by Amy Sumida
“Minn Elska!” Trevor launched himself at me.
“Lesya?” I asked Trevor as he buried his face in my hair.
“Safe. Sam has her,” Re said since Trevor was actually the Wolf, and Wolf has problems communicating when either our son or I am in danger. “She traced home in tears and brought us here. When we took her back, we fetched the Intare. Vervain, Lesya said something about mermaids catching Kirill.”
Volos cursed in Russian.
“Who the frankfurters is this guy?” Viper asked me.
“Volos,” Odin said before I could. “Russian God of the Underworld.”
“Allfather.” Volos inclined his head respectfully.
“Why does he look like Loki?” Azrael asked as he gently pried me away from Wolf so he could hug me too.
Wolf growled but let me go.
“A mirror pantheon,” Odin summed it up. “Human myths gave us our appearances.”
“What a shame.” Viper smirked.
I'd been the one to design Viper—every beautiful, mouthwatering inch of him—and it was a fact he took great pleasure in lording over the other men.
“We don't have time for this.” Odin gave Viper a chiding look before focusing on me. “What happened here, Vervain?”
I looked at Volos for an answer.
“Mermaids,” Volos said with a snarl. “It must be Rusalki.”
“Rusalki?” Re asked.
“Plural for Rusalka,” Odin explained. “Water spirits who seduce men then drown them.”
“That's who attacked us,” I growled. “They were cloaked in darkness but it must have been them.”
“You were attacked before this?” Azrael demanded. “Why didn't you tell us, Vervain?”
“Kirill wanted to handle it,” even as I said the words, I felt the wrongness in them. I cursed, sensing that there was more to this than I thought. “I should have insisted. I'm sorry.”
“Darkness?” Volos asked me urgently. “You said zey vere cloaked in darkness?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Perun has no such ability.”
“I told you there were two of them,” I reminded him.
Volos grunted thoughtfully. “But who is other?”
“Two of who?” Wolf growled. “Who took my brother?!”
“Perun,” I said hurriedly. “Perun and an unknown god. They have Mokosh and Jarilo too; Volos' mate and son.”
“I don't know who all those people are and I don't care,” Viper said. “Just point me at who I need to kill to get Kirill back.”
Around my men, my pride snarled and stretched their shoulders in agreement, ready to shift.
“Why did Perun take Kirill?” Re asked.
“I'm not sure yet, but it doesn't matter.” I slashed my hand through the air. “Volos has a way into Perun's territory. We need to go now!”
“I can take two to Underworld,” Volos offered. “I'll open vards. Vait two minutes zen follow me. You know vay now, right, Vervain?”
“Yes. Go,” I said urgently.
Volos grabbed the men nearest him; Wolf and Odin. Wolf's eyes gleamed gold in anticipation as they traced away. I waited a couple of minutes then grabbed the rest of my lovers. We formed a circle, holding hands, and I traced them to the Russian Underworld.
As we left, I called out to the Intare. “We'll come back for you.”
As soon as we reformed, we all traced back to the island and grabbed more men. In minutes, we had transferred the Pride to the Underworld. Once we were all there, Volos grunted in approval then started off. We followed him without a word, just furious rumbles vibrating through our throats.
“Avoid Perun's lightning balls if possible,” Volos advised. “Golden apples, he calls zem. Even some gods can be gravely hurt by zem.”
Oh, yeah; I remembered the apples.
“Perun looks like Thor,” I told everyone. Then I added to Odin, “And Jarilo looks like Ull. Prepare yourself.”
“I know, Vervain,” Odin said solemnly. “I'll be fine.”
Volos led us along the outer wall of his castle; the expanse of it stretching out before him forever. Except it wasn't forever. Abruptly, the illusion fell away and a wall appeared at a right angle to the castle's defenses. A glossy black wall bearing a door made from the same material; even the handle gleamed like polished shadows. I wouldn't have noticed the door if I hadn't been standing a foot away from it.
Volos laid his palm on the handle. He didn't push or turn it, just set it there. The door opened inward at his touch and light poured out of the passage. The Underworld, as previously noted, wasn't dark by any means, but the corner in which the door stood seemed so and when that sunlight streamed in, the shadows pushed back. A hissing sound erupted as one territory fought the invasion of another.
“Hurry!” Volos waved us through.
We ran into the light while the most memorable Poltergeist line of all time wailed in my head for me to do the opposite. Yeah, even in moments like this, I think in movie quotes. Don't go into the light, Vervain!
But, to save my black lion, I'd go into any light or any darkness. And I'd destroy anyone who tried to keep us apart.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Light blinded me momentarily while the connection between Kirill and me burst to life. He was there! But I couldn't sense any awareness from him. I reached into his mind and found only silence. Even in sleep, I should have felt something, anything but this utter nothingness. I gasped and stumbled. Someone caught me. I lifted my head then stopped and stared.
