me he was nearby,” Dana whispered. “It knew somehow. It must have the same runic charm that makes his armor so powerful. If it knows when Loki is nearby, we can use it….”
Loki stood on the black earth next to his sledge, watching the trail of flaming torches recede into the north. His silver armor reflected their red glow. “Look, Fenrir,” he said. “Hades and his heroes march to the fringes of their realm. How quaint. I won’t be there when they come. My trick has worked. All they’ll meet are an army of dragons. A rather large army.”
“Trick?” Sydney whispered. “Hades is heading into an ambush?”
I didn’t want it to be true. Loki had played a trick, sending his forces to fake an attack on Hades’ northern lands, while he escaped to continue his quest.
A moment later, an army of Draugs marched up behind the sledge. They raised their swords high, then stood at attention.
“These guys are everywhere you look,” said Jon under his breath. “Just how many dead Vikings are there?”
“Millions,” said Dana.
“The children destroyed the forge? I will find another,” Loki said to the Draugs. “They capturedthe two Cyclopes? I will unleash an army of giants. They stole my glove? I sense it near. And I will have it back.”
Dana trembled beside me and looked down at her hand. “Uh-oh. Maybe this isn’t such a good thing….”
We crouched perfectly still behind a stack of fallen trees and watched as Loki slipped a dagger out of his cloak and etched a new symbol on the side of the sledge.
“Hades plans to stop us in the north,” Loki continued, choking with laughter, “but alas, Fenrir, we travel … east. To the land of the twin rivers. The palace of beasts. The horned, the clawed, the fanged. All of them will join me.”
My mind was a whirlwind. I had no idea what I was seeing and hearing. But the bottom line was that Loki needed to be stopped. He needed to be stopped from whatever horror he was planning. Turn our whole world into a burning, freezing, dead place, all because he was mad at Odin? No. I couldn’t not try to stop it. The idea of a war between the gods was too horrifying.
But I was learning that horrifying was also the new normal.
“What are we going to do?” Sydney whispered.
“We have to tell Hades,” Jon put in, glancing back at the last of the torches.
“There’s no time,” I said.
“But we won today,” said Sydney. “The hourglass isn’t ticking anymore. Dana’s free.”
“So is Loki,” I whispered. “Free to do what he wants. We’ll lose him if we —”
“Don’t even go there,” said Jon. “Come on. Charon’s waiting for us. School. Home.”
Loki finished carving the rune into the sledge. His armor flashed as if a surge of power raced through it. Dana winced. I turned to her.
“Does it hurt badly?” I whispered.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I can take it. Are you okay with the lyre?”
I didn’t know how to answer. Then I nodded. “Fine.”
Loki uttered a dark command to the Draugs.The dead Vikings bowed and assembled behind the sledge.
“We can’t stop him,” Sydney whispered. “Not here. Not with all of these Draugs nearby. There must be a thousand of them. What could we possibly do?”
My brain knew she was right. Turn now, it said. Go to the river, take Charon’s ferry home, go to sleep. Worry about the war in the morning.
But something else in me said, You can’t let Loki go! You saw the oracle’s vision. He’ll destroy our world. Our families, Dana’s parents, everyone is in danger!
All that was true, too. My blood thundered in my ears. My heart battered my ribs. My brain came up with logical arguments for saving myself and forgetting Loki until tomorrow.
Unfortunately, my brain lost.
When Loki’s head was turned, and the Draugs had set their sights on the distant hills, I touched Dana’s good hand lightly, glanced at Jon and Sydney with what must have been a pretty dumb expression, and crept
Loki stood on the black earth next to his sledge, watching the trail of flaming torches recede into the north. His silver armor reflected their red glow. “Look, Fenrir,” he said. “Hades and his heroes march to the fringes of their realm. How quaint. I won’t be there when they come. My trick has worked. All they’ll meet are an army of dragons. A rather large army.”
“Trick?” Sydney whispered. “Hades is heading into an ambush?”
I didn’t want it to be true. Loki had played a trick, sending his forces to fake an attack on Hades’ northern lands, while he escaped to continue his quest.
A moment later, an army of Draugs marched up behind the sledge. They raised their swords high, then stood at attention.
“These guys are everywhere you look,” said Jon under his breath. “Just how many dead Vikings are there?”
“Millions,” said Dana.
“The children destroyed the forge? I will find another,” Loki said to the Draugs. “They capturedthe two Cyclopes? I will unleash an army of giants. They stole my glove? I sense it near. And I will have it back.”
Dana trembled beside me and looked down at her hand. “Uh-oh. Maybe this isn’t such a good thing….”
We crouched perfectly still behind a stack of fallen trees and watched as Loki slipped a dagger out of his cloak and etched a new symbol on the side of the sledge.
“Hades plans to stop us in the north,” Loki continued, choking with laughter, “but alas, Fenrir, we travel … east. To the land of the twin rivers. The palace of beasts. The horned, the clawed, the fanged. All of them will join me.”
My mind was a whirlwind. I had no idea what I was seeing and hearing. But the bottom line was that Loki needed to be stopped. He needed to be stopped from whatever horror he was planning. Turn our whole world into a burning, freezing, dead place, all because he was mad at Odin? No. I couldn’t not try to stop it. The idea of a war between the gods was too horrifying.
But I was learning that horrifying was also the new normal.
“What are we going to do?” Sydney whispered.
“We have to tell Hades,” Jon put in, glancing back at the last of the torches.
“There’s no time,” I said.
“But we won today,” said Sydney. “The hourglass isn’t ticking anymore. Dana’s free.”
“So is Loki,” I whispered. “Free to do what he wants. We’ll lose him if we —”
“Don’t even go there,” said Jon. “Come on. Charon’s waiting for us. School. Home.”
Loki finished carving the rune into the sledge. His armor flashed as if a surge of power raced through it. Dana winced. I turned to her.
“Does it hurt badly?” I whispered.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I can take it. Are you okay with the lyre?”
I didn’t know how to answer. Then I nodded. “Fine.”
Loki uttered a dark command to the Draugs.The dead Vikings bowed and assembled behind the sledge.
“We can’t stop him,” Sydney whispered. “Not here. Not with all of these Draugs nearby. There must be a thousand of them. What could we possibly do?”
My brain knew she was right. Turn now, it said. Go to the river, take Charon’s ferry home, go to sleep. Worry about the war in the morning.
But something else in me said, You can’t let Loki go! You saw the oracle’s vision. He’ll destroy our world. Our families, Dana’s parents, everyone is in danger!
All that was true, too. My blood thundered in my ears. My heart battered my ribs. My brain came up with logical arguments for saving myself and forgetting Loki until tomorrow.
Unfortunately, my brain lost.
When Loki’s head was turned, and the Draugs had set their sights on the distant hills, I touched Dana’s good hand lightly, glanced at Jon and Sydney with what must have been a pretty dumb expression, and crept
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