“But not Yggdrasil,” Aila hurriedly added.
The elf hissed again. “Yggdrasil send us home.”
“Yes,” Sophie and Aila said together. Then Sophie added, “So don’t hurt Yggdrasil.”
The elf expertly twirled her blade in her hand, then pointed it again at the manhole. “Down. Kill Odin.”
Sophie looked to Aila. “I guess we’re all going down there.”
“Can we trust them not to stab us in the back?”
Sophie shook her head. “I don’t think we have a choice. You may just get to die with me yet.”
After stumbling through the darkness of the tunnel, and climbing down a jagged opening, I staggered into the cavern, panting and covered in cold sweat. I could only hope Sophie and Aila would escape. I knew now what I needed to do. What I had to do. The only way to give Alaric and Erykah a chance was to set things right on earth, to do as Yggdrasil had asked, and take an unfathomable amount of magic into me. It might kill me, or at the very least change me forever, but it had to be done.
The cavern was dark, lit only by the faint glow of the well. It was just as I remembered it, a giant cauldron big enough for me to climb inside if I wanted, bubbling over with raw, wild magics.
A figure stepped out of a dark recess in the cavern. The well’s cool white magic revealed his silver hair and beard. The black patch over his missing eye appeared as an empty void in his face.
Odin held a long gleaming sword casually in his right hand, its blade nearly touching the dark fabric of his nondescript pants, matching his tunic. “You have turned against me, Madeline.”
I forced my back to straighten, though it felt like most of my magic had left me. Where was Yggdrasil when I needed it? “I was never with you, Odin.”
He sneered. “No one has been with me since the mortals killed Frigg, but that will change soon. Give me the magic you have stolen from Yggdrasil.”
It was my turn to sneer. “I don’t have it.”
“Get it back.”
“The only way for me to get it back is to connect with the well.” I was glad I could tell him the truth, because I was pretty sure he’d know if I lied.
Odin didn’t move. “I am not a fool. I see all. I know what you plan. You cannot destroy me.”
I took a step forward. He couldn’t kill me, not if he wanted to bring Frigg back. He might be able to absorb the magic from other realms, but I was the only one who could hold both Yggdrasil’s magic and the well’s. The true power of life and death. The only thing that could bring back his wife, or could kill someone like Odin.
He lifted his sword. “Not another step, Madeline. You will summon Yggdrasil’s power here and now.”
I shook my head. “I can’t. It won’t come to my call again until I become what Hecate was. Then we will be whole—” I cut myself off, realizing that some of Yggdrasil’s influence remained. Hecate’s magic belonged on this earth, but Odin had taken it away from her. I had to take her place. I didn’t want it, but it was the only way.
Odin watched me as the seconds ticked by. The well seemed to beckon me. It was now or never.
I relaxed my body, hoping I could somehow outrun a god.
Odin hefted his sword. “You would leave your daughter behind forever?”
My heart ached. I thought I had accepted that I might never hold her again, never be with Alaric again, but suddenly I questioned everything.
“I knew you were a good mother. The child will be highly revered in the new Asgard.”
His words were enough. I wouldn’t let her be Odin’s tool for all of eternity, if he even let her live at all. I launched myself forward.
Odin’s blade swung right for my neck. I ducked, gasping, then ran past him. He apparently would kill me if it meant keeping me from the well. I only had seconds to make it.
My fingers touched the rim of the well, then a lancing pain erupted in the middle of my back. I tried to inhale, but sputtered up salty blood. I looked down in horror to see the end of Odin’s sword protruding from my belly.
The cavern erupted with shouts, battle cries I realized. I numbly turned to see Sophie, Aila, and a swarm of elves flooding into the cavern.
Odin turned toward them, letting go of his sword hilt.
It was the opportunity I needed. With my life slowly seeping away in waves of pain and hot blood, I tipped forward, falling into the well, taking the sword with me.
