80AD - The Hammer of Thor (Book 2) by Aiki Flinthart
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jade opened her eyes. Blackness pressed against her eyeballs. She turned her head - and regretted it. Somewhere in her brain, fireworks of pain went off. Keeping still, she tried to work out where she was by touch. Cold stone seemed to be her bed. Why was that? Why was she lying on the ground? Why was it so dark?
Memory returned with another spectacular display of shooting stars. They had been holding their own in a battle with the Gods of Asgard. Then Thor had summoned a thunderstorm – inside the building! With it, he’d blasted them all into unconsciousness. Actually, it felt more like she’d been dead – again. This time the return wasn’t nearly so gentle as last. Aurfanon had obviously helped heal her injuries in Alfheim. Now she felt bruised and battered all over. The nauseating smell of burnt hair caught in her nose.
Rolling onto one side, she eased into a sitting position. Pain made her gasp and swallow against the urge to throw up. Fumbling at her throat, Jade found her amulet. They hadn’t taken it. Holding it tightly between two fingers, she reached deep within to find strength. There wasn’t much but, without the aid of her herbs, she had nothing else.
“Heal,” she whispered, willing her body to repair itself. Warmth spread through her fingers from the amulet. It seeped into her bones, flesh and skin like mud oozing between toes. Halfway through the process, she lost consciousness, drained by the effort.
She awoke again with no idea how much time had passed. It was still dark but her head was clear and the pain bearable. She felt all over her body. There didn’t seem to be any major injuries, just bruising. In the process, she discovered she was still dressed in the same clothes but her weapons, bag and boots were all gone. Her feet were cold.
She progressed to finding out what was around. First she reached up, feeling for a roof. When she found there was no danger of smacking her head, she got shakily onto her hands and knees. With a hand outstretched, she crawled in what she hoped was a straight line.
“Phoenix?” she whispered, afraid to alert any guards. “Marcus? Brynn?”
She found three walls and no people before finally hearing a slight noise and a faint groan off to her left. She crawled cautiously over and felt fur, cloth and skin beneath her questing hands. A face came under her fingers. The mouth opened.
“Can you take your finger out of my nose, please?” Phoenix asked, his voice slightly nasal. Jade snatched her hand away and wiped it on her pants.
“You ok?”
He groaned again. “For a dead man, I feel amazingly well but if I’m alive, I feel awful. What happened?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you didn’t die this time,” Jade said.
There was another noise nearby. She moved over and found Marcus. As her hands reached his chest, he grabbed her wrist in a painfully tight grip. She whimpered.
“It’s me, Marcus, let go!”
He relaxed his grip but didn’t release her hand as he sat up.
“Jade.” He sounded relieved. “Are you alright?” His fingers touched her face gently. “Where’s Phoenix and Brynn? I seem to be, quite surprisingly, alive.”
“Phoenix and I are ok, but I haven’t found Brynn.” She shivered as he stroked her cheek once then let go of her hand.
The three scouted the rest of their cell until they were forced to admit Brynn was not imprisoned with them. They found a slop-bucket, a couple of dead rats and a door with what was probably a food-hatch in it, but no boy.
Now they sat together in the middle of the room, leaning up against each other’s backs for comfort and warmth.
“So,” Phoenix said with false cheerfulness, “three of us locked up in the dark again, huh? This is getting to be a habit.”
Jade laughed weakly.
“What happened out there?” Marcus asked.
“Last I remember, Thor went nuts and summoned a storm into the place,” Phoenix said seriously. “Then Jade yelled and everything went nova. I don’t think I lost another life, though,” he added, sounding surprised. “Jade?”
“Well,” she paused, thinking it through, “I figured Thor would probably hit us with lightning but I couldn’t shield all of us. Brynn slipped away, so I did what I could for you two with a shield spell.”
There was a long silence as the two warriors digested her words.
“So you sacrificed your life to save us?” Marcus’ tone was humble, with an inexplicable edge of anger.
“Well,” Jade, tiredness catching up with her again, “you can’t really call it sacrificing your life when you know you have a few to spare.”
“Damn!” Phoenix’s hand grabbed at her arm in the dark. “Don’t get me wrong, Jade, I appreciate what you did, but now you’ve only got four more deaths before you run out and we’ve still got three levels to go.”
