The Valhalla Prophecy

25

Tova stared at the convoy in dismay. ‘It — it might not be them,’ she said, with very little conviction.

‘No, it’s got to be,’ Eddie growled. He counted seven vehicles: two snowmobiles in the lead, followed by a trio of large 4x4s, and another pair that took him a moment to identify as icerunners — two-seaters resembling steroidal bobsleds, driven by noisy pusher propellers on their tails. ‘Nobody else’d come out here in force like that.’

‘Damn you, Logan,’ Nina snarled. Even if the off-roaders only had four occupants each, that still meant they were facing at least eighteen people.

They watched as the vehicles headed for the ravine. Rather than halt so their passengers could reach the rock bridge on foot, however, they continued on through the narrow valley, the roar of engines echoing from its sides.

‘Perhaps they are not stopping,’ said Tova, again sounding unconvinced by her own suggestion.

Nina shook her head. ‘They’ll have had access to satellite maps, just like us. They probably think it’ll be easier to reach Valhalla if they go farther upriver and double back.’ She turned to Eddie. ‘What do we do?’

‘They might not have seen the snowmobiles,’ he said, ‘so there’s a chance they don’t know we’re here. If they don’t…’ A moment of thought, then he jogged to a nearby tree and jumped to grab a large branch, pulling until it snapped from the trunk. ‘There’s some rocks overlooking the entrance, over there,’ he said, pointing to a spot about a hundred metres west of the barrow. ‘Get behind ’em and stay low.’

‘What are you going to do?’ demanded Kagan.

‘Cover our tracks. I’ll come up after you when I’m done.’ Hefting the branch over one shoulder, he returned to the entrance as Nina and the others headed for the rocks.

Before long, the rumble of engines cut out. Nina checked her map; from the direction of the sound, the vehicles had probably stopped on flatter ground about half a mile to the north. Assuming that Berkeley had accurately pinpointed Valhalla’s location, that meant Hoyt’s forces were only around fifteen minutes away on foot.

She looked over her cover at the mound. Eddie was using the evergreen’s branch like a carpet sweeper, swinging it from side to side as he paced backwards along the group’s tracks to brush away their footsteps. But it did not take much effort to spot that something had disturbed the snow, even if the bootprints themselves were no longer clear. If Hoyt’s team spent any time searching the area, the game would be up.

Eddie finally backed to the top of the depression. He swept over the tracks at the slope’s brow, then yomped to the others. ‘Did the best I could, but it’s not great,’ he said. ‘Any sign of ’em?’

Kagan had produced a compact set of binoculars and was scanning the trees to the north. ‘No, but I do not think they can be far away now.’

‘Yeah, I know. Unless they all get eaten by a troll.’ Tova managed a small smile at Eddie’s joke.

Silence descended once more. Minutes passed. Tension rose amongst the little group. The arrival of the intruders was inevitable — it was just a question of when, and from where…

‘I see them,’ Kagan hissed, locking his binoculars on a particular spot. ‘About a hundred and fifty metres.’

Nina picked out new colours amongst the white and brown and green. Men in bulky winter gear, most with hoods up to protect their heads from the cold, were tramping through the forest.

Coming towards them. Berkeley’s deductions had been accurate.

Kagan kept watching. ‘I count… nineteen, maybe twenty.’

‘Let me look,’ said Eddie. Kagan gave him the binoculars. ‘I see Hoyt — and Berkeley. He’s got a GPS or something, he’s checking it… he just pointed at the mound.’ He passed them back to the Russian and opened his coat to draw the Wildey. ‘Just want it ready,’ he told the concerned women. ‘I’m not going to start shooting. Yet.’

Voices reached them as Hoyt’s team drew closer. Berkeley led the way, wearing a bright yellow padded jacket that stood out from his more muted companions. Behind him was Hoyt, hood down and a cigarette between his lips. A P90 sub-machine gun was slung over his shoulder. Most of the other men were similarly armed.

‘Pity you didn’t bring that sniper rifle,’ Eddie told Kagan. He watched as the rest of the group followed Berkeley through the snow. The archaeologist divided his attention between the GPS and his surroundings — then lowered the device and broke into a clumsy jog, pointing excitedly at the ashes.

‘This is it!’ he called. ‘Look at the trees!’ He reached the mound and glanced around, then spotted the cutting at the foot of the tilted tree. ‘Over here!’

Eddie drew in an anxious breath, his hand tightening around the gun. ‘If they see our footprints, we’re in deep shit. We’ll have to run for the waterfall and try to get back to the snowmobiles.’

Nina felt a chill that no amount of warm clothing could prevent as Berkeley reached the trench and hopped down into it. Hoyt did the same, waiting for an unarmed man, face hidden by his hood, to join him before heading for the darkened opening.

