Yggdrasil: The World Tree

By C. E. Smith

To save his true love, a teenage boy teams up with a group of mythical creatures to stop an evil goddess bent on destroying the world in this adventure-filled fantasy novel.

Concluding the tale of teen adventurer Kyle Dunlop as chronicled in Draupners Curse and Giants of Anglesey, Yggdrasil: The World Tree pits Kyle against a wicked goddess and her quest to destroy the World Tree.

In a subterranean world beneath our own, the serpent Nidhogg is accidentally set free and begins to gnaw at the roots of the World Tree. Soon the damage it inflicts becomes apparent, and it is only a matter of time before the treewhich sustains all manner of lifeis totally destroyed.

Helreginn, the goddess of the dead, sees this as an opportunity to expand her kingdom. To ensure the serpent doesnt slip away before the trees destruction is complete, she orders her evil minions to kidnap several fairy maidens to use as sacrifices to appease the ravenous beast.

Kyle Dunlop, along with a group of warrior elves and goblins, a dwarf, and a dragon, sets out for distant Eljudnir to rescue the helpless fairies. But as the rescue party faces one life-threatening challenge after another, Kyle wonders whether hell ever again see his true love, a captured fairy named Idunnand whether this world hes come to love will be thrown into evil darkness forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 17, 2012
• ISBN: 9781475961256

C. E. Smith

C. E. Smith is a graduate of Queen’s University and author of the first three books in the subterranean adventures series: Draupner’s Curse, Giants of Anglesey, and Yggdrasil: The World Tree.

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Yggdrasil:

The World Tree

C.E. Smith

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Yggdrasil:The World Tree

Copyright © 2012 C.E .Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover design by Darik Smith ©

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6124-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6126-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6125-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012921159

iUniverse rev. date: 11/14/2012

Contents

1 The World Tree

2 Helreginn

3 Sif

4 Jewel

5 The Oasis

6 The Slaver

7 Garm

8 The Careless Thief

9 The Fire Giant

10 The Frost Giant

11 Nifheim

12 Deadly Encounter

13 Eljudnir

14 The Serpent

With love to my parents

Andrew James and Rosemarie Christina Smith

Special thanks to Darik Smith

for designing another awesome cover

Prologue

From its origin deep in the earth the underground river of magma flowed upward at a steady pace, passing through a maze of shadowy, cavernous chambers. Along the way, it pressed its immense bulk against the unyielding wall of rock on either side of it, probing, searching for any sign of weakness. And when it discovered a weak point, a spot where the rock could not bear its intense heat and pressure, it attacked without mercy to dissolve and assimilate the solid mass, carving out a new channel.

As the river of magma coursed through a recently formed channel its progress was momentarily stalled. But the impediment – a wall of semi-permeable limestone – could not hold it back forever. Before long the magma penetrated the limestone through tiny pores in the surface and, as it filled the gaps, the limestone was turned to molten rock, indistinguishable from the magma.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the wall of a spacious cavern on the other side of the river of magma, and steam hissed and seeped in. Soon the fracture in the wall widened and the breach began belching vapours that filled the stale air with a sulphurous stench. As the limestone around the fracture slowly dissolved, a large hole formed to admit an orange glow and, behind it, the full fury of the fiery, gurgling mass of molten rock.

The river of magma seemed too inhospitable to sustain life. However, no sooner did it spill into the cavern and chart a new course than a fire giant broke through the surface. Massive arms made of slabs of fused rock chopped at the magma to keep the fire giant afloat and draw it towards an overhanging ledge. When the ledge was within its grasp the fire giant reached out and grabbed the edge, pulling its hulking mass up out of the fiery river.

As the fire giant rose to its feet, the well-defined joints in its arms and legs, and every other joint of its rock-like exterior, glowed like red hot coals. And when it gazed at its surroundings, its yawning mouth blazed like a furnace.

