Some Might Call It Magic

 

 

Some might call it magic

Carolyn was no stranger to intimacy, or the notion of soul mates. She’d seen it play out from a front row seat when her longtime lover Colb found Tangyr. Who could say what was created or happened when two halves of the same soul connected? Certainly not she. Some might call it magic. She’d been let down, disappointed, and sore. Always the same story for the one left behind. In truth, she’d seen it coming for months. Still, seeing the headlamp of the engine doesn’t undercut the impact of the train, it just makes you wait for it.

That had been years ago, and Boston had become shrouded, a haze falling over everything she once knew, or thought she knew. The swinger’s parties were all about scratching an itch now, nothing more. So many had come and gone; parties she could no longer count on hands alone where she went stag, and returned home the same way. The longing for something more, for a connection of any kind, had long since faded and she’d stopped looking. Hope was just another four letter word.

It was still a good month to the next party, the last one more dismal than most in recent memory; not worth the time to recount or replay looking for how it had gone wrong, so she didn’t. Snow was falling early thanks to a nor’easter moving along the coast and she was restless. Wandering the neighborhood seeking solace from her memories, she found herself standing outside a local club she enjoyed and she stopped. Before continuing toward the door, turning her chin up, eyes closed, she focused on the tiny cold stings as flake after flake caressed her face.

Not willing to give up the sensation, she reached blindly behind her for the lamp post for support, instead grabbing someone’s arm. Flustered, she spun around to apologize nearly toppling them both. His laughter was contagious as was the simple smile she saw first as she tried to regain her footing and release the arms attached to the hands that now held her up. It was an electric moment that passed between them though no words had been spoken. After a long delay, Carolyn declared, “I’m okay” and he let her go with a nod and a smile.

Pointing to the flurries dancing on an up gust, his quiet tenor vibrato soothed her frayed senses as he stated, not questioned, “Beautiful. Peaceful. Magical.” She liked that. Looking at him instead of the snow, she had to concur. He had deep brown eyes surrounded by lines that gave him away as one who smiled and laughed. Tufts of blonde hair shot out in multiple directions behind a slightly receding hairline, and his mouth quirked a smile as he astutely stated, “You’re not looking at the snow.” Busted. A fever blush blossomed, stealing up her throat to encase her face before she could adjust her gaze and turn to see and smile at the vortex of snow he was watching.

A wordless eternity of wonder later, he turned back to her, motioned to the club entrance and asked if she was going in. She noticed he watched her reply and didn’t fuss around or try to look like he wasn’t looking. He was. The blood of her blush, not dead yet, raced for the surface again and she nodded, batting her hands against her arms as if she were cold. His smirk spokes volumes of ‘I’m not buying it’ but the words said, “May I join you?”

Mike wasn’t a beer guy, a sports guy, or any other kind of stereotypical guy. He watched and listened, commented and questioned but always to the topic at hand and only to add to the conversation. They found they both liked Pavarotti and Escher, and preferred the company of cats to humans for casual companionship. They had both loved, but mostly lost, and they had both stopped looking. Long into the evening she learned as he apologized for seeming to stare, that he was hearing impaired, and they had a long loud laugh when she replied that she was life impaired. Talking was comfortable and free flowing. It seemed that no subject was off limits, though many went untouched, leaving ample subjects for the future.

Pot and lid, hand and glove…they fit together in an odd but too familiar way that made ‘goodbye’ too tragic to say. Later in the night than she had planned to be out when she started, he called her a cab though she wasn’t far from home, paid the fare and tip to the driver in advance of her leaving the curb, and opened the door for her only after pressing a card into her hand. No pomp or circumstance; only a kiss on the cheek and his hand on the glass instead of waving as she drove off. Looking down at the card the haze that had covered her beloved Boston seemed to break as she read:

 

B. Michael Brethal, PhD

Archaeology & Antiquities

University of Massachusetts, Boston

On the back was a scribbled phone number, smiley face, and a simple note; ‘Use it. ~Mike’

The haze that had lifted gave way to a new fog that enveloped Carolyn on the short ride, the climb to her loft and the whole ‘unlock the door, go inside, lock the door’ part of her evening as she recounted the snowflakes, the conversation, and him introducing himself simply as ‘Mike’. Talking out loud to no one, “I wonder what the ‘B’ stands for…” Smiling the secret smile that women sometimes wear, she readied for bed and laid down still turning the card over and back in her hand, deciding right then that she would call. Glancing out the window just as a gust of air whirled another batch of snow into a twist; she enjoyed the beauty and a peacefulness she hadn’t felt in years.
 

Yes, she thought; some might call it magic.


Today's story is from Abyrne Mostyn. His book Swingers was featured on our blog, and is still in archives. The completed book is available at Amazon.