They reached the brushed snow above the edge of the trench…

And continued past it. The prospect of discovering what lay in the darkness was too enticing to resist. A couple of the other mercenaries followed them, the remainder spreading out around the foot of the mound. Cigarettes were lit, food and drink produced from pockets and packs.

‘They don’t know we’re here,’ said Nina with relief. ‘They aren’t expecting trouble.’

‘Maybe not, but they’re still ready for it,’ Eddie replied. He borrowed the binoculars again. Flickers of light came from the darkness as Berkeley shone a torch over the lead barrier. ‘Okay, they’re having a look at the doors… Berkeley’s checking out that slot.’

‘Let me see,’ Nina demanded, plucking the binoculars from his hands. He made a ‘tchah!’ sound, but she ignored it, intent on discovering what was going on below. Berkeley continued his examination of the slot, then, after exchanging words with Hoyt and the other man, signalled to one of the armed mercenaries in the trench behind them. ‘Now what’s he doing… Oh, crap.’

‘What is it?’ asked Tova.

‘He’s got the sun compasses!’ The mercenary took a box from his backpack, the two dark stone discs inside. Berkeley extracted them and, with great care, brought them together back-to-back. He flinched as they suddenly clapped against each other with a clink that was audible even from her hiding place. ‘They are magnetic — he’s just fitted them together. And I was right, they’re exactly the same size as the slot. Dammit, they really are a key!’

She watched helplessly as Hoyt shone the light on the opening in the door and Berkeley, looking extremely pleased with himself, gently eased the combined compasses into it as if inserting a coin into a slot machine. ‘He’s putting it in, and…’

‘And?’ prompted Eddie after a few seconds.

‘And nothing!’ Nina exclaimed. Berkeley’s expression slipped to annoyance, then confusion. He used his fingertips to edge the disc back out, then tried again with more force. ‘It’s not doing anything.’

Another attempt had the same lack of result. Frustrated, Berkeley removed the compasses, holding them as he began an animated discussion with Hoyt and his companion. It went on for a good minute, the archaeologist repeatedly gesturing at the doors and becoming visibly more dismayed each time.

‘He’s really not happy,’ Nina reported. ‘I think Hoyt wants to bust the doors open.’

‘But — but that will destroy the site,’ Tova protested.

‘I don’t think he cares,’ said Eddie.

The group looked on from their hiding place as Berkeley reluctantly caved in to Hoyt and his companion, and called out to the mercenaries. A man whom Nina recognised as one of the team from the Norwegian lake flicked away a cigarette and picked up a large case he had brought, taking it into the trench. ‘Son of a…’ she spluttered when she saw what was inside.

‘What is it? Kagan asked.

‘It’s a chainsaw! They’re going to open the doors with a frickin’ chainsaw!’

Eddie chuckled humourlessly. ‘Now that’s my kind of archaeology.’ Both women glared at him. ‘Joking, obviously. Well, mostly.’

Nina scowled, then looked back through the binoculars. Berkeley aimed his light at the doors, pointing to a particular spot. The man with the chainsaw nodded and pulled the cord to start it. The machine’s snarl shattered the quiet, a few birds that had been roosting nearby taking panicked flight.

The others in the trench retreated as the man stepped up to the doors and raised the saw. ‘God damn it, Logan,’ Nina said, wincing at the first screech of metal slashing through metal. ‘You don’t—’

A scream made everyone, mercenaries and their hidden observers alike, jump. The chainsaw revved violently as its user staggered back into the light — and sliced into his leg, blood spouting against the side of the trench. ‘What the fuck just happened?’ Eddie said, startled.

Through the field glasses, Nina had a clear view of the shocking sight. The horrific gash in his thigh was not the only injury the mercenary had received. Blood was also running down the front of his coat — from a foot-long wooden shaft buried in his abdomen. He screamed again, falling on his back. ‘Jesus!’ she said as Hoyt rushed up and threw the chainsaw clear. ‘Eddie, you were right — it was booby-trapped. Looks like it shot an arrow out of one of those holes.’

More of his comrades ran to help the screaming man. ‘Everyone get away from the doors!’ Berkeley shouted, hurriedly scrambling clear.

The wounded mercenary was hauled out of the trench, leaving a trail of blood through the snow. ‘Who’s got the fuckin’ medical kit?’ Hoyt demanded. One of his men retrieved something from a pack. ‘No, that won’t be enough! He’s gonna need morphine! Someone go back to the trucks and get the proper fuckin’ thing!’ Two of the mercs raced away back along the group’s tracks. ‘Put a tent up — we need to get that thing out of him!’

A pop-up tent was quickly unfolded, several men gingerly carrying their still-wailing fellow inside. The rest of the team looked on, more with curiosity than concern. Hoyt stormed over to Berkeley and began haranguing him. The archaeologist’s protest of ‘I told you not to do it!’ carried clearly across the hollow.

