Dead Chaos (A Valkyrie Novel - Book 3)(37)

"Yes, I do." I smiled at the little ray of hope that brightened the goddess’s face. "We will be leaving as soon as possible."

"You have your team?" Frigga asked.

I nodded. Then Fen spoke, his face ridged and shadowed. "I will go with them."

"But, Fenrir, I need you here." Frigga frowned, worry clear in her strained face. "We have gods coming in on a daily basis and we still need to manage the scouts that are going out looking for the ones who haven’t arrived. And what about your Midgard scouts? Who will oversee them?"

Fen bowed. "My lady, as you need me, I will remain in Asgard." Although he’d relented, he didn’t look entirely thrilled about it. I was both relieved and disappointed. It would have been good to have Fen at our back. But it was clear Frigga couldn't manage without him.

My attention wavered as pain simmered hotter in my arm.

"Bryn, you are injured," Fen said, his gaze fixed at the cuff of my jacket where my hand peeked out. He raised an eyebrow and his eyes dropped to the top of my wrist where blood stained my skin bright red.

"Yes. It's just a cut." I waved my hand at him as he opened his mouth to do what my team had already done — bully me into getting the wound seen to. "Don't worry. I just stopped here to drop off the horn. I'm off to see Eir. Maybe she can do something about all the broken parts of me."

"I expect a full report later." Fen smirked and turned his attention to Sigrun as she moved toward him with a smile, her wings fluttering in what I'd bet was excitement to see her lover. I hid a grin at the expression in Fen's eyes. Those two were so beautiful together.

I turned and headed for the exit and Aimee and Joshua accompanied me to the door.

"If you're going to be okay, we'll head off to Valhalla," Joshua said, his gaze running over my face as if he didn't want to stop looking at me. I longed for an embrace or even for him to touch my hand. Ached for it. But he didn't touch me. I nodded. We headed out the door, and set off in opposite directions.









Chapter 34




A few moments later, I reached Eir's room, knocking lightly before entering the open doorway. I hitched my satchel onto my shoulder, realizing I'd forgotten to leave it in the transfer room. It didn't matter. The weight didn't bother me anymore.

The room was bright and white, large windows letting in the sun's warming rays. Eir stood beside a bowl of water, rinsing her hands. She smiled as soon as she saw me, wiping her hands quickly on a soft towel.

"Bryn, how are you?" She held her arms out to me.

"I really need your assistance." I shrugged my jacket off, the rip in the soft black fabric mirrored by a similar slash in the sleeve of the armor beneath it. Clearly the specialized armor wasn't immune to the charms of a fire giant’s blade. I shuddered to think what would’ve happened if the ball-and-chain had missed.

Bryn shish kebob, that's what.

Eir took my jacket and tossed it onto a nearby seat. I cringed to think what the bloodied garment would do to the pristine white of the fabric. I dropped my satchel beside the seat and followed Eir. Next she helped me take the armor off. As thin as it was, it seemed near impossible to remove while wet and sticky with my life’s-blood clogging up the tiny links.

She guided me to a stool beside the bowl of water she'd been using. She grabbed one of the towels and wet it before wiping away much of the blood around the cut.

"It's deep." Eir's voice hummed softly in my ear. Her ministrations were calming and I was finally feeling the effects of the blood loss. Apparently Valkyries weren’t immune to fainting. "I will have to sew it."

I nodded. I'd expected it. Just looking at the length of the cut in my jacket and the amount of blood the wound had spilled, I'd been prepared for stitches.

"Come and lie down. You need to relax." Eir showed me to a small daybed. As I seated myself, she disappeared behind me to return moments later with a goblet. "Drink this. It will help with the healing and of course it will help you to relax." She grinned.

Mead. I was most pleased to drink the honeyed liquid.

After swallowing the entire cupful, I lay back and waited. Eir placed a stool beside the bed and went to shut the door. She hurried back, washed her hands, and brought a small tray with her, which she laid on the bed. She shifted the stool closer and pressed the tender red flesh at the mouth of the wound then nodded to herself.

Choosing a vicious-looking needle, she looped the thread into the eye and bent to her task. "When I say, take a deep breath. It should ease the pain at the entry of the needle."

