Amy Sumida - Tracing Thunder (The Godhunter Series Book 13) Read online

  There was a contingent of people lining the shore. At their center stood a tall, fair-haired man, much like several of the other fair-haired tall men in the crowd, but he was a bit taller than the others, a bit wider at shoulders and hips. He stood with feet placed wide apart, like he was used to standing on the deck of a ship, and head lifted, eyes set in our direction. As we got closer, I could see that his expression was set in neutral, neither welcoming nor aggressive.

  Then I got a better look at the people surrounding him. The Light Elves of Alfheim. I heard their name in my head as I saw them again in my dream, kneeling as one before me, then lifting their heads and shouting over and over, Trinity Star. My heart started to race, my breathed sawed in and out of my body.

  My dreams had nothing to do with the fey, they were about the Light Elves. People I'd never seen before in my life. So why was I dreaming about them and what did it have to do with that damn drunkard's prophecy? Or me being a triple trinity, for that matter? What the hell did I have to do with Alfheim?

  “Are you alright?” Odin bent in low to me and whispered.

  “The elves,” I swallowed hard. “Those are the ones from my dreams. They weren't faeries after all.”

  “What exactly happened in these dreams?” Odin shifted so that he was blocking Skirnir from our conversation.

  “We were in a meadow and there was a throne behind me,” I lowered my voice. “They called me Trinity Star.”

  “Vervain,” he hissed. “Why didn't you tell us this before?”

  “I was about to and then Luke came in and said we shouldn't put so much stock into prophecies.”

  “Maybe we shouldn't,” Odin shook his head, “but this isn't a prophecy, this is a reoccurring dream. That's something that we all should have been made aware of.”

  “Should we leave?”

  “No, we can't,” he growled, his beautiful eyes flashing from blue to green. “I doubt the ship would even listen to me, it's Freyr's. At least it doesn't sound as if they're going to harm you. We'll just have to ride this out and see where it takes us. Best be on guard though.”

  “Sure,” I grimaced. “I'll watch out for elves who call me Trinity Star.”

  “Hush,” he glanced toward Skirnir. “I'm not sure what that name entails exactly but I am sure it's significant and I've a feeling that the Light Elves will know it. Best to keep that information to ourselves for now.”

  “Right, okay,” I sighed. “So I shouldn't introduce myself as Trinity?”

  “Vervain,” he groaned and ran a large hand through his golden hair, flinching a little when he ran out of hair too soon. It was a little odd to see him with the short hair but I was getting used to it, even beginning to like it, and I think he was too. It was just the stress making him forget about his new body.

  The ship drew along a wood dock and we tied off as the tallest man in the group approached us with confident steps. He didn't even wait for us to disembark but instead jumped aboard the ship and went straight to Odin. He hugged him and when they pulled away, both men were smiling.

  “It's good to see you alive and well,” he said to Odin, “though a bit blonder than I remember.”

  “It's good to be alive and well,” Odin laughed and gestured to me. “This is Vervain. Vervain, meet Yngvi Freyr, ruler of Alfheim.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Vervain,” Freyr bowed over my hand and then tucked it into the crook of his arm. “Just call me Yngvi. Please allow me to escort you to shore.”

  “Um, okay,” I looked over to Odin but he was just shaking his head and smiling. “Yngvi?”

  “Oh, it's my actual name,” he waved his free hand. “Freyr is more of a title, it means lord.”

  “Huh,” I nodded. “Okay then, Yngvi. Thanks for sending your ship for us. It's very pretty.”

  “Pretty,” he laughed and then said to the crowd, “She called Skidbladnir pretty.” They all started to laugh, a gentle tinkling sound that tickled my skin. Sweet laughter, not taunting. “Forgive us,” he said to me. “Let me explain, Skidbladnir is a magical ship. In fact, I shall just show you.”

  He gave my arm to Odin, like I couldn't stand there without holding onto a man. I frowned and dropped Odin's arm with and irritated grimace but Odin just laughed and nudged me with his shoulder.

  “Freyr's very traditional,” Odin said. “Just be happy that the traditions he chooses to follow are of upper-class, European, medieval society and not medieval Norse.”

