Children of ash, p.15
Children of Ash, page 15
Rocks.
“What are you thinking?” Hemming asked.
Pet let out a breath. “That we’re probably all going to die.”
They followed Adalfuns for half the day, the rocky plains climbing into steep mountains. They could see the peaks over the tops of the hills and trees. One of the mountains had a flat top, the peak dusted with snow. Adalfuns pointed at it.
“There is Gulli, the great mountain.”
The dwarf city would be somewhere inside the mountain. The real challenge would be figuring out where they were holding the princess. If the dwarf king was mad, he might have her hanging from a cage right above his bloody dragon.
“Thank you, Adalfuns,” Axel said. “You’ve been very helpful.” In a flash, he lifted his fist and smacked it on the top of Adalfun’s head. The dwarf dropped like a bag of stones.
Hemming crouched down and checked the dwarf’s breathing. “Why did you do that?”
“I heard you two whispering like a pair of ravens back there. We definitely can’t go in there with the lie that I’m some kind of god.” He pulled his bright, golden hair into a knot on the top of his head. “The king will likely throw me in with the dragon just to check, and I really don’t want to find out what it feels like to be a lizard snack.”
Hemming grabbed the dwarf under the armpits. “We’ll need to tie him up if we want a good head start.”
Pet folded her arms over her chest. They could just kill him, keep him from running home and ruining whatever new plan they would come up with. It was the only way to ensure a particle of success. But that suggestion would be shot down in present company.
Instead, she found rope in her pack, and Axel set to work strapping Adalfuns to a thick tree. When he awoke, the dwarf wouldn’t have too much trouble escaping his binds, especially if he was as strong as he looked. It wouldn’t give them much of a head start, but they would use it to the best of their advantage.
Hemming shaded his eyes with his hand and looked in the direction they were headed. “We’ve probably got another three-hour journey until we hit the base of the mountain.”
“Good,” Pet said. “That will give us three hours to come up with a new plan.”
Chapter 16
Intruders
I’ve had the opportunity to stroll through the dwarven cities under Åldras. There is a small town in the mountains near Grovö that my father took me to as a boy. The largest is north of Harligdam, home of the dwarf king, Alfríkr. The dwarves are industrious, but they are suspicious by nature. There is a reason they have lived so long on Midgard while the other races have slowly faded from the face of it.
From the writings of Doran Finnsson, the last King of Grovö
Axel peered over the top of a boulder.
On the other side, at the base of the mountain, stood two burly dwarves with halberd heads on poles twice as tall as they were. The entrance to the cave was extravagant for, well, a cave. An archway of runes curved over the guards, nearly as tall as Firmin’s ridiculous wooden wall. Torchlight flickered from behind them, making their chain armor glow in the darkening light. This far north, the days were still short in the spring, providing the perfect cover.
A hand grabbed the back of Axel’s tunic, pulling him down.
“Quit gawking!” Pet snapped. “We don’t need them seeing you until Hemming is in place.”
Axel glanced up the mountain. He could just see Hemming’s outline dart from rock to rock, making his way slowly to the top of the arch of runes. It had been his idea to spook the guards. Luckily, there were only two. Any more and it would have made the plan more complicated. Axel didn’t want to hurt anyone he didn’t have to.
Hemming made it to the top of the arch, a large bundle in his hands. He carefully opened the sack he held and dumped the contents out over the guards’ heads.
A feathered lump smacked into their helmets.
Axel had spotted the cormorant flying back toward the cliffs earlier that day and Hemming had brought it down with a slingshot. While he wasn’t superstitious about the wilds of the dark elves or the portents of death, he knew dwarves were. They were notorious for their suspicious nature, but Axel couldn’t fault them for it. There had to be a reason their kind had outlived so many others.
One of the guards lifted a black wing. Blood coated his fingers, and he jumped back, wiping his hands on his pant leg. His companion, however, looked up. Grabbing a torch, he pulled his comrade forward and lifted the light to try to see the top of the archway. They missed Hemming, already skittering down the side, out of reach of the light. Axel could make out his form in the shadows.
But the dwarf was undeterred. He ordered his companion to grab another torch and stepped fully over the bird.
Rocks. Of course they got the least superstitious dwarf in the mountain.
“Act two,” Pet whispered.
Axel undid his sword belt. His entire soul balked at the nakedness he felt without it secure around his waist, but he ignored the crawling sensation over his skin and tucked the blade under a bush next to the pile of fur he’d stuffed there earlier. The disguise wouldn’t be convincing if he had a giant sword strapped to his side. Pet’s axes joined it.
She met his eye, her lips a crooked smirk as she took him in. He likely looked quite the mess, just as Pet did. Dirt smeared across her face along with some of the blood they’d gotten from the bird. She’d gnarled sticks into her hair and covered her shirt in lichen to make it look more ragged than it was. Her steps bounced as she hurried away to find a better position. Axel readjusted the crown of tree roots on his head. He’d deemed himself King of the Draugr.
Did the undead creatures have any sort of hierarchy? Axel shook his head. Probably not. They were too savage for that.
