Mimir's Well (The Oracles of Kurnugi Book 3) (9 page)

CHAPTER 18

            
 
T
he frozen walls were as smooth as glass, and the floor was slick enough that Henry had to walk slowly to avoid falling. Even the ceiling looked more like crystal than ice. Though they left footprints behind them, there were none ahead, which meant Bragi had either climbed down the face of the cliff itself, or he'd just appeared on the ledge. Henry didn't know which was more likely.

              Bragi carried a dim white light that looked like an emberstone, though Henry wasn't sure how that could be since Bragi wasn't a dwarf. The light reflected off the tunnel walls and filled the air. Bragi, who seemed to have no trouble walking on the frozen ground, mumbled under his breath as they walked, and Henry caught only the occasional word. Whenever Henry tried to talk to him, Bragi glared at him, and Henry could feel his gaze even through the shadows masking his face. After another hour, they reached end of the cave. Immediately, Bragi went to a large rock. He paused briefly to brush away some snow and examine the ground. Then he stood up and began walking up a steep path. After a few seconds, he turned to Henry.

              "Are you coming?"

              "Do you actually know where you're going?"

              "To the keep at the top. I assume that's where you're going too, as there's nothing else on this mountain."

              Henry nodded, and Bragi turned and continued to walk up the path. Henry went to look at the rock, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Bragi disappeared around a bend, and Henry rushed after him.

              The way, while not easy, could hardly be called difficult. In some places, it looked like the ground had been leveled out. They didn't always take the most direct path, but they avoided any steep incline.

              "Of course," Bragi said when he mentioned it. "This keep was built by men, and it was built for war, but it had to be supplied. Roads were laid out. When the men left, the mountain started to reclaim the roads, but the marks men leave on the land do not fade quickly."

              "How long ago was that?"

              Bragi scanned the ground for a second. "Some thousand years or so."

              "How is it you know about it, then?"

              "I make it a point to know the past."

              "Well, that was cryptic," Henry said. "How much longer until we reach the keep?"

              The old man pointed up the mountain. As if on command, a cloudbank parted, revealing a fortress of grey stone. Peaked towers rose at two of the corners. The other two looked to have crumbled. One of the walls had a wide crack running through it, and a thin tendril of smoke floated up from somewhere in the building. The remnants of a bridge sat on either side of a gorge before the main entrance, its center having long since fallen. They were still too far to be certain, but Henry thought he saw people moving on top what remained of the walls.

              "How far is that?" Henry asked.

              "We could make it to the bridge by the end of the day. There's a small footpath that winds down and then back up to the gate, but it's not something you'd want to do at night unless you had to."

              "Like if you're going against a fortress full of enemy soldiers and you don't want to be seen?"

              "If you don't want to be seen, why would you go through the front door?"

              "Is there another way?"

              "It was built for war, but it wasn't built stupidly. The lord who lived here always had a way to come and go without being noticed."

              "Doesn't Idun know about it?" Henry asked. Instantly, he regretted his words. He hadn't told Bragi anything yet, and for all he knew, the old man was on Idun's side. Bragi, however, only shook his head.

              "She would if she knew to look for it, but she's grown overconfident, and she doesn't see as much as she should."

              "You seem to know an awful lot about these things."

              "And you know less than you should if you truly want to oppose her."

              "You're avoiding the question."

              "You didn't ask one. Come, no one has used that passage in a long time, and we'll have to clear out some rubble."

              "Why are you helping me?"

              "Because you can stop her," Bragi said before turning off the road and heading into the snow.

              Henry stared after him for a second before following. The old man forced his way through the snow as if it wasn't there. Henry noted that he didn't seem to get wet, but in light of everything else, that seemed like such a minor thing.

              As Bragi had said, fallen rocks blocked the back of the cave. Henry would've thought it was just another cave, but some of the stone in the blocked passageway had definite signs of being worked.

              They worked at it the rest of the day, and by the time night fell, they had opened a small hole in the top of the cavern that was just wide enough for them to squeeze through. The passage on the other side was long and dark, but the stones were obviously cut. Bragi's emberstone did little to banish the darkness.

              "You know, I was told only dwarves could use those."

              "Dwarves are infused with the power of the earth, and their stones feed off that. It's harder for others, but it's not impossible if you know the way of it."

              The gravelly floor crunched under their feet, and in a couple of places, the ceiling groaned and bent downward. They rushed past those places, and in another few hours, the passageway ended in a solid wall. Bragi ran his fingers along it until he found a stone looser than the others. He pressed it in, but nothing happened.

              "Sorry," he said as his fingers wandered over other stones. "It's been here a long time, and more stones than the key have shaken loose. Here it is."

