Struck: (Phoebe Meadows Book 1) (21 page)

19

__________________________

____________

D
emons had surrounded us. We’d let down our guard, because of me, for only a few moments. But that’s all it had taken.

We were situated in a small valley with large boulders flanking either side. Fen was dangerously on edge. “How could you let us be surrounded, Jondi!” he yelled. “Where are the others?”

“They are coming. We have
ssssounded
the alarm.”

“We are too close to the tree to turn back now,” Fen fumed. “You will get us there, as agreed, or die.”

More flaming arrows whizzed by.

“We will honor our bargain, have no fear.” The snake turned and spat orders at the remaining serpents. They fanned out around us. They were the bigger targets, but as an arrow zoomed down, it bounced off one of the snake’s big scales and dropped harmlessly to the ground.

Their scales must be tough as steel. I hoped they were fireproof, too.

“It seems only a small contingent,” Fen said, still holding me. “My guess is there are only seventy to eighty.”

“That’s considered a small group?” I said. “Seems like a lot to me.” I ducked as another arrow whooshed over our heads.

Fen let me go, giving me a look before he turned to the leader. “We are wasting our time waiting for the others. You can move faster than the demons can run, Jondi. We will ride on your back to the rendezvous place. Once there, we will reevaluate.”

The main serpent angled its head toward us, seeming bored. “Fine. We will
transsssport
you.”

Fen wasted no time leaping onto the leader’s back, gesturing to me to get on the one next to him.

“Um.” I paused, hoping he was kidding as I eyed the huge beast in front of me.

“There is no time to ponder this, Valkyrie. Jump on or face the demons alone!” Fen’s face was set.

I examined the snake. Its back was taller than any horse I’d ever seen by quite a few feet. The scales appeared slick. I wasn’t a demigod, so I couldn’t just
hop on
. I tentatively reached a hand out to touch a scale and recoiled at the feeling. It was hot. It felt pliable, yet hard like metal, which was strange. The scale left a slimy residue on my fingers, but it wasn’t sticky. So strange.

“Get on!” Fen ordered. “We must move now.”

The demons had ramped up their arrow attack, and fiery sticks shot past me on all sides. “I can’t just jump on!” I cried. “I’m not tall enough, and the scales are slippery.” I sounded like a child to my own ears and cringed.

Fen’s nostrils flared once as he leaped off his ride and stalked toward me. “You are a
Valkyrie
,” he intoned. “You can indeed just
hop on
.” His hands pivoted around my waist, and the next thing I knew, I was flying through the air.

He’d literally tossed me onto the snake’s back, and once I landed, the big serpent swiveled its head and hissed, its giant fork coming within inches of my face. Its breath smelled like putrid waste, and its eyes were hard. I’m sure it hoped I would fall off so it could eat me.

Lovely.

We started moving immediately.

I had no idea where to grab on. My hands kept slipping as I tried to find a good hold. There was none. Finally, I pried my fingernails between the scales. When the thing began to rock faster, I was certain I would fall off.

“Use your legs!” Fen roared.

In a very unladylike—un-Valkyrielike?—gesture, I bent over and wrapped my arms around the snake’s neck column and pinned my legs around its back as tightly as I could and closed my eyes, holding on for dear life.

The arrows stopped within the first few minutes, so it hadn’t taken much time to clear the demon area, which was a positive. I hoped at this rate it wouldn’t take much time to get to the tree. I clung to the snake’s back like a scared cowgirl for about fifteen minutes more, when thankfully we came to a stop.

I glanced up, hoping to see the tree, only to find we’d stopped in front of a large barricade.

On top stood Surtr with his awful, flaming sword.

I didn’t want to immediately start panicking, but brutal images of what he’d done bombarded me, and I began to feel woozy, my body threatening to pass out.

“Valkyrie!” Fen shouted. “He cannot hurt you. He is no match for the Jondi. He is here for show only.”

I nodded lamely. Fen must’ve seen my face. “How are we going to get by him?” I gestured at the barricade that seemed to be made from nothing more than a bunch of twigs piled up hastily.

“It is there only to make him seem more eminent. It is not a true barrier.”

Surtr didn’t seem to enjoy us talking about him.

He brandished his fiery sword over his head and swung it down, pointing it directly at me. He shouted something menacing that thankfully I couldn’t hear.

What happened next must have surprised Fen, because his yell sounded deafening in my ears. At Surtr’s words, a ball of fire shot out of his sword and headed straight for me.

From there, everything happened fast.

The snake I was on bucked, trying to get out of the way, but it was no use. The flame tore through its neck and landed squarely in my chest, the force launching me backward and to the ground, where the fire began to grow and fester.

Fen shouted something again that I couldn’t hear. The next thing I knew he was standing over me as pain rippled through my body. Why was I still awake? I tried to focus on what Fen was saying.

“It’s a spell, Valkyrie. Fight it!” Fen’s words finally penetrated.

A spell? A flaming, horrible spell? How was I supposed to fight it?

Oddly, the spell hurt, but I didn’t feel like I was actually
on fire
.

A big snake head loomed above me. Its words were loud and clear. “She
issss
not
sssstrong
. We should leave her.”

I am strong!

How dare that snake pass judgment on me? I’d survived a ton already. If I wasn’t strong, I’d already be dead.

Fen got to his knees, placing a hand on my chest. Right where flames should be sprouting. “You must fight this. Surtr’s magic is weak. Spinning spells is not his craft. He is trying to scare you or force us to leave you. He knows he will not win against the united Jondi.”

I tried to form words to ask Fen how to fight it, but they wouldn’t come. My brain was not on board, because the spell was messing with me.

“Leave her,” the snake hissed. “If we do, they will let us
passss
to the tree unharmed. You have the weapon.”

