Chapter Twenty-Four Loki

F or the past three days, Heimdall and I had been taking turns surveying the Hati and Skoll packs, trying to figure out what was going on and what we should do about it. Unfortunately, getting any information from the resort was nearly impossible from the outside. That's why I had to sneak back into the building more than once and spy on lower-ranking pack members. However, luck seemed to be on my side. A couple more trips into the laundry room garnered me an unattended wallet full of cash and a few tidbits of info.

The Hati pack was on the defensive. As far as they knew, Tyr hadn't made a move against them, but they were biding their time. There was talk of heightened security as winter came and more patrols, but no outward violence from either side. For the moment, things seemed peaceful.

Heimdall wasn't exactly happy about my stealing the cash out of the wallet I found. But when I went into town and bought him more greasy bar food, he quickly forgave me. In fact, we were perched up on the rocky outcropping overlooking the Skoll village eating french fries as we watched. It was the same place I'd used to watch the pack before I'd met him. However, the village was a lot more active than it had been back then.

Wolves moved in and out of town quickly. Some of them came back with boxes, some with bags, and some came racing through in wolf form as if the devil himself was nipping at their heels. But all of them, without fail, went into the house that I knew belonged to Tyr. It was easy to see they were preparing for something, and I had a sinking feeling that it was all out war.

"I wish I knew what they were bringing in," Heimdall sighed as he continued to stress eat french fries at an alarming rate. "I'm worried it might be silver."

"Would he really do that?" I asked. "It's pretty dangerous stuff."

"Did you know he sent out a team to search the tunnels below that old werewolf hunter's house? He wanted their weapons."

"Christ…" I sighed, a sinking feeling deep in my gut. Fighting Tyr was one thing. But fighting him when he was armed with silver… that could mean a lot more death than I'd expected. "Is this silver the secret weapon he was talking about?" I asked. "I overheard you two talking the night we fell into the cavern."

Heimdall shook his head. "No."

"He has something worse than a bunch of silver?"

He was quiet for a long moment, and he wasn't eating anymore. "I… I'm not sure."

"Okay…" I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You want to give me a hint as to what it is?"

"Not what," Heimdall said. " Who ."

"His secret weapon is a person? Another wolf?"

"Not a wolf. A witch." He sighed, shaking his head. "But I'm not sure how useful he is."

"I don't follow you."

Another sigh. "It's sort of a long story."

"We're literally perched on a rock in the middle of the woods, Hamball. I've got the time."

"The thing is, I don't know all the details. My father was always very secretive about it. But he seemed to think that this witch was the key to his success."

"What would give him that idea?"

"Another witch," he said, looking up at me.

I just furrowed my brows, keeping my gaze fixed on those moss-green eyes. Eventually Heimdall realized I wasn't going to give up on this train of thought. I needed to know what this was all about. As much as I'd promised him I wouldn't kill Tyr, I also couldn't let my brothers be killed by some magical force that nobody knew about.

Heimdall took a deep breath, put down his fries, and started to tell his story.

"Tyr didn't start really leaning into all these… ideas of taking over and setting the packs straight until I was a teenager. They were always there, but it quickly became the only thing he thought about as I got older. It was around that time that he started to disappear for days at a time. And when he returned, he seemed more crazed than before."

"I thought he'd always been like this…"

"No. He wasn't good, but he wasn't as hellbent as he is now."

I found it hard to believe the Tyr was once more tolerable, but I kept that thought to myself. Heimdall was still struggling with the fact that his father, the only family he had, was a monster. He'd made a lot of progress, but there was still a lot of hesitation in his voice as he spoke. As much as I wanted to shake him and tell him to open his eyes and see the truth, I held back. He'd arrive at the truth in his own time.

"So, you followed him I take it?"

Heimdall nodded. "One night he tried to sneak out and I woke up as he passed by my bedroom. By that time I was curious what he was up to, so I shifted and followed him." He looked back out over the village, glancing to the south. "He walked for a full day through the mountains. More than once I thought about going back, terrified he'd discover me along the way. But he had a single-minded determination about him that blocked out all else. And finally, just when I was about to give up, we came upon a clearing with a single house in the center next to a small pool. The house was all wood, covered in moss, and looked like it had been there since the dawn of time. But even so, there was an orange glow from the windows and smoke rising from the chimney."

"Did the house have legs?"

Heimdall stopped and stared at me, crinkling up his nose. "Why the hell would a house have legs?"

Clearly he didn't know who Baba Yaga was.

"Uh… no reason. Continue."

