Thank you to our government for providing so much fodder to work with.
Dedication:
To my grandchildren
~You have to know what is lost in order to find it again~
1
Fell, 2468
Fehin loosened his hold on the dragon’s neck and slid off, landing with a soft thud on the damp ground. Judging from the dense tropical forest surrounding him the dragon had brought them close to the former village of Fell. The land of Far Isle hadn’t changed much in the eight years since Fehin had been gone. Why the dragon had brought him here to this particular spot was a mystery, but Aki was smart and always had reasons for what he did.
He left Aki to forage and moved through the thick underbrush wondering what he might find. But nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his half-brother, Wolf, sitting cross-legged in the middle of a flat rock.
“Hello,” Wolf said, his lips rising in his version of a smile.
Fehin had a moment of panic. Wolf was younger and yet twice as big. Dark stubble accentuated his jutting chin and the malevolent expression in his eyes was one Fehin would never share. The only features they had in common were pale skin and black hair, which came from their Scottish heritage on their father’s side. The last time he’d seen Wolf was right before his half-brother was stripped of his powers and banished to the Norse world of Svartalfheim, a cold and barren world where dark dwarves worked beneath the ground mining and crafting swords. They were dangerous creatures and wouldn’t hesitate to kill a human being. He hadn’t thought of Wolf for years, assuming he was dead along with their father and Wolf’s mother, Ella, who had been confined there at the same time. And yet here he was.
Fehin and Wolf shared a sorcerer father, Brandubh, but Wolf’s mother, Ella, was a sorceress as well, and because of this Wolf had inherited too much magic—and, unfortunately, a psychopathic nature to go along with it.
“How did you get here?” Fehin asked, forcing himself to step forward.
Wolf waved his hand dismissively. “That stupid Norn should have known I couldn’t be contained forever.”
Fehin breathed deeply to slow his racing heart before lowering himself onto the rock next to his brother. He deflected the waves of negativity coming from Wolf and then put up a shield of white light. “How’d you know I was coming?”
Wolf looked down and then raked his heavy hair off his forehead, a habit he’d picked up from their father. “It doesn’t matter how far apart we are, Fehin, I can always read your thoughts. And by the way, I know all about Thule.”
Fehin paled. Thule was secret. No one knew anything about the island he’d conjured except the Norse gods and those who lived there. They’d been living in peace for eight years now. This had to be a bluff and so he decided not to respond.
Several moments went by before Wolf finally admitted, “Well, I know the name, but I don’t know where it is.”
Fehin closed out any thoughts of Thule. Reading minds was a gift they’d both inherited from their father, and right now Wolf was probing his. Even the thought of Wolf finding the island made Fehin’s blood run cold.
“I need your help.”
Wolf’s beseeching expression was very out of character and Fehin raised his eyebrows. Was it possible Wolf had escaped his prison without sorcery?
“I want to go to the Otherworld but I can’t get there without your boat.”
“Skidbladnir doesn’t belong to me.”
“But you can sail her, right?”
Skidbladnir was a magical Viking long ship belonging to Fehin’s mother, Gertrude. The boat had originally been a smaller sailboat named Gypsy, but Wolf had burned that one to the ground trying to kill Ella and Brandubh who were on board at the time. Skidbladnir could travel through time just as Gypsy had, but Fehin had never considered sailing her alone. “Why do you want to go to the Otherworld? It’s in the past.”
“I know when it is,” Wolf snapped. “I have business there. Are you such a momma’s boy that you can’t take her on a sail by yourself?”
Fehin didn’t rise to the bait even though his cheeks grew hot. “I could, but I won’t.”
Wolf’s narrowed eyes grew dark as he stared at Fehin and a moment later he got up and walked away. Fehin watched him disappear into the forest, and then let out his held breath. Wolf made him more nervous than anyone he’d ever encountered. And why