17. AT THE VOLVA'S MOUND.
"You know, this would work a lot better if, like, we knew what a dwarf-city looks like," said Kitty. She and the other X-Men had reached the mountains and were now searching for some sign that the underground city of Nidavellir was close by.
"We probably should have asked that fellow for some proper directions," said Scott glumly. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."
"Well, it's too late for that now," said Beast. "But all's not lost. There are other ways to find this place."
"How's that?" Kurt asked.
"Well, first of all, there are going to have to be some traces of habitation about, unless these dwarves are extremely good at covering up their tracks," said Beast. "For example, they'll need ventilation shafts of some sort, to supply them with clean air from outside. Also, they'll need to go out to the surface at times, so there'll have to be entrances around. No doubt they'll be cleverly disguised, but if we keep on searching long enough, we'll be able to find them."
"Maybe Jean could use her telepathy to search for them, as vell," suggested Kurt.
"I'm not so certain about that," said Jean. "I've never had telepathic contact with a dwarf before, so I might not be able to recognize their thought-patterns. Besides, I'd need to have a specific direction to search in. I can't just go looking everywhere."
"Well, let's keep on looking," said Scott. "Hopefully we can find some trace of them soon."
"We'd better," said Kitty. "Because this place, like, still gives me the creeps." As an afterthought, she added, "I wonder, like, how it is with the others."
* * *
"That looks like it could be it up ahead," said Sam. He pointed at a low rounded mound covered with a thick blanket of snow, a few hundred yards before them.
"You're sure of that?" Logan asked. "Remember, you're not exactly using first-hand information here."
"Yeah, but it does answer the description pretty well," said Sam. "Don't you agree?" he asked, turning to the other New Mutants.
"It certainly appears that way," said Amara. "Though I don't see any sign of anyone there. I hope that she's not away."
"Well, you don't seriously think that she's going to be camping out here in this kind of weather, do you?" Rogue asked. "Honestly, Ah can't see why anybody would want to live on a hill like this one instead of in a house. Preferably one with a king-sized fireplace or central heating."
Rahne spoke in a low voice. "Someone's coming this way," she said. "I can smell him."
"So can I," agreed Wolverine. "Odd kind of smell, though. I never met anything like that before. Kind of like a human, but not quite. There's something weird about it."
"I think that we should conceal ourselves first and see who it is, before taking further action," said Storm. "Back into the trees, all of you."
They withdrew into the woods, although Wolverine was still grumbling a little at the prospect of retreating from a potential fight. From there, they watched.
Soon an old man came into view, approaching the mound. He had a long grey tangled beard and wore grey tattered and weather-stained clothing: a long robe, a dark blue cloak, and a floppy broad-brimmed hat that was tilted down over one eye. He leaned on a great ash-wood staff to help guide his steps. He halted before the mound, and then spoke.
"Hear me, Volva!" he cried in a loud voice, one much more vigorous than the watchers would have expected from his elderly appearance. "Arise and speak! I seek your counsel."
A high wind whirled around the hill, and then a pale blue mist arose from it, coalescing into a form. A figure in a hooded blue robe stood at the top of the mound, and gazed down at the old man.
"So you have come again," it said, in a woman's voice with a hollow quality. "I trust that you have a good reason for disturbing my rest, old wanderer."
Rogue started as she spoke. "Ah know that voice," she whispered, more to herself than to the other X-Men.
"Volva, I am in need of your words," said the old man. "Asgard is threatened by a great army of frost giants and trolls and dark elves. The traitor Loki is at their head, and we cannot count on Thor's aid this time to rout them. I stand in need of your wisdom to guide me in this dark hour."
"You have other advisors to consult," said the Volva sharply. "Why not speak with them instead?"
"I have already spoken with Mimir's head, but it spoke only in riddles that even I could not fathom," said the old man. "Volva, have the final days come? Is our twilight at hand?"
