A Mermaids Tail

15.Niflheim

Walking through the ice had been what Alicia had expected, very cold. She made her way along the cavernous passageway shivering as she went, to say she had no body she still felt the chill of this place well enough. She could not see the roof through the icy mist but the walls glistened here and there like eyes in the dark watching her pass. A shiver shot down her spine, one not from the cold, as a shadow moved in the mist ahead of her. It was fast, she couldn't make out the shape, but it froze her in her tracks. Despite the temperature she felt her hands getting clammy, she wished Narfi was here. Breathing deeply to calm herself she pushed on forwards with no option of going back. Eyes alert for any movement, straining to listen for the slightest sound, she walked cautiously, trying to step softly as to not make any sound.

The feeling of warm breath on her neck chilled her whole body, it froze her to the spot. She wanted to run but her legs wouldn't obey her. With all her will she turned her head ever so slightly to see the sharp fangs of some creature at her ear. This was enough motivation to make her legs obey her. Alicia ran as fast as she could not daring a glance backwards. She could hear the pants of the creature not far behind but it moved otherwise silently. Heart pounding in her chest she begged her legs not to give in, feeling a burning sensation in her muscles. She closed her eyes in a wince and opened them to find three shadows before her, human shaped and she was closing on them fast. Thinking if stopping her pace slowed but the pants became louder so she ran on instinctively but now as the figures became closer so did the panting, she was trapped. As the figures came clear of the fog she let out a startled scream, disfigured corpses grinned toothless smiles as she neared them stretching out their arms in anticipation. The panting behind her could be felt against her face now and she stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes.

The breath passed her and a loud growl came amidst twisted cries of pain. Opening her eyes the way ahead was clear, she spun around and nothing was there either, it was as if she'd imagined it all, there was no trace of the corpses or creature anywhere. Shaking and bewildered she stumbled on not wanting to wait around to see if anything came back. Slipping on the icy ground she crocked over on her ankle and fell through the mist, managing to grab the wall before hitting the floor. The wall wasn't what she'd expected, it was rough with ice but not smooth like when it's on rock. Raising her head to stand up Alicia was met by a pair of frosted eyes staring back at her. Falling backwards and scrambling away, breath leaving her mouth in short, panicked blasts. Regaining her composure she inched forward to see better amid the mist. To her horror she found that the walls of the huge tunnel were lined with people, thousands of them frozen into place, the glinting she thought earlier to be ice actually their eyes forever watching, trapped in the moment of death it appeared with the grotesque disfiguring and brutal injuries of the walls occupants. Yet her horror was furthered when she looked closely at the face she'd first met. The expression of pain and terror upon it could not disguise him from her. Again memories hit her like a flood, looking away from him, each and every face her eyes fell upon she recalled instantly, all of them knew her and stared with hate in their eyes, for she'd sent them all to this place. All around her the faces of the people she'd made the Krakens victims eyed her resentfully, she quaked uncontrollably and burst into tears sobbing apologies out load.

"Pull yourself together girl!" the voice was harsh and instructive and echoed off the cavernous walls of dead.

Alicia looked up but nobody was visible through the fog. "Hello?" she called meekly back still trying to stifle her sobs but after sitting in silence for a moment no response came, "Hel-"

"Keep moving!" hissed the voice but still Alicia couldn't see the source, only guessing that it came from further along the tunnel.

Getting to her feet she paid heed to the voice and marched onwards keeping her eyes straight ahead, wishing to be as far away as possible from the faces in the wall. Quickly she made her way along the tunnel until the walls fell away into the mist and soon that was all that surrounded her. Alicia carried on trying her best to keep a straight heading but the longer she walked in the fog, the more lost she felt, alone and frightened in this strange place. Not knowing what else to do she trudged on, for hours she walked through the fog until the travelling and fighting the cold and the mental strain began to take their toll, exhausting her. Tired and near defeat she sat in the never ending fog to rest her legs, the relief of not moving so great that she allowed herself to lie back, relaxing momentarily was all it took for the exhaustion to weigh down her eyelids and plunge her into sleep.

