The goddess merged back into the tree roots, and Lydian screamed in pain as the roots entered his skin and dragged him back with her. I sat, head in my hands, muttering curses.

“Don’t be mad at yourself, Janneke,” Diaval said. “You’re not the first person who couldn’t complete Hel’s challenges. You won’t be the last.”

“We’ll find a way,” Seppo said, patting me awkwardly on the back.

Soren crouched down to my height. “I, for one, am really glad you couldn’t kill me, even in an alternate universe. I love you, Janneke.”

He reached around me and held me tight, warming my body up from the blackish goo I was covered in. For a moment, there was the singular feeling of peace, like we were the only ones in the entire world.

Something rustled around us, but I paid no mind as I buried my head in Soren’s shoulder and let out a sob. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Soren said. “You have no reason to be.”

The rustling came again and along with it some odd, foreign sound. It could’ve been a growl despite the way it echoed, almost like a human’s screech mixed with barking.

“Diaval,” Rosamund said, “remember back before we crossed the river when you mentioned the giant wolf?”

“What of it?” Diaval asked. “Also I was technically wrong before. Garm’s a giant hound, not a wolf.”

“That doesn’t make it better, Diaval,” Seppo said, staying close to Rosamund.

The humanlike animalistic growl got louder as something invisible stepped through the shadows, only showing itself through the paw prints in the muddy earth.

“Well, I think we may have a problem with it,” Rosamund said. “Unless I’m the only one who can actually see it … because a giant dog appeared and it doesn’t look … nice.”

“Fuck,” Diaval said.

Fuck, indeed.

15

THE WORTHY DEAD

THE GROWLING-SHRIEKING SOUND intensified as the invisible creature took slow, stalking steps toward us. The only way we could tell was the paw prints appearing in the sinking mud. Immediately, we formed a circle, each of us guarding the others’ backs so there was no way we would be taken from behind.

“Hold the circle,” Soren said, swords out. “Whatever happens, hold the fucking circle.”

“So, Diaval,” Seppo said in a tone of voice more suited for a friendly conversation than a battle. “When were you going to tell us that the giant dog-wolf thing we might have to fight would be invisible to the living eye?” He unhooked his featherstaff from where it hung on his back, the long, wickedly sharp blades locking into place.

“I figured we’d cross that road if we came to it,” Diaval said, her hands crackling with the blue lightning that signified her magic.

“You didn’t once think, ‘huh, maybe it would be good for everyone to know we may be fighting an invisible monster’?”