I Bring the Fire Part V: Warriors Read online

  “But then Hoenir opened a gate into the Void and pulled us into his hut,” Nari says.

  “And then Odin’s people set Hoenir’s hut on fire,” Sigyn says.

  “But the fire never actually came into the hut,” says Valli, leaning close to Bohdi. “I wanted to run out and attack Odin’s people, but Hoenir made the whole hut and some of the surrounding sod hop through a World Gate, but Gungnir was stuck in the sod and Gungnir has the power to stop time, so we were all frozen in time in the place at the other end of the gate in the flaming fields of Muspellsheimr, the realm of fire … until Father restarted the universe.” He nods at Bohdi and smiles. “You see?’

  Bohdi doesn’t see at all, but he smiles tightly at Valli. Skipping a step to catch up with Amy again, he says, “Isn’t Hoenir the guy you tried to get to rescue us in Asgard?”

  “Yes,” says Amy.

  “You were in Asgard?” says Sigyn.

  “And you escaped?” says Nari.

  Valli snickers. “Odin’s getting old.”

  “And Nornheim,” Bohdi mutters. “We escaped there without Hoenir’s help, too.”

  Beside Amy, Sigyn stops walking and holds up an arm. Just a few steps from the trail they’re on is another trail that leads beneath a long arbor trellis thing. The arbor has ten crumbling stone columns. The trellis is formed from rough-hewn wooden beams across the top. Framed by trees on either side, it’s kind of pretty for its age, and secluded. He notes a few benches beneath it. A good place to make out.

  “Do you feel that?” Sigyn says, snapping Bohdi’s mind back to the present.

  Drawing to a halt, Nari’s jaw drops. “Yes.”

  Bohdi opens his mouth. Beatrice beats him to the question. “Feel what?”

  “A World Gate,” Nari responds, walking over, reverently touching the stone columns and looking up at the trellis.

  “Can you tell where it leads to?” Amy asks.

  Nari and Sigyn shakes their heads. “We can barely open them,” Nari says.

  Beatrice looks to Bohdi. “Do you know of anything nasty coming through here?” she asks.

  Pushing his bangs from his eyes, Bohdi tries to recall any monstrous activities in the area. “Can’t remember anything.” Of course it could be a new gate. The effects of Cera, the World Seed, are still rippling through time in Chicago and vicinity. New Gates materialize from time to time.

  “It could lead to one of the realms that have treaties of non-interference with humans,” Sigyn says. “For centuries, the Allfather has enforced laws forbidding magical creatures from venturing here.”

  “Or there could be monsters at the other end of the gate and they just haven’t found it yet,” says Valli.

  Scowling, Bohdi adjusts the paintball gun on his back and glares in the direction of the arbor.

  Fenrir gives a happy little yip, and Bohdi’s eyes snap to the carrier in Amy’s arms. Is it his imagination, or did the carrier just bounce?

  “I think your dog wants out,” says Sigyn, surveying the trees around them.

  “We haven’t seen Hoenir since he let us out here,” Nari says. “I’m worried about him.”

  Bohdi’s barely listening; his eyes are focused on the carrier. It’s definitely jiggling—a lot for a little dog who can only move her front legs.

  He hears Valli scoff. “Mimir said Hoenir is as strong as Father. He’s fine.”

  “Father is dead,” says Nari.

  In the carrier Fenrir whines.

  “No, Father’s coming back!” says Valli, his voice a wail. Bohdi’s eyes return to the two brothers. Sighing, Nari puts his hand on Valli’s shoulder. “That’s right, but he might not be in the form we’re accustomed to, and he probably won’t remember us.”

  Bohdi almost snorts. Why should he remember them? He doesn’t remember his own parents.

  Fenrir whines again. Bohdi hears Amy say, “I better let her out.”

  “I’m not an idiot,” says Valli, brushing Nari’s hand away. Turning to Bohdi, Valli says, “And when we find him, he’ll join us. The revolution will succeed.” His lip curls. “And Asgard will burn.”

  Bohdi rolls his eyes and sneers. “Don’t be a psychopath.” Bohdi might like to see Odin burn, but some of the other people in Asgard are alright. Especially Gabbar and Pascal, the two Einherjar who were their guides and guards.

  “Why you …” Valli starts to hiss, coming toward Bohdi. But Nari puts a hand on his chest and says something in Asgardian.

