"Valeska's protection spell worked," I said, then corrected myself as I recalled the painful-looking red burns that covered her back. "At least partially. And I imagine that it didn't work as well as it could've because she didn't fully know what she was doing."
"That's true." Oona agreed with me, but she didn't sound completely convinced.
I got out of bed and opened the heavy drapes, letting in the bright morning sunlight. The parking lot behind the motel was filled to the brim, mostly with tiny little hatchbacks and rusted hovercars. The black asphalt shimmered with an inferior mirage from baking under the sun.
Facing Oona, I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall air conditioner, which rumbled and rattled as it attempted to keep the heat at bay with blasts of tepid, stale air. Oona had begun chewing her lip, making her silver studs above her lip twist and turn.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"Just..." She squinted at me. "Can we die in Kurnugia?"
"I'm hoping we make it out of there alive," I replied carefully. "But if you're asking if it's possible for us to be killed, then yes, I think so. Everything I've ever learned in school only points to one thing--when mortals die, they're dead. There's no afterlife or other plane for us."
"That's what I thought," she grumbled, sounding disappointed. "But I was hoping you might have known of some sort of cosmic loophole."
"If I knew how to cheat death, that would make my life so much easier," I said with a dry laugh. Oona smiled, but it quickly faded.
"Well, I suppose I ought to get gathering my stuff, then." She flipped the book closed with a heavy thud and stood up. "I'll do my best to pack everything we need to keep us alive."
Oona went back out to the main room to get the magic aspect covered, while I decided to focus on the practical things--namely, weapons. I pulled out the long black duffel bag from where I'd stashed it underneath the bed, then set it on the mattress. I unzipped the bag to reveal our small cache of armaments and make my picks about what to bring down with us.
The majority of the weapons had come from Samael, who had gone into his private collection to give me the most powerful, supernaturally endowed defenses he had in his arsenal. Of the two that I had procured without Samael, I had to immediately disregard my Valkyrie sword Sigrun, because it wouldn't work down in Kurnugia.
The special constraints of sneaking down under the cloak meant that despite their obvious power, I wouldn't be able to take all the weapons. The long swords--Tyrfing and Dyrnwyn--would be particularly cumbersome, so I set them aside.
That left me with the jagged black tourmaline dagger that once belonged to Kalfu, the iron-spiked flail chain mace Sharur, and the sword made from a solitary piece of obsidian-like stone, Kusanagi. Three weapons. I hoped that Valeska brought her own, because there really wasn't much to share.
I grabbed the rest of my gear--my hip sheath, my hooded vest with dagger sheath, and my heavy-duty knapsack--and spread it out on the bed so I could account for everything as I packed up. My knapsack was already preloaded with essentials, like bandages, bottled water, and jackfruit seeds to eat, and I added Sharur, the Valhallan cloak, and my solarsteinn to it. The sunstone had come in handy before, and it might be the best tool for finding Odin's spear.
I pulled off my loose T-shirt, preparing to change and get dressed for the mission, when the door to the bedroom opened. Quinn came into the room, smiling sheepishly when she saw me topless. I thought about covering up, since I was only wearing a black bra and mismatched pair of striped panties, but it wasn't like she hadn't seen me naked plenty of times already.
"I wanted to talk to you before you left," she said. Her voice was low as she stepped closer to the bed, but she appeared completely undeterred by my semi-nudity.
"Well, let's talk, then." I grabbed my ribbed leggings out of my suitcase and pulled them on. They were tattered in a few places, but they were still the most durable pair of pants I had.
Quinn pushed her silver hair behind her ears. "I don't want you to go," she said, then quickly added, "I know that you have to. But it kills me that I can't go with you."
"I'll be fine," I insisted without looking at her.
"I know that you probably will be," she agreed.
I pulled a tank top on over my head, all too aware of how her eyes felt on me. My skin felt flushed, but I hoped she didn't notice as I went back to loading up my gear bag.
"Is that what you came to tell me?" I asked. "That you want to go with, and you hope I don't die? I mean, I appreciate that, but it was already implied, I think."
