Mimir's Well (The Oracles of Kurnugi Book 3) (19 page)

CHAPTER 38

            
 
"
S
peak to the generals. Tell them to cease their attack on the mountain," Odin said to Huginn and Muninn. The two ravens flew out over the battlefield as the god turned to a blond woman wearing a feathered cloak. "See to Thor and the foreign god."

              The woman nodded. Her cloak rustled in the wind. A second later, a large yellow-feathered falcon rose from where the woman had been. It streaked through the air toward the mountain that still flashed with fire and lightning. Then, Odin walked over to Henry and offered him a hand up.

              "Well done," he said.

              "Now what?" Henry asked.

              "My ravens will end the battle, and Freya will stop the fight between Thor and Hephaestus."

              Andromeda put a hand to her head and took in a deep breath. "What about the other worlds? Idun sent men to many of them."

              "They will be withdrawn. We have no need to conquer other lands." He looked Andromeda up and down. "There is one more thing to do, however."

              "What's that?" Henry asked.

              "The knowledge of the Oracle of the Past was never meant for a mortal mind." He turned to Idun. "It wasn't even meant for you, for that matter."

              Idun nodded first, and Andromeda mirrored the motion a second later. Henry took her hand.

              "Does that mean Andromeda will be the princess again?" he asked.

              Odin shook his head. "What was paid for the knowledge cannot be easily regained."

              "But it is possible?"

              "Perhaps, if she has the strength and the will."

              Henry turned to Andromeda. "If anyone can do it, you can. I can stay and help you if you want me to."

              "No," she said. "You've done enough. I can't ask you to do more."

              He looked into her eyes for a long time. There was so much he wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come. Hermes had once told him that Andromeda wasn't human, and that he shouldn't think of her as one, but he couldn't help it. They'd been through so much together. It was hard to believe this was the end. More because he didn't trust himself to speak than for any other reason, he nodded. Tears blurred his vision, and he wiped at them. He looked away from her. The gods had already begun to depart. The last of them disappeared up the path. Only Odin and Idun remained. Henry nodded at him, and the four of them walked up the path and to the rainbow bridge.

              "I thought this went to Midgard," Henry said.

              "Bifrost goes to both Midgard and Yggdrasil, but it is the same bridge."

              "We decide to which one we're going, and the bridge takes us there," Henry said. "Virgil mentioned something like that about travelling between worlds."

              "It's more or less the same thing," Odin said.

              Before he could lead them on, three man shaped figures came into view with a horse behind them. It only took a few seconds for Henry to recognize Hephaestus' limping gate. As they neared, the features of the other two became clear: Hermes and Heimdall. The horse, naturally, was Pegasus.

              "Then we won," Hephaestus said once they'd come within earshot.

              A single plate of his armor remained on his chest, sporting a wide crack. For all his talk of being indestructible, a bruise covered half his face. Gold blood dripped from a wound in his chest. Hermes looked none the worse for wear. He grinned and slapped Henry on the back.

              "Good job! I knew you could do it."

              "Thanks," Henry said dryly. "It's amazing what you can do when no one leads you into a volcano."

              "You're never going to let that go, are you?" Hermes asked.

              "It wasn't Hermes that led us into a frozen world," Andromeda said.

              Henry's face reddened, and the gods laughed. Odin nodded at the Olympians.

              "I have opened the ways to your world. The mountain at the other end of the bridge will lead to your Olympus, and the caves within will lead to the Nordi Mountains. Frederick can find his way from there."

              Hephaestus nodded. "We will leave as soon as we can. You'll see that Henry gets home?"

              "I will."

              Odin extended his hand, and Hephaestus took it. Hermes did the same a few seconds later. The Greeks nodded at Henry. Pegasus walked up to him. For a second, his form blurred. Then, instead of one horse, there was two, one the eight legged steed that rightfully belonged to Odin, and the other the winged stallion Henry had found in Greece. He looked at Odin.
              "He was the hero's horse, and he became what you needed according to the world you were in, even to the point of becoming something in Argath that hadn't existed before and that cannot exist without you. The hero's journey is over now, and he must return to where he comes from. Part of that is in Greece, and part is here."

              Henry nodded and felt an odd lump in his throat. Pegasus had been a faithful companion, but one that couldn't follow him home. The Greeks walked back the way they came, with the winged version of Pegasus trailing after them. Though Henry's group followed a second later, they didn't see the Greeks. After a few minutes, a large tree appeared in the distance, and they came under Yggdrasil's branches. Odin led them to the cave containing the well. Idun stared into it. Her skin glowed brightly for a second before the light flowed into the water. Idun let out a breath.

