her life. She was trying to save the human girl from her killer, but he interfered before she could.”
The water Huldra.
“S-She was trying to save me?” Annabel choked by my side.
I’d only hunted for the blasted thing long enough to ensure she wouldn’t return before we’d continued on our journey, a decision I now regretted as the female raven lit up with cruel mirth.
“Did he tell you otherwise, dear girl? Ah, a child of Loki with a tongue dipped in poisonous lies. How… predictable.”
“We do indeed seek your wisdom for a way out of this realm,” Mimir broke in before I could spear the feathered rat with a scathing reply. “It is no secret that if one seeks an impossible answer, the only question must be to a raven.”
A cawing echoed from the field around us and up through the mighty oak. Laughter.
“Oh, how he flatters,” the female bird cooed, nudging the leader.
“He can flatter as much as he pleases,” the male bird said. “There is no escape from Hel, not for the dead, or we would all have left a long time ago. Our answer to you, prophet, is the same as when Frigg herself came to plead for our help: What is dead will remain so. The only way out is on Naglfar, as a bound soldier for the Queen of Death when she sails across the sea to lay siege to the mortal shores—a fate I promise you is far, far worse than remaining here.”
“Well, that is the thing… The girl isn’t entirely dead,” Mimir said. “She has eaten an apple from Idunn’s garden. She can leave—if we find a way for her to do so before it is too late.”
“Ooooh,” the female crooned. “How interesting.”
“Very interesting,” the male agreed. They both studied Annabel as if she were a new and puzzling trinket.
“Is there a way?” Annabel asked. “I need to get back as soon as possible.”
Mimir cleared his throat, a wordless reminder to let him do the talking.
“Needs to get back, does she?” the leader croaked. “My, my, my. But what will she pay?”
“Pay?” Annabel asked, her voice wavering.
“Whispers are not free, little immortal mortal,” the female said. “What will you give in return for a way home?”
“What… What do you want?”
I grimaced. That was about the worst possible thing she could have said to the greedy vultures.
“Ooooh,” the female crooned again, echoed by raspy laughter from the tree above. “An eye, my dear.”
“Or perhaps a heart,” the male supplied.
“A shiny trinket,” the female said.
“A magical rose,” the male said, cawing a rough laugh.
“You know of a way, then?” Mimir interrupted. “One which does not involve servitude to Hel?”
“We do,” the leader said. “But not for free.”
“All I have to offer is this.” Annabel shifted Mimir to one arm and pulled out a small metallic circle—the ring she’d placed on my finger. I bit the inside of my cheek to avoid voicing a protest. As much as I shuddered at the idea of an item of such power in the ravens’ possession, at least she wouldn’t be using it on me again if she bargained it here.
“Oooh,” the leader of the ravens hummed. “Dwarven magic. Now that… that might be worth a whisper.” He set off, flapped his wings once, and landed on Annabel’s shoulder. His feathers mixed perfectly into those adorning her armor as he leaned forward to study the ring closer. “Give me that ring, human girl, and I will tell you of a way out of Hel.”
“Tell us the way first, wise raven,” Mimir said before Annabel could comply, “and you will have your trinket.”
The leader squawked. “You expect trickery and deceit, old man? I am half in mind to take insult. We have made a bargain with the girl. We will fulfill it.”
“And once you have upheld your end, we will ours,” Mimir said mildly.
Annabel closed her hand around the ring. “After,” she agreed, having apparently wised up to the nature of these cretins at last.
The female raven hissed, and the male tightened its claws on Annabel’s shoulder enough to make her grimace, but he relented. “Fine. Whisper first. Then the price. But be warned that you will not leave without payment.
“There is a boat. A small, ancient vessel perched by the sea separating Hel from the lands of the living. It can carry a living being across. If they survive the waters.”
“No,” Annabel said. I could hear the frustration in her voice. “No there is not.”
“No?” the female asked, voice sharp.