"Malin." She groaned as I picked up my black hooded vest. I'd just pulled it on and started doing up the sheath buckle when she grabbed my arm. "Can you stop for one second and talk to me?"
Her hand was soft and strong, and I finally lifted my eyes to meet hers. She stared at me with a pleading desperation in her eyes, but I'd already heard that in her voice. Even though I was looking at her now, she let her hand linger on my arm, and I didn't push it away.
"I don't want to leave things like we did," she said. "The things I said back in Sugarland--"
I looked away. "No, you were right. You should've said that stuff a long time ago, honestly."
"I don't know what the future holds. Not for us, not for the world," Quinn admitted softly. "But I know that you're going somewhere that you might not come back from, and I can't go with you." She paused, taking a fortifying breath. "I don't want the last thing I said to you to be hurtful. I still care about you. I always will."
"I..." I swallowed hard, struggling to find the words that always wanted to escape me when I was around Quinn. "I still care about you, too."
She'd moved closer to me, somehow, without me noticing. As if she'd been able to materialize in the space right next to me. Her hand moved down from my arm, holding on to my hip, and her other hand went to my chin, gently pushing it up so I'd look at her.
"You have to come back, Malin," she said in a voice that was low and husky.
"I plan to," I whispered, and she closed her eyes as she leaned down to me.
Her lips had barely touched mine when the bedroom door opened.
"Why doesn't anyone knock?" I groaned, but I was already stepping back from Quinn, putting the necessary distance between us.
"Sorry," Valeska said, leaning on the open doorframe. "I was checking to see if you were ready. It's about time to go."
"Yeah, almost," I told her. "Give me like five minutes."
"Okay. Just be quick." Valeska went back to the living room, but she left the door open behind her.
I finished buckling my vest harness, and Quinn moved back toward me, like she meant to pick up where we'd left off. But for me the moment was broken, and I knew that we didn't have time to waste.
"Is there anything else you needed to say?" I asked her as I slid the dagger into its sheath.
"No," she said, but her words were filled with heavy regret. "I think I said it all."
"Mal?" Oona called from the other room, and a second later she was in the room. Quinn finally started backing away from me to let me finish what I needed to do.
"Yeah?" I asked without looking up at her.
"Did Odin say anything else?" Oona asked. "Is there anything else we should know?"
"I don't think so."
"Well, what happened?" she persisted. "I mean, exactly. Be specific."
"I already told you like fifty times."
"And if telling me fifty more times could help us, then I'll keep asking you." She had the sharp tone that let me know there was no point in arguing with her.
"We waited at the temple, and Odin arrived a few minutes late--"
"How did he arrive?" Oona asked.
I shrugged. "I didn't see him arrive. He was just there, walking down the steps. His raven was there, too, so maybe that's how he travels."
"A raven?" she brightened. "You didn't mention that before."
"I didn't think it was that important," I s
aid. "Odin has a pet raven, Muninn, that he hangs around with a lot."
"Only one?" Oona asked.
I snapped the clips shut on my knapsack and looked at her. "What?"
"Doesn't Odin have two ravens?"
It hadn't occurred to me before, but in at least half the pictures I had seen of Odin he was accompanied by his two black giant ravens, Muninn and Huginn. I'd been too preoccupied by meeting with a Vanir god to really think about it.
"Yeah." I nodded slowly, remembering what I'd learned in school when we'd covered Odin. "Yeah. A teacher told me that they each represent something. Muninn was ... heart, and Huginn was mind."
"So, Odin is bringing Muninn around with him?" Oona asked. "But where's the other one?"
I slipped my knapsack on my back. "I don't know. Maybe when we get back from Kurnugia you can ask Odin yourself."
ELEVEN
We took a bus from our motel, traveling through the lush greenery of Belize. When we'd first arrived here, it was like being transported into a fairy tale. It was such a disorienting contrast from the dark claustrophobia of the city back home. Here all the colors were bolder, and even the sun shone brighter.