Abyrne can be found here as one of our feature authors, and at:
http://abyrnemostyn.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/messages/100002546219235#!/AbyrneMostynWordEnthusiast
 

Valkyrie's Curse - the Conclusion

You've been on the edge of your seat waiting for it, biting your nails you're so anxious.  Well wait no longer because the conclusion  of Valkyrie's curse is here!

 

Valkyrie's Curse

Part V

 

by

Ellie Mack 

 

Scott and Niall’s watched silently, waiting until the police had cleared the area.  They made their way back to the four wheeler, this time Scott let Nialls climb on behind him.  Both were a few shades lighter than when they had raced out here.

Back at the camp Scott headed straight for Brad’s tent. Nialls stopped at the mess tent ,offering to grab something for Scott.  ”Sure, grab me a couple of those muffins and a Cliff bar – and a bottle of juice.  I’ll be at Brad’s tent.  OH, you might want to just get a box and put a bunch in it.  If we have food, he’ll want some.”

Scott hurried, he’d need the few extra minutes alone with Brad before Nialls showed up.  He ducked his head quickly under the flap, catching Brad in one of his RP chats with his girlfriend.  ”Fuck man!  Announce yourself next time.”

Scott turned uncomfortably, combing his fingers through his hair.  ”We need to talk and we’ve only got a few minutes.  Nialls will be heading this way very soon.”

Brad zipped his jeans mumbling to himself. 

”Look, sorry man but this is important.  They found the body of that student.  She was ripped apart on the sacrificial alter up there – yeah, guess I owe you twenty bucks on that call.  Anyway, it  was a bloody mess.  The police have the whole area roped off.  They cleared out for now.”

”Damn.  Someone murdered her?  Why was Nialls with you?  How did he react?”  He stood and adjusted himself. 

”Nialls hurled.  I don’t think he’d have a stomach for anything like this.  He’s pretty shaken, but I don’t think we can trust him with”

Brad made a big cutting motion across his throat.  Just then, Nialls ducked through the flaps with a huge box of food.  He went straight to the folding card table and set the box down and ripped open a bag of Skittles.   Brad searched through the box and found himself one of the giant blueberry muffins and a bottle of Frappaccino.  Scott grabbed his muffin and  a juice.  The three men ate as if they hadn’t eaten in weeks. 

When Nialls started into a package of chocolate glazed donuts, he paused long enough to ask ”So, what are we gong to do? ”

Brad drained his bottle of frappaccinno, then dug through the box for one of the juices.  ”We are not going to cause the police any trouble.  We are going to comply with them, and lay low.  Let them find the crazy bastard that killed that girl.”

Joe burst in out of breath.  ”There’s another one.  What the hell is going on around here?”

Scott felt his stomach lurch, his suspicions high.  ”Another one what?”  He had stopped, his bottle raised to his lips but not drinking.

”Another girl’s gone missing. ”  Joe bent over, his hands on his knees to catch his breath.  ”With Helena gone, I thought I better tell you guys.  

 

                                                *                             *                             *                             *

 

The camp was sheer chaos.  Students threatening to walk back to the airport, students huddling in their tents, others in a near state of shock.  Over the course of five days four girls had gone missing.  The fourth day the second girls body was found strewn around the alter stone north of their dig.  Police were staying in the camp now, patrolling the perimeter, and getting regular updates from Scott and  Brad. 

Nialls was a nervous wreck.  He sent reports to Dr.  Montgomery about what had been happening. He reluctantly reported to the guys that the Doctor and the board were seriously thinking of shutting down their dig, and compensating them for their time up to that date.

A couple of the undergraduate men decided to chaperon the girls at all times.  It seemed whoever was perpetrating the crimes was only interested in the women. They checked in with Brad and Scott on the hour.   Meanwhile Brad and Scott worked on their plan to free Helena. 

 

”Where are we going to get a virgin Valkyrie?  Do you think maybe somehow one of the Vikings escaped when she passed through and is sacrificing these girls?”  Scott nervously rubbed his stubble. 

”Nah, I don't think so.  I think there’s someone here trying to figure out a way to get in, so they can plunder the halls of Valhalla.  Legend says there is hoards of treasure there.”  Brad flips through one of his notebooks.  ”Look here, at the runes we found on the alter stone.”  He points out to Scott the pictures taken of the stone, then the rubbings and his translation.  ”I think maybe some local, or someone associated with the school here is  killing those girls. It says here that if the sacrifice is given and Odin be pleased, The halls of Valhalla will be open and Ragnarok will begin.”

”So there’s the whole plunder the halls end of the world scenario?” 

”Yeah, something like that.  Amazing that thieves are always so short sighted.  We’ve got two days to figure out how to get Helena out of there”

Scott paced around the small tent.  There had to be a way.

