Empty Altars (37 page)

"Griswold betrayed us. He tricked Olaf and sent him on an errand. The dwarf's life is in danger. Can you help me track him?"

The wolf sniffed the ground until he found the dwarf's scent, then he set off at a run. Diana and Freya raced after him. "Stay here," Diana called to Tyr. "Protect the village."

He nodded and stayed.

Olaf had followed the stream to the tree line, then his scent disappeared into the woods. Diana had no idea what Griswold told him, but once he was out of sight of the village, she knew the dwarf was in trouble. It didn't take long before the wolf stopped and sniffed in a slow circle. He stalked back and forth, looking for a scent. Diana and Freya waited impatiently. Every second mattered. Each minute felt like an eternity. Finally, the wolf shifted into his boy form. "Others waited here, three of the witches who held us in the cave you rescued us from. Their scent is evil. Olaf's trail stops too. They didn't walk any farther."

"They grabbed him and took him to their cave. They used runes to transport." Diana's voice sounded flat, even to her own ears.

"We've been there. We can go again." Freya's hand went to her short sword. "I can't just sit here and do nothing. Olaf would be safe if he hadn't helped us."

"They'll be ready for us this time."

Freya turned to the boy. "Go to the camp. Tell Tyr what's happened. Tell him we're going after Olaf."

"Don't do it." The boy's voice shook with fear. "Heid will trap you. You won't make it back."

"We have to try." But even as she said it, Diana realized whose body she'd seen in the runes' visions—the person who'd given them a gift and was betrayed. They had to try, but she knew they weren't going to rescue Olaf.

The boy gave a quick nod, then raced away, as though he meant to reach Tyr fast enough for the sky god to stop them from going.

"Shift," Diana told Freya. "You have seidr magic. Use it. Turn into something Heid won't notice."

"Like what?"

"Make yourself into something that will fit in my hand." Diana chanted her obscuring spell and disappeared from sight. Immediately, a small lizard nestled in her fist. Diana touched her other hand to the runes in her pocket. "Take me somewhere near the cave, some place safe."

Air rushed past them, and Diana found herself on a high branch in an oak tree, Heid’s cave entrance close by. Leaves surrounded her, blocking her from view. She opened her fingers to let Freya see. They heard no voices, no shuffle of movements. "They’re hiding," Freya whispered. “Maybe it’s a trap.” She scurried up Diana's arm to perch on her shoulder.

"Let's get closer." Diana called a wind to settle them to the ground. She ran from one tree to the next, thinking each time someone might notice them. Finally, she was forced into the open. No one should be able to see her, but they might feel her magic. They'd be watching and waiting, expecting her. She hurried up the rocky ledge and dipped inside the cave's opening. No one was there.

Diana concentrated. "There's no hum of magic. No obscuring spells. No witches hiding. The cave's empty."

"No traps?"

"Nothing."

Freya shifted into her natural form. She turned in a slow circle. Her eyes focused on a lone, leather boot. "Olaf was here."

Tears of frustration burned Diana's eyes. "They've made rune portals from one place to another. Without a trail, something to aim for, we can't follow them."

"But we have our runes." Freya pulled the cord at her neck to touch the linen pouch. "We can do a reading to find him." She returned the pouch to her ample cleavage. "Better yet, use your runes. You have stronger magic than I do."

Diana dug her pouch from her jeans pocket. She squatted to toss the carved bones. Several landed, face up, but when she went to read them, their images blurred. Their music stopped.

Freya frowned. "What's wrong with them?"

"Heid's blocked our magic. She's cast a protective spell around herself and her witches. She won't let us use our runes to trace her magic."

"Do you do that?"

"Always. No one can follow my runes. They can't follow yours or Inga's either."

"Damn it to Hel!" Freya began to pace. "You're the mistress of witches! Do something!"

"Find me something of Heid's."

They both started scrambling about the cave. There were mounds of straw with furs tossed over them for the witches to sleep on. Diana inhaled deeply. "This one was hers." She gripped a bear skin and muttered chants until the walls of the cave shimmered. They seemed to melt away until a forest with towering trees surrounded them. Hills rose in the distance, dotted with caves. Giants came and went from them.

A cluster of witches and giants circled someone near a slow-moving river.

"Show us," Diana whispered.

The vision wove between massive legs and arms. Griswold stood before Olaf. The chieftain's posture was angry. He pointed at a pile of thin metals. "You made shields for them. Make shields for us!" he shouted.

The dwarf folded his arms across his chest. "No."

Griswold's slap rang against the cave's walls. "Combine your magic with Heid's."

"Jorunda and Jon's shields were formed from Asgaard silver, laced with Freya's and Diana's powers. Yours would be cheap copies."

"But strong enough to withstand Asdis and her friends' pitiful efforts. Do as you're told." Heid's voice cut through the clatter of shuffling feet and the giants' low grumbles.

"No."

Heid's hot energy hit Olaf so hard, it knocked him backwards. He hit his head with enough force, it knocked him out.

"Look what you did!" Griswold complained. "He can't work now."

Heid shrugged. "He needs some convincing."

Griswold grimaced at the pile of rocks that giants had dragged together. Dried wood lay scattered in their center. "Surely you can make a better forge than this."

Heid nodded. "Be at it, and do a better job, or it's your hides next."

Giants shuffled forward and set to work.

The image faded, and Diana turned to Freya. "Do you know this place? Take me there!"

"It's Giantland."

"A specific spot? There's a river. We can follow it."

"No." Freya turned away from her. She stood silently.

Diana put a hand on Freya's shoulder. "How can we help Olaf?"

