Freed: (Phoebe Meadows Book 2) Page 14

  “No more white elf magic for you!” an elf shrieked.

  “Do not fight us, Valkyrie, or your pet dies!” Hands held me tightly.

  “We will kill the troll and the whage if you resist!”

  Was Callan here?

  My head shot up as I searched for the white elf. Our eyes met across the sea of elves, and the mage shrugged. He was being led by two skogs, who looked very unhappy.

  The elves had managed to pin my swords to my sides with a powerful charm as they hustled me along. I couldn’t move my arms at all. I was surrounded by a mob of little, angry bodies.

  I tried to concentrate on my inner energy, like my mother had said, but everything was so chaotic I couldn’t focus. They shuffled me up next to Callan and manhandled us both farther down the hallway.

  “That was quite an adventure!” Callan’s voice was animated. “I had the skogs bring me here to find you.”

  “Is that how you got out?” I asked, out of breath from the ordeal and not able to move my upper body at all.

  “Once Zee came to the cell, the deception was up. But your giant came to the rescue and injured the skog leader, and we escaped. I used my power to make the guards do my bidding.”

  We were shuffled quickly past Junnal, who was out cold on the floor. “Junnal!” I cried, trying to break free.

  “Have no fear,” Callan soothed. “The troll will endure. His body was made to resist magic. Invaldi carries root magic, which is extremely powerful.”

  I craned my neck around, searching for the elf leader, but he was nowhere to be found. The elves had Baldur, but he was resisting, flinging them off left and right. “No one will bind me again!” he boomed. “You cannot keep me here against my will any longer!” He glanced up, met my gaze, and smiled, even as they hit him with magic. “It will be okay, sister. I will find you, and we will rid ourselves of this wretched place once and for all.”

  Where had I heard that before?

  17

  __________________________

  ____________

  I thought the elves would march me down the main staircase, as that’s where we seemed to be heading, but at the last moment they veered toward a wall that looked impenetrable. I spotted the combination lock set into the stone a moment before an elf reached out to turn it.

  Within minutes, the stone face slid backward to reveal a hidden room. The elves and skogs pushed Callan and me inside. It seemed this place was filled with hidey-holes—you just had to know where to look.

  A shriek sounded as the wall slid closed, which was always unsettling.

  The elves’ voices were like fingernails raking down a chalkboard at high speed. “Look! The whage has Kennik’s weapon!” The elf ordered the skog to hand it over and then waved it in the air. “He must have killed Kennik!”

  “No, stupid, that’s the Valkyrie’s weapon,” another argued. “She killed him. My brother’s sister’s husband was there. He witnessed the Valkyrie slay Kennik. It was she who is guilty.”

  The room began to rumble and move.

  It was an elevator.

  More elves than I could count had crammed into the space. There must have been twenty-five or more in a room the size of a bathroom, all of them leaving a wide gap around Callan. I had no choice but to ride this out and see what happened. I’d infiltrated Invaldi’s realm, and now I was paying the price. I tugged on my arms, but still no give.

  “There will be nothing left of you once we’re done,” one elf warned.

  “You will be crying out for your death,” another added.

  I could only imagine the delights awaiting me.

  After a very short ride, the elevator slowed. It was hard to tell which direction it had gone. We lurched to a stop, and the door slid open. The elves poured out, jostling me, Callan, and the skogs along with them. My hands still grasped my swords, which was a good thing.

  We’d emerged into a room I recognized. It was the same large, domed, octagonal atrium we’d come into when we’d first arrived. It was where we’d found the two elves who led us down the stairs and started this entire ordeal.

  We were tugged none too carefully across the main floor. All the elves who happened to be walking by stopped to gape, the crowd quickly swelling.

  “Nothing to see here, folks! Just a captured Valkyrie,” one elf called, puffing its chest out.

  “Step aside, prisoner coming through.”

  “We have Odin’s daughter. Praise Invaldi!”

