“Are you ready?” Marcos asked.
I looked to Aila and Sophie, but this time, neither interrupted.
I turned my gaze back to Marcos. “Let’s do this.”
9
Alaric
It felt like Alaric had been sinking downward for hours, but it must have only been minutes, else his lungs would have given out long ago. He sunk downward through shimmering water, though he sunk too fast for it to be normal water. It was like an invisible current propelled him.
His lungs began to burn, and stars danced in his vision more brightly than the glimmering water. Slowly, his vision went gray, then he burst through the surface of the water . . . only he was going downward.
Suddenly he was toppling through open air. He managed one painful inhale, then slammed down onto powdery earth, losing his breath once more. He blinked his eyes, staring upward at an impossible barrier of glimmering water overhead. He had just a moment to roll aside as Mikael splashed down through the water, landing right where he’d been lying.
Beginning to recover, Alaric sat up and glared at the dripping wet Viking.
Mikael sat up, flinging droplets from his long auburn hair. “Well that was interesting.”
Shaking his head, Alaric stood. Ahead of them was a wide stone wall with a single opening, lit by surrounding firelight.
Mikael rose, then stood shoulder to shoulder with him. “That looks suspiciously like a maze.”
“That’s because it is one,” Alaric sighed, walking across the open expanse of earth toward the massive stone maze. The area would have been pitch dark if not for iron sconces lining the outer wall of the maze. More sconces could be seen within.
They reached the opening, but both hesitated.
Mikael was the first to speak. “Are we to believe this maze leads to Hel?”
Alaric gritted his teeth, leaning heavily on his uninjured leg. “Does it matter? Look around.” He turned and gestured toward the area where they’d fallen, just open, black earth, and beyond that only darkness. “There’s nowhere else to go.”
Mikael motioned for Alaric to enter first. “I hope Madeline is having a better time than us.”
Alaric walked past him. He knew deep down he was just frightened for his daughter and the woman he loved, but what he felt most in that moment was rage. Rage toward Mikael. “You are the reason she is in this mess. Do not pretend to care for her wellbeing.”
Mikael snorted. “Oh, so I’m to blame now? How do you figure that?”
Alaric wasn’t even sure why he’d said what he’d said, but he wasn’t going to take it back now. Just inside the entrance of the maze, he spun on Mikael. “You’re the one who’s encouraged every foolish, dangerous plan she’s come up with. You encouraged her to go against a god. Do you really think she can face Odin and live?”
“Yes,” Mikael said simply, walking past him further into the maze. “I do.” He turned right at the first bend.
Alaric limped after him. “Then you’re even madder than she is.”
Mikael didn’t stop walking, nor did he turn around as he replied, “You think I’m crazy to trust her?”
“That’s not what I said.”
Mikael kept walking through the firelit maze. “Well it has to be what you meant. If she’s mad, then I’m mad to trust in the plans she concocts.”
Alaric pushed past Mikael, shoving him with his shoulder toward a fork in the path. Without thinking, he turned left.
Mikael hurried after him. “No argument then?”
Alaric clenched his hands into fists. Puffs of dirt stormed up around his sopping wet boots, waves of pain shot up his injured leg. “You twisted my words. I only meant she’s young, she often doesn’t know what she’s doing, and you only encourage her.”
Mikael laughed. “She’s basically the reincarnation of a goddess. She’s traveled time, regrown an ancient relic. She’s practically moved entire worlds for both of us. And you would dare to claim she doesn’t know what she’s doing? Still?” He pushed past, taking the lead further into the maze.
Alaric stormed after him. “She cannot know! None of us do!”
Mikael finally stopped to look at him. “Are you truly this dense? Her energy is part of Yggdrasil. Deep down, she has the knowledge of the ages within her.”
Alaric blinked at him, a bit of his uncharacteristic ire leaking away. “You truly believe that?”
“Why do you think Odin is so afraid of her?”
