Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (7 page)

“Unless there’s a dark magic block. You can’t
read minds through thick fields of the black stuff. If you find
yourself in one of those, or if Tyr gets captured, call for me.” I
looked at each of my friends. “So far as I know, Tyr’s is the only
head I can press my thoughts into, but I can hear anyone who
consciously opens their mind to mine. If you do that, it’ll be a
one-way communication, but at least you’ll have a way to reach
someone.”

Brynn turned to Tyr. “So we’re clear on
strategy?”

“Yes,” Tyr confirmed. “Forse, keep physical
contact with Elsa until it’s time for you to make the exchange. At
that time, Elsa, stick close to me and Brynn, and do your calming
thing on the dark elves. If everything goes well, we’ll be home in
time for dinner.”

“Promise?” Mia turned to Tyr. With her head
buried in his chest, I couldn’t see her face, but fear radiated off
her back, filling the air around her with a quivering energy.

“
I wish I
could.” Tyr rubbed his thumbs just above Mia’s hips. “But I
can
promise to return as
soon as I can. I love you,
prinsessa
. Henrik, take care of my
girl.”

“I will,” Henrik vowed. “And don’t worry,
War. My girl will take care of you.”

When Tyr rolled his eyes, Henrik winked at
Brynn, and motioned for Mia to follow him to the porch. They stood
together, waving with a calm I knew neither of them felt, while Tyr
glanced at Forse, Brynn, and me.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“As we can be,” I said honestly.

Tyr
nodded, and I knew he understood. As much as I wished I had more
time to practice, being of Asgard meant you learned a lot of things
on the job. Trial by fire was a way of life. And retrieving the
perp who’d committed
the
crime, from the realm populated by the darkest souls in the
cosmos, with only a partially trained Unifier to keep things from
going downhill…we were definitely walking headfirst into the
flames.

My brother raised his head to the sky and let
out a yell. “Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!”

The next moment, a brilliant rainbow shot
down from the sky, engulfing us in its luminescence. The colors
bounced off each other, the vibrations of each shade emitting a
different level of energy. I stepped into the golden hue and pulled
Forse close to me, knowing the color would soothe his anxiety. He
wrapped his arms around me and tucked me to his chest, shielding me
from the fierce wind that howled while the Bifrost sucked us
upward. I clung to the corded muscles of Forse’s back and willed
away the nausea that coursed through me. We shot through Midgard’s
atmosphere, past its moon, and through the cosmos, en route to the
black realm. Having my bones nearly sucked through my skin in an
intergalactic rainbow vacuum made me inordinately queasy, though
I’d take the Bifrost every day if it meant Forse would hold me like
this.

As I
pressed my cheek to Forse’s chest and committed the sensation to
memory for
extremely frequent
future use, the Bifrost shifted. We started our
descent. I bent my knees and prepared for the impact, but before I
felt the familiar jolt, there was a pressure at the back of my
legs. Instead of stumbling across an unfamiliar field when we
touched down, I found myself cradled safely in Forse’s arms, my
hands around his neck and my forehead pressed against his. He rose
slowly from his landing crouch, but he didn’t let me go.

“
Well,
hei
there, you.” I smiled up at him.

“
Hei
.
” Forse lifted his head just enough to scan the
area, then turned his attention back on me. “I thought, you know,
in case it was an ambush, I should hold on to you so I could port
us out of here.”

Porting was Forse’s gift—he could
instantaneously transport himself and two passengers to any
location within a realm. It came in handy when moving perpetrators,
since Asgard’s enemies were often tailed by bounty hunters, rival
criminals, or co-conspirators hoping to take out the justice
god.

“You’re sweet.” I reached up to touch his
cheek with one finger. Then I turned my head to study our landing
area. Black soot covered the field where we’d touched down, and
stretched clear to a horizon peppered with plants that looked an
awful lot like cactus. A jagged mountain range stood on our other
side, easily two kilometers high, and circled by a crimson ribbon.
I narrowed my eyes. “Is that a river? Why is it red?”

“Because it’s made of lava.” Forse nodded.
“The mountains are dormant volcanoes.”

