“Through the trees,” said Kagan. He indicated the ash grove on the barrow. “We go around the hill until we are out of sight, then cross over its top and drop down to the doors. If we are careful, they will not see us.”
“Can we do it?” Nina asked Eddie.
He regarded the scene with a soldier’s trained eye. “Yeah. I think we can. There’s enough cover above to get to the entrance, so long as nobody attracts their attention.”
“This is crazy,” said Tova unhappily.
“You don’t have to come with us,” Nina assured her. “You can wait here if you want.”
The prospect was just as unappealing. “On my own? But what if something happens to you?”
“Then you run for the snowmobiles and burn it out of here as fast as you bloody can,” said Eddie.
“You should go now, if you are afraid,” Kagan added. “It will be safer.” There was a calculated air to his suggestion that caught Nina’s attention, but she couldn’t tell what lay behind it.
“Tova, we need you,” she countered. “This is Valhalla, it must be—it’s exactly where the runestones said it would be. Which means that inside, it tells us how to reach the second eitr pit, and we need you to translate the runes. And also,” she went on, professional excitement rising, “it’s Valhalla! It would be the greatest Old Norse archaeological discovery ever—and it would be your find. The hall’s been sealed for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Don’t you want to know what’s inside?”
The Swede held a brief internal battle between instinct and interest. The latter won, though with considerable trepidation. “Yes, okay … but what if they see us before we get in?”
Eddie held up the Wildey. “They’ll wish they hadn’t.” She was not reassured.
“You’ll come with us?” Nina asked, getting a nod in reply. “Then let’s go.”
Crouched low, they moved away from the rocks and circled the top of the hollow. The mercenary group was soon lost to sight behind the conifers. “Okay,” said Eddie, once he was sure they were concealed, “you all go up onto the hill and wait above the entrance. Don’t do anything until I’ve got the compass. If anything goes wrong, leg it.”
“We’re not leaving you,” insisted Nina.
“I’ll either be right behind you, or dead.”
“I’d really rather it wasn’t the second one.”
“Yeah, me too!” He grinned. “Okay, I’ll go and have words with Berkeley.” He headed down into the hollow, angling around the foot of the barrow. Nina and the others climbed the mound to make their way through the stand of ash trees.
Eddie slowed his advance as he drew closer to the entrance. The injured man’s screams had fallen to moans, but he was still conscious and in pain. That meant the men sent to collect the medical kit had not yet returned. When they did, all attention would be on them …
He kept that thought in his mind as he moved through the evergreens surrounding the island of ashes. Movement ahead; he paused, sliding behind a tree trunk to observe. Vivid yellow stood out against the woodland colors. Berkeley.
The archaeologist was still occupied with his tablet computer. Eddie leaned out a little farther. A couple of the mercenaries were visible from his position, but they were looking toward the tent. Nothing about their stances suggested that they were on alert.
He set off again, hood up, head low. Sidelong glances revealed more of Hoyt’s men as he rounded the barrow. Keeping the gun out of their sight, he closed on Berkeley. He was now only thirty feet away, near enough to hear the scientist muttering to himself as he stabbed at the screen. Another brief turn of the head to check on the mercenaries—
One of the men by the tent was looking right at him.
Cold adrenaline surged through Eddie’s body, his hand tightening around the gun—but then the mercenary turned away. All he had seen was another anonymous figure in a thick coat. The Englishman felt a rush of relief, and hope. This might work …
He reached Berkeley. The scientist was typing notes on the tablet, frustration clear as he tapped repeatedly at the screen like a woodpecker; the cold was affecting the device’s sensitivity. He let out a steaming huff of annoyance as he jabbed at one of the virtual keys to no effect, then turned as a reflection in the screen told him he was not alone. “Yes, what?”
“Ay up, Logan,” said Eddie, pushing the Wildey’s broad barrel against his chest. “How’s things?”
Berkeley twitched in surprise and fear. “Chase!” His eyes flicked toward Hoyt and his men.