"You should know better than to ask me that," said the Volva. "Has the Fimbul-winter raged across the nine worlds? Has the Fenris-wolf broken his fetters and the Midgard Serpent risen from the ocean depths? Has the ship Naglfar been launched? Have Surtur and his folk issued forth from Muspelheim? No, this is not the time for Ragnarok. You should recognize it yourself when the time comes, old wanderer. Indeed, the Thunderer would still stand by your side were that the case, to battle Jormungand as the prophecies state. What you are facing is only a lesser battle, although greater than those that you have had to fight for many ages."
"But still, the storm that is coming is greater than any that we have faced before, and Thor is not with us to help us," said the old man. "Perhaps indeed we have grown too dependent upon him and his hammer, as Tyr said, but still, his absence weakens us. How may we withstand the onslaught?"
"You will find the answer yourself, old one," replied the Volva. "It is close at hand. But I have said enough. Now I return to my sleep." She began to sink into the mound.
"That is not enough!" cried the old man, in an almost frantic tone of voice. "I must know more!"
"And so do we," said Sam, bursting forward. Rogue ran after him, attempting to pull him back but without success.
The Volva turned her shrouded head towards the newcomers. "Go your way, strangers," she said. "I have nothing further to say unto you."
"But we need your help!" Sam protested. "We're looking for Loki and we need you to find him!"
"You are either very bold or very foolish to seek out the trickster," said the Volva in a severe tone of voice. "You must attend to him yourselves, without my words. Now go."
"But -" began Sam. He turned to Rogue. "Can't you do something?" he asked her.
"Well, Ah still think that we're only going to get ourselves in bigger trouble than before if we go around arguing with her," said Rogue. "But if you insist -". She walked towards the Volva, who was beginning to sink back into her mound, and spoke. "Listen, maybe you don't want to help us, but we still need it. We need to find our friends, and we can't do it without you lending a hand!"
The Volva turned her head and stared Rogue straight in the eyes. As she did so, Rogue saw what lay beneath her hood, and stared in amazement. She had seen that face, or one very similar to it, before and knew it well. The Volva's features were an almost perfect duplicate of Irene's, except that she lacked the dark glasses that Rogue's guardian had worn. Her eyes were white, without pupils or irises, and staring into them was like staring into an endless void. Rogue felt for a moment as though she was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down from a tremendous height.
"You will find your companions, but not with my aid," said the Volva. She then turned back to the old man, who had been watching the conversation between her and the mutants in silence, still leaning on his ashwood staff. "I have told you all that I can, old one," she said. "Now go, and do not trouble me again." Then she disappeared into the mound.
"No!" shouted Sam. "Come back!" But there was no answer. The mound remained still and silent.
"We came all this way for nothing!" the Kentucky mutant cried. "That old lady was our only hope, and she let us down! Now what are we going to do?"
"What Ah want to know is why she looked so much like Irene," said Rogue. "Ah mean, is this how this place works? Is Loki going to look like Magneto when we run into him?"
"Is it safe for the rest of us to come out now?" asked Amara, emerging from the trees with Jamie, Rahne, and Evan. Storm and Wolverine followed, but Hrimhari waited just within the forest.
"Ah suppose so," said Rogue. "Though it looks as though we're going to have to rejoin Scott and the others now. Ah hope that that doesn't mean we'll have to go back through that forest again."
"And who are you strangers?" the old man asked, turning towards the mutants. "I have certainly never seen you folk in these parts, and I have lived here for a long time."
"You might as well tell us who you are first, old guy," said Wolverine.
"My name is Vegtam son of Valtam," said the old man, in a stiffly dignified tone. "And now I would have your names in return. And what business have you in these parts? I thought that I was the only one who came to consult the seeress."
"It's a long story," said Wolverine. "And we're not in the habit of telling strangers our problems."
"I would suggest that you make an exception for this occasion," said Vegtam sternly.
"Look, old-timer," replied Logan sharply. "I don't appreciate people like you poking your noses into our business. So I'd say that you'd better be on your way and let us go off our own way."
"Do not provoke me, warrior of short stature," said Vegtam. He seemed to grow taller, and his voice rang out with a tone of command. "I am more than I appear to be."
"Yeah, well, so are we," said Wolverine, unsheathing his claws with a "snikkt". "So you'd better watch it, bub."
