Authors: Kristi Jones
"Get
out of here, Sabrina. I'll hold her until you go."
“
I
’
ll come back for you.
”
“
I
know, now go!
”
I reached
for him and kissed him hard on the cheek. I inhaled deeply, committing his
scent to memory. I put my mouth to his ear and whispered,
“
I
’
ll be right back.
”
I fled the
chamber, my heart swollen with love and despair. Leaving him with
Skuld
was terrifying, but I had no choice. As I ran down
the tunnel,
Skuld
’
s
voice echoed off the walls.
“
You will bring about the destruction
—”
And then
her voice fell silent.
****
Flying from Salzburg
to the village of
Vogelburg
, my emotions were in
turmoil. For the first time in my life, I felt out of control. What was I doing
running an errand for the terrible goddess
Skuld
? And
how could I bear leaving Jess behind?
Speed was my ally
now. I had to hurry. I had to make sure that he spent as little time as
possible in the clutches of
Skuld
.
Why did
Skuld
want to keep Jess? There were only two reasons I
could think of. Possibly this stone she wanted was incredibly valuable and Jess
and I just happened to fall into her lap, letting her take advantage of the
opportunity to get it without leaving her lair. But if that was the case, that
still left unanswered questions. Why couldn’t
Skuld
leave the throne room and get it herself? What did she risk by leaving?
The second, more
terrifying, reason that
Skuld
kept Jess was that she
wanted
him
. I’d never heard of a Norn
wanting to have anything to do with the human world. It worried me. It
frightened me.
The
stone.
I didn’t know what the stone did. Nobody
really knew what the stone did. I’d heard stories when I was young. When my mother
told me stories of the ancient ones, the stone was always quite mysterious. It
was said to be very valuable. More powerful than Odin’s spear,
Gungnir
, more magical than Freya’s falcon cloak.
But I didn’t know
what it did. Nobody I’d met had any real knowledge of the stone. It was a
legend, a mythical enchanted object from the far distant past whose meaning had
been lost with the passage of time.
The wind rushed in
my ears, my thoughts pressing in around me. I had to move faster. If I was
lucky, the stone would be unprotected and easy to find. If all went well, I
could return to Jess before dawn.
When I arrived at
Vogelburg
, the full moon illuminated a small Alpine village
nestled in the valley beneath
Wetterstein
mountain
. The tall fir trees dwarfed a scattering of small
cottages littering the valley floor. The air was cool and crisp, the cold still
having a firm grip on the month of March.
I chose the church
steeple as my landing site and looked down at the small graveyard below me. The
pilgrims’ road was to my right. That is where I needed to search.
First I scanned
the graveyard. The
Vogelburg
graveyard was a known
midden
.
I suppose the term
midden
is derogatory, but also fitting. It is a place
for the corpses to go.
The stiffs, the Valkyries currently
serving their Death Duty.
When Valkyries serve their Death Duty, they
are forced to wander the earth as corpses for ten years. But with the
population explosion of the last two centuries, it has become necessary to hide
from prying mortal eyes. The
midden
provides a place
of refuge, a place to rest or hide, if the Valkyrie’s family will not help her.
I didn’t want to
make contact with any stiffs. They were desperate creatures, bored and in pain.
Sometimes they tried to attach themselves to the living. They needed or wanted
someone with power to help them. Not that there is much that can be done except
to try to alleviate their pain with strong and continual doses of morphine.
I didn’t like to
think of the Death Duty.
It brought back
painful memories.
My own mother
helped me through it. She took me to The Nest and gave me morphine to dull the
pain. She spoke reassuring words. She read to me. That was the greatest gift.
The words of Byron and Blake, Goethe and Keats soothed my wretched soul and took
me away from the pain of the body.
I watched the
graveyard and caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye.
“Dammit.”
A stiff was
walking toward the
midden
, led by two Valkyries and
two humans. They must be planning an internment. I’d have to wait. And every
minute that I was away from Jess was a minute of anguish. I felt anxiety
building inside me, seeping into my muscles and I had an insane urge to scream,
to beat my wings and try to scare them off. But I had to wait. I had no choice.
If they saw me, they might ask for help or supplies, and I had but one mission.
To save Jess.
I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize the
success of that mission.
I felt a rush of
relief and gratitude as they made their way slowly past the
midden
.
They were not yet embarking on an internment. Perhaps they still needed their
supply of morphine? I hated to work without fully understanding their presence
here, but I had to act.
I waited for the
tiny group to leave,
then
coasted down into the
graveyard, taking on the form of darkness itself. The outline of my body might
be visible in the moonlight, but I hoped there would be no human or Valkyrie
eyes to see me.
I decided to
choose a weapon. There was no telling what creature might be guarding
Skuld’s
stone. Using all of my strength, I pulled out the
horizontal piece from an iron cross towering over the grave of a mortal. The
metal wailed in protest. When the iron sword pulled free, I waited, listening.
I eyed a second
iron cross to my left, but decided against taking another weapon. I dared not
risk waking the stiffs. Another shriek of metal against metal was sure to bring
at least one of them to the surface.
I moved down the
pilgrims’ road, keeping my eyes on the
midden
,
straining to see any movement of dirt or cross, but the night was still and
quiet.
