39. Magnar

Erik stayed close to me as we travelled further into the cloying darkness. It was more than just the absence of light. It was the presence of something bleak and foreboding.

We were nearing the end of our hunt. I could feel it in the vibrations of the air, like a breath on the back of my neck.

But instead of feeling triumph at the fact that we had finally cornered our prey, the deepest sense of apprehension filled me. Like we were hunting a rattlesnake but were about to come face to face with a mountain lion instead.

I rolled my shoulders back as I carried on regardless. We had given everything in the name of taking this revenge. And if in the end that wasn’t enough and my soul ended up as a feast for the creature who had devoured the girl I loved, then so be it. I would sooner waste away in the darkness where she had found her end than linger on in the light, destined to walk alone for all of time.

My foot collided with something and I stumbled as Erik caught my elbow to steady me.

A faint silver light appeared above us and I tilted my head as it brightened bit by bit until a shining black staircase was revealed before us.

I glanced at Erik and took heart from the determination I found in his gaze. We had been set apart for so many years, destined to be enemies for all of time. And yet chance had delivered our hearts to women who shared the same blood. And though they had been worthy of men far greater than two wretches like us, they had given us their hearts and lost their lives because of it.

Somehow this man beside me had become my kin instead of my enemy and I was proud to be facing my fate at his side.

We started up the stairs and the light began to grow. I could feel the air simmering with unease as each step we took drew us closer and closer to the god we sought.

Whether he’d known we were hunting him from the moment we stole his treasure or whether our arrival in this place had been the first he knew of it, I wasn’t sure. But he could feel us approaching now.

I could hear it in the echo of our footfalls, taste it on the breeze that slipped into my lungs. Andvari was close. And he was ready for us.

We emerged at the top of the staircase in a huge, circular chamber lined with countless mirrors.

I drew my swords as I stepped forward on silent feet and Erik raised the blade he’d stolen too.

We edged on, watching the shadows between the silvery mirrors for any sign of the deity, but all was still.

On the far side of the room a huge mirror drew my attention, its frame built from dry branches which were engulfed in unnatural flames which didn’t destroy it.

I glanced at the mirror closest to me and was surprised to find I cast no reflection. I looked down at my body to be sure it was still there and my confusion at the mirrors grew.

Erik stilled beside me and I moved to stand with my back to his as the air grew thick with pressure.

Blood red eyes appeared in the mirror directly before me and I inhaled sharply at the sight of them.

Movement to my right caught my attention and a gilded mirror resting on the floor revealed a smiling mouth lined with razor sharp fangs.

Erik snarled beneath his breath and I glanced over my shoulder to see a grasping hand reaching for him from yet another mirror. The flesh which covered it was grey and rotting and the fingernails were caked with blood. As its fingertips brushed the glass, they passed through and the taloned nails grew longer, reaching, clawing-

Erik lunged forward and slammed his blade through the arm but it turned to smoke under the strike and reappeared in a mirror closer to me instead.

The fingertips skimmed the inside of the glass as I watched it but the hand stayed beneath the surface of the mirror before fading away.

The silence was thick with promise as we waited for the next glimpse of the god we’d come here to end and he kept us suspended in the torment before his arrival.

“Show yourself, coward,” I snarled, growing tired of his games. We had come here for a purpose and I intended to see it done.

Haunting laughter rang out from within the mirrors and the glass vibrated as fire sprung to life in each reflection, eyes staring out at us from every angle within the flames.

My anger grew wilder and I cried out in rage, slamming my boot into a heavy mirror before me, the frame of which was made of finest slate.

The mirror rocked back, leaning so far that it almost crashed to the stone floor before Andvari’s magic caught it and it rotated upright once more as if it were on hinges.

“Well now, Erik Larsen,” a thick voice purred from everywhere at once. “It seems you’ve brought me a savage soul to feast on.”

“If it’s a feast you want then why not come and get it?” I urged, my eyes flicking from one mirror to the next.

As I tried to anticipate his tricks, the flames died away, leaving the reflections blank again.

Eerie laughter rang out from everywhere at once and Erik growled, drawing my attention to the mirrors on his side of the room.

A slender mirror with a frame of iron flashed with power and suddenly the god’s pale face appeared within the pane.

Andvari stepped from the glass in a long, black robe with a huge cowl pulled close about his head. Beneath the shadow of the hood, his eyes dragged over us and a trembling power built in the fabric of the dark chamber.

He stood up straight and was taller than even I could claim to be. He held his arms wide as if he’d gladly take the blow we were so desperate to deliver and I had to fight against the urge to break forward and attack him.

This foul creature had stolen all that I had ever asked of this unfair world and I gripped my swords tighter as I waited for my chance to return the favour.

Whatever followed now would still amount to the same thing; one way or another, the end of my path was close. I breathed in the scent of violence as it carried to me on a wind which should never have existed in the first place.

Andvari turned his neck and it kept going and going, far beyond the realm of what should had been possible.

I moved to stand beside Erik as we faced this creature together. The end of our hunt was here and it was time we faced our destiny.