“I know,” Jade drooped, “but it was all I could think of. Besides,” she attempted to cheer them up, “remember last time we were captured? Brynn brought the cavalry to rescue us.”
“There aren’t any Druids around this time.”
“Maybe we could try putting the amulets together again? Maybe it will show us another sign or tell us what to do next.”
She felt Phoenix shrug against her back. “Worth a try.”
By touch, they brought the two halves together. Jade held her breath, waiting for a sign. Waiting...
After several dark, silent minutes, she accepted defeat, gave a heavy sigh and pulled her amulet away. “Looks like we’re on our own.”
“Quiet!” Marcus hushed them.
They scrambled to their feet, listening. Footsteps approached. An orangey-yellow light began to glow beneath the door. As one, they faced the door.
“Stand aside!” a rough voice yelled.
The three hastily stepped back. The door flew inward so it smacked into the stone wall, ensuring no-one lurked behind it. A tall, cloaked man stood, silhouetted against torchlight for a moment before he stepped inside. With him came three guards.
“Loki.” Jade glared at the god.
He bowed, his slick, dark hair glinting in the torchlight.
“Indeed, but you have the advantage of me. I would like to tell my bloodbrother, Odinn, just who he will be passing judgement upon. You are...?”
“Don’t tell him,” Jade warned. “If you give your name to your enemy, you give him power over you.”
Loki smiled ironically and bowed again. “Old magic. You are wise,” he peered closer at her face, his eyes widening slightly, “and a Light-elf; no, a half-breed.” His admiration turned to contempt. “Perhaps I should let Freyr deal with you.”
She started. If he sent her to Alfheim, she could beg her father to intervene for Marcus and Phoenix. Loki’s next words dashed her hopes. The god came closer, tapping one finger on his chin.
“No, I think not. Someone else has plans for you. Now tell me,” he smiled charmingly, changing subjects before they had time to question him, “when you are brought before Odinn to answer for your crimes, what defence will you put forward?”
“What are we charged with?” Phoenix challenged.
Loki ticked points off his fingers. “Abduction of Thrudr; almost causing the end of the world; conspiring to steal Mjölnir; oh,” he flashed them a grin, “and the murder of Hrothgar, king of the Svears – a close friend of Thor’s I understand.”
“What?” Phoenix started forward. Jade and Marcus leapt to restrain him. “We did not kill Hrothgar!”
Loki shrugged. “So you say but he is dead and here you stand, carrying Blódbál into battle. Damning evidence to my thinking. How will you defend yourselves?”
Phoenix opened his mouth but Jade pulled him back and faced Loki herself.
“Why does it matter?”
“I only wish to apprise Odinn of all the facts before he passes judgment,” Loki replied suavely.
Jade drew herself up to her full height, looking down her nose at him in the haughtiest manner she cou
ld manage. “You are the master of lies, Loki. No matter what we say you’ll twist it somehow. We’ll tell Odinn ourselves. We have a witness.”
Loki raised one thin eyebrow. “Do you mean...” He turned his back to them. There was a strange sound, like wind rushing; then a brief purple-blue glow. When he turned to face them again, they all gasped in shock.
Truda now stood where Loki had; her sweet, childish face twisted into an expression of evil delight. “Oh yes,” she piped, batting blue eyes, “I’ll be sure to tell Grandpa Odinn exactly how you took me and hid me away for months. Then, when the Romans chased you out of Albion, how you had to give up your plan to ransom me and you decided that pretending to rescue me would give you a chance to steal my pa’s hammer instead.” Truda/Loki smiled impishly then skipped out the door before turning to simper at them again. “By the way, I have the real Thrudr quite safe. All I need to do is string this little charade out for one more day. It will be her birthday tomorrow and if she doesn’t perform her duties then the fun will really begin. Ragnarok. Yay!” She giggled as the guards slammed the door shut and left them in shadows again.
“That went well,” Phoenix commented into the inky darkness.
Jade sniffed. “Such a typical bad-guy. Too much monologuing. Honestly.” She blinked in the darkness. Blue spots danced in front of her eyes from the torchlight.
“I wonder what he meant when he said ‘someone else has plans for you’,” Marcus said.
“I wonder how we’re going to defend ourselves when our chief witness is not who Odinn will think she is,” Phoenix retorted.
“Maybe Brynn will bring Truda-” Marcus began.