I nodded and tried to relax. Too bad Eir didn't have a shot of general anesthetic lying around somewhere. I made a mental note to make that suggestion, then concentrated as the goddess brought the needle to my skin. I breathed deeply, feeling the prick of the needle, the pressure and the break in the skin, the penetration of the sharp point as she pushed it through the flesh and made the first loop to pull the two pieces of skin together.

Each time she inserted the needle, it seemed to be easier and less painful. I was about to comment on that when I realized my eyelids were drooping as the Mead took effect. I swallowed, remembering she had one more wound to attend to. One that I was grateful I'd most likely be unconscious for. Or at least plenty out of it to not feel the pain.

I cleared my throat just as Eir began to go in for another stitch. "What is it?"

"There is another wound. I needed to tell you before I fall asleep."

"Most likely a wise idea." Eir smiled. "Where is it?"

"My scalp. I hit a rock wall pretty hard and it was bleeding. Still is a little, I think."

"I'll take care of it. You just relax."

Good thing I'd told her when I did. Within minutes, I was asleep, blissfully unaware of the piercing and tugging against my wounds.



I woke in the day bed hours later. I hadn’t felt this good, this rested, in ages. A Huldra greeted me when I woke, informing me that Eir had been called away and that I could leave as soon as I felt ready. Then she left, her cow’s tail bobbing at the hem of her skirts.

I touched my scalp gingerly, and felt the small row of stitches Eir had made and winced as my finger brushed a thread. Rested but still sore, I got to my feet and gathered my clothes together. Before long, I returned to my room to be greeted by a pair of swiftly wagging tails and dark, glossy eyes that looked very concerned for my welfare and very happy to see me back.

"Down, Fleabag. Give a girl some space." I waved the dogs off and sank into the fur on my bed. I fell against the furs, relishing the soft comfort, my eyes too heavy to keep open any longer. Just as I was about to fall asleep, Turi entered the room to take over my weapons and clothing. She came with a tray of hot food, which fully roused me and had me drooling very quickly.

Steaming slices of roast beef and gravy and vegetables. Fresh hot bread with lots of melted butter. I devoured the meat, surprised at my hunger. At last, replete and strangely more exhausted than I'd been before eating, I lay back on the furs and watched Geri and Freki as they lounged in front of the fire.

My heavy lids shut and I was asleep so fast I didn't have a chance to put together a plan for our mission.



"So once you arrive in Jotunnheim, you will head for the castle." Fen and the team bent over a map spread open on his desk. I'd summoned them to meet me at Fen's, assuming he'd be the best person to give us the lay of the land of the frost giants.

I was still sore but well refreshed and ready for action. "Do we know the layout of the castle? How to get to the Tower of Mord?"

Fen nodded. "The Mord Tower is the only place Loki would keep Heimdall—highly secure, well-guarded, no escape. The perfect prison."

"Isn't there a king or ruler of Jotunnheim? Maybe we could bargain with him?" I suggested although I suspected it would never be that easy.

"Yes and no." Fen's response was cold and I suspected he had a history with this ruler of the frost giants. "The King of the Jotunn is Bergfinnr. His loyalty, although at times questionable, lies with Loki. He does not have much love for the Aesir, especially Heimdall and Thor. He will not deign to bargain with you or any one of us."

"Guess that means we do it the hard way." I shrugged, giving the team a cursory glance. Nods all around. We were all ready to go. "So where’s this tower, then?"

"West wing of the castle. I have made a copy of the plans for you. You should have no trouble following it." Fen rolled the map up and handed it to me along with another smaller scroll of paper. "And be careful. Avoid fighting the giants if possible. They are hard to defeat even for a powerful Valkyrie."

I glanced up at Fen but he was looking at Sigrun, a shadow of worry on his brow.

"We'll be careful. I'd prefer not to tangle with them either. Not after my last experience with the fake Brody we tried to rescue just before Dr. Lee’s henchmen caught me," I said, and Fen nodded. We shuffled, ready to leave.

"Oh, and don’t forget your Sleipnir," said Fen.

My jaw dropped. "My Sleipnir?"

"Yes. You have been trained to ride. And so has your team. You each have you own assigned mount and they will accompany you to Jotunnheim. I do believe they will be an advantage in the Jotunn terrain." I was still surprised but managed a weak nod. "Oh and, Brynhildr? Please be careful. The last thing we need is to lose anyone on this mission."