Thor's Serpents (11 page)

“A couple more seconds, and you’re going to be lit up like a birthday candle.”

“I know. Hold on.”

Matt slammed Mjölnir against the door handle. It cracked, and when he heaved again, the door opened. Baldwin shoved him through, the heat hitting again, enough for Matt to wince.

They ran along a dimly lit hall. When they were in far enough for Matt’s eyes to adjust to the dark, he could see stuff on the floor. A jacket here. A laptop case there. A pair of sunglasses that he nearly crunched before snatching them up. A trail of belongings, as if the workers had grabbed what they could and ran, being shoved along in the crowd, abandoning whatever they dropped as they were jostled toward the door.

When they reached a stairwell, Matt threw open the door and they started up the stairs.

“Where are we going?” Baldwin asked.

“A higher vantage point.”

“Vantage…? Oh, so you can see the giant. From behind glass.”

“Preferably fireproof glass.”

Baldwin laughed. “No kidding, huh?”

They went up to the third floor and found the front of the building easily enough. Even from the hall, the open
doorways to his left glowed red. He went through and saw the whole dim office space lit up by the fire giant’s light.

“It looks kinda cool from in here,” Baldwin said. “Less scary, too.”

He was right. The third floor brought them close enough to see the Jotunn’s head and now Matt
could
make out features. It was weird, like seeing flames twisting into a nose and a chin, dark pits for eyes and a mouth. As he watched, the features seemed to constantly rearrange themselves, ebbing and rising with the rolling flame. Fascinating to look at. More fascinating if he hadn’t been well aware that an entire city had been put to flame by this creature.

“How are we going to stop it?” Baldwin asked as they stood by the window, staring out at the raging giant.

Matt didn’t answer.

“That’s what we’re going to do, right?” Baldwin said. “Stop it?”

In Hel, all they’d needed to do was get past the Jotunn. Sure, Matt could argue that this wasn’t actually a quest—they’d just stumbled on the fire giant like the mara in Rapid City and their real goal was finding that battlefield. It didn’t matter. Everything to do with Ragnarök was their responsibility, and if they “stumbled on” a problem, they had to fix it.

“Yes,” he said. “We’re going to stop it.”

“So… how?”

“I’m working on it. In the meantime, if you have any ideas…”

Baldwin stared at him. “Me?”

“Sure.” He forced a smile. “Democracy and all that. I’m happy to listen to any ideas you might have.”

“That’s… not really my thing.” Baldwin nibbled his lip. “If you want me to, I suppose I could try—”

“That’s all I ask. We need all brains on deck for—”

The Jotunn stepped up to the window. They both stumbled back. Matt put a hand on Baldwin’s shoulder and pushed them both down behind a desk. Matt peeked up just as the Jotunn lowered its face to their window, a few feet from where they’d been standing. Its mouth opened. Fire rushed out and engulfed the window, turning it into a huge rectangle of solid flame.

“Please let the glass hold,” Baldwin whispered. “Please, please…”

It held. When the flames cleared, the Jotunn had its face pressed right up to the window and now Matt could really see eyes in that rolling flame. Black eyes peering through. Matt and Baldwin ducked again.

A roar of frustration reverberated through the glass, shaking the whole building. Matt waited. After a minute, he heard a
thump-thump
, and the crackle of flame started to
fade. He peered over the desk to see the back of the Jotunn as it stalked off, still grumbling, the sound crackling like angry flames.

Matt cautiously moved toward the window. “I need to go after it.”

“Uh…” Baldwin said.

“We had to make it give up on coming after
us
so I could go after
it
. Turning the tables. I can hunt it; I don’t want to be hunted.”

“Okay, I get that. But…”

“Can you find your way back to the others? Let them know what’s going on?”

Baldwin squared his shoulders. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I could really use them. This isn’t a small job.”

“It’s not a small giant, either. They’ll find it on their own. Laurie won’t sit back and wait for you to handle this.”

He had a point.

“They’ll come,” Baldwin said. “Now, let’s go before
we
lose it.”

It was easy to follow the Jotunn. Once Matt knew it was there, he could pick up its faint glow through the smoke. He could also hear the crackle of fire.

“Hey, I know where we are.” Baldwin pointed at a storefront, barely visible through the smoke. “We came for
a family trip. My aunt and uncle were visiting, and they wanted to see the Corn Palace.”

“Corn Palace?”

“Sure, it’s a big palace. Made of corn.”

Matt knew what the Corn Palace was. Most kids in South Dakota did—and many had been there, including him, many years ago. It was, as Baldwin said, a palace made of corn. Well,
covered
in corn.

There was a fifty-foot-tall fire giant heading toward a city-block-sized square of dried corn.

Matt broke into a jog.

“Matt?”

“That’s where it’s going!” he called back.

“The Corn…?” Baldwin began as he jogged up beside Matt. “Sure, it’ll burn, but no one will be in it. They’ll all have cleared out by now.”

“But it’ll burn. That’s the point.” Matt waved around him. “It’ll burn hot. Maybe hot enough to ignite everything else.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?”

For a moment, Matt thought the words somehow came from him. It certainly was what he was thinking. But no matter how scared he might be, his voice wasn’t pitched quite that high.

Figures appeared through the smoke. Reyna was in the lead, with Laurie and Owen following.

“Got a plan, Matt?” Reyna called. “I sure hope so, because if that Corn Palace goes up in smoke, the whole city does. No pressure.”

She ran up beside him and tried for a teasing smile, but her face was too strained to pull it off.

“So how are you going to stop this thing?” she asked.

