4. HOSPITALITY.
"Let's look on the bright side," said Roberto, in a too-cheerful tone of voice, as he and the other New Mutants trudged through the snow. "At least we're not stuck in a blizzard."
"I know, but it's still cold enough as it is," said Jubilee. "At this rate, we're all likely to wind up looking like Bobby in his Iceman form."
"I'm hungry," said Jamie, bringing up the rear. "Isn't there anything to eat around here?"
"Sorry, Jamie," said Jubilee. "But considering the kind of welcome wagon that we ran into, I don't think that this place is likely to have that many Burger Bombs around."
"Look!" cried Roberto, pointing ahead. "Smoke!"
The others looked in the direction that he was pointing. A thin trail of white smoke arose from the trees, some ways ahead.
"That smoke must mean that somebody's living up there," said Roberto. "Maybe we can ask them where we are."
"Good idea, Roberto!" said Bobby eagerly. "And we can get out of this cold and get some proper food, while we're at it. Let's go!"
"Wait!" cried Amara imperiously. Bobby halted, just as he was about to head off in the direction of the smoke, and turned around to look at her.
"Wait?" he asked. "Amara, what do you mean?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked. "Or are you too intent on filling your stomach to even think? The first people that we met here - in fact, the only people that we've met here so far - attacked us without provocation. How do we know that whoever's living in that house is friendly? This entire world may be inhabited exclusively by savage lunatics."
"We don't know for certain," said Bobby. "Besides, we can handle it, even if it turns out to be more bad guys. We're the ones with the super-powers, remember?"
Amara was about to argue further, but Sam spoke up. "I'm with Bobby on this one," he said. "I mean, we've got to find someplace with food and shelter just now. I don't feel too picky at the moment."
"Same here," said Jubilee. "I don't want to be out in this cold longer than I can help it."
The other youngsters agreed, all chiming in. Amara sighed.
"Very well, Bobby," she said. "You win. But if we get into trouble -"
"I know, I know," said Bobby. " 'Don't say that I didn't warn you.' You know, Amara, you're starting to get almost as annoying as Jean. Maybe you've been doing too much training with Miss Perfect lately."
Some of the other young mutants giggled at that remark, but Amara only looked sharply at him. "For your sake, Bobby Drake," she said, "I will pretend that I did not hear that last remark. Well, let's be off, then."
They trudged off again, this time heading in the direction of the smoke.
The sun was creeping closer towards the western horizon when they entered the clearing from where the smoke arose. In the middle of the clearing stood a long house made of timber, with a thatched roof of straw. The smoke arose from the center of the roof, through a small opening in the thatch. A ragged-looking wooden fence circled the house.
The New Mutants climbed over the fence, and made straight for the house. Bobby knocked loudly on the door.
"Hey!" he called out. "Is anybody home?"
There was silence for a few minutes, and then the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching the door. Then, it swung open, and an old man, leaning on a cane, stood there, gazing out at them. He was dressed in a long- sleeved tunic, breeches with criss-crossing thongs, and a heavy mantle pinned at one shoulder, with a fur cap on his head. His beard was long and grey, and looked mildly tangled and unkempt. He stared at them, blinking in astonishment.
"Greetings, young travellers," he said at last, in a creaky, elderly- sounding voice. "It has been quite some time since anyone has come this way; you are the first guests that I have received in many a week now. Come in, come in. Warm yourselves by the fire. You should not be out so long in the cold."
"Thank you, sir," said Bobby, as he and the other New Mutants crowded into the hall. "We hope that we're not being too much of an inconvenience to you, sir."
"No, not at all," said the old man, nodding. "My name is Ivar Hakonson, and I am lord of this hall - if such a desolate place now can be said to have a lord. And who might you be, young wayfarers?"
"My name's Bobby Drake," said Bobby. "My friends and I are - well, we're not from around these parts. In fact, we're lost."
"I suppose that you must be from a very far-off land indeed," said Ivar, looking at them thoughtfully. "Your garb is certainly of a foreign make; I have never beheld the likes of it before." He closed the door behind them. "But come, sit down and partake of my hospitality. I could use the company - and you should certainly not be wandering about in a land troubled by the Reivers."
"The Reivers?" asked Bobby. "Who are they?"