              The stone beneath his hand clicked. Loose rocks shook free of the ceiling as the wall ground open and revealed an empty cellar. Several barrels had rotted and their contents had long ago evaporated leaving only the occasional patch of mold as a sign of their passage. A handful were still whole, and dark liquid dripped from one and ran to a grate on the floor, filling the room with a sour scent. Cobwebs ran from one end of the ceiling to the other, and a trio of spiders fled when the light of Bragi's emberstone fell on them. They moved quietly, but in this silent place, every step sounded like a hammer beating on stone. A loose strand of webbing brushed against Henry's face and he yelped. Bragi turned to glare at him, and though he could see even less of the old man's face than before, Henry shrank back from him.

              "This place isn't as empty as it appears," Bragi said in a voice Henry had to strain to hear. "I don't think you want to bring the whole keep down on us."

              Henry nodded and took a shaky step forward. They climbed up a stone stairway to a door that had long ago fallen off its hinges. It had to be after dark by now. After all he'd done, Henry knew he should be tired, but the ever-present danger kept his heart pounding. The empty castle reminded him of the one he'd kidnapped Andromeda's father from once. He'd entered that one through a secret passage too. Of course the difference was no one had been there but a pair of men guarding the king. He'd seen more than that walking the walls of this place, and he could only imagine how many people the keep held. They wandered through a maze of halls for the next quarter hour before they saw the first signs of habitation.

              "Guards patrolling the hall?" Henry asked as Bragi examined the tracks in the dust.

              "So it would appear. It means we're getting close."

              They hurried past the tracks. The halls beyond were still dusty, but it was a thin layer of dust instead of the thick carpet that caked the ground behind them. Arcs on the floor in front of doors told them which had been opened recently. Bragi moved past these with casual indifference. Once, when they saw a group carrying torches, the pair dove into a side passageway and Bragi shoved his emberstone into his furs. They waited in silence. Henry had to hold his breath to avoid breathing in the dust they'd thrown into the air. Unlike most of the warriors Henry had seen, these guards were slender and moved lightly on their feet. The guards passed without noticing them, and the pair went on their way. Finally, Bragi came to a stop before a simple wooden door with nothing to distinguish it from those around it. Though firelight flickered beneath it, the dust in front of it said no one had opened the door in several days. Without waiting for Henry to say anything, Bragi pulled open the door, and Henry's breath caught in his throat.

              The room contained more treasure than the lair of the dragon Nidhogg. Mountains of gold coins were piled up on either side of the door and ran all the way down a room that could've doubled as a baseball stadium. Fires burned on ornate bronze braziers, though the smell of smoke was curiously absent from the air. Precious stones dotted the area. Jewels and objects made of gold and silver were scattered throughout the room. He'd never seen such splendor. He wanted to reach out and take it. A dim part of his mind recognized the feeling as the same one that had once almost made him take a bite of a poison apple. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to beat back the compulsion. He tried to keep ahold of himself as he opened his eyes. A gleam of red caught his attention. A large ruby, at least as big as his head, sat in outstretched hands of the statue of a fat man casting crimson lights on the wall. Henry found himself staring into it. For an instant, he resisted the urge to go for it, but then the firelight hit it just right so that the stone seemed to glow, and Henry's self-control vanished. He took a step forward and tripped over a jeweled encrusted dagger. The ruby held his attention so completely that he barely felt it when he fell. He got up and walked closer. Bragi shouted something, but it was a distant thing, and Henry ignored it.

              Suddenly, a wall of flame roared into existence in front of Henry. He took a step back and threw his hands up in front of his face. The heat washed over him, and he could almost feel his arms blistering. He almost turned away but caught sight of the ruby through the flames. It looked more enticing than ever. He yearned to hold it in his hands. He had to have it. He knew he shouldn't. The fire was obviously hot enough to overcome the protection granted by his cloak, but the ruby called to him. He needed it. The flames would kill him. He had no doubt of that, but neither did he care, and he took a step into the fire.

CHAPTER 19

            
 
P
ain blurred his vision, and smoke clogged his nostrils. He didn't even know if he screamed. Only once before had he felt anything like this, when his skin had burned off in a volcano. There was only pain. He fell into the fire, and didn't move. Then, without warning, his body went cold. He felt more than heard the gentle humming, pulsing inside his chest. Something rushed out of him. The crackling of the fire quieted, and for a moment, Henry thought he was dead. Gradually, the pain receded, and strength flowed back into his body. He opened his eyes, slightly surprised to find them intact. The treasure room had dimmed, and the only sign of the flames was the blackened ground. Henry stood on unsteady legs. The charred line at his feet curved around, and Henry guessed that fire had surrounded the entire room. He examined his arms and found them free of blister or other injury. Not even his clothes were singed.

              Bragi clapped his hands. "I knew it!"

              "Knew what?" Henry asked. "Why am I not dead?"

