Chapter Sixteen:
Mother of Wolves
Before we summoned the Mother of Wolves, we had to lug ourselves another twenty meters up the mountain. For once, I took the lead as the blinding wind whipped my hair against my face.
"You should've let me braid it," Soren said after my hair got in his face for the ninth time.
"In what downtime did you ask to braid my hair?" I tried to stick it back underneath my hood but strands kept escaping and I finally gave up.
"Well, I tried while you were unconscious after your swim but you hit me. Hard. I have a bruise."
"I told him not to do it," Seppo said. "I told him that trying to braid the hair of a person undergoing a chemical psychotic spell wasn't a good idea. Did he listen? No."
I smirked. "Where did I bruise him?"
"Nowhere important." Soren was trying hard to keep his voice light. A little too hard.
"Oh, it's important all right." Seppo said. I tuned out as the two men began to bicker over what happened when I was unconscious. I was a little disappointed that I missed my own show.
I spit out a strand of hair. Maybe I should cut mine if I live after this.
If I lived after this and stopped Lydian from whatever scheme he had up his sleeve, if I lived through seeking the help of a giantess god and whatever task she would request from me. Gods Above, if someone told me a hundred years ago the safest place for me was in Soren's manor, I would've laughed and maybe hit them. Going back was a lifetime away.
I walked to the flat bed of rocks and dusty snow that was the peak of the mountains. The crisp air stung my ears and eyes, freezing the moisture inside my nose. The temperature dropped rapidly as I made my way into the center of the peak. Soren and Seppo lingered back near the edge. I turned toward them, eyebrows raised.
"Problem?"
"I'd rather not be in blasting range of the goddess I might've unintentionally scorned a few days ago," Seppo deadpanned.
"Soren?"
He looked away. "Skadi doesn't like me very much."
"Why?"
There was a slight rosy tint to his pale face. "I would rather not specify."
I sighed. I probably didn't want to know anyway. "Fine, I'll do it."
I went to the center of the peak and forced myself to sit on the freezing stones. Crossing my legs, I brought out the stiletto Seppo'd given me when we fought the dragons. It was an old weapon. The bronze twisted in the shape of a snake eating its own tail on the hilt, the blade was the color of a serpent with a line of silver-blue in the middle. Someone had blessed this weapon; the power in it said that much.
For now all that mattered was the sacrifice. I bared my right arm out and let the sharp edge of the stiletto run across the underside. A thick band of blood rose to the surface and I angled my arm so the blood would drip onto the ground.
I closed my eyes and chanted. "Wake Skadi, Mother of the Mountain, Wake Skadi, Mother of Wolves, Wake Skadi, the Huntress, the Avenger, the Mother of the Wilderness. I call to thee. Wake Skadi!"
The wind picked up around me, swirling and piercing through my thick clothes with its freezing chill. The sound grew louder and louder, until the force of the wind became the howling of wolves. I opened my eyes as the goddess materialized from ice and snow, the wind becoming the pure-white strands that was her hair.
She stood seven feet tall, her cold grey eyes narrowed as she gazed down at me. Despite her regal looks a bow was slung across her back and an axe against her hips. Her silver hair whipped around her like dozens of ribbons in the wind. She swept her gaze beyond me, to Soren, then Seppo. Her eyes darkened as she narrowed her brows.
"You," she said. Her voice shook the mountains, the raw power seeping out of her forced my words from my mouth to the pit of my belly. "You dare show your face here again, mongrel? You dare come back while your tribesmen leaves a debt unpaid and my wolves still die?"
I stood, swallowing. At least now we knew whatever was killing the wolves was still out there. "I summoned you, my lady." I wasn't exactly sure how to address a goddess, but I didn't think adding honorifics would hurt. "It was I who summoned you, who woke you from your sleep. It is I who begs for your aid."
The goddess turned her cold, hard gaze to me. Her eyes softened. "You, child. I've not heard your voice in a long time."
I cast my eyes to the ground. "The will to pray was lost from my own human weakness."
She made a sound in the back of her throat. "Not so weak, from where you stand now. I feel the power of the lindworm on you, the power of goblins, and the Permafrost beating in your heart. You have done well. But that does not excuse why he is in my sight." She hissed the last word, rage in her eyes. "He and his cur asked for my wisdom and tricked me. Now my family lays dying and I can hear their mournful yelps from sundown to sunset."
