My New Home
I wasn't paying the closest attention as Hunding guided me through the hotel. I felt as if I'd been spun around fifty times then released into the middle of a circus and told to have fun. Each hall we walked through seemed bigger than the one before. Most of the hotel guests looked like they were in high school, though some looked slightly older. Guys and girls sat together in small groups, lounging in front of fireplaces, chatting in many different languages, eating snacks or playing board games like chess and Scrabble and something that involved real daggers and a blowtorch. Peeking into side lounges, I spotted pool tables, pinball machines, an old-fashioned video arcade and something that looked like an iron maiden from a torture chamber.
Staff members in dark green shirts moved among the guests, bringing platters of food and pitchers of drink. As far as I could tell, all the servers were buff female warriors with shields on their backs and swords or axes on their belts, which is not something you see a lot in the service industry. One heavily armed waitress passed me with a steaming plate of spring rolls. My stomach rumbled. "How can I be hungry if I'm dead?" I asked Hunding. "None of these people look dead."
Hunding shrugged. "Well, there's dead and then there's dead. Think of Valhalla more like... an upgrade. Your one of the einherjar now. He pronounced the word like in-HAIR-yar.
"Einherjar," I repeated. "Just rolls right off the tongue."
"Yeah. Singular: einherji." He said it like in-HAIR-yee. "We're the chosen of Odin, soldiers in his eternal army. The word einherjar is usually translated as lone warriors, but that doesn't really capture the meaning. It's more like... the once warriors - the warriors who fought bravely in the last life and will fight bravely on the Day of Doom. Duck."
"The Day of Doom Duck?"
"No, duck!" Hunding pushed me down as a spear flew past. It impaled a guy sitting on the nearest sofa, killing him instantly. Drinks, dice and Monopoly money flew everywhere. The people he'd been playing with rose to their feet, looking mildly annoyed, and glared in the direction the spear had come from. "I saw that, John, Red Hand!" Hunding yelled. "The lounge is a No Impaling area!" From the billiard room, somebody laughed and called back in... Swedish? He didn't sound very remorseful. "Anyway." Hunding resumed walking as if nothing had happened. "The elevators are right over here."
"Wait," I said. "That guy was just murdered with a spear. Aren't you going to do anything?"
"Oh, the wolves will clean up."
"Wolves?" I asked. Sure enough, while other Monopoly players were sorting their pieces, a pair of grey wolves bounded into the lounge, grabbed the dead man by his legs and dragged him away, the spear still sticking out of his chest. The trail of blood evaporated instantly. The perforated sofa mended itself. "Aren't there any rules against killing?"
"Hunding raised a bushy eyebrow. "That was just a bit of fun, girl. The victim will be fine by dinner. Come on."
Before I could ask more about the 'bit of fun', we reached an elevator. It's cage door was made out of spears. Overlapping gold shields lined the walls. The control panel had so many buttons, it stretched from floor to ceiling. The highest number was 540. Hunding pressed 19. "How can this place have five hundred and forty floors?" I said. "It would be the tallest building in the world."
"If it only existed in one world, yes. But it connects with all the Nine Worlds. You just came through the Midgard entrance. Most mortals do." I thought about that. I recognised the name. I remembered it from the stories my mom had told me when I was little. Those stories had then turned into a slight obsession with different mythologies. Mom had supported it by buying me stuff that gave me more information about them.
"You mean the world of humans."
"Aye." Hunding took a breath and recited, "Five hundred and forty floors has Valhalla; five hundred and forty doors leading out into the Nine Worlds." He grinned. "You never know when or where we'll have to march off to war."
"How often has that happened?"
"Well, never. But still... it could happen at any time. I, for one, can't wait! Finally, Helgi will have to stop punishing me." The elevator's spear-cage door rolled opened. "You'll like floor nineteen. Good hallmates!"
I'd always thought of hotel corridors as dark, depressing and claustrophobic. Floor nineteen? Not so much. The vaulted ceiling was twenty feet tall, lined with more spears for rafters. Torches burned in iron sconces, but they didn't seem to make any smoke. They just cast warm orange light across the wall displays of swords, shields and tapestries. The hall was so wide you could've played a regulation soccer game, no problem. The blood-red carpet had tree-branch designs that moved as if swaying in the wind.
Set about fifty feet apart, each guest-room was rough-hewn oak bound in iron. I didn't see any doorknobs or locks. In the centre of each door, a plate-size iron circle was inscribed with a name surrounded by a ring of Viking runes. The first read: HALFBORN GUNDERSON. Behind that door I heard shouting and metal clanging like a sword fight was in progress. The next read: MALLORY KEEN. Behind that door, silence. Then: THOMAS JEFFERSON JR. The popping of gunfire came from inside. I almost flinched away, remembering my death. Finally we stopped at a door inscribed RUBY MAY. Seeing my name written in iron, inscribed with runes, I started to tremble. My last hope that this might be a mistake, prank or cosmic mix-up finally evaporated. The hotel was expecting me. Once I went through, I would be checked in. According to the manager, I'd have a new home until doomsday.
"Go ahead." Hunding pointed at the runestone key in my hand. The symbol looked sort of like an infinity sign or a sideways hourglass. "It's dagaz, "Hunding said. "Nothing to be afraid of. It symbolises new beginnings, transformations. It also opens your door. Only you have access."
I swallowed. "What if, for instance, the staff want to get in?"
"Oh, we use the staff key." Hunding patted the axe on his belt. I couldn't tell if he was kidding. I held up the runestone. I didn't want to try it, but I also didn't want to stay in the hallway until I got impaled by a random spear. Instinctively, I touched the stone to the matching dagaz mark on the door. The ring of runes glowed green. The door swung open. I stepped inside. "See you tonight, kid! Try not to kill yourself before dinner!"
At first glance, it looked just like my house, where I lived with my mom and stepdad. My old house. The thought nearly made me cry. The stairs were right in front of me. I could see the kitchen and the living room. By the stairs was the door to a room. It was my mom and stepdad's room. By the door was a piano, with some music on the stand and a picture propped up on the top. Pictures decorated the mantelpiece. It was exactly how I had left it before I had gone to school. I went up the stairs. It was exactly how I remembered it. My bedroom was on the right. I entered. It was bigger, but it was roughly the same as it had been. My bed was up against the right wall with a bedside table next to it. My closet was there, too. The only things missing were my desk, bookshelf and box of books. I had a lot of books. Instead of a window, there was a door leading to a balcony. I don't know what I expected to see, but it was nothing like what I had imagined. It was a large field with trees everywhere. A few benches and tables were dotted around. The sun was shining. It was a twisted version of my house. At least I knew my way around it. I wondered if there was a way into the field.