  “Yeah, alright,” I turned my attention back to where Freyr, I mean Ygnvi, was standing beside the shining ship.

  Now, I've seen some strange things before. I've seen giant spiders, mermaids, faeries, and the walking dead. I've seen Heaven and Hell, a few of each, and Faerie herself but I've never seen a ship do what Skidbladnir did.

  Ygnvi placed his hand on the golden hull and the ship compacted. It folded in upon itself with a creaking, cranking noise. First it's width narrowed until it was a flat version of a ship and then it folded lengthwise. Everything that had been solid just suddenly lost its filling, like it had been inflated with air. Then the stern came into its center and the bow followed. Like origami, the whole ship folded in over and over until it was a golden packet the size of Ygnvi's palm which hovered in the air until it did in fact land in Ygnvi's palm. He put it in a pouch hanging off his belt.

  “Now you see why your compliment was amusing,” Ygnvi had returned to us. “Skidbladnir is very special boat, to call him pretty is an understatement.”

  “Yeah, I got that,” I kept glancing at the pouch on his belt. That was some of the most impressive magic I'd ever seen. “Who made that ship?”

  “It's Atlantean technology combined with magic,” Ygnvi grinned. “But I think what you really want to know is which god built it?”

  “That's what I asked, yes,” I frowned. Conversing with this guy was like talking to a politician. Hadn't I been pretty clear?

  “The dwarves built it,” he finally gave me a straight answer. “They make many wonderful things. Useful things.”

  “Right,” I nodded, “dwarf-built.” Then I felt the glow of my star again. This time, a different point was shining, coming to life like it had been laying in wait a very long time. I gasped and Odin was at my side in an instant.

  “What is it?” His eyes were so intense, shifting in the sunlight from green to purple and then settling on deep blue. I got lost in them for a second. “Vervain?”

  “I'm okay,” I blinked out of the daze. “I just felt a little strange.”

  “Alfheim will do that to you,” Ygnvi smiled at me but there was something off about it. “Let me introduce you to the Light Elves.”

  He started with the introductions, one strange name after another rolling off his tongue in a manner that became almost ritualistic. I smiled through it and shook hands but I barely heard any of it. It became a blur of faces, shining eyes, and smiling mouths. I wouldn't be able to remember a single one of them when he was through.

  Odin's hand was on my arm the whole time. His presence, a reassuring warmth at my back. They all knew him already and I heard echoing greetings from him every time a new elf was introduced to me. Their hair and eyes varied from dark to light on both accounts but their skin stayed the pale cream of polished bone and their ears were all pointed like wolves on the hunt. They were all the same to me, and that sameness was reaching deep into my heart and tightening it.

  Something was wrong.

  Freyr, I just couldn't call him Ygnvi anymore. It's a weird name, probably why people called him Freyr. Anyway, Freyr led us back into the forest and that's when I realized the trees were glowing. It was a subtle glow, totally unnoticeable out in the sunlight, but once you were within their shade, you began to wonder why it was still so bright and then you realized that the light came from beneath the canopy of leaves not above it. I stared at the pale bark of their trunks as I recalled the trees in my dreams. They'd been glowing too.

  I was becoming more and more anxious as Fre
yr led us along a beaten earth path, wide enough for a carriage to pass through. We walked it though. No carriage. I thought that was odd until the path opened to reveal a castle set into a large clearing. A carriage would have been ridiculous for so short a journey.

  The castle was built to accommodate nature. It wasn't like the fey Castle of Eight, built of the trees themselves. No this wasn't about twisting nature into what they wanted it to be. It was about living in harmony with nature and allowing it to just be itself.

  The castle was made of white stone, built like any human castle would be. Blocks were laid upon one another to form walls, towers, and the like but those walls wove around massive trees that seemed to form a living roof with their interwoven branches. Oh there were actual thatched roofs on top of the stone buildings but they too were orchestrated in such a way as to lie below or around the tree branches, making them look as if they had grown and not been built.