“But if they’re dormant, how is the
lava—”

“That’s the million-dollar question. Welcome
to Svartalfheim.” Brynn took her time righting herself. When she
stood, her face was tinted grey. The poor thing got horrible
Bifrost sickness. She preferred to travel by pegasus, but she’d
sent her mare, Fang, back to Asgard to guard Freya. She swayed back
and forth, and I wondered if she regretted her act of altruism.

Tyr completed his surveillance, and sheathed
his broadsword. “We’re clear. But there could be scouts in the
mountains. Let’s move.” With that, Tyr stalked ahead, his sights
set on the mysterious red river traversing the landscape.

Forse set me on my feet with a lingering
look, and took my hand in one of his. With the other, he held the
nanomolecular particle accelerator at eye level. We moved together
for five minutes, following Tyr in silence until we reached the
base of the mountain. When Tyr held up a hand, we circled around.
He examined the rocky overhang, and motioned for us to step
underneath it. We gathered in the makeshift shelter. Neither Forse
nor Brynn lowered their weapons.

“Brynn, test the coms.” Tyr didn’t take his
eyes off the horizon.

“Yes, sir.” Brynn tucked her rapier into her
belt and adjusted her backpack. Between the extra ammunition and
Mia’s bagged lunch, it was stuffed full. Brynn giggled. “You want a
sandwich?”

“Just test the coms.” Tyr bit back a
smile.

Brynn held her arm up, pressing her pointer
finger to the center of her wrist. “Call Tyr,” she ordered. And
just like that, Brynn’s forearm fogged, then glassed over to form a
screen bearing her reflection.

When Tyr’s forearm emitted a soft hum, he
pressed his finger against it. The color ebbed, and Brynn’s face
appeared in its surface.

“Sandwich?” Brynn grinned at her arm.

“Stuff it, Aksel.” Tyr tapped his wrist
again, and Brynn’s screen went dark.

“I can’t believe you hung up on me.” Brynn
feigned indignation. “Whatever. Let’s test yours.” She pointed to
Forse and me. “Call Elsa,” she commanded her arm. “And Forse.”

Our arms hummed, and when we touched our
wrists, Brynn’s face filled the surface of mine.

“Mine works,” I confirmed.

“Mine too,” Forse seconded.

“Awesome. These should help us stay in
contact.” Brynn tapped her screen off.

Tyr cracked his neck. “Let’s just not get
separated.”

“Deal,” Brynn chirped. She drew her rapier
again and stared at the landscape. “Is this where they’re supposed
to meet us?”

“My source told me to stand under the
innermost overhang near the Kopfler mountains at forty degrees
latitude.” Tyr checked the mountain range before glancing at the
sky. “We’re at the correct latitude, and unless Heimdall altered
the coordinates on the Bifrost, this should be the Kopfler
range.”

As Tyr spoke, Brynn kept watch on the
horizon. In the distance, a cluster of dark figures led a hooded
one across the soot. “We’ve got company,” Brynn said. She gripped
the hilt of her rapier.

“
We sure
do. Game on.” Forse narrowed his eyes and positioned himself so he
stood in front of me. Tyr moved beside him, so they stood shoulder
to shoulder. I shifted my heels so my feet were planted firmly in
the soot, and grounded myself to the black earth. I opened the
energy centers in my feet, drawing strength from the depths of
Svartalfheim’s core. When I was securely anchored to the realm, I
pushed my aura out so it pressed against my friends, and sent waves
of calming energy throughout the protective bubble. They pulsed
along the perimeter, bathing our party in a slightly-less-anxious
glow. The energy coming back at me dimmed as Tyr and Brynn’s
energies relaxed infinitesimally.
Not my best work, but
it’s better than nothing.

I’d only managed to soothe two-thirds of our
party. Forse clung to his tension as he reached back to lace his
fingers through mine. He put his other hand on his holstered pistol
and spoke in a low voice.

“Here comes trouble.”

“
SNOKART
, TYR.” THE TALLEST
of the dark elves raised a hand
in greeting. The rogue team leader stood half a head taller than
his comrades, and he wore a patch that seemed to designate some
kind of rank.
Curious
. I’d been unaware there was order among dark elf
outlaws.

