Then the two women began to mutter something in soft sing-song voices. It was too low for me to hear, but I could tell it was in the old language.
After a moment, a light wind began to swirl around the girls, and then it extended out to the dragons and I as it picked up speed.
The wind began to sparkle as it went around and around us, and it got faster with each rotation. The sparkle was golden at first, but it turned into a crimson color.
The spell didn’t take long, and after a moment of wind and sparkles everything stopped so suddenly I wasn’t sure it had ever been there.
“It’s done,” Asta announced as she opened her yellow eyes.
“We have six hours.” Kas nodded.
“I think we’re ready,” I said as I looked at my team, and each of them had a determined look on their faces as they stared back at me.
Then Blar stepped forward, and I nodded to the tiny dragon, so he closed his eyes and focused.
After a few seconds, a small portal appeared, and it grew larger as I watched. Once it had grown to full size, Blar turned to look at me proudly.
“Good job,” I told him with a pat on the head.
The little blue dragon flew up onto my shoulders, and Inger settled onto Asta’s shoulders while Uffe settled onto Kas’. We were all ready to step through the portal then, so I grabbed the girls’ hands and took a deep breath before I stepped forward and pulled them with me.
I experienced the familiar rush of wind overcome me as the portal sent us hurtling through space and time before disappearing completely.
Before I opened my eyes, I could smell we weren’t in Asgard any longer. This place smelled damp and mildewy, and the stench was so powerful it made me wrinkle my nose.
Finally, I opened my eyes and looked at our surroundings. As far as I could see, there was absolutely nothing around us except open land and some sort of fog I could barely see through. The entire world seemed to be cast in a light-green color that reminded me of what it felt like to be nauseous.
There were a few plants on the ground around us, but they were all dead and rotten. The sun was nonexistent, but there was still light somehow to illuminate the dinginess of the place.
I glanced around to see if I could spot anything at all nearby. I was hoping we’d landed near the gates, but I saw nothing.
“Which way do we go?” Asta frowned. “Everything looks the same.”
“It does,” I agreed. If we went the wrong way, then we could potentially find ourselves going in circles or getting even further away from the gates.
While I thought about our options, I figured we could do something useful.
“Blar,” I instructed. “I want you to practice making a portal back to Asgard while we figure out which way to go.”
The little dragon nodded and closed his eyes to focus once more. A second later, a portal appeared, and he looked incredibly pleased with himself.
“Good job.” I smiled and patted the little dragon on the head.
Kas had pulled out her enchanted map in that time to see if it might be able to show us anything.
“Any luck?” I asked.
“None.” The strawberry-blonde shook her head. “It’s just blank.”
“I suppose we’ll have to start walking, then,” I said, and I looked around once more. The vegetation didn’t give me any indication of which way was north or south like I’d hoped it would. Then again, I didn't know if the gates were north or south, so I figured that didn’t matter too much. At this point, we just had to start walking and hope we found the gates sooner rather than later.
I started forward, and the girls followed, but I could sense Kas’ hesitation. It was reasonable enough, but right then we didn’t have any other option except to start moving.
As we walked, I still couldn’t see any indication of the sun whatsoever, and it seemed like there was nothing above us. The sky was just green and murky, as if we were caught in a swamp. The smell stayed the same, too, so I knew we hadn’t been near any sort of body of water, that was simply how this realm smelled.
“I swear we’ve gone by that rock before,” Kas said after we’d been walking for a while.
“Yes,” Asta agreed. “And I’ve seen that rotting flower before, too.”
“We’re going in circles,” Kas sighed.
“How can we be going in circles?” I asked. “We’ve only been moving straight.”
“I don’t know.” Kas bit her lip. “But I swear we’ve been here before.”
“Let’s mark our path,” I suggested, and I used my sword to draw an X on the ground so we’d know if we came to it again.
“Good idea,” the strawberry-blonde said.
Blar hopped off my shoulders then and flew forward. He landed on the ground ten feet ahead of us and turned back to look at us.
“What is it?” I asked.
The little dragon ran forward into the fog, and for a second I couldn’t see him, and my heart rate spiked.
“Blar!” I yelled as I ran forward.
I quickly spotted the blue dragon and crouched down next to him, about to tell him to never do that again, but then I noticed he stared straight forward, so I turned my head to see what he was looking at.
In front of us was a massive double door gate easily fifty feet tall. It looked like it had been made of gold at one time, but now it was tinged green with mildew and mold. There were rotten vines covering it, and somehow that stench from before had gotten even worse.
“Oh, Odin,” Kas breathed as she and Asta caught up to me and skidded to a halt.
“These must be the gates we were supposed to find,” Asta said.
“If these are the gates, then that means…” Kas’ voice trailed off as a low growl sounded from our right.
I turned my head and saw a massive muzzle come out through the fog, with its teeth bared as the beast snarled.
“Get behind me,” I whispered as I stood up, drew my weapon, and stepped in front of the girls.
