Freed: (Phoebe Meadows Book 2) Read online

  “Phoebe,” Fen called, his voice getting closer. “Are you up there?” He couldn’t see us, because the brush was too thick and we stood behind a few trees.

  My disappearing was going to kill him, and if it didn’t, he was going to be supremely pissed off. I wasn’t sure he’d ever talk to me again. “Can’t I just explain to him what’s happening?” I pleaded, my voice barely a whisper. “He’ll understand.” No, he wouldn’t. “I can calm his fears and explain that Junnal will take care of me. It’ll just take a moment.”

  Huggie clacked his beak. The wolf will follow if he gets a chance. He will not listen to reason. I will close the cillar after you go through, but he will attempt to jump through. If he does, there is no way I can stop him and he will be harmed. You must leave now. Your mother’s life depends on it.

  My heart clenched painfully.

  Fen was going to feel betrayed, but I didn’t want him to be hurt, and had to choose my mother. “Will you explain to him why I left?” Panic filled me.

  I will try to reason with the wolf, Huggie reassured me. He will not take this well, but it can’t be helped .

  I exhaled. “Okay.” I strengthened my resolve. “How do we do this?” I knew Junnal was up for it without asking.

  Get on the giant’s back and hold on tight. He will get you there safely. Once you land, you will find a cloak. Put it on. It is magical and will conceal you from the dark elves. The Jotun will scent your mother. Take heed, you will have to fight at the end, as the cloak will not fit over you both. But I have faith in you. You must leave now.

  “There you are.” Fen’s voice filled with relief. He was down the hill twenty yards away, glancing up at us.

  “I’m so sorry, Fen,” I called to him, then pleaded, “You have to understand. There’s no other way. I have to go!” As I spoke, I hopped onto Junnal’s back.

  “What? What are you doing?” Fen yelled, alarmed. He began to run toward me. “No, Phoebe, you can’t leave here alone! This is insanity. Don’t do this!”

  “I have to,” I said, tears forming, threatening to fall. “Please understand. I have to find my mother. This is the only way!”

  Now! Huggie squawked, spreading his wings, leaping from the tree branch, soaring toward us.

  Junnal lumbered toward the portal.

  “No!” Fen yelled, anguish at the forefront.

  As Junnal jumped through the cillar, I called, “I’ll be back soon. I promise!”

  8

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  ____________

  I hung on to the Jotun for dear life. The ride through was longer than any I’d taken before, but that wasn’t saying much. I’d been in the tree only three times. I fought to stay conscious, air not being a high commodity in the dark, scary vortex. During my previous trips, I’d blacked out, but I wanted to land awake and alert.

  We landed hard.

  The force separated us, and I tumbled head over heels, not coming to a full stop until my legs bashed into a huge tree. “Ow.” I lay there for a few moments, trying to regain my composure.

  Junnal hadn’t done more than one roll. He waited patiently for me to get up. As I rose, I was happy to see we weren’t in a cave. It appeared we’d landed in a dense forest, but I couldn’t be sure. It was fairly dark. The trees around us were slumped over, their branches hanging low like depressed willows, leaves brushing the ground, black vines choking their bark. Nothing was green. Everywhere I looked, things were in various shades of browns and ochers.

  Not exactly inviting.

  My legs were shaky from the ride. I kicked them out as I checked to make sure I had all my weapons and nothing had fallen out. Gundren was secure on my back, and Gram and the ice pick I’d taken off the dark elf I’d killed were in place. My clothing and shoes were all accounted for. That was something to celebrate. “Do you see the cloak Huggie was talking about anywhere?” I asked the giant, scanning the area for something resembling cloth.

  The Jotun shook his big noggin.

  Both of us began to search, trying to be quiet, which was easier for me than my two-ton companion. After what felt like too long, I began to lose hope, but then I spotted a small leather pouch sticking out from the roots of the tree nearby.

  I snatched it up greedily, relief flooding me. I tried not to think about how unready I was for this mission, steeling myself with the fact the mother I’d never met needed me, and I was going to come through for her or die trying.

