Son of Thunder (Heavenly War Series) (12 page)

The smell of unwashed bodies, sweat, and waste greeted Meghan as she woke. She didn’t want to open her eyes. The cottony dryness of her mouth and the fuzziness in her head had her wondering if she’d been drugged. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the Hall of Justice in Asgaard. Forseti had been there.

Meghan opened one eye, just enough to see the stained mattress she was laying on and the heavy steel bars beyond. The foul stench of the place had her breathing through her mouth to keep from gagging. Oh god, what had she gotten herself into now? The past days were a blur of unbelievable events, but this took the cake. She had to be dreaming. She just had to be.

Rolling over onto her back, she forced open her eyes to stare at the stone ceiling of her cell. Where was she? Why was she here? Damn that Jord Thorson. Ever since he’d entered her life, everything had been turned upside down.

Jord. His wonderful smile and dark intense eyes made her melt. That sexy body made sparks fly in Meghan’s core just thinking about it. She’d always figured when she finally met that really nice guy, the one she could really fall for, he’d end up being gay. She never dreamed he’d end up being a god.

Oh well, time to face reality. She opened her eyes again, sat up and looked around. Her cell had two walls of solid stone, and only shared bars with one other cell. At least they’d given her a corner office. The ceiling was high, probably over thirty-five feet above her. The cot she was sitting on was about eight times the size anyone would need. Well, the prophecy said she’d be going to Jotunheim and it sure looked like she was in giant-land.

Jord would come for her. She had to believe that. Maybe if she just went back to sleep she’d wake up in his arms. Yeah, that’d be nice. Hunky god guy’s big arms around her, holding her tight, taking her away from . . .

Movement down the hall drew her attention. A giant, easily fifteen-feet tall, was coming down the hallway toward her. The beast wore archaic-looking leather and steel armor, and a huge, curved sword in its belt. She could hear something being dragged behind it, and as the giant approached Meghan saw it was a body. The huge creature was holding on to some poor man’s long, red hair and dragging the body behind. The giant opened the door of the cell next to hers and simply threw the man in.

“You could become my favorite punching bag.” The giant spit on the unconscious man. It slammed shut the cell door and started to walk away. As it passed Meghan’s cell, it grinned at her.

“Maybe I’ll play with you next.” Its evil leer made her back up, but the giant turned and tramped away down the hall.

Meghan’s gaze dropped to the poor man, lying beaten and bloody on the dirty cell floor. The giant hadn’t even put him on the bed. She saw the man’s chest rising and falling. At least he was still alive. But for how much longer? How could anyone survive such punishment?

She could hear groans of pain, weeping, and outright sobbing, from cells farther down the way. Meghan held the feeling off as long as she could. Her logical mind was shutting down. Fear and despair closed in. Jord wasn’t coming for her. She was all alone, in the worst place in the universe, and she was going to be tortured and killed. And for what? Why her? Darkness and dread filled her. She brought her knees up to her chest, put her head in her hands and wept.

Meghan didn’t know how long she cried. She just couldn’t stop. But somehow, over her sobs, she heard the small, weak voice.

“Don’t . . . give in . . . to despair.”

Meghan opened her eyes, and peered through her tears as the man pulled himself over to the bars separating the two cells and glanced her way. He looked terrible. Dressed in rags, he was bruised and bloodied from head to toe. Dark purpling covered most of his body. But as the man pulled himself up, he smiled at her. A friendly, comforting smile. Light burned brightly in his deep blue eyes.

“They cannot win.” He pulled himself to a sitting position, leaning against the bars. “They will not win. At least not here.” And he touched the side of his forehead.

“If we stay strong, we can bring down this mountain.”

She dried her eyes and went to the man. She tore off a piece of her sweater and held it to a cut on the man’s cheek.

“Why are they doing this to you?”

“This?” He chuckled. “Just a few scratches. They can’t hurt me.” The man coughed, bringing up blood.

He had to be dying. No one could survive so much damage. But Meghan smiled at his courage.

“So, how do we go about bringing down this mountain?” She asked more to keep the conversation flowing and her courage up, than expecting any sort of practical answer.

“We start by getting out of these cages.” There was a twinkle in his eye.

