which one of them mounds over there belongs to Odin?”
“English?” The priest spoke the world well, but struggled to understand. “Vad? What? Odin?”
Ben stepped forward and drew the vicar’s attention to the royal mounds. “Odin?”
“See.” The old man nodded. “Yes. Umm. Storsta . . .” He struggled to find the word. “Big.”
“The biggest?” Ben held his hands wide apart.
Drake smiled at him, impressed.
“Figures.” Kennedy started to turn away, but Ben had one last question.
“Falla? ” He mouthed wonderingly at the vicar, and exaggerated a shrug. “ Or manga fallor?”
It took a while, but the answer when it came, chilled Drake to the bone.
“Traps . . . many traps.”
NINE
GAMLA UPSALLA, SWEDEN
Drake followed Ben and Kennedy towards the largest of the royal mounds, making a play of adjusting the straps on his backpack so that he could calmly survey the area. The only cover was about a mile beyond the smallest barrow, and for a second he thought he saw movement there. Quick movement. But further scrutiny revealed nothing more.
They paused at the foot of Odin’s barrow. Ben took a breath. “Last one to the top’s gonna get some shit on my Facebook page!” he cried out, setting off in a hurry. Drake followed more serenely, and smiled at Kennedy walking just that little bit faster than him.
Underneath, he started to grow more and more agitated. This did not sit well with him. They were hopelessly exposed. Any number of high-powered rifles could be tracking them, crosshairs steady, just awaiting the order. The wind whistled loudly and snapped at his ears, increasing his sense of exposure.
It took about twenty minutes to gain the top of the grassy knoll. When Drake reached it, Ben was already sitting down in the grass.
“Where’s the picnic hamper, Crusty?”
“Left it on your buggy.” He looked around. Up here, the view was breathtaking, endless green rolling fields, hills and streams everywhere, and purple mountains in the distance. They could see the village of Gamla Upsalla spreading out to the city boundaries of new Upsalla.
Kennedy stated the obvious. “So I’m just gonna say something that’s been bothering me for a while. If this is Odin’s mound, and it hides the World Tree - which would be a killer discovery - why hasn’t anyone found it before? Why would we find it now?”
“That one’s easy.” Ben was tying back his unruly locks. “No one has thought to look before. Until the Shield was discovered a month ago, this was all a dusty legend. Myth. And it wasn’t easy connecting the Spear to the World Tree - now called Yggdrasil almost universally - and then to Odin’s brief nine days there.”
“And - ” Drake interjected, “this tree ain’t gonna be easy to find, if it exists. They won’t have wanted any old bastard stumbling on to it.”
Now Drake’s mobile started to ring. He glanced at Ben in mock seriousness as he picked it out of his backpack. “Jesus. I’m starting to feel like you .”
“Wells?”
“Ten man team at your disposal. Just say the word.”
Drake swallowed his surprise. “ Ten man. That’s a big team.” A ten man SAS team could take out the President in his oval office, and still find time to star in the new Lady Gaga video before heading home for tea.
“Big stakes, so I hear. This thing’s escalating by the hour.”
“It is?”
“Governments never change, Drake. Slow to start, and then eager to bulldoze their way in, but scared to finish. If it’s any consolation though, it’s not the biggest thing going on in the world at the moment.”
Wells’ statement was designed to be tackled like a lion tackles a zebra and Drake didn’t disappoint. “Like what?”
“The boffins at NASA just confirmed the existence of a new super-volcano. And . . .” Wells actually sounded apprehensive, “it’s active.”
“What?”
“Slightly active. Slightly. But, think, the first thing you
“English?” The priest spoke the world well, but struggled to understand. “Vad? What? Odin?”
Ben stepped forward and drew the vicar’s attention to the royal mounds. “Odin?”
“See.” The old man nodded. “Yes. Umm. Storsta . . .” He struggled to find the word. “Big.”
“The biggest?” Ben held his hands wide apart.
Drake smiled at him, impressed.
“Figures.” Kennedy started to turn away, but Ben had one last question.
“Falla? ” He mouthed wonderingly at the vicar, and exaggerated a shrug. “ Or manga fallor?”
It took a while, but the answer when it came, chilled Drake to the bone.
“Traps . . . many traps.”
NINE
GAMLA UPSALLA, SWEDEN
Drake followed Ben and Kennedy towards the largest of the royal mounds, making a play of adjusting the straps on his backpack so that he could calmly survey the area. The only cover was about a mile beyond the smallest barrow, and for a second he thought he saw movement there. Quick movement. But further scrutiny revealed nothing more.
They paused at the foot of Odin’s barrow. Ben took a breath. “Last one to the top’s gonna get some shit on my Facebook page!” he cried out, setting off in a hurry. Drake followed more serenely, and smiled at Kennedy walking just that little bit faster than him.
Underneath, he started to grow more and more agitated. This did not sit well with him. They were hopelessly exposed. Any number of high-powered rifles could be tracking them, crosshairs steady, just awaiting the order. The wind whistled loudly and snapped at his ears, increasing his sense of exposure.
It took about twenty minutes to gain the top of the grassy knoll. When Drake reached it, Ben was already sitting down in the grass.
“Where’s the picnic hamper, Crusty?”
“Left it on your buggy.” He looked around. Up here, the view was breathtaking, endless green rolling fields, hills and streams everywhere, and purple mountains in the distance. They could see the village of Gamla Upsalla spreading out to the city boundaries of new Upsalla.
Kennedy stated the obvious. “So I’m just gonna say something that’s been bothering me for a while. If this is Odin’s mound, and it hides the World Tree - which would be a killer discovery - why hasn’t anyone found it before? Why would we find it now?”
“That one’s easy.” Ben was tying back his unruly locks. “No one has thought to look before. Until the Shield was discovered a month ago, this was all a dusty legend. Myth. And it wasn’t easy connecting the Spear to the World Tree - now called Yggdrasil almost universally - and then to Odin’s brief nine days there.”
“And - ” Drake interjected, “this tree ain’t gonna be easy to find, if it exists. They won’t have wanted any old bastard stumbling on to it.”
Now Drake’s mobile started to ring. He glanced at Ben in mock seriousness as he picked it out of his backpack. “Jesus. I’m starting to feel like you .”
“Wells?”
“Ten man team at your disposal. Just say the word.”
Drake swallowed his surprise. “ Ten man. That’s a big team.” A ten man SAS team could take out the President in his oval office, and still find time to star in the new Lady Gaga video before heading home for tea.
“Big stakes, so I hear. This thing’s escalating by the hour.”
“It is?”
“Governments never change, Drake. Slow to start, and then eager to bulldoze their way in, but scared to finish. If it’s any consolation though, it’s not the biggest thing going on in the world at the moment.”
Wells’ statement was designed to be tackled like a lion tackles a zebra and Drake didn’t disappoint. “Like what?”
“The boffins at NASA just confirmed the existence of a new super-volcano. And . . .” Wells actually sounded apprehensive, “it’s active.”
“What?”
“Slightly active. Slightly. But, think, the first thing you
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