Fragments of your Soul (The Mirror Worlds Book 1) (32 page)

Petrified, Arvid looked at the terrible spectacle, but there was no more anger, only helplessness. The feeling of exhaustion had continued to wrap around her body like a leaden layer, and a burning pain raged in her injured arm. Nevertheless, Arvid knew that she could not give up. She could not abandon these people, because maybe she was the only one who could actually defeat this beast. She tried to ignore the feeling of weakness, grabbed her dagger tighter and went directly toward the angry giant.

From the corner of her eye she saw how Nod simultaneously sprung into motion beside her and flung an approaching Roker to the ground with a mighty blow. From the other side more demons came running, too. One was halted by the defenders, but one of the scouts rammed the man before it to the ground and jumped straight toward Arvid. In an instinctive movement she raised her hand. The demon’s neck was torn apart by a bright flash of light that rammed its body to the ground, but Arvid knew with sudden clarity that she was at the end.

The image of the roaring Rock blurred before her eyes. Swaying, she paused. Her legs felt so weak that her knees gave in. Only with a last-ditch effort did she manage to stay on her feet. With great difficulty she took another step. Dizziness overcame her. Convulsively clutching her dagger, she tried to keep her balance, but it was over.

Suddenly the air above them was intersected by a whipping noise, so loud it drowned out the sounds of battle and even the roar of the demons. Arvid tried desperately to lift her head, but she saw no more than a large, flitting shadow that obscured the light of the stars.

The Rock flung his massive head into the air and let out a high-pitched roar. A moment later an enormous shadow crashed to the ground right in front of Arvid, jet black and as high as the Rock itself. With a mighty blow of its wings, the creature swept all demons and soldiers around it to the ground, and Arvid staggered to the side, hit by a powerful blast of air.

In slow motion, she pushed herself up and stared at the winged being. It looked like an enormous, black angel, but she had no time to make out details. Within seconds, its contours melted and became a liquid, reflecting mass. The swirling substance shot wide apart and pulled up an exact number of pulsating spheres that turned into a dozen giant silver wolves, each of them as big as a full-grown bull. In the center, right between Arvid and the Rock, the largest of them formed. It was more than twice as high as the others, and almost on a par with the gigantic demon in front of it.

The smaller wolves made a shrill, long-drawn howl, then they menacingly set in motion, synchronized like a single being. The distraught demons gradually drew back. They let out hissing noises and some of them turned to escape in panic.

At first, even the Rock looked as if it wanted to flee, but then it suddenly stopped and tensed. It let out a furious roar and jumped at the gigantic wolf in the middle with outstretched claws.

The two giants met with such monstrous force that Arvid stumbled back to get to safety from them. Although the demon was heavier and bulkier, the greater range and maneuverability of the wolf gave it a decisive advantage. The animal escaped the jaws of the Rock with a twist and clung to its scaly body. The demon shook and jerked its head in the air and began to beat wildly around it, as the wolf struck its almost arm-long teeth in the bared throat of its opponent. The demon let out a pained roar and reared up. It staggered hard, stumbled sideways and fell.

The wolf’s body suddenly melted away, united with all the smaller wolves, and in an instant formed a human body. Arvid’s breath almost stopped when she saw that it was Loke, in his well-known Asgardian form.

The Rock had fallen to the ground with a thud. It tried to get back up, but Loke had already come after it.

Arvid knew what was coming. In an instinctive movement she covered her face with her arm and closed her eyes, but the flash of light was so bright, it even penetrated her clenched eyelids. The bursting bang rang in her ears, and for a moment she was blind and deaf.

Then there was silence.

When she opened her eyes again, the fight was over. Countless soldiers had fallen down and came back to their feet now, staggering and with protectively raised arms. The light burst had completely torn the Rock apart and taken many of the other demons with it. Those who were left fled. There were destroyed carcasses everywhere, bloody pieces of guts and broken bones with scraps of meat. The sight was causing Arvid nausea, but at the same time she felt an overwhelming sense of relief. The demons were defeated. Erendal was saved.

For a moment, Loke watched the fleeing demons, then he turned around and came toward Arvid. He looked far from relieved—on the contrary.

“How I hate your damn foolishness!” he yelled at her. “I hate your irrational will to help, your fucking, stupid protectiveness! Didn’t I tell you to stay inside?” Arvid backed away from him, frightened. Any other time, his reaction would have sparked her own anger, but she had no strength left.

She took another step back, stumbled, and would have fallen, had Loke not made a quick step toward her and steadied her.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to say as she frantically clung to his arm. “I’m sorry you… hate me so.”