"Indeed?" asked Vegtam. He was standing fully erect now, his one eye shining as though it was beginning to glow. "I believe that it is you who should be the cautious ones."
Wolverine growled in response. Storm spoke up, however, before he could do anything more than that.
"No, Logan," she said. "We have enough troubles upon our hands without adding to them. Let us not fight with this man as well."
"She's got a point," said Rogue. "Ah've got the feeling that this guy's a lot tougher than he looks."
"All right," said Wolverine reluctantly, sheathing his claws. "But I still don't like just anybody walking up to us and asking us a lot of questions, especially in a place like this."
"If we are to work together, then we will need to share the information that we have with each other," said Vegtam.
"And who said anything about us working together?" Wolverine asked at once.
"It makes sense, does it not?" said the old man. "I may not know your entire tale, but this I do know from the words that you have spoken as yet. It appears that you have trouble with Loki Laufeyson. Is that not true?"
"Yeah, it is," said Sam.
"Then we share a common foe," said Vegtam. "In which case it would only make sense for us to form a league to thwart him. If we combine our forces, we may well be able to defeat him."
"Perhaps," said Wolverine, still looking suspiciously at the old wanderer.
"What you say makes sense indeed," said Storm. "But we should find the rest of our party first, before we proceed any further. They should have their say on this matter as well."
"The rest of your party?" asked the old man. "So there are others like you in these parts?"
"Indeed there are," said Storm. "Since our journey here is over, it is time for us to rejoin them."
"In that case, I will come with you," said Vegtam. "And along the way, you can tell me more of your tale and what manner of folk you are. Clearly you are no ordinary Midgarders; that much I have seen already. I would gladly know much more about you." He glanced over in the direction of the Iron Forest. "And the wolf can come too," he added.
"How did ye know about him?" asked Rahne.
"I may have only one eye, little maid, but I am not blind," replied Vegtam. "It is clear that he is a companion of yours, so he may as well accompany us."
Hrimhari emerged from the woods, and sniffed at the old man intently. A look of awe came over his features, and he stepped back a pace hesitantly.
"So where are you going?" Vegtam asked, after nodding a trifle absently in the wolf's direction.
"Back to the mountains south of here, on the other side of the forest," said Storm. "We parted from our friends in those parts."
"That is not far from Nidavellir," said Vegtam thoughtfully. "It has been a while since I was last there, but I still remember it well. Perhaps it is time that I paid the dwarf-folk another visit. I will certainly need their assistance now."
He strode off southwards, walking at a much greater speed than one would have expected from an old man with a staff. The X-Men watched him go, then turned to each other for a moment.
"Are we really teaming up with him?" asked Wolverine. "I'm not quite sure that I trust this guy. There's too much about him that I don't know, and I don't like it."
"I also wish that we knew more of his nature," said Storm. "But what he says makes sense. It appears that he has no greater liking for Loki than do we, and he knows this world better than we do. I believe that we must join forces with him."
"Hrimhari certainly thinks that there's something about him," said Rahne. "And that's good enough for me."
"All right, then," said Wolverine, with a sigh. "We'll go with him. But I'm keeping an eye on him all the same. That guy seems to know more about us than he's telling, and somebody had better make sure that we don't get into trouble with him. Especially not since we've got enough problems already. Now let's move."
They followed after Vegtam through the snow, leaving the Volva's mound once again silent and undisturbed.
"You know, this would work a lot better if, like, we knew what a dwarf-city looks like," said Kitty. She and the other X-Men had reached the mountains and were now searching for some sign that the underground city of Nidavellir was close by.
"We probably should have asked that fellow for some proper directions," said Scott glumly. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."
"Well, it's too late for that now," said Beast. "But all's not lost. There are other ways to find this place."
"How's that?" Kurt asked.
"Well, first of all, there are going to have to be some traces of habitation about, unless these dwarves are extremely good at covering up their tracks," said Beast. "For example, they'll need ventilation shafts of some sort, to supply them with clean air from outside. Also, they'll need to go out to the surface at times, so there'll have to be entrances around. No doubt they'll be cleverly disguised, but if we keep on searching long enough, we'll be able to find them."
