SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Seventeen
As the sun rose, the Valkyrie pulled the car into a rest stop. She looked at Tora and Molly. Somehow the two girls had managed to fall asleep. The Valkyrie smiled a little and looked at Carver. “We need to talk.” She told him.
Carver looked at the Valkyrie. He knew that they had a lot to talk about. He just didn’t know where to start. They just had a crazy night and he wasn’t sure he understood everything that had happened.
The Valkyrie looked ahead. “Listen, right now, the Old Ones and whoever they’re working with, clearly know that they need the Silver Child.” She said, looking at Molly again. “There’s also the issue of the human authorities looking for her as well and the murder of her mother.”
“I didn’t kill her mother if that’s what you’re hinting at.” Carver said. “We didn’t find out about that until after it happened yesterday.” He shook his head. “When I spoke to my friend in the police, it didn’t sound like they had any suspects. Just a possible lead that the murder was done by the same one who murdered my wife years ago.”
“You mean Skye’s murder.” Valkyrie said. Noticing Carver’s look of surprise on his face, she continued. “Yeah, the Powerful Ones knew about that. We just didn’t interfere because we didn’t know who had killed Skye either.” The Valkyrie looked ahead. “So who killed your wife?”
Carver thought about his phone call with Detective Hamilton. “There was apparently what looked like wood around Skye’s body from what had looked like a struggle.” He told the Valkyrie. “I believe it was Shub-Niggurath who had killed her and Molly’s mother.”
The Valkyrie shook her head. “That’s not good.” She said. “Shub-Niggurath is one of the weaker Old Ones but she was able to take out several of the most powerful Powerful Ones.” She wasn’t sure if they would be able to defeat her on their own.
“We could get other Powerful Ones to help us.” Carver said. That was the only thing he could think of to level the playing field. “Surely not all of the most powerful Powerful Ones were at that hotel last night.” There had to be other Powerful Ones who could help them.
“Carver, even if we were to get every Powerful One, we wouldn’t last long against an entire army of Old Ones and whoever is helping them.” Valkyrie told Carver. “Coatlicue took Jupiter out on her own and he was the most fit out of all of the most powerful Powerful Ones. Why do you think it was he who was supposed to lead the meeting?”
The Valkyrie sighed. “In today’s world, there’s no place for gods and goddesses. No place for beings like me.” She said in what sounded like a sad voice. “We once got our strength from being worshiped. Now, Odin is stuck at a nursing home for Powerful Ones in Europe. Aten has been in exile since the fall of the Egyptian Dynasty. Others have been in hiding, trying to live as normal as possible lives.”
“Yet several of you gathered to try to keep Molly locked away in a cage and put Tora and me under house arrest.” Carver pointed out.
The Valkyrie rolled her eyes. “That meeting was the first time several Powerful Ones had gathered and we didn’t really have a choice. We knew what was happening in New York City when the Guardian went missing and the Golden Child disappeared. We knew that the new Silver Child would be the next target of the Old Ones.” She explained. “We were pressed for time and didn’t have a lot of options.”
“And now a lot of Powerful Ones are dead and we’re nowhere closer to figuring out how to save Nichallo or Cassidy.” Carver said. He was not liking those odds. “Valkyrie, I don’t suppose you have any suggestions on how to defeat the Old Ones.”
“No.” The Valkyrie replied. “Jupiter and the others only had the one plan. Lock up the Silver Child in the special cage so she couldn’t be used to release the Old Ones and she would live forever.” Noticing the shocked look on Carver’s face, she decided to explain the cage. “The cage is enhanced with magic to keep someone from aging. Jupiter firmly believed that if the Silver Child is locked in the cage, she would never die and a new Silver Child wouldn’t need to be found.”
“Sounds a little barbaric.” Carver said. He couldn’t believe that there was a cage like that even though he had seen it. He wondered if Nichallo or Elizabeth had known about the cage.
“Well, when the only one who can release is a child with unfathomable powers, barbaric is sometimes the only way to go.” The Valkyrie said, almost as if she was trying to justify needing the cage. “The cage won’t do any good now anyways. It was back at the hotel and lost some of its power when you damaged it.”
Carver looked at Molly. He didn’t really want to cage her or lock her up anywhere. She was just a kid after all. He thought about his former wife. He wondered what she would have suggested. Carver remembered how Skye rarely used her magic after the battle against the Dark Ones. The two of them had lived normal lives in the city for years before she had been killed.
“I don’t suppose there’s some place we can take Molly where she can live a normal life without having to be worried about being hunted.” Carver said. “If the Powerful Ones were able to live on the Earth for thousands of years after fading to myths and legends, surely we can do the same with Molly.”
“Not exactly as easy as it sounds.” The Valkyrie replied. “Even if we were to take her to some remote part of the world, given today’s technology and the Amber Alert for her, it would just be a matter of time before the authorities of whatever country we hide in would find her. We would just be delaying the Old Ones rising up.” She looked at Carver. “And I doubt you would leave Nichallo and Cassidy in the hands of Tempest.”
“What do you know about Tempest.” Carver then asked. .Nyarlathotep had mentioned the name. It sounded like he was the one trying to release the Old Ones or at least had ordered the abductions to begin with. “Is he the leader of the Old Ones?”
“There’s not a lot I can tell you about him.” The Valkyrie admitted. “He’s not exactly an Old One but he isn’t entirely human or Powerful One either. He definitely isn’t a Dark One either.” She didn’t know much about Tempest herself. The figure was wrapped in layers of mystery. “He surfaced maybe about half a century ago. The Powerful Ones who sensed his arrival tried to find out what they could about him but he was clever enough to hide all traces of his origins with stories. I doubt even the Old Ones really know who he is.”
Carver shook his head. He had been hoping for answers but now all he had were more questions. “I don’t suppose you could take a guess as to what Tempest is.” He said.
“Not really. Like I said, he isn’t human, Powerful One, Old One or Dark One. Those are the only races that have existed since Aether’s rule in the Very Beginning.” The Valkyrie told Carver. “The only races to have predated Aether have been extinct for thousands of years long before Aether was even created.”
Carver wasn’t sure if he would ever understand any of that but he decided to try if it meant figuring out who Tempest was. “What races existed before Aether?” He asked.
“I don’t know much about them. The Powerful Ones in the Nordic Clan were more warrior like. You would need a Powerful One like Thoth for that information.” The Valkyrie told Carver. “Only races I know of though are the Elementals who are rumored to have created the Earth, the Tarragons and then the last race I have heard of were the Zodians.”
Carver knew he had never heard of any of them so he wasn’t sure that would be much help. He shook his head. They needed to get back on track. “For now, we just need to find a place to hang out until all of the dust has settled.” He said.
“Agreed.” The Valkyrie said as she looked at the rest stop. “Wait here while I get supplies.” She knew that she wouldn’t be a suspect in Molly’s disappearance and she had a feeling that Carver would be a person of interest by now.
Carver felt his phone buzzing while Valkyrie got out of the car. He looked at the screen. It was Detective Hamilton. There was only one reason why the detective would be calling him. He must have found something that connected Carver to Molly. Carver waited until the call went to his voice mail before he turned the phone off. He didn’t need Detective Hamilton trying to bring him in for questioning.