Dead Embers (28 page)

Yeah, I'd met Sarah's almost-mother-in-law.

I'd also just killed her.

I sucked in a gasp.

Sarah continued her story, her voice as flat and dead as the
shadowed forest outside. "His timing was perhaps not that fortunate. In
his absence, his mother had killed his father and taken the kingdom for
herself, and when we entered the palace the guards seized him, and he was taken
straight to the queen. And I was placed in chains."

"And you never tried to escape?" I asked, the question
bordering on interrogatory. She'd been a captive in peril, yes, but had it been
me, I'd definitely have tried to escape. Guess good old King Brokk and I had
something in common.

"Yes, of course I did." She traced the red band on
her wrist. "I was not as adept at subterfuge as I had hoped. When I was
discovered, Queen Huld used the Black Manacles on me."

"Oh, the black cuffs the guard had in the dining
hall?"

Sarah frowned. "You were there?" She didn't wait
for my answer. "The manacles are forged with the black rock of
Swartelfheim and the black magic of the frost giants. They burn with icy fire,
and the wounds take years to heal. I never tried to leave again."

I couldn't find anything appropriate to say to that. What
could I say that would make her feel better about her captivity?

"If you two are done with your little heart to heart,
could we leave?" Mika's gruff voice interrupted us. "And Bryn, is it
really necessary to take this human with us? She is slowing us down."

I parted the cloak and glared at Mika, annoyed with her lack
of compassion. "We're taking her with us," I said, my voice and eyes
brimming with anger.

Mika shrugged, her own eyes flaring yellow. I couldn't care
less about her temper. I held onto Sarah's arm and snuck around the corner, allowing
the girl to lead us up and down corridors; some dark, many brightly lit by
torches.

I hoped I wasn't going to regret it.

Soon the dull throb of the forges could be felt through the
stone floor and walls. We were almost there.

But just when we thought the end was in sight, the thunder
of bootsteps rang down the corridor. A dozen or so dwarfs bore down on us. Any
second now, they would see Mika and it would all be over.

My heart thudded, faster than the forges but unable to match
the stamping of oncoming boots. Sarah and I were safe, hidden within the
Tarnkappe, but Mika was totally at their mercy.

Unless . . .

At the very last second, I grabbed Sarah and jumped in front
of Mika, flattening her between the cloak and the wall. The breath whooshed out
of her in an angry huff, but thankfully she didn't resist. I'd banked her
safety on my assumption that anything behind the cloak could not be seen.

I was right.

The guards stormed past us, so close that Sarah and I had to
hold our tummies in to avoid being jabbed by errant elbows and dangerous dagger
scabbards. I held my breath too, imagining the cloak catching on a guard's
sword and being pulled off, ending with the three of us being beheaded for
killing the ruler of Swartelfheim.

I needn't have worried.

The troop passed us by, and not until the last of them
disappeared into the darkness did we begin to breathe again at last.

"As exciting as that was, I think we should be
going." I grinned, and Sarah and I headed off. Mika followed without even
a
thank you
. Guess she didn't appreciate being pancaked between us and
the wall.

Tough.

We picked up the pace and took the next turn at a canter.

And almost ran straight into a dwarf pushing a cart filled
with black rock. The dwarf goggled at us; the cart wobbled, tipping over, black
rock cascading onto the ground. He grunted, and what I could make out of his
cheeks flared red. He stared hesitantly at us, fingers hovering a few seconds
above his sword. He pulled free the obsidian blade and squared his shoulders,
ready to charge. A single torch beside us cast a doubtful flame upon our
contrary gathering.

My heart gave a resoundingly relieved thump as it dawned on
me that he couldn’t see us hidden inside the folds of the cloak.

But he could see Mika.

Sarah and I shared a worried glance, then looked from dwarf
to ice-cold Ulfr. The dwarf's nostrils flared.

A low growl erupted from Mika's throat, and a sickening
dread ferreted in my gut. This would not end well. Once again, I wondered at
the irony of taking an Ulfr along, right into a den of Ulfr-detecting dwarfs. I
squeezed Sarah's arm and held a finger to my lips. At her acknowledgement, I
snuck out from under the cloak, drawing my sword as I sprang forward.

