Mimir's Well (The Oracles of Kurnugi Book 3) (5 page)

CHAPTER 10

            
 
"
C
an't what?" Andromeda asked. "Henry, what's wrong?"

              He wiped at his eyes until his vision cleared. Worry painted Andromeda's face. She took his right hand in both of hers and stared into his eyes.

              "I can't give up who I am."

              "What are you talking about?"

              Henry pointed at the Oracle. "Didn't you hear it?"

              "I didn't hear anything. You just looked into the well for a minute and then backed off like you'd seen a ghost."

              Henry shook his head. "The Oracle in Argath said there would be a price to drink of the past. I just didn't think it was being literal or that the price would be so high."

              "What did it ask for?"

              Henry bit his lower lip. He glanced back at the well. The water had gone still. For a second, he thought he saw the face again, but he looked away. "Everything."

              Before he could explain further, movement caught his eye. Nearby, Duneyrr raised its head. Its eyes darted around for a second. Then, it dashed off toward the entrance.

              "What..."

              His voice was cut off by the sound of dozens of heavy footsteps. Men shouted in surprise, and Henry thought he heard someone call out "deer." Nervous laughter came into the tunnel. Before he could suggest they run farther in, a half a dozen armored men carrying swords and axes rounded the corner. They froze, the light from Mimir's well painting their faces blue. Henry just had time to draw his sword when the lead man shouted a battle cry and charged. He closed the distance quickly and swung a black handled ax that had a long curved blade.

              Before, Henry had disarmed enemies by cutting through the shaft of their weapon, but this warrior was too fast. His sword crashed against the axe, sending out a shower of sparks. His arm felt like jelly. The man struck again, sending Henry tumbling to the ground. Desperately, Henry tried to pull his shield off his back, but then, the other men were there.

              One kicked him in the stomach, and Henry curled up. Meaty fists and hard leather boots rained down blows on him. Pain blurred his vision. He was dimly aware of the fact that he'd dropped his sword. He groped for it, but a heavy foot came down on his fingers, and ground them into the earth. He screamed, and the tunnel filled with laughter. He forced his eyes opened and saw a bearded warrior standing over him, foaming at the mouth. The wild look in his eyes made him look more like a beast than a man.

              Andromeda screamed, and Henry's attention was drawn away from his captor. A bald man with a scarred face and twisted nose had her in a bear hug. She tried to kick him, but her feet bounced harmlessly off his legs. Henry didn't know where the strength came from. The next thing he knew, he was throwing himself against the leg that held his hand down.

              It was like running into a pillar of stone.

              Pain shot through both arms, and the man rocked on his feet slightly. The pressure on Henry's hand lessened. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough. He ripped his hand out from under the foot, doing his best to ignore the pain from his bleeding fingers. The man holding Andromeda turned to look at him, and she brought her head back and slammed it against his nose. The bald man cried out and dropped her. She backed away from him, but there was nowhere to go.

              Two others closed in on her, and she took another step back and almost tripped over the well. One reached for her, and she scurried around to the other side. The water's light pulsed, and she looked down. For a second, everything else stopped. Andromeda's eyes widened, and her mouth quivered. She looked up at Henry. He saw what she was going to do an instant before she did it. He tried to cry out, but the words wouldn't come. Andromeda cupped her hand and dipped it into the well. She was trembling as she brought it to her lips and drank.

CHAPTER 11

            
 
A
ndromeda's scream was like knives in Henry's ears. The enemy soldiers grabbed their heads. An azure glow crept up Andromeda's arms and spread out into her torso. She screamed again, but it abruptly cut off as she fell unconscious. Henry managed to pick up his sword and hold it awkwardly in his left hand. He couldn't feel his right one, and one glance told him most of his fingers had been broken. The enemy soldiers slowly got to their feet. One picked up Andromeda's limp form. Henry tried to go after him, but two swordsmen engaged him and effortlessly fended off his attacks. The one holding Andromeda sneered and carried her out of the cave, followed by three others, leaving only the two fighting Henry. The magic sword allowed him to deliver strong blows, but the men he was fighting were equally strong, and they had the advantage of not being beaten half to death. They hacked at him. Every stroke he caught on his sword sent a jolt of pain up his arm. He couldn't last much longer.

              They came at him from two sides. He could catch one but not both. He turned his back on one to parry the other attack, not wanting to see the blow that would end his life. A figure leapt out of the shadows, moving impossibly fast, too fast for him to get a good look. As the enemy's sword clashed with his, the blurred figure crashed into the warrior at Henry's back. Henry's sword was torn from his grasp, and a loud crack sounded behind him. Before he could react, Duneyrr dashed forward and slammed its front hooves into the man, knocking him off his feet. Again and again, the stag rained down blows on the soldier, its cloven hooves tearing holes in his flesh. After a few seconds, he stopped moving. Henry turned to the man behind him and saw him on the ground, unmoving with his neck twisted at an odd angle.

              "Andromeda," Henry said.

              He scooped up his sword and shambled out of the cave. Pain lanced through his chest, and sweat burned as it mixed into his wounds. It was all he could do to remain standing. He saw no sign of Andromeda. He pushed through the pain and forced himself to take a step forward. Then another. By the time he reached the tree, all he felt was pain. He laid a hand against Yggdrasil, but blood slickened his grip, and he fell, banging his head against a knot of wood. The world spun around him and faded into darkness.

