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Dan and Gerard leapt over the ledge, making surprisingly little sound. They quickly spotted the doorway Jem had mentioned, sprinted across the courtyard, burst through the door, and shut it behind them the moment Jem waddled through.
It was a classroom. Or at least it seemed to be. Jem was very thankful the room was empty. If they’d burst in on a class in session there was no way they would have been able to explain why they were there.
Jem had just finished transforming back to her human form when Dan and Gerard pushed her behind them, placing a wall of Fenrir fury between her and whoever had just stepped out from the side room.
“So.” The gravelly, masculine voice said. “You must be the two Fenrir Freyr is so angry about losing, and the Valkyrie who helped them escaped.”
Dan and Gerard growled, allowing another partial change, their claws and teeth extending.
Jem popped up on her tiptoes so she could see the man. He was painfully thin, his hair white and scraggly. His skin was a muted brown, as though at one stage he had been very dark, but his skin had dried out creating a powdery film on top. His eyes were wide open as though he had been surprised suddenly, and were much like his skin, dark, yet muted. As though cataracts covered not only the pupil and iris but his entire eye on each side. Jem would have assumed he was blind if his gaze didn’t travel between each of them. One by one, clear intelligence and awareness evident on his face as he took in each of them individually.
“Calm yourselves.” The man said. “Lofn and Nott both let me know you were on your way. Daniel, Gerard, Jemima.” He said.
The men didn’t relax in the slightest.
“Who’re you?” Dan asked, his elongated teeth slightly slurring his words.
“Oh, I apologise.” The man said, “I always assume people know. I’m Heimdell. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He smiled.
“Heimdell.” Jem said in surprise.
Finding out who the man was, did absolutely nothing to help the guys to dial back the aggression.
“Freya.” Dan said.
“Isn’t anywhere near here. Nor does she bother to come this way if she can avoid it.” Heimdell said.
“She’s your Queen.” Gerard said.
“Is she.” Heimdell said.
“You don’t work for her?” Jem asked.
Heimdell shook his head. “Freya is like a rotten apple. Once, a long time ago, she was beautiful. Sweet. She brought health and vitality to all those who came into contact with her. She hasn’t been that woman for a very long time. She’s managed to maintain her appearance. She still appears beautiful on the outside. But there are some of our people, those like yourself Jemima, or like me, who have the ability to see through the persona she shares with the world.”
“You’ll help us escape?” Jem asked.
“And anyone else who wants to leave Asgard and help in the war against Freya. She is poisonous, and it won’t be long before she sacrifices every Aesir to get whatever it is that she is really after.” Heimdell said.
“I don’t trust him.” Gerard said.
“I wouldn’t trust me either if I were you.” Heimdell said, “But if you want to get out of here and back to your people, you’re going to have to.”
“Freya will figure out what you’ve done.” Dan said, his claws and teeth retracting.
Heimdell nodded. “She will. Unless I announce to her that the three of you got in here, knocked out some of my guards and passed through the bridge before I could stop you.”
Gerard glared at him, but his claws and teeth retracted. “How much time can you give us?”
“Enough time to get through the bridge. Maybe ten minutes before I have to tell her. I won’t risk the safety of my students.” Heimdell said. “Once you start running you won’t be able to stop until you get to your den, or somewhere else she can’t find you.”
“How long will it take her to get to us?” Jem asked.
“It depends on whether she has a fully charged piece of the bridge or not.” Heimdell said, “She hasn’t recharged the piece I gave her in a while. But I have no doubt she has more than one piece. Every time a new piece is harvested she expects to be supplied with one to complete the tasks she has in Midgard. I have always said no, but individuals wanting to garner her favour find a way to get them for her.”
“Helping us get through.” Jem said, “It’ll make it harder for you to get anybody else out, won’t it?”
“Perhaps.” Heimdell agreed, “But I won’t let that hold me back. You can’t guarantee tomorrow my dear. All I know is that I can help you now. The Creator’s given me a chance to do the right thing, and I won’t give it up in hopes that some bigger grander task will come along.”
