SIXTY-FOUR
Whose Idea Was It to Make This Wolf Unkillable?
Valhalla’s daily combat training finally made sense to me. After the terror and chaos of war in the hotel courtyard, I was more prepared to face Fenris Wolf and the fire giants, even if they didn’t have AK-47s or chests painted with COME AT ME, BRO!
I was still having trouble controlling the sword, though. The only thing that helped: Jack now seemed divided between wanting to fly to Surt’s hand or flying towards the Wolf. Lucky for me, I needed to approach the Wolf.
Sam knocked a giant’s thrown axe out of the air. ‘Rebinding Fenris – any idea how we’re doing that?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Maybe. Not really.’
A fire giant charged in our direction. Blitzen was so angry – between the Wolf gloating about his dad’s death and Surt stealing his fashion ideas – that he howled like Crazy Alice in Chinatown and rammed his harpoon right through the giant’s gut. The fire giant stumbled off, belching flames and taking the harpoon with him.
Hearthstone pointed to the Wolf. Idea, he signed. Follow me.
‘I thought we needed to stay in the heather,’ I recalled.
Hearthstone raised his staff. Across the ground at his feet, a rune spread like a shadow:
Heather bloomed around it, sprouting new tendrils.
‘Algiz,’ Sam marvelled. ‘The rune of shielding. I’ve never seen it used.’
I felt as if I were seeing Hearthstone for the first time. He didn’t stumble. He didn’t faint. He strode confidently forward, the flowers expanding before him like an unrolling carpet. Not only was Hearth immune to the wolf’s voice, his rune magic was literally redrawing the boundaries of Fenris’s prison.
We inched into the valley, following Hearthstone. On the right side of the island, my einherjar friends clashed with Surt’s forces. Halfborn Gunderson buried his axe in the breastplate of a giant. X picked up another fire-breather and tossed him off the side of the ridge. Mallory and T.J. fought back-to-back, jabbing and slashing and dodging blasts of flame.
Gunilla and her two Valkyrie lieutenants were fighting Surt himself. Between the shining white spears and the flaming sword, their combat was almost too bright to watch.
My friends fought valiantly, but they were outnumbered two-to-one. The fire giants didn’t want to die. Even the one Blitzen had harpooned was still staggering around, trying to blowtorch the einherjar with his bad breath.
‘We have to hurry,’ I said.
‘Open to suggestions, kid,’ Blitzen said.
Fenris paced expectantly. He didn’t seem concerned to see us shuffling towards him on a carpet of heather, collectively armed with an axe, a glowing white staff, an uncooperative sword and a ball of string.
‘By all means, come down,’ he said. ‘Bring that blade closer.’
Blitzen huffed. ‘I’ll tie him up. Hearth can guard me. Magnus and Sam – you two keep him from biting off my head for a few minutes.’
‘Terrible idea,’ Sam said.
‘Got a better one?’ Blitz asked.
‘I do!’ Fenris lunged. He could’ve torn my throat out, but that wasn’t his plan. His front paws passed on either side of my sword. Jack cheerfully cooperated, slicing the rope in half.
Sam brought down her axe between the Wolf’s ears, but Fenris leaped out of the way. His back legs were still hobbled, but his front paws were free. The Wolf’s coat steamed from contact with the heather. Blisters swelled all over his legs, but he sounded too delighted to care.
‘Oh, that’s wonderful,’ he crowed. ‘Just the back legs now, please. Then we can get Ragnarok under way!’
All the rage that had built inside me for two years boiled to the surface.
‘Blitz,’ I said, ‘do what you need to do. I’m going to knock this mutt’s teeth out.’
I ran at the Wolf – possibly my worst idea ever. Sam charged in next to me.
Fenris might have been the size of a normal wolf, but, even with his back legs hobbled, his speed and strength were impossible to match.
As soon as I stepped from the edge of the heather, he became a blur of claws and teeth. I stumbled and fell, a line of deep cuts across my chest. Fenris would’ve torn me open if Sam’s axe hadn’t slammed him aside.
The Wolf snarled. ‘You can’t hurt me. The gods couldn’t hurt me. Don’t you think they would’ve slit my throat if they could have? My destiny is fixed. Until Ragnarok, I am unkillable!’
‘Must be nice.’ I stumbled to my feet. ‘But it won’t keep me from trying.’
Unfortunately, Jack wasn’t helping. Every time I tried to attack, the sword turned and swerved, doing its best to cut the rope around the Wolf’s back legs. My fight with the Wolf was more like a game of piggy-in-the-middle.
Blitzen lunged forward, the end of Andskoti tied in a noose. He tried to snare the Wolf’s hindquarters, but he might as well have been moving in slow motion. Fenris stepped aside, dodging another strike from Sam’s axe. The Wolf slashed Blitzen across the throat and the dwarf fell face down. The string rolled away.
‘NO!’ I yelled.
I moved towards Blitzen, but Hearthstone was faster.
He slammed his staff across Fenris’s skull. Golden fire blazed. The Wolf clambered away, whining in pain. A rune mark now steamed on his forehead – a simple arrow seared into the grey fur:
‘Tiwaz?’ The Wolf snarled. ‘You dare attack me with the rune of Tyr?’ The wolf lunged at Hearthstone but seemed to hit an invisible barrier. He stumbled and howled.
Sam appeared next to me. Her axe was gone. Her left eye was swollen shut and her hijab had been cut to shreds. ‘Hearth used the rune of sacrifice,’ she said, her voice quavering. ‘To save Blitz.’
‘What does that mean?’ I asked.
Hearth collapsed to his knees, leaning against his staff. Still he managed to put himself between the dwarf and the Wolf.
‘You sacrifice your strength to shield your friend?’ The Wolf laughed. ‘Fine. Enjoy your spellwork. The dwarf is already dead. Your own rune magic has doomed you. You can watch while I deal with my other tasty prey.’
He bared his fangs at us.
Across the field, the battle was not going well.
One of Gunilla’s Valkyries sprawled lifeless on the rocks. The other one fell, her armour burning from Surt’s sword. Gunilla faced the fire lord alone, swinging her spear like a whip of light, but she couldn’t last. Her clothes smouldered. Her shield was charred and cracked.
The einherjar were surrounded. Halfborn had lost one of his axes. He was covered with so many burns and gashes I didn’t understand how he could still be alive, but he just kept fighting, laughing as he charged the giants. Mallory was on one knee, cursing as she parried attacks from three giants at once. T.J. swung his rifle wildly. Even X looked tiny compared to the enemies now looming over him.
My head throbbed. I could feel my einherji powers at work, trying to close the cuts on my chest, but I knew Fenris could kill me faster than I could possibly heal.
The Wolf sniffed, no doubt smelling my weakness.
‘Ah, well,’ he chuckled. ‘A good try, Magnus, but the sons of Frey never were fighters. All that’s left for me to do now is devour my enemies. I love this part!’