Seppo fell to his knees, head bent so low it brushed against the earth. "Honorable Skadi; from the bottom of my heart, I apologize. I truly believed the man who deceived you had killed the creature that terrorized your family. I no longer align myself to this deceitful man and come in peace. In the respect of your dead brethren, I will pay you any favor you wish so long as it doesn't hurt the ones I loved."
I snorted. Seppo made a good speech when he wanted to, that was for sure.
"As you should be," Skadi said. "But I hear the honor in your words and I accept your proposal. I will think of a fitting favor for my brethren and the blood will be washed from your hands."
"But you," she pointed a finger at Soren, "didn't I tell you to never come back here? Not while you had another person in your—" she paused, looked closer at me, then smiled pleasantly. "Ah, I see our quarrel has come to an end, then."
A strangled sound came from my throat as I turned to Soren, eyes wide. He avoided my gaze and gave a small shrug. Oh, we're definitely discussing whatever this was about if we live past this.
"Girl!" I snapped back to attention. "You want something, so ask. The mountains are no place for a human, even one such as yourself, and they aren't as forgiving as the ground below."
I heard the threat laced so gracefully in those words. I raised my chin to look her as closely in the eye as I could. There was something about her, the set of her shoulders, the tilt of her head that made me want to cower in fear. This woman was a wolf in human form, a regal predator taking the time to deal with the rabbits at her feet.
"We need to stop Lydian," I said. "The goblin who disgraced you before, who asked for your knowledge about the Stag."
She nodded. "And?"
"And we need to know what he's planning. Without the information, it will be impossible to know how to stop him. He wishes to kill the Stag for good. And—And—" I got to my knees. I didn't make a habit of it, but groveling wasn't the worst way to deal with an angry deity and renown giantess. "We humbly ask for the companionship of your wolves, if any of them will have us. We have need of their ferocity and agility and their great speed. We will keep their company no longer than our need lasts. We humbly ask this, and in exchange, whatever it is your wish, we will do."
The wind picked up around me, if possible the temperature dropped even lower. I forced myself against sticking my hands underneath my arms but the cold brought spasms to my muscles. I couldn't feel my fingertips and I dared not look underneath the glove but I stayed on the ground with my hands spread out before me. In the most vulnerable position I could think of; head bend, neck exposed, hands out with open palms.
"You ask me to betray the confidence of another who asked for a favor. This would leave a smirch on my honor, child."
"The honor of the man whose information you gave was smirched when he tricked you into giving with nothing in return," I said softly. "He offered you a favor and left it unpaid. We would be willing to take this favor—to actually kill what is preying on your pack if we can learn how Lydian means to kill the Stag and complete his places. We will do whatever it takes to be deemed worthy by you and your wolves."
The silence dragged on until I dared to look up. Skadi gazed down at me, her features brooding. She motioned for me to rise and I did. "You speak well, child," she said, a fond look in her eyes.
"Thank you, my lady."
"You're right about the favor, child," she continued. "They must be paid in full and though I normally wouldn't betray the knowledge I'd given another, perhaps I was too foolish as to the consequences." She sighed. "We may make a deal. I will summon my wolves and they will take their pick, then they will take you to the spot their brethren were slain. You will defeat this monster so it can die its second death and leave us in peace. Then I will give you the information I gave to Lydian and the wolves who've chosen you will help you forward."
Second death? What creature dies a second death? There was a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach and it was only growing colder. "I accept this deal."
The giantess raised her arms and once again the wind spiraled, howling as it did. Out of the blinding snow came a pair of yellow eyes, then another, until we were surrounded by the eyes of stalking wolves.
I stood and backed up to where Soren and Seppo were, both giving each other uneasy glances. This was as out of their element as it was mine. I closed my eyes and felt out, trying to feel the ribbons of power these animals possessed. Come to me.
Hot breath blew against my face and I opened my eyes to stare at the muzzle of a smoky, dark grey wolf. He inclined his head, his yellow eyes flickering to mine, and I knew he had accepted me.
It took longer for the silver wolf to approach Soren, but when she did, she curled her bushy tail around his legs. The dark grey wolf by me huffed, like something about that amused him.
