Chapter 33
Freckles woke up and jumped out of bed as if someone had jolted her with a live electrical wire. She looked around, wobbling, disoriented, trying to figure out why she was alone in the cabin. Then she remembered. She wasn’t brave enough to fight, and Odin sent her to sleep through the battle.
The fact that she was awake told Freckles that the battle must be over. She ran out of her cabin and headed to the Great Hall, expecting to see it full of counselors and campers; expecting to find out from Crystal how the battle went.
But the whole camp was eerily quiet as she ran. She burst through the doors and saw that the hall was empty. She shouted, “Hello,” but received no answer. She ran to the closest cabin and checked inside; there were six campers asleep in their bunks. She then checked the other four cabins, and in each one the campers were asleep.
Freckles knew that no camper was ever supposed to knock on Valfoor’s door, but she decided this was an emergency. She knocked as hard as she could, pounding it with her fist. To her surprise she heard a familiar voice call out in Swedish, “Yes? Come in, please.”
Freckles opened the door and saw a male version of Lucky sitting on a golden chair inside of a golden cage. She realized that this must be Loki.
“Ah, Lisa. How nice to see you. But I have to say I’m a bit surprised. What are you doing here?”
Freckles scowled at him. “Don’t call me Lisa. I prefer to be called Freckles.” As soon as she said it a little alarm went off in her head, reminding her that she was embarrassed about having so many freckles. But just as quickly she decided to turn that alarm off, permanently. From now on she wanted to be called Freckles.
“Very well, Freckles, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off fighting monsters or something?”
Freckles looked down at the floor. “Odin wouldn’t let me go along. I didn’t bond with a horse, so he didn’t consider me worthy.”
“Well, apparently you are supposed to be at the battle, or you wouldn’t be awake, standing here, talking to me. The fact that you’re not with them then means they are fighting one person short. You know, Freckles, one person could make all the difference in a close battle. If you don’t stop moping around here and go and help your friends, you could be the reason they lose.”
Freckles looked up anxiously. Maybe Loki was right. Maybe she was letting down her friends. Her failure could mean the death of the best friends she had ever had. She knew that she needed to overcome her fears and get to the battle as quickly as possible to see if there was anything she could do to help. “Do you know where the battle is? Can you tell me how to get there?”
“I can do more than that,” Loki said, flashing Freckles his most charming smile. “I can also make sure you have the armor and weapons you need to fight.”
Loki sat quietly, letting the tension build. Finally, he said, “Of course, I can’t do that while I’m locked up in this cage. If you want my help, I’m afraid you’ll have to let me out.”
“I can’t do that,” shouted Freckles. “You are working against the other Gods. You tried to kill my friend Crystal.”
“Well, there is that” Loki sighed. “But frankly, I just want to be on the winning side. I really didn’t think that spoiled American brat would measure up. I admit that I was wrong. She was a lot tougher than I realized. Honestly, I now believe that Odin has a good chance of winning if the two of us show up to help him.”
“The two of us? Oh, no! I don’t trust you, Loki.”
“Then you are a smart girl,” he said. “I’m not very trustworthy. But this isn’t about your trust in me. What it really boils down to is your confidence in Crystal. If you believe that Odin can win with her then you should let me out; I’ll have some fun, kill some Giants, and we all go home winners. But if you think your Shield Maidens are nothing more than little girls going up against big bad monsters, then leave me locked in here; the monsters will tear your little friends into pieces and once again I will be on the winning side.”
Freckles didn’t know what to do. She stood there, rocking from one foot to the other.
“Tick tock,” said Loki. “Imagine how bad you’ll feel if we get there late. Why, we may get there just in time to see one of your little friends die.”
That was too much for Freckles. “How do I let you out?” she asked.
“Just open the door, foolish girl. The magic lock that Odin put on it only works against me.”
Freckles opened the door, then took a step back. She held her breath, waiting for Loki to rush out and hurt her in some way. Instead, he stood, stretched, and walked slowly out of the cage.
“Well, come on then. Let’s see if Eiti made some armor in your size. I’ll need armor too, but I can adjust to fit almost anything he’s got lying around.”
They walked in silence until they neared Eiti’s workshop. Then Loki asked, “You’re the pig girl, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?” Freckles replied.
“Freyja’s boar. You’re the girl who takes care of it, right? I’ve seen you riding it.”
“Yes,” Freckles said. “I feed him and wash him and play with him every day.”
“Well, that was silly of Freyja,” Loki said cautiously, wondering if Freyja really was that stupid or if this was just her roundabout way of releasing him from Odin’s prison. “Of course, you couldn’t bond with a horse, you’d already bonded with the boar.”
“Oh,” said Freckles, not sure if she should take him seriously. “You’re right. Who needs a horse when you can ride a pig?”