"Seat yourselves first," said Ivar. "I will explain soon."
The eight New Mutants looked about the hall. It was a fairly large place, though much smaller than Professor Xavier's mansion, and dimly lit; some light shone in through the smokehole, and there were a few pinewood torches mounted upon the walls, but no windows. In the center burned a small fire, of the sort that provided more smoke than light, enclosed within a small circular stone hearth. A long wooden table flanked by two wooden benches dominated the hall; at its far end was a high-backed chair, with a faded and tattered piece of embroidery behind it, showing a crudely-woven battle scene. Round shields, brightly painted, adorned the walls, each one having a pair of crossed swords or axes mounted behind it. Ivar was the only person in the hall, apart from themselves.
"It looks decidedly primitive," muttered Amara in a low voice to the others. "In Nova Roma, we would have considered it fit as a dwelling-place only for barbarians."
"Shh!" said Jubilee frantically. "Don't let him hear you say that!" She indicated Ivar, who was seating himself in the chair at the head of the table.
The youngsters sat down on the benches, Bobby near the head so that he could continue speaking to Ivar. "So who are these Reivers?" he asked.
"They are a cruel and brutal band of warriors," Ivar replied, "that serve a cruel tyrant known as Alfadur. At his orders, they ravage these lands, demanding heavy tribute from all who dwell here, and punishing them savagely if they cannot or will not pay. They also rob and waylay travellers, often bearing them back to Alfadur's castle to serve him as thralls." He sighed, a troubled look in his eyes. "They are everywhere these days."
"I wonder if they're the guys that we ran into earlier," said Sam. "They were certainly unfriendly enough."
"What do you speak of?" Ivar asked, puzzledly.
"They were a bunch of men in armor riding horses," said Bobby. "They tried to kidnap us, but we beat them."
"Those must indeed have been the Reivers, then," said Ivar. "They're the only warriors in these parts that you are likely to meet. You are most fortunate to have escaped them. How did you accomplish it? But, wait, I am forgetting my courtesy. You must be hungry and thirsty, to have come so long a way. It has been most remiss of me not to provide you with suitable fare."
He stood up, and called out in a loud voice. "Ho, there! Food and drink for myself and my guests! And swiftly!"
A couple of servants in tunics and breeches came out from a recess behind the tapestry, bearing platters of food in their hands. These they laid on the table, then went back to bring in plates, knives, and drinking-horns. These they laid out before each of the New Mutants.
"Help yourselves," said Ivar.
"Thanks," said Bobby eagerly, filling his plate.
Amara looked over her tableware with a frown. "No forks, and no spoons," she muttered to Jubilee, who was seated next to her, in a low voice. "I do not wish to offend our host, but the accomodations are alarmingly primitive."
"And this comes from the princess of the land that hasn't even discovered electricity yet," commented Jubilee cheerfully.
"Don't judge Nova Roma as savage just because we lack your technological achievements," Amara retorted. "My father's palace is almost as elegant as the Institute. And our banquets are conducted in a much more civilized fashion."
She glanced for a moment at Ray, who had picked up a piece of roast ox and was now enthusiastically devouring it with only his bare hands and teeth, and added, "Of course, the accomodations here may be more to the taste of some of our fellow students."
The talk died down for a while, as the young guests continued to eat the meal before them, between quaffs of the goat's milk in their drinking- horns. After a few minutes, however, Bobby spoke up again.
"So you've been having trouble with these Reivers, sir?" he asked.
Ivar nodded. "All of us in this land have been having trouble with them," he said. "And their master Alfadur, as well. He is a harsh oppressor, and we groan beneath his tyranny. I have suffered much from him, in particular. I spoke out against his misrule, and he took away my children and imprisoned them, despite my protests."
"Your children?" Bobby asked.
"My two sons and my daughter," said Ivar. "All three of them now languish in durance vile. I have attempted more than once to rescue them, but failed each time. I fear that only by freeing this land from Alfadur can I save my family. And yet, even that seems beyond accomplishing."
"He's that tough, then, is he?" asked Bobby.