“You heard what Loki said,” Phoenix interrupted. “He has the real Truda locked up somewhere.”
“I also heard Jade say Loki’s the master of lies and the god of mischief and chaos,” Marcus said reasonably. “He could be lying.”
“I sure hope so.” Phoenix grunted, sounds of rustling cloth betraying his restless movements. “Why’s he doing this?”
“It must have something to do with Ragnarok,” Jade mused bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. “He wants her out of the way so it can happen. That’s why he stole her in the first place and that’s why he disguised himself as a wolf and tried to stop us from getting here. For some reason he either can’t or won’t kill her outright but he’s doing everything he can to bring the world into chaos - Ragnarok - by preventing her from being here on time. Now that we are here, he’s trying to stop Truda from doing her job.”
“What sort of idiot deliberately engineers the end of the world?” Phoenix scoffed.
Jade sighed. “I don’t know. It doesn’t really make sense but it’s the only explanation I can think of. He is the god of Chaos and Mischief, after all. Maybe it’s just a big game to him. Like when he herded us toward the troll - he could have set the wolves on us but he must have thought it was more fun to get the troll to do it.”
The friends were silent awhile until Phoenix groaned again. Cloth rustled and leather creaked as he moved. “Right. Enough lying about. Is there anything you can do to get us out of here, Jade?”
“What?” She’d been deep in thought. “No, sorry. I’m still not recovered from Thor’s lightning. I used what strength I had to heal myself. I need my herbs to do anything more.”
He grunted. “What about that book of spells Ásúlfr gave you?”
“I’ve only had time to read a few of them,” she admitted regretfully. “There might be a few I could use but I still need to restore my own strength first. Sorry.”
Phoenix sighed in the darkness. “Oh well, it was just wishful thinking. Guess it’s probably my turn to get us out of trouble, anyway. Back to lying around for awhile then.”
She couldn’t think of anything to say to that. She wasn’t sure if Phoenix was saying she hadn’t done enough to save them now; or if he was obliquely complimenting her on her past efforts. She was too exhausted to try to think about it now, anyway. Lying down on the floor, she curled an arm under her head and closed her eyes.
Sleep eluded her. The last few days had been so emotionally-charged that Jade actually welcomed the time to think. Dark-silence was a blissful change from constantly rushing around like lunatics. She wriggled to try and get more comfortable on the hard stone floor. Why did lying in a cold, dark, stone cell seem familiar? Just as she was, finally, drifting off, the door flew open and a guard growled at them.
“Odinn summons you to judgement, mortals. Get up.”
“Oh man, already?” Phoenix grumbled. “I’d just got to sleep.”
“The gods do not wait for mortals! If you don’t appear, you’ll be automatically found guilty. Get up!”
“Alright, alright!” He turned to give Marcus and Jade a hand up. “So much for ‘innocent until proven guilty’.”
“That’s a legal idea pretty unique to what we call ‘civilisation’,” Jade said ironically. “In fact, if we’d lost the war against Napoleon we’d probably have the French system of ‘guilty until proven innocent’. I’d say these feudal ancient Scandinavians are going to think the same way.”
“You mean they assume we’re guilty and we have to prove our innocence?” Phoenix sounded outraged at the idea.
She couldn’t help laughing at his shocked expression as they preceded the guard out the door.
“’Fraid so,” she said, trying to sound casual. In her chest, her heart felt like it was about to explode. She had no idea how to prevent a guilty verdict.
“Do we dare ask what the penalty is if we are found guilty?” Marcus asked.
The guard ahead must have heard, for he turned and sent them a knowing, unpleasant grin.
“Death.” He sneered. “Not a warrior’s death by blade, either. Valhalla is not for the likes of you. You’ll die in the old way – garrotted and buried in the peat bogs as a sacrifice to Odinn and a warning to others who meddle in the gods’ lives.”
Jade drew a long, shuddering breath, trying to calm her racing blood. Phoenix was silent but his eyes were troubled.
He leaned over and murmured into her ear, “Now would be a good time to spring that plan I just know you’re waiting to surprise me with.”
Feeling helpless and thick-headed with exhaustion, she shook her head numbly. “I’m sorry, Phoenix, I can’t think of anything.”
“We will just have to tell the truth,” Marcus said, raising his chin.
