Descent to Hel by Stephanie Mirro

Author:Stephanie Mirro [Mirro, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tannhauser Press
Published: 2020-05-27T22:00:00+00:00

SERA TILTED HER HEAD BACK, trying to gauge how high the top of the stone wall was. Three stories, at least. Their long walk next to their fields had ended at last. Only now they had to figure out how to scale a wall with a mortal. A really tall wall, with each stone reaching to her waist.

When they had been far enough away from it to make out the gate, they had strayed from the path into the high grasses. Some sort of massively oversized dog or wolf stood beside the equally large arching gate, allowing a line of people to enter one by one. Every few entrees, the creature would growl, a rumble so deep and loud she could hear it from a distance. The hairs on Sera’s arms rose in response.

Yet another giant being she didn’t want to have to fight.

She hadn’t seen another soul on their walk, but somehow a line had formed to enter through the gate and never seemed to stop. Whenever someone walked into Helheim, a new person would shimmer into being at the end of the line.

Freyja’s vague memory of not going through the gate must have referred to whatever guarded it. How the goddess had forgotten that detail was anyone’s guess. But then again, the Norse goddess had probably seen far scarier things than this creature.

A shudder ran across Sera’s shoulders at the idea of facing something scarier. She would probably be doing just that with the Ordog.

They had kept to the beast’s back, finding a place to scale the wall without being spotted.

“I can jump high, but not quite that high,” Solomon said with a quick smile.

“Climb it is then.” Sera removed her backpack and pulled out the rope.

Thanks to Freyja’s limited description of the journey to Hel, they had at least been prepared to scale a wall. Sera just hadn’t expected one three stories high. She glanced down the length of stones toward the gate. If their rope wasn’t long enough, they might have to face that beast after all.

Solomon tied the three-prong hook to one end of the rope, gave it a few swings, then launched it up the wall. The hooks bit into the other edge of the top of the wall and stuck. Success on the first try.

Sera still didn’t like the guy, hadn’t forgiven him for dragging her more into the mess she found herself in, but having a supposedly friendly Bacchae around was coming in handy. Although she was confident she could have secured the rope herself if she had to. Just maybe not on the first try.

“Alright, Solomon you go up first,” Sera said. “Then we’ll send up Renee, then Danae, then me. Got it?”

Solomon frowned. “Are you sure you trust yourself with her?”

“More so than you,” Sera said. “We don’t know how much her influence could work down here. If any.”

After giving a sharp nod, Solomon eyed the wall. He took Renee’s backpack and looped it over his own pack—a gentlemanly gesture that made a corner of Sera’s lips turn up.

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