"Indeed," said Ivar. "He has a great host of fighting-men at his command, rendering him invincible in battle. Nor is that all. He is also a cunning and crafty sorcerer, skilled in the black arts. He has many guises, and can command the very elements to fell his foes. His ruthlessness is beyond belief. He even sacrificed one of his eyes, to gain the power that he wanted."
"Eww," murmured Jubilee. Most of the other New Mutants, judging from the looks on their faces, clearly shared her response.
"Maybe we can help," suggested Bobby.
Ivar looked at him, lifting an eyebrow. "Your offer is generous, young sir," he said, "but I do not see how you can offer me or this land any assistance. You are little more than children, after all."
"We're not just any children," said Bobby, rising from the bench and standing up on it in a dramatic pose. "We're members of the mighty X-Men!"
"X-Men?" repeated Ivar, looking even more astonished. "I fear that I do not understand."
Amara groaned. "I knew that he was going to do something like this," she muttered under her breath in disgust. "I just didn't expect him to be that stupid."
"We're super-powered kids," said Bobby, raising one hand. "Take a look at this!"
And with that, he shot a small blast of ice up at the ceiling, forming a cluster of icicles upon it. The icicles did not last very long, since the heat from the fire below quickly melted them, resulting in a small downpour of water below. Rahne and Roberto hurriedly moved out of its way in time.
Ivar stared at him in astonishment. "How did you do that?" he asked. "Are you a wizard as well?"
"Nah, I'm a mutant," said Bobby proudly. "And so are the rest of us. So just give us the chance, and we can -"
"Bobby, a word with you, please," said Amara, standing up at once.
"Later, Amara," he said. "Can't you see that I'm on a roll here?"
"This is important!" she said. "You listen to what I have to say now, or when we get home, I am going to introduce you to a very different meaning of 'burning a CD', with your collection."
Bobby sighed. "Excuse us a moment," he said, and followed Amara into a corner of the hall. The other New Mutants arose and followed them, while Ivar remained seated patiently in his chair.
"What has gotten into you?" cried Amara. "First you give away our identities as mutants, and now you volunteer us for a war that we don't know a thing about, which is who knows how far away from Bayville!"
"Come on, they don't know anything about mutants here," said Bobby. "And they won't be able to tell anyone back home about us, either. Besides, as X- Men, we should-"
"We are not X-Men!" Amara almost shouted at him, barely restraining herself from grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shaking him. "Well, not full-fledged ones like Scott and Jean and the rest! We're still in basic training! The Professor hasn't even sent us out on a single mission yet!"
"Then it's about time that all that changed," said Bobby. "Come on, aren't you all tired of having to stay behind at the mansion while the older kids get all the adventure? I mean, look at what they've done! They actually went out and whipped Magneto at Asteroid M! They helped the Professor take down Juggernaut! And that Houngan dude, and Sabretooth, and -"
"And they're older than us, and more experienced," said Amara. "They've been training longer than we have. And even they don't get to go out on missions that often. I mean, they only got into that fight with Magneto because he'd kidnapped half the team!"
"But aren't you all tired of always being left out of things, never getting to go on a mission?" Bobby argued.
"I am," piped up Jamie. Ray and Jubilee quickly shushed him.
"That doesn't make any difference," said Amara. "I don't think that we're ready for something on this scale yet. I don't think that the Professor would even let the big kids in on this one. I mean, this is overthrowing some sort of sorcerer-king here. Do you seriously think that we can pull it off?"
"Besides," put in Rahne, "I dinna know about our host. I canna place a finger on it, but there's something aboot him that smells wrong to me. I'm nae certain that we can trust him."
"Your wolf-sense is tingling, then, is it?" asked Bobby cheerfully. He paused, frowning. "No, that doesn't sound quite right," he said.
None of the New Mutants saw Ivar rise quietly from his chair, and walk towards the curtained recess at the far end of the hall.
* * *
Ivar emerged from the hall, to stand before a small stone basin of water. He brushed some of the ice away that was floating upon the surface, and then gestured over it. At the same time, his form blurred, and began to shift into a different appearance.
The grim and craggy face of Utgard-Loki appeared within the waters in the basin. "Well, Loki?" he asked. "What have you to report?"
"Much," said Loki, having now returned completely to his true shape. "I have found us some potential allies in the war."
"Allies?" Utgard-Loki asked. "Do they have anything to do with that portal that opened upon Midgard?"