“Say a fucking word and I’ll shoot you,” said the Englishman, his expression deadly. “And that’s not a bluff—I will put a bullet through your fucking heart if you try to warn them. Got that?” Berkeley started to speak, then thought better of it and nodded instead. “Good. Where’s the compass?” Berkeley tipped his head down. The dark disks of the conjoined compasses sat in the crook of his arm. “Okay, let’s walk to the entrance, nice and casual. You’re going to open the door for us.”
“It—it doesn’t work!” the archaeologist hissed. “The key, I mean. I put it in the lock, and nothing happened!”
“Well, it’s a good job Nina’s smarter than you.”
“She’s here?” He looked around nervously, as if expecting her to materialize from behind a tree and punch him.
“No, I came out here all on my own ’cause I like collecting pinecones. Of course she’s here, you fucking dipshit. Now move.”
Keeping the gun shielded from sight, Eddie set off behind Berkeley. The mercenaries were still staying well clear of the entrance, but the pair would have to pass less than twenty feet from one of them to reach the trench. He tensed as they drew closer. The man looked around …
And dismissed Berkeley with a glance, returning his attention to the tent. Eddie pushed the gun into the archaeologist’s side. “Keep going,” he whispered.
He raised his head to check the top of the mound. At first glance he saw nothing except ash trees, but then a more focused search revealed Kagan, barely visible as he peered around a small snow-covered bush. The Russian had been well trained to make the most of any available concealment.
Eddie glanced back at the mercenaries. Nobody seemed interested in the two men. He guided Berkeley ahead of him as they reached the cutting. On the hillside above, Kagan started to emerge from his cover—
“Berkeley!”
The Russian froze—as did Berkeley at Hoyt’s shout. Eddie stopped right behind him. He turned his head just enough to see the tall American glaring at them from near the tent. “Answer him,” he rumbled, keeping the gun pressed against the scientist’s body.
Berkeley hesitantly looked back at the mercenary leader. “Wh-what? What is it?”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Come up with something good or I’ll shoot you,” Eddie growled when his prisoner didn’t immediately respond.
He swallowed, but managed to stammer out a reply to Hoyt. “I was—I was going to check the damage done by the chain saw. If it’s broken the lock mechanism, we might be able to open the doors without triggering any more booby traps.”
“Why bother?” Hoyt replied impatiently. “We’re just gonna blow ’em open anyway.” Eddie tensed again, worried that the American was going to call them back, but then a shout from the woods drew everyone’s attention. The men who had been sent to collect the morphine had returned. “Just don’t get yourself shot,” the mercenary leader said with a shrug before turning away.
“That’s good advice,” Eddie told Berkeley. “Do as you’re told, and you won’t. Okay, move.” He shoved the other man forward again. Above, Kagan emerged from the trees and crept down the slope to drop into the entrance. Nina and Tova did the same, the latter with considerable fear. But nobody was watching the barrow; all eyes were on the returning mercenaries.
“Hello again, Logan,” Nina said coldly as Eddie brought Berkeley into the shadows. “Give me those.” She grabbed the sun compasses from him.
&
nbsp; “Nina!” Berkeley exclaimed. “What is this, what’s going on? Why is your maniac of a husband pointing a gun at me?”
“You’re lucky I’m not pointing a gun at you, you son of a bitch!” She took off her gloves and, with some effort, pried the two magnetized disks apart. “Your buddies in Norway were going to kill us after you left.”
He shook his head. “No, that’s absurd. Why would they do that?”
Nina turned one of the compasses around and pressed it against its companion. As she had hoped, they repelled each other, almost squirming in her hands as she forced them together. “What, hasn’t the fact that they’re all carrying machine guns tipped you off that these are not nice people? You asshole.” She gave him a disgusted look, then faced the doors. “Okay. Let’s hope this works …”
Eddie regarded the lines of holes running across the barrier. “Yeah, let’s bloody hope! Tova, you stand behind me. And I’ll stand behind this berk.”
Berkeley was clearly unaware that the truncation of his name was also a British insult. “What, you—you’re going to use me as a human shield?” he protested.