Right on time, a deep moan started up to the west of them. Hemming’s low tones carried over the rocks as he got closer. Pet added to the noise, her voice coming in from the east, farther than what she should have been able to get to in such a short amount of time. Axel rustled the bush hiding his blade and took up his own moan.
The guards at the cave shifted, the links of their armor clinking as they shook. Axel couldn’t see them, but he could hear their gasps.
“Quick,” one of them said, “we need to—”
The voice cut off.
Pet had struck.
Axel leaped from his hiding place, allowing his limbs to sway and his feet to stumble. Draugr were quick but clumsy creatures, their entire focus on sinking their teeth into living flesh. There probably wasn’t much reason to be careful about fumbling about and bashing your head in when you were already dead. Pet had ahold of one of the dwarves, dragging him by the foot as his companion swung his halberd at her head. She ducked it, of course, but she had to let go of the dwarf to dodge a well-aimed kick to her knee.
Axel stepped in, grabbing the guard’s halberd from behind.
He nearly laughed when the dwarf came with it.
The guard dangled from the end of the halberd and shifted his gaze toward Axel and his crown. Refraining from smiling, Axel gnashed his teeth in the dwarf’s face, making it seem like he was ready to bite their nose off. The dwarf dropped to the ground, scuttling out of reach.
Hemming joined them, his moans loud over the fight.
With the added foe, both dwarven guards got to their feet and bolted for the cave entrance.
Axel smiled as he watched their retreating forms turn down a tunnel. “Well, that went better than expected.” He pulled the crown from his head and dropped it in the dirt.
It was time for act three.
The dwarves took longer to regroup than Axel thought they would, giving him, Hemming, and Pet plenty of time to set the scene. While Axel had found the cormorant, Hemming had been the one to spot the polecat. The creature had given them just enough gore to make it look like a fight had taken place. After a clean-up of his skin and the return of the sword to his hip, Axel hoped he looked the part of a seasoned monster hunter. If only he hadn’t left his cowl back at the ship. Pet might have hated it, but the thing was certainly eye catching.
A company of dwarf guards clogged the mouth of the cave. Axel popped the last walnut he’d had in his little snack pouch into his mouth as he faced down who he assumed to be their captain, based on the extravagant helmet he wore.
Axel raised a hand. “Greetings, friends.”
The helmeted dwarf tilted his head. “Odd, I did not know one could be friends without an introduction.”
Axel gave his most dazzling smile. “I think the common goal of safety for the living makes us friends, don’t you?”
The dwarf looked about, eying the blood on the ground. “I came to face demons and am met instead by humans. Pray, what kind of men hunt monsters outside the boundaries of man’s kingdom?”
Axel bowed. “I’m only a servant, good sir. I came with a party of men escorting a young maiden. We’ve come looking for her only to find these creatures at your door.”
They had decided playing the role of humble servants would attract less ire. If anything, it was only flattering to the princess that she would have such faithful servants and hopefully the king would like her all the more, knowing she encouraged such loyalty from her followers. It also helped that Axel couldn’t die, so murdering them to keep Princess Ella from knowing they came to rescue her wasn’t an option.
The lead dwarf studied Axel. “We were told the princess had more than three men to serve her.”
Axel bowed again. “There is a crew tasked with the princess’s escort, but we three are her most humble servants. We’ve been charged with delivering her to the Häxa, as she is to study under the Great Mother and live out her days in piety.”
He could feel Pet’s glare at the back of his head. That was not part of the plan, that look likely said. But if the king knew Princess Ella was indeed a person of some standing and she was expected elsewhere—by the Great Mother herself no less—perhaps the king would be more lenient about letting them go.
The dwarf frowned. “The Great Mother, you say? Why I believe King Thrum is most interested in hearing more of this news.” He waved a hand forward and his retinue surrounded Axel, Pet, and Hemming. “Come. We will take you to the throne room.”
That couldn’t have been any easier. Axel trailed after the dwarf leader through the archway. They would speak with the king directly, convince him of their quest, and would all be on their way come morning. Axel turned back to Pet, a large grin on his face.
Her wary expression darkened as she met his gaze.
He withheld the urge to stick out his tongue at her. Just because he’d been right not to barge into the dwarf fortress, blades swinging, didn’t mean she needed to be such a mood killer.
They followed the dwarves, leaving the open air and torchlight behind them. While the flames would keep most creatures away from the entrance, the dwarves didn’t actually need the firelight. When they turned a corner, they walked into complete darkness. Axel could barely make out the rough forms of the dwarves ahead of him. The smoothed rock of the tunnel made the walk easier, but he heard Pet’s careful shuffle change to keep her from running into anything.
Without a word, he reached back and grabbed her hand.
Like they always did when they touched, shivers raced up his arm. It had since he was twelve years old, and the sensation had only grown more intense as the years passed. He didn’t know if it was the same for Pet, but he would never dare to ask. Not if he wanted to keep her safe. Her fingers squeezed his in silent thanks, and he felt her reach back to take hold of Hemming’s hand. Their small chain would keep them together and assist them in making their way through the darkness.
