Fragments of your Soul (The Mirror Worlds Book 1) (20 page)

“So the last twenty-eight years are missing,” muttered Arvid and looked in fascination at the dots, which were arranged on the map like a wooden grain. “Look at that, Thoke. The transitions don’t occur completely randomly. There seems to be a pattern.”

“It looks like waves. But they are not always the same…”

Pensively Arvid let her eyes wander over the paper. “I wonder if the big dots were bigger transitions, or if it doesn’t matter. In the north, the dots are much larger, you see? And here’s an especially big one.” She pointed to a mark in the northern mountains, which was right next to a town called Erendal.

“It’s not explained here,” Thoke said. “But… if you have the opportunity to do so, you could ask Loke. He drew the map.”

Arvid looked at him in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, it’s down here.” He tapped on a text in one corner of the map. “This is one of three copies. All were made by Loke, twenty-nine years ago.”

“Thank you, Thoke,” Arvid said. “Your help really means a lot to me.”

“I just want you to be happy again,” he said. It sounded like he meant it, and Arvid forced a wan smile. She knew that it probably looked put on and artificial, but Thoke smiled back warmly. “Even the darkest times pass,” he said. “If Loke can help you to find a way back, then… try it. Maybe it will go wrong, but… I now see that you can’t find peace otherwise.”

The Month of Fiery Rebirth

It was a stormy night about four weeks after the Light Turning Festival, when Arvid sat in her room after school. She was about to start a report on a short text in Old Jördisch when someone knocked on her door.

As Arvid opened it, there was a young woman in front of the door. She resembled Aleri so much that Arvid thought it was her for a moment. However, she didn’t say a word, but only looked at her insistently. As Arvid looked into her eyes, she realized it was Nod.

“Come in,” she said, surprised at Nod’s extraordinary appearance. When she closed the door again, he had already settled on her bed and began to unwrap a large bag.

“You have to flee,” he said. “Tonight.”

“What, why?” she asked in disbelief. “Has anything happened?”

“Yes,” replied Nod and threw a bundle of clothes next to the bed. “A messenger from Asgard has arrived. It was pure luck that I was in the City Guard’s quarters at the time and could volunteer.”

“But for what?” said Arvid.

Nod paused and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’m a little nervous. Do you mind this look? I can…”

“No, no,” Arvid fended off impatiently. “Just tell me what happened!”

“A group from Asgard is on its way here. They want to take you with them,” he said. “I don’t know exactly where and what they are up to, but since I’d like to keep my head, I’d rather not risk anything.”

Arvid drew in a sharp breath. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. The Town Guard’s mission is to watch the building overnight, in case you should get suspicious.”

Arvid looked at Nod in horror. “My god, what shall I do now?”

“As I said, you have to flee,” he said urgently, “but it’s still too early, too many would see you. I have seen the new notices the messenger was carrying. You are now officially linked to the prophecy. The City Guard was explicitly granted permission to use force if necessary. The woman the oracle described is said to possess great and very destructive power.”

Arvid laughed, but even in her ears it sounded almost hysterical. Her heart was pounding, and she felt a nagging fear. “This is absolutely ridiculous!” she blurted out. “Any fool who knows me a little knows that there’s no way I am this woman. I have no great power—I can hardly light a candle!”

Nod put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her reassuringly, but Arvid could feel that he was trembling ever so slightly. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here safely.”

Then he explained his plan.

The first thing Arvid felt when she woke from fitful sleep was fear. Someone shook vigorously on her shoulder and she immediately knew what this meant. She opened her eyes and looked into the face of an unknown pale, dark-haired man.

“Ready?” whispered Nod.

Arvid nodded. Although she had just woken up, her heart was racing. Nod handed her a bag—with warm clothing and food, he said—and waited patiently until she had peeled herself out of bed.

It was a strange feeling not to simply slip into a school uniform. The pants from the bag were warm and the heavy woolen overdress scratchy, so Arvid was happy to wear a soft cloth shirt underneath. She slipped into the black leather jerkin and tied it carefully, while she wondered if it wasn’t a bit exaggerated. The leather had a considerable weight and would possibly hinder, but Nod decisively shook his head as she raised her concerns in a whisper. Arvid put on gloves and boots, threw on her cloak and was ready.

“Allom keeps watch on this floor,” Nod explained quietly. “He’s lazy and sits in front of the stairs, which makes it easier. But we have to pass relatively close. We must therefore make no sound.”

“All right,” Arvid whispered back.

Nod peered out cautiously, then he waved at her. Arvid made sure the door was closed again, and crept behind him down the dark, silent corridor.

Before they turned the corner in front of the top of the stairs they stopped. They had discussed the plan several times, so that no explanations were needed, but Arvid was so excited that she found it hard to concentrate. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and imagined the wall by the stairs. When she clearly saw the exact picture in her head again, she gave Nod a sign.

Now came the part, which Arvid could only hope would go well. Her heart was pounding so hard it seemed to her as if it could be heard in the entire corridor, but there was no turning back.

