Dead Radiance(52)

Silence hung in the air, dark and heavy, and it scared me. I saw all sorts of things inside that silence. Anger and hatred and blame all rolled into one vacuum of sound.

"When were you planning on telling me this?" His face was ashen.

"I don't know. I meant to. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. Especially when you insisted you'd come with me. Freya instructed me to take you with, and she was right. Most of what we found so far was only because you had access to the right information." As I spoke, I was shocked by the realization that Aidan's presence and his gradual decline had hindered me, too, delaying me as I cared for him. Guess it didn’t matter now. I continued, "And then we were here. And then . . . it was too late."

Aidan stared at my face, and I could see he was trying to either find something to say or trying to stop himself from saying something. Either way, I think I preferred the silence more.

He turned and stomped off. Despite not knowing in which direction we were meant to go. Hugin caught up with him, and I breathed a sigh of relief, since Aidan could easily lose himself here in the bowels of this hellish world.

I trailed behind them in a self-pitying silence. What could have been was way too far in the past to concentrate on right now. I had to look ahead to finding a way to get out of this place alive. Especially now, after Hugin's revelation. How do we steal something from Nidhogg and then ask him to allow us to leave?

The tunnels we walked through were so hot that hot was probably too mild a description. The heat parched my throat and dotted my forehead with beads of perspiration.

Great, the sauna of the underworld?

Thankfully, we had Hugin to guide us through the darkened passageways, lit by thin streams of red hot lava, which ran in thin gutters on either side of the rock floor.

Minutes later, I was grateful he'd headed Aidan off.

The passage widened before us, almost as large as a basketball court. But I paid very little attention to the decor of the cave. My eyes were stuck on the monstrous creature that stood between us and our route to Nidhogg.



The giant stood no less than ten feet tall, with muscles that bulged larger than our heads, and hair that stood out in every direction as if permanently electrified. One slam of a meaty fist and it would be goodnight for us. He could have been any giant, even Jack's beanstalk climbing giant, except for his beard of living flame. And his eyes. Twin flaming orbs that twisted and crackled within his skull.

He wore flaming armor too, with huge bracers protecting his hands and manacles of fire at his ankles. I shivered despite the constant bombardment of sweat-wringing heat.

"What is that?" I whispered to Hugin.

"That is a Surt, one of the Giant Race, who guards the land of Muspell from intruders."

"And we're the intruders." I sighed, resigned to one more thing we didn't know. "Why didn't you tell us about him, Hugin? We would have at least been prepared."

"You did not ask me, Brynhildr. And it is unlikely that foreknowledge would have been sufficient to prepare you for this battle." He reared his head, unperturbed by the raw fury boiling in my veins.

Wiseass, I thought.

I turned to Aidan, hoping he was up to the challenge of a battle with the brute. "Hankering for a good fight with a Fire Giant?"

"Can I check my calendar and get back to you?" He smiled, and I saw a glimpse of the old Aidan, despite the tightness around his eyes.

"Nope, now's the time for action," I said. My hand went to my sword and Aidan followed suit. I tilted my head at Hugin. "Okay, Blackbird, anything we should know, any tips on defeating this monster?"

"I am afraid I cannot assist you, Brynhildr. A battle with a Guardian of a Realm is a battle only you can fight. To breach the borders of a realm one must win the opportunity to enter using one's strength, agility and intelligence." With that, the raven took flight, finding a small ledge along the cave wall, well out of range of any danger.

Bloody great. So much for the purpose of the damned raven.

I stared at the giant, meeting his gaze head on, hoping I projected a confidence and strength that would have him turn and run with his fiery tail between his legs. If he had a tail. When he didn't flee, I sighed in silence and brandished my sword. The shiiing of the blade leaving the scabbard was calming. And right now I needed calm.

My heart thudded, knocking painfully against my ribs, sweat beading my face. Aidan matched my pose beside me, but my confidence slipped at the sag to his sword and the tired hunch of his shoulders. We should have paused for a drink of Mead when we arrived. Too late now.

I bounced on lowered knees, waiting to see what the giant might do. I saw the swirling ball of fire almost too late. It zinged past my abdomen, singeing the bronze of my armor as it made a full circle. The giant growled again, air pushing at the curtain of his mustache, and grabbed hold of the fireball. The flames died, revealing a ball and chain. Deadly enough in its own right, but a pure menace with all those flames.