Finally, a younger wolf, the color of cedar trees, trotted up to Seppo and put his nose in the young halfling's ear. Seppo jumped from the cold, inviting a lick from the young wolf. "Hi," he said, trying to dry his ear. "Nice to meet you too."
"Go forth," Skadi said as the countless eyes began to disappear. Her form wavered too, but I shouted out into the wind. We still had no clue what we were up against, but she had to know something.
"Why do you need us to kill this creature? Why does a being of your power prove no strength against it?" I asked.
The giantess looked sadly down at me, like she was counting the lives she'd already lost. "The cold can't kill the dead."
The wind blew threw her and she shattered like ice.
Soren came over to me, his wolf pressed close against him. He looked down at her, awkwardly trying to shove her away. "Hey, ever heard of personal space?" The wolf blinked and Soren grumbled.
"What?" I asked.
"She told me her name was Lykka and I should be honored that she deems me worthy of her presence." He frowned at the idea.
I choked back a laugh. "Sounds like a perfect match to me."
The smoky wolf pressed his nose into my palm. I am Breki, you are? The deep voice inside my mind startled me, until I figured that was probably how these animals communicated.
"Janneke."
You have come far, Janneke? And much farther to go still, yes?
"I suppose," I said, frowning.
Breki huffed and sat by me, looking expectantly at the younger, brown wolf. Seppo's wolf was kneading the ground with his paws, his rump up in a playful position. Breki growled lowly and the brown wolf straightened.
"He says his name is Hreppir," Seppo said. "And that he's really excited and he hopes we succeed in our goal because he doesn't want to eat me."
I bit my lip to hold in my chuckle, the skin was harsh and chapped from the cold.
"May I mount you, Breki?" The large wolf nodded to me and bent so I could climb onto him. It was awkward, nothing like sitting a horse. My body fell between his shoulder blades, in the dip of his neck, but he never once complained.
He waited for Soren and Seppo to climb on and then he ran.
I gripped his dark fur and buried my face in his shoulder as the mountain air stung my face. The tundra and rocks whipped past me at a frightening speed, my stomach tensed, then rose as my body became weightless. This was as close as I'd ever be to flying; Breki's smooth leaps creating an almost undetected rhythm underneath my body.
We could've run for hours or minutes or days; time melted away as our bodies flew across the snow. When he slowed to a trot, my heart sunk in disappointment. How wonderful it was to run like that.
Seppo and Hreppir and Soren and Lykka flanked me as the wolves began to pick their way across the rocks. The smell of death and carrion wafted through the air, the bitterness of death tasted rancid on my tongue. Bones littered the mountainside, the skeletons of animals both huge and small. Pools of frozen blood turned black from the cold surrounded half-decomposed bodies. Not just of wolves, but of giant mammoths, of lindworms, of the predators of the mountains. The place was eerily absent of maggots and flies that usually flocked to the dead.
"I don't like this," Soren said, his hand reaching back to check if his swords were still there. "I don't like this at all. What does this?"
Something the giantess said struck me. "She said we needed to deal it a second death. It's already dead, whatever it is, and we need to kill it again."
"Draugr." For once, Seppo's voice was grim. "It's a Draugr."
"I thought you didn't know what it was?" Soren said.
"I was never close to it," he said. "But, and Hreppir confirms, it's a Draugr. The stench of death is everywhere."
I shuddered, gripping Breki's warm fur. The creatures of nightmares, undead shapeshifters who were strong enough to move mountains, cruel enough to dine on the bones and flesh of the living, dangerous enough that the mere presence of one could drive you mad, that was what we were facing.
"Well then," I tried to keep my voice from shaking with little succeed, "let's kill this thing."
Sliding off from Breki, I came close to Soren, whose eyes flickered anxious around him. "Scared of Draugrs too?" I teased.
"My mother was killed by one."
I kicked myself internally. Way to be an ass, Janneke.
Like always, it was as if he read my mind. "It's not your fault. You didn't know."
I gripped his hand. "We can do this," I said. "We have to."
"Well, the other option is being ripped to shreds by wolves." He tried to sound lighthearted and didn't quite succeed. "So yes, we have to." His hand squeezed mine, taking reassurance in the pulse that beat there.