“Great.” Phoenix threw up his hands. “The Truth against the Master of Lies and an assumption of guilt. I don’t like our odds. Give me a sword and I’ll show them where they can stick their truth.”
Jade opened her eyes. Blackness pressed against her eyeballs. She turned her head - and regretted it. Somewhere in her brain, fireworks of pain went off. Keeping still, she tried to work out where she was by touch. Cold stone seemed to be her bed. Why was that? Why was she lying on the ground? Why was it so dark?
Memory returned with another spectacular display of shooting stars. They had been holding their own in a battle with the Gods of Asgard. Then Thor had summoned a thunderstorm – inside the building! With it, he’d blasted them all into unconsciousness. Actually, it felt more like she’d been dead – again. This time the return wasn’t nearly so gentle as last. Aurfanon had obviously helped heal her injuries in Alfheim. Now she felt bruised and battered all over. The nauseating smell of burnt hair caught in her nose.
Rolling onto one side, she eased into a sitting position. Pain made her gasp and swallow against the urge to throw up. Fumbling at her throat, Jade found her amulet. They hadn’t taken it. Holding it tightly between two fingers, she reached deep within to find strength. There wasn’t much but, without the aid of her herbs, she had nothing else.
“Heal,” she whispered, willing her body to repair itself. Warmth spread through her fingers from the amulet. It seeped into her bones, flesh and skin like mud oozing between toes. Halfway through the process, she lost consciousness, drained by the effort.
She awoke again with no idea how much time had passed. It was still dark but her head was clear and the pain bearable. She felt all over her body. There didn’t seem to be any major injuries, just bruising. In the process, she discovered she was still dressed in the same clothes but her weapons, bag and boots were all gone. Her feet were cold.
She progressed to finding out what was around. First she reached up, feeling for a roof. When she found there was no danger of smacking her head, she got shakily onto her hands and knees. With a hand outstretched, she crawled in what she hoped was a straight line.
“Phoenix?” she whispered, afraid to alert any guards. “Marcus? Brynn?”
She found three walls and no people before finally hearing a slight noise and a faint groan off to her left. She crawled cautiously over and felt fur, cloth and skin beneath her questing hands. A face came under her fingers. The mouth opened.
“Can you take your finger out of my nose, please?” Phoenix asked, his voice slightly nasal. Jade snatched her hand away and wiped it on her pants.
“You ok?”
He groaned again. “For a dead man, I feel amazingly well but if I’m alive, I feel awful. What happened?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure you didn’t die this time,” Jade said.
There was another noise nearby. She moved over and found Marcus. As her hands reached his chest, he grabbed her wrist in a painfully tight grip. She whimpered.
“It’s me, Marcus, let go!”
He relaxed his grip but didn’t release her hand as he sat up.
“Jade.” He sounded relieved. “Are you alright?” His fingers touched her face gently. “Where’s Phoenix and Brynn? I seem to be, quite surprisingly, alive.”
“Phoenix and I are ok, but I haven’t found Brynn.” She shivered as he stroked her cheek once then let go of her hand.
The three scouted the rest of their cell until they were forced to admit Brynn was not imprisoned with them. They found a slop-bucket, a couple of dead rats and a door with what was probably a food-hatch in it, but no boy.
Now they sat together in the middle of the room, leaning up against each other’s backs for comfort and warmth.
“So,” Phoenix said with false cheerfulness, “three of us locked up in the dark again, huh? This is getting to be a habit.”
Jade laughed weakly.
“What happened out there?” Marcus asked.
“Last I remember, Thor went nuts and summoned a storm into the place,” Phoenix said seriously. “Then Jade yelled and everything went nova. I don’t think I lost another life, though,” he added, sounding surprised. “Jade?”
“Well,” she paused, thinking it through, “I figured Thor would probably hit us with lightning but I couldn’t shield all of us. Brynn slipped away, so I did what I could for you two with a shield spell.”
There was a long silence as the two warriors digested her words.
“So you sacrificed your life to save us?” Marcus’ tone was humble, with an inexplicable edge of anger.
“Well,” Jade, tiredness catching up with her again, “you can’t really call it sacrificing your life when you know you have a few to spare.”
“Damn!” Phoenix’s hand grabbed at her arm in the dark. “Don’t get me wrong, Jade, I appreciate what you did, but now you’ve only got four more deaths before you run out and we’ve still got three levels to go.”
