19
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“You will free her this minute,” Fen raged outside my door. After what seemed like an eternity, everything calmed down, and Fen had finally shifted back.
“You do not get to dictate what I can and cannot do in my own realm, Brother,” Hel replied calmly. “I told you she was fine, and I didn’t lie. Now, we have unfinished business to discuss, and we will do it alone.”
“All the business I have to discuss with you involves the Valkyrie you’ve imprisoned,” Fen answered stubbornly. “You will let her out, and we will proceed together.”
“You forget yourself,” Hel said, shifting to angry. “This is my realm. I rule here, and what I say is law. Even you are not above me. We have not seen each other since we were children. We have no allegiance. Only the common bond of our birthright binds us, but it is a breakable thread. It is not enough to keep you alive. We will leave the girl and discuss matters without her. Don’t test me.” There must’ve been something that convinced Fen to back off, because he stopped arguing. “Come, Brother.”
“Shieldmaiden, I will be back,” Fen called through the door. “Do not despair.”
“I’m not despairing,” I yelled. “At least not yet. Try to hurry if you can.”
I wandered around the confining space for a few minutes, but I had no choice but to sit back down. There wasn’t anything else to do in this insufferable place.
After another half an hour of doing absolutely nothing, I got up.
Insanity wasn’t a good look on me. Instead of being idle, I decided to use my hands to scour every inch of my enclosure, just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
I kindled energy to the tips of my fingers so I could see and started from the bottom right corner, making my way around the small room clockwise.
Halfway through, my hand hit a patch of rock and began to tingle.
I lifted it off the surface, and the sensation stopped. I placed it back, and a glimmer of light began to spread on the wall. “Holy crap!” I took it away, and the light immediately dimmed.
I was kindling a cillar.
It was handy, and potentially life-saving. But I had no idea where it would take me, or what would happen when I was found outside Helheim. So it wasn’t an option at the moment, but it was nice to know I could use it if I had to.
Why was this particular patch of stone a trigger and not any other place in the cell?
Just to make sure, I ran my hands around the walls again. No other area tingled. Perhaps Yggdrasil had a root that touched only this spot. That made the most sense, but it was impossible to know.
Once I was done scouring for potential escape routes, there wasn’t anything else to do. I sat back down, wondering what Fen and Hel were talking about. Was she telling Fen that their father had just appeared, wanting to take me away? Was Fen confessing that we needed to spring Baldur out of here in order to be set free? I hadn’t been able to tell Fen about my visit with Vali, so he was completely clueless.
Instead of trying to get some rest, which would have been the appropriate thing to do, I began to pace.
There were so many unknowns. Hel had spent hundreds—possibly thousands—of years down here in isolation, with only the spirits to keep her company. That could crack even the strongest of minds. She hadn’t seen Fen since she was a child. How old was she when she was cast down here anyway? The realization that she could’ve been a teenager made me shiver.
Loki, her own father, had treated her poorly. Almost as an afterthought. There had been no endearing words spoken between the two. She had no family to speak of and no friends. No wonder she wanted Baldur to sit beside her. He was someone to share her loneliness with, but he was just a ghost.
For now.
* * *
The sound of the door opening jolted me awake.
I was on my feet, a hand around Gundren before I recognized the shape of the silhouette in the opening.
“Put your weapon away,” Hel ordered. I glanced around her, hoping to see Fen standing there. But she was alone. “I said, put it down. Your weapons will not harm me anyway. You can’t kill someone who’s already dead and fated to rule this realm until the end of Ragnarok.”
Begrudgingly, I sheathed the sword.
“Where are we going?” I asked, following her out. When she didn’t respond, I remembered her warning and kept my mouth shut. I desperately wanted to know where Fen was. It was strange that he wasn’t here. I hoped he was okay.
Hel led me through a few different chambers. She was rolling at a brisk pace, so in order to keep up, I had to jog along behind her. We headed farther and farther away from the throne room and Baldur and Fen.
We finally reached what appeared to be the end of the line.
A set of massive doors, like the ones I’d entered before, loomed in front of us. She yanked one open effortlessly, and the harsh outside air filtered in. She disappeared through the opening, and I had no choice but to go along. I thought about calling out to Fen, but it was too late now. We were too far away from where we’d started.
There was a structure in the distance, and Hel made a beeline toward it, the deep sand no obstacle for her. The trail she left appeared strange, consisting of multiple deep ruts, sand splayed everywhere. It didn’t give me a real clue about what was under her skirts.
She glanced over her shoulder, an irritated expression on her face. “Keep up.”
“I’m trying.” I trudged forward. “The sand is at least two feet deep. May I ask where we’re going?” I ventured the question since she’d addressed me first.
“I’m taking you to the mines,” she said.
“What are the mines?”