Everything became bright colors and mist. The space inside the well was impossibly large, like an entire realm. I drifted downward through open sky, but how could I be in the sky? Maybe this was what dying felt like.
I touched down on soft grass. I could vaguely sense the sword piercing my middle, skewing my body awkwardly, but the pain had faded. Or maybe I was close enough to death that I didn’t feel it anymore.
“Foolish mortal,” Odin’s voice said from somewhere above my head, and I groaned. He’d followed me into the well. I’d been hoping the elves would find a way to kill him. “You could have survived with your daughter, now you will die in vain. All for a chance to destroy me. I will find the one who holds Yggdrasil’s magic, and claim what is mine.”
I took a rasping breath, choking on blood. If I couldn’t take in the well’s magic and combine it with Yggdrasil’s before I died, my death really would be in vain. Odin might not find Marcos, he might not win, but neither would anyone else.
Lights sparkled in my vision as I blinked up at the misty sky above, wondering if the opening of the well was up there somewhere, or if my body would be lost in here forever. Alaric and Mikael wouldn’t even know what happened to me, unless Sophie or Aila had seen me fall.
I turned my trembling palms downward, digging weak fingers into the grass. I didn’t know exactly how the well worked, but inside of it, wild magic should have been all around. As I searched for the magic, I let everything go. My fear, my doubts, even my love for those still living. I put faith in Marcos of all people to release Yggdrasil’s magic when it was time.
The moment my last drop of fear left me, magic flooded in. It raced through my veins to the point where I was pretty sure I was glowing, but at some point I had closed my eyes. More magic seeped up from the earth. Yggdrasil’s magic. Marcos had actually come through. With its magic, the knowledge of the fates swept in. This was how it had to be. The ultimate sacrifice to bind the magics together.
“What are you doing!”
My eyes snapped open. Odin stood over me.
Suddenly I was toppling over with his boot against my back. He ripped his sword free, bathing my back in my blood, coating my broken body.
“You will die now mortal!”
He kicked me over again, making me look up at him as he plunged his sword down into my chest. I was pretty sure without the magic, I would have been dead already. No mortal shell could last through this.
“Maybe!” I sputtered, “but I’m taking you with me!”
I reached my hands up past the sword protruding from my chest, and everything became blinding magic, like I was a miniature sun shedding light across the land.
The light faded as suddenly as it had erupted. Odin dropped beside me, his entire body blackened.
My head lolled to the side.
His one good eye stared out from his blackened face. “I only ever wanted, to hold Frigg again.”
With my final breath, I said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
Then, like a final exhale, all the magic left me, and all went dark.
Sophie
Sophie stood with Aila and the elves in the now dark cavern. She’d seen Madeline fall into the well with a sword in her gut, and had witnessed Odin diving in after her. The cavern had filled with blinding light, then suddenly, went dark. She was left blinking in shock. Was Maddy . . . dead?
A hand touched her shoulder in the darkness. “We need to find Sleipnir. We will go to Alaric and Mikael.”
Tears stung her eyes. Maddy. She’d let herself care about her. Care too much. Now
she was dead.
“You go,” she said numbly. “I don’t care what happens anymore.”
Aila squeezed her shoulder. Muttering amongst themselves, the elves filtered out of the darkened cavern.
“Erykah is still alive. Madeline would want you to protect her.”
Sophie’s gut twisted. Aila was right. Alaric and Erykah might still need her help. She would not let Madeline, or herself, down. “Let’s go,” she breathed. “And let heaven and hell have mercy on any gods who dare get in my way.”
Aila squeezed her shoulder, then turned to leave the cavern.
Sophie took one last look at the inert well, barely visible in the darkness. Something had happened in there. Either Maddy had succeeded, or Odin had won, and they were all doomed.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, then left the cavern. Either way, the world would be irreparably changed. Her life would be irreparably changed. And she’d been too weak to stop it.