 

                                                *                             *                             *                             *

 

Helena struggled to read the crude drawings on the wall. They had explored each of the corridors and always came back to the room where the man had been staying.  There was another similar wall at the North end of the network of tunnels, but she could find no way to open it either. 

The man tried to tell her each time she went from the north stone to the south stone she had fallen through something about Valhalla, about Ragnarok and Valkyries.  On the last trip, she noticed he tucked his dagger in his waist band as he was muttering about Valkyrie curse.  She had a bad feeling about his intentions.  Held not tried anything sexual with her, so she figured she must have told him the right words before but also decided that minimal talk was best so she didn’t say the wrong things.  With each minute that ticked by, she became more agitated at his behavior.

If she got out of here alive, she made herself a vow to spend more time studying runes, and learning the language fluently.  She muttered prayers as she walked slowly back to the South wall.  There had to be a way, there just had to be.

He stood behind her, playing with his dagger in his hands, turning it over and over.  He eyed her suspiciously ever so often.  Her stomach growled and he handed her a leathery piece of dry  jerky.  It had little taste, but she was grateful. 

She pointed to the stone wall and asked him  ” Hvad betyder dette sagt?”

He walks closer, squats down on his knees before her . ” siger ikke sagt. Just My Luck jeg får en Valkyrie, der er smukke, men dim.”

She startled at his comment.  ”OK, say not said – my bad.”  She rolled her eyes.  ”Wait a minute, did you just say I was a dimwit?”

He smiled at her. ”Ja”

” Du taler engelsk?”  she asks him if he speaks English.

He waved his hand back and forth.  ”nogle”

Great!  Helena thought about all the things she’d muttered to herself wondering if there was something  she may have said that upset him over the past, what had it been?    ” Hvor længe siden jeg fik her?”

”Fer diz.”

”Four days?  I’ve been stuck in here for four days?”

She stood and paced .   ”Oh my god oh my god oh my god!”  She had her arms crossed over her chest feeling as if she’d hyperventilate.  She walked up to him within inches.  ”What does it say?”  She screamed it at him.

” Når blod er udgydt på døren, skal ved månelyset valkyrien ind at styre tabte til deres destinationer indtil Ragnarok. De skal komme med fuldmånen i Samhein for at de ikke begge være tabt for evigt. En anden Valkyrie skal åbne døren for Valkyrie at vende tilbage til menneskenes verden.”

She tried to make out the words.  ”the blood upon the door, from the maiden Valkyrie, in the moonlight enters.  Leading warriors to Ragnarok. No.  Leading to destination until Ragnarok. Something about the full moon before Samhein – or they are lost. A second Valkyrie must come to return to men.”  she stared blankly at the man.

He shook his head. ”dim”

She punched him square in the chest. ” I am NOT dim.  You arrogant jerk!”  she walked a few steps down the corridor.  ”Right.  So we’re trapped here until a Valkyrie comes to rescue us.  Great!  My life depends on a legend.  Wonderful.”

She kicked a rock down the tunnel, hearing it skip several times in the dark tunnel.  A terrible thought occurred to her.  She walked back and grabbed his arm, practically grabbing him behind her.  She rushed  to the North wall an pointed.  ”Read it!”

” ikke dæmpes, kan bare ikke læse”

”Oh, I can read buster, just not ancient Danish runes.”

His eyebrow shot up. ” Det er ikke gammel, det er vores sprog.”

”What do you mean, OUR language?”  She stood with a scowl on her face, arms crossed.  ”Read it.”

”Jeg kan acceptere dim når så beautful.”  He leaned over and kissed her lightly.

”You think I’m beautiful  but dim.  Great.  Well thanks for the beautiful part.”

He flashed her a brilliant smile.   If he shaved he would be a good looking man.  And if he bathed.

” Dette er dør til Nefflheim. Hvis du finder det åbent, er Valkyrie ikke komme efter dig. Velkommen til Nefflheim.”

”Right so basically this is the door to hell.  No Valkyrie for you, welcome to hell.  Let’s pray this door isn’t the one that opens.”

 

                                                *                             *                             *                             *

Scott was frantic.  Another body had been discovered.  The police had been on patrol and somehow the killer managed to evade them and leave another girls body on the same stone.  This one was different though, she’d been bound and gagged, apparently raped then had her throat slit.  The others had their stomachs slashed and their insides ripped out,strewn around them.  Time was growing short for his Helena.  He’d wanted her for so long and now that she was his, she was gone.

He had begun to ask each of the remaining girls in camp a few questions before hitting the big one, were they virgins.  Sadly, most of them were not.  Susan Thornton was, but she was definitely of Indian descent. 

