Esther nodded. “Go. Go save Sam.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Ruins
Buzz heard Mary release a pent-up breath as they pulled shut the door to Esther’s house. He could feel the relief coming off her in waves. It felt good to be leaving behind the pain and secrets that Mary’s grandmother had been holding in all those years.
“What is it with this place, Buzz?” Mary sounded tired. “You told me once that Crowmarsh was boring. You lied.”
“It wasn’t a lie. I just didn’t know any better.” Buzz gripped the handlebars of his bike. Back then, when they’d first met, Mary had just been the odd girl with purple sneakers and spider-web leggings. Now Buzz knew that Mary was far more than that. During their quest to find the Runes of Valhalla, they’d discovered she was the mortal host for the goddess Hel. It meant she could read what people’s greatest fears were. He wondered if that was why she’d seemed so comfortable with going back to normal life after their quest. Because she’d known that she was far from normal or boring.
“Buzz, are you listening to me?” Mary shook his arm. “What are we going to do? We’ve got gods setting up camp in Crowmarsh, and now Sam is caught up in this mess as well.”
Let’s not forget the spirit from the rain forest who is looking for payment and has taken the runes, Buzz added silently, wheeling his bike down the street. But one thing at a time. Sam’s in trouble.
“I mean, stuff like this doesn’t happen in New York.” Mary looked thoughtful. “It must be the World Tree. When Odin planted it in the Tangley Woods all those years ago, he changed Crowmarsh forever. It’s like the barriers between the town and all those other realms is thin—”
“Hey, look, it’s Dumb and Dumber,” a familiar voice yelled from across the street.
Buzz looked over and saw Theo at his front door. The other boy held up a hand in greeting and then jogged over to them, grinning widely.
“Theo, you do know we’re supposed to be your friends now, right?” Mary pointed out. “We stopped an angry god and saved the world together, and that means we have a bond that cannot be torn asunder, et cetera, et cetera.”
“Yeah, of course,” Theo said. “I know that stuff.”
“Well, you don’t call your friends Dumb and Dumber,” Mary chided. “Especially if you haven’t seen one of them for months.”
Theo actually looked sheepish. “Ah, sorry, Mary. It’s just habit.” He nudged her shoulder with his. “It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Theo looked down at Buzz’s bike and let out a low whistle. “Man, your ride’s busted. What happened?”
“A Jeep happened, but forget that. We really need to find Sam,” Buzz said.
Theo ran a hand over his short hair. “Hey, I’m really sorry about that whole Doltmeld thing.” He grimaced. “Liam can usually get his hands on anything, and I was trying to be helpful. I didn’t mean for Sam to get pranked like that.”
“Whatever. You can apologize to Sam yourself, but we’ve got to find him first.”
“Oh.” Theo waved a hand dismissively. “I’ve tried saying sorry already, but he’s having none of it. Told me he had more important things to worry about than my petty mortal actions.” Theo rolled his eyes. “I mean, Sam does like to be dramatic, but I thought that was a bit over the top, even for him. I think he was trying to impress his new friends.”
“What friends?” Buzz stopped wheeling his bike. “And when did this happen?”
“About an hour ago,” Theo said. “I was on the high street and bumped into him. He was coming out of the post office with these strange-looking guys in white.” He shook his head. “Like, seriously, what is up with that whole tunic thing? And they were super intense.”
“Pantheon,” Buzz and Mary said at the same time.
“Panther who?” Theo repeated.
“We’ll explain in a minute.” Buzz took his phone out again and tried Sam’s number, but it was still going to voice mail. “What direction were they walking when they left the post office?” he asked.
Theo shrugged. “They were heading over to some Jeeps.” His eyes widened. “Hey, wait a second. Was it one of those tanks that bashed up your bike?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me,” Theo growled. “If you’ve got people messing with you, Buzz, you can tell me. I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks, Theo, but Sam’s the one we’ve got to worry about.”
Mary looked at her watch and pressed a few buttons.
“What’s up?” Buzz asked.