“Holy hamburger buns,” Viper whispered.
Viper had been getting exceptional at coming up with creative curses. If I hadn't been so distracted, I may have commended him on his latest creation. As it was, it took me a minute just to get my legs working.
“Human belief,” Volos said as if it explained everything.
It did.
I had once visited Mimir, a giant reputed to live beneath a root of the Norse World Tree. Even though there technically is no tree in the Nine Worlds, there was a giant root growing over Mimir's house; just like the roots in Volos' underworld and just as human myth insisted there be. This, however, was even stranger than giant tree roots. Perun, according to human belief, lived in the topmost branches of the World Tree. With one step, we had gone from Volos' roots to Perun's branches. No wonder that step had been a doozie.
At first glance, my mind translated what I saw into a forest. But it wasn't merely that. The “trees” that rose around us, growing out to the sides in a curving barrier, were actually enormous branches. Leaves bigger than my body rustled in a gentle breeze, attached to sleek branches the size of tree trunks that stretched far above our heads. Those branches swayed ever so slightly, which led my eyes down to the ground. Weaving around the base of the branches, the “earth” looked solid—and felt solid beneath my feet—but also moved with the branches, stretching to follow their sway. Up ahead, normal-sized trees sprung from that flexible earth as if to reinforce how very different they were from the branches. These normal trees didn't form a solid forest, sprouting too sporadically to offer much cover, and nothing else but grass grew there. Nor were there any birds or beasts in the territory; all was silent except for the rustling of enormous leaves.
“I sense Kirill here, but he's silent. There's no response in his mind,” I announced.
“Whatever they've done to him, we will fix it, Vervain,” Odin said firmly. “What's important is that he lives.”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Okay.”
“Straight ahead,” Volos directed us.
It was where I'd already been looking. I may not have been able to hear Kirill, but I could feel him strongly.
We started to run. As we did, the Intare shifted; clothes tearing away as lions emerged. I considered shifting too, but I wanted to hold onto my human reasoning. I could still think when I was a lioness, but my thoughts were colored by her perception and currently, her perception was skewed with fear for her mate. Kirill was mo
re hers than any of my other men, and she was howling inside me with urgency. If I let her loose, I might lose myself to her panic.
So, I ran on two feet instead of four and the rest of the men ran with me. The branches of the World Tree thinned as we left Volos' door behind. Perun's territory expanded until I could only make out a smudge of the disturbing “trees” on the horizon. No mountains rose to block the view. No hills even. The land remained flat and those slender trees, the ones that were actual trees, continued to grow sparsely. I swung my head from left to right, keeping an eye on our surroundings as I ran. Nothing approached us. Nothing tried to impede our progress.
Cool air brushed my skin; significantly drier than that of the Underworld. I breathed in deeply, getting a scent-image of the place. Soil, sap, and green things. No large bodies of water. How could there be no water? Perhaps that was why there were no animals there.
My mind whirled as my feet settled into a rhythm. Human belief. World Tree. The Underworld was supposed to be within the roots and yet a door opened directly from it to here. In a real tree, roots sustain the whole, pulling up nutrients and water from the soil. It must be similar for this tree; the wet territory of the roots sustaining that of the branches. And that might be why Perun couldn't lock Volos out. His territory depended on Volos'.
But that didn't mean Volos had any control here.
After a good half an hour of running, I called for a stop. The Intare sank their claws into the soil and doubled back, gathering around me as I turned in a circle. It all looked the same. As in; exactly the same. I breathed in deeply again and scowled.
“We're getting nowhere,” I growled.
“Yes, it's called standing still,” Re noted dryly.
“No, we're getting nowhere when we run.” I waved a hand at the road beneath us.
It had begun as grass; a lush path through the sparse trees. Now, it was torn up by the tread of lions and gods. Torn up as if it had been run across over and over.
“I think we're going over the same stretch.” I narrowed my eyes at the path ahead. About sixty feet ahead of us the grass was whole. Absolutely untouched. “The territory is looping beneath us like a damn wheel in a hamster cage.”
Lions started snarling and men cursed in several languages. I just stared at the horizon; the one directly before us. I could see a structure there; something large enough to match the height of the World Tree branches. I should have been able to make out every detail with my dragon eyes, but the building was blurry. I narrowed my eyes to the left and right then lifted my stare above me. Things lost focus in all directions except for up and down. The ends of the territory hadn't become hazy with distance; they'd gone so with magic.
We were trapped in a ward.
“He's got us caged,” Odin noted grimly.
“Not quite.” I grinned at Odin then looked up pointedly.
“He didn't seal it,” Re whispered. “A ring but not a dome.”
“It's probably necessary to create the loop,” Odin murmured.