  Bohdi flicks his lighter. From his feet comes a yip. Looking down, he sees Fenrir standing on all fours, mouth open, tongue out, rat-like snout pointed up at him. Bohdi’s eyes go wide and he laughs aloud. Stooping down, he tries to pat the little dog, but she wiggles away too fast. “She’s better!” he shouts. For a moment he just sits on his heels dumbstruck, watching the little animal run back in the direction of the arbor. And then bouncing up, he walks to Amy, arms outstretched. “You’re a genius! I could kiss you!”

  “Don’t,” says Beatrice. The umbrella tip falls to Bohdi’s stomach. “Stop right there.”

  Bohdi does, but he blows Amy a kiss with both hands. He feels weightless. Like a strong gust of wind would blow him away.

  Amy doesn’t say anything. Or look at him. Pony tail whipping in the wind, eyes on Fenrir, her frown just deepens. “I didn’t realize it would work this fast … ”

  “What would work?” says Nari.

  “We have to go back to the hospital. There are agents there …” Amy says. “More protection.”

  Fenrir’s ears go up. She runs down the path beneath the arbor and then vanishes in some bushes.

  “A squirrel,” says Beatrice.

  “We have to go,” says Amy, looking around nervously. “Fenrir,” she calls, moving beneath the long arbor. “Fenrir!”

  “You named your dog Fenrir?” asks Valli.

  “I’m not sure it’s a dog,” Nari whispers.

  “You’re right, it doesn’t look anything like Fenrir,” says Valli.

  “Amy,” says Beatrice, taking off after her granddaughter.

  “What did Amy do?” Sigyn asks Bohdi.

  Turning to her, he grins triumphantly. “Fenrir was paralyzed like Steve, and Amy figured out how to fix them by making them magical.”

  “Humans can’t do that,” says Sigyn.

  Bohdi lifts his chin and raises an eyebrow. “Can now.” He puts his hand to his chest and gives a shallow bow. “I helped by stealing stuff.”

  “You’re a thief!” says Valli. “Father was a thief.”

  Bohdi straightens. “I am not a thief. I only steal when the occasion demands it. I am a professional hacker!”

  Looking toward the trees Nari says, “I don’t see any magical aura around the dog.”

  “It doesn’t take a lot of magic to heal neural injuries,” says Sigyn.

  Eyes on Amy, Nari says softly, “If Dr. Lewis did what you said she did, she is a genius.” Bohdi’s eyes narrow at Nari, he doesn’t like how he says that …

  Sigyn starts walking toward the arbor. “And she is in danger.”

  Bohdi looks to Amy. Her back is to him, she’s bent over, calling to her dog. A frigid gust of wind ruffles his hair, and his heart drops. He breaks into a run in Amy’s direction, quickly passing Sigyn and catching up to Beatrice.

  “Fenrir, come here, girl!” Amy says, running around one of the arbor’s crumbling columns. Fenrir darts away, stops at a tree beside the structure, looks up, and gives a woof.

  “Leave the squirrel alone!” shouts Beatrice.

  Two steps later Beatrice and Bohdi are with Amy beneath the tree. Nari, Valli, and Sigyn are there an instant later. Amy doesn’t seem to see them. She’s trying to catch Fenrir, who’s running around the trees and arbor columns in a gleeful frenzy. Her back legs are still stiff, but she moves impressively quick.

  Bohdi, Beatrice, Nari, Valli, and Sigyn bend down to help her. Fenrir’s so low to the ground, she easily evades everyone’s hands.

  Bohdi looks b
ack the way they had come. He sees nothing. All he hears is the rush of cars from Lake Shore Drive, and the gentle lap of waves from the beach nearby. His nose doesn’t tickle. And he’s starting to feel silly.

  Sigyn suddenly spins in place. “I sense magic … ”

  “Where?” says Beatrice. “Here?”

  “No,” says Sigyn, shaking her head. “From the direction we just came … ”

  Beside them, Valli raises his head, like a dog catching a scent. “It’s Odin’s magic.”

  Fenrir stops weaving between the columns and the trees, and her ears perk up. She begins to growl, and then she lunges in the direction they came. Leaping sideways, Amy catches the dog, nearly falling over in the process. From somewhere, Bohdi hears the sound of thunder. He looks up, half expecting rain—or Thor. Instead, through the trellis and the tree branches he sees winged women, spears glowing in their hands. Spinning, he follows their path as much as he can with his eyes. From their shouts he thinks they have landed just to the east of them.