He paced through his tent mumbling.  He thought nothing of the jeep that rolled up outside thinking it was probably another of the police, or Dr. Montgomery.  Either way he didn’t care. 

”Hello, are you Scott?”

He turned to find an attractive young girl in braids standing with the tent flaps open.  ”Joe over at the mess tent told me to come see Scott about my sister.”

”Um,  which one is your sister?” He nervously combed his fingers through is hair.  Explaining a brutal murder to someone wasn’t in his plans for the day. 

”Helena?”

Scott stood perfectly still.  ”Brittany?”

”Um, yes, how did you know my name?”

Scott ran to her and hugged her tight.  ”I know exactly where Helena is.”  He took her bags and tossed them on his cot.  ”Let’s go.”

He stopped at Brad’s tent and filled him in. They climbed into the jeep, and headed for the dig.  Brittany chattered the entire time about how Helena had invited her to visit, to see if she wanted to follow her big sisters foot steps.  She told about the flight over, and the long wait in town for a taxi when Helena was suppose to pick her up. 

Scott turned the jeep off.  ”If I’d known I’d have come to get you. Helena has been, well she’s been busy at the site. ”

It was fifteen minutes to midnight of Samhein.  There was no time to waste.  He practically drug her down the tunnel, Brad fast on their heels.  When they reached the stone wall, Scott looked up to see that the moonlight was filtering in.  The brightness of the full moon gave them plenty of light albeit a creepy blue light.  ”Helena is just on the other side of this door.  Ready?”

”Sure.”

She barely got the words out of her mouth when Brad grabbed her hand and sliced across her palm with his pocket knife.  As Brittany inhaled, her eyes growing large with the shock, Scott grabbed the same hand and slapped it against the stone.  The stone vanished revealing Helena and her Viking friend. They both rushed out, Helena straight into Scott's arms and the Viking falling on Brittany.

” Priset være Odin. Guderne foretrækker mig!”  The viking kissed Brittany hard on the lips, lifting her off the ground and twirling her around.  (Praise to Odin, the gods favor me!)

”Scott grabbed Helena, kissing her firmly.  ”Helena.”  He kissed her again. ”I thought I’d lost you.”  He hugged her tightly, then kissed her deeply, passionately.

After an awkward length of time, Brad cleared his throat interrupting the two couples. 

Brittany blushed as the Viking set her on her feet.  ”Um, hi.”  She looked down  embarrassed that she had been kissing the stranger.

”Brittany meet Yani,  Yani Brittany.” She then stepped closer to her Viking friend.  She leaned in close to his face with a stern expression.  ”She is my sister, not a Valkyrie.”

Yani chuckled, his arm around Brittany and tossed his head in Helena’s direction.  ”Dim”

 

                                                *                             *                             *                             *

The police captured the killer as he tried to sacrifice the fourth girl.  It turned out to be Dr. Sheffield, the Danish professor that originally coordinated the dig.  He had spent a life time researching the site, gathering all information about the dig and the stones  related to the site. 

Yani had been trapped in the in between for nearly 400 years, but hadn’t aged in that magical ”nether” place.  When Scott and Brad had helped him clean up, shower and shave he was an attractive man that was determined to be with Brittany.  In his things was a purse filled with ancient coins.  When he sold them to the museum of Denmark, it set him up with a small fortune.  He then hired  Brad and Scott to tutor him in modern English, and modern ways.

The following year Scott and Helena were married in a dual ceremony with Brittany and Yani.  The site was a huge success, revealing intricate tunnels  underground thanks to Brittany having opened the door.  As a wedding gift to his sister in law, Yani presented Helena with a map.  It was written in runic language.

”Read it please.”  Helena told him.

He read to her in Danish then offered, ”It is map to Atlantis.”

Her eyes grew large, her archaeological interest now piqued.  She grabbed it from his hands.

He chuckled, twirling Brittany around then tossed his head in Helena’s direction again.  ”Dim”

Valkyrie's Curse Pt IV

How much trouble can an ancient viking be anyway?  Wouldn't you know it, college coeds start showing up dead.  waht kind of archeology site is this anyway?

As a bit of entertainment I thought y'all might enjoy this link.  Interestingly enough the location isn't far from where I've set my tale.  Check it out.  A Swedish Stonehenge

Valkyrie's Curse

Part IV

 

by

 

Ellie Mack

 

Chaos.  The entire camp was nothing but chaos.  The undergrads were panicked, Scott, Brad, and Joe scrambled to keep order.  It was a lost cause, after a while they just directed traffic.  Nialls Whitfield strolled out of his tent around nine, two hours after the police had cleared out.

”Is this how you run a camp? Why aren’t they at the dig site?”  He tossed out as he strode towards them.

Brad nodded in his direction. ”Not normally. Can’t start yet.”  He crossed his arms bracing for the argument.