It only took the hyperbus fifteen minutes to speed north through thirty miles of jungle before dropping us in the middle of El Noveno Anillo, with the driver telling us we'd have to make the rest of the way on our own.
Last time I had come to the run-down suburb that ran around the Gates of Kurnugia--only five days ago, though it felt like a lifetime--we had come to the north side of the city, traveling down from the affluent metropolitan area of Belmopan. We had seen the luxury condos and historic architecture blot out the trees before giving way to the slums of El Noveno.
But this time we'd come up from Caana City, ending up on the south side of El Noveno, and it was even worse than what I'd first been introduced to. The "homes"--if they could really be called that--were almost entirely made of rusted corrugated metal patched together with cardboard and mud.
The dirt roads were narrow and uneven, with plenty of holes, dips, and large rocks marring the path. But the area was crowded, with humans and immortals alike, all of them looking ragged and malnourished. The instant Oona, Valeska, and I got out of the van, looking all healthy and clean, the locals approached us with outstretched hands, begging for spare change or fresh water or something to eat.
We began walking slowly toward the Gates of Kurnugia, slow not so much by choice but because of everyone crowding around us. Valeska firmly and repeatedly told everyone no and pushed her way ahead, carefully stepping over garbage and moving to the side to avoid a motorbike that bounced carelessly past us.
The stench was undeniable, like a rotting corpse covered in two-month-old trash and left to bake and ferment under the hot sun. Which was exactly what I suspected was happening. Somehow, it was hotter here than in the rest of the country. There was no humidity, but a dry heat, like flames lapping up from a bonfire and threatening to engulf all of us.
Sweat slid down the shaved side of my head, running down to the nape of my neck. I already had my long hair up in a ponytail, but it would do little to combat the sheer intensity of the heat.
Finally, the humans and immortals had begun dispersing, after realizing that we weren't easy marks for begging. It was still crowded, because there were far too many individuals living in too small an area, but they had begun ignoring us and going about their business.
"How much farther?" Valeska asked.
"There is still a ways to go," I admitted, then motioned to the terra-cotta wall that loomed in the distance. "That's how we get in."
A little boy came up to me, with a mop of brown curls. He stared up at me with eyes too big for his face and sallow cheeks. His lips were chapped, with a fresh scab on the corner of his mouth, and he held his dirty hand out to me.
"Bonjou, fraulein," he said in a clear voice, clearer than I expected for a child of his age. Then I realized he was probably around six or seven, maybe even older, but severe malnourishment had impeded his growth, making him appear much younger. "Ayuadame. Souple, Wasser. I'm sehr sediento. Please, fraulein."
He spoke in a hodgepodge of several different languages. From what I could tell, it sounded like a blend of German, Spanish, French, and English. I didn't know all the words he said, but I was fairly certain that Wasser meant "water."
I knew I would probably regret it later, but I didn't know how I could deny a wide-eyed, dehydrated little boy. I slid off my knapsack, carefully keeping it close so the others surrounding us didn't get any ideas, and I grabbed my bottle of water.
As I handed it to him, his eyes lit up like fireworks.
"Mesi!" he exclaimed. "Mesi anpil!"
He ran off, laughing in delight in between guzzling down the water.
Valeska looked at me, her gaze suspicious under her heavy lids. "How do you know that wasn't a trick? That he isn't a shape-shifter trying to trick you or mug you?"
"I don't," I admitted with a shrug as I slid my bag back onto my shoulders.
My Valkyrie blood usually gave me a sense of immortals, and all my training in school and at the academy meant I was pretty good at recognizing them, but I wasn't 100 percent accurate. Especially given how overpacked the area was and the supernatural vibes that the Gates of Kurnugia gave off.
"I would've done the same thing if he'd asked me," Oona assured me with a smile, but she hadn't needed to. Of course Oona would've helped him. By the pained expression in her eyes every time she denied a beggar I guessed it was taking all her willpower not to give them everything she had.