  Fenrir’s growls snaps his attention back to Earth. Leaning over Amy’s shoulder, the dog is growling and barking fiercely to the west and the empty path they just came from. Bohdi swallows, the sound of thunder rises—

  “Shit,” mutters Sigyn, looking in the same direction. “Cavalry … ”

  The little dog turns her head to the south and growls again.

  He feels a tickle in his nose. The sound of thunder grows louder, and Sigyn’s words connect in his mind. Heart sinking, he squints and looks quickly to the north and the south. He sees a shimmer, like heat waves on pavement, perhaps fifty meters away in each direction. The tickle in his nose intensifies, the roar grows louder, and the ground beneath him trembles.

  “We’re surrounded!” Nari shouts, but Bohdi can barely hear him.

  Here and there he catches glimpses of … hooves maybe? Horse ears? A bit of human chin?

  “Magical armor—even the horses wear it,” Amy says, suddenly very close to him. “It doesn’t grant true invisibility so much as reflect the world around it.”

  Over the thunderous din of hooves he hears the clink of metal on pavement. Slinging his paint gun around, he peers into the trees. The scene isn’t quite right. Where he should be seeing glimpses of the pier’s lone skyscraper, he sees reflections of the beach. Where he should see the beach he sees reflections of the skyscraper.

  Invisible or not, their enemy is still hard to see. The paint balls would help make them more visible, but there’s so many, he has no idea where to shoot first. There is the sound of steel ringing on cement, and footfalls on sod, and it is like a shimmering river is flooding in front of the barely-visible horses. In the glinting river he sees bits of chin beneath visors, swords—and worst, the spears that shoot molten plasma.

  “Infantry,” mutters Sigyn.

  The river of armor stops moving, and the thundering of hooves comes to a halt. What is left is the occasional clink of armor, a few whinnies, shouts in Asgardian, and hooves stomping. Bohdi’s eyes slide down the path they were coming from. And his breath catches. Every square foot of pavement reflects the trees and sky.

  “Jesus Christ, Odin sent an army,” says Nari.

  Sigyn and Valli’s head whip in Nari’s direction.

  Nari shrugs and grimaces. “I’ve picked up local slang.”

  A voice rises from the sea of glittering armor. “The incarnation of divine love and sacrifice will not help you now. Stand down, and no one will be hurt.” The voice has a definite Hindi accent. Bohdi knows that voice.

  “Oh, no,” Amy says, expressing Bohdi’s feelings exactly. He hears a single set of footsteps come closer.

  “Should I fire?” asks Valli.

  “No,” hiss Nari, Bohdi, Beatrice, Amy, and Sigyn all at once.

  Fenrir growls.

  There is the sound of crystal sliding against metal, and a visor rises in the sea of reflective armor. The face that appears beneath is dark brown, and has a thick jet-black mustache. Bohdi’s heart sinks.

  “Gabbar,” Amy whispers.

  Bohdi swallows. Gabbar is a good guy. He had wanted Bohdi to become an Einherjar, and he helped Amy and Bohdi escape—well, not on purpose. But it had been Gabbar’s idea for Bohdi to propose to Amy before Odin claimed her for himself. Odin never took the women of the Einherjar. It was bad for morale. If Bohdi hadn’t proposed, he would have been separated from Amy, and they might never have gotten away.

  Beside Bohdi, Beatrice whispers, “I’ve only got one shot … I can’t clear them all.”

  Valli looks down at the flamethrower in Beatrice’s hand. Seemingly oblivious to the threats around them he coos. “A DM34! I like you, old woman!”

  Bohdi bites his lip. And then he blinks. Valli is shimmering. In his hand is a samurai sword, on his back is an AK-47. Bohdi’s eyes slide to Nari. An empty scabbard has appeared at his side, and he’s peering through the sights of an M-16. He hears the release of a safety. He looks and sees Sigyn holding a Beretta pistol.

  “I don’t suppose those guns have magical armor-piercing bullets?” Bohdi whispers.

  “A few,” says Nari. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. Bohdi decides he’ll take “a few” to mean essentially “no.”

  “If you hit their visors with the paint gun,” Valli hisses, “they’ll have to raise them. We’ll have clear shots of their faces.”

  Bohdi stares out at the sea of shifting reflections, plasma-shooting spears rising up like blades of grass. “I don’t have that much paint,” he whispers.

  “I could knock them over with Kusunagi,” says Valli.

