The carving on the wall that I’d seen yesterday caught my eye. I tilted my head and studied it, then pointed at it. “That looks like one of my carved stones.”
Cade joined me, peering up. “We should look for more carvings, then.”
“Agreed.”
We split up, pacing the space, looking in every nook and cranny for more carvings. On the far left, I found a huge hole in the wall. It led back to an underground spring. The water glittered with bioluminescence, and it allowed me to see that the stream stretched far back into the cave.
Cool.
I turned from it and kept searching. A moment later, I found the sun-shaped inscription high on the wall near the back entrance to the stream.
“I found one!” I called.
“So did I,” Cade shouted from across the cave.
Further inspection revealed a tiny little slot in the wall beneath the carving.
I dug the sun stone out of my pocket and put it in the slot. Magic sparked over my fingertips.
“Jackpot.” I turned to Cade. “Try to put your stone in a little slot in the rock, if you can find one.”
A moment later, he called, “It worked. There’s magic here.”
It took us fifteen minutes to find the rest of the carvings and insert our little stones into the slots. I didn’t find one for the bird stone, but maybe I’d need that for later. As soon as I placed the last one, the air shimmered with magic.
I turned from the cave wall to face the great open space. Magic lit the air, swirling with a golden glow and coalescing on the ground near the tools.
They rose up, dancing on the air, along with the abandoned pieces of wood.
“Amazing,” Cade said.
“Just like that movie. Sleeping Beauty. Where the fairies make the house clean itself and everything moves around.”
In front of us, the wood began to assemble itself on the surface of the water in the middle of the cave. Tools pounded and banged, building the ship in front of our eyes.
First, sparkling magic lifted a heavy piece of wood and connected it to two curved end pieces. Bow and stern, I had to assume. The ship floated in the air as the glittering magic added planks to the sides, each one overlapping another, perfectly fitted and carved. Then some crosswise pieces were added inside. I tilted my head. They looked a bit like slender ribs. Finally, magic added a giant hunk of wood to the middle of the boat. Last, a mast was inserted into it.
Soon, a complete Viking ship had built itself for us.
“Holy fates,” I breathed.
Then it drifted on the surface of the water, headed toward the stream that stretched back deeper into the cave.
“Uh-oh. Come on!” I ran after the boat.
Cade caught up to me as I hurried to the edge of the water, where the boat waited. Very convenient.
I leapt inside, stumbling a bit, then righted myself.
Cade, of course, was graceful as ever.
As soon as he was in the boat, it took off, drifting down the glittering water that illuminated the cave around us.
“Bioluminescence shouldn’t live here,” he said.
“That Viking boat shouldn’t have built itself for us.” I shrugged. “Magic.”
He grinned.
The ether sucked us through. I gasped, reaching out for Cade. My hand met his strong arm, and I clung to him. He gripped me around the waist as the boat rocked through the ether.
A moment later, the sun blazed in our eyes.
Yggdrasil rose tall in front of us, so impossibly huge that I still couldn’t conceive of it even though I’d been here yesterday.
“Fates of all,” Cade murmured. “The World Tree.”
“It’s something, isn’t it?” I studied our surroundings. I could no longer see the Norns’ cottage or their well, which meant that the river had delivered us somewhere else along the base of the great tree.
Fields stretched out around us, and the bottom of the tree was ridged with valleys made by the roots sinking into the earth. We floated on a river that drifted lazily toward Yggdrasil. The boat didn’t seem to need any propulsion because it moved along without using the sail or the oars resting against the sides.
“From what I’ve learned, there are nine realms of the Viking world,” I said. “We were on Midgard, where mortals live. Now we have to make it to the realm of the Valkyrie. But to do that, we must pass through several other realms, going higher and higher up the World Tree.”
“Do you know where we start?”
I pulled the scroll out of my bag just to confirm, then looked up at him. “We must find Hverglemir, the Roaring Kettle. Also known as the Source of Many Rivers. It will take us to the next realm.”
“Does it say which realm that is?” Cade asked.
“Unfortunately not.” Which was really very unfortunate. Some of the realms were supposed to be great. Others, not so much.
The river wound around the huge roots that sank into the ground. They rose like mountains on either side of us.
As we rounded a bend, something massive shifted in front of us.
One of the roots was alive!
A huge serpent’s head turned toward us. Gleaming green eyes pierced me where I stood, and a tongue flicked out. It looked almost like a dragon, actually.
To the left of the serpent, a huge eagle turned to look at me. Surprise widened the eagle’s eyes, and it hopped behind the serpent’s coils. Or maybe they were roots? Either way, the bird was definitely hiding.
“I am Níeh?ggr. What do you want here?” the serpent hissed.
“Um, I’m Bree Blackwood.” I pointed to Cade. “That’s Cade.” I didn’t mention that he was the Celtic God of War. Better not to mention anything violent in front of a serpent who probably considered me a snack. “I’ve been given a map by the Norns to take me to the realm of the Valkyrie.”
Interest gleamed in the serpent’s eyes. “The Valkyrie DragonGod. How interesssting.”
“Thanks. Could you tell us where Hverglemir is located?”
He nodded, jerking his head toward the right, in the direction that the water was heading. “Just down that way. Get a move on.”
“Thank you.” The nervous sweat that beaded on my brow cooled as we drifted by the serpent.
His green eyes sparked with interest as we passed. “Go on, now.”
“Yep. We are.” I gestured awkwardly at the water. “Just as fast as the water will take us.”
“Hmmm.” The serpent shifted, a gesture that would almost strike me as nervous.
That was weird. Did he want us gone?
At least he didn’t seem inclined to attack or anything. All the same, I stayed tense. Not that I could fight him. His head was the size of a football stadium.
But I’d go down swinging.
I watched him as we drifted out of sight, waving goodbye.
Finally, he was gone.
My shoulders slumped, and adrenaline drained from my muscles, leaving me shaky.
“He was nice,” Cade said.
“Yeah.” I laughed. “Still scary though.”
“Giant serpents usually are.” He walked toward the bow of the ship to look out over the twisty river that wound around the trunk of the tree. “Why was he with an eagle? Do serpents and birds usually get along?”