Trapped

chariot and us was clear of draugar , except for the remaining pieces of them.
    » If we suddenly appear amongst them, they’ll cut us down without thinking. Drop the enchantment now and I’ll hail them. «
    » Done. «
    I shouted in Old Norse and hoped that Hel wouldn’t hear it over the sounds of war and her own sorrow. » Black Axes! To me! To Freyja! Defend the goddess! « A dozen wee warriors swarmed around us and escorted us to the chariot.
    » Is she alive? « a gruff voice asked.
    » Aye, but barely. The wolf is dead. «
    » We figured Hel wouldn’t make that noise if he lived. «
    » Right you are. It’s time to run. «
    » I’ll tell the axemaster, « the dwarf said, seeing us safely into the chariot. » Don’t wait for us. Go! «
    He made it sound so simple. But when I looked over the front of the chariot, the cats’ eyes staring back at me did not seem anxious to leave.
    » Hey, cats, « I said. » Let’s go. Let’s boogie. Come on. « I pointed up at the ceiling of mist. » Back over the wall. Let’s do this. « They stared at me. One began to lick his nether region. » Giddy-up! « I cried. » Heaahh! Move ’em out! Shoo! « This earned me more stares and more licking but no movement. » Go, damn it! «
    » Atticus, that’s not going to work, « Granuaile said.
    » Yeah? Well, you try it. «
    Granuaile faced Freyja forward so the cats could see her face. » Listen, « she said. » Freyja is hurt. « The cats took sudden interest. Their eyes, indifferent before, were now clearly focused on Granuaile and Freyja. » Your mistress needs help. We need to leave now. Over the wall, back the way we came. Take us to Frigg. Take us to Frigg, and I’ll buy you some tuna. «
    At least, I think she said tuna . Her words were drowned out by a roar from Hel, who appeared in her half-hot, half-rot form to demand an explanation, her hair touching the ceiling of snotlike mist. Though she was twenty yards away, we could already smell her. » Who killed him? « she wanted to know, the great knife Famine clutched in her skeletal left hand. » Was it Freyja? «
    The chariot jerked and we lifted off the ground; Freyja’s cats were suddenly anxious to escape.
    » Nope. That was me! « I shouted.
    Hel’s eyes focused and then narrowed in recognition. » You! You’re supposed to be dead! «
    » You should have learned from the mistakes of the Æsir, « I said. » Never fuck with a Druid! «
    I shouldn’t have said that.
    As we rose into the clouds of mist, all sounds of battle and rage below muffled by its close stickiness, Hel’s giant right hand followed us in and closed on the open back of the chariot, halting our progress in midair. Granuaile and I yelped, and the cats protested with a noise primarily composed of vowels.
    Freyja’s kitties were powerful, and thanks to them Hel couldn’t drag us back down, but neither could we escape. Hel’s right hand was on the » hot « side, and thus it looked lovely and cultured and gave no hint that it belonged to something hideous. Granuaile slapped at her thighs, searching for a knife, but she had thrown them all at Fenris and slammed her bowie knife into his leg. I handed her mine.
    She snatched it, cocked it over her shoulder, and threw it directly into the back of that giant lovely hand—not hard enough to pin it to the chariot floor, but hard enough to stick in there. A bellow from below and we shot skyward as the hand disappeared. I think the cats were in a hurry, because we didn’t seem to spend so long in the snot this time. More likely Freyja had taken us through it a bit slower than necessary.
    » You poisoned that blade, right? « Granuaile asked.
    » Yep. We can always hope. I doubt it will take her out, though. «
    I held much more hope that the Black Axes would make it out okay; I’d had no time to assess the state of their forces. I rather feared that the dwarfs in Nidavellir would have to bear a counterattack now. It would be better if Hel were somewhat cowed by this affair and rediscovered caution.
    » Hey, Granuaile, « I said once we got clear of the mist and were sailing back to the wall. » Will you ask the cats to keep the portal to Midgard open for the dwarfs? «
    » Sure. I don’t know if that’s something they can do, but I’ll try. «
    » Thanks. I’d hate to think we were stranding all the dwarfs in Niflheim. «
    Red hair streaming behind her in the cold wind, Granuaile asked our transportation to keep the door open for the