The sword sang, startling both Ulfr and dwarf. I rammed into
Mika, registering her almost fully transformed Ulfr form: eyes glaring yellow,
canines lengthened and deadly. She backpedalled, and I took the opportunity and
bore down on the dwarf.

He stared at the sword, then at me. Or maybe not at me, but
at my wings. All he saw was a charging Valkyrie. Fear flooded his eyes, but he
held his ground. A courageous dwarf? I was impressed.

I swiped my sword at him, and he struck back, defending
himself. Swinging again, I shifted my body, pushing him further against the
wall. The cart sat almost in the middle of the passage, and my maneuver gave
Sarah and Mika the chance to move around to the opposite end, into the waiting
darkness of the passageway. I played my little swordfight act with the dwarf.
It was really no challenge. He was a worker, not a warrior.

My peripheral vision confirmed that Mika had passed safely
to the other end of the corridor. "Sarah?" I grunted as the dwarf
lunged and I parried, his blade missing me by an inch. Never underestimate an
opponent, dwarf or otherwise.

"I am here," she said.

With both Mika and Sarah safe, I forced the dwarf to lunge
again, allowed the momentum of his swipe to carry him forward, then kicked his
feet out from under him. The poor guy landed on his face, eating black rock.

He struggled to his feet. I winced, knowing I had no choice,
but still not happy to beat up an almost defenseless dwarf. Maybe I needed to
borrow some of Mika's coldness. Glad that, anatomy-wise, dwarfs were built
pretty much the same as humans, I slammed the heel of my hand into the base of
the dwarf's skull.

Lights out.

I wasted no time checking on the poor dwarf, just turned and
fled toward Mika, slipping beneath the cloak held open by a grinning Sarah.

Despite stumbling onward in near darkness, it didn't take
long to get to the entrance, and soon we were pushing the stone door open
peeking out into . . . bright sunlight? Morning already? I blinked and
squinted. Weird. Wasn't this the bloody underworld? What happened to the gloomy
shadows?

I began to step out into the light—when a snarl and a sniff
right at my elbow made my heart thump. The brothers—we had forgotten the two
dwarf princes.

***

I turned around, an inch at a time, keeping Sarah safely
against the wall. But the brothers, safely out of the deadly rays of the sun
and no doubt searching the corridors for their attacker, had come up behind us.
And spotted Mika. And smelled her. The two dwarfs, faces bearing bruises and
scratches from their earlier encounter with her, lifted their weapons,
grimaced, and charged toward us.

My heart thumped at their proximity. But I was safe beneath
the invisible cloak. Or so I thought. The tip of one brother's sword hooked
onto the edge of the cloak, ripping it free in a whoosh of satiny fabric.

And I stood there, suddenly exposed, wondering if I'd be
better off not visualizing bad endings. I'd just imagined my worst nightmare
into reality.

The first dwarf slid to a stop, and his jaw dropped. I
trembled, certain we would meet a gory end. On the point of his sword. But his
dark and swarthy face transformed into something resembling a pretty
good-looking dude. "Sarah!"

He dropped his sword to the floor in a thunk and rushed past
me again, this time to wrap his arms around the girl. "What happened? How
did you get free?" He grabbed her shoulders to peer at her face, then
squashed her to him in a gripping hug all over again. His brother blinked and
gave a confused-looking grin that bordered on a sneer.

"They helped me," Sarah said, pointing a finger at
me and Mika over her shoulder, a tender, happy smile on her face.

The dwarf's eyes widened. Near Mika, the other dwarf prince
lowered his weapon. "You have my thanks, Valkyrie," he said to me.
And then to Mika, less warmly, he added, "And you."

"Don't mention it. Just take care of Sarah." I inclined
my head.

As the dwarf prince glanced at his beloved, his face shifted
from tenderness to worry. "We will have to leave, Sarah, before my mother
realizes you have escaped! But we cannot go this way." Bright sunlight
poured through the doorway. "The far tunnels! We must hurry."

The prince spoke with a desperate urgency that revealed the
depth of his affection for the human girl. I was amazed.

The dwarf and the girl—a romance? Who would've thought?