“Just making sure the GPS is working. I’ve made some upgrades to the watch and there might be a few glitches.” She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Okay, so if they were going in their Jeeps, then they must be planning on going at least a little distance,” she reasoned. “How far are the Crowmarsh ruins from the high street?”
“About a ten-minute drive,” Buzz replied.
“I bet that’s where they’ll be heading.” Mary rubbed her arms. The balmy spring night was quickly becoming chilly. “They’re going to make him demonstrate his power just like they did with Benjamin.”
“Then we need to get to him before it’s too late. Before they make him go through the arch.”
Theo was looking at the two of them with an utterly bemused look on his face. “Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, but it sounds like you need to get going, Buzz. Me and Mary will catch up with you. I’ll take my brother’s bike and Mary can take mine. We’ll be right behind you.”
“I’ll see you at the ruins.” Buzz jumped on his bike and pushed off. It protested as he tried to steer it in a straight line, but Buzz pedaled harder until he convinced the bike to pick up speed.
The Crowmarsh ruins were right on the edge of the Tangley Woods, past Larkscross, and on the very margins where the forest opened up into rolling fields. Staying close to the trees for cover, Buzz peered through the gloom and into the ruins. He could see firelight coming from within the stone walls, and as he crept closer, he heard the low murmur of many voices, and then applause and the stamping of feet and maybe even hooves. A shower of sparks shot up into the air.
Leaning his bike against the stone of the ruins, he scrambled up the wall, his hands and feet searching for any gaps or crevices that would give him a hold. He finally pulled himself up onto one of the parapets to peer through an arched window of the ruin.
Down below was the strangest combination of individuals he’d ever seen, gathered around fires that dotted the interior. A giant badger sat next to a creature with a man’s face but the body of a tiger with nine tails. A rainbow-colored serpent was hissing at a fearsome-looking woman who was perched on the backs of two lionesses. A powerfully built man with an ax that sparked with lightning was stooped down so he could speak to a tiny woman whose skin was as rich and dark as the earth, and who had the tiniest of snakes around her shoulders. A feathered dragon prowled backward and forward in front of a stone arch with a pyre of silver branches at its base. Buzz shuddered as he saw the beast. Memories of Nidhogg, the dragon who had kidnapped Sunna, Norse goddess of the sun, all those months ago, were still too fresh. This dragon didn’t look as big as Nidhogg, but its eyes were scarier. More human-looking and mean.
A woman in a cowl hood stood apart from them all. It was almost as if the others did not want to be near her. The cloak she wore squirmed about her as if it were a living thing, and looking more closely, Buzz saw that the material appeared to be writhing with maggots. Very slowly the figure pulled back her hood to reveal skin covered in pustules and black pockmarks. Her eyelids were fused shut, but this did not stop her from staring intently at the tall woman in white who stood right in the center of the ruins.
It was the high priestess. The woman who Esther said hadn’t aged a day.
She didn’t have her hair pulled back into a ponytail anymore. It was loose and wild, and it whipped in the wind like the long white dress she now wore. The fang brooch she�
�d been wearing earlier now glowed eerily in the moonlight. To her left, standing on some broken steps that no longer led anywhere, Buzz could see Sam. He looked very small, somehow, as he surreptitiously tried to look at those gathered around him. His chest rose and fell very quickly as he took in a silver-skinned god whose wings spread at least eight feet across and a woman who shifted from young to old to giant crow as quickly as you could blink.
Buzz wished he could tell his friend that everything was going to be okay. But that would be a lie, he admitted to himself for the first time. He had no idea how he was going to get Sam away from these people. Correction. How he was going to get Sam away from these gods.