  A cheer went up in the crowd, some of the elves dropping the packages they carried. These were clearly the workers, not the fighters. I wondered what they did around here. Did they have clothing stores? Grocery stores? Did people shop for casual items and trinkets? Did they have houses? Caves? They were certainly better off than the fire demons, who lived in temporary stick hovels.

  “Ow!” I said between gritted teeth as an elf shoved me. “No need to prod me like an animal. I’m coming with you.” Not like I had a choice.

  Yet.

  Callan cleared his throat behind me. “I believe we’re headed into the parliament area, which is peculiar. They only bring prisoners here who have a court date.”

  “Do they try all their prisoners?” I asked.

  “No,” Callan replied. “They only try prisoners who have stature and clout. Invaldi can be brought to the High Court of Asgard if he fails to give someone a trial. Most realms operate this way. If you’re found guilty in Svartalfheim—and let’s just say, most are unless the person on trial can summon a representative from their realm to stand by them—Invaldi can do whatever he pleases. The biggest difference here is that other realms pay the elves to keep their criminals. For those individuals, there is no trial, just prison cells and torture. It’s a booming business.”

  Invaldi would likely give me a sham trial for the death of Kennik. When I was found guilty, he would argue to keep me here forever. Something that Skuld likely had seen, or she wouldn’t have left so happy.

  I had to find a way to change my fate. “I’ve only spent time in one other realm,” I said, “and the fire demons certainly didn’t try any prisoners. I saw nothing that resembled any sort of parliament . It was Surtr’s rule and nothing else.”

  “Of course they don’t have a parliament,” Callan scoffed. “They’re considered savages at best. That plane is barely habitable.”

  “I know that now,” I muttered. “It’s not like I had a choice in the matter.”

  “How long did you spend with those barbarians?” He raised his white, bushy eyebrows.

  “Long enough to hurt,” I said, blocking out images that threatened to overcome me.

  “Well, you lived to tell the tale, so that says something about your strength. Not all have been so lucky.”

  One of the elves in front of us hoisted open a huge double door and ushered us through. More hands pushed and prodded. They were definitely enjoying their position of power.

  “The only good thing that came out of that realm is finding Fen.” My insides clenched, and I wondered what he was doing right this minute. Was he worried about me? Was his level of anger at hot lava? Or had he forgiven me?

  “Fen?” Callan appeared confused. “Are you talking about Fenrir the Wolf?” He let out a gasp. “The fabled Mad Wolf of Asgard?”

  I smiled. Fen did have that effect on people. “Yes, but he’s not made-up. He’s as real as you and me. He’s my boyfriend. At least I hope he still is. He’s probably angry with me, because I came here without telling him. So, honestly, there’s a good chance that we’re broken up.”

  “I should like to meet him one day,” Callan mused.

  “You will be meeting nothing but your death!” an elf cried as they shoved us the rest of the way through the doors.

  The room we entered was opulent. All polished stone and granite, buffed to a high sheen. Jewels glittered in some of the columns that encircled the room. It seemed to go on for miles, and the ceilings soared so high I could barely make out where they stopped.
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  The elves turned right and dragged me down a long hallway that ran around the outside of the massive columns. The skogs followed with Callan. Twenty feet later, we stopped in front of a large door. This one had a key entry, not a combination lock.

  The elf in front pulled out a key ring and inserted a key into the door. There was a loud click as a mechanism was disengaged.

  “Get her inside!” the elf shouted.

  “Seize her weapons first!”

  Greedy hands groped my sides, yanking my swords roughly out of my hands. My arms were still locked to my sides, so there was nothing I could do. I tried kindling my energy once again, and I felt an ember fire up, but my excitement was diminished as I was shoved into the room without Gundren before I could get it to grow.

  The door slammed, the lock engaging loudly.

  Damn.

