery life was at fifty percent, not good.
She hastily opened up her web browser and went through her recent history. She found the web page she was looking at the night Valemon came in to check on her and clicked on it.
Valemon knelt down behind her to watch what she was doing. His eyes went wide as he saw the webpage slowly load up. “That’s old Norse,” he said excitedly.
“Do you know it?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, it was taught to me by my father and his father before him. It is a language that is considered dead by most, but my family are curators of the ancient and eclectic,” he said wryly as he picked up the laptop to get a better look. “It gives a brief history about my family and the Ironwood clan, nothing we don’t already know, but that rune stone...” he trailed off as he examined it closely. “I can’t make out what it says but the location of it is given below the picture, it’s near Lake Rossvatnet. Still a fair clip away,” he said sadly.
Igor perked up. “You know, we can drive most of the way there on the E6 if we can grab a car from the garage, it would take us the better part of two weeks to get there on foot, and Rachel doesn’t have much time.”
Valemon sighed. “It seems like too much of a risk,” he rumbled. “I don’t want to get her killed before we even get started.”
“We’re all doomed if we don’t try,” Igor said to his cousin. “I’ll go get the car and bring it to the front gate, you two, try to sneak out without the guards noticing you. I’ll grab the hybrid because it makes no noise when it’s on the battery.”
Valemon nodded. “It probably is the best bet. It’s going to be dark soon, so we might as well wait. At least they won’t be able to see us as well. It's a few hours at best until total darkness. We might as well rest up while we can.”
The trio curled up around the shivering Rachel. She was coated with a thin sheen of sweat that glowed unhealthily under the fluorescent lighting. Valemon touched her forehead with one of his massive palms and quickly withdrew it. “She’s burning up,” he whispered.
Igor looked grim as he walked towards the hatch to the upper courtyard. “We need to get going fast. She’s going septic from that brat of yours.”
“But it’s not quite dark out,” Valemon pleaded. “We can’t take the risk.”
“Wanna bet?” Igor growled as he shoved the wooden door out of the way. “Either we leave now or she dies, pretty simple,” he barked as he pulled his massive frame up the ladder.
Valemon looked at the sickly Rachel. “Come on, we need to go,” he whispered as he helped pull her up. He supported her by the waist as she stumbled along next to him. When they arrived at the hatch, Valemon lifted Rachel up to Igor who helped her climb though. Valemon silently followed and closed the door with a soft thud. “Okay, we’ll meet you outside the main gate. Good luck,” he whispered.
Igor gave a swift nod and silently walked towards the converted stable. Valemon took Rachel by the arm and guided her around the outer wall in the twilight, while trying not to make any unnecessary noise.
Rachel began to feel dizzy and swooned against the cold stone wall that surrounded the manor’s courtyard. Valemon caught her by the waist before she fell to the ground, scooped her up and carried her in his arms. Her fever caused ripples of heat to waft from her forehead in the near darkness, and he felt more concerned for her than ever. He carried the woman effortlessly around the courtyard and to the front gate, which was already open. He slid alongside the stone wall and out the gate without being detected by the prowling dire wolves in the yard. After they had escaped the manor grounds, Valemon moved them into a small copse of trees that adorned the side of the main driveway and waited.
His ears perked up at the sound of tires on gravel, knowing it was Igor in the hybrid. He peeked out from the bush and saw his cousin’s large hand poking out of the window, motioning for them to get in the car. Valemon stood up with Rachel in his arms and walked toward the car. He set her down and leaned her limp form next to the car while he opened the back door of the hybrid SUV. Once he had opened the door, he put the unconscious Rachel on the back seat and covered her up with the blanket which was folded neatly on the floor.
He closed the door, walked to the passenger side and got in. He looked at his cousin, pale and bleeding. “What the hell?” he exclaimed as his cousin punched the accelerator.
“Nothing, just got bit by one of those mangy dogs. I’ll be fine. Just a flesh wound,” Igor replied as he held up an arm, which was wrapped in a makeshift bandage.
“Alright. Let’s go. We need to get to the E6,” Valemon ordered. “Her fever is getting worse.”
“I’m on it. Don’t you have a house up by that lake?”
“Yeah I do,” Valemon replied.