CHAPTER SIX
The New God
The high priestess held up her hands for quiet. “First, I’d like to thank those who have paid their fee for entry to the Pantheon already, and kindly remind others that payment is required for full participation. Team Pantheon will circulate to collect final payment. Please have your jade discs ready.” She brought her hands together. “Now, I know a disc has not been the only cost for many of you. Your entry to this realm, be it by the World Tree or by the Ash Arch before us, will have sorely depleted your powers. But my friends, my comrades, it is worth it.” She looked out at the crowd. “We are gathered here to celebrate the manifestation of a new god and to begin our contest.” She gazed over at Sam on the ruined stairway with a pleased and possessive smile on her face. “Samraj has already proven that he has the power to create fire from nothing, and his abilities will continue to grow and multiply under the right tutelage.” Her voice was melodic but powerful. “Therefore, in our age-old tradition, we must now determine which pantheon this new god should join.”
Buzz saw the deep lines of Sam’s frown even from a distance. His friend opened his mouth but then closed it again as a ripple of excited chatter went through the crowd. The gathered gods seemed to sit up a bit straighter and lean in a bit farther.
“Quiet, comrades, and listen.” The high priestess raised her hands once more. “Like the world around us, we must evolve or perish.” Her voice took on a fevered pitch and her hands clenched into fists. “The appearance of a new god has become rarer and rarer, and such an opportunity must not be wasted.” Her face twisted with disgust. “We all remember what happened with the last manifesting god that came from Crowmarsh. We cannot afford another mistake like Benjamin.”
“Mistake!” Buzz heard a voice mutter furiously from below him. He looked down and saw that Mary and Theo were already halfway up the wall. “My great-uncle Benjamin was more than just some mistake, and if they—”
Buzz put a finger to his lips. Mary glared but managed to swallow down the rest of her words so she wouldn’t give away their position.
Back through the arched window, Buzz saw that the priestess had dropped her arms and was staring out at her audience once again. “Every generation, fewer people believe in the gods who are gathered here today. Many of you are forgotten or are about to be forgotten, and live in the Forsaken Territories scratching out a life. Some of our number have disappeared entirely already.” She fell silent for a moment, her eyes downcast as if paying her respects to the gods they had lost. “You all know, then, that gaining a new god for your particular pantheon is the lifeblood you need to survive.” She lifted her chin. “But it could be so much more than that. It could be the catalyst we need to make it the age of gods once more. This means it is even more essential that this precious prize is well won.”
Buzz saw Sam give a startled movement at this.
“Hold up.” In the firelight, Sam’s face shone with sweat. “I’m not a prize to be won, and I don’t want to join any pantheon. You said you’d help me contro—”
“In previous contests, we have often focused on tests of power.” The priestess spoke over Sam as if he had not opened his mouth. “But this time I will need to see more than strength to decide who will claim this young god, and I have decided that the whole of Crowmarsh will be your arena.” She made a steeple of her fingers. “Over the coming days, until the arrival of the spring equinox, you must use all your ingenuity, all your cunning and persuasive powers, to create new believers. And on the day when night and day are in exact balance, you must show me the number of followers you each have gathered. They will fight for you.”
A broad man with majestic antlers rose to his feet. “Berchta, you have no right to change the rules of the game.” He took a step forward, his massive shoulders rigid with fury. “Mortals today know little of belief. The contest should remain one of strength, as it has always been.”
The high priestess considered him for a moment like a scientist examining a strange species of insect. Almost lazily, her hand went to the brooch pinned to her collar, and her eyes began to glow icy bright. There, under the moonlight, her skin became translucent, and Buzz could see the cool blue fire that burned inside. Behind her, the pyre of silver branches within the arch caught fire and the flames knit together to make a shimmering sheet of amber.
The man with the stag antlers took a step back. “No, no, I’m sorry, my Lady of Winter. I did not mean to speak out of turn. I was just eager to win, that’s all.” He fell to his knees. “Please don’t make me go to that place. I’ll do anything.”
Berchta studied him. “Many years ago, the gods gathered here, and it was agreed that I should be the custodian of this contest. You all put your belief in me, and so it is my gods-given right to change the rules as I see fit. Understood?”
The horned god nodded. Not daring to meet Berchta’s eyes.
