Supernatural Chronicles: The Asgardians

By S.T. Bende

Inga Andersson just can’t catch a break. She’s supposed to be enjoying a ski week in beautiful Åre, Sweden, with her immortal-assassin husband. Instead, she and Gunnar are trapped inside a bizarre scavenger hunt, unraveling an incomprehensible riddle at the bequest of a mysterious being. And if Inga and Gunnar don’t decipher the puzzle and deliver a mythological relic to a New Orleans graveyard within three days, they’ll be ejected from the Norse pantheon, stripped of their immortality, and cast as the solitary line of defense against the onslaught of frost giants and Helbeasts ready to bring about Midgard’s fall. What started as a party game has become a lethal challenge with irreparable consequences, not only for Inga, but for the god she loves . . . and the realm she adores.

Let the hunt begin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S.T. Bende
• Release date: Dec 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311534705

S.T. Bende

S. T. Bende is a young adult and children's author, known for the Norse mythology series Viking Academy and The Ære Saga. She's also written books for Disney and Lucasfilm. She lives on the West Coast where she spends far too much time at Disneyland, and she dreams of skiing on Jotunheim and Hoth. Website: www.stbende.com.

Book preview

The Asgardians

The Asgardians

S.T. Bende

Contents

Back Cover Copy

Also by S.T. Bende

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Viking Academy

Viking Academy - Sneak Peek

Want More Of The Norse Crews?

The Ære Saga

The Elsker Saga

Acknowledgments

About the Author

The Asgardians

Supernatural Chronicles: New Orleans

Copyright © 2015, S.T. Bende

Edited by: Lauren McKellar

Cover Art by: Brenda Pandos

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All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

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This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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First publication: 2015, S.T. Bende

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Back Cover Copy

Inga Andersson just can’t catch a break. She’s supposed to be enjoying a ski week in beautiful Åre, Sweden, with her immortal assassin husband. Instead, she and Gunnar are trapped inside a bizarre scavenger hunt, unraveling an incomprehensible riddle at the bequest of a mysterious trio. And if Inga and Gunnar don’t decipher the puzzle and deliver a mythological relic to a New Orleans graveyard, they’ll be ejected from the Norse pantheon, stripped of their immortality, and cast as the solitary line of defense against the onslaught of frost giants and Helbeasts ready to bring about Midgard’s fall. What started as a party game has become a lethal challenge with irreparable consequences, not only for Inga, but for the god she loves…and the realm she adores.

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Let the hunt begin.

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*This book was originally published as part of the multi-author set, Supernatural Chronicles: New Orleans.*

Also by S.T. Bende

Meet the Vikings in VIKING ACADEMY:

VIKING ACADEMY

VIKING CONSPIRACY

VIKING VOW

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Meet the Norse God of War in THE ÆRE SAGA:

PERFEKT ORDER

PERFEKT CONTROL

PERFEKT BALANCE

PERFEKT MATCH

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Meet the Norse God of Winter in THE ELSKER SAGA:

ELSKER

ENDRE

TRO

TUR (a novella)

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See the crews together in the crossover novella…

SUPERNATURAL CHRONICLES: THE ASGARDIANS

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Meet the demigods in NIGHT WAR SAGA:

PROTECTOR

DEFENDER

REDEEMER

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Complete list of S.T.’s STAR WARS titles at

www.stbende.com/star-wars

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Stay in touch with S.T. at www.stbende.com.

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Find pronunciations, translations, and info on all things Asgardian on S.T.’s website at WELCOME TO ASGARD.

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And sign up for S.T.’s NEWSLETTER at

http://smarturl.it/BendeNewsletter

Dedication

To my biggest little blessings, and my great big one, too.

Jeg elsker deg.

Chapter 1

"A RE YOU SURE YOU’RE ready for this?" My best friend Gunnar studied me, his grass-green eyes the picture of concern. We stood at the gilded back door of Odin’s council room along with the third member of our inseparable trio, Ull. Odin the Alfödr was ensconced within the chamber, meeting with a three-member sub-council made up of Ull’s stepdad, Thor, my dad, Jens, and Ragnar Fredriksen—Asgard’s God of War. According to the calendar Dad left on his nightstand back home, the group would complete its investigation into my mother’s murder and present its findings to Odin today. For reasons that eluded me, I hadn’t been invited to the hearing.

Naturally, I’d decided to crash it.

I’m not even a little bit ready. I shook my head. Will you guys go in with me?

Ull took my left hand. Absolutely.

Wild Helbeasts couldn’t keep me away, Gunnar vowed. He gripped my right hand tightly and stepped closer, so his upper arm pressed against my shoulder. I ignored the flutters in my stomach, writing them off as nerves. There was no way my best friend gave me butterflies. That would just make everything weird—as I regularly reminded myself.

Thanks. I took a deep breath. Let’s go.

Gunnar placed his free hand on the thick door and pushed. It gave way, opening to reveal the surprised faces of three senior-ranking gods and the head of Asgard.

Inga! What are you doing here? My father looked up from the council table, shock painting his ashen face.

I’m here to find out who killed my mother. I kept my voice steady, knowing Dad would have me ejected at the first sign of weakness.

Knowing that won’t make this any better, sweetheart. This isn’t the place for a teenager. Dad placed his palms on the table. He’d been more overprotective than ever since Mom died, but I couldn’t let him keep this from me.

Please, Mr. Fredriksen. I turned to the war god. It’s been two weeks.

Mr. Fredriksen stood, pushing his chair back with the movement. Although he was the largest god in the room, he met my stare with kind eyes. I understand that you want answers. But you have to know we are going to do everything we can to bring your mother’s killer to justice.

And I’m sure you’ll succeed. I marched across the marble floor, dragging Gunnar and Ull behind me, and stood across the table from the war god. Because I’m going to help you destroy him. Or her. Who did it?

Mr. Fredriksen placed his palm protectively over the document on the table in front of him. Revenge won’t bring her back, Inga.

No. But ending her killer will make sure the monster never hurts anyone ever again. I gripped my friends’ hands tighter. Ull winced beside me. Big baby.

Ragnar shared a look with Thor. The red-bearded thunder god raised one eyebrow before turning to Odin. Asgard’s head studied me carefully with his solitary eye, and ran his fingers along his jaw. Are you sure you want to know who did this? You are still young, Inga. Perhaps this information is better left for—

She was my mother. I looked