Secrets of Valhalla (18 page)

U
ncle Mark groaned as he slid to the ground, and then lay very still.

Buzz ran to his side.
He's still breathing.
But Uncle Mark was in a very bad way
.

Buzz turned to Mary. Fenris had flopped down onto the ground as well, whimpering softly. Blood seeped from the wounds on his head and muzzle, and his eyes were unfocused. Mary was kneeling beside him, the vial of water that Pluto had given her at the wolf's lips.

“Wait,” Buzz said. “My uncle needs that.”

Mary rested a hand on the wolf's giant, shaggy head and stroked it. “Fenris deserves it more.”

“He's just a wolf, Mary,” Buzz snapped. “And you don't get to decide who lives and who dies. You're not a god.”

“He's more than a wolf. I can feel it.” Mary's eyes looked uncertain and a bit scared. “And I
do
decide, because Pluto gave me the vial. He said that it was mine to use.”

Buzz took a breath. Getting angry with Mary was not going to help anyone. “Please, Uncle Mark has been there for me my whole life. And he's hurt. You've got to help him.”

The confusion in Mary's eyes was gone. “The body may belong to your uncle but that's not who is here with us.”

“What are you talking about?”

His godfather coughed as if in answer, and Buzz could hear a worrying rattle in his chest.

“Connect the dots, will you, Buzz?” Mary sounded exasperated. “Just before your uncle Mark got knocked out he vowed that he would be worshiped again by humanity, and told us that he got his hand bitten off by Fenris. In myth, that's exactly what happened to the god of justice, Tyr—the day guardian for Tuesday.” Mary continued to stroke Fenris's head. “Don't you see? The god Tyr has been awake in your uncle Mark for a while now. But instead of telling us that, he's been pretending to be your uncle, accessing his memories so that you'd trust him.”

Buzz raised an eyebrow. “We're in the Dread Caves. Pluto said that this place turns people crazy. That's probably why Uncle Mark is saying strange stuff.”

“Your uncle is not crazy.” Mary's expression was the most serious he'd ever seen it. “But he is asleep, and he's been replaced by a god with a grudge against Odin who's been
trying to pull the wool over our eyes.”

Uncle Mark groaned. Nearly all the color had left his face, and droplets of sweat were beading on his forehead. Buzz's godfather was slipping away right in front of his eyes.

“Mary, give me the vial, ple—”

“I didn't piece it together right away.” Mary didn't seem to want to hear his request. “But Tyr is another angry god just like Loki, and we need to be careful. We don't know what his plan is.”

“But he can't be Tyr,” Buzz protested. “He held the rune and nothing happened. We were there.”

“But that was not the first time Uncle Mark would have held Tyr's rune, is it?” Mary countered. “He held it weeks ago, when the runes were discovered in that raid. Don't you see? Uncle Mark's sleeping god was probably woken up then.”

“But why would he lie?” Buzz asked. “Why wouldn't he tell us what'd happened to him?”

“That's my point exactly,” Mary said. “Tyr is hiding something.”

B
uzz's thoughts were like biting ants nipping away at his brain. If what Mary said was true, it meant that Uncle Mark, or rather, Tyr, had been lying from the start of this whole mess on Friday the thirteenth. Lying about looking for the World Tree and not finding it. Lying about knowing nothing about Sunna or Loki. There has to be a reason, Buzz told himself. But we'll never find out what if we don't heal him.

Uncle Mark coughed again and blood splattered onto his lips. They were running out of time.

“Mary, you want the truth,” Buzz said. “And I can't let my godfather die. So how about this? Give half the vial to Uncle Mark and half to Fenris. Give them both a chance to live.”

Mary hesitated for a moment, gazing first at Fenris and then at Uncle Mark. Finally, she pulled the stopper from the
vial and trickled some of the water into the wolf's mouth before passing the vial to Buzz.

He dribbled what was left of the water down his godfather's throat.

Uncle Mark groaned and curled himself into a ball on the floor, but Buzz could already see that the color was rushing back into his cheeks.

Fenris gave a low whine and lifted his head from Mary's lap. The wolf looked warily at Uncle Mark and then touched his muzzle with his paw. It had already begun to heal, and the bleeding had stopped. He made a yelping noise.

“It was the water,” Mary said. “It healed you.”

The wolf yelped again.

“No, I don't think it will leave a scar.” Mary giggled.

“You understand him?”