  “Still too many,” hisses Nari. “And they’d just hop up.”

  Gabbar steps forward and bows. “Dr. Lewis, if you and your little dog come with me, I will let your friends live.”

  “Don’t do it,” Bohdi and Beatrice say in unison.

  Fenrir growls up a storm.

  Gabbar straightens. “Mr. Patel …” He takes a step closer. His jaw tightens. “It is against my orders … but you may accompany Ms. Lewis back to Asgard if you so wish.”

  Bohdi’s gut twists. Raising his paint gun as menacingly as a paint gun can be raised, he says, “We aren’t going anywhere.”

  On the periphery of his vision, he sees Amy nod. From her shoulder comes a cheep, as Mr. Squeakers makes an appearance. Gabbar’s eyes fall on the spidermouse, and his face goes a shade paler.

  “You have a spidermouse?” says Nari, and Bohdi blinks but does not turn. Nari doesn’t seem the least bit afraid of the creature.

  Behind Amy and Bohdi, Sigyn whispers so quietly she’s just barely audible. “The gate we’re standing in. I can take us through. But I need some time.”

  Amy nods, eyes on Gabbar.

  “Nari, Valli, I need your shards!” Sigyn whispers.

  Bohdi’s vaguely aware of Nari and Valli passing something to their mother.

  Gabbar doesn’t move, but beside the Einherjar the scene swirls, and four spears rise. Bohdi swallows.

  “Dr. Lewis, Mr. Patel, don’t make this difficult,” Gabbar says.

  Bohdi clears his throat, trying to think of something to say—and draws a blank.

  But Nari steps forward. Raising his arms, Nari says, “On what charges is Dr. Lewis being called to Asgard?”

  Bohdi glances backwards. Sigyn has some sticks in her hands. Eyes shut, she’s holding them against her chest, chanting something quietly. Despite the cold, she has a sheen of sweat on her brow.

  He looks back to Nari. With his arms outstretched, he’s almost entirely blocking Gabbar’s view. Bohdi slides in front of Sigyn and tries to give her a little more cover. He coughs lightly. Beatrice and Amy meet his gaze. Eyes going wide, they step in front of Sigyn too, Beatrice keeping her flamethrower leveled in Gabbar’s direction. Valli just paces on the other side of his mother, sword drawn.

  “She is charged with setting magic loose on Midgard,” says Gabbar.

  Nari says, “Let me explain that to Dr. Lewis and her companions
.” He turns around and says loudly, “Midgard means Earth.”

  “Oh,” says Amy, equally loudly. “I had no idea. Did you know that, Grandma?”

  Keeping the flamethrower aimed at Gabbar, Beatrice says, “You know this Norse stuff is all Greek to me, dear.”

  “You only make this worse for yourselves,” Gabbar says. His eyes fall on the flamethrower. “Old woman, you can kill me, but not an army. Save your granddaughter’s life and your own.”

  “Fall back now!” Sigyn cries.

  Bohdi turns to see Sigyn disappear into thin air. Nari lunges after her. Valli whips his sword in a wide arc at the warriors behind them. Bohdi hears a rush of wind, and horses screaming.

  “Covering you!” shouts Beatrice. “Take Amy.”

  “Go!” screams Valli.

  Bohdi grabs Amy by the arm, drags her through the World Gate behind Nari …and finds himself running in complete darkness. The air is warmer, but he promptly hits something cold, hard and wet.

  He’s shoved from behind and hears Beatrice mutter. “Oomf!”

  Somewhere Nari says, “This is not good.”

  Fenrir whimpers.

  “Get your elbow out of my stomach!” says Valli.

  Beside Bohdi comes a light. He turns to find Amy holding up her phone, awkwardly clutching Fenrir with one arm. Bohdi lifts his head and turns. On three sides they are surrounded by dark rock walls shiny with moisture. The floor is rough and bumpy, the ceiling isn’t much higher than their heads, but the space is wide—nearly as wide as a two lane road.

  “A cave!” he says. It smells damp, and also, vaguely like animal. Maybe that means they’re near the surface?

  Sitting on a rock, Valli now beside her, Sigyn winces and nods.

  “Probably too low for the horses,” says Beatrice, eyes on the ceiling.

  “They must have brought a mage,” Amy says, “someone who can world walk. They’ll follow us.”

  Sigyn nods.

  “We should maybe run?” says Bohdi.

  “We might get lost,” says Amy. “Too bad we don’t have any bread crumbs.”