I couldn't read Valeska's expression well enough to tell if she was disapproving or approving, but what was done was done, so we moved on. As we walked closer to the city, the crowds began to finally give way. Even the dilapidated homes were more spread out, and I noticed a few eyes peering out at us.
We followed along the wall, heading around to the entrance to the Gates, and our trek had become eerily silent. Every now and again I spotted a rat or other small vermin skittering across our path, and once an olitau flew off over us. Its leathery red wings spread wide above us, momentarily granting us a reprieve from the sun, and the bat-like beast let out an angry screech before disappearing over the walls into the Gates of Kurnugia.
But beyond that, we were alone. Knowing how populated the area was around us, I felt strangely isolated as we made the long trek under the bright sun.
Valeska stretched her wings, flapping them lightly, which caused a wonderful, brief breeze. It also wafted the hot stench around me, but it was worth it for even the slightest of reprieves from the heat.
"This is taking a lot longer than last time," Oona commented.
Since her legs were so much shorter than mine and she was less athletic, she had a tendency to fall a few steps behind, but she would never complain or ask me to slow down. Instead, she'd push herself harder, and I didn't want her to end up exhausted, so I slowed to match her pace.
"Last time we took a taxi, but this is the closest a bus would drop us off to the Gates," I said. "I didn't realize it would be quite this long a walk or I would've sprung for a taxi again."
I said that as if we had unlimited funds, but realistically I had no idea how Oona and I would be paying our rent next month, not to mention getting groceries or any other expenses. We'd both run through our very limited savings, and I hoped that Atlas could get money from Samael so we'd be able to buy Overland tickets back home when we were done here.
"We're almost there," Valeska said and pointed toward the glimpse of the arch rising above the wall. "I think the entrance is right around this bend."
"Finally," Oona muttered.
Then Valeska stopped short, causing Oona to bump right into her wings. Her sharp gaze was fixed on a piece of rusted metal leaning against a pile of trash, buzzing with flies. Oona started to ask what was going on, but I held up my hand to silence her.
Over the swarming insects, I heard it, too. A guttural rumbling and te
aring, like a rabid dog attacking roadkill. I saw the snout first, poking out from under the garbage, and then it pushed forward, knocking the sheet of metal to the ground with a clatter.
It was a hulking beast, with trash sticking to its mottled orange and black fur. The head was like a wolf's--albeit much larger--but the body was much broader, with a sloping back that went down to a stubby tail and short hind legs. With its head low, baring its long yellowed teeth, the beast had a hunchbacked appearance.
When it growled, it wasn't like a normal wolf. It was higher-pitched, with a cackling edge to it, but with a throaty depth, so it sounded like a cross between a bear and a hyena. And that's when I knew exactly what was it was--a shunka warakin.
Then I heard another growl behind us, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that two other shunka warakins had appeared. We were surrounded.
TWELVE
"Aren't these things supposed to be on the other side of the wall?" Oona asked quietly as the snarling beast stared us down, with thick drool dripping from its gaping maw onto the dusty road.
"It doesn't really matter," Valeska said, her hand slowly going for the dagger she had sheathed on her hip. "They're here now, and we have to deal with them."
Sharur the mace was in my knapsack, too far back for me to reach, but legend claimed it had the power to fly to its owner if they truly needed it. I had yet to try it out, so I had no idea if this was true or even if I was technically the mace's owner, but there was no time for much else.
Just as the shunka warakin crouched down, preparing to pounce, I raised my hand in the air, high above my head, and shouted, "Sharur, I need you!"
Within seconds it all happened. My bag suddenly felt warm on my back, like it was on fire, and I heard the clips explode off of it. The shunka warakin looked at me with startled yellow eyes, and Valeska lunged at it with her dagger drawn.
The bronze handle slammed into the palm of my hand, and I gripped it tightly. I pushed Oona to the ground as I whirled around, facing the two shunkas behind us, and I began swinging the mace. The heavy iron spiked ball was attached to the staff by a thick chain, and it collided with the nearest shunka warakin with a thick squelching sound.