“
Snokart
, Tosk,” Tyr said in response. He and Forse held their
positions slightly in front of me, while Brynn stood at my side. My
friends feigned calm, but each stood with their shoulders pulled
back, their knees slightly bent, and their hands on their weapons.
They didn’t trust the dark elves any further than they could throw
them.

Judging from the malicious energy vibrating
off the elves, my friends were spot on with this assessment.

Work harder, Elsa
. I drew a slow breath through my nose, and expanded my
aura so it slid around our group to bump against the approaching
dark elf party. On my exhale, I pushed another wave of calm to the
perimeter of the bubble. It nudged my friends, bringing Brynn and
Tyr’s energy down another notch, but Forse, Tosk, and the rest of
the foreigners remained unaffected.
What am I doing wrong?

“Brynn,” I whispered as our visitors drew
closer. “What’s the thing on Tosk’s jacket mean?”

“It’s a colonel’s badge.” She barely moved
her lips as she spoke.

“If these are outlaws, why is he still
wearing his military insignia?”

Brynn shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t have a lot
of clothes?” She stepped closer to me, and held her rapier
tight.

“
Hverte skille vas min keptlevko?”
Tyr gestured to the woman at
the back of the group. The dark elves parted, revealing the hooded
figure of a herculean woman. She was tall, easily more than six
feet. Skin tight leather pants clung to her toned legs, and she
wore a matching black vest that left her muscular arms exposed.
Although her wrists were bound, and a bag covered her head, I had
no doubt she’d be able to overpower her captors with the flick of
one enormous man-hand.

So why doesn’t she?

“
Yes.
This is the captive you requested.” Tosk slipped into English,
which was a
huge
relief, since my Svartish skills were remedial, at
best.

“Where’s our payment?” The female to Tosk’s
right stepped forward. A fierce wind whipped across the plane,
lifting her long white hair to expose high, pointed ears, not
unlike those of my beloved Alfheim meadow elves. The dark elves and
the light ones shared certain physical traits, but their souls were
polar opposites. Even without calling on my abilities, I knew this
group had evil intentions. I pushed the thought into my brother’s
head. He registered my voice and opened his mind to mine.

This is wrong
, I
communicated silently.
I’m giving them my best dose of cooperative
energy, and all they’re sending back is malicious
intent.

I feel it, too
.
Tyr’s words sounded in my head, though he continued to face the
elves with an impassive expression.
We’ll grab Runa and go. If the exchange
turns south, let Forse port you out of here. Brynn and I will hold
them off until he can come back for us.

Runa’s already done her worst
, I sent back.
Let’s just leave now while
we
—

“
Did you
not hear me,
Asgardian
?” The white-haired girl spat the name like it was a dirty
word. “I said, where’s our payment?”

“Bagatha.” Tosk silenced the female elf with
a look.

Tyr eyed Bagatha levelly before pulling a
coin-sized stone from his pocket. “The prisoner?”

“Fair enough. Let’s allow your justice god to
make the exchange. I presume that’s why he is here.” Tosk took the
ropes binding Runa and jerked them forward. Runa stumbled, landing
on her knees as she fell. Tosk hissed, “Get up.”

Runa pushed herself to her feet, the bag
still covering her head, and Tosk gripped her elbow in his hand. He
guided her forward, standing halfway between his party and
ours.

“Forseti? The exchange?” Tosk stared at
Forse, who bristled at his full name. I sent a ripple of calm
across the perimeter of my aura, but it brushed right past him. He
wasn’t receptive to my influence at all. That wasn’t good.

Let’s just go
. I
pushed my thought into Tyr’s head again.
I’m failing—Forse isn’t open to my
unifying. Tosk’s energy is so dark it’s almost nonexistent, and
he’s got so many blockers up, I can’t see his next choice—I think
it’s deliberate. And we don’t know what that stone does, but I’m
sure it’s more than we think if it’s worth as much to him as
Fenrir. Don’t do this.

You want me to just let Runa go? After everything she
did?
A flash of darkness
swept across Tyr’s mind.
Think of the evil she’s capable of now that she’s
spent time in the dark realm. She could do irreparable harm, not
only to Asgard, but to Alfheim…Vanaheim
…His thoughts broke and an overwhelming feeling of
sorrow came from his love center.
Think about what she might do to
Midgard
.