"So, does anyone have an idea on how to kill this thing?" I asked.
Soren pursed his lips. "Decapitation and dismemberment is one way, I think. The only one possible at this rate."
Seppo swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. "This will be fun."
Soren paced, his hands folded behind his back. Before he paced like a trapped wolf, now he was a strategist, a battle commander, thinking of every way we could possibly take this creature down.
I turned toward the three wolves who seated themselves away from the opening in a semi-circle. "You three don't have to fight with us if you don't want to. I know how many of your kind were killed."
Breki stood, stretching to his full height. He was more like a horse than a wolf, honestly. Even Hreppir, who was the smallest by far, dwarfed the size of a pony. The three wolves came forward and three voices spoke in unison inside my head.
We fight with you to avenge our brethren.
Soren paused in his pacing, staring at the wolves. Seppo jumped in surprise. "Odin's Ravens I'm never going to get used to that. Magical wolves or not, it's weird." Lykka huffed, turning her back on him. Hreppir just whined and poked Seppo in the ear with his nose again.
"I think you hurt his feelings," I said.
"Sorry, Hreppir," Seppo ruffle the wolf between the ears. "It is weird though."
The three wolves trotted forward until they stood beside us. Soren came to a halt. "We need to draw it out of its den, we can't fight it in an enclosed space. Remember the lindworms? This will be bigger and deadlier. We're burning our own funeral pyres if we go in there."
I stared ahead, past the boneyard to the mouth of a large cave. It was so close; could the Draugr smell us already? "We need to lure it out, then."
"How?" Seppo asked.
Lykka and Breki looked at each other, some type of knowledge flashing between them. Then they turned to Hreppir. The younger wolf jumped up from where he'd been sniffing a flesh-covered bone. Who? Me?
Breki huffed. Of course you. You're the least threat, pup. Besides, you can act well.
It's an honor, really. Lykka's voice chimed in. You have the ability we do not.
"You can do it, Hreppir," I said. "I know you can."
The young wolf thrust out his chest.
Go, Hreppir. We will be right behind you.
Hreppir started forward, faking a limp. A high-pitched whine came from his parted lips and he shook, dragging his back foot uselessly against the ground.
All was silent until the ground shook. The smell of rot and things long dead grew stronger at every beat. I curled my nose in disgust though it did nothing to help the smell. I took four arrows in my hand and nocked one into place, holding the other three in my spare fingers. It'd be the first trick my father'd taught me. I may have forsaken him in the family's eyes but I'd never forget what he taught me. From beside me, Soren's swords clinked sharply together as he drew them out and Seppo's feather staff whistled from the hollowed spot where the blades were kept.
My eyes burned as raspy, labored breathing came from the cave. It was the sound of someone whose lungs had filled with water; the last heaves of a suffocating man. The Draugr was large, larger than Skadi, his body made of half-decaying flesh and exposed bone. Where his eyes had been there were now only sightless, grey masses of flesh and I gagged at the smell of putrid flesh.
Countless pictures flashed before my eyes. A woman screaming as her body was torn apart, rats eating each other alive, two men throwing themselves into fire, the crying of children as the flesh was peeled from their bodies strip by strip, it came fast and hit me like waves until I almost dropped my weapons. A cold hand against the back of my neck brought me out of it.
"You're alright, Janneka," Soren whispered. "You're alright."
The creature lunged for Hreppir, far too graceful for its body, and the wolf dodged, a brown streak as he jumped off the rocks. He then regrouped with his pack and they growled in unison, their hackles high.
The wail of the Draugr shattered the bones around him. The fight began.
Soren came at the monster first, his two blades intertwining and slashing. He fought like he was dancing with the blades as his partner. His body twisted and curled inward, dove close to the ground and then sprung high into the air. Red welts appeared on the Draugr's body, deep into one of his arms. Lykka growled as Soren landed beside her and launched herself into the air, her teeth digging deep into the creature's arm. Breki came beside her and together, they managed to rip off the flesh that was its hand.
Seppo and Hreppir danced around the creature's legs with timed strikes and skilled evasions. Pale blood rained down onto them, burning their skin like acid, but they continued to swerve and tumble unaffected.
