The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3)

“Njord wanted me to see how you felt about him,” I admitted.

She sighed. “I don’t believe this. He didn’t send you with flowers, did he? I told him to stop it with the bouquets.”

“No flowers,” I promised, suddenly sympathizing with all the innocent Niflheim delivery people she had probably shot dead. “And Njord’s feelings aren’t the main reason we’re here. We’ve come to stop Loki.”

The servants all stopped what they were doing. They glanced at me, then at their mistress, as if thinking Well, this should be interesting. My friends watched me with expressions that ranged from You got this! (Blitzen) to Please don’t screw up as much as usual (Alex).

Skadi’s dark eyes glittered. “Go on.”

“Loki is getting his ship Naglfar ready to sail,” I said. “We’re here to stop him, recapture him, and bring him back to the Aesir so we’d don’t have to fight Ragnarok, like, tomorrow.”

Another peal of thunder shook the mountain.

The giantess’s face was impossible to read. I imagined her sending her arrow across the room and embedding it in my chest like a mistletoe dart.

Instead, she threw back her head and laughed. “Is that why you’re carrying Kvasir’s Mead? You intend to challenge Loki to a flyting?”

I gulped. “Uh…yeah. How do you know we have Kvasir’s Mead?”

My second, unspoken, question was: And are you going to take it away from us?

The giantess leaned forward. “I am fully aware of everything that happens in my hall, Magnus Chase, and everyone who passes through it. I have taken inventory of your weapons, your supplies, your powers, your scars.” She scanned the room, her eyes resting on each of us—not with sympathy, more like she was picking targets. “I also would have known if you’d lied to me. Be glad you did not. So, tell me: Why should I let you continue your quest? Persuade me not to kill you.”

Halfborn Gunderson wiped his beard. “Well, for one thing, Lady Skadi, killing us would be a lot of trouble. If you know our abilities, you know we’re excellent fighters. We’d give you quite a challenge—”

An arrow thudded into the table an inch from Halfborn’s hand. I didn’t even see how it happened. I looked back at Skadi—she suddenly had a bow in her hand, a second arrow already nocked and ready to fly.

Halfborn didn’t flinch. He set down his hot chocolate and belched. “Lucky shot.”

“Ha!” Skadi lowered her bow, and my heart started pumping blood again. “So you have bravery. Or foolhardiness, at least. What else can you tell me?”

“That we’re no friends of Loki’s,” Samirah volunteered. “And neither are you.”

Skadi raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say so?”

“If you were a friend of Loki’s, we would already be dead.” Sam gestured toward the windows. “The Harbor of Naglfar is close, isn’t it? I can sense my father nearby. You don’t like Loki gathering his army right on your doorstep. Let us continue our quest, and we can take my father off the board.”

Alex nodded. “Yes, we can.”

“Interesting,” Skadi mused. “Two children of Loki sit at my dinner table, and you both seem to hate Loki even more than I do. Ragnarok makes strange allies.”

T.J. clapped once, so loudly we all flinched (except for Hearth). “I knew it!” He grinned and pointed at Skadi. “I knew this lady had good taste. Hot chocolate this tasty? A hall this awesome? And her servants don’t wear thrall collars!”

Skadi curled her lip. “No, einherji. I detest the keeping of slaves.”

“See?” T.J. gave Halfborn a told-you-so look. More thunder rattled the plates and cups, as if agreeing with T.J. The berserker just rolled his eyes.

“I knew this lady hated Loki,” T.J. summed up. “She’s a natural Union supporter!”

The giantess frowned. “I am not sure what that means, my very enthusiastic guest, but you are right: I am no friend of Loki’s. There was a time when he didn’t seem so bad. He could make me laugh. He was charming. Then, during the flyting in Aegir’s hall…Loki insinuated that—that he had shared my bed.”

Skadi shuddered at the memory. “In front of all the other gods, he slighted my honor. He said horrible things. And so, when the gods bound him in that cave, I was the one who found the serpent and set it over Loki’s head.” She smiled coldly. “The Aesir and Vanir were satisfied just to bind him for eternity, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted him to experience the drip, drip, drip of poison in his face for the rest of time, just the way his words had made me feel.”

I decided I would not be slighting Skadi’s honor anytime soon.

“Well, ma’am…” Blitz tugged at his wool tunic. He was the only one of us who didn’t look comfortable in his new threads, probably because the outfit did not allow him to wear an ascot. “Sounds like you gave the villain just what he deserved. Will you help us, then?”

Skadi set her bow across the table. “Let me understand this: you, Magnus Chase, plan to defeat Loki, the silver-tongued master of insults, in a verbal duel.”

“Right.”

She looked like she was waiting for me to wax poetic about my prowess with verbs and adjectives and whatnot. Honestly, that one-word answer was all I could manage.

“Well, then,” Skadi said, “it’s a very good thing you have Kvasir’s Mead.”

My friends all nodded. Thanks a lot, friends.

“You were also wise not to drink it yet,” Skadi continued. “You have such a small amount, there is no telling how long its effect will last. You should drink it in the morning, just before you leave. That should allow enough time for the mead to take effect before you face Loki.”

“Then you know where he is?” I asked. “He’s that close?”

I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or petrified.

Skadi nodded. “Beyond my mountain there lies a frozen bay where Naglfar sits at her moorings. In giant terms, it is only a few good strides away.”

“What is that in human terms?” asked Mallory.

“It won’t matter,” Skadi assured her. “I will give you skis to speed you on your way.”

Hearth signed, Skis?

“I’m not so good on skis,” Blitz muttered.

Skadi smiled. “Fear not, Blitzen, son of Freya. My skis will look good on you. You will have to reach the ship before midday tomorrow. By then, the ice blocking the bay will be sufficiently melted for Loki to sail into open waters. If that happens, nothing will be able to stop Ragnarok.”

I met Mallory’s eyes across the hearth fire. Her mom, Frigg, had been right. By the time we set foot on Naglfar, if we reached it, forty-eight hours would have passed since Fl?m.

“If you manage to board the ship,” Skadi said, “you will somehow have to make your way through legions of giants and undead. They will, of course, try to kill you. But if you succeed in getting face-to-face with Loki and issuing your challenge, he will be honor-bound to accept. The fighting will stop long enough for the flyting.”