"Okay…" He gave me one last disapproving look before he continued. "An old woman greeted him at the door and welcomed him inside. I snuck up to the house as soon as the door was closed and listened to them from outside the window. At first, I thought they were just old friends catching up, but then the firelight dimmed, and she started to speak in a strange voice. She told him that if he wanted his ambitions to come to fruition, he'd need an outsider with power to get the job done. She said he'd meet an immovable force, a binding magic that he'd already agreed to, and that it would stand in his way."

"Baldr…" I whispered.

Heimdall nodded. "I didn't know it at the time, but I think that's who she was talking about. However, she said that there was only one way to beat such magic, and that was with someone even more powerful. But she warned him that if he didn't keep this power secret, that if anyone outside the Skoll pack knew about it, its power would be lost."

I furrowed my brows. "But you're telling me about it."

He looked up at me slowly. "I know. Because as much as I don't want you to kill my father, I don't want your family killed either." Heimdall took my hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing my knuckles. "Consider this a good faith payment."

"Thank you," I smiled, kissing him back. "So did she give him the power he needed?"

"No. But she told him where to find it. And then she demanded payment."

"Payment?"

Heimdall's cheeks turned red as he blushed. "It took me a minute to realize what they were doing," he said, unable to look me in the eye. "But I think she required sex from him."

"Oh… that's… different ."

"I moved away from the cabin until they were done. But when my father came out afterwards, he looked old, his skin was sallow, and his movements were slow. However, the old woman I'd seen when he arrived had transformed into a beautiful maiden. It was like she drained his life force."

"She drained something alright," I muttered.

Heimdall shot me a dirty look but grinned despite himself. "He was so tired that I was able to beat him home without an issue. He never even knew I was gone."

"So, when did this power show up?"

"About three months later my father sectioned off a piece of the forest and brought the witch in again to cast a cloaking spell over the area. I assume he had to pay her again because he looked terrible for a while after that. I knew where it was and visited it several times. There was a sort of dome in the woods made of magic and it was impenetrable. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get through it. Plus, it was nearly invisible. You could look straight through it like it was just another section of woods. But I knew something was inside. It was another three or four years before he finally let me see what was in there."

"What is it?"

"A man. Or well, at that time, a teenage kid my age."

"A kid?"

"He hardly speaks. But the earth breathes with him."

I scrunched up my nose, not understanding. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. But everything inside that dome is under his control. The plants, the animals, the bugs, the very earth itself. He is so powerful that he controls them all without even realizing it." Heimdall lifted his gaze to me, worry painted across his face. "And that's not the issue either. The problem is that he can't control any of it. His power is completely wild. And that has never changed. He gets more powerful by the day and more out of control. He… He's a ticking time bomb."

"And this is Tyr's secret weapon?"

Heimdall nodded. "He's been keeping him alive, but barely. The man is totally alone and has never interacted with anyone but Tyr and myself. I have no idea what my father has told him or done to him. But he plans on releasing this mage when things finally boil over. And he intends to have him decimate Baldr and anyone else that stands in Tyr's way."

"But Baldr is protected."

"That's why he needed an outsider," Heimdall said, lowering his voice. "Because he didn't make a promise to Baldr's mother. He's the only one in the entire valley that can touch Baldr without consequence."

"Would he do it?"

Heimdall just shrugged. "I don't know. I've only spoken with him a couple of times. But my father has been his only companion for nearly a decade. I have no doubt that Mistil will do anything he asks."

"Mistil?"

"That's what my father calls him. His name is Mistilteinn."

"Weird name."

"I said he wasn't from around here." He glanced out over the village. "I'm not sure where he's from, actually. He has a bit of an accent."

"Can you take me to him?" I asked, an incredible idea forming in my head. "Maybe we can talk him out of helping Tyr and stop this war from ever starting! That'll force everyone to sit down and find some way to bring all this to a peaceful end at last!"

Heimdall didn't look back at me. He just hung his head, staring at the ground.

"What's wrong?"

"I could show you the dome, but nothing more."

"Don't you trust me?"

"It's not that," he replied, finally looking up at me. "Tyr is the only one that can get through the magical shield. There's not another soul on this planet that could break through that magic. Not even Mistil has ever managed to get out and from what I've heard, he's tried."

My heart fell as my idea died before it even took flight. "So… what do we do to stop it?"

"I don't–"

He stopped, his eyes going wide.

"What's wrong?"

He took a breath, his eyes darting back and forth. "I… I think I might have an idea."