She left the normal flow of time and stepped around the corner, where Allom sat in a chair and read. Arvid knew she only had seconds before Allom would discover her, in spite of the time bending. She quickly raised her hands to find the right shape and size for her illusion. She corrected a bit, then she created an accurate reflection of the wall opposite of Allom, several meters in length. With horror Arvid felt herself getting pulled back into the normal flow of time. It was almost impossible to concentrate on both things at once. At the last moment she managed to extend the illusion so that it also hid herself.

From the corner of her eye she saw Nod pushing around the corner and sneaking along the wall toward the stairs. Everything seemed to go according to plan: The illusion offered him safe cover, but Arvid tried not to look. The illusion mustn’t flicker under any circumstances, otherwise Allom might discover it, whether he was reading or not.

As Nod was at the height of Allom’s chair, the guard suddenly raised his head. Nod froze. Arvid’s heart leapt in horror. For endless seconds she thought Allom would get up any moment and suspiciously approach the wall. But he only looked briefly to the left and to the right, then he turned the page of his book and continued reading. Arvid sighed with relief. Nod relaxed, too. He stood there for a moment, then he cautiously started moving again, until he eventually disappeared down the stairs.

Arvid waited a moment, then moved cautiously a few steps along the wall. She felt exhausted in a strange way; it was a feeling that she couldn’t quite place. Desperately she tried to focus on the exact alignment of the illusion, but it was much more difficult than she had anticipated. The more she tried to maintain her concentration, the more the feeling of fatigue increased. She felt herself slowly losing control of the magic, and a sense of panic came over her.

I have to give up the illusion
, the thought flashed through her head. She had to get out of Allom’s sight as quickly as possible; otherwise she would soon face him completely unprotected.

While her mirage dissolved, Arvid gathered her last strength to exit the flow of time again. As fast as she was able to in her battered state, she scurried over to the stairs and down the steps. She overtook Nod and stumbled around the next corner, where she finally stopped and was snapped back to normal the normal flow of time.

Not far from her Arvid heard Nod make a soft, surprised sound, but she couldn’t look out for him. An overwhelming weakness suddenly spread in her body. Her knees gave way. Powerless, she fell back against the wall behind her, and for a moment everything went black. When her vision cleared at last, she saw Nod in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered anxiously. “We have to continue immediately.”

Arvid nodded and pushed herself up along the wall. Nod grabbed her hand and simply pulled her with him. For a while Arvid followed him without properly perceiving their environment. She had to use all her remaining concentration and strength to put one foot before the other, without stumbling or falling. Everything around her was a diffuse mass of dark schemes and dancing lights. They went down some stairs, crossed a corridor, and again down endless steps.

When Arvid slowly started recovering, she realized that they had stopped beside the door to the gallery above the entrance hall. Nod let go of her hand and gave her a worried look.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked softly.

Arvid took a deep breath. “Yes. I have… somehow overexerted myself, I think.”

“I’m not surprised. I don’t know what you did there, but… it was scary.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were suddenly in front of me. I didn’t see you, and yet… somehow I did.” He shrugged helplessly.

Arvid sighed softly. “I can’t explain right now.”

Nod looked at Arvid searchingly. “Are you ready?” he asked then. “To be honest… I’m a bit worried about you.”

Arvid did not even take offense after her fainting spell. If she was honest, she felt anything but ready. A strange weariness numbed her senses, and her body felt heavy and weak. Still, she nodded. They only had this one chance.

“I’ll just make it,” she said. “But I have to change the plan. I can’t maintain an illusion while moving. Up there… it went wrong.”

“I see,” said Nod. “I’ll try to go a bit to the side; perhaps they will follow me. You’re not really invisible when you… do this… whatever it is.”

“Good luck,” muttered Arvid and hugged him. Her heart still pounded wildly, and her fear was almost unbearable. At the same time, the thought of having to leave a familiar place once again hurt. She would probably never return to Vero-Maghen. Perhaps this was also the final farewell to Nod. Although she had not been allowed to build a friendship with him, she felt deeply grateful toward him.

Nod looked at her almost lovingly. The outlines of his body suddenly became soft and melted like water. A moment later there was a blonde woman standing in front of Arvid. She nodded at her one last time, then turned around and disappeared into the passage to the entrance hall.

Nod’s steps faded quickly, but Arvid’s heartbeat seemed like a drum in her ears. Nod would have reached the guards at the door soon. She had to keep a cool head at all costs and hope that leaving the current of time again wouldn’t cost her too much. Bending time was an enormous mental effort, and she still clearly felt her exhaustion.

Eventually she heard Nod’s clear voice from the entrance hall. She couldn’t understand the words, and the answers of the guards she perceived only as a distant, muffled murmur.

Arvid hurried to the passage and slid to the floor, then she slipped on her stomach toward the gallery, her head close to the ground. She slowly approached the railing, where the voices became clearer. The leather of her clothes creaked softly as she raised her head a little bit, but the two guards were too focused on Nod to notice it.

“At the west entrance?” said one of the guards. It was a big, red-haired man with a bushy beard. “It’s sealed; no one can get out through it.”

