Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent (20 page)

Watching the empty street from a third-floor window of the bookshop, the helpful staff member said, ‘There are some kids out there. See? On the giant snake: two boys by the looks of it.'

The refugees were clustered around the large windows, peering out and fogging up the glass with their breath. The Jormungand had wound itself back around the Spire, and Loki and Max were resting on one of the head fins.

‘That's my brother,' Ash said. ‘That's why you need to let me out.'

‘I'm not letting you out. Which one is your brother? The blond kid?'

‘No,' she replied. ‘The blond one is … Never mind, you'd never believe me anyway.'

‘I wouldn't have believed you an hour ago if you'd told me I'd be seeing a hundred-foot-long snake terrorising the city. But my eyes aren't lying to me. So tell me, who's the blond kid?'

Ash took a deep breath and began, ‘He's the ancient Viking god Loki, the Trickster God, who's been held captive under Dublin for more than a millennium and now plans on destroying the entire world for his revenge. That giant snake thing is his child.'

The shop assistant just looked at Ash for a minute, gobsmacked. ‘Tch!' he said, rolling his eyes. ‘Yeah, right!'

‘I told you you wouldn't believe me,' said Ash, turning back to the window just in time to see a helicopter pass by as it flew towards the Jormungand.

Loki heard the helicopter approaching as he lay back on the serpent's fin. The propellers chopped at the air, making a
fwp-fwp
sound. It flew from the south, the direction of the Liffey, and hovered in the centre of the street at roughly the same height as the buildings. It was white with a fluorescent yellow stripe edged with blue painted down the sides.

‘Uh oh,' Loki remarked sarcastically to Max, ‘here comes the cavalry.'

The helicopter hung in the air in front of them, the rush of wind from the propellers making the Spire sway. Max clung on to Loki's waist, afraid of falling again.

‘Attention!' a voice boomed from the megaphone attached to the side of the helicopter. ‘This is the Garda Síochána! Please remove yourself and your … eh … giant snake … eh … whatever that thing is from the Spire. Immediately.'

‘And what if we don't?' Loki shouted back, using his magic to project his voice so it could be heard over the noise of the helicopter's engine.

‘Well, then we'll be forced to remove you by … eh … extreme measures!'

Loki patted the side of the Jormungand's massive head.

‘Oh puh-leese,' he said to it. ‘Who do they think they are? Even at your weakest you could dispose of that flying tin can easily. In fact, I think it's time to unleash our secret weapon.' He leaned closer to the Jormungand and kissed the top of its skull. ‘Now, let's show them what you've got.'

With that command, the beast opened its vicious jaws and roared. Its long, forked tongue flickered in the air and huge drops of spittle flew out of its mouth and landed on the window of the helicopter. The force of the air being expelled from the Jormungand's lungs was so great that the helicopter careened backwards, flipping over and over in the air.

The screech ended as the Jormungand ran out of breath. Then it inhaled, looked up to the sky and roared once more. This time, green rays of light shot out of its mouth, as if propelled by the noise itself. The green light soaked into the clouds, turning them a sickly moss green.

Meanwhile, the garda pilot had completely lost control of his vehicle. As the ‘flying tin can' tumbled towards the street below, the pilot and co-pilot flung themselves out of its doors, crashing onto the pavement with heavy thuds. The pilot landed awkwardly and cried out in pain as a bone snapped in his leg. The helicopter itself crashed to the street mere feet away from them and exploded with a bright flash of orange, knocking them backwards. Red flames and black smoke belched high into the sky as Loki laughed feverishly at the destruction.

The Jormungand wailed at the sky once more as the dark-green clouds sank closer to the earth.

The dead army rowed the boat through the hole in the wall and out onto the River Liffey. The sail just about cleared the crumbling upper part of the gap. Arthur had changed out of his soaking clothes and into a black tunic and brown trousers that one of the Vikings had handed him. The pendant pulsated green on his chest.

