The Slip: An I Bring the Fire Short Story: I Bring the Fire

By C. Gockel

It's only been a few days since Veterinarian Amy Lewis escaped Asgard with the FBI's professional hacker, Bohdi Patel. The escape involved "borrowing" Odin's magical, world-walking, eight-legged, horse, Sleipnir. Now Odin wants Sleipnir back. FBI Director Steve Rogers doesn't want Odin getting anything he wants. Amy and Bohdi want to set Sleipnir free. The horse has his own ideas. A story (mostly) from Sleipnir's point of smell.

THE I BRING THE FIRE SERIES:
I Bring the Fire Part I: Wolves
Monsters: I Bring the Fire Part II 
Chaos: I Bring the Fire Part III
In the Balance: An I Bring the Fire Novella
Fates: I Bring the Fire Part IV
The Slip: A Short Story
Warriors: I Bring the Fire Part V
Ragnarok: I Bring the Fire Part VI
The Fire Bringers: An I Bring the Fire Short Story

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. Gockel
• Release date: Apr 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507099926

Book preview

The Slip

The Slip

An I Bring the Fire Short Story

C. Gockel

C. Gockel

Contents

About The Slip

Acknowledgments

The Slip

Also by C. Gockel

About the Author

About The Slip

It's only been a few days since Veterinarian Amy Lewis escaped Asgard with the FBI's professional hacker, Bohdi Patel. The escape involved borrowing Odin's magical, world-walking, eight-legged, horse, Sleipnir.

Now Odin wants Sleipnir back.

FBI Director Steve Rogers doesn't want Odin getting anything he wants.

Amy and Bohdi want to set Sleipnir free.

…The horse has his own ideas. A story (mostly) from Sleipnir's point of smell.

Copyright Information

Copyright © 2015 C. Gockel

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author, subject Attention: Permissions, at the email address below:

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Created with Vellum Created with Vellum

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want to thank my editor, Kay McSpadden. Kay read and reread this story more times than I can count. I also would like to thank Patricia Kirby, who has always been one of my most sharp-eyed content editors. This time she also contributed horse sense. I also had a few new editors this time who also helped me keep Sleipnir in character: Laura Concklin, Beth Cruz, and Matthias Beckmann. My brother, Thomas, was great as a myth reference. Special thanks go to my mother, Cherryl Crouch, for her red pen.

I also want to thank all of my readers. Your continued encouragement helped give me the confidence to write this story. Thank you so much!

Finally, thanks must go to my husband Eric. If he hadn’t encouraged me to stop writing fan fiction and start writing something of my own, this story never would have happened.

The Slip

Only a few days have passed since Amy and Bohdi escaped Asgard. Now, she is in Grant Park by Lake Michigan, jogging beside Sleipnir, an eight-legged stallion, child of one of Loki’s former incarnations, and Odin’s former steed. The day is bright and clear, but cold. The ground is half covered in snow, and the park is completely empty of people.

Amy holds the loop of a dog leash in her hand. The other end is clipped to Gleipnir, the magical, unbreakable halter Sleipnir wears at all times. It compels him to obey; Amy isn’t sure how―but she’s never worked with a horse that’s needed so little prompting to behave.

On Sleipnir’s back, sitting in a saddle borrowed from the Chicago City Police Department’s mounted patrol, sits Claire, the ten-year-old daughter of Amy’s boss, Steve Rogers.

Steve would probably kill her if he knew she was letting Claire do this. Sleipnir is the most enormous horse Amy’s ever seen, and during veterinary training she worked with Clydesdales. A fall could break Claire’s neck. But Claire’s smiling wildly, white teeth flashing in her coffee-and-cream skin. She’s happy … and Steve said she’d been sinking into depression since the murder of her mother.

You’re doing great, Amy says.

It’s easy! says Claire, her hands buried in Sleipnir’s mane.

"You make it look