Chapter Thirteen

Awareness filtered into Magnor’s consciousness. He remained in the chair, where his head had fallen forward. He didn’t move, concentrating on breathing slow and deep. The awful pressure was gone from his chest. But what of his leg?

“Your eminence, we have a report from Togura Island,” said a man in a voice he didn’t recognize.

“What is it?” Loki demanded.

So the demon is still here. What about the wolf?

“A shuttle from the Protector is flying reconnaissance over the volcano, my lord.”

“I thought our allies had destroyed Prince Zohar’s ship.”

“They must have launched their spacecraft before then.”

Loki cursed in a foreign tongue. “I’ll see to it. Come, Fenrir. Let us determine what brings the Drift Lords to our island. Omeron, you may continue the interrogation.”

Magnor must have drifted off again because a painful prod to his side roused him.

“What portal led you to this place?” Brigader Omeron’s words penetrated the fog in his brain.

Magnor blinked his eyes open. He was still bound to his chair. Dust motes floated in the air as the late afternoon sun penetrated the attic from a far window. A glance downward showed his leg to be intact. Had he imagined the wolf biting his ankle?

Loki must have been playing mind tricks on him. He winced at the remembered torment. What was it he’d just heard? Oh, yes, the messenger had mentioned Togura Island, the Pacific isle where Paz and Jen had crash-landed after leaving Tokyo. It housed a volcano in imminent danger of eruption.

“How did you get to Los Angeles?” Brigader Omeron repeated, jabbing him in the ribs with a shock stick.

Magnor gritted his teeth against the flare of pain. “We went through the portal.”

“Which one? You were last seen in the Nevada desert.”

“We used the transfer platform at the Viking Vegas Resort. We’d returned to the city.” And somehow we ended up here instead of Copenhagen.

Omeron snapped his fingers. “Send for Kaptein Parug. I have an order to transmit.”

Magnor sagged in his chair, pretending to be weakened. He’d make a move when the opportunity presented itself, but first he had to be alone with the brigader.

“Min drott,” Parug said after offering his salute, “I have cleaned the Drift Lord’s sword, if you wish to keep the trophy.”

Omeron snatched the blade from Parug’s outstretched hand. Avarice in his gaze, he examined the steel blade and its sturdy hilt. Done with his inspection, he placed the prize on his desk.

“A gross negligence has occurred,” the brigader said to his subordinate. “This warrior came through the portal from our Vegas command post. I’ve had reports of explosions there. The destruction will set back our operations for weeks until we can rebuild. Does their commanding officer still live?”

The kaptein bowed his head. “Aye, min drott.”

“His failure must be punished. Take the major into the desert at dawn, and stake him out. Pin his eyelids open. Either the sun will burn him blind or the carrion birds will pluck out his eyeballs. Then leave him and return here.”

“As you command.” The kaptein clapped a fist to his chest before turning toward the exit.

Brigader Omeron’s nostrils flared as he regarded Magnor. “Why did you come here, to this particular site? What is your mission?”

“Reconnaissance.”

“Liar. We know your team is targeting our recruitment centers. Have you planted charges yet?”

“Do you think I’d tell you if I did?” His muscles bulged as he attempted to break free. The restraints were too secure. But wait, one of the chair arms had creaked. Could it have a loosened bolt?

Omeron sneered at him. “Tell me before the Dark Lord returns, and it’ll go easier on you.”

“Forget it. I’ll never talk.”

Omeron’s face purpled. “You have no idea what he is capable of doing to you. You’ve only had a sample. But if you wish for me to force the answers from you, I’ll be happy to do so.” He glanced at the soldier on the staircase landing. “Menig, go fetch the worms.”

Not those! He’d better make his move now, while he had the chance. They wouldn’t be alone again. Loki or his monster son might return at any time.

“You’re right,” he said after the trooper had left. “I have set charges. The remote is in my bag.” His backpack lay on the floor where his captors had tossed it earlier.

As the brigader brushed past, Magnor rocked his chair sideways and crashed into him. Both tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap.

Before the officer could scramble to his feet, Magnor broke off the chair’s arm that had cracked on impact. His wrist still secured to a piece of wood, he grabbed the knife from the officer’s belt and plunged it into the brigader’s gut.

Without a word, Omeron slumped over.

Magnor used the blade to slash through his bindings. As soon as he was free, he leapt to his feet. He retrieved his belongings before moving out. Unfortunately, his phase pistol and dagger were nowhere in sight.

Fear for Erika’s safety propelled him downstairs. Where might they be holding her? Presumably, she’d been taken to Tent Ten, like Nira and Jen under captivity before her. But would the lab be inside this building?

If it were elsewhere, Erika would have been taken there by now. Hoping he was wrong, he did a quick survey of the upper level to make certain she wasn’t held in any of the bedrooms or converted offices. It was less likely she’d be on the first floor, where lower rank soldiers roamed.

Maybe there was a basement. After all, the Trolleks favored their subterranean habitats. A cellar would be the perfect place to set up a discreet laboratory.