‘It's very quiet,' he remarked to Bjorn by his side as they sailed the boat towards O'Connell Bridge. Just then a garda helicopter flew over the bridge in the direction of the Spire. From his position on the boat, Arthur couldn't see what happened but he certainly could hear the roar of the Jormungand and the loud blast that followed shortly afterwards as the helicopter hit the ground and exploded. Arthur watched in awe as thick black smoke rose over the buildings. Then he noticed green rays shooting skywards into the clouds now gathering over that part of the city – thick clouds that looked like they were full of heavy rain. But they were also a deep green, with flashes of light moving through them like shots of electricity, and they were quickly spreading as far as the eye could see.

He turned to Bjorn – he now thought of him as his second-in-command – and said, ‘We have to hurry. I just hope we're not already too late.'

The Jormungand crawled back down the length of the Spire towards the smoking wreckage. The fire had already burnt itself out, but a thick cloud of dense smoke still rose from the ashes. When the serpent reached the ground, Loki slid off, pulling Max with him. The Jormungand looked around and then focused its gaze on the injured pilot lying on the road. His broken leg was sticking out at a strange angle in front of him and the Jormungand began to advance on him, slithering along the ground on its belly rather than walking on its tiny legs. The pilot started to drag himself backwards using his arms and pushing with his good leg, but the monster was gaining on him quickly. The co-pilot, who had not hurt himself too badly in the jump from the helicopter, raced up to the pilot and grabbed him under the arms, lifting him onto his good leg. The two quickly hobbled to the relative safety of a nearby café. The door shut tightly behind them and the occupants looked fearfully out the window.

‘Ha ha!' guffawed Loki. ‘Run away, little piggies, run away. Then we'll huff and we'll puff and we'll blow your house –'

He was cut off when a drop of water landed beside him. Max jumped back from the puddle it made. It was more than an ordinary drop – it was huge, the size of an average bucketful. When it hit the ground, it burst with a loud
thwump
.

Loki looked up at the green clouds.

‘It's starting,' he said to himself quietly, almost in awe. More giant drops fell around them. He turned on the spot, waving his arms jubilantly. ‘It's
starting
!'

He picked up Max and swung him around. ‘It's starting, Maxie! The end of the world!'

Before Max could reply, Loki leaped onto the World Serpent's back, pulling Max along with him. They were in the air again in seconds and the Jormungand once more wrapped itself around the point of the Spire. Loki stood on the top of its head, his arms outstretched triumphantly.

Max peered down at the street below. The few huge drops that had fallen had already soaked the ground. It would only get worse now as the heavens opened. The green clouds showered giant drops onto the city. As Max watched, the streets were flooded in seconds, water rising above the steps of some buildings and slowly starting to seep inside.

The Jormungand roared again. More green light emanated from the scream and soaked into the clouds. Loki was laughing like he never had before.

Arthur had just climbed onto the pavement above the Liffey when the rain started. He was soaked instantly by one giant drop landing next to him. He looked behind him at Bjorn and the others climbing the ladder out of the river. Arthur stretched his hand out to Bjorn to help him over the wall but the Viking shook his head frantically and pointed back at the boat bobbing on the water.

‘What is it? What's wrong?'

Bjorn grunted and pointed at the dark clouds then at the river. Arthur saw what he meant now. The water level was already rising drastically with the heavy rain. Although he had been standing on the pavement only a short time, already water lapped around his ankles. At this rate, the river would overflow in a couple of minutes which meant that –

‘We can sail down the street to Loki,' Arthur exclaimed, ‘and attack from the boat. Great idea!'

Bjorn nodded and grunted to his men. They retreated down the ladder to the rapidly rising boat. The second-in-command waited for Arthur, who had started to follow but then suddenly paused.

‘Hold on a second,' Arthur said, running off. He came to the bottom of O'Connell Street. Cautiously, he peeked around the corner. Smoke was rising from the wreckage of the helicopter but the water would soon put that out completely. No one was on the near-flooded street, although he did see several frightened faces staring out at the scene from second- and third-floor windows. The World Serpent was coiled around the top of the Spire, just like it had been wrapped around the tree on his pendant. From this distance, he could just about make out the tiny figures of Loki and Max on its great head. While Max was clinging on for dear life, Loki was standing up, laughing crazily. Arthur ran back to the waiting Viking.