A low hum took root in Axel’s boots, growing and ebbing as they followed the maze of twists and turns. The dwarves led them through the tunnels in zigzags, attempting to confuse them. Axel passed a small pillar for the third time.
“How much farther?” he asked.
“We will be there soon,” the lead dwarf announced.
Axel refrained from sighing. If they kept up this game, they could be stuck in the tunnels all night. It would have been nice to sit down for a moment.
After another half an hour of walking in endless circles, the hum in Axel’s boots steadily grew louder. It was a constant rumble, vibrating through the soles of his feet and up into his chest. Pet’s hand tightened around his, signaling she heard it now too.
The tunnel around them lightened, the silhouettes of the dwarves taking on more distinct shapes. Axel blinked the darkness away and, when they reached the end of the tunnel, what air he had in his lungs left him.
This was nothing like the dwarf kingdom in Åldras.
Glowing moss coated every inch of the rocky walls, soaring up until they reached the stars above them. A waterfall, the rumble that had sunk into Axel’s bones, fell from a hundred ells up the side of the rock face, crashing down into the black rocks at the base of the hole. The water must have been from the snow melt, as it made no sense there should be water falling into the middle of a volcano.
A volcano. Somehow, they were standing inside a volcano.
It looked like it had been dormant for long before even the Åldrans had sailed the seas, but it still made Axel’s palm grow sweaty in Pet’s hand. How would she react to being in a mountain made of dead fire? He glanced back at her, but her attention was trained on the dwarves around them.
“Come,” called the leader, pointing across the volcano’s vent. “We should get to the castle.”
A black castle towered over a village, torchlight and luminous moss brightening windows and lining streets. While the castle was made from dark stone, it had an air of artistry. Cylindrical towers with turrets framed the face of the castle, which had rounded windows that invited instead of warded. The village below was even more welcoming. Colorful banners hung over cobbled streets, clean of any refuse. Dwarves sauntered along the streets, passing carts pulled by what looked like giant voles. Axel could just make out a tune, music playing somewhere within the crush of buildings.
Now that they were out of the complete darkness, Pet released Axel’s hand. He flexed his fingers, resisting the urge to reach for her again.
The dwarves led them down the side of the vent, stairs and ramps carved into the black rock down to the smooth crust of the volcano floor. If there hadn’t been an entire village nestled on top, he would have been tempted to trod very lightly. It wasn’t that he was actually afraid that the crust would break and he would plummet down into the magma that might boil below. It couldn’t actually harm him, after all. At least, he didn’t think it could, but he’d never swan-dived into lava before to test the theory and he didn’t plan on doing it now.
“Welcome to Gulli,” the dwarf leader said.
Axel stepped forward. “We wish to see our lady.”
The dwarf waved a nonchalant hand. “All in good time. We will go to the throne room first.”
They circumvented the center of the village, instead taking a route around the outskirts and toward the castle’s northern entrance. Máni’s moon hovered high over the mouth of the volcano when they finally arrived at the entrance. The guards there barely glanced their way when the company of dwarves led them through the entrance.
The hall they entered wasn’t like anything Axel had ever seen.
The walls weren’t made of slabs or bricks, but of seamless stone, not a crack or crevice in sight. Images of fighting dragons, elves, and giants were carved on the walls, drops of ruby dripped along the stone, ivory teeth bared in fearsome visages. War and death sprang from the walls, more gruesome than any ballad Axel had ever heard. This was not a kingdom built on peace but on war. And from the way the walls told it, the dwarves were the victors.
The head dwarf led them to a set of large wooden doors; the only ornamentation carved in anything but stone. The dwarf thrust the doors open, not even announcing himself as he strode into the room.
Pet grabbed the back of Axel’s shirt, slowing him. When he met her gaze, she furrowed her brows. Something’s wrong.
Axel felt it too. The small twist in his gut. The rise of hairs on the back of his neck.
The lead dwarf strode to the end of the room where a tall throne towered on top of a dais. The throne was not black like the rest of the castle but white. Bone white.
The lead dwarf took the half dozen steps up the dais.
A side door opened, and two guards escorted a dusty, furious Adalfuns into the room.
The twist in Axel’s stomach became a full knot.
The lead dwarf sat in the bone throne, a smirk nestled within the tangles of his beard.
Chapter 17
A Trap
Oh, bloody rocks.
Pet’s eyes flicked about the room, taking in the exits, and returning to the lead dwarf who was apparently King Thrum. It had been obvious something was off the moment they’d entered the castle. If only she’d said something earlier.
Dwarves began trickling in, first a couple, then a multitude. It wasn’t long until Pet was nearly suffocating in the giant hall. Dwarves surrounded them on every side, waiting to hear what the king would say. Guards blocked each door. There might be an exit behind the throne, but Pet hadn’t spotted it yet.
Adalfuns pointed a thick finger at Axel. “The jötunn, My King.”
King Thrum stroked his fingers over the length of his black beard. “Yes, I could spot the god, Adalfuns. Though I am a bit…unconvinced.” He rubbed his palms over the arm of his throne, the end capped with a human skull. “Tell me, jötunn, why have you come?”
