Underworlds #2: When Monsters Escape by Tony Abbott

Author:Tony Abbott [Abbott, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic Books
Published: 2012-04-01T06:00:00+00:00

“The key to Asgard?” the woman said.

I tried not to show my surprise. Asgard. The home of the Norse gods. The court of Odin.

“The two humans are close on the rune’s trail in Iceland,” she said.

Dana let out a quiet gasp. “Nooooo …”

I brushed against her shoulder. I knew. The two humans the oracle mentioned might be Dana’s parents. That couldn’t be good.

“One day more and they will have that which you seek,” the woman intoned.

Great. What was that supposed to mean? Couldn’t these people speak normally?

Loki scoffed. “Then this very hour, I shall release my … creatures. They shall s-s-stop the meddlers. The Crystal Rune will be mine.”

I shall release my creatures. Stop the meddlers. If he was talking about Dana’s parents, I couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind right then.

Raising his one good hand, Loki turned to Fenrir. The wolf leaned to its master, its yellow fangs dripping liquid that hissed on the icy ground between its front paws. I couldn’t hear what Loki said, but then he raised his head and turned to the oracle.

“I take a journey soon,” he said. “But in two days’ time, I will have everything I need.”

The oracle smiled. “There are others against you. The three children and the girl they rescued. I sense them close to you now.”

I shivered from head to toe.

“No human in history has visited more than one of the Underworlds,” Loki said.

The words struck me. We had rescued Dana from the Greek Underworld. Were we in the Norse one now? Had we done something no one had done before?

All at once, Loki swung his head around to us. I almost screamed.

“You, Draugs!” he snapped. “You shall remain behind. Destroy the children. Capture the girl. I can use her. But destroy the other three!”

It felt really wrong to bow in agreement, but we had to.

Loki turned again to the oracle. “Before I dismiss-s-s you and s-s-secure the final piece of my puzzle, conjure me a vision of the days-s-s to come —”

Smoke blossomed around the face of the blue woman. Hideous creatures took shape in the haze. Monsters — spiked, clawed, fire-breathing — crawled and slithered and flew across miles of golden sand, destroying everything they touched.

That scene merged into the next, where those same monsters raced through our world. I saw towns, villages, cities turned to ashes. The water tower in Pinewood Bluffs toppled in flames. The buildings on Main Avenue, including our school, were piles of smoking rubble. My knees felt weak. It was horrible. But I couldn’t look away.

This scene melted into another, showing the same creatures attacking a giant wooden hall nestled in mountains of ice and snow.

I guessed it was Asgard, the home of the Norse gods. Odin’s house.

So, first the Underworlds. Then our world. Then the throne of Odin.

Loki would attack them all.

When the vision finally faded, Loki took one of the last pieces of armor from the dwindling pile — the helmet. He slid it over his head. It clicked into place.

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