The fire giant was the last of its kind. One of many such giants who opposed the gods at the beginning of time, only to be cursed and turned into a massive block of stone that towered over every living thing that ever passed its way. And if not for a vengeful Druid, the fire giant would still be no more than a monolith, a prehistoric curiosity in the eyes of man. But the Druid invoked a counter-spell and broke the curse, bringing the fire giant back to life.¹ And while the Druid lorded over the fire giant for a while, the demise of the Druid meant that now no one could claim to be its master. With this thought in mind the fire giant left the fiery river behind and set out to explore the cave.

The cavern was so immense it made the fire giant look small despite his formidable size. Even the stalactites and stalagmites hanging from the high ceiling and rising up from the floor dwarfed him. He gazed at them with a sense of awe and fear; admiration for their sheer size and beauty; worried about the constant discharge of liquid from the massive icicle-like formations suspended overhead. As he stepped aside to avoid being splattered by a falling globule of water, he brushed against a stalagmite. There was a loud hiss as if someone had just tossed cold water on a hot frying pan. He clutched his steaming shoulder and winced in pain.

It may be only water mixed with a bit of dissolved limestone, but to the fire giant it was corrosive as the strongest acid. Reminding himself to be more careful he slowly made his way deeper into the cavern. And as he did so, the glow from the river of magma grew dimmer and dimmer until the only way to see was to open his mouth wide and emit a natural beam of light.

For the longest time the fire giant followed the beacon of light emitted from his blazing, furnace-like mouth, surrounded in shadows, accompanied by the steady trickle of water, like a thousand leaky faucets. At one point, he began to grow weary and contemplated heading back to the river of magma and continuing his journey elsewhere. However, just as he was about to turn and leave he heard something different, something more subtle than the constant plopping of water.

He paused to listen but the sound was gone, lost for the moment in the incessant din that filled the air and echoed off the walls of the cavern. However, when he made an effort to filter out the noise of the dripping water he heard it again; a faint scrabbling sound not unlike waves rolling across a pebbly beach. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and caught a fleeting movement out of the corner of his eye.

It was just a shadow, but he saw it clearly drift across the base of a stalagmite. This particular formation was without a doubt the largest he had seen so far; so massive that it formed an hourglass-shaped column where it connected with the stalactite directly above it. The fire giant clamped his mouth shut and moved towards the column, throwing the cave into semi-darkness.

As he approached the column the ground beneath his feet suddenly felt quite sticky. Curious to see what he was treading on he glanced down and opened his mouth slightly. And when the beam of light reflected off something glossy he crouched down and ran his fingers through a damp, milky-white substance. Some of the gummy coating he observed was still clinging to the base of the column, high enough off the ground to suggest that the creature that passed this way was huge. Mindful of this, he rose and followed the slick trail left behind by the beast.

The trail led him to a deep fracture that, from a distance, looked like a bolt of black lightning that someone might have painted on the wall. He slipped through the crack with some difficulty and caught his shoulder on one of the jagged edges, tearing off a strip of rocky flesh. Molten rock oozed from the gash like blood seeping from a flesh wound. He slapped a hand over the cut and held it there; but only for a moment. And when he removed his hand there was no sign of the injury. A reddish swelling in the palm of his hand which wasn’t there before disappeared as if by magic.

The first thing that struck the fire giant as he made his way through the narrow passage was just how quiet it had become. With no more water dripping from the ceiling it was almost too quiet and he began to wonder if he was walking into a trap, deliberately set by the creature whose shadow he had seen. And then there was the smell. A heady, putrid stench that got stronger the further he went. A lesser being would have had to turn back long ago, but not the fire giant. He made a face to show his disgust, but continued all the same.

Eventually he came to the end of the passage and, as he emerged, he found himself in a smaller, temple-like cavern, with a high-vaulted ceiling and two rows of cylindrical limestone columns. The columns spanned the length of the rectangular cave and led to a mound of rubble; the remnants of a gigantic stalactite that must have broken away from the ceiling and fallen to the ground a very long time ago. Curled up on the mound was a serpent with skin as pale as milk. The beast was so large that the lower half of its scaly body cascaded down the side of the mound and spilled onto the floor.