“We finally found something you’re good for,” Eddie told him. “Stand there and shut up.”
“But what if you set off another trap?”
“Then we’re both going to be pincushions,” said Nina. “And yes, shut up.” Still holding the two compasses together, she raised them to the slot and carefully slid them inside. They scraped against the edges of the opening as the magnetic force tried to drive them apart. “Okay, nearly there …”
Everyone held their breath, watching anxiously—Berkeley most of all—as she pushed the compasses fully into the hole—
Clang!
The dull ring of stone on metal echoed through the entrance as the disks finally had room to separate—and sprang apart, hitting the lead plates on each side of the slot. A muffled thumping came from inside the door, the mechanism being released …
And with an earsplitting shrill the doors began to open for the first time in more than a millennium.
“Jesus!” Eddie said, wincing. “My ears might be bad, but I heard that!”
“And so will Hoyt’s guys!” Nina realized in alarm. “Get inside, quick!” She moved to the gap between the two-foot-thick doors, but it was widening with agonizing slowness.
“But we do not know what is in there!” said Tova.
“We know what’s out here—blokes with guns!” Eddie shot back. He shoved Berkeley forward, looking down the cutting. A man ran into view at its end, shouting in alarm when he saw the intruders.
The doors finally parted enough for Nina to fit. She squeezed through, finding herself in darkness; the only thing revealed by the narrow line of daylight was a filthy stone floor. “Come on!” she shouted, backing away to give the others room. Eddie held Berkeley back so Tova could enter, then pushed the American inside before following himself. Kagan brought up the rear, gun raised.
The mechanism ground on, the doors opening wider. More mercenaries appeared and ran along the trench. “Shut the fucking things!” Eddie yelled, throwing Berkeley to the ground and slamming his back against one of the barriers. The doors slowed but didn’t stop. “Kagan, get the other one!”
The Russian barged against the other door. The two men pushed, boots scrabbling for grip. With a deep and echoing creak, the barrier’s movement finally stopped—but even shoving with all their might, they couldn’t force it back. “Shit!” Eddie yelled. “Nina, Tova, help us!”
Tova ran to add as much weight as she could to Kagan’s side. It was enough to tip the balance—but only slightly, the doors inching shut. Too slowly. The men outside were closing fast, drawing their weapons.
Nina went to help Eddie, but knew it would be futile—
Her eyes had adjusted enough to make out more of the interior—and the mechanism opening the lead-covered doors. “Eddie!” she cried. “Give me your gun!”
“You can’t take ’em all on!” he protested.
“I’m not going to! Quick!”
The conviction in his wife’s voice overcame his doubts. Still straining against the door, he passed her the Wildey. Nina whirled to face a huge cylinder of roughly carved stone suspended by a thick skein of rope.
She pressed the muzzle against the trembling line—and pulled the trigger.
The deafening boom and pounding recoil made her stagger backward. The .45-caliber round shredded the rope—and the great block slammed to the floor, shattering the flagstones and knocking her onto her back with the sheer force of the impact.
But with the counterweight gone, the doors were now free to move. “Push, push!” Eddie yelled, driving himself backward. Kagan and Tova did the same. The gap closed …
“Shoot ’em, shoot!” Hoyt bellowed from outside. “Don’t let ’em shut it!”
Guns cracked, bullets smacking through the lead sheeting and splintering the logs beneath. Eddie flinched as splinters caught the side of his face. He ignored the pain and kept pushing as more shots ripped into the doors.
The two sides met with a deep thump—and the rattle of a mechanism resetting. Some of the mercenaries charged against the doors, trying to ram them back open. Eddie lurched at the impact—
More jolts, these from within the barrier—and screams came from outside as the reactivated booby traps fired a fusillade of bolts at point-blank range. Muffled sounds of panic reached him as the other mercenaries fled. “I think they got the point. Well, points.”
“I’m sure you’ve used that one before,” Nina said as she took out a flashlight and switched it on.