"We can't." The words sounded tight, strangled.

"Olaf won't make the shields. They'll kill him."

"I know."

Diana waited. She could tell how hard this decision was for Freya. "Perhaps Olaf will start to work to stall for time, so that we can get to him."

"He won't. You've met him. He always does what he thinks is right."

"If he stalls, though…"

"A Greek strategy. Of no use now. We can't go to Giantland. Olaf knows that. The giants who live in the caves are indifferent to our battle, but if we invade their lands, they'll join with Heid. We won't leave with Olaf anyway."

Diana sighed. "The vision. The broken body lying in the field. It's Olaf's."

Freya wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's our fault."

Diana nodded. She gripped Freya's hand. "There's nothing we can do. Let's return to the village. They might need us."

The journey back took only seconds. They landed in the meadow, just outside the gates, and Tyr rushed to greet them.

"Have you no sense at all?" He gripped Diana’s shoulders and shook her. "How can we defeat Heid without your magic? And what would I do if I lost you?"

His words comforted her. Diana gave a small smile. "I love you, too," she said.

Tyr blinked. Color drained from his face. "No Olaf?"

"They moved him. He's in Giantland."

"The vision." Tyr had come to the same conclusion she had.

Freya nodded. "His gifts to us cost him his life."

The three gods turned as one to enter the village gates.

Chapter 32

The three of them went straight to Olaf's smith shop. His wife, Groa, came to the front stoop to meet them. She glanced inside at her children and shut the longhouse's door. "You've come with bad news, I can tell." She sat on the step to hear it.

They sank down beside her. Freya was the one who explained about Griswold's trick and told her that Heid had taken Olaf to Giantland.

"You two followed his trail to Heid's cave?" Groa asked in wonder.

"We found a personal item of Heid's," Freya said. "We meant to follow her again until we saw the vision."

Groa closed her eyes against the picture Freya had painted. "You've done more than anyone would expect. You can't go to Giantland. It wouldn't save him."

Diana bit her bottom lip. These people were so practical! How did they do it? "I was hoping he'd fake making a shield to buy some time," she said.

Groa shook her head. "Olaf would never do that. It goes against everything he believes in."

Diana didn't see what was so wrong with the idea. She could make an obscuring spell to end all spells and try to sneak the dwarf away from his captors somehow. Maybe she could shift him into something small, something she could carry with her.

Groa studied her face and put a hand over hers. "This isn't your fault. Olaf would have made weapons to help the warriors anyway, whether you asked him to or not."

"But the shields were my idea."

"He and Brandr were already talking about making some. Theirs wouldn't have been as strong and useful, but enough to anger Griswold."

There was a noise, and they looked up to see Brandr standing at the side of the shed, a smithing hammer in his hand. Diana wanted to hug him to her. The poor boy looked miserable.

Groa motioned for him to join them. "You heard?"

Brandr nodded. "I should have tried to talk Olaf out of it."

"It wouldn't have worked." Groa sighed and glanced inside her longhouse. Two, young children were peering out at them.

"Don't worry," Brandr told her. "I've learned well. I can run the shop and care for the family."

Groa's eyes misted and she blinked quickly. "You won't return to your parents?"

"To do what? I came here to learn smithing skills. I've learned enough to make do. If you'll let me, I'll stay on. We'll keep the arrangement we had. I earn enough to send a small amount to my family."

"And when you're old enough to marry and have children of your own?"

The boy shrugged. "We'll attach a longhouse on the far side of the shed, with the smith shop shared in the center."

"I can teach you what you've missed and more." At Groa's shocked look, Tyr added, "I can visit once a week to teach Brandr a new skill. I'm not the best, with only one hand, but I have the knowledge if he'll provide the muscle."

Brandr stared, caught as much by surprise as Groa. "You're a god. You'd teach
me?
"

"This is our meadow. You're our people. We want you to thrive—if we survive this battle."

Tyr was so determined to help them, Diana glowed with pride.

"Olaf will die protecting our village," Groa said. "You're willing to risk much for us too. We
have
to survive."

Diana swallowed a lump in her throat. She pushed thoughts of Olaf, and what he must be enduring, out of her mind. These Norse were a dismal lot, but they didn't lack courage. Neither did Greeks and Romans. She'd see this through, and she was determined to win.

Freya pushed herself to her feet. "Surely there's something we can do. This wondering and waiting is making me crazy."

Tyr and Diana stood, too. Diana could think of nothing helpful to do at the moment, but she didn't want to sit and brood either.

"We should return to the longhouse," Tyr said. "Hlif will be anxious to hear our news."

They strode toward Griswold's and were stunned when a young and beautiful Hlif greeted them at the door. Jon stood beside her, his eyes returning often to her long, auburn hair and curvy figure. Jorunda and Inga came too. They gathered around Griswold's table and Freya once again shared her news.

The mood was somber, but Hlif said, "Think of it. If the village survives, after Griswold's done everything he can to betray it, we'll have a new seer—Inga, a powerful, white witch—me, and a new chieftain—Jorunda."

Jorunda stared at her in surprise. "Me? Chieftain?"

"You were Griswold's best warrior," Hlif said. "More than that, you show love of your people and wisdom beyond your years. Who could want more?"

Jon nodded. "Remember what Gudrun told us—that your fate determined the fate of the village. No wonder Griswold did everything he could to kill you."

"And no wonder you and Inga were destined for each other. What a pairing! A warrior and a seer. It's perfect." Hlif motioned for the servants to enter, bringing bread, cheeses, and fruit to the table.

Jon nodded agreement. "We need our strength. Eat and drink. Soon, we fight."