Arthur Quinn and Hell's Keeper by Alan Early Page B

stopped the Jormungand; we stopped Hati’s Bite. If you don’t help us, we have no chance of stopping Loki this time. Ash says that you know how good humanity can be. Well, please think of that. Think what Loki will destroy if we don’t stop him. You don’t have to come with us but, please, just tell us about the girl, what happened to her.’
    His plea seemed to get through to Fenrir. He stopped what he was doing and turned to look Arthur in the eye.
    â€˜War wound?’ he asked, pointing to the eye-patch.
    Arthur nodded. ‘Loki.’
    Fenrir nodded back, as if he had expected that answer.
    â€˜You fought well,’ he said, ‘on the tower. You fought well but Loki … Loki is …’
    He sighed then looked out at the sea. Apart from the giant freighter making its way slowly into the docks, the water was still. Dark storm clouds hung on the horizon. ‘There used to be an island out there. Clontarf Island. We lived on it for a while.’ He paused for a moment, lost in the memory. ‘The island’s gone now. It sank beneath the waves.’ He nodded reluctantly. ‘OK. You have five minutes to ask any questions you have.’ He crossed back past them, went down to the lower deck and sat at the table. They all clambered inside; it was quite a squeeze so Eirik waited by the door.
    â€˜I’m not sure I should tell you anything,’ Fenrir warned them. ‘I’ve already said too much today. But ask your questions – I suppose I can’t do any more harm than I already have.’
    â€˜Tell us all you can about Hel,’ said Arthur.
    â€˜Where to begin?’ he mused to himself. ‘After the Father of Lies had created myself and my brother, the World Serpent, he abducted a child … a baby girl.’
    He looked out through the porthole, picturing the little girl he had never had the chance to meet.
    â€˜He took the girl from a Viking village back to Asgard. And he gave her … I don’t know quite how to put it. He gave her a part of himself. He made her half god. He gave her a power that every god has but no god wants to use.’
    â€˜What was it?’ asked Arthur.
    â€˜All the gods have the power to create,’ Fenrir said, ‘but they also have the power to destroy. They can wipe something out of existence as easily as they can create it. No god will do that, though. It’s just not in their nature. Gods create out of ego. They want worshippers and followers. They want people to fight wars over them and tell tales about them for centuries to come. They want to show off the landscapes they create to each other: the wildest beasts and the most delicate flowers.
    â€˜Loki is different, however. Odin has always been the best at creation but Loki … Loki was never very good at it – just look at the abominations he made, myself included. So his ego cries out for something else: destruction. If he can’t be better than the other gods, then he’ll just destroy everything. But destruction takes a lot out of gods. Every time they destroy something, they destroy a part of themselves. Eventually they could destroy one thing too many and end up wiping themselves out of existence. Loki is smart though. He saw a way around this. And so he gave this power of destruction, this power of undoing creation, to the girl he called Hel.’
    â€˜Why didn’t the gods stop him?’
    â€˜They tried to. They tried to find the girl but they couldn’t. The power coursed through her and she grew. Within a couple of days, she’d reached her teenage years. The gods were looking for a baby the whole time, not a girl near grown.’
    â€˜You told me before that she freed you,’ prompted Ash. ‘How?’
    â€˜The gods found me and bound me. They tricked me. They played on my pride and I let them bind me with a ribbon. I thought I could escape easily, but it was a magical ribbon called Gleipnir,