The Magician

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

M achiavelli was sitting in the back of his car alongside Dr. John Dee.

Facing them were the three Disir. Dagon sat in the driver s seat, eyes

invisible behind his wraparound glasses. The car smelled faintly of his sour

fishy odor.

A cell phone buzzed, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Machiavelli flipped

it open without looking at the screen. He closed it again almost immediately.

All clear. My men have pulled back and there is a security cordon in place

around all the connecting streets. No one will accidentally wander into the

area.

Whatever happens, do not enter the house, the Disir with violet eyes said.

Once we free Nidhogg, we shall have very little control until it feeds.

John Dee leaned forward, and for a moment, it looked as if he was about to

tap the young woman on the knee. The look on her face prevented him. Flamel

and the children must not be allowed to escape.

That sounds like a threat, Doctor, the warrior sitting on the left said.

Or an order.

And we do not like threats, her sister sitting to the right added. And we

don't take orders.

Dee blinked slowly. It is neither a threat nor an order. Simply a request,

he said eventually.

We are here only for Scathach, the warrior with violet eyes said. The rest

of them are not our concern.

Dagon climbed out of the car and opened the door. Without a backward glance,

the Valkyries stepped out into the first glimmers of predawn light, spread

out and moved slowly down the back street. They looked like three young women

coming home from an all-night party.

Dee shifted position, taking the seat facing Machiavelli. If they succeed, I

will ensure that our masters know that the Disir were your idea, he said

pleasantly.

I m sure you will. Machiavelli didn't look at the English Magician and

continued to follow the progress of the three girls as they walked down the

street. And if they fail, you can tell our masters that the Disir were my

idea, and you can absolve yourself of any blame, he added. Shifting the

blame: I believe I originally came up with that concept about twenty years

before you were born.

I thought you said they were bringing Nidhogg? Dee asked, ignoring him.

Niccol Machiavelli tapped the window with his manicured fingernails. They

did.

As the Disir moved down the narrow, cobbled, high-walled alley, they changed.

The transformation occurred as they passed through a patch of shadow. They

entered as young women, dressed in soft leather jackets, jeans and boots and

a moment later they were Valkyries: warrior maidens. Long coats of ice white

chain mail fell to their knees, knee-high metal boots with spiked toes

covered their feet, and they wore heavy leather-and-metal gauntlets on their

hands. Rounded helmets protected their heads and masked their eyes and noses

but left their mouths free. White leather belts around their waists held

their sword and knife sheaths. The Valkyries each carried a wide-bladed sword

in one hand, but each also had a second weapon strapped to her back: a spear,

a double-headed axe and a war hammer.

They stopped before a rotting green gate set into the wall. One of the

Valkyries turned to look back at the car and pointed a gloved hand at the

gate.

Machiavelli hit a button and the window rolled down. He raised his thumb and

nodded. Despite its decrepit appearance, it was the back gate to

Saint-Germain s house.

Each of the Disir reached into a leather pouch that hung from her belt.

Taking out a handful of flat stonelike objects, they tossed them at the base

of the door.

They re Casting the Runes, Machiavelli explained. They re calling

Nidhogg the creature you released, a creature the Elders themselves locked

away.

I didn't know it was trapped by the World Tree, Dee muttered.

I m surprised. I thought you knew everything. Machiavelli shifted in the

seat to look at Dee. In the gloomy half-light, he could see that the Magician

was looking pale and there was the faintest sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Centuries of controlling his emotions ensured that Machiavelli didn't smile.

Why did you destroy the Yggdrasill? he asked.

It was the source of Hekate s power, Dee said quietly, eyes fixed on the

Valkyries, watching them intently. They had stepped back from the stones

they d dropped on the ground and were talking quietly amongst themselves,

pointing out individual tiles.

It was as old as this planet. And yet you destroyed it without a second

thought. Why did you do that? Machiavelli wondered aloud.