Alaric’s throat went dry. Odin was using Madeline to meet his own ends, to perhaps bring back his dead wife. He couldn’t be afraid of her, could he?
Mikael snorted. “You beings of war are all the same. You cannot see what lies beneath manipulation. I guarantee you, deep down, it is always fear.”
“Then you must be the most fearful person on the planet.”
Mikael bared his teeth. “Perhaps I was, once, but I no longer need manipulations to interact with those around me.”
Rage washed up once more. “Well you could have fooled me, that seems like all you do. You encourage Madeline to enter into danger, but only dangers where you can be the one right by her side. You constantly orchestrate these situations.”
Mikael stepped toward him. “Did you ever stop to consider that perhaps, I am constantly by her side because she wants me there?”
Alaric clenched his fists so tightly it felt like his tendons might snap. “As I said before, she is young.”
“She may be young, but she is far wiser, far better, than either of us will ever be. I may not deserve her, but neither do you.”
His anger seemed to dissipate into little fragments of dust, slowly settling into the earth at their feet. Replacing that ire was fear. Fear of another loss like his mother. There were only three people truly dear to him. If they were taken away—Maddy, Erykah, and Sophie—he would not survive.
He realized that maybe, just maybe, Mikael felt the same.
He lifted a hand to his brow and shook his head. “What are we doing? We need to get out of this maze and find Hel.”
Clapping prompted him to lift his gaze. Further into the maze stood a pallid woman dressed in black. She had Loki’s thin nose, and his height, though her hair was jet black, and her skin looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in several centuries. A black dress clung to her too-thin frame.
She clapped black-gloved hands one more time, then stepped toward them. “I can’t remember the last time mortals made it this far into my realm. I had considered letting you rot down here, but you have proven quite entertaining.”
“She is eerily like her father,” Mikael muttered.
The woman—who’d yet to introduce herself, but had to be Hel—whipped her pale gaze toward Mikael. The firelight seemed to not quite reach her skin, which glowed dully with cool light like the moon. “So you know my father then? Did he toss you down here?”
“Something like that,” Mikael answered, stepping toward her. “Now where is the child?”
Hel’s half-smile on her gaunt face made her look a bit mad. “Yes, a very interesting child. Why did my father send you? I told him I never wanted to speak to him again.”
Alaric wasn’t sure how much to tell her, they’d planned on having Freyja with them at this point, but he supposed if Loki thought Hel would be sympathetic to their cause, the truth might not hurt. “Odin is trying to use my daughter to siphon magic into Asgard in order to bring back his dead wife. Your father thought you might help us protect Erykah until Odin can be dealt with.”
Hel laughed, the sharp sound seeming to scald Alaric’s skin. “I am death incarnate. Why should I concern myself with your lives?”
“Well you’re here talking to us,” Mikael interjected, “so you obviously care enough to be curious.”
Hel glared at him. “Where is my father?”
Mikael shook his head. “I don’t know. I believe he planned on distracting Odin while we fled, and while the roots of Yggdrasil were severed on earth. Freyja brought us here, but was left
at the gates.”
Hel inhaled sharply, hissing air through her teeth. Suddenly there was another black clad woman at her back, with skin as pallid as Hel’s, though the woman’s hair was red.
“Fetch Freyja from the gates,” she ordered.
The woman was gone without another word, disappearing further into the maze.
Hel turned back to Alaric and Mikael. “You two, come with me. I will hear your tale from the start.”
She turned and walked further into the maze.
Mikael glanced at Alaric. “Well, that went better than expected.”
“Oh shut up,” Alaric sighed, then hurried after Hel.
10
Sleipnir touched down outside of Hillsboro, throwing me forward.
Aila caught me just before I hit asphalt. “You are even weaker than you used to be.”
I shook my head, pushing away from her as I righted myself. “No, I’m not weaker. I’m just having to deal with the aftereffects of severing the roots all at once. Yggdrasil was protecting me before, but now I’m only human.”