“Thank you.” Jem said.
Neither Dan or Gerard thanked Heimdell verbally. They were still wary. But they nodded, and Heimdell seemed to accept that.
“Where are you going to get these guards that we have to knock out? Or are you just going to say we did it, and hope no one wants to speak to these guards?” Gerard scoffed.
“I have some guards who know what’s going on.” Heimdell said, “And I know most of my students well enough to know that even if they were aware of what’s going on they would never tell Freya. They would never betray me.”
“How long have you known about us?” Dan asked.
“Lady Lofn contacted me as soon as you arrived at her home. I’m actually the one who suggested that Lady Nott be a part of the plan to help you leave Asgard.” Heimdell said.
“So you’ve known a few weeks then?” Dan said.
Heimdell nodded.
“Alright then. Let’s do this.” Dan said clapping his hands together as if the gesture would stir them into action.
“Will we actually have to hit them?” Jem asked. “The guards that is.”
The last thing she wanted to do was beat up on somebody who was helping them.
“If you want to keep us safe. Yes. We may even have to damage some of the rooms so it looks as though we put up a fight.” Heimdell looked around. “Though maybe not this one. Some of these ingredients were very hard to come by.”
Jem looked to Dan shaking her head. “I don’t think I can hurt them.” Jem said.
Dan placed a hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry little dove, Gerard and I will take care of that.”
She felt her eyes widen in surprise.
“We’ll only do what’s necessary to make it look genuine. Nothing more.” Dan continued.
“Fenrir aren’t violent Jem. We spar for training, and we protect our own. But we don’t fight without good reason.” Gerard said.
Jem sighed. “I know. I just. You’re so prepared to do it.” She said.
All of the men nodded.
“It has to be done, or even more people will be put at risk.” Heimdell said.
“We wouldn’t do it if it weren’t necessary.” Dan said, “I promise.”
Jem lifted up on her tiptoes and gave Dan a quick kiss. “Okay.” She said, and that was it. They were off again.
For a man who appeared so old, and had cataracts that seemed like they should render him completely blind, Heimdell was fast. Like super fast. He essentially ran the entire way from where they had met him to the rather large room where the guards waited on high alert. He wasn’t even short of breath, despite the frantic pace, and Jem’s own pounding heart. As they stepped over the threshold into the room the guards spun, their swords were drawn, ready to fight. Dan took Jem's wrist loosely, pulling her behind him as he prepared to fight. Even knowing she was quite capable of defending herself, she thought it was unlikely that he would ever be able to stop himself from acting out on his instinctive urge to protect her. Much as Jem felt as though she should have been one of those women who insisted she didn’t need protecting, that she could take care of herself, Jem didn’t think Dan caring enough to want to protect her would ever grow old.
Dan and Gerard growled at the guards, who on seeing Heimdell sighed with relief, and lowered their swords.
“Thank the Creator Lord Heimdell. We were getting worried that Freya had discovered your intention to betray her.” One of the men said as he slid his sword back into its scabbard.
“Not yet.” Heimdell said, “But she will if we don’t do this just right.”
The guards nodded.
“So.” The same guard said, looking at Dan, Gerard and Jem with interest. “You’re Fenrir.”
Gerard grunted, and Dan just stared at the guard, still planting himself solidly between Jem and the men. Clearly not ready to risk her getting hurt.
The guard laughed. “Well, you’re about as talkative as I was expecting.” He said, which had the other three guards smirking.
“You’re Einherjar?” Jem asked moving to Dan’s side, her hand still holding his to show she wasn’t going anywhere.
“And you’re our resident Valkyrie defector.” The guy said with a smile. “I’m Aidan. It’s nice to meet you.”
Dan growled at him.
“Jem.” She said, then added. “This is Gerard, and my mate, Dan.”
She felt Dan’s hand stiffen, and his head shot in her direction for the first time since stepping into the room taking his attention off the guards. She hadn’t called him her mate before. Not in conversation with others at least, and not without a question mark attached to it. She had claimed him in public, and for whatever reason, he clearly hadn’t been expecting that.