“I’m open to suggestions.”

They all stared at Matt, and he was grateful he’d put on the sunglasses, so they couldn’t see his own expression. He was absolutely stumped. Meanwhile, a fire Jotunn was about to set the city on fire.

“I’m thinking,” he said. “Just… Let’s keep moving.”

Laurie ran up beside him. “Sorry to put this on you. Obviously it’s a joint effort. It’s just… well, I was really hoping you had an idea, because I sure don’t. We saw that thing. It’s fire. It’s
entirely
fire.”

“I know. Just throw ideas at me, however crazy they might sound.”

That’s what they did. They threw out ideas. Most of them were crazy, and the ones that weren’t just plain wouldn’t work.

“I hate suggesting this,” Laurie said, “but we might need to call for help.”

“I already tried,” Matt said. “As we were running, I called the Valkyries. No one’s answering.”

They all skidded to a stop, so fast their sneakers squeaked
on the pavement. They were at the Corn Palace. As thick as the smoke was, there was no way to miss it. At least two stories tall and covering a whole block. There was even an arena inside. And the outside was decorated completely in dried corn, from the festival a few weeks ago.

“No giant,” Baldwin said.

“What?”

The younger boy waved around. “Do you see it? Hear it?”

Baldwin was right. They’d been following the Jotunn, but after meeting up with the girls and Owen—and realizing where the giant seemed to be heading—they’d kept moving toward the Corn Palace. Now they were standing in front of it and there was no sign of the giant.

Laurie exhaled. “Okay, false alarm. That gives us time to come up with—”

The Jotunn’s roar cut her off and they all snapped to attention, following the sound.

“Over there,” Reyna said, pointing to the right. “It’s heading that way. We’re fine. Just—”

The giant roared again. They all turned to the left.

“That thing is faster than it looks,” Baldwin said. “Now it’s over—”

Another roar, from their right, where they’d first heard it. Then another one, from the left, answering it.

“Tell me that’s an echo,” Baldwin said.

“I would love to,” Reyna said. “But…”

She pointed in both directions, and Matt followed her fingers to see two glowing shapes in the smoke, both closing in on the Corn Palace.

They’d split up again. Baldwin with Laurie and Owen now, and Matt with Reyna. One group going after each giant. Going after them to do what? Well, that was still the big question.

“There’s got to be a body in there,” Reyna said as they ran, her voice raised over the crackles and roars. “Inside the flames, I mean. It’s a giant on fire. Which means there’s still a giant we can injure, right?”

“Hypothetically.”

“There has to be. So we’ll get close enough and you’ll throw Mjölnir at it.”

“And do what?”

“It’s a magic hammer, Matt. It’ll know what to do, just like your shield does. You need to start trusting it.”

“Okay.”

“Try that again.”

“Okay,” he said, firmer.

“Better.”

He looked over at her. “I’m sorry. About—”

“I’d rather not talk about it or I’ll get mad again, and I can’t watch your back if I’m mad at you.” She ran a few more
steps, then said, “I get why you did it, and I’m glad you were honest with me, and I know Ray put you in a bad position. So I’m mad at him and taking it out on you. Let’s just figure out how to stop this thing.”

They kept running. The smoke was actually clearer here. That didn’t make sense, given how close they were to the Jotunn, but maybe the smoke—like breathing fire—was something it had to do on purpose to smoke people out, and now that there were no people around, it had stopped. While wisps still swirled about them, Matt could breathe and had pulled down the cloth from his nose.

The Jotunn was lumbering toward the Corn Palace. As they raced up behind, the crackle of fire drowned out the pound of their footfalls.

“How close do you need to be?” Reyna asked as they ran.

“I… I don’t know. I should test that. Another time.”

“We’ll get as close as we can, then.”

They picked up speed.

“Rope,” Reyna said.

“What?” Matt had to raise his voice to be heard over the fire… while hoping it wasn’t loud enough to be heard by the giant.

“If this doesn’t work, we should get rope. Tie it on the hammer. Throw it around the legs. Bring it down like a roped steer.”

Matt sputtered a laugh. “Sounds like you have some experience in that.”

“Western South Dakota Junior Rodeo Girls Division Champ, 2010.”

“Seriously?”

“I have phases. Most designed to drive my parents crazy. The only thing more embarrassing than a cowgirl for a daughter was a Goth girl. I liked the cowgirl phase better, though. Less moping. More roping. I might go back.”

“Well, the roping is a good suggestion, if we need it. And if we can find rope. Until then, it gives me an idea. I’ll aim for the back of the knee.”

She grinned at him and said, “Good one,” and he felt like he’d gotten an A-plus on an exam.

They were at the Corn Palace now, and he could make out the glow of the other Jotunn on the opposite side, also rambling toward its target. Matt clenched his fist around Mjölnir and sprinted as fast as he could. When he drew within about twenty feet, the giant slowed, as if sensing something coming. Matt swung Mjölnir. The hammer flew toward the giant with perfect aim. It hit on target, in the back of the Jotunn’s right leg. It struck… and passed right through, then boomeranged back. Matt lifted his hand.

“No!” Reyna shouted.

She lunged and hit him in the shoulder, but the hammer knew where to go, and it struck his outstretched hand. He screamed.

He dropped the white-hot hammer. The pain was like nothing he’d ever felt before, so intense he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming again. Reyna caught his arm and something touched his burned hand, making him bite down hard enough to draw blood, a yelp still escaping. Then a wave of blessed cool, and he looked to see her wrapping on the wet cloths they’d used to breathe through.