              "You're a curse breaker, Henry," he said. "That's what the dragon's blood did to you. No curse can stand before you."

              "How did you know about the dragon?"

              Bragi brushed it off. "It's not important."

              "No," Henry said. "I think it is. How did you know about the dragon, and how did you know that fire wouldn't hurt me?"

              "Truth be told, I didn't" Bragi said. "I suspected though. Sometimes, risks need to be taken."

              "Risks?" Henry cried out. "I could've been killed."

              "You could've been killed when you fought Medusa or when you opposed Zuab. This was no different. In any case, there's still much to do. I suspect the girl you're looking for is somewhere among these treasures. Do you want to find her, or do you want to continue asking me questions?"

              Henry scowled at Bragi but nodded. They wound their way through the treasures until they came to a stone slab nestled between two hills of gems and coins. Atop it lay Andromeda.

              Her skin was paler than he'd ever seen it, and she wasn't moving. As far as he could tell, she wasn't even breathing. She'd been covered in armor made of interlocking plates of black steel. Runes had been engraved on the metal, though the color made it impossible to see what they were. It might've been his imagination, but they almost seemed to shift and writhe as light touched them. A black helmet hid everything but her face. A thin lock of hair ran down the side of her face. It had changed from golden yellow to fiery orange. Henry reached out to lay a hand on her forehead, but an inch away, his hand stopped, and his fingers went numb. A chill shot up his arm and raced through his body. He pulled back. His hand came away limp and a momentary panic seized him, but a few seconds later, he could wiggle his fingers. Gradually, feeling returned, and Henry looked at Bragi.

              "You wouldn't happen to know how to work this curse breaking power of mine would you?"

              Bragi shook his head. "It's never been an ability I've had, but you don't really need to break a curse here."

              "I don't?"

              "The curse is not on the girl, but on the armor. The gods of these lands are not craftsmen like those of other realms. They rely on the skill of the dwarves, and while items made by such beings far outstrip anything crafted by mortal hands, they can't really stand up to a weapon forged by a god."

              Henry nodded and drew his sword. Momentarily, he harbored the illusion of cutting the armor away with a few swift strokes, but he had a feeling that was more likely to gut Andromeda than free her. He bent down and got as close as he dared to examine the armor. There wasn't much room between the black metal and her flesh. He slipped his blade under the plate joining arm to torso and tried to saw it away, but his curved weapon was ill-suited for that kind of cutting. He pulled it back and took in a breath. Angling the blade slightly upward, he slashed. The sound was a little like aluminum foil tearing. His aim was off, and he only got a small piece of the steel. It fell to the ground and sizzled before evaporating into dark smoke. Henry looked into the quarter-sized hole he'd cut in the armor, but darkness hid everything inside.

              "At least I know it works," he said as he drew back again.

              His aim was better this time, and the entire top half of the plate fell to the ground. The thick smoke billowing from the metal made him cough, but it only lasted a second. When it was gone, Andromeda's shoulder showed between a gap in the armor. Tendrils of black energy reached out from edges of the hole, but they only extended out an inch. He bit his lower lip and struck again and again, each blow cutting more of the armor free. Eventually, he could touch her arm. Her skin felt cold and clammy, and as soon as he touched her, the black energy squealed and tried to reach for him, but he was far from their limited range. He pulled back and continued the work of freeing her.

It wasn't difficult work, but after a few minutes he was sweating. Andromeda's dress had been cut in several places. Once, he nicked her right wrist. He let out a strangled cry, but the cut wasn't deep and didn't bleed much. When he cut away the iron boots, he saw her bare feet underneath. That wouldn't be good in the snow outside.

              "One problem at a time," he said to himself.

              Eventually, only the black helmet remained on her head. He'd saved it for last in the hopes that once enough of the armor had been removed, he might be able to take it off by hand, but when he tried, is fingers went numb again. He laid the flat side of his blade against her cheek and worked it until he fit the tip between her face and the helmet. Carefully, he pushed it in until he encountered resistance. He bit his lower lip and flicked his wrist. The blade sliced through the top of the helmet. All at once, it split and turned to smoke. Andromeda took in a deep breath, and her eyes shot open. She sat up scanned the room until her gaze fell on him.

              "Henry, you're alive!"

              She took in her surroundings, and wrinkled her brow at the stone slab she was laying on. She swung her legs to one side and stepped off. Her knees buckled, but Henry helped her keep her balance. She gave him a sheepish grin.

              "Was I dead again?" she asked.

              "No, just cursed."

              "How long?" She brought her hand to her head before he could answer. "A few days."

              "That's right," Henry said. "How did you know?"

              "Soldiers." Her voice was distant, and her gaze empty.

              "Yeah, soldiers took you."

              "No," she said. "They're coming now. They knew you were here as soon as you crossed the circle of fire."