Blar flew up onto my shoulder again, this time he clung to one side only as he leaned forward, ready to pounce at a second’s notice.
“Perhaps he will let us through,” Asta whispered.
“What?” Kas sounded as if she thought Asta was completely nuts, and for a second I had to agree.
“He is only the guardian of the gates,” Asta explained. “He has no reason to not let us in.”
“Except that we aren’t dead,” Kas hissed.
“Oh,” the elf girl said quietly.
“Shhh,” I whispered, but I didn’t for a second allow my focus to leave the massive canine headed straight for us.
Garm’s face and neck made their way through the fog, and I locked eyes with the beast as he started to move in front of the gates.
Unlike Nidhug and the wolf I’d encountered before, this giant creature didn’t talk, he only snarled.
He was probably thirty feet tall, with teeth as long as my sword, and his fur was matted with dirt and blood. Red eyes surveyed me as he took another step in my direction, but he didn’t appear to be looking at the girls or the dragons. He was fixated on me, which I thought was a good thing. I’d rather he be after my blood than the girls’.
I held my sword up and stared him in the eye, which only made him appear that much angrier. The beast snarled louder, and the hair on his back stood up even more as he stepped forward and snapped at me.
I could tell right away my only option was to attack. I usually tried to wait for my opponent to attack first since countering their moves would give me the upper hand, but in this situation I knew that wasn’t an option.
Garm was the guardian of Helheim, and if I didn’t attempt to get inside, then he had no reason to attack me. Something told me I could walk away, and he would let me, but if I wanted through those gates, then I would have to go through him.
“Blar, you know what to do,” I said without looking at the little creature on my shoulder.
The small dragon flew up int
o the air, but Garm didn’t take his eyes off me.
“Now!” I shouted, and Blar let out a huge blast of blue flames at Garm’s back.
The massive dog yelped in surprise before he turned his head and jumped up to snap at Blar. The little dragon was too quick for him, but I used that opportunity to lunge forward and drag my blade across the canine’s massive chest.
Blood spilled from the wound, which surprised me considering I thought the beast was already dead. I wasn’t sure how I would win against him in the first place, but if he could bleed then that was a start.
I skidded on the ground as I landed, and then I quickly turned back to see Garm shake his head so blood sprayed out from his wound in all directions. The massive slice I’d made didn’t seem to affect him at all, and even the damage Blar had done with his fire didn’t seem to have any effect on the giant beast.
I glanced over to check on the girls, and I saw they had their weapons drawn and were in matching fighting stances. I didn’t want them to have to fight this thing, but Garm seemed incredibly fixated on me, so if they could get a few jabs in, then it would be quite helpful.
“Come here, you ugly mutt,” I spat as I stood up and stepped toward the dog.
I didn’t know if he could actually understand me or not, but he didn’t seem to appreciate my name calling. He snarled low and snapped before he lunged directly toward me.
His massive body was difficult to avoid, so instead I slid down onto my knees and thrust my sword upward into his chest. His fur was matted, but my blade sliced right through him, and warm sticky blood splattered across my face.
Garm stepped back quickly, which pulled my sword out of his ribcage, but before I could move again, he jumped back and snapped his jaws at me. His mouth was massive, but as he came toward me, I stuck my sword into the top of his mouth, and he shook his head to try and get it out.
I held onto my sword, and when he finally shook it free, I went flying with it over to the ground nearby.
I jumped up, but the girls had already attacked.
Blar was clawing at Garm’s eye while Kas and Asta attacked the beast’s legs. Inger flew around him and breathed a constant stream of fire while Uffe continuously hurled rocks at his face.
I smiled at their efforts. It was almost cute to watch them all work together, but even still, they were causing some serious damage.
Kas’ greatsword cut into the canine’s back legs while Asta’s axe worked on the front two. The beast was now dripping more blood than he had been before, and every time he tried to snap at one of the girls or dragons, Blar would breathe fire into his face to blind him.
The beast was overwhelmed for the moment, and I saw my opportunity, so I took it.
I prepared myself and ran forward with my sword at the ready. Then I rushed underneath the massive dog, and once I was in the right spot, I jumped up and used all my strength to stab my blade into his heart.
The dog let out one last yelp, and then he started to collapse. I scrambled out from under him as he went down, and I saw blood was running out from all of his wounds. His torn up red eye stared blankly, and I watched the life drain out of him.
“Rath.” Kas rushed over to me and grabbed my head between her hands. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I assured her.
“You have a nasty scrape on your forehead.” Asta frowned.
I reached up and touched my head, and when I pulled my fingers down, I saw there was blood on them.
“It’s nothing,” I said quickly.
Just then, the gates swung open with a terrible screeching sound.
“We did it,” Asta gasped, and she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
“It appears so,” I agreed as I looked over at the massive dog.
“Now, we just have to find this castle,” Kas said, but I was too busy staring at the canine, and as I watched, Garm began to move.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
“What’s going on?” Asta asked quickly.
“I don’t know,” I said, and I pushed the girls by the shoulders toward the gate. “But we’re not staying to find out, go, go, go.”
