Page 13 of A Game of Queens
In a few minutes, we stood in a hollowed-out bowl in the earth. Roots arched above into an elegant cathedral-like ceiling. Pebbles lined the depression, and I could sense water deep below us. It boiled beneath the surface, pressure building relentlessly. Yet something blocked the source, strong enough to hold back the entire wellspring.
Whispers wound around me. Shades, ghosts, I wasn’t sure. But they all said one thing.
Hurry.
Then I heard a faint rasping sound echoing in the distance. The rough sound that a snake’s coils would make as it slid over roots and rocks. Jörmungandr wasn’t awake, at least not completely, or it would already be too late. But the snake was so massive that he could be sending his coils out, hoping to ensnare me once more.
According to Loki, the snake had already been feeding on me, even before I’d taken Blood. Now that I had them…
I was stronger. Their blood had lit up parts of my power that had never been accessible before. A queen needed her Blood to power her magic, and now that I had three Blood of my own, I would make an irresistible snack for the giant snake. Maybe my new power would be enough to break him free and start Ragnarök, exactly as Loki had planned.
I kissed Dörr’s cheek. “I know what I need to do, and it’s risky. I need to give the spring my blood, but when it rises up from the blockage, it’ll be like a mighty geyser. We may not survive.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “Then I thank the goddess below that She allowed me to hold you at least once before we perish.”
Something crashed against the thick tangle of roots above us. We were out of time.
“Set me down, Dörr.”
He immediately lowered me to the ground. My injured foot settled on the dry spring, my blood seeping into the barren ground.
Gripping his forearms, I pushed my awareness down into the ground, using my blood to power the thrust. But it wasn’t enough. My power thudded against the block, but couldn’t push through to the water on the other side. It had to be one of Loki’s tricks.
“Hold on to me.”
Dörr gripped my waist, freeing my arms, and the other two gripped his arms, anchoring us both. I tore open both wrists and held my hands out to either side, letting my blood drip all around us.
“Great Mother, please hear my prayer. Allow Your waters to flow forth and water Yggdrasil once more!”
A coil taller than even Dörr crashed down beside us, twisting across the ground. My Blood tightened around us, locking me between them. Their bonds weighed heavy in my mind, hard and grim as a reaper’s blade. They formed a black, shining wall around me, using their big bodies to shield me.
“Hold firm!” Dörr yelled. “We mustn’t wake him!”
I willed my blood to flow faster, sprinkling the ground like rain. Closing my eyes, I pushed more power into the blockage. All my determination. I wouldn’t die here, crushed by a snake. Neither would my new Blood.
I carried the blood of a goddess inside me, and She wanted me to stand here. Fearless and strong and fierce, even as Jörmungandr closed around us.
My heart pounded, my stomach rolling at the thought of being inside the snake again. The pain. The crushing weight of the mighty snake slowly draining my energy. My life.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved harder, driving like a spike into the heart of the wellspring. I could smell the water, pure and sweet, untouched for thousands of years. Fresh from the Great Mother’s womb. I pulled on that water with all my strength, shoving my power through thick, sticky tar, smelly and disgusting. It smelled like dead bodies and shit. Maybe it was Jörmungandr’s toilet, jumbled with massive boulders. Some of them seemed to have a familiar shape.
Heavy rock statues. Gargoyles. All dead, as far as I could tell. Thousands of dark alfar, tossed into a pit to block the wellspring from which all waters flowed.
Deeper, I wormed and pushed through tiny crevices. I only needed a small crack in the blockage. Once the water found a way out, it would explode through on its own. I felt the first hint of moisture. I could taste it on my tongue, even though it was hundreds of feet below. Straining, I pulled on that water. I willed it to flow free, even a trickle.
But nothing happened.
Pain seared me in all directions. Not mine. Theirs.
Through their bonds, I felt the mighty coils tightening around us. Svar’s leg buckled beneath the coil. Myrk couldn’t breathe. Yet he pushed back against the snake, trying to keep it away from me.
Givingmespace to breathe and work. Keeping me whole. Even as they broke and shattered beneath Jörmungandr’s weight. Dörr leaned over the top of my head, bracing his arms around his brothers’ shoulders.
Taking the brunt of the snake’s weight on his back.
I felt his spine bowing. Breaking. Yet he refused to give way.
Crying, I lifted my hand up to him. Trying to reach him. If he could taste my blood…
