SIXTY-SEVEN
One More, for a Friend
‘We’ve got a frey boat!’ yelled T.J.
I had no idea what a Frey boat was. I didn’t see any boat on the beach, but I was too stunned and exhausted to ask questions. I felt like the extremes of heat and cold I’d tolerated my entire life were now taking revenge. My forehead burned with fever. My eyes felt close to boiling. My chest felt like a block of ice.
I plodded along. The ground became softer under my feet. The beach sank. The waves rushed in. My arm muscles screamed under the weight of the Valkyrie captain.
I started veering sideways. Sam grabbed my arm. ‘Just a little further, Magnus. Stay with me.’
We got to the beach. T.J. pulled out a piece of cloth like a handkerchief and tossed it into the surf. Immediately the cloth expanded, unfolding. By the count of ten, a full-size Viking warship bobbed in the surf with two oversized oars, a figurehead carved like a wild boar and a green sail emblazoned with the Hotel Valhalla logo. Along the side of the prow, lettered in white, were the words: HOTEL VALHALLA COURTESY VEHICLE.
‘In!’ T.J. jumped aboard first and reached out to take Gunilla from me.
The wet sand pulled at my feet, but somehow I managed to get over the rail. Sam made sure everyone else got in safely. Then she climbed aboard.
A deep hum reverberated across the island, like a bass amp turned to maximum. The Isle of Heather sank beneath the black waves. The ship’s sail tacked by itself. The oars began to row, and the ship turned west.
Blitzen and Hearthstone collapsed at the bow. They started arguing with each other about which of them had taken the stupider risks, but they were so tired the debate deteriorated into a half-hearted poking contest, like a couple of second-graders.
Sam knelt next to Gunilla. She folded the Valkyrie captain’s arms across her chest and gently closed Gunilla’s blue eyes.
‘The others?’ I asked.
X lowered his head.
He had set the two Valkyries in the stern, but it was clear they were gone. He folded their arms like Gunilla’s. ‘Brave warriors.’ He touched their foreheads with tenderness.
‘I didn’t know them,’ I said.
‘Margaret and Irene.’ Sam’s voice was unsteady. ‘They – they never liked me much, but … good Valkyries.’
‘Magnus,’ T.J. called from amidships, ‘we need you.’
He and Mallory were kneeling next to Halfborn Gunderson, whose berserker strength had finally failed him. His chest was a nightmarish patchwork of cuts and burns. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle. His beard and hair were sprinkled with blood and small bits of heather.
‘Good – fight,’ he wheezed.
‘Don’t talk, you big idiot!’ Mallory sobbed. ‘How dare you get yourself hurt like this?’
He grinned sleepily. ‘Sorry … Mother.’
‘Hang in there,’ T.J. said. ‘We can get you back to Vahalla. Then, if – if anything happens, you can be reborn.’
I put my hand on Halfborn’s shoulder. I sensed damage so severe I almost pulled away. It was like forcing myself to explore a bowl of glass shards.
‘There’s no time,’ I said. ‘We’re losing him.’
Mallory choked on tears. ‘Not an option. No. Halfborn Gunderson, I hate you so much.’
He coughed. Blood flecked his lips. ‘I hate you too, Mallory Keen.’
‘Hold him still,’ I said. ‘I’ll do what I can.’
‘Kid, think about this,’ Blitz said. ‘You’re already weak.’
‘I have to.’ I extended my senses, taking in Halfborn’s broken bones, his internal bleeding, his bruised organs. Fear washed over me. It was too much, too close to death. I needed help.
‘Jack,’ I called.
The sword hovered to my side. ‘Boss?’
‘Halfborn is dying. I’ll need your strength to help heal him. You can do that?’
The sword hummed nervously. ‘Yeah. But, boss, the second you take hold of me –’
‘I know. I’ll be even more exhausted.’
‘It’s not just binding the Wolf,’ Jack warned. ‘I also helped with the aura of golden light, which was pretty cool if I do say so myself. And then there was the Peace of Frey.’
‘The peace …’ I realized he meant the shock wave that had disarmed everyone, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. ‘Fine. Yes. We have to act now.’
I grabbed the sword. My eyesight dimmed. If I hadn’t been sitting already, I would’ve fallen down. I fought against the nausea and dizziness and placed the sword flat against Halfborn’s chest.
Warmth flooded through me. Light turned Halfborn’s beard to red gold. I sent the last of my strength coursing through his veins, repairing damage, closing ruptures.
The next thing I remember, I was lying face up on the deck, staring at a green sail rippling in the wind as my friends shook me and shouted my name.
Then I was standing in a sunlit meadow at the edge of a lake with blue sky above me. A warm breeze ruffled my hair.
Somewhere behind me, a man’s voice said, ‘Welcome.’