Niall’s dodged a frantic female gibbering something about not signing up for  Halloween hell.  He stared after her before moving the two final steps to reach the men.  ”What the hell? What do you mean you can’t start yet?  You should have already done preliminary, and starting on excavation yesterday.”  He looked around, taking in the noisy students running around.   ”Where’s Helena Morris?  Isn’t she suppose to be running this camp?

 Brad jumped in.  He’d worked with Nialls before and knew his routine. ”Well Nialls, we’ve had quite a bit of excitement here this morning before you decided to get your sorry self out of bed.  Typically our days start around seven here, breakfast is served at that time.  Our schedules, if you would bother to read them dictate that personnel be on site by eight a.m.  However, the plan had to be deviated from as our Ms Helena Morris is in fact missing, possibly kidnapped as well as one of the new arrivals, Ms
Amanda Keefer.  The police have blocked off the site from our access until they finish scouring the area to find any evidence.  If you’d like to rush back and inform Dr. Montgomery of that development feel free.  Perhaps he can get some coordination with the police force down here for a more organized investigation.   In the mean time we wait.”

Nialls huffed indignantly.  ”I am not here merely to convey information to Dr. Montgomery.  He is in fact heading the funding of this and  therefore requires certain reports from me.  You’re just jealous you didn’t get the job Brad, as usual.  He was smoothing the front of his cotton button down shirt when the rest of what Brad had told him hit him.  ”Wait, what?  Helena has been kidnapped?  Why?  Who would want to kidnap her?”

Scott made a move towards Nialls, but Brad held him back and gave him a slanted brow,  ”Really Nialls, I don’t know how you are going to make effective reports when you don’t have a clue about what is going on.  Insulting the boss, and us isn’t going to get you any cooperation.”  He motioned to Scott to leave. 

”Wait.  Who’s the other girl?  Where are the police now?  Are you cooperating with them?”

”Guess you better run and make a report to Dr. Montgomery. ”  Joe tossed the words at Nialls in a mocking tone, then tsked him a few times before adding ”Always the last to know.”  Joe walked off towards the mess tent to start on lunch.

 

                                *                             *                             *                             *

 

Helena walked down the tunnel, with the man behind her.  It was so easy to get disoriented down here.  She tried to think about how the telemetry plan looked on the monitor.  She stopped, motioned to the man then knelt down grabbing a stone, and began scratching what she remembered of the tunnels from the radar.  The research from other sites that were similar, often had a distinct east west lay out. North and south were often burial chambers, or corridors leading to various rooms, and some connected to other sites as well.  She worked slowly trying to recall the image she had sen on the screen.  She closed her eyes trying to concentrate.

” Hvilken slags trolddom er det?”  The man squatted down near her.  (What sort of sorcery is this?)

Helena was trying hard to concentrate.  She understood part of what he said – What type of trickery is this.  "No tricks, a map.  Errr um, ingen tricks, et kort.”

She had a great mind for details.  She could remember things almost instantly.  As she drew out the map, the man took her hand and shook his head.   ” Nej, det er forkert. ligesom dette.” ( NO you’re wrong.) 

He picked up another stone and  touched her map with his fingers, then moved over to a spot next to her.  He brushed away the dust on the floor, then handed her the torch to hold.  He drew the front of the tunnels in the same fashion that she had, then drew concentric circles resembling the triskel with additional lines.  It was an elaborate design. 

Helena glanced between the two, then tapped both at the pint where she had come through the wall. 

”Ja”  He nodded eagerly.

She tapped the wall behind them, then made a  questioning expression and tapped the map.  He marked an x on his map.  It was just before a chamber on the left. He nodded, then touched where the chamber was on the map then motioned silently that it was just around the curve of the tunnel.  He tugged her to her feet then pulled her along to the chamber.  This had apparently been where he rested. Helena’s mind raced with wild thoughts , questioning his intentions before he shone the light on the wall of the chamber.  On it he had drawn an elaborate map.  He had drawn out next to it a calendar of sorts.  She moved closer to the map.  ”Crap!  You’ve contaminated the site.” 

As she looked closer she realized that he’d been here for a while.  There was a store of mead, some sort of stale bread, and a spot where he’d had a fire.  He offered her his journal he’d been keeping.  It was scrawled in some runic language she didn’t understand.  She flipped through page after page of it, but shook her head that she couldn’t read a word of it.  That would be Brad’s forte.  She surveyed the map closely, noticing he’d made notes of several locations.  It seemed to be an ornate labyrinth, without an exit.  ” Vi skal finde exit.”

He nodded his head but less enthusiastically.  He clasped her hand tenderly and began to wash her wound, then bound it in a strip of cloth. She gave him an earnest smile.

