Dead Silence (33 page)

He turned and flew toward Jormungandr, and a number of dragons followed his lead. I wasn't sure how he'd manage to subdue the giant serpent, but my attention was also focused on the writhing field of bodies.

I searched for Joshua and Aimee, finding them battling a pair of fire giants, with Brody helping them out.

I'd hoped to keep him out of danger but again, the people around me seemed to have minds of their own.

I glanced back to check on Odin and Loki, frozen by the sight of the All-Father lying flat on his back, blood pooling in his mouth and dribbling down his cheek.

Everything else faded away as I focused on Odin, spinning around to nose dive toward him. I reached him within seconds and fell to my knees beside him.

He tilted his head and looked at me, his eyes a piercing blue.

"Tell Frigga that I have always loved her."

"Shh. You shouldn't be talking." As I spoke, he began to shrink down to human size. "No, don't do that." I was horrified as he grew smaller because the giant-sized spearheads wouldn't shrink with him

"I have no choice, child. My power is fading . . ." He struggled to take the next breath.

"This is not possible. You came back to die?" I yelled, suddenly filled with fury.

"Perhaps I have," he said with a soft laugh. "You must accept it Bryn, or it will weigh you down forever. It was predestined that I go. And so it shall pass . . ." He swallowed hard and then coughed.

Movement on the other side of Odin drew my attention and I swung my sword blindly, the only thought on my mind to protect the All-Father.

The point of my sword landed half an inch from Fen's neck but all he did was raise an eyebrow.

Odin chuckled as I dropped my sword. "You do not want to fight this one in a battle," he said, smiling at Fen.

The sound of the fighting around us had faded to a dull roar as I watched the two men through a curtain of angry tears. "I'm in no condition to fight," I snapped, forgetting my place for a moment.

But Odin didn't notice. He turned his attention to me and asked, "What do you mean?"

I shook my head, refusing to tell him my problem, and give him more to think about, but Fen didn't seem to have any issues with that.

He snorted then said, "Loki poisoned her. She's dying too."

Odin's eyes went wide as he stared at me. "Is this true?" he asked studying my face as if it held the key to the truth.

I was unable to lie and could only nod as my throat closed. Hearing Fen say the words put it into stark perspective for me.

Soon, I would be dead.

This time there was no second chance.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Odin lifted his hand and waited until I took it. "We are both dying. I am poisoned too."

I gasped and bent to look at one of his wounds. A spear was sticking out at his hip and as I parted the torn chain-mail I knew from the blackened skin that the spearhead had been poisoned.

Odin's skin was dark around the entrance of the wound, and unlike my veined patterns his was black and potent.

"He must have used a different poison on you," I whispered.

What are we going to do
? I thought.

"Do not give up, Brynhildr. This too shall pass."

I gritted my teeth as the lightheadedness took control for a brief moment. Then I swallowed hard and blinked it away. A strange heaviness weighed me down, like a blanket of stones, my throat clogging and my breathing growing hard. Unable to breath, I would have passed out if I hadn't put a hand to the ground to support me.

Beneath my fingers, the soil was soggy and when I focused on them I saw the skin reddened and slick. They sat in a pool of red. Odin's blood soaking into the soil of Central Park.

Odin tightened his grip on my hand and I moved my attention from his life's blood to his pale face. A face that now gave off a soft yellow glow. I frowned and was about to ask Fen what was happening when Odin's fingers tightened.

And then it made sense. He was trying to heal me.

"No." I struggled, trying to pull my hand from his grip. "No, please. You will die." Tears streamed down my face and I sobbed as I tugged my hand away, but he never let go, not for one moment. I was fighting against a god so he wouldn't save my life, but I didn't care.

Fen touched my shoulder. "Bryn, this is what Odin wishes. He is dying and his last wish is to give you life. Do you want to say no to him?" Fen's voice was soft, even gentle, but the muscles in his neck were corded with effort.