  I glanced around my new surroundings. It took me a moment to realize Callan wasn’t with me. My hands shot to the door, pounding as I yelled, “Leave the whage with me! He is no threat to anyone! He’s sick and needs help!”

  A cackle answered me. “The whage will not stand trial! He is headed to the highest security!”

  “Yes, the highest”—a snicker—“to await his death!”

  I pounded on the door with renewed vigor. “He doesn’t deserve to die! Just let him go!”

  “We will not release him,” the voice sounded aghast at the idea. “He has already had his trial and was found guilty! He is a tried-and-true offender of this realm. The white elves sent him long ago to avenge their king, as he is the most powerful of their kind. He killed many of us during that fight, and he will die for his deeds!”

  Pounding my fist one last time in frustration, I spun around. I wasn’t going to let Callan die. I had to get out of here.

  The room was sparsely furnished with a small cot and a tiny toilet the size of an ice cream bucket. It didn’t look like it would tolerate my weight. No windows, and the door didn’t even have a grate.

  I began to pace, wondering for the thirty-third time why Huggie had sent me when I clearly didn’t have the skills. I was forced to turn, running out of room in the small space, and felt something press against my stomach as my body changed motion.

  Gram!

  The elves hadn’t checked me for other weapons. It was beyond foolish, but I wasn’t about to complain. I pulled the dagger out of my waistband. It’d been partially hidden by an overlap in my tunic, and that’s likely why they hadn’t seen it. Or they were too cocky about their skills and didn’t care if I had a small weapon.

  It would be hard to defeat their magic with a dagger, except this was Odin’s blade.

  I turned it over in my hands.

  Now I just had to figure out what to do with it.

  Both Ingrid and Fen had told me a little bit about how special the dagger was, but hadn’t elaborated. It was made for Odin as a gift from a goddess. The blade could transport me through Yggdrasil, it could cut the hides of most creatures in the seven realms, and was said to have some intelligence. I could really use its smarts right now.

  I’d never taken the time to really study it. I’d been too busy with my training and new life at the stronghold.

  The depictions carved into the hilt were similar to Gundren, but not exactly the same. They were definitely made by the same creatures. I tried to decipher some of the scenes. One showed the dagger buried in what had to be the bark of a tree. That showed it worked in Yggdrasil. Another showed the dagger cutting the hide of an animal. In the third, it appeared to be piercing something that looked like flesh.

  I squinted.

  It almost looked like an arm.

  That couldn’t be right. Could it?

  But there were fingers.

  I turned it over and followed the last graphic, the one that looked like the dagger had been inserted into skin. It led to the very end of the hilt. I tipped it up and saw the unmistakable glyphs of lightning.

  My breath came faster.

  Was this made for a Valkyrie?

  Was that why my father had it commissioned? To protect someone he loved?

  That was definitely lightning.

  I traced over the glyph with my finger. I had already used Gram to cut my palms, and afterward I did glow. Maybe the dagger was a conduit of energy? Maybe that was why it worked in Yggdrasil?

  It wouldn’t hurt to try.

  “Why not?” I said out loud. “I’ve got nothing to lose, and my mother’s and Callan’s lives depend on me.”

  I quickly assessed the room and decided the only thing that I could try energy out on was the toilet, which was empty.

  Sitting down on the cot, I positioned the tip of Gram against the soft flesh of my forearm and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.” The tip slid in with no resistance and very little pain. Dark red blood pooled at the point of entry.

  For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then, all of a sudden, my body began to quiver like a shockwave was running through me.

  I began to vibrate, first in my arm, then my entire body.

  Then I began to glow. Just like I did when Gram had pierced Yggdrasil. I made a fist with my newly bright hand. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to withdraw Gram from my arm or not for this to work, so I left it.

  The pain was nonexistent.

  Instead, the weapon that was now inside my body called to me. Not like Gundren, but something near. It beckoned me to use its power. It wanted to help me.

  I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what my mother had told me about gathering my energy. Now that I was glowing, my body felt electric.