“I know,” Jade drooped, “but it was all I could think of. Besides,” she attempted to cheer them up, “remember last time we were captured? Brynn brought the cavalry to rescue us.”
“There aren’t any Druids around this time.”
“Maybe we could try putting the amulets together again? Maybe it will show us another sign or tell us what to do next.”
She felt Phoenix shrug against her back. “Worth a try.”
By touch, they brought the two halves together. Jade held her breath, waiting for a sign. Waiting...
After several dark, silent minutes, she accepted defeat, gave a heavy sigh and pulled her amulet away. “Looks like we’re on our own.”
“Quiet!” Marcus hushed them.
They scrambled to their feet, listening. Footsteps approached. An orangey-yellow light began to glow beneath the door. As one, they faced the door.
“Stand aside!” a rough voice yelled.
The three hastily stepped back. The door flew inward so it smacked into the stone wall, ensuring no-one lurked behind it. A tall, cloaked man stood, silhouetted against torchlight for a moment before he stepped inside. With him came three guards.
“Loki.” Jade glared at the god.
He bowed, his slick, dark hair glinting in the torchlight.
“Indeed, but you have the advantage of me. I would like to tell my bloodbrother, Odinn, just who he will be passing judgement upon. You are...?”
“Don’t tell him,” Jade warned. “If you give your name to your enemy, you give him power over you.”
Loki smiled ironically and bowed again. “Old magic. You are wise,” he peered closer at her face, his eyes widening slightly, “and a Light-elf; no, a half-breed.” His admiration turned to contempt. “Perhaps I should let Freyr deal with you.”
She started. If he sent her to Alfheim, she could beg her father to intervene for Marcus and Phoenix. Loki’s next words dashed her hopes. The god came closer, tapping one finger on his chin.
“No, I think not. Someone else has plans for you. Now tell me,” he smiled charmingly, changing subjects before they had time to question him, “when you are brought before Odinn to answer for your crimes, what defence will you put forward?”
“What are we charged with?” Phoenix challenged.
Loki ticked points off his fingers. “Abduction of Thrudr; almost causing the end of the world; conspiring to steal Mjölnir; oh,” he flashed them a grin, “and the murder of Hrothgar, king of the Svears – a close friend of Thor’s I understand.”
“What?” Phoenix started forward. Jade and Marcus leapt to restrain him. “We did not kill Hrothgar!”
Loki shrugged. “So you say but he is dead and here you stand, carrying Blódbál into battle. Damning evidence to my thinking. How will you defend yourselves?”
Phoenix opened his mouth but Jade pulled him back and faced Loki herself.
“Why does it matter?”
“I only wish to apprise Odinn of all the facts before he passes judgment,” Loki replied suavely.
Jade drew herself up to her full height, looking down her nose at him in the haughtiest manner she cou
Loki raised one thin eyebrow. “Do you mean...” He turned his back to them. There was a strange sound, like wind rushing; then a brief purple-blue glow. When he turned to face them again, they all gasped in shock.
Truda now stood where Loki had; her sweet, childish face twisted into an expression of evil delight. “Oh yes,” she piped, batting blue eyes, “I’ll be sure to tell Grandpa Odinn exactly how you took me and hid me away for months. Then, when the Romans chased you out of Albion, how you had to give up your plan to ransom me and you decided that pretending to rescue me would give you a chance to steal my pa’s hammer instead.” Truda/Loki smiled impishly then skipped out the door before turning to simper at them again. “By the way, I have the real Thrudr quite safe. All I need to do is string this little charade out for one more day. It will be her birthday tomorrow and if she doesn’t perform her duties then the fun will really begin. Ragnarok. Yay!” She giggled as the guards slammed the door shut and left them in shadows again.
“That went well,” Phoenix commented into the inky darkness.
Jade sniffed. “Such a typical bad-guy. Too much monologuing. Honestly.” She blinked in the darkness. Blue spots danced in front of her eyes from the torchlight.
“I wonder what he meant when he said ‘someone else has plans for you’,” Marcus said.
“I wonder how we’re going to defend ourselves when our chief witness is not who Odinn will think she is,” Phoenix retorted.
“Maybe Brynn will bring Truda-” Marcus began.
“You heard what Loki said,” Phoenix interrupted. “He has the real Truda locked up somewhere.”