  My mind locked on Fen and his face as Junnal had jumped through the portal. It had been a mask of sadness, like he’d known I was heading for certain death. My heart gave a squeeze. I hated that I’d left him behind and prayed he would forgive me.

  Forcing myself to forget about Fen, I unfastened the ties of the pouch and eased it open. The material was silky and thinner than any material I’d ever seen before and completely sheer. I shook it out in front of me. It was hard to believe this would keep me out of sight, but I didn’t have reason to doubt it. I didn’t second-guess anything anymore.

  I upended the bag, hoping there would be a few more things to aid me inside, but it was empty. I was about to let the Jotun know I was disappointed when voices erupted from nearby.

  Junnal motioned me to get on his back as he turned to face our company.

  Tossing the cloak around me, I climbed on. It had a hood and I pulled it down around my face. I was worried my legs would show, but there was a lot of material, so I tucked it around them as quickly as I could.

  From my vantage point over the giant’s shoulder, I spotted two dark elves as they came around the corner. They were short, skinny, had pointy ears, overly large eyes and gray, saggy skin. They looked exactly like the others I’d seen in Midgard.

  “There you are,” one intoned upon spotting Junnal, its voice high and squeaky. “Why you have come this way is beyond me, but you must come along. You are very late. The others have already arrived.”

  “They are always late.” The second one shook its head. “You can never trust a troll to be on time.”

  “This one seems to be more than a troll. Hmm ? Are you?” It glanced up, inspecting Junnal. “Are you more than a troll? Come on, spit it out.”

  “Jotun,” Junnal replied, his voice booming around the quiet forest.

  “A giant mixed with a troll! Invaldi will be very pleased,” the second one said, vigorously nodding its head. “You were to work in the mines, but now we shall see. I think you will make an excellent guard. You are quite a bit bigger than any we’ve seen in quite some time.”

  “Come along, follow us, and hurry up about it,” the first one intoned. “As we said, you are late.”

  They began walking, and Junnal followed.

  I hadn’t been detected. Score one for the green Valkyrie. I somehow couldn’t imagine Rae agreeing to cloak herself and ride on the back of a troll, but whatever, if it worked, I was in.

  In order to stay on Junnal’s back, I’d tucked my knees into the giant’s waist, his burly arms covering them tightly, pinning them there. As we moved, I made sure the cloak stayed secure. “I hope where they take us isn’t too populated,” I whispered into the Jotun’s ear. “If they offer, take the job as a guard. Maybe that will take us to my mother.”

  I had no idea what to expect of this world.

  So far it was dark with lots of brown weeping trees. At least we weren’t in a cave. I was extremely tired of caves. As we wound our way through a forest, I peeked over the top of Junnal’s shoulder. After only a few turns, we emerged into a small clearing, and looming in front of us, as far as the eye could see, was a wall of black rock. An entrance to a tunnel sat no more than ten yards away.

  Come on!

  What was it with these worlds and caves? “Just my luck,” I muttered as Junnal lumbered after the elves, ducking into the mountain after them. “I’m sure this cave will be much more pleasant than all the rest.” Yeah, right.

  After my eyes adjusted, I saw that this was no ordinary cave. The insid
e resembled a palace, with huge columns rising up to an impossibly high ceiling, and a granite floor polished to a high sheen. I glanced over Junnal’s shoulder. We’d entered through an actual doorway.

  Dark elves were everywhere, scurrying this way and that.

  “Hurry up,” the first elf huffed at Junnal. “You are entirely too slow.”

  “Yes, come on.” The second one gestured, showing its impatience. “We must get to the inner sanctum, as Invaldi will want to meet you himself before you are assigned a position.”

  Panic welled in my throat. I’d hoped this mission would be quick and relatively easy—we’d be in and out and wouldn’t have to encounter Invaldi, especially not this soon. It was likely a pipe dream, but it was my pipe dream. Visions of another Surtr encounter had the hair on my arms standing at attention.

