Sam opened his eyes. He lay on the hard surface of the deck of a ship. Skidbladnir, he recognized as he took in the tall masts. It was nighttime. The moon was out, sending a blade of white light across the ocean. The warm wind on his face was heavenly, but his head felt too heavy to move.
Last he remembered, Perrin had saved him from being married off to one of Aegir’s daughters. Now, he risked sitting up. The world spun, making his stomach heave. He tried to hold it back, but the acid bile choked him. He made it to the railing before spewing his guts into the sea. Sniggers of laughter pricked his skin.
Mavery, that imp.
He dragged in a breath of air and turned around, leaning against the railing. Perrin was at the helm. Mavery was skipping around in a circle, swirling her skirts as she whistled a tune. Geela was nowhere to be seen.
Sam stumbled back to the helm and dropped onto a cushion.
“You’re alive,” Perrin acknowledged with a snort.
“Fat lot you care,” he grumbled back. “You left me with all those girls.”
“You didn’t seem to mind.”
“You were kissy, kissy,” Mavery joked, puckering her lips and pushing her cheeks together with her hands and then laughing hysterically.
Sam wanted to pound her, but it would have required too much effort.
“Where are we headed?” he asked instead.
Perrin shrugged. “No idea. The ship has a mind of its own. I figured getting away from that place was the first step. Unless you want to go back? Maybe you left something behind, like your brain?”
Mavery sniggered again, and Sam gave up and grinned with them. “I was kind of an idiot,” he said sheepishly. “But what could I do? All those girls found me irresistible.”
He ducked as Perrin shot at him with a small zap of witchfire.
Geela came up quietly from down below and sat down across from Sam. She looked pale but steadier on her feet.
“Time is running out. The moon approaches its fullness. We must return to Valhalla with Odin before then.” She didn’t need to remind them what that meant. Besides their demise at the hands of the gods, Surt would soon reach Skara Brae, and it would be too late to save Orkney.
“How do we find Helva without the map?” Sam asked, seeing his good mood slip away.
He’d failed to get the one thing he needed to finish this. After days under Aegir’s spell, he could barely remember the symbols and the pathways he’d tried to memorize.
“That is up to you, witch-boy. Take the wheel and see what happens.”
“Fine. But stop calling me that.” He gritted his teeth as he looked her in the eye. “My name is Sam. I am a Son of Odin, and, yes, I am a witch, but I will not be insulted for it. My friends are witches, and they deserve your respect. Without them, you’d be fish bait at the bottom of the sea.”
The Valkyrie slowly nodded her head at him. “Sam, would you please take the wheel and see if the ship responds to you?”
Sam stood up, glad his knees weren’t too wobbly. Perrin stepped aside. Laying his hands on the wheel, he gripped the smooth wood. The ship stalled, the sails slackening, and it drew to a stop in the center of the ocean. Sam waited, curious. Everyone stood in a circle, looking around to see what would happen.
It was as if the world had gone completely still. Not a sound, not a movement, not a wave lapped at the side of the ship. The moon shimmered, flickering on and off like someone was toggling a switch. Then it changed color, the pale alabaster becoming a sickly green. It cast an eerie glow that peeled across the water until it hit the deck.
When it did, the boat lunged forward across a sea that was suddenly black and cold. In front of them, a huge fog bank loomed, rolling toward them, growing larger and larger until it swallowed them up.
Coldness settled over Sam like ice water dumped on his head. He couldn’t see his hands. Feathery trails of mist tickled his face like they were sailing through cobwebs. Mavery crept over and slipped under his arms.
Perrin created a ball of witchfire, but all it did was light up the ghostly gray fog that surrounded them. They couldn’t see where they were headed or what was in front of them.
Something solid bumped against the ship, jarring them. Mavery screamed. Geela drew her sword.
The ship bumped again, this time scraping hard against a solid object as it moved past.
“Stop the ship!” Geela called, running to the side and looking over. “We’re going to tear a hole in it.”
Sam let go of the wheel. The ship slowed to a stop. They sat in the fog, straining to hear or see through the pea soup.
“Do you see anything?” Sam shouted, leaning over the other side, trying to make out shapes in the gray.
“No,” Geela answered.
“Nothing here.” Perrin’s voice came from the front of the ship, though Sam couldn’t make her out.
Sam planted his feet, drawing his strength together and centering his mind. They needed to be able to see, or they were going to sink the ship. Running his hands in a circle, Sam braced himself for the sensation of surging energy when he called on his magic.
“Fein kinter,” he whispered, “Fein kinter ventimus, ventimus expellia.” He kept circling his hands, murmuring the words, and pushing with his mind. A wind picked up around him, ruffling his hair gently at first and then getting stronger as his magic coiled.
“Hold on to something!” he shouted as the wind raced, swirling around them like a tornado and lifting the seat cushions, sending them spinning through the air.
Geela grabbed on to Mavery and ducked under the helm. Perrin wrapped her arms around the mast as Sam stood his ground. The roar of wind grew, spreading out until, with a loud blast, he released it across the water.
It rippled out, shredding the thick bank of fog to wisps. The girls came out from their hiding places and ran to the rail. The moon still shone a sickly green, but the way was clear.
The bad news was that tall, craggy rocks jutted out of the water like a pinball machine, each large enough to tear a hole in the ship. And, worse, beyond the rock field, a solid cliff rose in front of them, climbing more than a thousand feet straight up.
“Bring us closer,” Geela said.
Sam carefully steered the ship, doing his best to avoid the rocks. A sharp bump made him flinch. An underwater rock had scraped the hull.
Mavery scrambled below deck and then shouted, “Sam, we gotta problem down here. Water’s coming in fast.”