“Is that right?” Aidan said, “This all just gets more and more interesting.”
“How so?” Gerard asked out of the blue.
Aidan looked over at him. “Freya’s been telling people in Asgard for years that Fenrir are just savage beasts. That they don’t understand love and loyalty. That they only understand vengeance and have a thirst for Aesir blood. You breaking him and his friend out of that Aesir prison is one thing, but being his mate. Once this gets out, and we will make sure it does. Freya’s position as Queen is only going to destabilise more.” He said with a smile.
“She’s really been that bad to the people here?” Dan asked.
“Most people are completely oblivious to what she is up to. But anyone who steps outside of her favour. They know the truth of who she is.” Aidan said.
“You’ve experienced it first hand then?” Dan asked.
Aidan shook his head and pulled off his helmet, his hair was almost white blonde, his eyes a striking blue. “I’ve lived under a corrupt ruler before. I’ve seen the way they twist and distort the truth. How they turn good people into monsters. I almost became one of the monsters, and I can tell you now, that you don’t have to be on the receiving end of evil to know it’s bad.”
Another guard with dark brown, almost black, hair and olive skin squeezed Aidan’s shoulder in a show of solidarity.
“We will fight evil in all its forms.” The other young man said.
“Until the Creator leads us home.” The four Einherjar said in unison.
“Which means we need to make this look as real as possible.” Aidan said, clearing his throat.
“If we plan on building any kind of resistance against Freya then we need to be able to get more people out of here. Preferably under the radar.” Heimdell said.
“We don’t exactly have time to spar.” Gerard said.
“No.” Aidan’s dark-haired friend agreed. “Which is why we’re going to rush at you, and you’re going to do your best to knock us out with the first hit.”
Gerard laughed and looked over at Dan. “I might like these Einherjar after all.”
Dan smiled. “Fists only.” He said.
“Agreed.” Aidan said, “No swords, no claws.”
The men nodded at each other, and then it was on. Considering they said there’d be no time for sparring, neither Dan and Gerard nor the Einherjar guards were going easy on each other.
“They need to make the scuffle look real.” Heimdell said, coming up beside her.
Jem just nodded as she watched body parts connecting aggressively. Meanwhile, the men were laughing.
“One day we’ll spar for real Dan.” Aidan said.
Dan grinned. “I looked forward to that day my friend.” He said, before soundly punching Aidan in the head and sending him sprawling unconscious across the room.
Heimdell pulled Jem into a hug. “Go now. Run as fast as you can. Shift if you must. I need to start calling out for help. Make it seem realistic. It was lovely meeting you, I have no doubt that we will meet again in the future.” He said, slipping something into her hand, and then he began yelling at the top of his lungs.
Gerard suddenly had his hands around Jem’s waist and was depositing her on Dan’s back. Some time between knocking out Aidan and Heimdell speaking to her Dan had shifted into wolf form. It was a good thing Gerard had lifted her onto Dan’s back. Dan was as tall as a human, but in wolf form he was simply enormous. Jem wasn’t entirely certain she could have climbed up without help. Then they were off, speeding down the stairs at a breakneck pace. It was terrifying, and for a while, Jem simply closed her eyes and prayed that they wouldn’t slip, trip, or fall.
“Little Dove.” Dan’s voice came to her mind.
Who would have thought they could communicate mind to mind even when she wasn’t a swan? Of course, who would have thought that they could transform into animals in the first place, let alone talk in their minds?
“You need to see this my love.” He said.
Jem opened her eyes and gasped in surprise. They were running down a staircase still. Only now it looked like the walls, ceiling, and the floor had been perfectly carved from an impossibly large opal. Rainbows zapped across the walls as though light was shining into them. Only the light wasn’t coming from some external force but from the walls themselves.
“Wow.” Jem said aloud, and she felt Dan smile, even if she couldn’t see it.