I sensed the
presence of the
Fenrir
just as I caught sight of the
wayside shrine. I darted into the vegetation beside the road and pressed myself
against the nearest tree. My heart, once so reliable, so constant, pulsed in
great pounding beats.
I needed time to
think. I’d never battled a
Fenrir
before, but I’d
heard enough about them to know that their bite was dangerous even to the flesh
of a lower goddess. A
Fenrir
could not inflict a
mortal wound of course, but they could inflict wounds that were difficult to
heal by the nature of their enchantments.
Fenrirs
had been made legend by the
mortals, as the creature known as werewolf. It is true that they can take human
form when the moon is low, but they are not human at all, nor have they ever
been human. But the moon was high, and the
Fenrir
guarding the stone would not be taking human form tonight.
In any case, the
Fenrir
could not kill me. Any pain I suffered would be
welcome, as long as I triumphed and brought the stone back to
Skuld
.
I stepped out into
the street, clutching my sword tightly.
The wolf lifted its
head as I approached and emitted a low growl.
I stood before
him, holding my head high. I hoped that he would not smell my fear. The shrine
loomed behind the wolf. It was of simple construction, and I wondered at
Skuld’s
decision to hide her valuable stone at the side of
the road this way. The road was seldom used, except by those living under the
mountain, and she had bribed a
Fenrir
to guard it.
Still, it was not a difficult place to find or access.
“Keep walking,
Valkyr
,” the
Fenrir
said, lifting
its lips and revealing an impressive set of teeth.
“I have been sent
on a mission by the goddess
Skuld
. She has asked that
I retrieve her stone.”
“The stone is not
to be removed, by the order of the great and almighty Odin, as you must well
know,
Valkyr
.”
“
Skuld
herself has made this request,” I said, softly. “It
is her stone to claim.”
“And I am under
orders by Odin himself. I will not relinquish the stone to the likes of you.”
“Very well,” I
said, and bowed my head. “You must do your duty, as I must do mine.”
I turned, as if to
leave, then spun around and thrust my sword at the
Fenrir
,
aiming for his neck. But he was quick. He must have been expecting the blow. He
leapt into the air, letting out a fierce howl.
He came at me, his
mouth open, his long teeth gleaming in the moonlight.
I whirled around
and switched the sword to my left hand, but he was no ignorant beast and before
I could move away, he bit down hard on my free arm, clenching it in his
vise-like jaws.
I tried to pull
away. The
Fenrir
shook his head, ripping the flesh
from my forearm. I screamed out in pain.
Though I was able
to withstand the mightiest of men’s weaponry, the teeth and claws of a
Fenrir
were different. He was a creature anointed by Odin.
He had powers as strong as the gods themselves.
The pain was excruciating.
I felt as if a bolt of electricity had ripped through my arm, from the shoulder
to my wrist. I bit down hard on my lips to keep from screaming again, my teeth
slicing through the soft flesh. I couldn’t scream again. The sound might bring
the stiffs.
Or worse, another
Fenrir
.
The wolves almost always travelled in packs.
My body was coated
in sweat, and the cold air soon had me shaking.
I hit him on the
flank with the flat edge of the sword, and it was enough for him to open his
jaws and release my arm. I rolled away from him, cradling the sword close. When
I struggled to my feet, he was bowed down before me, growling, ready to pounce
again. I hefted the sword, getting a better grip on it. I crouched low. My
breath came in ragged bursts. I braced myself for the next attack.
The wolf leapt
again, its silver hair gleaming in the moonlight.
The crack of a
firearm rang out. The wolf yelped and collapsed on top of me.
I lay there,
immobilized, listening to it gasp, holding my breath against the foul stench of
the wolf’s jaws.
With a great
physical effort, I pushed the beast off of me and struggled into a sitting
position. My sword lay on the ground beside me.
Standing above me
was one of the young Valkyries I’d seen from the steeple. She had long blonde
hair and blue eyes. I did not know her.
“You killed it.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you,” I
said, getting to my feet.
“No problem.”
I glanced at my
sword and back at the blonde.
An elfish grin
turned up her lips. “Go ahead. Pick it up.” She still had the gun dangling in
her left hand, but it was pointing south. She followed my gaze, shrugged,
then
tucked the gun into her pants, behind her back.
“Works better than that sword.”
“I guess so. You’re
getting ready to do an internment.”
The girl lifted
her chin, her eyebrows shooting up. “You saw us?”
“I did.”
“Yes, an
internment. You know how it goes.”
“I do.”
“And you were…?”
I hesitated. Of
course I didn’t want to tell her the truth. But I couldn’t think of a lie. I
rarely encountered Valkyries outside the battlefield. This one looked to be of
age, but too young to mate. What was she doing here?
“Is it your sister?”
I asked.
“Yes.” She stepped
closer and peered over my shoulder. “I don’t see your sister.”
I resisted the
urge to step back. My rescuer looked fresh and young, slender and innocent, but
she emanated
a strength
, an iron will, that was
unsettling.
“No. I’m not here
for that.”
She put her hands
on her hips. “Then what are you here for?”
“I’m not sure
that’s any of your business—I’m sorry, what is your name?”
“I’m
Ermhilde
.”
“
Ermhilde
.
I’m Sabrina. I
appreciate your help, but I’m fine now. I won’t interfere with your
internment.”