Sam clenched his hands on the wheel. Great, he’d broken the ship of the gods. If the gods didn’t hang him for killing Odin, this would surely do it.
Geela studied the solid rock wall and then said, “These are the gates to Helva’s underworld.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Gates? It’s a solid wall, Geela.”
“Not solid. The entrance is ahead; look.”
Sam peered closer at the wall. She was right. As they drifted closer, a pair of dark tunnels just tall enough for the ship to pass through became visible.
“Which way do we go?” he asked.
Geela nodded at him, like she had a bucketful of confidence in him. “The map is in your head. You will guide us from here. I must go help the young one stop the water.”
“Great. I’m in charge. Recipe for disaster.”
Sam palmed a bolt of lightning at the rock face. There was a splintering sound as the surface of the rock shattered, and then a symbol appeared above each tunnel, glowing with a dim green light, same as the sky. Over the left tunnel, the outline of an eye stared at them. On the right was an outline of an eye that was closed.
“That eye, I recognize it from Helva’s map,” Sam said excitedly, pointing to the one on the left. “I think I know what to do.” The closed eye had led to a dead end. The open eye had led to the next set of tunnels.
Running back to the helm, Sam grabbed the wheel, and the ship lunged forward. Nosing the wheel to the left, he pointed the ship toward the opening under the open eye.
As they entered the tunnel, the ship was swept forward by a strong current, hurtling them through the dark channel. Sam held on to the wheel, blind and unable to see. He imagined a grisly death when the ship ran aground on a sharp rock, but there were no bumps. In moments that felt like a lifetime, they exited the tunnel with a whoosh of cold air and coasted to a stop.
Sam and Perrin made a ball of witchfire to light up their unknown destination. They both gasped. Their wild ride had taken them underground into a large cavern. Overhead rocks glistened and dripped.
A strange green glow lit the water. Behind them, Sam could see the dark hole they had come through. Before them, three dark openings awaited. The ship kept moving forward, pushed along by an invisible current.
Sam folded his hands and sent a blast of energy at the rock over the tunnels. Three different runic symbols appeared:
“X marks the spot?” Perrin joked questioningly.
Sam shook his head. “No, I remember that one. It dead-ended. The other two crisscrossed.”
“Which is it?” the witch asked gently, touching his arm in encouragement.
“The three-pronged Y,” he said confidently, remembering the path in his head. He nosed Skidbladnir into the center tunnel. Air rushed past as the ship began racing ahead. His stomach dropped as the prow tilted forward, as if they were going over the edge of a waterfall.
“You’re doing it,” Perrin said in the dark, socking him on the arm.
He grinned like a fool even though she couldn’t see him. “Piece of cake. I got this.”
The ship slowly straightened out as Geela and Mavery came up from below. They got their first glimpse of the next cavern.
“Cripes,” Mavery said with a gulp. “Where are we?”
“This is the second chamber of Helva’s underworld,” Geela answered, looking around warily. “We must be alert. All sorts of strange creatures exist in this place.”
Before them, four tunnels awaited. Sam sent a bolt of witchfire at them, but nothing happened. He did it again, gathering his strength and making it bigger. The rocks stood silent and blank.
“What’s wrong?” Geela said, a small frown on her smooth features.
He shrugged. “Maybe we need more juice.” He shook out his fingers and didn’t object when Perrin took a stance next to him, her hip cocked forward as she drew her hands in a circle. Together they sent out a twin blast of energy. It hit the face of the rocks and bounced off and ricocheted back at them, nearly singeing Geela where she stood at the helm.
“Watch it,” she snapped, but it worked. The rocks slowly lit up and revealed their symbols.
Everyone turned to stare at Sam expectantly.
He stared at the glyphs, looking from one to the other. There was a lightning bolt, a radiant sun, a crescent moon, and a star. Which one was the right way?
Mavery put her hand in his, looking up at him with trusting eyes. “You can do it, Sam, I know you can.”
He winked at her and cracked his neck, shaking out his hands as he studied the glyphs. He spoke out loud just to reassure himself. “Okay. I’m sure I traced the sun and the lightning bolt to a dead end, so they’re out.”
Mavery squeezed his hand. Drawing in a deep breath, he looked at the other two glyphs. “The star feels right, but so does the moon. They both went nearly to the next circle, but one of them stopped.” He drummed his fingers on the railing.
“So where now, witch-boy, er, Sam?” Geela asked. “Pick one so we can move on. I managed to slow down the leak, but it won’t hold forever.”
Sam felt drawn to the moon. It glinted at him, like it was calling to him. It reminded him of Keely. Calm and serene. He looked back at the star. It twinkled at him, welcoming him. Which was it? Moon? Star?
Sweat rolled down his back. He had to choose.
“Moon.” He nodded to himself. The moon was right.
“Are you sure?” Geela asked.
Doubt clawed at his stomach. He wasn’t sure of anything. His hands were slick with sweat as he grabbed on to the railing.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him, and he erupted.
“No, I’m not sure! What do you want from me? I can barely remember my name, let alone the scribbles on a wall in the underwater lair of a serpent that we killed before the map got turned to rubble. I’m doing the best I can, so maybe you can give me a break.”
He stalked back to the helm and was about to put his hands on the wheel when he glanced at the star. It twinkled again. He took the wheel, and the ship jumped forward, heading straight for the star.
Geela looked over her shoulder. “You said moon,” she said questioningly.
“I know.” Sam tugged on the wheel, but it wouldn’t budge, heading straight for the glittering star.
“It’s wrong, Sam,” Perrin said. “I can feel it.”
She tried yanking his hands off the wheel, but it was like they were superglued on.
“Stop the ship,” Geela commanded, coming to his side and grabbing his other arm. But not even the great strength of a Valkyrie could pry his hands loose.