“I’ll have words with my scriptwriters.” He made sure the doors were secure, then saw that Tova was still pressed against them, curled up in a tight ball. “Tova, are you okay?” he asked, worried that she had been hit.
Nina joined them. “Tova?” She crouched beside the older woman, who was trembling. “It’s all right, we’re safe for now.”
Tova reluctantly lifted her head. Her face was tightly drawn as she struggled to stop herself from crying. “I—I’m sorry, but …” She swallowed, trying to lubricate her fear-dried throat. “I am scared! Everyone is trying to kill us, but you do not seem bothered!”
“Oh, believe me, I’m bothered,” Nina assured her.
“But you do not show it!”
“You get used to it after a while.” Eddie reached down to help her up.
Tova stood. “I do not want to get used to it,” she said quietly. “This is not what I want to do.”
Eddie and his wife exchanged concerned looks, then Nina saw something in the torchlight. In the back of one door were two slots down at knee level—and in each was one of the sun compasses. After releasing the lock, they had fallen down through the door’s innards so they could be collected. “Looks like we might need these again,” she said, picking them up and letting the magnetized disks clap back together.
Kagan straightened, eyeing a ragged bullet hole beside his head. “You okay?” Eddie asked.
“Yes, but … that was close,” he said. “We must go. They will blow up these doors soon enough.”
“Yeah.” The Englishman crossed to Berkeley, who was still lying on the floor. “All right, arsehole,” he said, hauling him to his feet, “let’s move.”
“They were shooting at us!” Berkeley said in shrill outrage. “They could have hit me!”
“Oh, you noticed?” Nina replied scathingly. “These are the people you’re working for, Logan. You really know how to pick ’em.” He opened his mouth to object, but she had already raised a warning finger. “Shut up. We don’t have much time.”
She turned her light down the tunnel. The floor and walls were stone, braced by thick logs. More broad beams supported the ceiling, but from the amount of dirt that had fallen onto the paving slabs and the shriveled roots clawing down from above, it was clear that the sheer weight of the soil and trees concealing the Viking hall had taken its toll over the centuries.
But that
it was here at all was incredible. Despite the adrenaline and fear running through her, Nina felt an undeniable thrill of discovery as she led the group deeper into Valhalla.
26
“So,” said Eddie as they advanced down the tunnel, “what are we looking for?”
Even with her misgivings, Tova was still a professional. “According to the mythology, there is a large main hall roofed with golden shields. I would say it is the most likely place to find anything.”
Ahead, the entrance tunnel ended at a junction, new passages heading left and right. “Which way?” asked Kagan.
Tova shook her head. “I do not know.”
“Nor do I,” admitted Berkeley.
Nina glowered at him. “Color me surprised.”
Eddie produced a flashlight and shone it down the right-hand passage. “We should’ve brought that chain saw.” Gnarled roots hung down to the floor like a curtain, one of the ash trees above having broken through the ceiling beams. “Let’s try the other way.”
The group went left. A low doorway led into a side room, but Nina’s torch beam revealed only moldering sacks covered in dirt. Whatever supplies the Vikings had left behind had long since rotted or been consumed by burrowing animals and insects. A short way on, the tunnel made a sharp turn to the right—and Eddie, leading, stopped immediately after rounding it. “Buggeration. Don’t think we’ll get through this way.” The ceiling had collapsed, broken beams jutting from tons of fallen soil. More ash roots clawed their way into the space.
“There is something up there,” Kagan said, pointing. Eddie moved the beam to find the remains of a large bird near the top of the dirt pile.
“It is an eagle,” said Tova, dismayed. “It must have come in through a hole looking for food, and been trapped.”
Nina felt brief sympathy for the majestic predator, but it was not the only thing caught in the tunnels. “We’ll have to go back. Come on.”
They quickly retraced their steps. Eddie glanced toward the entrance. The mercenaries had wisely decided not to try to force open the doors again, but he knew that Hoyt’s next attempt would involve explosives. “We’ll need to snap off some of those roots so we can get through,” he said as they continued. “Kagan, give me a hand. Berkeley, you can make yourself useful too.”