11
Alaric
The firelit stone darkness of Hel’s chamber rumbled, echoed by crashing rock and debris elsewhere. They’d been brought here, along with Freyja, to explain to Hel everything that had happened, while Hel held Erykah hostage. Alaric had been just about to explain how Maddy could possibly hope to defeat Odin, when the rumbling nearly knocked him from his feet.
Hel straightened as the rumbling subsided, holding Erykah absentmindedly. Her black hair draped her shoulders as she looked up, catching flickers of firelight like a pool of oil.
Freyja, still seeming unsteady on her feet, held a hand to her chest. “Something has happened. We must return to Asgard and find Loki.”
“Not so fast,” Hel hissed, lowering her gaze. “You cannot simply enter my realm, then leave unscathed. I thought you needed my help.”
“To protect the child from Odin,” Freyja said, “yes. We will leave her here in your care.”
“Like hell we will!” Mikael interrupted before Alaric could say something similar.
Freyja held malice in her blue eyes. “She will keep Erykah safe,” she turned to Hel, “won’t you?”
Alaric stepped forward. He wanted to go to Maddy, but his duty lay here. “I will stay here with her.”
Freyja shook her head. “No. Mortals are easily lost to the realm of Hel. She will not harm the child, but the same protection will not extend to you.”
Hel shrugged. “She’s right. This child is too valuable to harm. You, however, are worthless, despite your grand tale.”
The red-haired woman, the same one who’d fetched Freyja, hurried into the cavern. She dropped to her knees at Hel’s feet. “Forgive the intrusion, but your father has been mortally wounded. He may not survive.”
Hel’s expression turned stony. Her body went so still, Alaric wasn’t sure she was even breathing. “Who has harmed him?”
The redhead kept her head bowed. “Our spies say Odin. Loki tried to trick him, to keep him in Asgard. When Odin discovered his ruse, he attacked him, then fled to Midgard.” Finally, she lifted her head. “He may not have much time left.”
Alaric’s mind spiraled into panic. If Odin went to Midgard, that meant he was going after Madeline. He would kill her. He had to find a god to take him down to earth. He clenched his fists, looking to Erykah in Hel’s arms. He could not leave her.
Mikael placed a hand on Alaric’s shoulder. “You will go back to Asgard. Find a way to Madeline. I will remain here with Erykah.”
Alaric blinked at him, shocked he hadn’t found a way to be the one to hurry to Madeline’s side.
“You know I will protect her,” Mikael said, “no matter what dangers lie in wait.”
Hel was watching them both as if they’d finally managed to surprise her. As if making up her mind, she marched toward them, then handed Erykah to Mikael.
Alaric’s shoulders slumped in relief, but Hel was still watching him, making some internal decision.
“You may accompany me to Asgard. If Odin is not in his realm, I should be safe to bring my father to the underworld.”
Freyja seemed unsure of what to do.
“I’ll need someone to bring me to Midgard,” Alaric said to her.
She shook her head. “I’m still too weak.”
“Who else can help me?”
“We must go now!” Hel shouted. “My father owes me an apology before he dies.”
She gripped Alaric’s arm.
He turned to Mikael, a million things left unsaid.
Clutching Erykah protectively, Mikael inclined his head. “I will protect her. You must find a way to Madeline.” He turned to Hel. “But one last question. Where is Faas? The one who came with the child.”
The redhead finally stood. “He is still wandering the wastes within the gates. Shall I find him?”
“Whatever,” Hel said, then gripped both Alaric’s arms and closed her eyes.
A moment later, they were within the large estate in Asgard. It was a room he didn’t recognize, dominated by a massive rectangular dining table, and a few other furnishings common to a dining room. At the table’s center lay Loki, a sword pinning him through the chest to the wood.
Hel let out an inhuman wail, then rushed to him.
Loki’s head flopped to the side, his red hair coated in blood. Still alive, but just barely. He reached a trembling, blood-coated hand toward Hel. “I did my best for you, my girl. If Madeline defeats him, you will be safe.”
