Page 26 of Soothsayer

Deepness, darkness, tendrils of power spread through rocky soil, boulders and a pond and a small grove of trees. Not the greatest of my kind, no, but this place ismine,and they won’t move me, not the great ones, not the Christians, not this family that dares to lay claim to me. They won’t. They won’t. I hear the machines coming closer, but I won’t be moved. I would rather perish with my land than beerasedlike some minor wight.

The berserker offers me a deal, offers me a new path, possibly even a new life—room to expand, a human body to exploit, a spirit to join mine and renew me for centuries to come. His madness…it tastes delicious, and so does the boy, sweet and brave and oh, so helpless with his love. Love. I think I like it. I think I want to know more. That’s why you’re still alive, seer. Thief.Out!

I was cast out of the creature’s mind as abruptly as a bullet from a gun, leaving me choking on a residue of freezing water, decaying vegetation, and harsh, inhuman power that wasn’t meant to sit steady inside a person. How Sören was containing it, I had no idea. He should have been dead from it. He should have…

“Not possession,” the creature continued. “Sören ismine. He is become me, and I him. Anything less than that would never work.”

“No,” I gasped. “I can see that.”

“I know you can. You’re smart, soothsayer. Powerful. And you have a hold on Sören that not even his family can claim. You’reinterestingto me.”

“Fantastic.”

It ignored my sarcasm, or maybe it didn’t recognize it. “Do you know what I am now?”

Idid, actually. Months of road tripping with my mother had led me to burn through a lot of books as a kid. Since we kind of had a personal stake in mythology and magic, I’d gone through a whole stack of Bulfinch and Edith Hamilton. I’d done my best to forget it all when I was older, but some things had stuck.

“Landvættir.”

“So smart.” The beast within Sören smiled again. “You know that that means?”

“You’re a…a spirit. You live in a particular place, and you protect it.”

“Close enough. My place was threatened, and Ólafur Egilsson came to me and made a deal. He would save me, sacrifice for me, and gift me with beauty. In return I would save him from the geas the gods laid on his family. Once our deal is complete, we will be entwined, his line linked to me forever.”

There was a pause, like Sören was waiting for me to catch something. I racked my aching head, trying to ignore the burning sensation in my forearms as I went over his words.

“But—” The catch, where was the catch? “But you’re not entwined, are you? The deal isn’t finished, because you’re here.”

“Verygood.” He nodded. “The bargain is incomplete. My home is moved, but not yet rooted. I have been promised beauty, but all I see is the same thing over and over—men, weapons, and warehouse walls.” Sören frowned. “Dull. And my sacrifice yearns for something that tears at our bond, keeps him unquiet and unsettled. That thing is you.”

“Are you offering me a deal?” I asked, barely breathing. A deal for—what? Sören’s fate? A chance to undo what the landvættir and his father had done to him? Or something more subtle? Either way, I would take it. I didn’t exactly have a lot of options.

“Yes. Swear to provide me with three things, and I will give you a chance to prove your offer is better than that of Ólafur Egilsson. If you succeed, I will join with you and help you defeatyour enemies. If you fail, I will return to my original supplicant. And kill you, I suppose,” he added nonchalantly. “Even though it would distress Sören. I want my sacrifice to be content, but I will settle for overwhelming him if need be.”

Well, shit. There wasn’t much I could say to that, but there were some things I just couldn’t offer up either—things I would rather die than experience again.

I swallowed dryly. “What three things do you want?”

“First, a home, and the means to root me there.” The purple flared in Sören’s eyes. “That means ensuring there are no native spirits there to fight me for it, because I refuse to displace another of my kind to steal their home. That would be dishonorable.”

Funny he was worried about that, but I could roll with it. “Okay, so you need land.”

“And the magic to root me,” he reminded me.

“Okay, land and a shaman.” Or something. “I can do that. What else?”

“Something to occupy my time. Something more than sitting and waiting and being ordered about. I amvættir, stronger than any human, no matter their magic. I will not be your hound, any more than I would for Ólafur Egilsson. He underestimated my obedience. Don’t make the same mistake.”

“Okay, so…entertainment.” Whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean. What, was I supposed to get the spirit a Wii and let him go to town? I’d come up with something. “I can definitely do that.”

“Finally, you will provide me with a sacrifice to prove the strength of your commitment to our bargain. Someone meaningful, someone close to you.”

Well,fuck. I had no idea how to do that. I didn’twantto do that. There was no way I could get down with sacrificing anyoneelse to this fucking thing, but right now my options for living if I disagreed were exactly zero, so…

“Yes. Fine.” I had to add, “That’s what Sören was to you? Egilsson’s sacrifice?”

“Yes. An imperfect one, because he was motivated not by love for his father, but by love for you. His love is what has disposed me to spare you, so do not mock his sacrifice.”

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