  Over the surfaces of the stone walls, flowers grew. Roses, wisteria, and other blooms I didn't recognize, all crawling over the walls with such zeal that the stones were almost entirely covered. Even the meadow in front of the castle was filled with flowers. The path wove through the meadow and up to a large carved door set into the overgrown castle. We headed for it.

  “All of Alfheim has gathered to celebrate your return,” Freyr said to Odin. “We were so aggrieved when news of your death reached us. I attended your funeral but I didn't want to meet your wife under such horrible circumstances,” he shot a smile towards me. “So I held back and I've often regretted not giving her my condolences. Now I'm delighted to get to meet her for the first time under happier conditions.”

  “Yes, quite,” I smiled at him but it felt brittle so I added, “The castle is amazing. I love that you didn't cut down any trees to build it.”

  “We never cut down trees,” Freyr held a hand up toward the horrified crowd of elves. “And the wood we use is only from dead trees that have fallen naturally... in the Human Realm.”

  “Oh, sorry,” I glanced at Odin, whose lips were twitching suspiciously.

  “It's alright,” Freyr smiled kindly and reached out to open the door for us. It was carved with vines and two boar's heads, one on each of the double doors. The heads were gilded, making them stand out brightly against the dark wood. “Please, come into my Hall and be welcome.”

  “Thank you,” Odin nodded. “May we bring no harm with us.”

  The inside of the castle was surprisingly devoid of flora. There were stone floors covered in bright carpets, stone walls hung with amazing works of art, and a glow of unknown origin lighting the entire place. I used to wonder about that glow. Was it god lighting or what? Now that I own my own territory and have learned how to manipulate it, I know that electricity is just another form of energy and things such as lights or stoves, can be powered with the energy of the God Realm. You can also form those things in any way you wish. So lights can be created without actual lamps to hold them. You simply will the energy into being light, it needs no containment. I know, it kind of blew my mind the first time it was explained to me too. Luke had quite a laugh over that one.

  Anyway, we wandered down the lit foyer, which had no light sources to speak of(not even glowing trees), and into a massive dining hall about the size of mine back at Pride Palace. The walls went straight up three stories or so, without interruption from stairs or balcony, and at the top, there was no roof at all. Just a long, narrow rectangle of the bright blue Alfheim sky seen through a tracery of branches.

  I looked down at the silk carpets and frowned. What would they do in the case of heavy rain. Then I realized how stupid I was being. Thor's Hall had open windows all over the place and the weather was never a problem. He willed it to stay outside and it did. If he could do it, it was a good bet that the elves could too.

  Freyr led us through bright patches of sunlight and a crowd of elves that was filling the hall. The sound of low conversations stopped immediately and everyone turned to look at us. The group that had come to the lake to meet us was coming in behind us. I felt a jolt of trepidation surge through my veins, quickly followed by something else much more powerful. Possessiveness.

  The urge to start shouting that Freyr was not lord here, was crawling up my throat. Every cell in my body knew that this was mine. This land, this castle, these people. Alfheim was mine and Freyr was merely a steward. He'd been holding it for me, watching over it until I could claim it. My dragon reared up and roared inside me. MINE!

  I stumbled.

  “Vervain,” Odin caught me.

  “Is she alright?” Freyr turned toward me with panicked eyes.

  “I'm fine,” I straightened and slowly lifted my head to face him. I saw him flinch, saw the elves around us draw back a step, and knew my eyes had gone dragon. “Thank you for your stewardship, Ygnvi Freyr but your duty has come to an end.” I have no idea where the words were coming from but they continued to pour out of me, as if they'd been placed there by someone else, lying in wait for that very moment. “I've come to claim Alfheim, as was agreed upon by the Norse pantheon.”

  “No!” Freyr shouted as Odin turned to look at me with dawning horror.

  “Aednat,” Odin whispered and blinked rapidly, as if coming out of a daze. “Was your mother's name Aednat?”

  “Of course it was!” Freyr was still shouting. “You've been so blind, Allfather.” Then he started laughing hysterically. I'm assuming it was in response to the blind thing, since Odin used to only have one eye. Then Freyr sobered suddenly and narrowed his eyes on Odin. “You made that agreement before Alfheim was made mine. It doesn't apply anymore.”