 

                                         *                             *                             *                             *

 

Brad and Scott sat in his tent, heads together poring over Brad’s translation notes.  ”Now, you see here how Helena slid down, cut her hand then appears to fall through the stone.  Well based on my translations – The stone guards the entrance to the in between place.  The Vikings believed the warriors would go to either Valhalla or Nefflheim.  This in between place is where they await their sentence until they are escorted to either by a Valkyrie.   The writing says  ”When blood is shed upon the door, by the moonlight shall the Valkyrie enter to guide the lost to their destinations until Ragnarok.  They must emerge by the full moon of Samhein lest they both be lost forever.  Another Valkyrie must open the door for the Valkyrie to return to the world of man.”

Scott looked at his friend as if he’d lost his mind.  ”So you’re saying that Helena fell through this , this door into another dimension because she’s a Valkyrie?”

”I know it sounds weird, man but look at the tape.  She fell through the freakin’ door!”  Brad defended his interpretation. 

”So in order to save her, we only have to find another ’valkyrie’.  Sure, let’s just line up the undergrads and have them touch the stone.”

”NO it’s not that simple.”

”Of course not.  It never is , is it?”

”The Valkyrie has to be a virgin.”

Scott stood turning his folding chair over. ”Great!  WE might as well head into town and hit the grade school then.  Not that the police won’t notice us taking small children from school, but then we're going to run them through some weird underground tunnel traumatizing them.”

”There’s more.”

Scott stopped, threw his head up to the ceiling, his hands on his hips.  ”Of course there’s more.  What?”

”It requires her blood as well.”

”So, what?  We have to find some sort of test to determine if some kids a Valkyrie or do we go to jail for slashing little kids hands open?”

”I’m working on it, OK?  We’ll figure something out.”  Brad worked diligently as Scott stormed around the room.  After several minutes he decided this was getting him no where.  ”I”m heading over to see what the police have found and what sort of damage they’ve done to the site.”

He jumped on the four wheeler and took off at speed, not noticing that Nialls was running behind him trying to catch up.  The police had tape everywhere sectioning off the landscape into squares in a similar fashion to what they would be doing for the dig.  There must have been twenty police patrolling the areas.  He would hear the click of their walkee talkees as they would check in, then  flag another quadrant. 

”You could have stopped to give me a lift.”  Nialls panted through the words breathlessly.

 ”Didn’t know you were there.”  Scott leaned against the four wheeler, arms akimbo as he scanned the landscape dotted with police.  ”This really blows.”

Nialls took a large drink of water, trying to recover from his brief jog.   

Just then Scott picked up on the report from one of the walkee talkees.   He walked over closer to the police car, listening through the open window.  ”Hey, they found something.”  He motioned Nialls to be quiet.  Scott listened intently as the radio chatter continued in broken short messages.  Several officers were migrating to the north end of the field, just where the land dipped into a rolling valley.  ”Oh god, it’s by the stones.”

Nialls head rose slightly from his hunkered over position with his hands resting on his knees.  ”Stones?  You mean like Megaliths like Stonehenge type of stones?”

”Yeah.  There’s a burial stone just over the rise.  We’ve been debating whether it’s a burial marker or a sacrificial alter. ”

 Scott and Nialls skirted to the west of the site, just at the edge of the open field.  They watched from the edge as the police tagged and bagged the body of the missing student.  Nialls wretched as he caught sight of the bloody mess.  Scott stood silent,swallowing hard, noting that it wasn’t Helena. 

He hoped beyond hope in an irrational thougth that Amanda wasn’t the virgin Valkyrie they needed to free Helena.

Valkyrie's Curse Pt II

I hope you are enjoying this new tale.  Bear in mind this is a first draft. As such there is bound to be mistakes.  I hope you can overlook them to enjoy the story. 

Valkyrie's curse copyright 2012 Ellie Mack

PART II

Scott woke from the sound of crows cawing outside,  and groggily looked at his watch. “Oh shit!”

He glanced over, Helena curled into him on the cot. He softly kissed her forehead and eased his arm from around her, carefully lifting to not disturb her.  He wanted so badly to have her wake in his arms so he could kiss her, but he needed to get the site mapped before the professor and his team showed up. 

He made his way to the latrine and the showers. The shock of the cold water woke him up instantly. Ducking into his tent to change, he grabbed one of his thick bulky sweaters to pull over his tee.  The morning air was chilly, he could see his breath but by early afternoon it would be sunny and warm.

Brad was already up, and had made coffee.  “’Bout time you got up.  I wondered if we were going to make it before the bigwigs showed up.”

Scott grunted in his general direction and filled his 20 ounce thermal cup with coffee.

Brad chuckled to himself, tucking several of the prepackaged muffins in his multi pocketed vest, along with granola bars, two apples, and several candy bars.