“You don't?”

Buzz shook his head.

The wolf lay his head on Mary's lap and yelped again. “He says he missed me. That he's been in a dark place, in the chaos, for a long time, but that we have brought him back and he's thankful.” She listened carefully as the wolf continued, staring down at him. “He does not want to fight Tyr anymore. He wants to thank him for cutting away the runes. They didn't belong there.”

“Mary, who does he think you are?” Buzz asked. “What does he mean when he says he missed you?”

“I don't know,” Mary said, stroking the wolf's head. “And
I'm not sure he'd understand me if I were to ask.”

Buzz turned to check on his godfather's progress, but Uncle Mark was gone.

And so were the runes.

The sound of metal slashing against stone reverberated around the cavern.

Uncle Mark stood at the mouth of the cave. A fierce, gold light radiated from his skin. He was much taller as well. His sword was raised up high, and he smashed it into the giant stalactites that hung overhead.

Buzz scrambled to his feet. “What are you doing?” he cried.

“I'm sorry, Buzz,” his godfather said. “I know Mark would want to keep you safe. He loves you very much—it is written all over his memories. But this is the way it has to be. You will be staying here, forever. A victim of an unfortunate cave-in.”

Buzz took a step forward.

“I would think very carefully before you take another step. This stalactite could fall at any moment, and you'd have to pass right beneath it to get to me.”

Buzz stopped. Several of the giant stalactites were hanging on by slivers. They just needed a little push.

“So I was right. You are Tyr,” Mary breathed.

He inclined his head. “I was doing a good job of disguising my god self until you gave me that water, but now I'm fully restored and there is no hiding the truth.”

“Why are you doing this?” Buzz asked. “Why are you sentencing us to death?”

Tyr shrugged. “Because you are a risk to my plan. A plan that has been hard fought for.” He watched the stalactites sway like wind chimes.

Buzz gazed at them also, almost hypnotized by the gentle, rhythmic movement of the biggest stalactite.

The god gave him a crooked smile. “I'll make you a deal,” he said. “I will talk with you for as long as this big stalactite hangs. That way, you die with some questions answered, at least. I owe Mark that much for the use of his body. I can hear him squealing at the back of my mind, and this might shut him up.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Could you be a bigger cliché? The villain who tells us all just because he thinks the heroes are about to die?”

“Is that what you think you are? Heroes?” Tyr laughed. “Heroes tend to win the day, and right now I'd say you were definitely losing. And I don't think you're going to die in this place. I
know
it. You have no food. You've used up all your water. And who knows what other fears may creep up on you in these caves.”

Fenris gave a low growl and got to his feet, but Mary put a hand on his shoulder, and the wolf sat back on his haunches.

Tyr's eyes narrowed as he looked at Fenris. “It's a shame that I don't have the time to deal with you, wolf-breath, but I have expended enough energy on you. Besides, it makes little sense to kill Loki's son, however furry he might be. It would put an unnecessary strain on our relationship if he were to
find out. He does so love his children.”

“Loki?” Buzz said. “But you're a day guardian. Why are you working for the enemy?”

“Working for him?” Tyr spat. “He works for me. I freed him, and he has been executing my orders ever since.”

“Just how long have you been planning this?” Mary asked.

Tyr put his head to one side. “Not long. My awakening was accidental. It only happened because Mark came into contact with my rune.” He shrugged. “Some would call it fate. Wiser people know that the runes will always try to find their way back to their owners.” Tyr's blade grazed the edge of the stalactite teasingly, and it began to sway a bit more.

“When I realized that I was awake but none of the other day guardians were, I took my chance. I freed Loki, and together we planned to finish Odin and the others for good.” Tyr's face took on a pleased expression. “Just like I always dreamed. Ever since Odin stole my worshipers and became Father of the Gods.”

“He didn't steal them,” Mary said. “People stopped believing in you. There's a difference.”

“It was his fault,” Tyr snarled back. “Odin took my throne away, but I knew that I could take as well. I could take his powers. I could take the powers of the rest of the day guardians. But I had to find all the sleeping gods first. And then find their runes.” Tyr smirked. “I didn't know where Odin had hidden the runes, but I did know that Sunna would be the one to be automatically awoken if Loki was ever freed—our
very own alarm system. Odin was so predictable. I knew he would have made it Sunna's mission to ascend the World Tree and retrieve the Runes of Valhalla—wherever they were.” Tyr frowned. “I had Loki capture Sunna, but she would not tell him where the runes were hidden. So we imprisoned her until the time was right.”