As we craned our necks to stare upward, the sky darkened as if it had heard us. From midday to midnight in moments, the clouds above us went gray then black; heavy with rain. My theory about the Underworld sustaining the Upperworld may have been correct in some ways but not entirely. I'd forgotten something important about my enemy. Perun held the magic of Sky, Storms, and Rain. He didn't need anyone to help his garden grow. He could water it himself.
And he had another reason for leaving the top off the ward.
Rain fell in torrents, harder than it had fallen over Alūksne Lake. I shucked off my stupid, puffy coat, tossed it aside, and narrowed my eyes at the clouds. I could probably fly through the downpour, but Azrael couldn't. His wings were currently being used as an umbrella, pressed together above his head. He came to stand beside me and offer me his shelter.
And that's when the rain came to life.
Water condensed and collected into humanoid forms. Wet arms circled lion throats and liquid legs kicked ours out from under us. I made a choking sound of surprise as I went down into mud that was quickly becoming dirty puddles. I rolled to stab my attacker with the talons that had sprouted from my fingertips, but he was gone before I could make contact. Correction; it was gone. As quickly as the water formed it also dispersed.
Lions leapt for each other, trying to take down transparent enemies that had latched onto their brothers. They rolled in the mud, their roars and shouts dampened by rain. Azrael was torn away from me and tossed into a tree, taking the slim thing down with him. Wolf crouched and snarled, his glowing gaze daring the weather to try its tricks on him. Water accepted the challenge and encased the Wolf. I shouted and dove for him, taking him through the bubble of liquid and out the other side. We rolled up to standing together and went back to back.
Sunlight suddenly blinded me, shooting in all directions. I squinted. Water dispersed in the heat, making hissing noises like a melting witch. Within the light, Re stood with arms outstretched. The Sun to my Moon. That's right; I had a magic that could counter this too.
When the water reformed, I was ready, and I wasn't the only one. I lashed out a hand and took control of a water-monster, sending it crashing into another. Simultaneously, Volos held out his arms and simply yanked the water toward him. Waves of the stuff swept past me and collected before him. I eagerly used his technique to draw water to me as well. When we released our hold, it gushed outward in a flood.
The rain paused, hanging suspended around us in shiny drops, as if sensing failure. Then it gave a wet shrug and started to fall with twice the intensity as it had before. Water is fluid; able to go with the flow. I could barely see through the heavy sheets but I didn't need to see water to summon it. I closed my eyes, held out my arms, and yanked it to me. Everyone other than Volos jerked back, out of the flood zone.
“Take my hand!” Volos shouted over the din of the rain.
I reached for him through the tide, splitting the water around my hand. He did the same and his dry palm collided with mine. Snatched at me. Held tight. We wove our fingers together along with our magic. I felt his power connecting with mine. Not blending, we didn't have the bond for that, but winding together like serpents. Like dragons. We drew the water to us, and Volos forced it up, back into the sky. I took the hint and helped him push. It's hard to fight the flow of water and gravity but with the two of us working together, we did it.
A volcano of water exploded up and outward, collecting the sodden clouds with it as it went. I felt a heaviness enter Volos' magic; something kin to, but vastly different from, water. Another element. Earth boiled up outside the ward, nearly as violently as the water had spouted. Water met soil and was consumed then the joined elements fell to the ground, flattening back into the territory. The sky cleared, and we were left panting on shockingly dry soil. Volos and I had taken every drop that had fallen and shoved it back into Perun's territory, outside of the ward he'd trapped us in.
Which had me wavering again over my theory. Volos had just used the earth of Perun's territory against him. It was one thing to take the Storm God's rain—moisture collected from the open sky of the God Realm—but another to use soil connected directly to Perun's magic. Volos had used Perun's territory against him. Which meant there was a bond between the men; perhaps one stronger than abutting territories or even a shared consort.
“Perun's playing vith us,” Volos growled. “Not good.”
“We need to get to him fast,” I concluded.
“Vould you do me honor of joining me as dragons?”
“You can bet your sweet, soon-to-be-scaly ass, I will.”
Volos grinned and within that vicious smile, his teeth began to lengthen.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I can carry four,” I said as I stripped down to my underwear.
“I can as vell,” Volos offered, following my lead.
“And I,” Odin added.
“I can take one.” Azrael shook his head in frustration.
Then Volos and Odin shifted; Volos becoming a gleaming black dragon while Odin went with a shifting peacock color that matched his eyes. The Intare also shifted; back to human. I crouched down and naked men scrambled onto my back. Any other time and the situation might have been fun, or at least funny. As it was, I'd have to fly carefully or I might have naked men tumbling from my back. They wouldn't die, but it wouldn't be comfortable either. Then I felt them dig their fingers around the edges of my scales and my dragon lips stretched into a smile. We were going after one of our own; my lions would hold on through a tornado if they had to.