Hoyt’s companion joined the argument, seeming to side with the former soldier. Berkeley held up the sun compasses. ‘I tried them, what more can I say?’ he said angrily. ‘The runestones clearly said they had to be put together to open the door. Well, I did, and they didn’t work. The site is over a thousand years old — maybe the lock’s broken, I don’t know!’ He listened with growing displeasure as the third man lectured him, jabbing with his forefinger. ‘Okay, okay, if that’s what you think is necessary! But I did everything I could.’ Cradling the compasses in one arm, he stalked off.

‘I do believe he’s going to sulk,’ said Nina, almost amused.

Eddie watched Berkeley move away from the rest of the group. ‘You know…’

‘What?’

‘Everyone else is watching the wounded guy — but look, some of them are just standing there having a smoke. If they were proper soldiers, they’d be worried about their mate, but it’s like this lot barely know each other.’

‘We did kill many of Hoyt’s men in Norway,’ Kagan pointed out. ‘He would have had to recruit more, fast.’

Nina could tell her husband had something in mind — and also that it would involve a large degree of risk. ‘What are you thinking, Eddie?’

‘I’m thinking,’ he replied, his square face breaking into a crooked smile, ‘that most of these guys don’t know each other too well… and that they’re all dressed pretty similar, and most of ’em have got their hoods up.’ He tugged at the thick fleece surround of his own hood. ‘Like this.’

She stared at him. ‘You’re not serious.’

‘Why not? I should be able to get down there without being seen so long as they’re all watching Harold Spearguts in the tent. My coat’s pretty much the same as anyone else’s, so if nobody gets a good look at my face I can walk right up to Berkeley and,’ he held up the hulking Wildey, ‘persuade him to give me the sun compasses.’

Tova was horrified. ‘But if they realise you are not one of them, they will kill you!’

‘And if we don’t do something, they’ll just blow the bloody doors off and stroll in to take whatever’s inside.’

‘We cannot let them do that,’ said Kagan firmly. ‘It will lead them to the other source of eitr.’

‘It won’t help us get into Valhalla, though,’ Nina objected. ‘The compasses didn’t open the lock even when he put them together…’ She trailed off as a new possibility occurred to her. ‘He put them together wrong. That’s why they didn’t do anything. The lock isn’t broken — the key just didn’t touch it!’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Tova.

‘I mean, the compasses are magnetic — but there are two ways you can put magnets together. They can attract each other… or repel. Berkeley combined them so they’d attract each other, which is the obvious thing to do. But the mechanism inside the lock is on each side of the slot. The only way the two pieces of the key would touch both parts at the same time is if they’re repelling each other!’

‘Like poles attract, unlike poles repel,’ said Eddie, nodding. ‘Or is it the other way round? I can never bloody remember. But it doesn’t matter; all you need to know is which sides repel each other.’

‘It fits what the runestone said. It has to be how the lock works.’ Nina looked back at the mound. Berkeley was now standing on his own under a tree, stabbing at a tablet computer with one ungloved hand. Hoyt had gone to the tent, while the third man peered into the barrow’s entrance before turning away to join him. The rest of the mercenaries were holding station, either anxiously observing the progress of the injured man’s first aid, or hanging back, waiting to see what happened.

She moved her gaze to the trench. Everyone was heeding Berkeley’s warning and keeping well clear. ‘If we took the key from Logan, we could get inside without anyone seeing us.’

Tova was not keen on the idea. ‘But how will we get to the doors? Even if they do not realise Eddie is not one of them, they will spot an extra three people — especially as two of them are women!’

‘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 intellect. 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 around 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 on to 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 colours. Berkeley.

The archaeologist was still occupied with his tablet computer. Eddie leaned out a little further. A couple of the mercenaries were visible from his position, but they were looking towards 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 adrenalin 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 towards 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 discs 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 materialise from behind a tree and punch him.

‘No, I came out here all on my own ’cause I like collecting pine cones. 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 round…

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 by 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 chainsaw. 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 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.

‘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, prised the two magnetised discs 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 discs 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 ear-splitting shrill the doors began to open for the first time in over a millennium.

‘Jesus!’ Eddie said, wincing. ‘My ears might be bad, but I heard that!’

‘And so will Hoyt’s guys!’ Nina realised in alarm. ‘Get inside, quick!’ She moved to the gap between the two-foot-thick doors, but it was widening with agonising 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, falling 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 backwards. The .45-calibre round shredded the rope — and the great block slammed to the floor, shattering the flagstones and knocking her on to 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 backwards. 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 magnetised discs 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 on to the paving slabs and the shrivelled 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 adrenalin and fear running through her, Nina felt an undeniable thrill of discovery as she led the group deeper into Valhalla.