  We passed through the large atrium with no one the wiser. Not one elf, out of the hundreds passing this way and that, noticed anything amiss with Junnal or the illegal passenger clinging to his back.

  Some of the elves held tools, others carried bundles in their arms. One clutched a breathtakingly beautiful necklace made up of a multitude of gemstones that glittered brilliantly, even in the low light.

  I was entranced.

  As the elf passed, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. How strange. I’d never been much of a jewelry gal, but touching those rubies and emeralds was the only thought running through my mind. I had to physically shake myself, gripping the Jotun’s shoulders. It was lucky we turned down a hallway and the sparkly jewels disappeared out of sight.

  The ceilings were massive everywhere, and this new space was no exception. They were so high I almost couldn’t tell where they stopped. The lighting was dim, coming from some sort of sconce lighting attached to the many pillars.

  The elves in front of us chattered in animated conversation, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. At the end of the hallway was a huge archway. It was a good thing everything was extra-large, or Junnal wouldn’t have been able to get through.

  We passed under it, stepping into a room equally as formidable as the main entrance. But this room was octagonal, and each of the eight sides held a different door. All the doors seemed to be made of stone, but I couldn’t know for sure.

  “Wait here, troll,” the first elf instructed. Both elves wore dark-colored pants and light-colored shirts. If their faces weren’t so creepy, and their ears so pointy, they could’ve passed as tiny businessmen.

  “Invaldi is very busy,” the second one asserted, its shirt a lighter hue than its companions. “He might see you now, or tomorrow, or next week, or never.” It cackled at its own joke.

  Without glancing back, both elves entered a door to our right, opening it easily and slipping through, even though it was at least twelve feet tall.

  “Are we just supposed to stand here and wait?” I whispered. There were no benches or anything that looked like this space could double as a waiting room.

  As we bided our time, other elves came bustling into the area, heading for a specific door and disappearing behind it. None of them even flinched at seeing a giant troll standing there or gave him any other notice.

  I tried to remain calm, cool, and collected, but my wildly beating heart and my sweaty palms made it hard to be clearheaded. It was taking too long. “Take a causal walk around so we can scout out the doors. Nonchalantly, like you’re supposed to be here,” I whispered. “Huggie said you’ll smell my mom. Let’s see if you can pick up on anything.” It was better than just standing.

  Very slowly, Junnal began to walk toward the door closest to us. He didn’t get far when it sprang open and an elf popped out. This one wore an all-black uniform with silver bars on the lapel.

  “Are you here for dungeon work?” the elf chirped in a cringe-worthy singsong voice, settling its hands on its small hips. “Well? Answer me!”

  “Tell him yes,” I said on the slightest of breaths.

  “What was that?” the elf asked.

  He’d heard me!

  I had to be more careful.

  “I said take the troll down already,” another voice said from inside the door as a second elf emerged. “We haven’t got all day.”

  Relief flooded through me. My cover hadn’t been blown. It’d been talking to its comrade, which also wore a similar black uniform, but its had fewer silver stripes.

  “I’m asking him if he’s here for the job. Well, are you?” the elf asked again impatiently. “Here for the dungeon work, that is?”

  “Yes,” Junnal said, his voice low, but still booming. That’s what happened when you were huge. Your larynx was massive.

  “Fine. Then get a move on.” The elf motioned its hand for Junnal to follow as it walked back through the doorway it had come through.

  Inside was a massive circular stairwell that looked to have been carved out of the mountain itself. It was illuminated exclusively by torchlight. The rugged stone steps were wide enough for the Jotun to walk down, but that was about it.

  As Junnal began to descend after the elves, I glanced over the railing, trying to gauge what might be down there. The staircase seemed endless, and it was pitch black at the bottom.

  I didn’t dare speak, not even a whisper. I couldn’t risk my voice carrying.

  After we traversed a few flights, each level containing a long, dark hallway with lots of doors, the elf with more silver on its uniform stuck its nose in the air and commented, “Do you smell that?” It peered over its shoulder at Junnal, its eyes accusing.