“I don’t hate you,” Loke said rudely but much more quietly, and helped her to stand on her own feet again. “But I need you unharmed.”

Arvid observed that all fighters around them looked in their direction. Seeking help, her eyes wandered to Loke.

“Do you think they have recognized me?” she whispered.

“No,” Loke said quietly. “I belong to Asgard. They trust me. They don’t know who you are.” He threw a quick glance at the approaching soldiers, and then looked back at Arvid. “They will ask, though. For today you are my wife Irpa.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her on the forehead.

Only on the way back did Arvid realize the extent of the destruction. The gap at the northern gate was at least thirty meters wide. Several houses right behind it were severely damaged, and everywhere were black corpses. Healers and helpers from the city quickly formed small groups around the many dead and injured people.

Nod supported Arvid, whose legs were still too weak to climb over the ruins of the palisades on her own. The commander, a man named Gerik Leif, dragged himself along next to Loke and spoke constantly. Loke gave only brief answers. Arvid could tell that Gerik got on his nerves, but for some reason he held back.

From their conversation Arvid learned that also at the southern end of the city demons had invaded, and a large part of the palisade was destroyed. There they had counted four Rocks. Loke had killed three of them, and the last one had fled. Since many of the Rokers could get into the city, many injured were to be expected. All healers living in the city had been mustered by the leading riders, but Gerik insisted that Arvid’s wounds were treated in his own house, a large and, for Erendal, unusual building of yellow stone and black wood.

Arvid was received by two staff and led inside. The house had a bathing cellar with a number of pools, which were fed by a thermal spring. The two women helped Arvid to undress and assisted her as she slowly stepped into the water.

At first the many injuries on Arvid’s skin burned like fire. After a while the pain subsided, however, and she felt how she slowly began to relax. After all this time it was a truly wonderful feeling to be able to take a bath in water that didn’t feel like freshly melted ice. After the excitement, the efforts of the past hours and the shock of the violent end of the battle, the peaceful tranquility of the bath was like balm for her soul.

After some time Arvid heard footsteps. When she turned to the door, she saw Loke, closely followed by another staff who seemed very upset.

“Forgive me, my lady,” she said. “Your husband wanted to speak with you. He didn’t want to wait.”

“I couldn’t bear the bad company any longer,” Loke said dryly.

Arvid sighed inwardly. Obviously, he was quite himself again: tactless and rude enough to unannouncedly walk into a bath.

“Have you come to keep me company?” said Arvid and made a head movement toward the hot, steaming water.

“No,” Loke replied with a disgusted expression. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

“Then you will have to wait until I’m done here. Don’t you know that women want to be among themselves in the bath?”

Loke shrugged. “If you insist.” His body changed in a flowing, barely visible movement and became female. The woman went to a wooden bench and sat down. She had the same dark hair and was just as nice to look at as Loke’s male figure before.

“I’m waiting,” the woman said, leaning comfortably against the wall and crossing her legs.

The two staff members were obviously insecure at her presence, and Arvid’s anger grew. She wasn’t sure if Loke simply didn’t care about privacy and a suitable place and time for a conversation, or if he took pleasure in embarrassing her. Maybe it was both, but whatever it was, it aroused Arvid’s spite.

“All right.” She pushed herself up from the edge of the pool, rising from the warm water. “Please bring me a towel.”

“Certainly, my lady.” One of the young staff rushed to help Arvid with drying.

Loke chuckled softly. “You don’t need to say please to the servants,” he said, amused.

“I’m doing it anyway!” snapped Arvid.

The two women dried Arvid and helped her out of the water. Then they combed her hair and treated her wounds with a strange-smelling ointment before they bandaged them carefully.

The whole time Loke was watching her attentively. Although Arvid had resolved not to allow it, her heart began to pound faster. The fact that Loke was a woman at the moment made him no less attractive.

Arvid received fresh linen, a simple gown of soft, red fabric and shoes of lambskin. When she was dressed, dry and clean, a boundless fatigue overcame her. There was hardly a place on her body that didn’t hurt.

“Leave us alone now,” demanded Loke. He rose from his seat and made a wagging gesture toward the two women.

The two bowed almost synchronously and quickly left the bathing cellar.

“So what do you want?” Arvid asked testily, when they were alone.

“Why so angry?” Loke waved Arvid to the back of the room, where a small niche with a wooden bench was located. From a gaping hole in the floor, a loud, rushing noise could be heard. The steam rising from it revealed that this was the place where the underground river that fed the pools ran.

“Couldn’t you just wait until I get back upstairs?” said Arvid. With a sigh she sank down on the bench. The few steps had shown her how exhausted she still was.

