Winterfire

Chapter Thirty-six

Lucan

The Fýri sailed on a chaotic sea. With the dark gray sky above, the frothing, black waves beneath, and the daunting, deadly mission before us, we were not comforted when a thick fog enveloped the ship. “Pull your oars in, men,” said Ingmar. “We have no more need of them.” We huddled together for warmth, but  I noticed that each man kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to brandish it. “We Danes know the final opportunity for brave action has come,” said Ketill,  “and though we’re afraid, we know how to stand ready for a fight.

I stood beside Ingmar in the bow. “Do you feel it?” asked Ingmar. “The ship is being drawn by some unseen force beneath the surface. It will take us to Thor’s harbor in Asgard, where Lif will come aboard.”

“What will happen to you?” I asked.

“Only slain warriors can join the Einherjar, Odin’s army, and charge beside them as they stream forth, eight hundred abreast, from Valhalla’s five hundred and forty doors. As living men, we will do our best to subvert the giants’ first wave of attack. We are not far from the foot of the Bifrost Bridge; if we can get there before the riders of Muspelheim attempt to cross it, we may be able to delay them. We can’t stop Surtr completely, but perhaps we can increase the Einherjar’s odds of defeating him. It is not the death any of us hoped for; we wished to stand beside the gods against the giants, not rot in the damp, dark cellars of Helheim.”

The fog lifted and we found ourselves beside a dock in a calm, empty harbor. My eyes were drawn to the forest on the hill above the beach, where I saw staircases, bridges, and houses clustered in the enormous trees.

“Look,” said Cormack. He smiled and gestured with his chin toward a young girl standing on the dock.

“Lif!” I cried. I vaulted over Fýri’s side and ran to her. I took her into my arms and hugged her so hard she cried out as I crushed something between us. I pulled back and looked down into her upturned face. The black hair I’d rarely seen unbraided cascaded in a wild mass around her head. Her eyes glimmered, dangerous and alluring as Tyrfing’s blade in the moonlight. Hands on her hips, she stood, imposing and aggressive. This Lif was not the girl I remembered, not the girl who needed me, the girl I’d dreamed of saving. I felt a moment of panic to be thrown in with this stranger.

“You’re taller than I am,” she said as a wide smile lit up her face, “but don’t think that means you can order me around!” At once, she was my Lif again. She laid a warm hand against my icy cheek. “I knew you would come for me.” As she stood on tiptoes to kiss me, a powerful gust of wind passed over our heads and a swirl of white feathers enveloped the men on the Fýri, spinning around and around them like a whirlpool. Instead of sinking into an eddy, they rose, arms outstretched, in the spiraling column of air. They swirled faster and higher, drawn upward into a cloud. The cloud passed over our heads and continued high above the forest. It disappeared, leaving nothing more than a dust devil of dried leaves and white feathers on the deck of the Fýri.

“What was that?” I said. “I have to find them!” I stepped off the dock and onto the beach as Lif grabbed my arm.

“It’s all right,” she said. “They have been taken by Róta. She is a Valkyrie. She is my friend. They go to fight on the side of the gods this day.” She beckoned me to her side, took my hand and climbed aboard the Fýri. “Time for us to go.”

I ran to the rudder as a great wind filled the sail and the Fýri shot away from the dock. We sailed out of the harbor and around the rocky coast. From far out to sea, we watched the Bifrost Bridge. Intense heat and a deafening rumble filled the air as the 500 sons of Muspelheim on their fiery steeds approached. The first wave of attackers bringing fire from the burning lands mounted the Bridge Bifrost and attempted to cross it to Asgard. “They’ll never make it,” said Lif. “Even Thor, alone, is too heavy to tread upon the bridge. Nothing can withstand the weight of the sons of Muspelheim. Watch.”