As for me, I waited low into the ground, shooting an arrow at an elbow, then another, watching them sink deep into the flesh. The monster screamed and ripped the weapons out, crushing them in his hands. But it was too late, his joints were broken and all they needed was a good, clean cut.
I sprang up and scurried onto a boulder as tall as me, unwilling to fight at such a large distance. If Seppo and Soren risked their lives by fighting close up, so could I. The stiletto in my hand, I joined Soren as he waltzed around the Draugr. The piercing coldness of his swords lingered on my skin as we fought together. A slash here, a stab there. Before he danced with his weapons, now he danced with me. Our moves were in sync, our attacks countered what the other's lacked, and our defenses shielded what the other's left open. A fire was alight in my chest and exhilaration coursed like a drug inside me.
A howl of pain brought me back down to the real world, as the Draugr grasped Hreppir in his fist and squeezed. Immediately Seppo lunged, the hand completely severed before the monster even knew what hit him. The small, bracken-colored wolf breathed heavily, his tongue lolling out on the side. My heart froze in my throat as I waited what felt like an eternity until the wolf rose, shaking off his pain.
With his other arm, the Draugr smashed Seppo against the rocks and he fell limply to the ground. The slight rise-and-fall of his chest proved he was still alive and the two elder wolves wasted no time in tearing into the Draugr's remaining arm. It writhed like a swarm of maggots even as it was disembodied.
The greyish skin of the Draugr bubbled and shifted, until stick-like limbs sprouted from his legs, reaching with talons toward Soren and I. We exchanged a glance and dove in, dodging pairs of arms and hacking off others. The hot wetness seeping from my back, my shoulder, my leg were the only indicators that I was harmed. Everything else was a rush of fire and ice and an almost painful ecstasy as I made work of the creature. The black-ish red blood of goblins pooled by my feet, I was alarmed to see Soren hadn't been spared from the talons either. Cuts littered his face and tore through his tunic. But even with blood in his hair and soaking through his tunic, he fought with the strength of a thousand men.
And finally, the Draugr toppled down, the body whole no more.
Soren pulled himself against a boulder, ripping off a piece of his tunic and started seeing to his wounds. I raced forward until I was at Seppo's limp body, my ear placed against his chest. His breath was weak, but it was there, and his heart kept on beating.
"Help me with him!" I screamed and the three wolves braced his body between them. Soren, the still-bleeding gashes in his arms slowing, pulled Seppo's body under the protection of the boulder.
The young halfling's eyelids flickered. "I'm okay," he breathed. His eyes rolled back in his head, the whites of them streaked with red.
"Can you do something?" I asked Soren, remembering how he healed my arms. It seemed centuries ago. "Like how you healed me?"
"I'll try my best," he said, ripping open the thick layers of Seppo's clothing with a dagger he drew from his boot. The young man's chest was a mess of blood and the outlines of bones stuck out against the flesh in a way even no goblin would find natural.
Soren hissed in frustration. "Hold him down," he said, barking orders at the surrounding wolves and myself. "I need to relocate his ribs, then I'll see what I can do about the internal bleeding. I've never tried it on an internal wound before."
As the three wolves pressed his bodies against Seppo's, my nose crinkled; Seppo couldn't smell of rot already. I turned in time to see the dismembered body of the Draugr writhe and twist gruesomely, forming a pile of severed limbs. The flesh melted together, the bones and sinew knitting in ways it hadn't been before. A new creature started to rise out of the ashes of the old, but this time the decaying flesh took on the form of a giant bear. It roared in rage, the stench coming off its breath enough to make my eyes water.
Soren's eyes widened. "No. I don't understand, we dismembered it. It should've stayed dead."
I took another three arrows in my hand. "You deal with Seppo, all of you. I'll finish it."
"Don't be an idiot, Janneke!" Real terror colored Soren's voice. "It'll tear you apart."
"Save Seppo!" I shouted and bounded from behind the rock. The first arrow went into the bear's flank as it raged toward me. The second into it's stomach as I slid underneath it, barely missing being shredded by sharp claws.
The Draugr turned and stood on his hind legs, bringing his forelegs down with such strength that the ground beneath me shook and split. I lost my balance and rolled into a mess of carcasses and bones.
