KotLC: Eclipse (KotLC X Magnus Chase)

Chapter 22

Sophie's POV

I told them that they didn't need to show me the way, but they just laughed and continued forward, Alex gesturing for me to follow.

The walk mostly consisted of Jack butchering the lyrics to Taylor Swift songs while the others tried to get him to be quiet as I walked behind them.
These people-my friends here-were normal. And I really thought so. But there was something about them that made it obvious that they had seen strange things not just here in Valhalla, but outside as well.

They probably knew more about everything than they were letting on.
My mind drifted to Jack, tuning out his off-key rendition of 'Shake it Off'. He had met Stygmir in person-the only other being I knew. He definitely had information about Stygmir- and probably Nóttsvár as well.

I decided to test something and lowered my mental barriers that prevented me from hearing the thoughts of humans. As expected, the wave of sound that followed wasn't pleasant and had me rubbing my temples to get through the pain. Listening more carefully now, I tuned out all mental voices apart from the ones of my friends.

Their minds were quieter than that of a human, but still painfully loud compared to the  elves. I sifted through the top layers of their minds, checking each person to see if they knew or suspected anything about me or the Lost Cities.

They didn't. Good.

After I'd looked through the other's minds, I glanced at Jack, who had moved onto 'White Space' while Mallory was threatening him with her daggers and checked to see if his mind was broadcasting the same way the others were, which it wasn't.

I considered the idea of breaking the laws of telepathy and checking his mind for information on Stygmir. I already knew that he was the only other being I knew personally who had been in a conversation with Stygmir. There was a chance that he would catch me in his mind, but my impenetrable mind was sneaky enough to not be caught by almost anybody-excluding ogres, of course.

I took a deep breath and pushed into his mind.

Jack's brain was completely different from any mind I'd ever been in before. Rather than the loud thoughts of humans or the chaos of elves, Jack's mind had a rigid structure that formed large corridors that stretched endlessly into the distance. The ceiling was covered in streaks of light every colour of the rainbow zooming off to their destinations. As far as I could see, they were also the only source of light.

A strange bundle suddenly flew towards me, shining with a neon red haze. It stopped directly next to me and unfolded into a series of unintelligible words that were a glowing gold colour:

ᚹᛖᛚᚲᛟᛗᛖ ᛏᛟ ᚦᛖ ᚲᛟᚱᛖ

The words then zipped off down the corridor, leaving the area empty.
I frowned. Jack's mind was strange. It didn't act like any other mind I'd ever been in. Why couldn't I read what that thought was saying? I was a Polyglot. I could read every language instinctively-except, for some reason, the thought. Why?

I kept pushing down the corridor, looking for memories of Stygmir- or even anything that resembled a thought.
Another bundle appeared in front of me and unfolded into (surprisingly) legible words:

SEARCH QUERY: MEMORIES OF STYGMIR

I froze just as a different thought appeared. Did Jack know I was here? And why were his thoughts acting like some sort of computer?
The third bundle unfolded into neon green words:

ACCESS GRANTED

Access to what? Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed through Jack's mind, and a door that I could have sworn didn't exist a second prior opened next to me.