Tur: An Elsker Saga Novella (The Elsker Saga) Read Free Page B
Author: S.T. Bende
Tags: An Elsker Saga Novella
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curled up against him for the briefest of moments before we righted ourselves and fell back into rank. Ull moved in to my side and relayed Thor’s orders.
“The two of you are to stay with me. For some reason Thor thinks I am a target, and he wants Gunnar at my flank. Inga, you are free to follow Skadi’s group to rescue Heimdall. But, knowing how you feel about her, I asked for your assistance as well. Is that all right?”
“Thanks, Ull.” Doing anything at Skadi’s command would be suicide. She made stupid mistakes trying to prove she was tough enough for a god’s job, and I had no intention of getting myself killed because of her ego.
“Now if anything happens, Gunnar, we protect Inga first. Get her to safety.”
“Hey,” I protested. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can.” Ull chuckled. “Or I would send you back to the house right now.”
“I wouldn’t go.” I put my hands on my hips. If Ull thought he could keep me away from this fight, he had another thing coming.
“Yes, you would. No matter. Come.” He jogged into the darkness, away from the troupe filing steadfastly behind Thor. His muscular form ran lithely toward the trees, then disappeared. That was weird – protocol dictated we stay with the others. A three-person hunting party would be easy for an enemy to pick off.
Ull knew something he wasn’t telling us.
Gunnar raised an eyebrow and shrugged. I shifted my weapons to my left hand as we jogged into the woods after Ull. It’d been a long time since I’d been in the Dark Forest, and it still gave me chills. Asymmetrical trees cast shadows across uneven footpaths and the eerie silence confirmed that all the animals had fled. Someone – or something – was in here.
“Ull,” Gunnar began. Ull held up a hand, and Gunnar fell silent. We followed him deeper into the forest, for Odin knows how long, until we heard a low grumbling. Dropping behind a quintet of boulders, we held our breaths, listening to the foreign voices coming from the clearing. I’d taken Svartish in secondary school, but it’d been a while since I’d tried to conjugate the verbs. Enter the chamber; decapitate Odin; end the bloodline … oh Ymir. The dark elves were going after Odin. The next in the bloodline was Thor. And after that was…
“Get out of here. Now!” Gunnar shoved Ull. The three of us took off at an even sprint, two massive killers shepherding me through the thick wood. Thor was right – Ull was a target. He was the last of the royal bloodline, even if it was through marriage. If the royal bloodline was eliminated, it could take a year to go through the electoral process to select a new king. Asgard would be leaderless and totally susceptible to attacks. It would be the perfect time to incite Ragnarok.
I ran like my life depended on it. In all likelihood, it probably did. The dark elves might keep me as a hostage, but that wasn’t how I planned to spend the rest of my days. My arms pumped as I willed myself through the forest. Keeping pace with Gunnar and Ull was easy enough, but without warning a tree fell across the river, stopping us all.
A voice broke through the darkness, speaking in English. “Going somewhere?”
I whipped around, my back against Gunnar’s in a defensive position. I held my rapier at eye level, keeping my dagger at my hip. The muscles in Gunnar’s back tensed against mine as I felt him flex his crossbow. Without having to look, I knew his chin was down, his knees were bent, and his arms were raised to pull the trigger. He was ready to fight.
“Show yourself,” Ull commanded, now two feet ahead of me. His shoulder blades were pulled back and his elbows were slightly bent. A lock of blond hair ruffled in the breeze, but other than that he didn’t move; he’d taken up a protective stance.
“Ah, but what would be the fun in that? I would much prefer you meet my friend.” A muffled voice erupted in laughter from somewhere in the shadows and another
“The two of you are to stay with me. For some reason Thor thinks I am a target, and he wants Gunnar at my flank. Inga, you are free to follow Skadi’s group to rescue Heimdall. But, knowing how you feel about her, I asked for your assistance as well. Is that all right?”
“Thanks, Ull.” Doing anything at Skadi’s command would be suicide. She made stupid mistakes trying to prove she was tough enough for a god’s job, and I had no intention of getting myself killed because of her ego.
“Now if anything happens, Gunnar, we protect Inga first. Get her to safety.”
“Hey,” I protested. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can.” Ull chuckled. “Or I would send you back to the house right now.”
“I wouldn’t go.” I put my hands on my hips. If Ull thought he could keep me away from this fight, he had another thing coming.
“Yes, you would. No matter. Come.” He jogged into the darkness, away from the troupe filing steadfastly behind Thor. His muscular form ran lithely toward the trees, then disappeared. That was weird – protocol dictated we stay with the others. A three-person hunting party would be easy for an enemy to pick off.
Ull knew something he wasn’t telling us.
Gunnar raised an eyebrow and shrugged. I shifted my weapons to my left hand as we jogged into the woods after Ull. It’d been a long time since I’d been in the Dark Forest, and it still gave me chills. Asymmetrical trees cast shadows across uneven footpaths and the eerie silence confirmed that all the animals had fled. Someone – or something – was in here.
“Ull,” Gunnar began. Ull held up a hand, and Gunnar fell silent. We followed him deeper into the forest, for Odin knows how long, until we heard a low grumbling. Dropping behind a quintet of boulders, we held our breaths, listening to the foreign voices coming from the clearing. I’d taken Svartish in secondary school, but it’d been a while since I’d tried to conjugate the verbs. Enter the chamber; decapitate Odin; end the bloodline … oh Ymir. The dark elves were going after Odin. The next in the bloodline was Thor. And after that was…
“Get out of here. Now!” Gunnar shoved Ull. The three of us took off at an even sprint, two massive killers shepherding me through the thick wood. Thor was right – Ull was a target. He was the last of the royal bloodline, even if it was through marriage. If the royal bloodline was eliminated, it could take a year to go through the electoral process to select a new king. Asgard would be leaderless and totally susceptible to attacks. It would be the perfect time to incite Ragnarok.
I ran like my life depended on it. In all likelihood, it probably did. The dark elves might keep me as a hostage, but that wasn’t how I planned to spend the rest of my days. My arms pumped as I willed myself through the forest. Keeping pace with Gunnar and Ull was easy enough, but without warning a tree fell across the river, stopping us all.
A voice broke through the darkness, speaking in English. “Going somewhere?”
I whipped around, my back against Gunnar’s in a defensive position. I held my rapier at eye level, keeping my dagger at my hip. The muscles in Gunnar’s back tensed against mine as I felt him flex his crossbow. Without having to look, I knew his chin was down, his knees were bent, and his arms were raised to pull the trigger. He was ready to fight.
“Show yourself,” Ull commanded, now two feet ahead of me. His shoulder blades were pulled back and his elbows were slightly bent. A lock of blond hair ruffled in the breeze, but other than that he didn’t move; he’d taken up a protective stance.
“Ah, but what would be the fun in that? I would much prefer you meet my friend.” A muffled voice erupted in laughter from somewhere in the shadows and another