Loki nodded. "You'd scarcely believe what came through it," he said. "A group of young humans, gifted with unusual abilities. I'd almost call them youthful sorcerers, but they call themselves mutants, instead."
"Mutants?" asked Utgard-Loki puzzledly, carefully pronouncing the word. "And just what manner of being might a mutant be?"
"I know the answer to that one no more than you do," Loki answered. "I suppose that Midgard has changed even more than I had thought over the last thousand years. It was inevitable, I suppose - although I do wish now that I had paid more attention to events there. It simply struck me as less important once Odin turned his back upon that world and forbade the rest of the Aesir to intervene in events there."
"So what are these young - mutants - doing here, at present?" Utgard-Loki asked.
"Enjoying my hospitality, as my guests," Loki explained. "I have been endeavoring to lure them into our cause - particularly by supplying them with a - well, modified portrait of Odin. Their leader appears quite eager to assist us, as well."
"I do not know," said Utgard-Loki. "We have never needed the help of mere striplings before, and especially ones sprung of human stock. Why should that change now?"
"Because, even with Thor banished, the rest of the Aesir will still be formidable enough in battle," said Loki. "Granted, they are less of a problem with the Thunderer absent, but even so, they still pose something of a challenge to us. The more allies that we can bring to the war, the better."
"Do you believe that you can bring these younglings over to our cause, then?" asked Utgard-Loki.
"Who do you think you are talking to?" asked Loki, strutting slightly.
"There are some whom even your glib tongue cannot sway, Laufeyson," said Utgard-Loki, not sounding entirely impressed. "Suppose that some of your guests are such folk? What then?"
"Oh, there are ways to ensure their co-operation," said Loki airily. "Wait and see."
* * *
"I'm serious!" cried Rahne. "I say that we need to know more aboot our host, before we decide whether to hold with him or not."
"And I say that you're being paranoid," said Bobby. "Look, the guy seems harmless enough. I don't think that he's trouble at all. Besides, if we help him out, he might even find some way of getting us back to the Institute."
"He may not even have the slightest notion that the Institute exists," said Amara. "In any case, I still say that even if Ivar really is on the level, this is something that we're just not ready to handle. I mean, we're talking about a full-scale rebellion here! Even the older kids haven't done anything like this!"
"Um, can't we put this argument off until tomorrow?" asked Roberto. "I mean, the sun's going down, and I'm ready to go down with it. We're probably going to be spending the night here, so we might as well get some shut-eye, and continue this talk in the morning."
Bobby looked at the others. Jamie's head was already nodding, and most of the other New Mutants - who had had an even busier day than usual, between the trudge through the snow and the battle with the knights, providing them with much more strenuous action than the Danger Room sessions had ever done - were beginning to appear a little drowsy. At last, he spoke.
"All right," he said. "Tomorrow, we decide what to do. But I still say that we should pitch in, and that's what I'm doing."
Before any of the others could reply to that, Ivar re-entered the hall, leaning on his cane. "I suppose that you will spend the night here," he said. "The sun is setting, and nobody should be abroad after dark. The things that you encounter there - . At any rate, I ask of you that you sleep here tonight. And upon the morrow - well, we will decide what to do then."
"Yes, we will," said Bobby, nodding. "And thanks."
They laid down to sleep upon the benches, which served as rough beds. Ivar's servants had supplied them with thick fur-lined mantles, to use as blankets. The benches were somewhat harder than the mattresses back at the Institute, but after a while, the New Mutants managed to become more or less comfortable, and fell asleep, one by one.
Ivar sat down in his chair, and watched them, an odd smile upon his face. When they were all fast asleep, he rose from his seat, quietly shifted back into Loki's form, and walked over to each sleeping mutant in turn. He gently laid a couple of fingers on each one's brow, held them there for a minute, then continued on to the next one, until he had visited all eight.
"Fascinating," he said to himself, when he was done. "Truly fascinating. Who would have thought that the folk of Midgard would ever undergo such an intriguing alteration?" He smiled to himself. "Odin will rue the day that he forbade the Valkyries to bring any more humans to Valhalla to swell the ranks of his einherjar. With the powers that my recruits have, they could put even the finest heroes of the north to shame."