“The pits of hard labor.” Hel kicked up more sand as she spun ahead. “Most of the souls who arrive here spend their time working. You will do the same. Although you will be the only corporeal being, I’m sure Matus can deal with you. He will find something for you to do.”
“Matus?”
“The foreman of the dead.”
I wanted desperately to ask her where Fen was, but she was in a foul mood. Their reunion must not have gone well. I decided maybe a teensy question wouldn’t hurt. After all, my lot in life was about to get worse. “Is your brother still here?”
“That’s none of your business,” she snapped.
I tried another tactic. “I have information for you from Asgard.” We were ten feet from a structure no bigger than a regular-sized house. I wondered how all the dead fit in there.
She stopped in front of the building, her good eye blazing. “What information do you have?”
“Um,” I said. “It’s a delicate subject matter that perhaps can be discussed back inside the castle? Perhaps with your brother present? He is unaware of it, and it would be good for him to hear.” I hurried to explain before she became angrier, “I uncovered the information while he was being jailed in Asgard.”
“He spent time in jail?”
“Yes, Odin had him kept in the Cells before his trial. His sentence for breaking out of Svartalfheim was to be sent here.”
“He told me as much,” she said. “He omitted the jail time.”
“Does he know you brought me out here?”
“What I do with you is none of his business. If you want him to live, do as I say.” She yanked open the door in front of us. I was certain she’d put Fen under lock and key, and if I didn’t cooperate, she would hurt him. What had Mersmelda said about her again? She had an issue with vanity, and she liked to collect things?
She wasn’t keen about letting her brother go.
That would complicate things.
“Wait,” I protested as she gestured me inside with her skeletal hand. “Baldur is not worthy of your company,” I blurted. “But there is another who is! I know how to find him. He’s been yearning to come here his entire life. He’s meant to sit on the throne next to yours.”
“Get inside.” Her voice was icy.
“I have something—” I fumbled at my waist looking for the jewel.
“If you do not comply instantly, you will regret the consequences. And they are final.”
I did as I was told.
Freezing cold air rushed by my body as I stepped over the threshold. I turned back to Hel, my expression imploring. “Please don’t do this. I want to show you—”
She slammed the door.
I rushed forward, pounding my fists against it. “You don’t have to lock me up!” I called. “I’m no threat to you! I promise, the information I have can make your life better.”
No response. She had already gone.
A noise sounded behind me. It wasn’t concrete, more like a moan or a soft whistle.
I was thankful I still had Gundren, which I unsheathed in a hurry and kindled, moving around slowly. The space was empty. “Show yourself,” I demanded.
“Who are you?” a loud voice boomed, shocking me with its proximity.
The words hadn’t been attached to a real body. Something in the air in front of me wavered and, as I watched, it began to grow more opaque. “Are you Matus?” I asked when it was semicorporeal.
Whatever Matus used to be, it hadn’t been remotely human.
It looked similar to a troll, but more animal-like. It was gigantic, with bulging arms and pectorals, tapering down to a skinny abdomen and ending in a weird wispy genie body without legs, only a curl of smoke before it dissipated completely.
Cold air brushed my cheeks as it moved closer.
“Who are you?” it repeated. Its tone was deep and brash and decidedly male.
“I’m Phoebe Meadows,” I told the intimidating troll-ghost. “Hel just brought me here.” I gestured lamely at the door. “I think I’m supposed to work here now?” It came out as a question, because I wasn’t really sure.
He made a move to touch me, and I reacted swiftly, lashing my blade down in a sharp arc. The swords, even infused with energy, did no damage whatsoever. They just whizzed harmlessly through the air, not even displacing the smoky air that made up his incorporeal body.
“Can’t hurt me,” he growled. How did he even have vocal cords?
“I can see that,” I said. “Well, how about we stop with the theatrics and you just tell me what I need to do?”
He reached out with a meaty, misty fist and grabbed hold of my neck.
Surprisingly, I felt it, and he was super strong.
I started to thrash and kick, but he didn’t loosen his grip. “You work for me,” he said, snarling in my face. He had two short tusklike things jutting out over his bottom lip.
I couldn’t say anything, so I just frantically nodded. He finally released his grip, ending our fun playtime. I collapsed against the door, breathing hard.
He floated backward. “Come.”
I glanced around, hopeful I’d spot another way out. Matus stopped a few feet away when I hadn’t followed and struck one wispy fist into the open palm of his open hand. It made no sound, but I got the message.
Reluctantly, I trailed behind him. I had no idea if this ghost could actually kill me, but he could certainly keep me in a fair amount of pain. I had no way to defend myself against nothingness. Without my blades and energy, what did I have?
The creature headed toward the back of the structure, gliding through a doorway. He began to float down a crumbled staircase made of reddish-black stone.
This entire house was designed to cover a stairway, nothing more.