He too was feeling the weight of Odin's impending death. And yet he was instructing me to take Odin's last breath. I shook my head and was about to ask him why when he touched my cheek. His fingers felt cool against my fevered skin. "Bryn, your father is giving you a gift with his dying breath. How can you say no to him? It is his wish."

I blinked and turned my gaze to Odin whose gray eyes had grown pale. He gave me a small nod, "It is my wish, child." Then he swallowed hard and closed his eyes. I could feel his strength seeping into my body, filing my veins and my heart. It felt like I'd been dipped into a pool of heated honey.

The moment was filled with a beautiful combination of grief and bliss. The fighting around us had begun to subside and the ringing slowly faded from my ears.

Odin's eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes again. "It is done." Then he smiled. "Brynhildr, my child. In the coming days there will be many new things to experience. New gods, and a new chance at life. Much will change, but much will stay the same. Always remember that you are loved. And always remember to love."

After a short moment in which he stared up at the strange sky that seemed to reflect the gore of the battlefield, Odin met my eyes again. "We fought this all the way. We fought against destiny and we failed." He swallowed and shook his head as I opened my mouth to say that it was all pointless. "But we also fought against Loki, against his determination to win over us all. He tried to change fate according to his own wishes, while all we did was find a way to avoid committing unspeakable acts."

He turned his gaze to Fen. "My son. It is time. You know what you have to do."

Fen shook his head, his eyes glistening with tears as he stared at Odin's face. "I can't," he whispered. "How can you expect that of me?"

Odin shook his head, but the movement was so slight it looked like a twitch. "Would you rather see me suffer until I waste away and die, or would you see me die a glorious death on the battlefield of Ragnarok?" Odin took a breath that rattled inside his body.

I sat huddled beside him, unable to believe what he was asking Fen to do. Fen's sole purpose in life was to ensure he did not wield the hand of death over Odin at Ragnarok, but now the All-Father asked him to bring the predictions to reality.

"No," I whispered. "You can't ask him to kill you." But even as I said the words I couldn't deny how right Odin was. If Fen didn't kill him now, Odin would suffer until he took his last breath, maybe he'd linger for days while the poison ate at him.

When I looked up at Fen I saw the resignation in his eyes. He too had come to the same conclusion. He drew a short dagger from a sheath at his belt and turned to Odin. "Even if the world forever curses me as Odin's killer, I will do this for you because it is your wish." Fen's words hurt deep in my heart. I could already feel his grief.

"Thank you, Fenrir, son of Odin." With those words Odin let his head fall back and watched Fen as the light in his eyes began to fade even more. He still held my hand but now the grip was weak. I tightened my grip and put my cheek to the back of his hand, unable to stop my sobs.

I forced myself to watch as Fen placed the dagger against Odin's side, in the space between his breastplates. Tears slipped down his cheek as he plunged the dagger deep into Odin's body.

Odin gasped, then exhaled slowly.

And then he was gone, his dead eyes staring up at the pink sky.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

And Fen sank to the ground beside me, his head hanging while his hand still remained on the dagger. I placed my hand over his and said, "It's over."

Fen looked up at me. "I tried so hard to not be the one." There was a desperation and hopelessness in his voice that hurt me to the core.

I shook my head, "You didn't kill him, Fen. You just gave him peace. Loki killed him with his poison, with his treachery. Not you."

Fen let out a sigh and looked around us. When his eyes widened, I looked up to see the continuing battle between Heimdall and Loki. Blades swung lightning fast around their bodies and I held my breath wondering when it will end.

Then Heimdall grunted, swinging his sword, catching Loki off-guard. Heimdall thrust his sword into Loki's chest, just above the line of his armor. Blood bubbled up in Loki's mouth and he fell to the ground dragging Heimdall with him.

Loki had his hand at Heimdall's side and at first it seemed he was just holding onto his opponent, but then the Trickster's hand fell to the ground as a gurgling sound rose from his mouth. He struggled to grab his throat, clawing at it as if ripping it open would somehow provide him relief.

And then, just like that, he stopped breathing, stopped moving.

And I let out a sigh.