"Let's look on the bright side," said Roberto, in a too-cheerful tone of voice, as he and the other New Mutants trudged through the snow. "At least we're not stuck in a blizzard."
"I know, but it's still cold enough as it is," said Jubilee. "At this rate, we're all likely to wind up looking like Bobby in his Iceman form."
"I'm hungry," said Jamie, bringing up the rear. "Isn't there anything to eat around here?"
"Sorry, Jamie," said Jubilee. "But considering the kind of welcome wagon that we ran into, I don't think that this place is likely to have that many Burger Bombs around."
"Look!" cried Roberto, pointing ahead. "Smoke!"
The others looked in the direction that he was pointing. A thin trail of white smoke arose from the trees, some ways ahead.
"That smoke must mean that somebody's living up there," said Roberto. "Maybe we can ask them where we are."
"Good idea, Roberto!" said Bobby eagerly. "And we can get out of this cold and get some proper food, while we're at it. Let's go!"
"Wait!" cried Amara imperiously. Bobby halted, just as he was about to head off in the direction of the smoke, and turned around to look at her.
"Wait?" he asked. "Amara, what do you mean?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked. "Or are you too intent on filling your stomach to even think? The first people that we met here - in fact, the only people that we've met here so far - attacked us without provocation. How do we know that whoever's living in that house is friendly? This entire world may be inhabited exclusively by savage lunatics."
"We don't know for certain," said Bobby. "Besides, we can handle it, even if it turns out to be more bad guys. We're the ones with the super-powers, remember?"
Amara was about to argue further, but Sam spoke up. "I'm with Bobby on this one," he said. "I mean, we've got to find someplace with food and shelter just now. I don't feel too picky at the moment."
"Same here," said Jubilee. "I don't want to be out in this cold longer than I can help it."
The other youngsters agreed, all chiming in. Amara sighed.
"Very well, Bobby," she said. "You win. But if we get into trouble -"
"I know, I know," said Bobby. " 'Don't say that I didn't warn you.' You know, Amara, you're starting to get almost as annoying as Jean. Maybe you've been doing too much training with Miss Perfect lately."
Some of the other young mutants giggled at that remark, but Amara only looked sharply at him. "For your sake, Bobby Drake," she said, "I will pretend that I did not hear that last remark. Well, let's be off, then."
They trudged off again, this time heading in the direction of the smoke.
The sun was creeping closer towards the western horizon when they entered the clearing from where the smoke arose. In the middle of the clearing stood a long house made of timber, with a thatched roof of straw. The smoke arose from the center of the roof, through a small opening in the thatch. A ragged-looking wooden fence circled the house.
The New Mutants climbed over the fence, and made straight for the house. Bobby knocked loudly on the door.
"Hey!" he called out. "Is anybody home?"
There was silence for a few minutes, and then the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching the door. Then, it swung open, and an old man, leaning on a cane, stood there, gazing out at them. He was dressed in a long- sleeved tunic, breeches with criss-crossing thongs, and a heavy mantle pinned at one shoulder, with a fur cap on his head. His beard was long and grey, and looked mildly tangled and unkempt. He stared at them, blinking in astonishment.
"Greetings, young travellers," he said at last, in a creaky, elderly- sounding voice. "It has been quite some time since anyone has come this way; you are the first guests that I have received in many a week now. Come in, come in. Warm yourselves by the fire. You should not be out so long in the cold."
"Thank you, sir," said Bobby, as he and the other New Mutants crowded into the hall. "We hope that we're not being too much of an inconvenience to you, sir."
"No, not at all," said the old man, nodding. "My name is Ivar Hakonson, and I am lord of this hall - if such a desolate place now can be said to have a lord. And who might you be, young wayfarers?"
"My name's Bobby Drake," said Bobby. "My friends and I are - well, we're not from around these parts. In fact, we're lost."
"I suppose that you must be from a very far-off land indeed," said Ivar, looking at them thoughtfully. "Your garb is certainly of a foreign make; I have never beheld the likes of it before." He closed the door behind them. "But come, sit down and partake of my hospitality. I could use the company - and you should certainly not be wandering about in a land troubled by the Reivers."
"The Reivers?" asked Bobby. "Who are they?"