“Now, let it not be said that I am not benevolent. That I am not kind. I will not send you to that place you so fear, Cernunnos, but you are forbidden from taking part in the contest.” She rubbed the brooch again and the flames in the arch faded. “’Tis a shame, Lord of the Forest. You have the ability to charm and inspire when you wish, and those qualities would have been useful to make new believers.” She placed her hands on her hips. “There is no doubt that this is a challenging test. You forgotten gods must make people believe in you again. The time has come to take control of this realm once more.”
Mary and Theo had now joined Buzz on the ledge that looked into the amphitheater.
Theo let out a low whistle. “Man, I thought I’d seen some strange things before, but this takes the biscuit. Is that a man with four heads talking to a giant rabbit?”
“I think it might be a hare,” Mary corrected. “Look at the ears.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Buzz said. “And can you guys keep your voices down?”
Theo gave a swift nod.
“It’s not very nice, is it?” Mary said in hushed tones. “Making all these forgotten gods compete against one another for the prize of a new god, just so they have some chance of surviving. Some of them look so tired and weak. How horrible to be forgotten.”
“Mary, have a word with yourself.” Theo did not look impressed. “That woman with the crazy hair has basically just said that these gods have got permission to go running around Crowmarsh making new believers. What happens if people don’t want to believe in a giant badger?” He raised an eyebrow. “Not to mention, that Berchta woman is making moves to take over the world. And how about your great-uncle Benjamin—the big mistake. Where is he now? What did they do to him?”
Mary set her jaw. “You’re right, this is not a time for sympathy. It’s a time for action.” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Okay, let’s think about how we’re going to get Sam away from that priestess.”
The three of them stood in silence. The seconds felt like hours.
“Well, say something then!” Theo exclaimed. “You two are the smart ones.”
“I’ve got nothing.” Mary sounded mournful. “And even if I did, where do we hide Sam once we have him? These gods aren’t just going to give him up.”
“I know,” Buzz said. “I wish we had time to go to the World Tree and ask Ratatosk. He’d know what to do.”
�
�That squirrel and that tree both have an attitude problem,” Theo grumbled. “Let’s just use the Runes of Valhalla. These jokers won’t stand a chance against Odin and the others. Their powers will be all juiced up.”
“Er—” Buzz began.
“No,” Mary said at the same time. “We already have enough gods in town and shouldn’t be adding to the problem. Last time the Norse gods were awake, the whole world got stuck in a Saturday loop.” She shuddered. “Things started to decay, people became meaner. We can’t let that happen again.” She tucked a braid behind her ear. “Besides. Hel is fast asleep inside me and it’s staying that way. This body is mine.”
“I agree with Mary.” The words were out of Buzz’s mouth before he could stop them. He knew he was a coward for not telling his friends the truth about El Tunchi, but he didn’t want to tell them he’d failed in his task of being guardian of the runes. “Better not to bring the runes into it. Not until we know we’re out of options.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like we have time to get them, anyway.”
“Okay. Okay.” Theo cracked his knuckles, the sound making Buzz wince. “You’re right. We don’t need backup. We’ll just get this sorted ourselves.”
Buzz nodded even as the voice in his head continued with its admonitions. Oh, Buzz, you’re better than that. Tell them the truth. You were supposed to be looking after the runes and now they’re gone. . . .
Berchta clapped her hands, silencing the voice and everyone in the arena. “It is time, then, for this young man to pass across the veil until a worthy winner has been chosen.”
The priestess rubbed at her brooch and the branches in the arch caught fire once again, but this time they produced a smoke that was emerald green and streaked with red.
“No!” Sam pulled at the neck of his T-shirt like it was choking him. “I’m not going anywhere. You told me you could help me control my powers. You didn’t say anything about sending me away.”
Berchta held out a hand to him. “You are a great prize, Samraj.” Her voice was soothing but firm. “Having you in Crowmarsh will only distract those here from the task at hand.” She gazed out at the crowd. “I warrant we all remember the blood that was shed the last time we allowed the prize to remain in this realm whilst the trials were performed?”
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