The serpent faced the fire giant as if it could see him clearly. However, it wasn’t the beast’s pupilless eyes that sensed the intruder’s presence, but the huge forked tongue protruding from its lipless mouth. The tines quivered as the beast tasted the air, taking in the scent of the fire giant.

For the longest time nothing happened. Then the serpent slid off the mound and glided steadily towards the fire giant.

In response, the fire giant flicked his wrist and a mass of molten rock broke away from one of his mallet-shaped fists. It whirred through the air and exploded upon hitting the ground directly in front of the serpent. The serpent paused momentarily, flicking its forked tongue at the shallow depression left behind by the explosion. Then it very casually went around the smoking crater and headed once again for the fire giant.

The first shot was just a warning to discourage the serpent from proceeding any further, but it was too stupid to take the hint. To demonstrate his superior strength the fire giant lashed out with both arms, releasing a volley of fiery projectiles that hit the ground with explosive force on either side of the dim-witted beast.

As chunks of rock rained down on the serpent, it whipped its tail around and hammered one of the columns. Then it swung its body back the other way and struck a second column. Both columns broke in two and, while the lower portions were ripped from the ground and hurled towards the fire giant, knocking him off his feet, the upper portions fell from the ceiling and shattered into a thousand pieces.

With so much dust and debris in the air the fire giant couldn’t see a thing. So after tossing aside a huge chunk of limestone that had landed on him when he fell, he rose and sprayed the air with bowling ball sized lumps of molten rock. Many of the fiery projectiles slammed into the columns blowing them to smithereens. Some of the missiles hit the walls of the cavern and made the whole place shake. One missile in particular blew a gaping hole in the wall, letting in the light for the very first time. And when the dust finally settled the fire giant caught a glimpse of the serpent slithering through the hole.

1

The World Tree

It was a beautiful evening. But then it always was in a place that never saw the light of day, a place deep in the bowels of the earth that was home to goblins and elves, fairies and dwarves, giants and trolls, and a host of other mythical creatures. Until recently, no one on the surface of the planet knew it existed. But all that changed a couple of summers ago when three teenagers and a ten-year-old girl stumbled upon a well-established, highly diverse subterranean world. As Idunn, a beautiful fairy maiden with creamy skin, sparkling blue eyes and hair as lustrous and golden as the sun, added an armful of broken branches to a pile almost as high as herself, she began to think about one of those teens. His name was Kyle, and to Idunn he was the most wonderful person in the world – not that she would ever tell him that, of course. She was so busy daydreaming about him that she failed to watch where she was going and, as she turned to collect more branches, she nearly bumped into her younger sister, Fridr.

If not for the beauty mark on Fridr’s left cheek it would have been impossible to tell the sisters apart; they were alike in every way.

Watch where you’re going, cautioned Fridr as she adroitly stepped around Idunn and tossed her own load of twigs on the pile.

I’m sorry, Fridr, replied a contrite Idunn. I guess I wasn’t thinking.

Oh, you were thinking, Fridr said with certainty. It’s what … or should I say … who you were thinking about that’s the problem. She brushed some dirt and pieces of dried-up bark off her cornflower blue satin gown.

The velvety wings on Idunn’s exposed back gave a nervous twitch.

I can’t help it, said Idunn. I try not to think about him, but it’s hopeless. You understand, don’t you?

Fridr gazed at Idunn’s lovesick face and said, Sure I do. It’s just that … well … we have more important things to think about now.

Yeah, like removing the rest of those branches before it gets too dark to see what we’re doing, said a third fairy maiden as she turned sideways and stepped between the two sisters, careful not to catch their clothes on one of the many jagged branches she was carrying.

Idunn and Fridr waited for the third fairy maiden to dump her load. Then the three of them went and joined a dozen others near the base of an immense green ash tree. As they all worked together to remove a mass of dead and diseased branches that had been clipped from the ash tree earlier in the day, two