Tyr peered at the stalactite. “Wow, this thing is clinging on much longer than I expected. My throat is getting quite parched with all this talking.” He raised his sword to strike at the stalactite again.

“How did you find the sleeping gods?” Buzz asked quickly. It was a question designed to distract Tyr, but Buzz truly had been wondering this. “Sunna was meant to use their runes to track them down, but you didn't have the runes—we did.”

Tyr lowered his sword. “It's a funny story, actually. You see, removing Sunna from the human realm and creating a Saturday loop made it a lot easier to identify the other sleeping gods in Crowmarsh. Like Theo, they were all aware that something was wrong. They all started asking questions, and ultimately, they all came to ask their trusted village policeman for help.” Tyr gave a cackle of laughter. “It couldn't have been easier. They came to me, and I gathered them all up. Now they are prisoners with Sunna until they have served their purpose.”

“What purpose is that?” Buzz asked. “Why haven't you just killed them?”

“Oh, I will do that,” Tyr assured him. “But first they must
each activate their rune. Once each rune is triggered by their touch, I will be able to drain the stones of their power and become the most powerful god that has ever existed.” He grinned again. “And thanks to you, I now have all six runes.” He jiggled them in his pocket. “It's time for me to go and finish this.”

Tyr swung out with his sword again, but just before it connected, the god's eyes rolled to white and then back again. His face seemed to blur and the sword stopped in midair.

“Buzz, it's me, Mark. You've got to help me.” His godfather gave a small sob. “I wish I was stronger. I wish I could have told you what was happening.” His chest began to rise and fall rapidly. “You need to get out of here and find the others. Tyr and Loki are holding all the day guardians and this squirrel they call the agent of the tree in Hel's kingdom. It's the same prison that held Loki.”

“Thank you. Uncle Mark, I'm going to find a way to save you,” Buzz vowed. “I promise.”

“If anyone can do it, buddy, you can.” Uncle Mark's eyes rolled in his head once more and Tyr was back.

“I have no idea what that silly little mortal told you, but it doesn't matter,” the god said and curled his lip. “This is good-bye.” He struck out with his sword and the stalactite dropped with a crash, filling the mouth of the cave.

“So, here we are,” Mary said after the echo of the crash faded.

“Here we are,” Buzz repeated.

“Got any bright ideas?” Mary asked.

Buzz shook his head. “All that knowledge that the EarthWorm gave me is gone.”

“You never needed that worm to give you good ideas.” Mary walked up to the stalactite that now filled the mouth of the cave. She reached out and touched it. “There has got to be a way to get out of here,” Mary said. “We need to make this rock disappear and find those other day guardians. Tyr and Loki will be looking for Theo as well. We've got to warn him.”

Buzz's eyes went to the horn that hung from Mary's shoulder. “Hey, there might be a way,” he said.

Mary followed his eyes, and she grazed the horn with her fingers. “But Pluto said I was to give this to Hel to make the water flow. It belongs to her.”

“Hel isn't here,” Buzz said. “Hasn't been in the underworld for centuries, from the sounds of it. If she was around, she would have freed her father from his prison. It was in her kingdom, after all.”

Mary frowned. “I don't know. It just feels wrong to use it when it doesn't belong to me. What if something bad happens?”

Fenris launched to his feet and began to yelp furiously at her, wolf saliva going everywhere. Fenris was a big wolf. The yelps were big yelps.

Mary covered her ears. “All right, all right,” she shouted over the wolf. “Say it, don't spray it, Fenris. Fine, I'll do it.”

Fenris stopped yelping, and Mary shrugged the horn off her shoulder.

“What was he saying?” Buzz asked.

“He says that this horn is mine to use and to stop stalling because we've got to find Tyr and stop him.” She put the horn to her mouth and blew. It was not a sound that came out but a vibration—one that crashed into the rocks. They in turn began to shake. The vibration was so fierce that the rocks were soon just a black blur, and then they were gone and the cave mouth stood empty.

“It worked,” Mary squeaked in surprise. “I actually made it work.”

Fenris padded out of the cave and put his nose to the ground. He gave a low growl.

He'd picked up on Tyr's scent.

“Let's go get him,” Buzz said, and he and Mary climbed onto the wolf's back.