At last Loki was dead.

But when I looked at Heimdall, I knew the Trickster had had one final act left in him. Loki's hand had held onto Heimdall, but as blood streamed from Heimdall's body, it became clear that the Trickster god had stabbed him between the ribs.

A death blow from the looks of it.

A technique that Loki seemed to be fond of.

And I didn't appreciate the irony that Loki had killed Heimdall in much the same way that Fen had killed Odin.

Heimdall slipped to the ground and I stumbled to his side. He turned his head to me and smiled. "It is done," he said. "And it comes to pass." I didn't know what to say, so I just sat with him, holding his hand until he breathed his last.

Around, us bodies lay everywhere as the earth sipped at the blood of the fallen. Freyr ran toward us, along with his sister and the goddess Frigga.

As Frigga fell to Odin's side, Freyr gave me a nod. "Thank you for retrieving my sword." I frowned. Was he being sarcastic? But the smile on his face as he swung the silver sword around and slipped it into its sheath said it all. I'd forgotten about the weapon when Odin fell. It must have gone back to its owner to continue fighting.

Frigga sobbed, tracing her hand over his forehead and cheeks.

"I'm sorry," said Fen opening and closing his hand. "I had to do it."

The goddess looked at him, shock stealing all color from her face. "You killed Odin?" she asked, her tone accusing and cold, and still disbelieving.

"Odin asked him to," I said. "He was dying. His death would have been excruciating. Loki poisoned him. And he insisted on taking my poison too. I couldn't stop him. And then he made Fen promise to kill him and . . ." The words tumbled out of my mouth and my tears fell unchecked.

All I cared about was that Frigga would stop looking at Fen like she hated him.

And when she came to me and hugged me tightly, I sent a prayer to Odin. "Shh. It was not your fault, and neither was it Fenrir's." She let go of me and held her hand out to Fen who took it reluctantly. His expression made me think he was waiting for her to drive a blade through his heart.

But instead she kissed him on the cheek. He stepped back and blinked. "I believe you did what Odin wished. No longer will it be said that Fenrir killed Odin in the battle of Ragnarok. They will all know that you saved the All-Father from great suffering, that what you did was an act of courage and love."

And as Frigga fell silent warriors and gods began to hurry closer and I recognized Thor in the distance. As he drew closer he shrank down to human size and rushed to Odin's side, falling to his knees beside his father. Thor had been fated to die today, but like Freyr his fate must have changed.

Tyra came swooping down from the sky, moving from dragon to human form so fast it looked like I'd imagined it. She dropped to Heimdall's side and tears fell from her eyes as she traced his cheek and held him close.

I wasn't the only one to suffer great loss on this field of death.

Brody and Aimee trudged towards us, both injured with bloodstains smearing their armor. Aimee held her side and winced as she limped closer, giving me a weak thumbs up sign before sticking her sword into the muck. She used it as a crutch which seemed really funny. Brody wheezed as he came up beside her, holding a limp arm that dripped blood onto his pants. He didn't seem to notice, just stared at the scene before him.

Three gods dead in the space of a few hours.

I stared at Loki, feeling the weight of the metal container. I hadn't been given the opportunity to fight Loki at all, no opportunity to use the water the Norn's had given me. My stomach twisted and I wondered why I'd even been given the water if I'd never been meant to use it. A part of me wanted to take the container and fling it far into the bloody field and I felt my fingers tighten.

Then Joshua came running up from behind my friends, his face smeared with blood. He seemed uninjured and I forgot about the water as I reached out to hold him, to make sure he was really alive, really unhurt because at the moment it seemed an impossible gift.

I sucked in a breath as he cupped my cheek. "Are you okay?"

His eyes glittered and I saw pain and fear and hope all swirling together in confusion. I nodded and gave him a quick update as a few warriors walked up gathered around Loki's corpse, satisfied looks on their faces. Suri flew in, holding something within her great dragon jaws. She glided passed and dropped her burden onto the ground beside us, giving me a satisfied, golden glance.