“Here’s a good place to talk,” Loke said. “No one can overhear us. Besides,” he looked Arvid up and down, “I didn’t want to miss the sight.”

“You’re impossible.”

“I know. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” He sat down beside her. “Turn around,” he demanded. “It’s not appropriate for a goddess to show herself with unbraided hair.”

Reluctantly Arvid did as requested. “I don’t suppose you wanted to talk about my hair either,” she said, while Loke began to divide it into thin strands with nimble fingers.

“Not exclusively. But you can’t wear your hair down anymore. In a few days we will have to be much more cautious—which leads us to the actual topic. Your reckless actions will have consequences. So far, the other gods don’t know that you’re with me and where we are, but that will change soon.”

“They don’t know who I am.”

“They think you’re Irpa,” Loke corrected her. “Asgard will find out what has happened. Not even I can prevent that; I have no time for such a detour. The people here are often not informed about everything, but Asgard knows that I didn’t marry again, and Irpa’s currently staying in the Temple City.”

“There really is a goddess with that name?” Arvid asked. “I thought you had picked a random name.”

“That would have been too obvious. Still… as soon as the news reaches Asgard, Odin will draw the right conclusions.”

“But you’re one of them. Why should they believe you would help me, a wanted criminal?”

“Because I’m me. Do you really think I saw you and became a traitor overnight? I’ve always been, at least occasionally. Everyone in Asgard knows that.”

“Traitor,” muttered Arvid. “Is that why they call you god of lies?”

“I gave myself that name.”

“You yourself? Why would you do that?”

“No one takes my words at face value,” Loke said. “I could tell the truth, but then, maybe not. It might be a riddle or a metaphor. Maybe it’s irony. It’s possible that what I say contains a grain of truth, but perhaps the opposite is the case.”

“So you don’t lie?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But that’s what you meant.”

“Who knows?”

For a while they were silent while Loke braided Arvid’s hair into long plaits and began to gather them at the back of her head. Arvid enjoyed the feeling of his hands in her hair, probably the most intimate kind of physical contact that would ever exist between them. The thought sparked an oppressive heaviness inside her.

“If you’re really a traitor,” she said after a while, “I don’t understand why Asgard still tolerates you and accepts you as one of their own.”

“Traitor is probably the wrong word,” Loke said. “I’m just doing things the way it suits me, not the way the Council would like. I am convinced of your innocence, so I’ll help you. Odin’s friendship protects me. And he’s no king with an incontrovertible command. I bend the rules, I don’t break them. All my life I have explored the limits of what Asgard is willing to tolerate. I am not prepared to exceed this limit.”

“And what do you think they’ll do now?” said Arvid.

“That’s up to Odin,” Loke replied, then his hands put gentle pressure on Arvid’s shoulders. “Turn around.”

Arvid did. Loke pulled back slightly and looked at her from all sides. “Anyway, he will try to find us,” he said. “If we’re lucky, he will hesitate for a few days, but we shouldn’t count on that. Maybe he will send out gods after us as soon as the message reaches him.” He tugged a few strands of hair on Arvid’s head into place. “If they’re quick, there’s a risk that they’ll reach Karst about the same time as us.” He looked at Arvid’s hair. This time he seemed satisfied. “Either way, we must be very careful. You have to learn to keep your impulses and your power under control. When we have left Erendal behind us, no one must notice you’re a goddess.”

“Why should anyone think I’m a goddess?” said Arvid. “I’m not.”

“Of course you are. Do you think I would be sitting here if you were not? Do you think
you
would still be sitting here?”

Arvid’s confusion grew. “I… don’t understand,” she said haltingly. At the same time her thoughts started to race. Asgard thought her to be a woman, who had been described as a person with the powers of a god. Gerik Leif had called her a goddess. Gerdur had once told her that Loke had no respect for ordinary people.

“Are you serious?” she whispered in disbelief. “Am I… a goddess?”

“Yes, and obviously one that’s not only reckless, but also slow on the uptake,” Loke said, shaking his head. “Just the fact that you have three above-average, distinctive magical gifts should have made it clear to you long ago.”

“But… how can that be?” said Arvid, distraught. “I am not from this world!”

“That doesn’t matter,” Loke said impatiently. “When you came into this world, you were given the predisposition to grow up to be a goddess. Act like one—at least as long as we are here. And by that, I don’t mean recklessly attacking a horde of demons like a fury. I’ve rarely seen anything more stupid and empty-headed.”

For a moment, Arvid was frozen. “Maybe you should simply have waited for us,” she then said sharply.

Loke’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe you should learn to follow my instructions.”