Arthur and the Fenris Wolf (23 page)

In the front, Ellie had taken her iPad out of her coat pocket – she must have everything in there but the kitchen sink, Arthur thought when she pulled it out – and was currently flicking through high-resolution photographs on the touchscreen.

Arthur took a break from Garda-watch and leaned forward to look at the pictures on the tablet. An image of the hammer filled the screen. By the looks of it, Ellie had taken the photo on the floor of his bedroom. She flicked her finger across the iPad to display another image – this time a close-up of the rune lettering on the hammer itself.

‘So you did take photos of my hammer,' Arthur said.

‘Hmm?' she asked, lost in thought, not looking up. ‘Oh, yeah. The hammer. Thor's hammer.'

‘Thor's hammer?' he replied, surprised.

‘Clearly.' She flicked to another view of the war-hammer. ‘It's said that Thor died battling the World Serpent. And according to you, this happened right here in Dublin. With that and what you've told me about it, I think this must be Thor's hammer.'

‘Wow,' Arthur muttered. It had never occurred to him before, but it seemed so obvious now Ellie had pointed it out.

‘According to legend,' Ellie went on, ‘it's a powerful weapon. When you need it most it will always come to you.'

‘Like in the lake.'

‘Exactly. And it probably only works for you.'

‘Why?'

‘I don't know. From what you told me it looks like it chose you. The same way the pendant chose you.' She looked him straight in the eye. Headlights from passing cars moved across her serious face. ‘You're clearly very important, Arthur.'

He blushed and looked away. I can't be important, he told himself. I'm just a boy who fell into this whole thing by mistake. And dragged my friends down with me.

‘Hmm …' he heard Ellie muse, once again staring at her screen.

‘What is it?' he asked, looking back at the iPad. The screen was filled with a photograph of a Celtic chalice taken in the National Museum before the raiders had arrived.

‘These are all the items Loki and his raiders stole from the museum,' she told him, flicking to an image of some Bronze Age jewellery. ‘The full list was in the newspapers so I looked them all up. I'm trying to work out why he took them. What was so special that he needed it so badly?'

‘You're right!' he exclaimed. ‘Loki wouldn't have gone to all that effort for money. It's too normal, too human. He must have been after something in particular. Can I have a look?'

‘Go wild,' she said and handed him the iPad. As they moved ever closer to Lough Faol and Ash, Arthur started to scan through the images himself, searching for a clue.

‘You know Drysi?' Fenrir asked when the girl and the guards had left.

‘I thought I did,' answered Ash, watching the closed door with awe. ‘At least, I knew her differently. I think … this is going to sound stupid, but she used to be my pet dog.'

‘She wasn't a dog. She was a wolf.'

‘That's what Arthur said.'

‘Arthur?'

‘He's a friend of mine. A good friend. I should have listened to him. How do you know her?'

‘She's like a daughter to me.'

‘A daughter?' She turned to look at the man in the next cage.

‘I raised her as my own, anyway.' He smiled at Ash. ‘Although she didn't turn out quite as I'd expected. I hope she didn't cause you any harm.'

Ash was taken aback by how unthreatening Fenrir seemed to be. ‘Well, I almost drowned the first time we met and now I'm locked in a cage,' she said wryly. She had expected Loki's second child to be just like the first: a monstrous and wicked thing. But Fenrir simply looked tired.

‘How did she turn out like this? So …'

‘Bad?' Fenrir prompted sadly. ‘Evil? Wicked?'

‘Well …'

‘She wasn't always this way. It's a long story.'

Ash waved her hand at the deserted cellar. ‘By the looks of it, we have the time.'

‘All right, then.' Fenrir shuffled around in the cage so that he was facing Ash. ‘My story starts a thousand years ago,' he said. ‘A millennium. It's a long time in anyone's understanding. I was just an ordinary wolf in Asgard, the land of the gods. Then one night Loki found me. I'd been wounded but he had charms to fix that. Using old and powerful magic, the speaking of runes, he harnessed his power into a moonstone – a piece of rock that fell from the moon itself. He called it Hati's Bite and its power would only come into effect when the moon was full in the sky. Then he cast a spell on me, turning me into something huge and powerful. I could speak and I could change from beast to man at will. He gave me my name and, in return for my new gifts, he tasked me with an important mission. I was to take Hati's Bite and make him an army. An army of wolves for him to control.

‘But before I even began my great undertaking, the gods of Asgard found and captured me. I thought I would never be free. Then my sister – the third of Loki's children – helped me escape. But, in doing so, she fell into an impossibly deep sleep. Taking her with me, I fled to the world of man, to Dubh Linn. Dublin.

‘As soon as we arrived, I saw a young Celtic girl playing in a field. She was alone, running through the high grass on a warm summer's night, laughing and talking to herself. The moon was full that night also. So I hid my sister safely in the high grass and called to the girl …' He looked up at the ceiling, wistfully recalling the encounter.

‘She wasn't frightened of me at all. I remember thinking that she was the perfect candidate to start the army. I had her lie down, basking in the white glow of the moon. And then I spoke the rune magic that Loki had taught me, holding Hati's Bite over her. And she changed then. She had my powers also, including the ability to transform into a wolf. She was the first. And I loved her as a daughter. Drysi. We left that place together – the father and his new daughter – taking my sister. I told Drysi about Loki and his plan, and together we worked to fulfil his charge.