We rushed through the gate as Garm stood back up and shook himself off. Then the doors closed behind us, and the massive dog gave us one final look through the bars of the gate before he turned away and went back to his post. He seemed completely unconcerned with us now that we’d defeated him and made it through the gates.
“Do you think the blood he’s covered in is his own?” Kas asked.
“It’s quite possible some of it is,” I said. “It seems he’s cursed to guard this place forever. I would bet he wins a lot of the time, but occasionally he has to fall like he did today.”
“Poor thing.” Asta frowned.
“You know he just tried to kill us, right?” Kas chuckled.
“He was just doing his job,” the elf girl said as her lower lip jutted out.
“I suppose that’s true,” Kas agreed. “I wonder why they have to keep people out of Helheim anyway? I get we’re not dead, but I don’t see how that matters. It still doesn’t make sense to me.”
“I can’t say I understand it myself.” I shrugged.
We all turned around then, ready to start our journey, but what we saw was so unsettling we stopped for a moment and just stared.
While we hadn’t been able to see anything through the gates, we could now see Helheim for what it truly was: a place for the dead.
All around us were Aesir who looked like they’d seen better days. They were pale, almost green, so they blended into the background. They were slightly translucent, too, like how I imagined an apparition to be, though I supposed that was what they were.
Some of them bore the scars of what killed them, like a massive slice through the gut, or a head nearly torn off, and all of them had either angry or blank stares. Their eyes appeared to have lost their original colors, and now they were just black as they stared lifelessly ahead.
“Stay behind me,” I told the girls.
I didn’t like this place, and I didn’t trust it, not for a second. We’d been warned Helheim was a terrible place, and I expected to be attacked, but what scared me more than that possibility was the look on these people’s faces. There was no life left, all the joy they had was gone. They were soulless zombies walking this cursed place forever.
“Something about this place doesn’t feel right,” Asta whispered.
“I agree,” Kas said as she crowded close behind me. “I knew it was going to be a bad place, but it’s more eerie than I had anticipated. I’d almost rather we have to fight our way to the dungeon rather than walk among these… things.”
That was exactly how I felt, but I wasn’t going to freak the girls out even more. Instead, I just lifted my chin and started forward. We had to start somewhere, and since we didn’t know where the castle was, I figured the best thing to do was to just move forward and try to find it.
“Keep close,” I cautioned the girls as I stepped forward with my sword drawn and at the ready. There was a cobblestone road that led further into Helheim, so I stayed on it while I walked.
Eventually, the stones fizzled out, and we were left to walk with nothing to follow. I hadn’t been sure where the road led to, but there was something familiar and comforting about being able to walk on a designated path. Now, we were wandering aimlessly with the dead all around us, but they thankfully hadn’t seemed to notice us.
Yet, anyway.
“What’s that there?” Asta asked, and I looked up to see the fog had cleared enough to reveal a large black castle off in the distance.
“It looks like Odin’s castle,” Kas noted.
“It does,” I agreed. This structure was just as tall, and the architecture was eerily similar based on what I could see at this distance. The only thing different was the color. This one was black where Odin’s palace was white. I was beginning to think Helheim was sort of an upside down Asgard where everything was th
e opposite of what it once was. Whereas in Asgard most citizens were relatively happy, here everyone was completely miserable all the time.
The only question was who lived inside this castle?
“I know the council said Vinrar was in the lowest dungeon in Helheim,” Kas said. “But I didn’t think about that dungeon being in a castle. I guess I should have.”
“I figured it would be in a castle,” I said. “But I didn’t think it would look exactly like Odin’s castle.”
“So, is that where we’re headed?” Asta asked.
“For the time being, I think it’s our best bet.” I nodded.
I gauged where the castle was, and we started to head in that direction, but it wasn’t long until we came to a wooded area. A path led through the forest, but the trees shrouded most of the light so it was even darker and murkier there than it was in the rest of Helheim.
I kept my hand on the handle of my sword as we walked, I wasn't about to take any chances in here. Blar was also on my shoulders, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. I could feel how tense his little body was, and it seemed he didn’t like this part of Helheim, either.
At least in this area there weren’t a whole lot of the dead roaming around. It was fairly quiet, which made it all the more unnerving.
We rounded a corner, and I saw a spirit on the ground leaned against a large rock just off the path. He wore battle armor, and he had a long blond beard and blond hair that hung down around his shoulders in a giant mess. There was a flask next to him, and it smelled as if he were drunk. I couldn’t begin to question how that was possible, but I made a mental note to do some more research into Helheim in case I needed to come back again.
The man didn’t stir, so I made sure the girls were behind me, and then I carefully led them by him. As I did so, I noticed there was a giant dragon imprinted on the front of the man’s armor.
“Wait,” I told the girls.
“What is it?” Kas whispered.
“This man appears to be drunk,” Asta noted. “But where did he get alcohol?”
“He does, and I don’t know,” I replied. “But look at his armor.”
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