              "I never knew having knowledge could be such a burden." She looked at Odin. "I don't know how you do it."

              Odin grinned. "I've had a lot of practice. Now, for Andromeda."

              The same thing happened, and once the light had faded, she seemed weak. Henry went to her side. She smiled at him, but didn't take his arm.

              "Thank you, Henry," she said, "for everything." She hugged him and brought her cheek to his. He could feel the tears on her face, and a lump formed in his throat. She pulled away and didn't look at him. "Goodbye."

              Henry nodded and turned to Odin. The god nodded once and motioned for Henry to follow. They went deeper into the tunnel. The air grew colder, and Henry started to shiver. The cave branched off, with a thin portion of Yggdrasil's root running down it. Odin pointed.

              "Yggdrasil touches all worlds including yours," Odin said. "This will lead you home."

CHAPTER 39

            
 
T
he cave walls closed in around Henry, and he had to get on his hands and knees. Yggdrasil's root ran along the ground, and Henry kept one hand on it at all times. A faint scraping sound came from ahead. Henry paused for a second, but pressed on. After all that had happened, he didn't believe Odin would send him down this path unless it was safe.

              The scraping grew louder. A gentle breeze caressed his face, and he smelled fresh cut grass. He crawled faster. Abruptly, the ground gave way under him. Only the root remained, and he clung to it as he fell. His arm jerked as he swung, not from a root, but from a branch, and he found himself staring through a window into his own room. It was dark, only illuminated slightly by light coming from the hall. He gaped, not quite sure if he could believe it. He looked up. Instead of Yggdrasil, he was hanging from the ash tree in his backyard. The full moon shone brightly overhead, and stars twinkled in a cloudless sky. He dropped to the ground and ran his fingers through the grass. Someone had mowed the lawn recently. Henry jumped when the sprinklers came on, but after a few seconds, he realized he was laughing.

              He was home.

              He ran up to the back door and banged on it. The porch light came on, and the door opened. His dad stood in the doorway. His hair still looked like it had never been combed. His eyes were puffed up and a little red, and his shirt was wrinkled. He looked at Henry, and his brow arched in confusion.

              "Henry?" His face lit up. "Henry!"

              Henry threw his arms around him and laughed again. They held each other tight. Water dripped from Henry's clothes to his dad's, but neither one cared. A petite woman with dark brown hair poked her head around the corner. When she laid eyes on Henry, a sound halfway between a gasp and a squeal escaped her throat. Henry freed himself from his father's grip and ran to her.

              "Mom!"

              He wasn't sure how long the three of them embraced, laughing and crying in each other's arms. It was midnight before they sat down in the living room. Henry had a glass of water in his hand with actual ice cubes floating in it. He hadn't seen an ice cube in a long time. He found himself staring at the ceiling fan. It was such a simple thing, but the people he'd been with the past several weeks would've considered it a miracle.

              "What are you wearing?" his mom asked. "You look like you just came from a renaissance fair."

              Henry looked down. He still wore the shirt and pants Hephaestus had given him as well as the boots he'd gotten in ancient Greece. The rips had repaired themselves, though Henry didn't know if that had happened before or after he'd crossed back into his world. He wondered if they still had the power Hephaestus had given them.

              He shrugged. "I didn't exactly have a lot of choice about what to wear."

              "We got a note that you'd been kidnapped," his dad said. "How did you get away? Where have you been?"

              Henry almost choked on his water. He'd spent so much time trying to get home he'd never stopped to consider what he would say when he got there. If he tried to tell them the truth, they'd think he was crazy.

              "I don't know," Henry said, spitting out the first words that came to mind. "I was in a room. I broke out and just started running. I didn't stop until I made it to the backyard."

              "Who took you? How did they get you out of the school with no one seeing?"

              "I don't know, dad," Henry said. "I'm sorry. I just don't remember."

              "It's fine son. Don't worry about it. We'll call the police in the morning. Don't worry. They'll catch whoever did this."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

              Henry had apparently been gone almost a month. He stuck to his story about not remembering. He gave only vague details. He could tell the police were frustrated, but there wasn't much he could do. They left after a few hours with instructions to call if he remembered anything else. He promised he would.

              It was Sunday, and apparently news of his return spread fast, because they received a steady stream of visitors. Friends and neighbors stopped by. Even family members they never saw except for Christmas and Thanksgiving showed up. His mom made a big lunch, and though it wasn't as fancy as the kingly feasts he'd had, it was, in its own way, much more grand.