Her hand still on Sleipnir’s reins, Sophie gazed past us toward Hillsboro. We were standing in the middle of the highway, but there was little danger as the entire city was surrounded by a tall fence, tipped at the top with barbed wire. The buildings beyond were overgrown with vines and moss. Birds flew between broken windows, and other sounds of wildlife emanated from within.
“It’s gotten worse,” Aila commented.
My palms began to sweat. We’d left Marcos back at Yggdrasil’s trunk, full of its magic. Without him, we were entirely vulnerable to whatever was inside the fence ahead. The overgrowth within was all a result of wild magics. Any creatures who’d come through Yggdrasil would have been drawn toward the well’s power. I looked to Aila. “You’ve seen it since we left the well?”
She nodded. The bruises on one side of her face looked painful, but she didn’t so much as wince as she explained, “Mikael wanted to know if it changed at any point. It hadn’t, not really, but I was just here last week, and now it’s worse.”
Sophie crossed her arms. “Probably from the magic Madeline released from Yggdrasil before she took the rest and shoved it all into Marcos.”
I glared her. “Would you rather I still be possessed?”
She shook her head. “No, I’d rather you hurried up and absorbed the well’s magic so we can get on with our lives.”
I didn’t mention the fact that I might not have a life to get on with. Even if I reached the well and absorbed its magic, and even if Marcos followed through and returned Yggdrasil’s power to me, I’d be filled with the magic of both. I might be able to kill Odin, but I might kill myself too.
I clenched my fists. “Let’s get this over with. All we have to do is reach the well.” Yeah, that, and release all its magic to combine with mine and Yggdrasil’s.
Sophie furrowed her brow as she looked at the barbwire tipped fence. “Do you think Sleipnir could bring us closer to the well? I’d rather not have to travel across the city on foot. We’ve no idea what awaits us in there.”
It was a good idea. I might have even thought of it myself if I wasn’t so distracted. I looked to Sleipnir, wishing we still had Marcos with us, or anyone else from the house. If there were ghouls or other creatures, we might struggle to reach the well. Sleipnir was so huge, I wasn’t sure if he could bring us all the way into the drainage system where the well resided.
I looked to Aila and Sophie as I took Sleipnir’s reins in hand. “Be prepared, we might be attacked as soon as we touch down.”
Sophie moved close enough to my back that we were almost touching. I could feel her anxiety. She might not have cared much about me in the beginning, but now we were family. Hell, I even viewed Aila as family. I didn’t want to lose either of them.
“Let’s go,” I breathed. I closed my eyes and thought of the Well of Urd, hoping Sleipnir would understand my silent instructions. He’d brought us to Hillsboro on a thought, so this should work too.
A few moments of dizzying movement later, we stood in the middle of what used to be a park, only now it was like a jungle. Trees rose above us over twenty feet tall. I’d been to this same park less than four months ago, and there had only been a few elms. These trees shouldn’t have grown so quickly, but even contained, the well seemed to have an influence on our surroundings.
“Down!” Sophie barreled into me, knocking me to the cracked asphalt.
A blade whooshed over us. I saw leaf-textured skin and golden eyes.
“They’re elves!” I shouted, rolling aside.
Aila’s blade swung, cutting the elf who’d attacked us nearly in two, but there were more moving in, darting back and forth behind the trees.
Aila put a free hand on Sleipnir’s reins to steady him. “Get to the well,” she said. “We’ll hold them off.”
Sophie helped me to my feet, then shoved me toward the manhole. Its lid was missing. Anything could be down there.
“Go!” Sophie shouted as the elves neared.
Well shit, this was it, the moment we’d all been waiting for. Fighting against my overwhelming fatigue, I ran toward the manhole and jumped inside, catching my hands around the outer rungs of the ladder to hop the rest of the way down into the abyss.
It would probably be the last dark abyss I’d ever see, but who knew? Maybe the descent into the afterlife would grant me with one final leap of faith.
Sophie
An elf darted in, its strange, silver-gleaming blade narrowly missing Sophie’s waist. As she darted aside, Aila swung her sword, beheading the elf.