“I also heard Jade say Loki’s the master of lies and the god of mischief and chaos,” Marcus said reasonably. “He could be lying.”
“I sure hope so.” Phoenix grunted, sounds of rustling cloth betraying his restless movements. “Why’s he doing this?”
“It must have something to do with Ragnarok,” Jade mused bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. “He wants her out of the way so it can happen. That’s why he stole her in the first place and that’s why he disguised himself as a wolf and tried to stop us from getting here. For some reason he either can’t or won’t kill her outright but he’s doing everything he can to bring the world into chaos - Ragnarok - by preventing her from being here on time. Now that we are here, he’s trying to stop Truda from doing her job.”
“What sort of idiot deliberately engineers the end of the world?” Phoenix scoffed.
Jade sighed. “I don’t know. It doesn’t really make sense but it’s the only explanation I can think of. He is the god of Chaos and Mischief, after all. Maybe it’s just a big game to him. Like when he herded us toward the troll - he could have set the wolves on us but he must have thought it was more fun to get the troll to do it.”
The friends were silent awhile until Phoenix groaned again. Cloth rustled and leather creaked as he moved. “Right. Enough lying about. Is there anything you can do to get us out of here, Jade?”
“What?” She’d been deep in thought. “No, sorry. I’m still not recovered from Thor’s lightning. I used what strength I had to heal myself. I need my herbs to do anything more.”
He grunted. “What about that book of spells Ásúlfr gave you?”
“I’ve only had time to read a few of them,” she admitted regretfully. “There might be a few I could use but I still need to restore my own strength first. Sorry.”
Phoenix sighed in the darkness. “Oh well, it was just wishful thinking. Guess it’s probably my turn to get us out of trouble, anyway. Back to lying around for awhile then.”
She couldn’t think of anything to say to that. She wasn’t sure if Phoenix was saying she hadn’t done enough to save them now; or if he was obliquely complimenting her on her past efforts. She was too exhausted to try to think about it now, anyway. Lying down on the floor, she curled an arm under her head and closed her eyes.
Sleep eluded her. The last few days had been so emotionally-charged that Jade actually welcomed the time to think. Dark-silence was a blissful change from constantly rushing around like lunatics. She wriggled to try and get more comfortable on the hard stone floor. Why did lying in a cold, dark, stone cell seem familiar? Just as she was, finally, drifting off, the door flew open and a guard growled at them.
“Odinn summons you to judgement, mortals. Get up.”
“Oh man, already?” Phoenix grumbled. “I’d just got to sleep.”
“The gods do not wait for mortals! If you don’t appear, you’ll be automatically found guilty. Get up!”
“Alright, alright!” He turned to give Marcus and Jade a hand up. “So much for ‘innocent until proven guilty’.”
“That’s a legal idea pretty unique to what we call ‘civilisation’,” Jade said ironically. “In fact, if we’d lost the war against Napoleon we’d probably have the French system of ‘guilty until proven innocent’. I’d say these feudal ancient Scandinavians are going to think the same way.”
“You mean they assume we’re guilty and we have to prove our innocence?” Phoenix sounded outraged at the idea.
She couldn’t help laughing at his shocked expression as they preceded the guard out the door.
“’Fraid so,” she said, trying to sound casual. In her chest, her heart felt like it was about to explode. She had no idea how to prevent a guilty verdict.
“Do we dare ask what the penalty is if we are found guilty?” Marcus asked.
The guard ahead must have heard, for he turned and sent them a knowing, unpleasant grin.
“Death.” He sneered. “Not a warrior’s death by blade, either. Valhalla is not for the likes of you. You’ll die in the old way – garrotted and buried in the peat bogs as a sacrifice to Odinn and a warning to others who meddle in the gods’ lives.”
Jade drew a long, shuddering breath, trying to calm her racing blood. Phoenix was silent but his eyes were troubled.
He leaned over and murmured into her ear, “Now would be a good time to spring that plan I just know you’re waiting to surprise me with.”
Feeling helpless and thick-headed with exhaustion, she shook her head numbly. “I’m sorry, Phoenix, I can’t think of anything.”
“We will just have to tell the truth,” Marcus said, raising his chin.
“Great.” Phoenix threw up his hands. “The Truth against the Master of Lies and an assumption of guilt. I don’t like our odds. Give me a sword and I’ll show them where they can stick their truth.”