              By early afternoon, the constant well-wishers had exhausted him, but it was a pleasant sort of exhaustion, instead of bone deep tiredness that came from being afraid for your life. He plopped down on the couch. People constantly tried to pry the story out of him, but he never gave anyone more than he'd given the police. Hours later, they sat down for dinner, another big meal to feed everyone who happened to be there at the time. They laughed well into the night, though he was ready for bed by the time the last person left.

              His alarm buzzed in the morning, and he just stared at it for several seconds before turning it off. How strange the real world seemed after Kurnugi. He got dressed, but wasn't looking forward to another day of smothering by his parents, so he dug under his bed looking for his backpack until he remembered it had been lost somewhere off the shores of ancient Greece. He got his old one from his closet and went into the living room. His mom was making pancakes and looked up when he came in.

              "Oh," she said when she saw his backpack.

              "Yeah," Henry said.

              "Wouldn't you rather stay home?" his mom asked. "You've been through a lot."

              "Mom, after everything, I just want to do something normal," Henry said. "I promise I'll come home right after school. I'll even run if that'll make you feel better."

              "Fine," she said, not sounding quite sure of herself. "Just be careful."

              "I will I promise."

              He walked to school as he had so many times, pausing briefly at the spot where he'd first met Hermes. It had all started here. He drew every eye as he walked through the doors of Twain. A lot of people had been at his house the previous day. Others were just now learning he was back. People actually clapped when he walked into Mr. Adam's class. He sat down next to his friend Daniel who had a silly looking grin on his face.

              "Glad you're back," Daniel said.

              Henry smiled. "Me too."

              It took a while for the class to calm down, but Mr. Adams didn't seem to mind.

              "Welcome back, Mr. Gideon," the history teacher said. "We're all glad you're back. I'm sure we'll have you up to speed in no time." The class groaned, but Henry only laughed. The teacher shot him a grin. "We have another surprise. You may have heard that the United States agreed to grant sanctuary to a group of refugees. Some of them will be attending Twain."

              Henry dimly remembering seeing a news report about that before he'd left. Two guys and a girl walked into the classroom. Henry's heart began to race. The girl had bright red hair and emerald eyes. She carried herself like a princess, though she wasn't one anymore. She met his eyes and smiled. Mr. Adams was making introductions, but he didn't notice. The three moved to find desks, and the girl sat next to him.

              "How did you get here?" Henry whispered.

              "I surrendered my role as princess."

              "But Odin said you could've gotten it back eventually."

              "As a princess I couldn't be anything else, but when I gave that up I gained something more."

              "What's that?"

              "A choice. I followed you because I choose to live a human life."

              They talked throughout the day. Though neither understood how, apparently she had appeared in the midst of the refugees before the three had been brought to the school. There had been enough that no one had noticed a girl who hadn't started the journey with them. However it had happened, she was now ready to start a new life here, no longer as a story, but as a real human girl.

              The rest of the day passed quickly. After school, he invited Andromeda over, but she insisted he spend some time alone with his parents. Reluctantly, he agreed. He gave her his phone number and promised to teach her how to use phone the next day. As promised, he ran home, but when he went inside, his heart skipped a beat. His parents were seated at the dining room table with grim expressions on their faces.

              "What's going on?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

              His mom bit her lower lip and his dad took her hand. "We got a call from Dr. Thomson."

              Henry searched his memory for the name before it hit him. Dr. Thomson was the fertility doctor they'd been using. He smiled so hard his face hurt.

              "Are you having a baby?"

              "Yes but..."

              "That's fantastic!" Henry said as he threw his arms around her. "I'm going to have a little brother!"

              Henry's parents exchanged glances before looking at him. "Henry, we don't know that? It's too early to tell."

              "I know it," he said.

              "Then you're not upset?" his dad asked. "Last time..."

              "I'm excited," Henry said. "Just don't start going back and forth about his eyes again."

              His mom laughed. "I can't wait to look through all those baby name books."

              "You don't need to do that," Henry said.

              "Oh?"

              "Virgil. His name is Virgil."

Thank you for reading

THE ORACLES OF KURNUGI

All books of the series are now available through Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gama Martinez lives near Salt Lake City, Utah and collects weapons in case he ever needs to supply a medieval battalion.  He greatly resents when work or other real life things get in the way of writing. He reads and writes fantasy, and his favorite authors are Brandon Sanderson, Kevin J. Anderson, and David Farland. You can follow him on Facebook (Gama Ray Martinez) and Twitter (@GamaTheWriter).