“I told you he has found a way,” said Nod, “but soon it will be too late. I don’t know what he’s up to, but maybe he wants to help the woman escape.”

“We can’t leave,” the other man said gruffly. “What are you doing here at this time anyway? No one should know of our mission.”

The other one looked around in the entrance hall suspiciously. Arvid immediately ducked her head.

“I have friends in the City Guard,” said Nod vigorously. “But fine, stay here and ignore my warning. But I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when it comes out that you could have prevented the woman from escaping, but idly stood here instead.”

For a moment there was silence. Arvid could only hear a low murmur. She didn’t dare to raise her head again, but apparently the guards debated with hushed voices.

“You stay here in the hall,” she heard the redhead say. “I’m going with her. I would rather not risk anything.”

“It would be better if I went,” said the other. “I know the building better than you.”

Even before the redhead could reply, Arvid knew that there wouldn’t be any better opportunity. Once one of the two had gone, the remaining guard would draw his attention entirely to the entrance hall and the door again. The opportunity wasn’t particularly good, but it was the only one there would be.

This time it took all Arvid’s willpower and concentration to break away from the flow of time, and she immediately felt that she was at the end of her tether. When she pushed herself up, a strange, numbing feeling covered her senses. Her legs felt weak and shaky, but her fear drove her on.

As fast as she in her dazed state was able to, Arvid ran down the stairs. From the corner of her eye she saw Nod and the two guards, who were infinitely slowly moving through the entrance hall. However, she was far too exhausted and focused on taking the stairs in front of her, as to pay them more attention.

Still, she didn’t make it.

When she reached the penultimate step, her legs simply wouldn’t carry her weight anymore. Her knees buckled. Even the last bit of strength went out of their muscles. She felt herself losing her balance, but there was nothing she could do about it.

She felt a thud as she hit the stone floor of the entrance hall, but there was no pain. Everything around her seemed to be packed in a numbing, thick layer of black cotton wool. Even the ambient noises only reached her as a distant echo.

From far away, Arvid heard a loud outcry that probably came from Nod. It was followed by noise, loud resounding, angry shouts and the sound of heavy, dull steps, but she was still unable to move in any way. Arvid couldn’t think straight. An all-devouring blackness threatened to overwhelm her.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her arm and abruptly pulled her back to reality. One of the guards, a young man with disheveled, long hair, had grabbed her and dragged her into the air. He shouted something that Arvid only understood after endless moments.

“What’re you up to, I asked,” he bellowed, probably for the umpteenth time and so loudly Arvid could feel his smelly breath. “Are there more people involved in your plan?”

Arvid was still too dazed to answer. She tried to free herself from the man’s grip, but his hand enclosed her arm like a vise. The muscles in her body were so weak and feeble that she hardly managed to shift her weight back on her own legs. It was over. They had lost. The plan had failed. The guards would hand her over to the soldiers of Asgard. The uncertainty of what would happen next filled Arvid with deep despair.

Suddenly she heard another cry in the background, then the loud clatter and crash of clashing weapons. There was a loud crash, but Arvid couldn’t see past the man before her.

“No, wait!” she heard Nod suddenly call. “Wait! I’m unarmed.” He sounded so desperate and fearful, it touched something deep inside Arvid and tore her from her stupor. She couldn’t let anything happen to Nod.

“Leave her alone!” she cried with a sudden burst of anger and pulled so hard on her arm, the man beside her stumbled in surprise. For a moment, his grip loosened, but then he grabbed Arvid again so roughly a sharp pain shot through her body. She felt anger, fear and excitement cross an invisible boundary inside her, turning into something new. The darkness inside her took hold of her like a sudden, bursting wave.

In an impulsive movement Arvid raised her hand, and the next moment there was a deafening bang. A crude, glaring light exploded between her and the guard. The man cried out, stumbled back and would almost have torn Arvid with him, had he not loosened his grip on her arm at the last moment.

Arvid staggered. She was practically blind, still dazzled by the bright light, and had to pull herself together with all her might to stay on her feet. Blurrily, she saw the man writhing on the ground before her, his hands pressed to his face and screaming like crazy.

At the same time a bloodcurdling, rumbling, and undoubtedly animal roar sounded and sent an icy shiver down Arvid’s spine. She could still hardly see anything and stumbled backwards, wildly groping to find the banister of the staircase. She heard a low growl, then the horrified screams of a second man. Arvid’s heart was pounding like crazy. Desperately she blinked, trying to see something, then finally her hands found the cold metal of the banister.

It had become quiet. When Arvid’s vision finally cleared, she suddenly saw the outline of a gigantic animal coming toward her and froze. Still her vision was marred with dancing black spots on her retinas, but this gigantic cat wasn’t an illusion. Its body was stocky and covered with golden, shaggy fur. Dark blood dripped from the fur on its chin, and Arvid let out a horrified gasp at the sight. The animal in front of her was so big, their heads were almost on the same level, but when she stared into the large, pale green cat’s eyes, she suddenly realized.