"Seat yourselves first," said Ivar. "I will explain soon."
The eight New Mutants looked about the hall. It was a fairly large place, though much smaller than Professor Xavier's mansion, and dimly lit; some light shone in through the smokehole, and there were a few pinewood torches mounted upon the walls, but no windows. In the center burned a small fire, of the sort that provided more smoke than light, enclosed within a small circular stone hearth. A long wooden table flanked by two wooden benches dominated the hall; at its far end was a high-backed chair, with a faded and tattered piece of embroidery behind it, showing a crudely-woven battle scene. Round shields, brightly painted, adorned the walls, each one having a pair of crossed swords or axes mounted behind it. Ivar was the only person in the hall, apart from themselves.
"It looks decidedly primitive," muttered Amara in a low voice to the others. "In Nova Roma, we would have considered it fit as a dwelling-place only for barbarians."
"Shh!" said Jubilee frantically. "Don't let him hear you say that!" She indicated Ivar, who was seating himself in the chair at the head of the table.
The youngsters sat down on the benches, Bobby near the head so that he could continue speaking to Ivar. "So who are these Reivers?" he asked.
"They are a cruel and brutal band of warriors," Ivar replied, "that serve a cruel tyrant known as Alfadur. At his orders, they ravage these lands, demanding heavy tribute from all who dwell here, and punishing them savagely if they cannot or will not pay. They also rob and waylay travellers, often bearing them back to Alfadur's castle to serve him as thralls." He sighed, a troubled look in his eyes. "They are everywhere these days."
"I wonder if they're the guys that we ran into earlier," said Sam. "They were certainly unfriendly enough."
"What do you speak of?" Ivar asked, puzzledly.
"They were a bunch of men in armor riding horses," said Bobby. "They tried to kidnap us, but we beat them."
"Those must indeed have been the Reivers, then," said Ivar. "They're the only warriors in these parts that you are likely to meet. You are most fortunate to have escaped them. How did you accomplish it? But, wait, I am forgetting my courtesy. You must be hungry and thirsty, to have come so long a way. It has been most remiss of me not to provide you with suitable fare."
He stood up, and called out in a loud voice. "Ho, there! Food and drink for myself and my guests! And swiftly!"
A couple of servants in tunics and breeches came out from a recess behind the tapestry, bearing platters of food in their hands. These they laid on the table, then went back to bring in plates, knives, and drinking-horns. These they laid out before each of the New Mutants.
"Help yourselves," said Ivar.
"Thanks," said Bobby eagerly, filling his plate.
Amara looked over her tableware with a frown. "No forks, and no spoons," she muttered to Jubilee, who was seated next to her, in a low voice. "I do not wish to offend our host, but the accomodations are alarmingly primitive."
"And this comes from the princess of the land that hasn't even discovered electricity yet," commented Jubilee cheerfully.
"Don't judge Nova Roma as savage just because we lack your technological achievements," Amara retorted. "My father's palace is almost as elegant as the Institute. And our banquets are conducted in a much more civilized fashion."
She glanced for a moment at Ray, who had picked up a piece of roast ox and was now enthusiastically devouring it with only his bare hands and teeth, and added, "Of course, the accomodations here may be more to the taste of some of our fellow students."
The talk died down for a while, as the young guests continued to eat the meal before them, between quaffs of the goat's milk in their drinking- horns. After a few minutes, however, Bobby spoke up again.
"So you've been having trouble with these Reivers, sir?" he asked.
Ivar nodded. "All of us in this land have been having trouble with them," he said. "And their master Alfadur, as well. He is a harsh oppressor, and we groan beneath his tyranny. I have suffered much from him, in particular. I spoke out against his misrule, and he took away my children and imprisoned them, despite my protests."
"Your children?" Bobby asked.
"My two sons and my daughter," said Ivar. "All three of them now languish in durance vile. I have attempted more than once to rescue them, but failed each time. I fear that only by freeing this land from Alfadur can I save my family. And yet, even that seems beyond accomplishing."
"He's that tough, then, is he?" asked Bobby.
"Indeed," said Ivar. "He has a great host of fighting-men at his command, rendering him invincible in battle. Nor is that all. He is also a cunning and crafty sorcerer, skilled in the black arts. He has many guises, and can command the very elements to fell his foes. His ruthlessness is beyond belief. He even sacrificed one of his eyes, to gain the power that he wanted."