Meghan could almost believe him. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“Watch and wait.” The man coughed then continued. “Don’t give in to despair. The giants will make a mistake. They are none too bright.”

Meghan shook her head. “They do seem to be holding all the cards, though.”

The man gave Meghan a rough chuckle. “An opportunity will present itself. The giants have already made two big mistakes.”

“Really?” Meghan didn’t believe a thing the man said, but she lost nothing by humoring him. Let the man dream his way out.

“First, they put you in the cell next to me . . .” and second,” here he winked at her, “they forgot to tie me up.”

Meghan almost laughed out loud. The man was beaten and bloody, could barely move, and was locked in a cell of solid steel bars. Why would anyone need to tie him up as well?

In the distance she heard the tramp of heavy footsteps approaching.

“Quick, back on your bunk.” The man started to drag himself back to the center of his cell. “They mustn’t know we’ve talked. Watch for your opportunity.”

Meghan scampered back up onto the bunk. Even though her situation appeared hopeless, talking with the man raised her spirits. She watched as he pretended to be unconscious.

Her necklace was caught in her hair and Meghan reached up to un-snag it. The necklace! Sif’s necklace!

Meghan pulled the shining stone from underneath her sweater. She still had the necklace. She ran her fingers down the stone just as the giant came into view in the hallway outside her cell.

“Now we play,” the giant said as he approached. He opened her cell door and peered inside. “Where you hiding, little plaything.” It bent down to peer under the bunk.

Meghan felt for Prudr in her pocket, and it was there. Standing on top of the bunk, the giant’s head was just below her. In one motion she pulled the magical device from her pocket and clicked the button. Using all her might, she brought the club down on the giant’s head.

The giant dropped to the ground, and Meghan jumped off of the bunk, bringing the club down two more times, as strongly as she could, onto the back of the giant’s head. She heard a sickening crunch, followed by a squishy sound.

“Well, don’t you work fast.” The man in the next cell sat up and smiled. “That was you, wasn’t it? I can’t see you now.”

“That’s because I’m invisible.” Meghan wanted to reassure the man.

She didn’t bother to look at her handy work. She grabbed the cell key out of the giant’s limp hand and headed out into the hallway, but when she reached the cell door the lock was out of reach, probably eight feet off the floor.

“It’s too high up.” She stood in front of the door and looked desperately around for something to climb on.

The man motioned her away. “Don’t worry about me. Get out of here while you have a chance.”

Meghan spied a wooden water barrel in a corner. She pulled on it, tipping it on its side. The brackish water spilled out.

“As I recall . . .” Meghan rolled the heavy barrel toward the man’s cell door . . . “your plan called for both of us getting out of here.”

She wouldn’t have pulled out of her fit of despair without the help of this man, and she’d be damned if she was going to leave him behind. Even if he was dying, Meghan was determined he would die a free man.

She tipped the barrel once again. It was now upside down, giving her a solid surface to stand on.

“I don’t think I can bring this mountain down all by myself.” She hoisted herself up on top of the barrel. Now she was able to reach the cell door lock.

The cell door opened and the man’s eyes went wide with surprise. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”

Meghan jumped down and rushed to the man, helping him to his feet. “Can you walk?”

“I’ll crawl if I have to.”

Meghan pulled his arm over her shoulder and supported him the best she could. They limped out into the hallway, past the barrel in the doorway. The man did seem a bit stronger than he looked, carrying the major part of his weight on his own, so they moved out faster than Meghan thought they would.

Meghan glanced up and down the hallway. “Which way?”

“Left.” The man coughed. “Then a right at that next juncture. I think there’s a storeroom over that way we can hide in for a bit.”

She found the storeroom and pushed the door open. Thankfully it wasn’t latched, as she would never have reached the knob.

“We should be safe here for a few hours.” The man was breathing hard and covered with sweat from the effort needed to stay on his feet.

As gently as she could, Meghan lowered the man to the floor, propping him up against the back wall of the room. She went to push the door closed, then spotted a loaf of bread in one of the boxes by the door. After pulling most of the moldy crust from it, she found there was quite a bit of edible bread left.

“Here.” She brought the bread to the man. “You look famished.”

“I hear you, but I can’t see you.”