I did what was necessary. Dee s words were ice. I will always do whatever

is necessary to bring the Elders back to this world.

But you didn't consider the consequences, Niccol Machiavelli said softly.

Every action has a consequence. The Yggdrasill you destroyed in Hekate s

kingdom stretched into several other Shadowrealms. The topmost branches

reached the Shadowrealm of Asgard, and the roots stretched deep into

Niflheim, the World of Darkness. He saw Dee stiffen. Not only did you

release Nidhogg, but you also destroyed at least three Shadowrealms maybe

more when you destroyed the World Tree.

I didn't know .

You made a lot of enemies, Machiavelli continued smoothly, ignoring him,

dangerous enemies. I have heard that the Elder Hel escaped the destruction

of her kingdom. I understand she is hunting you.

She does not frighten me, Dee snapped, but there was a quaver in his voice.

Oh, she should, Machiavelli murmured. She terrifies me.

My master will protect me, Dee said confidently.

He must be a powerful Elder indeed to protect you from Hel; no one has stood

against her and survived.

My master is all-powerful, Dee snapped.

I look forward to learning the identity of this mysterious Elder.

When all this is over, maybe I ll introduce you, Dee said. He nodded down

the alleyway. And that could be very soon.

The runestones hissed and sizzled on the ground.

They were irregular pieces of flat black stone, each etched with a series of

angular lines, squares and slashes. Now the lines were glowing red, crimson

smoke coiling into the still predawn air.

One of the Disir used the tip of her sword to move three of the runestones

together. A second nudged a stone out of the way with the steel toe of her

boot and then dragged another into place. The third found a single runestone

at the edge of the pile and eased it into position at the end of the string

of letters with her sword.

Nidhogg, the Disir whispered, calling the nightmare whose name they had

spelled out in the ancient stones.

Nidhogg, Machiavelli said very quietly. He looked over Dee s shoulder to

where Dagon sat staring straight ahead, apparently disinterested in what was

happening to his left. I know what the legends say about it, but Dagon, what

exactly is it?

My people called it the Devourer of Corpses, the driver said, voice sticky

and bubbling. It was already here before my race claimed the seas, and we

were amongst the first to arrive on this planet.

Dee quickly swiveled in the seat to look at the driver. What are you?

Dagon ignored the question. Nidhogg was so dangerous that a council of the

Elder Race created a terrible Shadowrealm, Niflheim, the World of Darkness,

to contain it, and then they used the unbreakable roots of the Yggdrasill to

wrap around the creature, chaining it for eternity.

Machiavelli kept his eyes fixed on the red-black smoke coiling from the

runestones. He thought he saw the outline of a shape beginning to form. Why

didn't the Elders kill it?

Nidhogg was a weapon, Dagon said.

What did the Elders need a weapon for? Machiavelli wondered aloud. Their

powers were almost limitless. They had no enemies.

Although he sat with his hands resting lightly on the steering wheel, Dagon s

shoulders shifted and his head turned almost completely around so that he was

facing Dee and Machiavelli. The Elders were not the first upon this earth,

he said simply. There were others. He pronounced the word slowly and

carefully. The Elders used Nidhogg and some of the other primordial

creatures as weapons in the Great War to completely destroy them.

A stunned Machiavelli looked at Dee, who looked equally shocked by the

revelation.

Dagon s mouth opened in what might have been a smile, revealing his

tooth-filled maw. You should probably know that the last time a group of

Disir used Nidhogg, they lost control of the creature. It ate all of them. In

the three days it took to recapture it and chain it in Yggdrasill s roots, it

completely destroyed the Anasazi people in what is now New Mexico. It is said

that Nidhogg feasted off ten thousand humani and still hungered for more.

Can these Disir control it? Dee demanded.

Dagon shrugged. Thirteen of the finest Disir warriors couldn't control it in

New Mexico .

Maybe we should Dee began.

Machiavelli suddenly stiffened. Too late, he whispered. It s here.