CHAPTER 12

            
 
H
enry woke to leaves tickling his face. He tried to sit up, but the pain brought tears to his eyes. He didn't know how long he lay there, unable to move. Eventually, Duneyrr came back with a leafy branch in its mouth. It looked into Henry's eyes and inclined its head before laying the branch on Henry's head so that its leaves blocked most of his vision. Henry couldn't shake the feeling that he was being buried, but he lacked the strength to do anything about it. The nearby leaves rustled, and the stag darted out of Henry's sight. It took him a second to recognize the sound of footsteps. He craned his neck and could just make out about two dozen human shapes coming to a stop a dozen feet away. There were too many leaves in his face for him to see any details, and he didn't dare move them out of his way for fear he'd reveal himself to a potential enemy.

              "Why did you take the girl?" a woman with a voice like honey asked.

              "She drank from the well, Idun," an elderly man said. "Few enough have done that to make every one valuable."

              Idun sniffed. "I will send some of my people to guard her."

              "There is no need," the man said.

              "It was not a request, Old Man," she spat.

              "I was only offering a suggestion."

              "Do not presume to give me advice. You have no greater wisdom than I."

              "You drank from the well, but you do not know the charms."

              Laughter rang in the air, and half a dozen other voices murmured. "Oh yes, your precious charms. You've had those from nearly the beginning, and what have you done with them? Nothing. Under my rule, we'll conquer all the words."

              "This war is not won yet, Idun."

              "It's only a matter of time. What happened to the boy?"

              "Can't you see?"

              "Something's hiding him." Silence stretched on. "Or someone."

              "Don't be ridiculous, Idun. How could I hide something from someone who's drank from the well?"

              "Continue to find the paths to other realms. I want the dwarves conquered." Other voices spoke up, but they were cut off by Idun's shout. "I have spoken."

              One of the figures moved away from the others and out of Henry's sight. The others grumbled for a while before following. The last one stopped a few feet from Henry and laid his hand on the tree.

              "I hung from you with a spear in my side for nine days, old friend," the voice of the man who'd been arguing with Idun said. "Eighteen charms I learned during that time which are known by neither man nor gods." The figure shifted, and Henry had the sense that it was looking at him. "The first can give help in times of strife and anguish."

              It waved its hand with a finger extended, leaving a trail of light that faded a second later. The figure began walking away. Henry almost tried to call after him, but warmth blossomed in his chest and spread throughout his body. Pain receded, and strength flowed into his limbs replacing the fatigue. He pushed the branches off of himself and stood up, but the strange figure was gone.

CHAPTER 13

            
 
"
I
t's the talking human."

              The high-pitched voice of the squirrel trickled down from the branches. Henry looked up just as a grey ball of fur streaked to the ground and stopped in front of him.

              "And it's the talking squirrel," Henry said.

              "You did really good at not talking earlier. That wouldn't have turned out well."

              "Were those the gods?"

              "Of course. Who else holds their meetings in the shadow of Yggdrasil?"

              "And the last one who left. Who was that?"

              "Odin. Who else?"

              "He healed me."

              "Oh, he does those things sometimes."

              "But why would he help me? Doesn't he work for Idun?"

              The squirrel let out a series of squeaks, and it took Henry a second to realize the little animal was laughing. The sound tickled him, and he found himself joining in a moment later.

              "Weren't you listening?" the squirrel asked as it picked a nut off the ground. His teeth cracked the shell and he shoved a piece into his mouth. "Odin submits to no one save Odin."

              "It sure seemed like he was submitting to me."

              "Idun thinks that too, but I've been watching their meetings as long as they've been having them. Trust me. Odin is working his own plan."

              "You've been watching them?"

              "Yes."

              "Did you see the ones who took Andromeda?"

              "Yes, I saw them. They passed me when I was coming back out of the cave."

              "What cave?"

              "I'll show you."

              The squirrel darted across the ground, and Henry rushed to follow. Once, he tripped over a root, but the squirrel stopped, jumping around as if impatient for Henry to get up. He scrambled to his feet and chased the rodent. A minute later, they came to a tunnel in the ground. A thick root extended into it and followed it for long as Henry could see, no doubt terminating in another world.

              "You're sure they went down there?"

              "Of course. I told you, they walked passed me, and I go down that tunnel every day. I know how to find it."

              "Is there anything dangerous in there?"

              "I told you, I go down it every day."

              "I mean something more dangerous than you."

              The squirrel laid its head against the ground and looked up at him. "I'm not really that dangerous. Besides, I wasn't talking about..." It raised its head, and its tiny eyes went wide. "You don't know who I am, do you?"

              "No, should I?"

              The squirrel stood on two legs and puffed out its chest. It managed to look slightly offended, and it was all Henry could do to hold in his laughter.

              "I should say so. I'm Ratatoskr."

              Henry stared at him and pursed his lips. Ratatoskr scurried up a low hanging branch and ran along the limbs until he stood right above Henry. He chittered angrily.

              "Don't you talking humans know anything? Every day, I carry insults between the eagle that lives at the top of the tree and the dragon that lives at its roots."

              Henry stared at the rodent for several seconds.

              "The dragon," he said flatly. "You mean after everything, I still have to fight the dragon."

              "You can't cross Bifrost. Even if you could, you'd have to go through Asgard to get to Midgard. I really don't think you want to go to the home of the gods, and I only know one other way to get to Midgard. That's where they took her."

              "What about the valley? The one that Thor crosses?"

              "The valley leads from here to Asgard and from Asgard to Midgard. You'll not find Asgard's borders unguarded in the middle of a war."

              Henry considered for a second, but there wasn't really a choice. Andromeda had done it for him. She'd drunk from the Well of Mimir because he hadn't been able to. Whatever price the Oracle had demanded of her had to be at least as much as it had asked of him, but she'd drank, and now she'd been taken. If the only way to get her back was to fight a dragon, that's what he would do.

              "Alright," he said. "Let's go."