Meghan realized he couldn’t even see the bread she was handing him. She was still invisible. “Sorry, I forgot.”

She deactivated the necklace and handed the man the loaf of bread, but his eyes were on the necklace.

“My wife has a necklace just like that.”

Meghan was stunned. Could it be?

“Thor?”

The man smiled broadly.

“We have to move fast.” Sif’s voice quavered. Jord had never heard fear in his mother’s voice before.

Modi began to argue. “Even the six of us cannot assault Utgard Keep directly.”

Heimdall interrupted them. “I’ve found him. He’s in a cell, in the lowest level of the dungeon.”

Jord was conflicted. There was no time for stealth. He’d hoped to sneak into Utgard under cover of darkness, but night was still hours away. He was confident the six of them could handle close fighting, in the halls below Utgard. But getting past the gate’s defenses, in broad daylight, would be next to impossible.

“Meghan is in the cell next to his,” Heimdall added.

That was a bit of good news. They wouldn’t have to divide their attention, but could head for one single point.

Freyr called out from the back of the cavern. “There are tunnels back here. Do you think they connect?”

“Heimie?” Jord could only hope as Heimdall’s eyes glazed over again.

“It’s a maze of twists and turns, with many dead ends, but, yes, there is a way through to the lower dungeons.”

Heimdall stood, pulling his sword, and dashed toward the tunnels. Jord could sense Heimie’s urgency. “Follow me, I know the way. We can get there in time.”

Jord dashed after him, into the tunnel. He could hear the others behind him. He’d packed away the goat chariot, but they would have to leave the two horses behind. Thankfully the steeds were intelligent enough, and could care for themselves.

Now they had to find Meghan, they had to find Thor, and they both had to be alive.

Unbidden, the image of Meghan came to him. The dungeons of Utgard Keep were a horror. Could even her spirit continue to shine in such a foreboding place? Would the place crush her? Even if he found her alive, would she be the same Meghan—his Meghan?

Those thoughts drove him onward. The winding tunnel emptied out at last into a straight, stone-lined hallway. They’d found their way into the lower level of Utgard Keep. The vastness of the underground complex still offered a challenge, but with Heimdall leading them they should be able to move directly toward the cells that held Meghan and Thor. Jord wondered, though, how long they could keep going before they were detected and the upper keep was alerted to their presence.

The group started to encounter giants, as they made their way through the corridors, but they struck hard and fast, bringing the giants down before the brutes could escape and raise an alarm. Their strategy counted on getting in and out quickly. Eventually one of the giants would escape them and the fortress would be alerted to their presence. They only had a small window of opportunity to get to Meghan and Thor, and get everyone out safely, before the giants rallied and set up defenses against them in the dungeons.

Up ahead, Jord saw a barricade. Wooden boxes were thrown across the hallway, and four giants stood behind them with arrows nocked and ready to shoot. Somehow word was starting to spread. How, Jord wasn’t sure, but he had to assume they’d set off magical wards and alarms in their passing.

Magni and Heimdall both had shields and led the way forward, rushing the defenses, arrows ricocheting off their shields as they charged. Jord launched Mjolnir as he ran just behind his brother. One of the giants went down instantly to the hammer’s mighty blow.

Freyr brought a bow and arrows with him. Jord felt the god’s arrow whiz by his right ear, as it flew directly into the chest of one of the other giants. A pretty incredible shot, Jord had to admit. He hadn’t known Freyr was such a good marksman.

Before the group reached the barricade the other two giants broke and ran, splitting up as the hallway branched farther on. Freyr managed to bring one of them down with a second arrow, but the last giant eluded them by shoving a door closed. As the group struggled over the barricade, Jord realized it was no use chasing the giant now. The fortress would be raised against them very soon.

Jord tamped down the growing feeling of despair. “Let him go. Heimie, just get us to those cells by the quickest path.”

They followed Heimdall down the great hallways, through twisting tunnels and across grand caverns. Finally he stopped in front of two empty cells.

Heimdall turned to Jord and shrugged. “This is where they were.”

Jord’s heart sank. They hadn’t been fast enough. His father must have been taken for execution. Where they’d taken Meghan was anybody’s guess.

“Heimie, can you find them again?” Jord asked, and the Guardian of Bifrost started to go into his trance.