"Eww," murmured Jubilee. Most of the other New Mutants, judging from the looks on their faces, clearly shared her response.
"Maybe we can help," suggested Bobby.
Ivar looked at him, lifting an eyebrow. "Your offer is generous, young sir," he said, "but I do not see how you can offer me or this land any assistance. You are little more than children, after all."
"We're not just any children," said Bobby, rising from the bench and standing up on it in a dramatic pose. "We're members of the mighty X-Men!"
"X-Men?" repeated Ivar, looking even more astonished. "I fear that I do not understand."
Amara groaned. "I knew that he was going to do something like this," she muttered under her breath in disgust. "I just didn't expect him to be that stupid."
"We're super-powered kids," said Bobby, raising one hand. "Take a look at this!"
And with that, he shot a small blast of ice up at the ceiling, forming a cluster of icicles upon it. The icicles did not last very long, since the heat from the fire below quickly melted them, resulting in a small downpour of water below. Rahne and Roberto hurriedly moved out of its way in time.
Ivar stared at him in astonishment. "How did you do that?" he asked. "Are you a wizard as well?"
"Nah, I'm a mutant," said Bobby proudly. "And so are the rest of us. So just give us the chance, and we can -"
"Bobby, a word with you, please," said Amara, standing up at once.
"Later, Amara," he said. "Can't you see that I'm on a roll here?"
"This is important!" she said. "You listen to what I have to say now, or when we get home, I am going to introduce you to a very different meaning of 'burning a CD', with your collection."
Bobby sighed. "Excuse us a moment," he said, and followed Amara into a corner of the hall. The other New Mutants arose and followed them, while Ivar remained seated patiently in his chair.
"What has gotten into you?" cried Amara. "First you give away our identities as mutants, and now you volunteer us for a war that we don't know a thing about, which is who knows how far away from Bayville!"
"Come on, they don't know anything about mutants here," said Bobby. "And they won't be able to tell anyone back home about us, either. Besides, as X- Men, we should-"
"We are not X-Men!" Amara almost shouted at him, barely restraining herself from grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shaking him. "Well, not full-fledged ones like Scott and Jean and the rest! We're still in basic training! The Professor hasn't even sent us out on a single mission yet!"
"Then it's about time that all that changed," said Bobby. "Come on, aren't you all tired of having to stay behind at the mansion while the older kids get all the adventure? I mean, look at what they've done! They actually went out and whipped Magneto at Asteroid M! They helped the Professor take down Juggernaut! And that Houngan dude, and Sabretooth, and -"
"And they're older than us, and more experienced," said Amara. "They've been training longer than we have. And even they don't get to go out on missions that often. I mean, they only got into that fight with Magneto because he'd kidnapped half the team!"
"But aren't you all tired of always being left out of things, never getting to go on a mission?" Bobby argued.
"I am," piped up Jamie. Ray and Jubilee quickly shushed him.
"That doesn't make any difference," said Amara. "I don't think that we're ready for something on this scale yet. I don't think that the Professor would even let the big kids in on this one. I mean, this is overthrowing some sort of sorcerer-king here. Do you seriously think that we can pull it off?"
"Besides," put in Rahne, "I dinna know about our host. I canna place a finger on it, but there's something aboot him that smells wrong to me. I'm nae certain that we can trust him."
"Your wolf-sense is tingling, then, is it?" asked Bobby cheerfully. He paused, frowning. "No, that doesn't sound quite right," he said.
None of the New Mutants saw Ivar rise quietly from his chair, and walk towards the curtained recess at the far end of the hall.
* * *
Ivar emerged from the hall, to stand before a small stone basin of water. He brushed some of the ice away that was floating upon the surface, and then gestured over it. At the same time, his form blurred, and began to shift into a different appearance.
The grim and craggy face of Utgard-Loki appeared within the waters in the basin. "Well, Loki?" he asked. "What have you to report?"
"Much," said Loki, having now returned completely to his true shape. "I have found us some potential allies in the war."
"Allies?" Utgard-Loki asked. "Do they have anything to do with that portal that opened upon Midgard?"