He crept down the stairs toward the ground floor. Loud guffaws of laughter reached him from below. Before hitting bottom, he flicked on his invisibility shield. This allowed him to do a quick search of the ground level without being detected. He hoped that wolf didn’t return. The beast might be able to sniff his scent and reveal his presence.

Trolleks lounged in the various public rooms, off-duty soldiers enjoying a moment of respite. He wondered where they bunked. For such a large contingent, they’d require facilities like any other military base.

It’s not your mission to investigate. While it was his duty to destroy any recruitment centers he happened upon, this time he’d not let it interfere with his prime directive to locate the Book of Odin. He’d pass on these coordinates to Dal and let him follow through.

The Book of Odin. Did it really exist? Supposedly it was a companion to the Codex Regius, a thirteenth century manuscript preserving the Elder Edda, a body of verse that was much older. One of the poems was the “Völuspá”. This prophecy warned Odin of a great war before Earth’s rebirth.

The newer volume he sought contained a verse saying history would repeat itself and offered a means of dispelling the invaders. Would it lead them to a super weapon? Or was the verse itself a spell to defeat the Trolleks? If so, why hadn’t it been used during their earlier incursions?

Was this book where the legend had arisen, stating the six sons of Thor had to unite with the six daughters of Odin? Nira searched for the rune believed to hold the key to banishing Loki. What if they both reached for illusory goals?

But no, Nira had said the museum scroll he’d found in Vegas directed them to Copenhagen. Why else would that location have been written in the ancient text if not to provide a clue?

Blind faith wasn’t something he had in abundance, and faith was what this mission required. He preferred fighting Trolleks like the ones snoring on that couch, he thought as he slipped past the living room.

Heading toward the kitchen, he dodged a cluster of troops milling about in the foyer.

A couple of human slaves had begun preparing the evening meal. Busy chopping vegetables by the sink, they didn’t look up when the ground shook. He clutched the wall.

Another quake?

Dishes rattled, and a porcelain mug crashed to the floor as the tremors increased. He braced himself as the ground jerked violently. Something fell with a huge thud outside. Soldiers cursed in the distance, while he hoped his escape wouldn’t be noticed in the confusion.

Meanwhile, the cooks continued unfazed, blank expressions on their faces.

Spotting the basement door, he dove in that direction, hoping it would be unlocked. The knob twisted easily. Dim lighting illuminated a staircase leading below. He stopped a moment to listen, his heart pounding in his chest.

He didn’t hear Erika’s voice. Had Algie already extracted what data she needed and killed his bride before he’d even had the chance to tell her he cared?

It didn’t matter that his destiny rode in the stars. If she survived, they’d find a way to be together.

His fingers twisted the dial on his belt, and his shield dissipated. If she was there, he wanted her to see him.

Another tremor shook the earth as he clutched the handrail. A figure sprinted into his line of vision. Erika stood at the base of the stairs, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“Magnor! Oh, thank God it’s you. For a moment, I thought you were one of them blocking the way.”

“My knesta, are you all right? How did you…?”

She rushed up the steps. “Never mind that now. Let’s get out of here.”

He grabbed her hand. “The earthquake has caused chaos. We can take advantage of the commotion to slip outside.”

Troops congregated on the front lawn where they’d gathered after the tremors. A wide crack split the hillside, and a fallen tree blocked the road. He and Erika ducked around a corner and fled.

As soon as they had put enough distance between themselves and the soldiers, he let go of her hand and gave her a quick scan. She looked disheveled, her hair askew and her clothes rumpled, but she seemed intact otherwise.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked, relieved when she gave a negative response.

“You?” She pointed to his chafed wrists and the bruise on his jaw.

He lifted his chin. “I am trained to resist interrogation. However, the session with Loki was unpleasant.”

“Loki was there? In person?”

“He was more like an evil presence, but he could affect events all the same. Fenrir the wolf showed up, too.” He related what had happened to him, including his encounter with Omeron. “We need to leave the premises before the body is discovered.”

A squad of troops marched by at an intersection, and they hid in a recess between buildings on one of the backlot streets.

“Can you use your belt to make us invisible?” she asked, her back pressed against a brick wall.

“It won’t work if Fenrir is in the vicinity. He’ll detect my scent. At any rate, Algie will still be after you. She’s probably set a cordon near the portal.”

“She won’t be too pleased to learn you killed her commanding officer.”

“I wish I could have taken out more of the beasts.”

She placed a hand on his arm. “Look, in case we don’t make it, I want you to know I’m glad we shared this adventure.”

“Me, too. But don’t give up yet. I’ve faced worse battles.”

“I’m sure you have, but I fear we are severely outnumbered.”

“They underestimate us.” Unable to resist, he swept her into his arms for a passionate kiss. “I should check with Zohar to make sure he still wants us to go to Copenhagen,” he said, breaking away. “He might want us to deal with Algie instead.”