“We are not leaving her,” Fen stated evenly. “She is malnourished and has little strength. She is new to this world and our ways. It is her dagger that will free us all, lest we forget.”

I closed my eyes.

Maybe they should leave me. I wasn’t worthy of saving.

A moment later, something soft yet firm landed on my lips, and delicious tingles flowed right after. My eyes flew open. Fen was kissing me, infusing me with his strength. “That’s it, shieldmaiden. Drink it in and aim it at the spell.”

How?

Energy began to mount inside me the longer his lips touched mine. I could now sense that something was obstructing my body. Fen’s tongue lapped at mine, gently at first and then more demanding. I opened myself up to him, forgetting where we were. If I could’ve lifted my hands, I would’ve twined them in his hair. More nourishment entered my body.

“That’s it,” he told me in soothing tones, his voice as breathless as I felt. “Now aim the concentration at the spell.”

“Then…what?” I managed, breaking from the kiss, but desperately wanting more.

“Your power alone will disintegrate it. You are stronger than Surtr. Just have faith.” I did as he asked…kind of. I envisioned the thing in my chest and how much I wanted it gone. “That’s it.” His lips touched mine again, and he breathed a soft breath into me. “Keep doing that.”

My chest began to feel lighter.

I had no idea what I was doing, other than craving his energy and being pissed off about the spell. It seemed to be enough.

Much too soon, Fen stood up, reaching a hand down.

I blinked. The pain was gone. I took his aid and stood. I was flustered by the sudden intimacy we’d shared, so I tried to look anywhere but at Fen. I was also confused. “Why did you help me?” I had to ask. “You could’ve just let me die. You think I lied to you, so why let me live?” I brushed myself off, keeping busy.

“You wouldn’t have died from that, shieldmaiden. It was just a minor inconvenience.”

“Well, you could’ve left me and gone to the tree on your own. It would’ve taken me some time to overcome it on my own. Only one rickety barricade stands in your way to freedom. I’m sure Surtr could find a way to do me in if given half a chance.”

When I finally glanced up, Fen’s eyes pierced me with intensity. “I spared you because you are still a mystery to me. That is all. Once the mystery is revealed, then we shall see if you live or die. If I find you are an agent of Odin, you will feel my wrath.” He turned and walked away, dismissing me.

I shook myself. His words had been harsh. If Odin was truly my father, explaining it to Fen in a way that would make him understand I had no ties to the god, other than genetics, would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

I couldn’t think about that.

Surtr’s booming voice echoed around us. It was garbled, half in English and half demonish. I made out, “Surrender…will die…punish.”

There would be no surrendering.

Fen strode to the edge of the wall of serpents. More snakes had joined the group, but I didn’t know when they’d arrived. There were at least fifty in attendance. It was quite a showing.

I could see why Surtr was thinking twice about charging us or sending out any more spells.

“You will comply with our wishes, demon king,” Fen addressed Surtr. “Have no fear. We will make a deal to your liking.”

“I will not make bargains with you,” Surtr cried, his voice strained.

“Yes, you will,” Fen finished. “If you do not, the consequences will be far too grave.”

“Give me the girl, and you can have the tree. That is the only deal I will broker.”

“The girl is not an option. Let us access the tree, and we will spare your world and your demons,” Fen said. “After we have gone, we will agree to pay damages in a worthy amount you choose, to be delivered by an agent within one season. That is my final offer.”

Surtr’s roar was devastatingly loud. He was not happy with the deal.

Verdandi must’ve offered him much more to deliver me, battered, bruised, and almost dead, to her door.

“Then we will fight!” Surtr boomed, hoisting his flaming sword in the air, swinging it overhead.

“As you wish,” Fen said, his jaw tight. He turned to the snakes. “How many demons are we dealing with?”

A new serpent I hadn’t seen before answered him. “Two
thoussssand
. More to come.”

Fen cursed. “We must not diverge from the mission. It is simple. We clear a path to Yggdrasil, and the Valkyrie and I go down. Once we are through, the fighting stops.”

“You
musssst
honor your agreement with us.”

“Of course I will, there is no question. But we are not all going through the tree now. I will return with the key you will need for your passage back to Jotunheim as time allows.”

“How do we know we can
trusssst
you?” The serpent narrowed its eyes. This must be their military leader. It was bigger than the other snakes and so dark it was almost hard to see in the low light. It bent down and bared its gigantic fangs at Fen.

Fen wasn’t fazed. He crossed his arms and stood his ground. “Now you choose not to trust me? I will do as agreed, upon my honor. We are both prisoners of this realm, do not forget. We were tossed here against our will. I will get the key to you in due time. I have no reason to back out of our agreement.”

“If you do, we will put a price on your head.”

Fen scoffed. “Serpent, there is already a price on my head. Once I escape from here, every creature in all the realms will be hunting me.”

“How will you evade them?” the snake asked.

Fen shrugged. “I plan to lose myself in Midgard. There are many places to hide there.”

“After you get
ussss
the key.”

“Of course. Do not fear that I will break my word. I am not the one who backed out of our last agreement.”

I had no idea what the key would look like to get the serpents out, but I assumed it was something big. I hadn’t thought about where Fen would go once he escaped, but Midgard seemed logical. My world was big, with lots of hiding spots and lots of people.

Fen drew Gram out of his belt, slashing his palm quickly. He brought the hand up to the snake and placed it on one of its scales. After a moment, the big beast nodded. Fen turned to me. “Get ready to run.”

20

__________________________

____________

R
un? Run where? Before I could figure out where we were going, the snakes all lunged forward at the same time. Fen grabbed my hand, and we took off after them, more serpents bringing up the rear.