‘As the years passed and I waited for Loki's return, I changed more men, women and children into wolves. The army grew and grew. I had hundreds at one stage – all powerful beasts that could not age. An army ready for world domination, just waiting for our leader to appear. But he never did.

‘At first I was contemptuous of the humans around me, seeing them as weak, pitiful creatures that I could devour in an instant. I thought I was doing those I changed a great service, making them strong, powerful, immortal. But living amongst humans for such a long time forced me to change my mind. I saw their compassion, their kindness and the love they held for each other, and I slowly began to respect them.

‘Eventually I stopped changing people. It seemed pointless. I became convinced that Loki would never return. Centuries passed and we learned to live peacefully alongside man, always careful to hide our true nature. Humans didn't know what we were and we tried never to reveal it to anyone. Unfortunately, some of the wolves weren't as restrained as I would have liked and occasionally attacked the humans. That's when the legends of the beast you humans call a werewolf started to spread.

‘Like this nation of Ireland herself, everything changed in 1916. Many of us were living in Dublin at the time – we had to move towns regularly over the years before our lack of aging aroused suspicion. Drysi had never given up hope of Loki's return and one day, while walking through the narrow streets next to the River Liffey, she sensed him. She could hear him crying out in agonising pain under the city itself, the sound echoing up through some dried-up drains. It was so faint that no human would have heard it. She told me all about it but I wouldn't believe her. Or, rather, I didn't want to believe her. I forbade her to go near the place again.

‘Easter rolled around a couple of weeks later and the Irish started to fight for their independence. I'd fought in many battles against many foes over the centuries and wanted to fight alongside the Irish again. I believed strongly in their cause. They'd been my constant companions for a thousand years and I yearned to see them achieve their freedom. But as I prepared to go and join the fighting, I noticed that Drysi was missing. I knew instantly where she'd gone.

‘I ran to the place where she said she'd sensed Loki. In the distance, I could hear that the fighting had begun; gunshots and mortar bombs were going off all over the city centre. As I got closer, I could sense him too. I could even feel his anguish coursing through my veins. I knew, then, that she was right. Loki was bound under the city, somewhere nearby.

‘I saw Drysi in an abandoned shop. I saw her walking past a window, her eyes fixed on the floor. She was concentrating so much that she didn't see that the fighting had spread. She didn't hear the Irish rebels on the second floor of the building. Some of the British forces … they …'

He closed his eyes, squeezing a pair of tears out that rolled down his cheeks.

‘I don't know what happened. I don't know if it was a bomb or a shell or a grenade. Or if the foundations were weak to begin with. But either way, the ceiling fell in on Drysi before I could reach her.'

He stopped and turned away. Ash could picture the scene. She'd read about the Easter Rising in history the year before and had seen photographs of the aftermath of the fighting.

‘I raced into the wrecked building,' Fenrir continued. ‘It was difficult to see. There was smoke and dust and rubble everywhere. I could hear the rebels calling out in pain but I didn't have the time to save them. I just had to get Drysi out of there. I found her under some debris. I could tell from the awkward angle her back was twisted at that her spine was broken. Her legs were limp and lifeless. I knew instantly she would never walk again. But her heart was still beating and she was alive.

‘And then I heard him again. Louder this time. Screaming in anguish under the wreckage of the building. Under the ground. Loki.

‘I brought Drysi to safety and made a decision that day. A couple of weeks later, I gathered all the remaining wolf-people. I knew that if Loki ever escaped, then he'd expect his army to help him conquer the earth. But I no longer believed in his cause and realised that I had to get my people away from there, hide them somewhere he wouldn't find us. So we moved here. And we've lived here since then, underground, hiding.' He broke off for a moment and sighed. ‘As you can see, my plan failed. I should have known you can't hide from a god.' His voice trailed off and for a moment there was silence.

‘What is this place anyway?' Ash asked, looking around her, unwilling to let Fenrir lapse into despairing silence again.

‘It's an old round tower. The Vikings killed all the monks who lived around it centuries ago, so we took it for ourselves. We had strength and a bit of magic on our side so we were able to turn it into what we needed. We built great halls – similar to the ones the gods have in Asgard – right underneath the tower. We lived here for a couple of centuries before moving to the city. When we needed a hideaway, this island was the perfect spot to return to. We even put in our own additions as we needed them, like a clockwork elevator for Drysi. This is our home. We've lived here largely peacefully since 1916 – that is, until Loki returned.

‘Of course, many of the wolves were angry about having to live in hiding and I think secretly half of them had been hoping Loki would return. The others, like me, hoped he wouldn't. Drysi always prayed most fervently for his homecoming. She believed that the god would heal her of her disability. And then, a few weeks ago, Loki finally found us. He was furious when he saw the small size of the army waiting for him and had me thrown in here. Since then, I've only heard whisperings of what has happened. Drysi has been helping him. And half the wolves have pledged their allegiance to him. The others are held captive in other cells. That's it. That's all I know.'