As we descended farther and farther into what appeared to be the bowels of Helheim, it got colder and colder. You’d think in Helheim, where flames erupted on top of the water, it would be scalding hot. But that wasn’t the case. It was uncomfortably frigid. My breath began to come out in big white clouds, my fingertips starting to ache.
During the entire trip down, Matus didn’t utter a single word. We finally emerged into a large cavern.
My breath stuck in my throat.
Thousands of souls filled the space, all of them barely opaque, yet visible, each doing a different job. Some hefted big axes, others had hammers, some were using their hands, but all were chiseling away at some common goal.
They seemed to be enlarging the space around them.
Frost clung to the walls and crunched beneath my boots as I followed Matus into the room. Mine were the only footprints around. I blinked, my eyelashes clumped together, miniature icicles forming on the lashes.
Dead people forced to do mindless work day in and day out was Midgard’s answer to purgatory. As we moved farther into the cavern, I noticed a huge gap in the ceiling that slowly enlarged. It was open to the outside.
A dark red sky lofted above us.
This was no cavern. We were in a gorge.
Hope leaped inside me. If I could shimmy up those walls, maybe there was a way out. Matus stopped in front of me, gesturing to an area up ahead. “You work,” he ordered.
I glanced around, but there weren’t any tools, or anything to use as a tool, nearby. “What am I supposed to do, exactly?”
“Find stones,” he said.
Ah, that was it. These poor souls were mining jewels for Hel. That was why she didn’t need her father’s gold. “What kind of stones? And what tool should I use?”
Matus roared at me, his eyes bulging, tusks vibrating, gesturing behind my back. I turned to look. There was nothing there.
Then I understood. “You want me to use Gundren to find stones?” He nodded and pointed absentmindedly to an empty space of wall. This was surreal. “I guess I can do that,” I mumbled as I unsheathed my swords. “What exactly am I looking for? Or will I just know it when I see it?”
Matus made a gesture with his hands indicating he’d like to squeeze my skull until my brain popped out, letting me know that question time was over.
I was just about to tell him the point was taken when his head flashed in a different direction and immediately floated toward whatever issue had just come up.
Positioning myself in front of the wall, I mumbled, “This is beyond ridiculous, but at least it’s not torture.” I had to remind myself that things could be much worse, which was helpful and necessary.
With Gundren clenched in each fist, I swung the blades down, cutting into the stone with precision and speed. The rock wall in front of me burst apart. I glanced over my shoulder, hoping that Matus had seen my impressive first attempt at finding the mysterious stones.
He was nowhere to be found.
I inspected the hole I’d just made in the rock, looking for any trace of anything valuable. There was nothing. It was all the same red rock. Not a stone anywhere to be found.
An idea occurred to me, and I stepped back a few feet, drawing both swords over my head, channeling my energy, making it crackle along the blades. I slashed them down, pausing a second before the swords came in contact with the stone, signaling my energy to culminate in a short blast. It did as I commanded and streaked out with a gigantic crack.
Rocks and dirt exploded around me.
I lifted my hands in front of my face to block the backlash of debris from hitting me. The blast had been a little too concentrated. I’d have to remember that.
A yowl sounded behind me.
Matus was speed-floating toward me, his trolly face enraged. I backed up against my newly exploded hole, waving my swords in front of me. “You said to work on the wall!” I cried. “That’s exactly what I was doing. Look, I did as much work as ten of your souls could do in hours. You should be happy, not angry.”
Matus floated right through my blades, lifting me off the ground by my neck, dragging me away.
I kicked at his incorporeal body, my legs hitting nothing but air. I didn’t understand how he could have strength over me, but I couldn’t defend myself against him. There was no way to win.
He brought me to a small cage and tossed me inside. It was made of metal, not stone. “Will be punished,” he declared.
“For what?” I cried, scampering toward the bars. “I did what you asked!”
“Not dead,” Matus boomed.
Matus was a bright bulb. “That’s not my fault!” I was clearly the anomaly no one knew what to do with.
“Stay in cage.” He zipped away.
The stench inside the crate rushed up to greet me. It smelled of rotting beasts and death and decay. This was a cage where Hel’s pets came to be punished. I rattled the door, but it stayed firm. If the beasts couldn’t break out, it would take a considerable amount of energy for me to do so.
I huddled in a corner, wrapping my arms around my body, shivering. My breath puffed out in tiny white clouds. My body heat index dipped lower with each breath. I called up some energy to keep me warm, but I was draining fast. The smart thing to do was conserve what I still had. I would need it if I attempted a breakout. The frigid air was making me sleepy. I wouldn’t be able to stay awake for long, but I didn’t think I’d die of hypothermia.
Fen would realize I was gone at some point and argue with his sister. My hope was that he’d come and find me. If not, I’d figure out the next move once I rested.
My eyes slipped shut.