Hel clutched his hand, partially crawling atop the table, though her dress restricted her movements. “No! I will not lose you, not now!”
In that moment Alaric saw Hel’s indifference toward her father for what it was, a mask to hide her pain.
Commotion behind him prompted Alaric to leave the doorway and enter the room. He turned as a male god he slightly recognized entered.
The god looked Alaric up and down. “You are not allowed here. Odin’s orders.” His eyes widened as he seemed to recognize Hel. He put his hands up and began to back away.
With one hand on her father, Hel extended the other toward the god, her face contorted with rage, or maybe it was just pain. The god crumpled to his knees, gurgled inaudibly, then slumped over, seemingly dead.
With a feral cry, Hel turned back to Loki. She climbed fully atop the table, rose up on her knees, and ripped the sword free from his chest, releasing a gush of blood. She knelt over him, placing her hands over his wound.
Alaric’s eyes widened as her hands began to glow. She was . . . healing him? It was just like what Madeline could do, take the life of one being, and use it to heal another.
Seconds ticked by, then Loki coughed, and abruptly sat up. He laughed half-heartedly, seeming to only be half conscious. His bleary eyes focused on Hel. “My girl, you do realize this is why you had to flee to the underworld to begin with?”
“Only because Odin wanted to use me.”
Everything clicked into place. Why Hel ruled the underworld, why she of all people would be willing to protect Erykah.
Alaric stepped toward the table, looking at Loki. “Hel is just like Madeline and Erykah, isn’t she? Odin tried to use her, and you forced your daughter to live in the underworld to keep her safe.”
Loki nodded.
“Force, being the imperative word,” Hel added, not seeming to care about her father’s blood coating her hands. She turned to Loki. “I had good reason for not speaking to you all these years.”
Loki shrugged. “Surrounded by the dead, you would always be at your most powerful. Limitless energy for you to take in. Odin dared not face you.” He turned to Alaric. “Speaking of, he went to Midgard to await Madeline at the well.”
“The Well of Urd?” Hel balked.
“Can you take me there?” Alaric interrupted. “Either of you?”
Loki looked to his daughter. “I assume the child is in your realm? You must return there and protect her, at least until we know whether or not Odin will return.”
Hel nodded, then in the blink of an eye, was gone.
“Odin is stronger than even Hel,” Loki explained as he climbed from the table. “I will not risk my daughter, not even for the only person who might actually defeat him.” He held out a hand to Alaric. “Now let’s go, we haven’t much time.”
Sophie
“That bloody stupid horse!” Sophie growled, stalking the area outside the manhole. “Where has it gotten to?”
The elves waited idly by, watching her and Aila as they separately wove in and out of the surrounding streets, searching for the horse. Not only had they proven utterly useless in protecting Madeline, now they couldn’t even go to Alaric. And these elves were being no help at all. It was as if they no longer cared what was happening, now that Odin was gone.
“Sophie!” a familiar voice called, and her knees nearly buckled.
She turned, spotting Alaric and Loki running toward her down the street she’d been checking, Aila trailing after them.
Her heart raced. What was she going to tell him about Madeline? What could she possibly say?
He reached her, then hugged her. “Where is she?” he rasped in her ear. “Where is Madeline? Aila said—”
She pulled away from him, holding him at arms length. She steadied herself. He might have willed himself to not believe Aila, but he’d have to listen to her. She would have to shatter her own brother’s heart. “The last I saw of Madeline, she was falling into the well, mortally wounded. Odin went in after her, then the light in the well flashed, and went dark.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I think . . . I think she’s gone.”
Alaric collapsed. She barely managed to catch him, then they both sagged to the asphalt.
Loki and Aila stood over them.
Distantly, beyond her brother’s sobs, she heard Loki say, “She did it. I don’t understand how, but I can feel both the magic of Yggdrasil and of the well pulsing throughout Midgard. I believe Odin is dead.”
Truth or Death Page 9