  “Smell what?” the other elf asked.

  “I scent white elf magic.” It made an exaggerated show of fanning the air as it continued down the steps.

  I wasn’t sure what white elf magic smelled like, but it could have been the cloak. Ingrid had told me earlier that cloak stones were made of white elf magic, so that would make sense.

  “Something from Alfheim in our realm?” the lower-ranked officer scoffed. “Not a chance.”

  “My nose is one of the most sensitive in all of Svartalfheim,” the elf boasted. “Invaldi has been known to use my services to sniff out magic. I’m telling you, I scent white magic, and it keeps getting stronger.” They hit the next landing, and both elves stopped abruptly, turning to confront Junnal. “Do you have white elf magic on you, troll? We do not tolerate it in our realm, and it must be handed over immediately.”

  The other elf sniffed, “You must relinquish any white magics you may be harboring. It’s the law.”

  Junnal did nothing for a few seconds.

  Then, slowly, the giant reached into his waistband and pulled out something I couldn’t see, extending his hand.

  “Is that…is that a valknut ?” the higher-ranked elf squealed, its voice impossibly higher than before.

  “Why would you bring such a thing into our realm?” the other elf barked. “You must get rid of it immediately!”

  Junnal held it out to the elves.

  “We can’t touch it!” the leader cried, taking a few steps back. It turned to the other elf. “Find something the troll can deposit it in.” It glanced back at Junnal. “A valknut will not keep you safe.” It scowled. “They ward off death, but not in this realm. We shun white elf magic here.”

  “Should we punish the offender?” the other one called as it began to search for something to contain the offensive valknut—whatever that was.

  I was happy Junnal had found something to occupy them with that wasn’t my cloak.

  The leader puffed up its chest, trying to look like the important decision-maker. “No, this is to be expected. Trolls who come to work often have trinkets and amulets,” it scoffed. “They think it will protect them, but they are mistaken.” It narrowed its eyes at the Jotun. “Do not ever bring white elf magic here again. Understood, troll?”

  Junnal nodded.

  The other elf finally rustled up some sort of black box it’d found tucked into the stone wall. It walked up to Junnal. “Drop it in here. And you better not have anythi
ng else on you.” It angled its nose in the air and sniffed.

  I was curious to see what this strange valknut was, so I peered over the Jotun’s shoulder and watched him deposit what looked to be a metal object into the box. It resembled three triangles fused together and appeared to be nothing more than a trinket. Something akin to a good-luck charm.

  As soon as the valknut hit the bottom of the box, the elf snapped the lid shut, holding it away from its body like it was diseased. Then it walked back to the wall and tucked it in, clapping its hands. “The cleanup crew will find this sooner than later, and they will be in for a surprise.”

  The other elf snickered. “I hope Ganwick finds it. He’ll have hives for a month!”

  They chuckled, bantering about allergies and afflictions, as they headed back down the stairs. Junnal followed, and I glanced behind me into the hallway we’d just been occupying, the landing dark and ominous, as all the others had been, when I heard a noise behind one of the doors closest to the stairwell.

  A soft “help me” floated down after us, and shivers raced up my spine.

  9

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  W e descended impossibly farther, at least ten more levels as far as I could tell. Each landing we passed was full of closed doors. This was their prison. One level in particular was heavily guarded by a pair of elf sentinels stationed out front. It was well lit, and the doors were color-coded, not just plain gray. The guards ignored us as we passed.

  Logically, my mother had to be imprisoned down one of these hallways. The urge to jump off Junnal’s back and go investigate needled at me, but doing so wouldn’t have gotten me very far, so I struggled to be patient.

  As we rounded yet another landing, the elf leader finally announced, “It will be good to have someone as big as you down here to keep the others in line.” Both elves strode down a hallway with many doors. “This is where we keep some of our worst offenders, as well as a multifaceted chamber of torture. I’m certain you will enjoy your time here.”