  “Here goes nothing,” I whispered. I opened my eyes and focused all my thoughts on the small toilet.

  My greatest desire was to smash it to smithereens.

  The thought of it blowing to pieces was so vivid as I imagined it breaking apart in my mind. “Get rid of that mockery of a toilet,” I commanded as I stretched my arm toward the offending object.

  Lightning shot out of my body with so much force, I was tossed backward. I smashed against the wall, the dagger falling out of my arm, clattering to the ground.

  The ice cream bucket exploded on impact, sending debris flying everywhere.

  I managed to get my forearms up in front of my face, protecting most of my body from the flying shards. Once it was over, I sat up, out of breath.

  I had not expected that to happen.

  There was a banging on my cell door. “What are you doing in there?” an elf voice yelled.

  “Um,” I answered.

  Demolishing your stuff?

  Playing with Odin’s powerful dagger?

  Getting ready to kick your ass?

  “Just going to the bathroom.”

  “Keep it down!”

  “Will do.”

  Not.

  18

  __________________________

  ____________

  N ow that I’d figured out how to use Gram as a powerful weapon, I had to find a way use it to my advantage. I walked around the room, exploring every nook and cranny, kicking scraps of exploded toilet out of my way as I went.

  The cell was sealed up tight, and there wasn’t anything else to blow up unless I went after the cot, which seemed counterproductive.

  After the dagger had fallen out of my body, my glow began to fade quickly. It was nothing more than a soft illumination now.

  If I bulldozed my way out of here by blowing off the door, the elves would be on me quickly, and there were too many of them. It was risky. And just because I blew up a toilet didn’t mean I had this power under control. Mastering my energy was going to take time.

  I was trying to figure out what to do when I heard a noise coming from the next cell over. I walked over and set my ear against the wall. “Callan?” It was a shot in the dark, but I had to try.

  No response.

  The walls were thick, so I upped the volume and tried again. “Callan? Is that you?”

  “Phoebe?” a tentative
female voice answered. One I’d never heard before. It was high and slightly nasally.

  “Yes,” I replied. “Who is this?”

  “You don’t know me, but I can help you.” Her voice was hard to distinguish, as it was muffled through the rocks, but I could make out the words fairly well.

  “You’re going to have to tell me who you are first.”

  “I was sent here long ago by Odin to watch over your mother. I am a mixed elf. They got suspicious of me about a month ago when they caught me relaying messages back to Asgard for your mother. They threw me in here, and now I’m awaiting trial.”

  There was no way to know if she was telling the truth. “How can you help me?”

  “The raven, Hugin, got a message to Leela a few months ago saying to expect you soon. The shieldmaiden has been eagerly awaiting your arrival ever since. She was able to secure a few weapons, sent through smugglers from Asgard, and I have placed them around the castle. It was my intention to meet you at Yggdrasil, but they took me prisoner before I could make it. I’m sorry to have failed you both.”

  I wasn’t sure how much to divulge on my end, so I settled on, “I think I might be able to get myself out of the cell, but it will be noisy. If I can break both of us out, do we have a chance of escaping without capture?”

  “I know this realm very well, and there is a good chance. But you must wait until the wee hours before you try,” she cautioned. “There will be fewer elves around at that time.”

  “The wee hours?”

  “We bed down in the early morning and sleep most of the day. Elves need their daily sleep to survive, and things shut down to a minimum during the wee hours.”

  Good to know. “Are they really going to shut down if they’re in the middle of a crisis?” I asked. That didn’t make sense. “There’s a high threat to the realm right now. If it were me, I would make elves stand guard even if they were sleepy.”

  “It’s hard to know. They might be forced to stay awake if Invaldi deems it so. They will have reinforcements in place if there are fewer elves, however, so we must take that into account.”

  “Are you talking about trolls?” That meant I’d have to defeat one of the big green guys without Gundren. That didn’t sound ideal, but I did have Gram.