Aidan crouched beside me as the giant stepped forward. The ground reverberated when his foot hit the stone floor. It was a waltz, a fiery dance with three participants. We avoided one strike after another from Surt's ball and chain, and his sword. Though we began to tire, Surt himself seemed filled to overflowing with energy as he continued his relentless onslaught.

I moved away from Aidan, trying to draw the giant's attention from him. But it didn't work. Surt swung his fiery ball and hurled it at Aidan, and he did something he hadn't done since we began our little battle. He let go of the chain, allowing the ball to fly at Aidan, with the chain trailing behind its round, fiery body like a comet's tail.

I watched in pure horror as the ball hit Aidan at the top of his shoulder, the tail swinging around to whip hard against his other shoulder and curl across his chest. Flames blazed bright orange against his armor and then fizzled out. Aidan sagged forward, falling to his knees, literally bowing to the power of the fire giant. He grunted as he crumpled to the stone floor, the ball and chain clanking as it rolled away from its victim.

I retraced my steps and circled around Aidan. The giant roared his victory and stamped his foot, slapping his meaty thigh. He was laughing at us.

That's it, no more Miss Nice Guy!

I picked up the ball and chain, expecting it to be way too heavy to lift, considering the ball itself was larger than my entire head. But my own strength surprised me, and I wondered if the power came with being a Valkyrie.

I held it close. An idea began to form.

Circling Surt again, I stepped away from Aidan, who still lay stunned on the ground. The giant drew his sword and thrust it at me. I jumped back, hoping he wouldn't catch me against the stone wall with nowhere to go. A trail of heat slid by my abdomen as he missed. He brought the sword back to him with an angry flick. He tried again, and again, and each time I avoided the sword's heat and bite by a mere hair's breadth.

Surt howled his frustration. I threw the ball at his fist, knocking the sword from his hand. The weapon tumbled to the ground, losing its living flame to reveal a plain, ugly steel blade. He stared at his empty fist and then at my face; angry confusion darkened his face. Surt did not like defeat.

His eyes flamed, swirling orange and red, much like Loki's multihued eyes. When he ran at me, I swung the ball and chain again, catching him at the ankles. The ball curved around both his ankles, tying them together like a trussed chicken. Surt tilted, falling to the ground. He landed with a thunderous thud. Rocks, loosened from the impact, fell from above our heads and I ducked.

Aidan sat up, eyes dazed and filled with pain. I went to him, a bit fearful he would push me away, but he didn't resist. We skirted the unconscious giant, not daring to spend any time studying him.

We crossed the large cavern, hurrying to the passageway, as fast as we could with Aidan almost passing out on my shoulder. Hugin fluttered down from his safe perch in a blur of black, flying ahead of us. I kept the ball and chain, figuring I might need it. In a land as unusual as Muspell, it no doubt helped to have unusual weapons on hand.

As soon as we thought we were safe from the fiery, angry giant, we stopped to rest. Both Aidan and I benefited from sitting down, and a good old slug of Mead put a zing in our veins. My bullet wound had closed but was still incredibly painful to touch.

When I tried to check Aidan for broken bones or other injuries beneath his armor, he batted my hands away and rose to his feet. Then he set a pace that began to worry me. Sure, he would want to get Brisingamen and get out of here, but not at the expense of his health. I'd have no hope of saving him if he killed himself before we got back to Asgard.





Chapter 41



The journey seemed endless; and with no daylight to tell us the hour, I was unable to guess how long we had left. I tried to think of other things, or to concentrate on following Hugin. I even replayed my fight with Surt in my mind to see if I could learn anything from it. Nothing worked. I was tired, drained of emotional and physical energy, and just a little drained of faith.

When I was absolutely sure I could go no further, that one more step would just about kill me, Hugin slowed down.

We approached a ledge, overlooking a large canyon. Aidan stuck a hand out to prevent me from stepping straight into the void and tumbling to my death. A ledge, carved out of the solid rock, curved around the canyon, descending all the way to the ground. A part of my brain thought it looked strangely like a wheelchair ramp. Go Muspell for full compliance with disability access laws.