imagine when you mention a super-volcano is - ”
“- the end of the planet,” Drake finished, his throat suddenly dry. The coincidence was that Drake had now heard that phrase twice in as many days. He watched Ben and Kennedy tracing the mound’s circumference, kicking grass, and felt a deep-rooted fear like nothing he’d ever experienced.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Wells laughed. “Not far, Drake. Near where they found that Shield of yours. It’s in Iceland.”
Drake was about to bite for the second time, when Ben shouted, “Found something!” in a high-pitched voice that showed his naivety, as it travelled far and wide.
“Gotta go.” Drake raced over to Ben, casting about as best he could. Kennedy was also looking around, but the only activity they could see was in the village.
“Keep it down, mate. Whatcha got?”
“These.” Ben dropped to his knees, and brushed away tangles of grass to reveal a stone slab about the size of an A4 piece of paper. “They line the entire perimeter of the mound, every few feet, in rows from the top to about halfway down. Must be hundreds of them.”
Drake peered closer. The stone’s face was badly weathered, but had been partially protected by the over-growing grass. Its surface bore some kind of marking.
“Runic inscriptions I think they’re called,” Ben said. “Viking symbols.”
“How the hell do you know?”
He grinned. “On the plane I checked out the shield’s markings. These are similar. Just ask Google.”
“Kid says there are hundreds,” Kennedy drawled, looking around the steep, grassy hillside. “So what? Doesn’t help.”
“ Kid says it might do,” Ben said. “We need to find the runes associated with what we are seeking. The rune for spear. The rune for tree. And the rune for - “
“Odin,” Kennedy finished.
Drake had an idea. “I’m betting we can use line of sight. We all need to see each other to know it’s worked, right?”
“Soldier’s logic,” Kennedy laughed. “But worth a try, I guess.”
Drake was itching to ask her about ‘cop’s logic but time was slipping away. Other factions were coming and surprisingly absent, even now. They all started kicking the grass from each stone, scurrying around the green knoll. At first it was a thankless task. Drake made out symbols that looked like shields, crossbows, a donkey, a longboat, then - a spear!
“Got one.” His low pitched voice carried to the other two, and no further. He sat down with his back-pack and organized the supplies they’d bought during their taxi ride through Upsalla. Torches, a big flashlight, matches, water, a couple of knives he’d told Ben were for clearing debris. He’d received an I’m not that bloody gullible look, but their need was more imperative than Ben’s unease right now.
“Tree.” Kennedy fell to her knees, scraping at the stone.
It took Ben ten more stressful minutes to find something. He paused, then retraced his recent steps. “Remember what I said about how Tolkien based Gandalf on Odin?” He tapped the stone with his foot. “Well, that’s Gandalf. Even has a staff. Hey!”
Drake watched him carefully. He had heard a grinding sound, like heavy shutters rasping open.
“Did you cause that by stepping on the stone?” He asked carefully.
“Think so.”
They all looked at each other, expressions flickering from excitement, to worry, to fear, and then, as one, they stepped forward.
Drake’s stone gave slightly. He heard that same grinding sound. The earth in front of the stone sank, and then the depression ran away around the mound like a turbo-charged snake.
Ben shouted: “There’s something here.”
Drake and Kennedy tracked around the sunken earth to where he stood. He was crouching down, peering into a crack in the ground. “Some kind of tunnel.”
Drake brandished a torch. “Time to grow a pair, people,” he said. “Follow me.”
****
The moment they were out of sight, two radically different
“- the end of the planet,” Drake finished, his throat suddenly dry. The coincidence was that Drake had now heard that phrase twice in as many days. He watched Ben and Kennedy tracing the mound’s circumference, kicking grass, and felt a deep-rooted fear like nothing he’d ever experienced.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Wells laughed. “Not far, Drake. Near where they found that Shield of yours. It’s in Iceland.”
Drake was about to bite for the second time, when Ben shouted, “Found something!” in a high-pitched voice that showed his naivety, as it travelled far and wide.
“Gotta go.” Drake raced over to Ben, casting about as best he could. Kennedy was also looking around, but the only activity they could see was in the village.
“Keep it down, mate. Whatcha got?”
“These.” Ben dropped to his knees, and brushed away tangles of grass to reveal a stone slab about the size of an A4 piece of paper. “They line the entire perimeter of the mound, every few feet, in rows from the top to about halfway down. Must be hundreds of them.”
Drake peered closer. The stone’s face was badly weathered, but had been partially protected by the over-growing grass. Its surface bore some kind of marking.
“Runic inscriptions I think they’re called,” Ben said. “Viking symbols.”
“How the hell do you know?”
He grinned. “On the plane I checked out the shield’s markings. These are similar. Just ask Google.”
“Kid says there are hundreds,” Kennedy drawled, looking around the steep, grassy hillside. “So what? Doesn’t help.”
“ Kid says it might do,” Ben said. “We need to find the runes associated with what we are seeking. The rune for spear. The rune for tree. And the rune for - “
“Odin,” Kennedy finished.
Drake had an idea. “I’m betting we can use line of sight. We all need to see each other to know it’s worked, right?”
“Soldier’s logic,” Kennedy laughed. “But worth a try, I guess.”
Drake was itching to ask her about ‘cop’s logic but time was slipping away. Other factions were coming and surprisingly absent, even now. They all started kicking the grass from each stone, scurrying around the green knoll. At first it was a thankless task. Drake made out symbols that looked like shields, crossbows, a donkey, a longboat, then - a spear!
“Got one.” His low pitched voice carried to the other two, and no further. He sat down with his back-pack and organized the supplies they’d bought during their taxi ride through Upsalla. Torches, a big flashlight, matches, water, a couple of knives he’d told Ben were for clearing debris. He’d received an I’m not that bloody gullible look, but their need was more imperative than Ben’s unease right now.
“Tree.” Kennedy fell to her knees, scraping at the stone.
It took Ben ten more stressful minutes to find something. He paused, then retraced his recent steps. “Remember what I said about how Tolkien based Gandalf on Odin?” He tapped the stone with his foot. “Well, that’s Gandalf. Even has a staff. Hey!”
Drake watched him carefully. He had heard a grinding sound, like heavy shutters rasping open.
“Did you cause that by stepping on the stone?” He asked carefully.
“Think so.”
They all looked at each other, expressions flickering from excitement, to worry, to fear, and then, as one, they stepped forward.
Drake’s stone gave slightly. He heard that same grinding sound. The earth in front of the stone sank, and then the depression ran away around the mound like a turbo-charged snake.
Ben shouted: “There’s something here.”
Drake and Kennedy tracked around the sunken earth to where he stood. He was crouching down, peering into a crack in the ground. “Some kind of tunnel.”
Drake brandished a torch. “Time to grow a pair, people,” he said. “Follow me.”
****
The moment they were out of sight, two radically different
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