“Well, let’s go pay it a visit, shall we?” his cousin asked as he wound his way down the narrow country road that wound its way through the Norwegian countryside.
Rachel let out a fitful moan from the back seat and fell silent once more.
CHAPTER FIVE
The black hybrid SUV took the first exit onto the northbound lane on the E3 motorway. Two large men sat in the front while a woman lay in the back, moaning and writhing in feverish agony.
“How is she doing?” asked the driver, as he glanced in the rear view mirror.
The passenger turned in his seat to get a good look at the pregnant blonde woman who was passed out in the back seat. “She’s still the same.”
“I feel absolutely awful,” Valemon said. The massive, silver-haired man shifted uncomfortably in the seat. His legs were beginning to get cramped since his seven foot frame was not meant for vehicles such as this.
Igor, the driver, was feeling the cramped quarters as well. He was Valemon’s cousin and was just a few inches shorter than his aristocratic relative. He ran his hand through his short white-blonde hair and searched for a rest stop. “I know we shouldn’t stop with the Ironwood clan on our tail, but I really need to get my legs stretched out. I’m beginning to cramp up. It will give us a chance to check on her better, too.”
“Yes,” Valemon agreed. “There is a service station not too far from here. We can stop for a quick stretch and a bite to eat. We still need to keep our eyes open. Those wolves can be anywhere or anyone.”
“I know,” Igor growled. “That’s what happens when the dam is an immortal, she can breed longer.”
“Not just that and you know it. They don’t care if the human women they kidnap die in the process of whelping the litters.”
“Forgot they had litters and not singles,” Igor muttered. He pulled onto the off-ramp that led towards the rest area.
“And that’s what gives them a real advantage over us,” Valemon finished. The rest stop was in sight, the bright fluorescent lights illuminating the darkness around the area. A few large trucks were in the parking lot; their drivers were sleeping in the cabs for the night before continuing on the long trek to their destinations.
Igor checked the fuel gauge on the hybrid and noticed it was half-full. He decided against tanking up and exited the vehicle. He checked on Rachel, who lay moaning in the back seat, and went inside the gas station for a coffee. Valemon followed close behind while keeping an eye on the car.
“You should stay out there with her,” Igor whispered. “I’ll bring you one, don’t worry I know what you take in it.”
Valemon nodded and left the interior of the store. Igor walked to the carafes that held the black, fragrant liquid that would sustain them during their long drive to Lake Rossvatnet, in search of the Aerie, so they could find a way to help Rachel through her deadly pregnancy.
Igor poured the strong black truck-stop coffee into the paper cups provided and added the right amount of sugar and creamer for
each man. He noticed the counter attendant giving him an openly hostile look as he served himself the coffee. He walked up to the counter, placed the two cups down, and reached for his wallet.
The shaggy haired youth standing at the register continued to give Igor a cold, hostile stare as he went to pay for the coffee. “How much?” Igor asked the kid.
“Ten Kroner...” replied the youth as he reached for something under the counter. “And the girl,” he finished as he pointed an ornate dagger at the stunned Igor.
Igor quickly regained his senses and hurled the hot coffee in the face of the Ironwood Clan youth and ran out the door while he had the chance. “Get in the car,” he barked at the shocked Valemon. “They’re coming. That kid’s one of them.” He yanked open the SUV’s door, sat down and gunned the engine. Valemon quickly took his seat in the passenger side and buckled his seatbelt.
“Where to?”
“We’ll keep going. There has to be somewhere that isn’t owned by those mutts,” Igor growled as he glanced in the rear view mirror. He saw large dark shapes move in the darkness as he left the service station behind in a cloud of dust. He hit the entrance ramp and finally clicked in his seatbelt as they merged onto the quiet motorway. “I hope we left the mutts behind. Any change in Rachel?”
“No, none at all.” Valemon sadly replied to the question. “The good news is she isn’t deteriorating, though.”
“True. Improvement would be better, but that would be too much to hope for right now. I guess mother went through this for two weeks before I clawed my way out.” He sighed heavily. “I’m lucky father forgave me.”
Valemon put a comforting hand on his cousin’s knee. “It wasn’t your fault and you know it. Your father didn’t know the risks. I did, because of what your father and mother went through, yet I continued on my fool’s quest anyway.”
“You really don’t want to get locked in your bear shape forever, do you?”