Stepping back, Erika met his gaze with a somber expression. “She’s even more dangerous than we thought. Her latest plan is to exterminate the old and the sick, and to either confound humanity or turn people into Trolleks. I suspect this is what you meant when you said her latest initiative is a dual-pronged effort?”

“It’s mass genocide, any way you look at it. The human race as we know it would disappear.”

And a worse threat remained. If Loki succeeded in achieving his power, he would annihilate all life in the multiverse, including Algie and her minions.

When he reported in via his wrist comm, Zohar confirmed his original orders.

“The location of the weapon is paramount,” said the Drift Lord captain. “Yaron will pick up Algie’s trail from there. You go on ahead to Copenhagen and find the book.”

“Brigader Omeron was in charge of this operation. You might want to send Dal to investigate the extent of their troops. Plus he’ll need to take out their orientation station as well as the portals.” He told his leader what they’d learned.

“Stick to your mission,” Zohar reiterated. “It’ll be easier to defeat the demon once we remove his allies.”

After Magnor signed off, they headed down the backlot street.

“When am I going to meet the rest of your team?” Erika said with a sideways glance in his direction.

“I hope to have you safely home before that is necessary.”

“You’re not eager to introduce me as your wife?”

The thought hadn’t occurred to him. “Since we won’t stay wed, there’s no point in getting you further involved in our troubles.”

“Oh, like I’m not involved enough already? I should have figured you’d dump me as soon as possible.”

“That’s not what I meant.” What did he mean? He’d like to see her safe and reunited with her family. Wasn’t that what she wanted, too? “You are important to me, but we have other concerns right now.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And to think I feared for your well-being in that house! I knew you always had it in your mind to get rid of me.”

He snatched for her hand but she jerked it away. “You’ve got it all wrong. I do care. That’s the problem.”

She stopped at a crossroad, glancing from left to right. “Oh, so now I’m a problem? Maybe you shouldn’t take me to Copenhagen. I’d only be a burden.”

“Don’t be absurd. We have to stick together.”

“Yes, because of the prophecy, not because you want to be with me.”

Great Cosmos, he was terrible at understanding women. He hadn’t meant to make her feel unappreciated. Perhaps it was just as well. When she learned about his disreputable past, she would want nothing more to do with him anyway.

It occurred to him that he was the one betraying her trust, and not the other way around.

“I do want you, my knesta. Very much. And from the way you kissed me back a moment ago, I believe you desire me as well. But we have to put aside our personal needs until we complete our mission.”

“Don’t try to smooth talk me, husband. You only want me in your bed. I won’t deny I’m attracted to you in that way. But I’d hoped…well, never mind.”

The sound of approaching footsteps reached them. “We need to move on. They’ll be spreading out to find us.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the soldiers and took off.

Erika matched his pace. Wisps of reddish hair floated about her face which held a pinched expression. His heart squeezed. He’d alienated her without meaning to do so, but they’d have to resolve things later.

They wound their way through the fake city streets, down another section that looked like a warehouse district, and past the massive soundstages. But as they approached the main gate into the Studios, Magnor halted.

Erika had seen them too, a contingent of guards in front of the gate, now shut tight. On the other side was the tour center. Fenrir patrolled the parking lot where people boarded the trams, now emptied of passengers. It was late, and the park must have closed for the day. Hopefully the wolf wouldn’t pick up their scent from this far away.

“Can we use your invisibility shield to get past them?” Erika said in a low tone.

“Fenrir will sense us. We dare not take the chance.”

“He’s a monster. You didn’t tell me he was so big. That’s no ordinary wolf.”

“Believe me, I know.” He tugged on her sleeve, and they hustled into the shadow of a building.

“Now what?” She sagged against the wall, her face weary.

“We’ll have to find another way out of this complex.” He surveyed the grounds, weighing different possibilities. All of them came with risks.

“If we can make it beyond the gate, we could circle around to the tour center’s rear door and from there reach the portal,” Erika suggested. “They won’t be expecting us to get that far.”

“That’s true. The quake might have loosened a section of fencing. Let’s see if we can find a break.” A troubling thought entered his head. “How did you get away from Algie, anyway? A tremor hit right before I met up with you.”

“Later.” She strode along the perimeter. “Look, there’s an opening. It looks big enough for us to squeeze through.”

She twisted past the ragged edges, and he followed. They steered a wide swathe around the tour center to avoid detection. Where had Fenrir gone? The wolf was nowhere in sight.

“Fenrir must have been summoned away,” he said. “That’s a relief.” Or else the shapeshifting beast was lying in wait for them. He didn’t mention this possibility to Erika.

They made it to the side of the building without being spotted. He led the way forward when the air suddenly wavered in front of them. He halted abruptly, hand on his hilt.

A dozen or so people shimmied from the ground, clods of dirt still clinging to them.

The emaciated men wore ragged clothing that hung off their bony bodies. Instead of eyes, they had empty orbs. They walked with jerky motions, as though controlled by a puppeteer. In their skeletal hands, they held farming tools like pitchforks and shovels.

Magnor’s muscles tensed as he prepared for battle.