Alicia awoke suddenly, feeling something was greatly amiss, and her head was met with a solid surface. Blinking a few times to assure her eyes were open she realised she was in completely darkness, and that she was moving. She could feel herself swaying as she used her hands to feel around, whatever she was in made of some thick, tough leathery hide and closed around her like a pocket with a seam running all the way around it. Alicia tried to push her hand between the two pieces but the two pieces of hide we'e too tightly joined together. Setting her back against one side of, she braced her legs with the other and pushed with all the strength but still the seam remained unwavering. Frustration building she screamed only to feel like she'd been hit by a tidal wave as it rebounded off the walls of her prison. Her vision was blurry, and her ears rang but she was ok, it wasn't her first time being hit with a scream, mermaids aren't unaccustomed to attacking their own if the other has trespassed on their Krakens territory and the like, so they were naturally more defended against their own attacks.

As her vision stilled the swaying suddenly stopped and Alicia was flung forwards hitting her head once again. Then she heard voices, muffled but they were loud, one so much so it vibrated the thick hide.

"Ratatosk!" came the loudest and deepest of the voices, the one that shook her prison.

"Yes my good friend?" came the very loud, yet much higher pitched voice of Ratatosk.

"You ran the world tree as we asked?" boomed the deep voice.

"Of course I have!" Ratatosk replied enthusiastically, "And that eagle has been saying some less than ni..."

"I haven't the time for your gossiping today Ratatosk! Tell me what we sent you to discover!"

"Y..y..yes of course Nidhog," Ratatosk sounded nervous now, "it was as you expected, the Trickster, he is free once more"

"Hmmmmm...he caused the death of Balder, Odin will not tolerate his freedom, he knows as much, for Loki to be free from his imprisonment means the coming of Ragnarok, that explains all the commotion," Nidhog talked in a low rumble now more to himself, then the swaying began again as he commenced moving again taking the prison with him.

The swaying was worse this time as Nidhog hurried to his destination and the route there took lots of sharp turns causing Alicia to slam into the hide walls. Eventually, after what must've been a good hour or so, they came to a slow stop.

"My Lady, I found her," the seams of the prison split suddenly dropping Alicia into a cold, black, icy stone floor, "and we suspected correctly, your father is free."

Looking up Alicia's eyes met a long set of steps that coned to a throne upon which a woman of elegant beauty sat in a tight fitting dress of black that flowed past her feet, off the throne and down the steps.

"Alicia," Hel looked down to her and smiled revealing the shadowed side of her face to be dead and frozen like the ones from the wall earlier, "I think will hold the missing pieces to our puzzle."

"Me?" Alicia asked bewildered.

"Astoundingly yes, you," Hel was dry and her tone harsh, "how did you get here?"

"Mimir sent me through from his Well," Alicia began to explain but what came stalking from behind the throne, at the same towering height as it made her speechless. A huge wolf, bound by a thick chain, black as night gazed down on her with blazing green eyes.

"I doubt that," he said to her only enhancing her stunned state, "Mimir has been a head in Odins hall since the war with the Vanir."

"Loki no doubt," boomed Nidhog and turning to finally see him she jumped startled. Nidhog was in fact a big black dragon, the hide sack must have been a part of his wing as it tucked into his side. "Yet why he'd send her here I can not say, he could have returned her to her body himself."

"Then the reason is quite clear Nidhog," growled the wolf, "he doesn't want her back there any time soon. Which is expected, the boy would be less inclined to lose control with her around, she'd calm him."

"My brother is right," agreed Hel with the wolf, "Loki has orchestrated this whole occurrence, planning it in his captivity, awaiting the right moment. The whole reason she's here is because he wants her away from Narfi."

"What's wrong with Narfi? Is he in danger?" Alicia asked looking around the unusual assembly all other feelings now pushed aside.

"Your story goes a lot deeper than you realise Alicia," replied the wolf lowering his head to look at her, "Maybe you should be made more comfortable before we explain, it's not the shortest of tales."