Fenrir advanced toward Larson, ears laid flat to its head, crimson eyes gleaming. Larson dove aside. Gaeli-nar's words hissed in his ear, foreign and uninterpretable, their inflection wholly alien. Some force outside Larson's mind racked his body, reawakening the ache of his injuries. Fenrir sprang. Larson ducked. The beast sailed over Larson's head and vanished through a yawning gap into the infinity of world beyond his mind. The wolf's voice echoed in threat. "Next time, Allerum, I come for real. No god can save you then."
Larson staggered, feeling weak and spent. Anchored in his own mind, he heard Gaelinar only as distant noise. He glanced at the gold and silver figure of Vidarr. Where? How?
Larson did not expect an answer, so Vidarr's reply startled him. Fenrir invaded your mind. I came to aid you.
Larson studied his surroundings in bleary detachment. Vidarr stood among loops of mental circuitry, a chaotic array of wires which Larson knew must represent his own brain. Light flickered and slashed along the pathways as the scene registered and he contemplated its significance. Fenrir, he repeated, dazed. In my dream. Larson's voice seemed to issue from a tangled coil a short distance before the exit; he held no material form in his own mind. With that discovery, he felt himself drawing back into his physical body. He resisted, strengthened by the early stirrings of resentment. Vidarr, I was fighting Fenrir off until you came.
Derisive laughter rang through Larson's thoughts. Until I came, Fenrir was playing you like a mouse.
No!
Vidarr radiated an aura of contempt. Yes, Allerum. I've told you before, you lack the natural mental barriers people of this era possess. Your mind is like a book. Any force with enough knowledge and power can penetrate and manipulate it, writing and rewriting as it pleases.
Wrong, Vidarr! Growing rage lent power to Larson's rebuttal. Fenrir can wake old memories. It can inspire
thoughts and torture me with images. But, while inside my mind, Fenrir can cause me no physical harm.
Vidarr's anger echoed Larson's. Of what consequence is physical harm! Your strongest enemies can control your beliefs. They can turn you away from your important goals.
Ah ha!
Vidarr hesitated. Ah ha?
This is what it all comes down to, isn't it, Vidarr? You're scared Fenrir might convince me not to fetch Geirmagnus' rod.
Vidarr was accustomed to communicating with emotions; his self-righteousness came through every bit as clearly as his words. Whatever happened to gratitude, Allerum? I just faced the strongest chaos force in existence for you. Fenrir may not be able to hurt you in your mind, but it could have killed me. And you seem to have forgotten that Freyr rescued you from death to bring you here, at no small risk to his own life.
Larson snorted. The sound filled every crevice of his mind. Freyr brought me here because he needed someone from my age. He needed a person without mind barriers to communicate with you by wielding the sword in which Loki had trapped you. He summoned me to slay a god. I accomplished that. In doing so, I destroyed my own world. My debt is paid. I'm free now. I don't owe you or Freyr any favors. I didn't ask him to bring me here, and I didn't ask you for help against Fenrir. In fact, I politely requested you to STAY OUT OF MY PERSONAL MEMORIES!
Vidarr dismissed Larson's tirade, his annoyance hot and tangible through the cramped corners of Larson's mind. Listen, Allerum. I'm tired of your disrespect. I don't know what gods are like in your world, but here, we seldom deign to speak with humble mortals. When we do, it's considered the greatest honor.
Spare me the speech… and the honor, Vidarr. Freyr chose me because I yelled his name in my last moment of life. Freyr doesn't exist in my world. Calling on him was a sacrilege. If I don't respect the God I was taught
to worship since childhood, how can you expect me to respect you?
Vidarr's eyes followed the shifting lights which betrayed Larson's current abstraction.
Larson seized the god's silence to continue. I'm sick of everyone expecting me to kowtow and cast aside my own ideals for theirs. Protected or not, my mind is my own. Your presence is as much a violation of my privacy as Fenrir's. Recalling Vidarr was an ally, Larson tried to soften his words. Damn it, Vidarr. I feel like I'm being raped. I have to learn to handle this handicap on my own. Don't worry about my thoughts. I know myself well enough to recognize and ignore a concept which goes against my nature.
Vidarr remained haughty and relentless. Bramin once convinced you I was an unholy being and your mission was to destroy me.
That was before either of us knew he could influence my dreams.
Regardless, Allerum. It's my job to keep you on task. Freyr pulled you from a hellish war…
… To place me into another hellish war. Into Hel itself even! I'm supposed to feel grateful that Freyr ripped me from a world of technological miracles and dumped me into the body of a ninety-eight pound weakling?
Vidarr persisted. Technological miracles or not. You were dead.
Dead or not, I was free. I'm no slave. You tell me "get Geirmagnus' rod,'' but you won't describe what guardians I'll have to face. You know how to raise Silme, but you won't tell me. Instead, you used the information to blackmail me. I say enough! If I am to serve gods, I shall do so willingly or not at all. Otherwise, you can kill me right now.
Allerum! Vidarr's presence shook with impatience. Stop this nonsense.
Driven nearly to violence, Larson pressed onward. These are the ground rules, Vidarr. From now on, if you need a favor, you ask. Second, any uninvited intrusion into my mind will be considered an act of war.
An act of what! Exasperation beat through Larson's mind. My battle with Fenrir has addled you.
Not addled! Larson screamed. Enlightened. It was you who triggered my memories, not Fenrir. The wolf merely came to threaten me.
Irritation sifted through Vidarr's reply. This is crazy. You've gone crazy. I'll return when you've recovered your senses. He took a step toward the gap through which Fenrir had exited Larson's mind.
No! If you return without settling this, I'll consider it an attack.
Vidarr paused. Good-bye, Allerum.
No! Larson realized he could not allow Vidarr to leave yet. It would take all meaning from future promises and threats. Desperate, he gathered every fiber of mental energy and channeled it into the image of a restraining wall, hard and high as the one which enclosed the Dragonrank school. To Larson's surprise, a broad shape shimmered to life before Vidarr, hazy and indistinct.
The god hesitated. Allerum? What are you doing, Allerum?
Larson said nothing. He gritted his teeth, tensing every muscle. Pain ground through him. He ignored it, mind and body drawn together in effort. Sweat rolled from his forehead. Unbeknownst to him, his physical body contorted to a knot of concentration. Gradually, the wall came into focus, neatly blocking Vidarr's escape.
Larson could barely perceive Vidarr's mix of shock and sudden fear. Allerum! What?
Larson replied carefully. Every syllable seemed to weaken him. Tell… how… to… rescue… Silme. The wall behind Vidarr collapsed. Larson fell silent. A fresh wave of frustrated anger gave him the strength to reconstruct it, brick by mental brick. He hoped the barricade would also keep Vidarr from seeing the self-doubt which rilled the remainder of his consciousness. He knew he had to get Vidarr's answer quickly. If the god stalled long enough, Larson would lose the strength to hold him.