Its sightless eyes turned to Soren, working tirelessly on Seppo's body. Wicked yellow teeth grew from its gum-less mouth. I scrambled to stand and released another arrow into its rump, hoping it would come back for me. It did, charging so fast that the whiplash of wind stung my cheeks during my narrow dodge.
Dismembering it didn't work. Firing at it was only getting it angrier. I didn't have an unlimited supply of arrows. When I ran out, I would be done. Even the stiletto couldn't do anything to this creature.
I scrambled under an outcrop of rocks and skeletons, taking precious moments to think and hide. The nail in my bracer pressed hard into my flesh as I leaned on my arm. It's burning was agony but the pain was nothing compared to the idea of failing. This monster would eat Soren and Seppo if given the chance. It would rip them apart while they still had breath in their bodies. It would crush the wolves and it would drive me mad and watch as I flung myself from the cliffs.
There had to be something, anything, that would kill it. In my village, whenever we thought a corpse would rise again, we burned it until there was nothing left and spread the ashes in the sea.
But there was no fire here at the top of the mountains and no means to create one. But there's a fire burning constantly against your arm. You thought so yourself. It was a nail, just an old iron nail.
Before I thought I just couldn't let go of the one remaining bit of my human life. But what if...
It was stupid and insane and would probably get me killed. But stupid and insane plans were working for us pretty well at the moment and all I had to lose was my life.
I came out of the hill of rocks and bones on one knee, knowing I had one shot. I had to make it count. The nail came out of the bracer and I pulled a glove off one hand with my teeth. I forced myself to hold onto the nail as the agony spread through my hand. My skin greyed then blackened as the fires of Hel shot through my fingers, lingered in my wrist, until my entire arm was ablaze with pain that brought black spots to the edge of my vision. Nothing could describe it; no months of beatings, no repeated rapes, no emotional anguish, nothing was more painful than this iron against my skin.
Iron that was now glowing white with heat. Quickly, as blackness tugged at the edge of my vision, I ripped a strip of cloth from my tunic and tied the nail to point of the arrow. The skin peeled from my hand as I did so and I couldn't help but let out a scream so loud I was sure they'd hear me back in the human world. With a trembling, bleeding hand, I steadied my bow and aimed at the Draugr. I breathed in and out like my father taught me and let the string loose. The white-hot iron pierced through the sightless eyes of the monster and I stood by as the creature burst into flames.
Chills set in. I was burning and freezing at the same time. My hand, oh my hand, I reached for the stiletto determined to cut it off as my vision turned to darkness. It was like a part of me was dying, rotting in the most painful way, while the rest of me could only look on and scream.
Hands pressed against my shoulder, rolling onto my back. Through the hazy darkness Soren's lilac eyes gazing into mine, his bloodied hair falling in my face. "It's okay," he said. "It's okay. Seppo's going to be alright. I did it, I did—" his voice fell away as he caught sight of my hand. I couldn't see it, didn't want to see it, but I doubted there could be anything left but painful, exposed bone.
"Cut it off!" I screamed. "Cut it off! Cut it off!" That was the only way for the pain to stop.
"Seppo!" Soren shouted. "Get Skadi! Get Skadi!"
From my blurring vision, I saw the young man rise and nod, weary lines etched across his face. But nothing else seemed wrong.
Soren placed my undamaged hand under his knee and took my face in his hands. "Look at me, Janneke. Look at me!"
I tried, I really tried, but the black spots were threatening to crowd out the white sky above us. Soren jerked my head up, forcing our eyes to meet. Mine, green like the moss on trees, and his, lilac like the flowers that never grew in the Permafrost.
"Dammit, Janneka!" he snarled.
He was calling me by my pet name a lot lately. I thought I was supposed to hate that.
"Stop screaming," he pleaded. "Please stop screaming. You're wasting your energy."
I was screaming? The only sound in my ears was a cold, tinny ringing.
A hand like ice brushed against my forehead and the numbness spreading through me was colder than the dead of winter. The burning was still there, but it was manageable.
"Skadi," Soren breathed in relief.
A voice in the wind answered. "I come to those who fulfill their promises." The icy hand brushed against my cheek once more. "Child, close your eyes. You're safe."
I did as she said and let the coldness overcome me.