Page 39 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
Kari
“What is that?” I hissed as Rune appeared from behind a tree, sword in hand. I pointed to a ginormous hairy beast that moved in a chaotic rhythm in the near distance. Rune pivoted to face the creature, her face set in stone cold concentration. When she turned on the creature, her mask cracked, and she blew out a breathy laugh. She lazily slid her sword back into her sheath.
“What are you doing?” I asked, motioning to her sword. “Take that back out!”
Rune gave me an infuriating smirk, turned to the copper colored beast, and let out a whistle. My eyes widened as the creature turned on us, and I realized what I’d been looking at was merely its bushy tail.
How big is this thing?
A whimper escaped my lips as the creature charged toward us on all fours, crushing bushes under its paws as it scampered across the forest floor. My jaw slackened as I stared up at a ginormous red squirrel.
“Is that?—”
“The shit-talking squirrel, Ratatoskr? Yes, it is,” Rune said, amusement lacing her tone. “And utterly harmless to us, might I add.”
I worked on a swallow as Ratatoskr watched us with curious, glassy eyes. He was quite cute when I ignored his size, my eyes trailing over the braids in his tail as if he were a viking warrior.
“Hello there, Ratatoskr,” I said, my throat still dry from fear. My clenched fists slowly released as even Apple turned her rear to the squirrel in an obvious sign of being unbothered.
“Rune Dragomir and Kari Kettlesdotter,” the woodland creature squeaked. “State your purpose.”
What the fuck?
I stared between the talking squirrel and Rune, wondering if she was hearing him too, or if I was losing it.
“We’re traveling to Helheim and no further,” Rune said, and my jaw all but fell from my face. I wasn’t losing it. She could hear him. “Feel free to tell Nídhöggr his scaly ass is stinking up this entire path, and we haven’t even made it into the roots yet.”
“I’d love to do nothing more. That limp-winged worm has it coming. You’re not the only valkyrie I’ve collected sweet, sweet insults from today,” the squirrel said, his tail twitching with excitement.
“How interesting,” Rune murmured. “From which sect?”
“Yours. Odin’s. One and the same,” he said. The hair on the tips of his ears stood tall and brushed the underside of the canopy of leaves above us. “She called the root munching dragon a brainless lizard.”
“Shit,” she muttered, and I wondered if she already knew who he’d seen. “Thank you, Ratatoskr.”
“Good health to you, Rune,” the squirrel said as he turned away. “Better health, now you don’t reek of wild revelry.”
Rune cursed under her breath as Ratatoskr darted away at breakneck speed.
I guess no one is safe from his insults.
“Do you know who he’s talking about?” I asked.
“I have an idea,” she admitted, picking up a few thick branches. “We just need to make sure she doesn’t find us.”
Rune used one of her axes to begin chopping the branches, building the base for a fire. I helped by finding some kindling as she grew the woodpile.
“Is it Rayna?” I eventually asked, thinking of her extremely intimidating younger sister who stared at me as if there was nothing she wanted to do more than drop me over Midgard from a bone-shattering distance in the clouds.
“Quite possibly. She’s called me brainless on more than a few occasions,” she said. The fire base sparked, and Rune took the kindling from me as she began feeding the small flame.
I nodded and then tilted my head up to the purple sky. It was as dark as I thought it might get, and sleep tugged at my lips as I fought a yawn. Tears pricked in my heavy eyes, and I looked around at our surrounding area for something to lay upon to steal a few moments of sleep.
Away from the fire, hay began pouring from the sky like dry rain, and soon enough, there was a mattress-sized pile next to the log we’d eaten dinner upon. Tove sprinted forward and dove into the pile with a delighted meow, and Apple began walking over as well, her tongue lolling out.
“Don’t even think about it,” Rune said as she held her hand up to the pegasus. “This is mine. You have your own.” Apple let out an irritated snort and retreated to her much smaller pile of hay, munching on it once more. Rune began unhooking the second axe from around her back and the sword from her hips, but I didn’t doubt she still had weapons hidden all over her body.
She set her more obvious lines of defense down, leaning them against the log for easy access from her position upon the hay. She didn’t look at me as she said. “This is no bed. There are no pillows or sides, no feline to steal my spot. You may join me if you wish.”