A hail of arrows came out of nowhere to interrupt them. Jord swung around and saw enemy forces advancing down the hallway to his right.

“We found them,” one of the creatures hollered, as the group of eight stone giants advanced.

This was bad. Jord threw Mjolnir at the giants. The hammer flew, unerringly crushing into the face of the closest foe, and as it fell, continuing on to slam into the giant behind before flying back into Jord’s hand. While the hammer was flying Jord charged. He pulled out his sword, and held it in his left hand. With sword and hammer constantly in motion, Jord plowed into the remaining six giants.

Jord saw his brother, Modi, beside him, and arrows that must have been coming from Freyr’s bow were sprouting from enemies around him. But just as Jord thought they might be able to handle the situation, another group of giants appeared to their left.

No! He couldn’t be delayed now. He needed to find Meghan. He needed to find his father. By all that was holy and good in the world, didn’t they understand?

Something inside Jord snapped. His frustration fueled his anger, and his rage boiled over.

Jord did not like being out of control in any situation, especially in battle. He prided himself on being able to remain cool and collected in almost any circumstance. Strategy and tactics won battles, not brute force or heroism. But at that moment his rage just took over.

Let your instincts guide you, Jord.
He heard Megingjörð tell him. The belt, as usual, was not being very helpful.

It was not as though he had a choice in the matter anyway. His fury was unleashed. In the back of his mind were all the things that could be happening to poor Meghan at the hands of the cruel giants. They would feel his wrath. They would pay. Each and every one of them would pay.

Bolts of lightning shot from Mjolnir. Thunder rumbled in the depths of Utgard Keep. Giants fell around him. Not one of the brutes could even come close to landing a blow with their weapons. Jord whirled, slashed, and bashed. He’d kill them all if he had to. He’d find Meghan and if she was harmed in the least, every giant in Jotunheim would pay.

The battle ended before he knew it. Giants lay at his feet, and Jord struggled to control his breathing. His brother, Modi, stood awestruck about ten feet from him.

“Holy shit, Jord!”

Jord saw Freyr binding up a wound on Magni’s leg. It must have hurt as his brother was cursing up a storm. His mother was kneeling beside the fallen Heimdall. An arrow was sticking straight up out of his right shoulder. Heimdall did not appear to be conscious.

“It’s bad.” His mother’s voice broke as he approached. Heimie’s breathing was shallow. A second wound on his side was bleeding profusely. The arrow must have broken off when the old god had fallen.

Magni limped over, his wounded leg obviously giving him a lot of pain. “I’ll stay with him. I’d only slow you down anyway.”

Sif stood, cold determination sizzled in her eyes. “No! Modi, you will take Heimdall and Magni back to Asgaard.” The woman concentrated, holding her hand out in front of her. A swirling mist of Nornish ether coalesced at the back of the cell.

Jord was stunned. “Mother! Nornish magic?”

Sif’s eyes blazed with suppressed rage. “Just the proper spells. I’ve been studying with the high elves. A girl has got to do something while you men are off hunting giants.”

Sif turned to her other sons then. “It won’t stay open long. Take Heimdall through the portal. It will bring you to Asgaard. Take him right to Idun.”

Modi nodded. “We will, Mom. Keep the portal open if you can and I’ll come right back.”

Sif shook her head. “Don’t. Without Heimdall our chances of success just plummeted. Freyr, you should go with them. I appreciate your support, but you don’t have a stake in this.”

The fertility god shook his head.

“I’ve more stake than you know. I’ll stay.” He was helping support Heimdall as Modi and Magni carried the unconscious god toward the portal, but he did stay behind as they entered the swirling mist.

Sif confronted him. “You are sure, Freyr?”

“I’m sure.” He went to gather up stray arrows as Sif closed the portal. Freyr came back to stand by Jord, and Sif addressed them both.

“Thor is not dead. I would know if he was. But we search for Meghan first. Jord, which way?”

Jord raised his hands. “How am I to know, Mother?”

Sif smiled, her face softening. “Only one time before have I seen the warrior rage take a god like it just took you.” It was your father, once when I was in great danger.”

Jord was confused. What was his mother talking about?

“You care for this mortal, and because of that you can find her easily. Just follow your heart.”