Sophie grimaced as warm elven blood splattered her face.
“Sorry,” Aila said, swinging at another elf, which deftly hopped aside.
Sophie put her back to Aila, looking for any elves coming in from the other direction. She spotted the manhole down to the well, but no Maddy. She could only hope she made it down, and that Odin wouldn’t be waiting for her.
The elves methodically closed in around them. There were too many of them to fight off.
“What do they want?” Aila hissed.
“To kill us apparently.”
“But why? Aren’t elves supposed to be intelligent?”
Sophie brandished her blade in her left hand, clutching her injured arm against her chest. The elf who’d neared hopped back, carefully watching her movements for an opening. Now that they’d killed a few, they seemed to be more cautious.
She dared a glance past the elf. “Where the hell did Sleipnir go?” She didn’t see the cursed horse anywhere. It had abandoned them.
“Sophie,” Aila said. “If I must die here, I’m glad you’re the last person I will see. I hope you can escape, and I will cover you while you try.”
Sophie nearly dropped her blade. The elves were watching them, probably surveying their weaknesses. “I’m the one you’d want to see, not Mikael?”
“Yes.”
“Is that not a betrayal of your duty?”
Aila’s back pressed against hers. “If he were to die, I have no doubt he’d want to see Madeline, not me. Such a thing is not a betrayal on either side.”
Sophie chose to ignore the comment about Maddy. She was Alaric’s and Mikael just needed to back off as far as she was concerned.
“Well I’m glad to die with you too.”
“You need to run.”
“We told Maddy we’d watch her back, and that is what we will do. If she can risk her life to set things right, then so can we.”
Sophie craned her neck to peek over Aila’s shoulder as elves flicked their golden gazes to each other, then one stepped forward, a female. She kept a safe distance between them, but at least she didn’t attack.
“What’s she doing?” Sophie asked through gritted teeth.
“Testing us, I think. Or lulling us into a false sense of safety.”
The female elf lifted her blade like it was an extension of her arm. For a moment Sophie thought it was pointed at Aila, then
she realized it was pointing toward the manhole past them.
“Yggdrasil,” the elf said.
Did she mean Maddy? “Not quite,” Sophie replied. “But close enough.”
The elf waved her blade. “Yggdrasil.”
“Are they talking about Madeline?” Aila whispered.
“Maybe. Or maybe the well.”
Aila’s shoulders relaxed. “Well, at least they’re not trying to go after her. I wonder if they’ll let us go.”
Sophie took one step away from Aila, and all the elves tensed, lifting blades the color of moonlight, and in the back, hiding amongst the trees, she saw some with bows.
“Not Aesir?” the lead elf questioned, surprising Sophie with an English word.
She slowly moved to Aila’s side instead of behind her, keeping their shoulders touching. “Definitely not,” she answered, then more quietly said, “I get the feeling they don’t like the gods. Maybe that’s why they attacked Madeline when she and the others faced them. Loki was with them.”
Aila lifted a brow. “When was this?”
“Right before the shit hit the fan. Try talking to them.”
Aila huffed. “Why me?”
“You’re nicer than me.”
“That’s not saying much.” Despite her terribly rude comment, Aila lowered her sword down to her side. “Not Aesir,” she said, then pointed to her chest, “Vaettir.”
The lead elf inhaled sharply, hissing air through her teeth.
Sophie pursed her lips. “Apparently not the right thing to say. Let’s try this.” She pointed back to the manhole. “Odin down there. Bad Odin.”
The elves erupted in chatter, seeming to grow angrier by the moment.
“That might have been a mistake,” she admitted.
As the chatter died down, the lead elf turned back to them. “Bad Odin. Kill homeland. Good gods never return.”
She lifted a brow. “Then again, maybe not.” She lifted her voice. “Kill bad Odin?”
The elf tilted her head downward, giving Sophie a wicked glare. “Kill Odin.”
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