Dead Silence Read Free Page B

same time searching for Nita within the webbed shadows. With the encroaching shadows going from limp gray to opaque obsidian, I was sure late night had drawn over the cottage while I'd been out for the count.
    I found the elf standing with her back to the far corner, her concentration focused on nowhere. She was eerily still, not even a hint of breathing in her unmoving chest. An invisible breeze tugged at the tendrils of pale hair that now fell along the sides of her face.
    A sudden gust of the same breeze buffeted the elf, and I accepted that I was witness to something incredible. A summoning of power of some kind. Though curious, I held my tongue.
    Then, I felt the fullness of my bladder with a sudden urgency. Damn, I should not have drank all that water. Even Valkyries have bodily functions that often showed themselves mainly in order to inconvenience said Valkyrie.
    I sighed and tried to focus.
    A chuckle rose from Nita's corner, followed closely by her voice. "I do apologize. Communing with all elements of nature often lends me the power to hear thoughts of those nearby."
    My eyes widened. She'd heard my crude thoughts. Not good.
    Then she laughed again. "They are a mere fact of nature, Brynhildr. You need not be embarrassed. Nature makes her call even on elves." She winked and pointed to the corner behind me, the one beneath the stairs, its shadows even darker than the rest of the room. "There is a pail and a toilet of sorts. I have tried to maintain it as clean and hygienic as possible."
    I got to my feet and gave her a grateful nod. She seemed to have the strangest ability to make me feel calm and collected. And even when I felt the urgent pull of action, I also knew that patience often out-won a mad dash into the arms of danger.
    I headed into the toilet under the stairs and saw that Nita must have communed with nature here too. A curtain of dried grass hung from the edge of the stairs, growing right out of the seemingly dead wood. The curtain afforded privacy and I wondered who'd kept Nita company that she'd felt the need to provide such privacy.
    Inside, the packed dirt was gone, replaced by a narrow stretch of soft grass. On the end near the foot of the stairs, another long curtain hung from the stairs and when I pushed it aside I found it hid the toilet setup. Two fat boulders sat on the one end, topped with three wooden planks roped tightly together. A hole had been burned into the center of the board to fashion a makeshift toilet seat.
    Ingenious.
    Beneath the seat sat a squat bucket, the kind used in Asgard, made entirely of wood. I didn't need to guess what purpose it served.
    I used the facilities then washed my hands using a bucket filled with water. Beside the bucket a small wooden bowl contained soap, a sponge and a washcloth. I soaped and washed my hands then wiped them on the seat of my pants as I returned to the elf.
    She was now seated on her pallet, her legs crossed as if she was about to head into deep meditation. The folds of her long skirt fell in waves around her collecting in puddles on the blanket. A very peaceful prisoner.
    "I am not a prisoner," she said with a stiff smile as she shifted in her seat, making space for me to land beside her. "I stay because I know my mother's safety is in jeopardy. The truth is I can leave at any moment, and the truth is I often do. I have the ability to gather the elements and create a shade. This image remains behind, giving the guards the impression that I am still here. Giving me the chance to find a way to free my mother."
    Her words elated me. "That's awesome. Then you can get us out of here?"
    She shook her head and my hopes crashed and burned. "I can't get you out of here. My power does not function like the Bifrost. It is more like a melding with the elements."
    And I understood what she meant. Only she could travel out of the basement to freedom. I would have to fight my way out. "That's fine. Do you have an idea of how many guards are up