Loki nodded. "You'd scarcely believe what came through it," he said. "A group of young humans, gifted with unusual abilities. I'd almost call them youthful sorcerers, but they call themselves mutants, instead."
"Mutants?" asked Utgard-Loki puzzledly, carefully pronouncing the word. "And just what manner of being might a mutant be?"
"I know the answer to that one no more than you do," Loki answered. "I suppose that Midgard has changed even more than I had thought over the last thousand years. It was inevitable, I suppose - although I do wish now that I had paid more attention to events there. It simply struck me as less important once Odin turned his back upon that world and forbade the rest of the Aesir to intervene in events there."
"So what are these young - mutants - doing here, at present?" Utgard-Loki asked.
"Enjoying my hospitality, as my guests," Loki explained. "I have been endeavoring to lure them into our cause - particularly by supplying them with a - well, modified portrait of Odin. Their leader appears quite eager to assist us, as well."
"I do not know," said Utgard-Loki. "We have never needed the help of mere striplings before, and especially ones sprung of human stock. Why should that change now?"
"Because, even with Thor banished, the rest of the Aesir will still be formidable enough in battle," said Loki. "Granted, they are less of a problem with the Thunderer absent, but even so, they still pose something of a challenge to us. The more allies that we can bring to the war, the better."
"Do you believe that you can bring these younglings over to our cause, then?" asked Utgard-Loki.
"Who do you think you are talking to?" asked Loki, strutting slightly.
"There are some whom even your glib tongue cannot sway, Laufeyson," said Utgard-Loki, not sounding entirely impressed. "Suppose that some of your guests are such folk? What then?"
"Oh, there are ways to ensure their co-operation," said Loki airily. "Wait and see."
* * *
"I'm serious!" cried Rahne. "I say that we need to know more aboot our host, before we decide whether to hold with him or not."
"And I say that you're being paranoid," said Bobby. "Look, the guy seems harmless enough. I don't think that he's trouble at all. Besides, if we help him out, he might even find some way of getting us back to the Institute."
"He may not even have the slightest notion that the Institute exists," said Amara. "In any case, I still say that even if Ivar really is on the level, this is something that we're just not ready to handle. I mean, we're talking about a full-scale rebellion here! Even the older kids haven't done anything like this!"
"Um, can't we put this argument off until tomorrow?" asked Roberto. "I mean, the sun's going down, and I'm ready to go down with it. We're probably going to be spending the night here, so we might as well get some shut-eye, and continue this talk in the morning."
Bobby looked at the others. Jamie's head was already nodding, and most of the other New Mutants - who had had an even busier day than usual, between the trudge through the snow and the battle with the knights, providing them with much more strenuous action than the Danger Room sessions had ever done - were beginning to appear a little drowsy. At last, he spoke.
"All right," he said. "Tomorrow, we decide what to do. But I still say that we should pitch in, and that's what I'm doing."
Before any of the others could reply to that, Ivar re-entered the hall, leaning on his cane. "I suppose that you will spend the night here," he said. "The sun is setting, and nobody should be abroad after dark. The things that you encounter there - . At any rate, I ask of you that you sleep here tonight. And upon the morrow - well, we will decide what to do then."
"Yes, we will," said Bobby, nodding. "And thanks."
They laid down to sleep upon the benches, which served as rough beds. Ivar's servants had supplied them with thick fur-lined mantles, to use as blankets. The benches were somewhat harder than the mattresses back at the Institute, but after a while, the New Mutants managed to become more or less comfortable, and fell asleep, one by one.
Ivar sat down in his chair, and watched them, an odd smile upon his face. When they were all fast asleep, he rose from his seat, quietly shifted back into Loki's form, and walked over to each sleeping mutant in turn. He gently laid a couple of fingers on each one's brow, held them there for a minute, then continued on to the next one, until he had visited all eight.
"Fascinating," he said to himself, when he was done. "Truly fascinating. Who would have thought that the folk of Midgard would ever undergo such an intriguing alteration?" He smiled to himself. "Odin will rue the day that he forbade the Valkyries to bring any more humans to Valhalla to swell the ranks of his einherjar. With the powers that my recruits have, they could put even the finest heroes of the north to shame."