“Geez man, you feeding an army?” Scott shot at him.

“Nope, it’ all for me.” Brad sipped his coffee then grabbed a couple bottles of the juice. “And I ain’t sharing so you better get your own.”

Brad tucked a few things into his backpack, opening a Cliff bar to munch on now.  He grumbled to himself as he picked through the assortment to find something he liked.  He’d prefer to stick around till the cook brought the eggs and bacon, but knew they were cutting it close as it was. 

The four wheeler was already loaded with their equipment and the grid markers. The two men climbed in and took off to the dig site. Brad had his tablet and the GPS locater to pinpoint  their marker locations.

The site was a half mile from their camp.  Scott munched on his bar, and drank his coffee while Brad drove. When they reached the site, the two worked diligently together.  It took them a little over an hour to put every marker in place and fire up the system.  There were a few tweaks to get it operational, but Brad and Scott had worked together setting up the grids before.  They worked in sync well with each other with minimal conversation, each knowing their part. 

By the time they returned to camp, the cook was just clearing out the cold breakfast foods.  “Wait!”  Scott jumped out of the four wheeler before it had completely stopped and ran over to Joe. “Hey man, we didn’t get to eat. What’s left?”

Joe motioned to the tray of sausage links and a little mound of scrambled eggs.  Scott immediately scooped them up, an popped his paper plate into the microwave.  There was nothing like real food in the morning. He ate quickly then helped Joe clean up before he made his way to Helena’s tent. 

He cleared his throat before he spoke “Hey, you up? Are you decent?”

“Yeah I’m up. Come on in.”

He ducked through the flap to find her sitting on the cot brushing her long hair.  “Thought you’d be here when I woke up.”

“I wanted to, but we had to get the grid set up before everyone showed up. “

“Right”   She sounded annoyed.  She worked quickly braiding her hair into a single plait.

“Are you upset with me?”  He moved closer to her, kneeling in front of her searching her eyes. “I thought you’d rather we were ready for the professor.”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Scott. It’s not that.  Did we?”

He grinned widely. “Not yet.  Do I still stand a chance?”

She leaned forward hugging him. She kissed him lightly. “You must think I’m terrible.  I didn’t think we did, but I remember pulling you in with me this morning. Sorry.”

He kissed her, gently but growing more demanding. “Helena.  I don’t think you’re terrible. “

The sound of vehicles rolling in were shortly followed by the chattering of the undergrads as they offloaded from the busses.  “Well, looks like it’s show time.  Maybe we could pick up later?”  He kissed her forehead as he stood, and handed her the tablet.  “Let’s greet the crew, shall we?”  He extended his hand, lifting her from the cot. 

Brad and Joe had directed them to their tents to stow their gear and bags.  Helena and Scott made their way to the mess tent and waited for the undergrads.  They straggled in a few at a time until the large tent was filled with the twenty  undergrads.  Scott opened with the intro as Brad passed out the research folders to each of them. 

They went over procedures, clean rules, and answered questions.  By the time they had covered everything, Dr. Montgomery and his entourage pulled into camp. Helena dismissed them by telling them to go get set up in their tents and study their folders.

Helena, Scott, and Brad accompanied Dr. Montgomery, Dr. Sheffield, and their assistants to the dig site.  They briefed the professors on the finds so far, on their thesis compared to the previous findings, and what they had accomplished  so far.  Dr. Sheffield was impressed at the three dimensional grid display on the portable tablet.  

The small group stayed through the evening meal, although they didn’t eat much. Before leaving, Dr. Montgomery pulled Helena aside.  “NIalls will be staying to keep an eye on things.  If you need to contact me for any reason, just go through him.”

She tried to hide her disappointment at his lackey being left to watch over them.  Really she should be used to it by now, it was the same with every dig she’d been involved with.  They always had to have their man in camp.  It was infuriating, but it was part of the price of getting paid.

By the time the camp settled in, in was ten at night.  Scott followed Helena into her tent, turning her around immediately and kissing her.  He had been wanting to kiss her all day,  had wanted her in his arms ever since he had slipped out of her cot that morning.  They eased down on the cot together, kissing , caressing, each getting to know the other in a new intimate way.  He eased his hand under her shirt cupping and squeezing her breast.

Helena tensed.  It wasn’t that she didn’t want him, what would he think of her?  What would be his response to the scars on her body from the surgeries?

Scott sensed her tensing and decided that perhaps it was too much too soon.   “He pulled back from the kiss.  I guess I’m rushing you.  Didn’t mean to.”  He slid his hand out from under her sweatshirt, then stood.  “I better let you get some sleep.  We’ll uh,”  He scratched his head puzzled about her behavior, wondering how he’d misinterpreted her signs so poorly. “We’ll talk in the morning.  Good night Helena.”