  “You know that isn't true,” Odin looked at me with awe. “Do you even know what you're saying, Vervain? Do you know why you've said it? Or is it merely your blood talking?”

  “Blood?” I blinked, coming out of my haze of dragon induced aggression.

  “It was so long ago,” Odin started and I realized that the entire hall had gone eerily quiet. “I barely remember her face but I do remember it was lovely. More lovely than any goddess. How did I not know it was her daughter I fell in love with?”

  “Because she made us all forget,” Freyr threw up his hands. “She didn't want anyone trying to interfere with the bargain, so she wiped it from our memory.”

  “Then how did you know?” Odin narrowed his eyes on Freyr.

  “The Light Elves,” he seemed to calm a bit but his eyes kept shifting back and forth between us and the elves. “They foretold her coming and upon hearing the prophecy, Aednat's enchantment was broken. I remembered it all.”

  “Wait, what bargain?” I interrupted, I had to know.

  “The fey were the ones who taught us how to create the God Realm,” Odin turned back to me. “But it came with a price. What we wanted was special, the Nine Worlds. Aednat was the only fey who would work with us because in order to create such a magical territory, she needed to tie it to a source of great magic. Damn!” He shook his head. “I can't believe this memory has been repressed for so long. Aednat was more powerful than we thought.”

  “You think?” Freyr lifted a brow, all old world charm disappearing. He almost looked smug, which I thought was odd.

  “Wait,” I put an arm on Odin's shoulder. “So my mother helped create this territory?”

  “Yes,” Odin whispered, his eyes widening as he made connections in his head. “She helped us form it by tying it to the Nine Great Magics of Faerie.”

  “Oh crap,” I looked around the hall at the elves. My dream, the prophecy, the Great Nine, it was all starting to come together.

  “Yes,” Odin continued. “It was a lot to ask and so she demanded a lot in return. She couldn't let the gods have a territory connected to the Great Magics of Faerie without a fey to look after it. She offered to help us make our territory as long as a child of her blood was given one of the Nine Worlds to rule. It was decided that her child would have Alfheim because it was the world that so closely resembled Faerie and she
believed it would be the most comfortable home for her child... for you.”

  “But then she was murdered,” I whispered.

  “And you died,” Odin whispered back.

  “But before you died, the prophecy was given,” Freyr said gravely. “And we knew it wasn't over. We knew that death would not be the end for Aednat's daughter.”

  “The Daughter of Dragons,” Odin stroked my cheek gently. “It's coming back to me now. I used to visit Aednat in the French Alps, to speak to her about the Nine Worlds. One of which isn't technically ours, it's the Human Realm though it's still considered part of the Nine. I kept returning to see her because it was so beautiful there. After the spell of forgetting, I kept going back. I guess she couldn't take away my love of the region. I must have automatically returned to where I'd been before. Near her home.”

  “And mine,” I exhaled a soft laugh. “That's how we met.”

  “It's like you were meant to be mine,” Odin nodded.

  “Fantastic,” Freyr rolled his eyes. “That's all very romantic. You can have her but Alfheim is mine, I refuse to give it up.”

  “You can't break a fey bargain,” Odin looked over to Freyr with sympathy.

  “Was it a pinky promise?” I tried for a little humor but all I got for my efforts was a glower from Freyr.

  “I don't know how much about fey magic you've learned, Vervain,” Odin gave Freyr a quelling look before continuing. “But the fey never make a bargain without sealing it with magic. Unbreakable magic. Not even a god can break a fey bargain.”

  “Not even the Oathbreaker?” I gave him a little smile.

  “Not even I,” he gave up on being grim and returned the smile.

  Freyr started to grumble, “This is-”

  “What was the prophecy?” I cut him off before he could get started on another tirade.

  “What?” Freyr gaped at me.

  “The prophecy that the Light Elves gave,” I prompted. “What was it?”

  “When the daughter of the dragons is reborn,” a woman had come out of the crowd and started to speak in a dramatic monotone.