Sarah shook her head. "No, she won't be looking for us."
She pulled herself free from the arms of her beloved and held up the bloody
pillowcase. Then she tipped the queen's head out of the pillowslip. It thudded
again, rolling along the stone.

The dead queen's head disconcerted me. I gaped as it rolled
over and over—her wide open, staring eyes were there one moment, gone the next.

The queen's decapitated head didn't pause in its journey to
the open doorway. And no one made a move to stop it. It bumped along across the
threshold until it came to a hesitant, rocking halt. Five pairs of eyes watched
in silence as the sun fell upon the queen's dark skin and, as if a magical hand
had passed across it, the ebony color turned to a pale grey.

I shuddered.

The entire head took on a solid, almost stony look. Ripples
of disgust and relief warred their way up and down my spine. The witch's head
solidified into smooth stone. The sun had done its job, and the queen was no
more.

I held my breath, unsure of what Sarah's prince's reaction
would be. Would he want to kill us? Would he want revenge for the death of his
mother? The muscles in his face tightened at the sight of the head, and he
didn't move, nor did he challenge us to a death duel. He shook his head and
sighed, turning to face his brother. "She is dead, my brother. We are free
at last."

His brother nodded weakly, his leathery face streaked with
pain, and I knew in that instant that Mika had hurt him pretty badly. I glared
at her, but she merely shrugged. Protecting the entrance to Swartelfheim was
his duty, but he didn't deserve a mauling by a rabid Ulfr for his troubles.
What did she have against dwarfs anyway? Was it the fact that the dwarfs had
helped to imprison Fen, long ago? I guess that would give her a reason to hate
them.

"Thank you," Sarah said, and I beamed at her. I
quite liked this feisty, courageous girl. A little unsure of her choice in
partner, but who was I to judge? The boy I cared for was no longer alive.

"It was the least I could do."

"I too thank you, Valkyrie." The dwarf prince
bowed low, and I felt like a curtsy was almost in order, but I restrained the
urge and just nodded. He continued, his tone and attitude so formal I wanted to
smile, "You have freed our realm from the tyranny of my mother's rule. All
of Swartelfheim is grateful."

"I did only what I had to do." I inclined my head,
throwing a quick glance toward the door. I really wanted to get out of there
before Sarah slipped up and mentioned the goblet. What if it was important to
them for some reason? The last thing I needed was to have to battle the princes
for it. "I'm afraid it's time for us to leave."

Mika drew closer to me, and the princes bowed again.
"Come, Sarah." They limped past me, without a word to Mika, leaving
us at the unguarded entrance, alone with the stone head of their mother.

"Finally." Mika said, staring at the disappearing
trio. She glanced at me, her face hardened, resolved. Boy, was she eager to get
the Hel out of there.

I grabbed the cloak, folding it over my arm as we walked
out, and shoved the door shut with a nudge of my shoulder. With the door closed
behind us and warm sunlight on our heads, the whole experience seemed quite
surreal. And yet the queen's stony eyes stared sightlessly at us as we passed,
sending a shudder down my spine. Stony eyes that proved all the craziness of
the last few hours had really happened.

At least it was all over. Relief and elation bubbling up
inside me like a geyser, I turned to Mika, a smile of triumph on my face. I
wanted to enjoy the victory with her, to celebrate our triumph. Despite her
special Ulfr aroma giving us away all the time, Mika had been instrumental in
the success of this mission. How would I ever be able to thank her for
insisting on coming with me?

I meant to reach out to her and give her the biggest hug.

Instead I froze, feral fear now flooding my senses.

Mika glared at me, her eyes half transformed, her forehead
low and teeth bared.

With deadly intent, Mika sprang at me.

She attacked with a ferocity that surprised and hurt me. But
I didn't have time to ponder the possible reasons for her assault.

Mika struggled against me, hands grappling with my bag. I
stumbled backward. We fell to the ground, stones crunching beneath my back as
Mika straddled my torso, hands still feverishly digging within the leather
satchel.

It took me far too long to realize what she was after. She
wanted the goblet. I dived for it. Too late. She'd already grabbed it and
rolled away.

Fury reddened my vision and I rose, throwing myself at Mika,
lunging at her, wrapped within a ball of pained anger as I berated myself for
ever trusting her.