He ducked through the opening and was gone.  Helena sat there frozen.  What just happened?  His hand had been nowhere near her scars.  She shook her head wondering how she screwed that up.  She lay back on the cot staring at the seam of the tent for several minutes before deciding she couldn’t sleep now.  She grabbed her flashlight and walked to the work tent.  The grid that Scott and Brad had set up was perfect.  The date from the radar equipment showed a maze of tunnels, and three chambers adjoining.  There were two trails leading exactly east and west from the central chamber.  The first tunnel that was discovered by Sune Lundquist was partially exposed.  From previous explorations they had braced the tunnel, cleaned it out to the point of a stone wall.  The wall had many Viking runes on it.  Brad was their language expert and he was working on the translations.  So far he had picked out the words moonlight, key, Nefflheim, and Valkyrie.  From age the runes had been weathered some, but as it was protected in an underground tunnel it would just take some more detailed work to decipher.

The stone wall was a massive thing extending four feet to either side of the tunnel.  The tunnel leading down was at a fifteen degree decline.  The group had a narrow window to work in before the rainy season, as there was evidence that the water collected in front of the wall to a depth of seven feet at times.

She flipped on the monitors, amazed at the design.  From an aerial view it was very close to a Triskel.  The tunnels were perhaps a little straighter stretching the design out into an oblong pattern.  A movement caught her eye.  When she glanced over at the monitor there was a man in the tunnel.  He held a torch as he carefully stepped through the corridor. 

“Who are you and what are you doing in my dig?”  Had Dr. Montgomery left someone to sabotage them?  Was it Nialls?  She looked closer.  The man had long blond hair, and a mustache,   resembling  a younger Hulk Hogan.  She’d never seen this man before.  He must be there to steal artifacts, or sabotage their dig. Either way she wasn’t going to tolerate it.  “ Oh no you don’t.  this is my dig mister.”

Helena grabbed the rifle and handgun and set them both in the small cage of the four wheeler and took off in a shot.  The tires spat gravel as she gunned the engine.  She spun to a stop, taking her flashlight from her belt.  Where was he?  She shone her light in the direction of the tunnel, and two coyotes scurried away.  She strapped the gun over her shoulder and tucked the handgun into its place on her belt.  “I’m not in the mood to be playing games with saboteurs.”  She rang Scott, but he didn’t answer.  She rang the local authorities and got an answering machine.  She left a hurried message, “ This is Helena Morris from the University of Wisconsin, in coordination with the Denmark association of Archaeological research.  We have an intruder at our site, white male, long blond hair, mustache.  He is on the premises now.  I’m going in.”

It wasn’t the smartest thing she could do by any means.  It would be best to wait for some of the guys, but she was ticked.  This had been her dream project for years, discovering a site that had to do with her family’s heritage. 

She stomped over the clumpy grass to the entrance of the tunnel, shining her light down the tunnel as she squatted down.  “Hey.  I know you’re in there.  Come on out now.”  She waited for a few minutes with no response.

She said a little louder “Hey!  I know you can hear me in there.  I saw you on the monitors.  This is a closed site.  You need to get out of there now.”

She waited.  ‘Right!  He just had to be difficult.’  She stepped  down into the tunnel, her flashlight in her hand, cautiously moving forward.  She passed the first set of aged timbers supporting the tunnel. Flashing the light behind her, then back in front of her she eased forward slowly.   Her foot caught on a stone in the floor and she tumbled headlong down the incline, ramming her hand into the next set of timbers. 

“Ow!  Ow! “  She groped on the floor for the flashlight that had been knocked from her hand.  There was a large cut on the back of her hand, blood trickling down.  Two of her nails had been broken, and the skin just above her cuticles had been scraped, blood welling it the spots.  She stood, placing her hand against the tunnel walls for support.  She took two cautious steps forward and her flashlight died.  No matter how hard she beat the thing it wouldn’t work.  She clicked it on and off, but nothing.  “Of course!” 

Easing forward even slower in the dark, she felt along the damp, cold wall of the tunnel.  Her hand hit the next timber support, and it moved.  As it shifted, a huge chunk of dirt fell from the ceiling, along with  the sodded grass from above.  A few meager rays of bright moonlight filtered in showing her clearly the stone wall less than five feet in front of her.  ‘Where did he go?  She hadn’t passed him.  Maybe he ran out before she had arrived.  That would be about her luck.’

She glanced around, seeing nothing but the wall, and turned to leave.  AS she did, she lost her footing in the dirt and clumps of grass and stumbled back toward the wall.  Frantic she turned to catch herself, landing palms first on the stone wall.  Only it just disappeared and she fell through it, landing at the feet of the man she had seen.