"Maybe Jean could use her telepathy to search for them, as vell," suggested Kurt.
"I'm not so certain about that," said Jean. "I've never had telepathic contact with a dwarf before, so I might not be able to recognize their thought-patterns. Besides, I'd need to have a specific direction to search in. I can't just go looking everywhere."
"Well, let's keep on looking," said Scott. "Hopefully we can find some trace of them soon."
"We'd better," said Kitty. "Because this place, like, still gives me the creeps." As an afterthought, she added, "I wonder, like, how it is with the others."
* * *
"That looks like it could be it up ahead," said Sam. He pointed at a low rounded mound covered with a thick blanket of snow, a few hundred yards before them.
"You're sure of that?" Logan asked. "Remember, you're not exactly using first-hand information here."
"Yeah, but it does answer the description pretty well," said Sam. "Don't you agree?" he asked, turning to the other New Mutants.
"It certainly appears that way," said Amara. "Though I don't see any sign of anyone there. I hope that she's not away."
"Well, you don't seriously think that she's going to be camping out here in this kind of weather, do you?" Rogue asked. "Honestly, Ah can't see why anybody would want to live on a hill like this one instead of in a house. Preferably one with a king-sized fireplace or central heating."
Rahne spoke in a low voice. "Someone's coming this way," she said. "I can smell him."
"So can I," agreed Wolverine. "Odd kind of smell, though. I never met anything like that before. Kind of like a human, but not quite. There's something weird about it."
"I think that we should conceal ourselves first and see who it is, before taking further action," said Storm. "Back into the trees, all of you."
They withdrew into the woods, although Wolverine was still grumbling a little at the prospect of retreating from a potential fight. From there, they watched.
Soon an old man came into view, approaching the mound. He had a long grey tangled beard and wore grey tattered and weather-stained clothing: a long robe, a dark blue cloak, and a floppy broad-brimmed hat that was tilted down over one eye. He leaned on a great ash-wood staff to help guide his steps. He halted before the mound, and then spoke.
"Hear me, Volva!" he cried in a loud voice, one much more vigorous than the watchers would have expected from his elderly appearance. "Arise and speak! I seek your counsel."
A high wind whirled around the hill, and then a pale blue mist arose from it, coalescing into a form. A figure in a hooded blue robe stood at the top of the mound, and gazed down at the old man.
"So you have come again," it said, in a woman's voice with a hollow quality. "I trust that you have a good reason for disturbing my rest, old wanderer."
Rogue started as she spoke. "Ah know that voice," she whispered, more to herself than to the other X-Men.
"Volva, I am in need of your words," said the old man. "Asgard is threatened by a great army of frost giants and trolls and dark elves. The traitor Loki is at their head, and we cannot count on Thor's aid this time to rout them. I stand in need of your wisdom to guide me in this dark hour."
"You have other advisors to consult," said the Volva sharply. "Why not speak with them instead?"
"I have already spoken with Mimir's head, but it spoke only in riddles that even I could not fathom," said the old man. "Volva, have the final days come? Is our twilight at hand?"
"You should know better than to ask me that," said the Volva. "Has the Fimbul-winter raged across the nine worlds? Has the Fenris-wolf broken his fetters and the Midgard Serpent risen from the ocean depths? Has the ship Naglfar been launched? Have Surtur and his folk issued forth from Muspelheim? No, this is not the time for Ragnarok. You should recognize it yourself when the time comes, old wanderer. Indeed, the Thunderer would still stand by your side were that the case, to battle Jormungand as the prophecies state. What you are facing is only a lesser battle, although greater than those that you have had to fight for many ages."
"But still, the storm that is coming is greater than any that we have faced before, and Thor is not with us to help us," said the old man. "Perhaps indeed we have grown too dependent upon him and his hammer, as Tyr said, but still, his absence weakens us. How may we withstand the onslaught?"
"You will find the answer yourself, old one," replied the Volva. "It is close at hand. But I have said enough. Now I return to my sleep." She began to sink into the mound.
"That is not enough!" cried the old man, in an almost frantic tone of voice. "I must know more!"
"And so do we," said Sam, bursting forward. Rogue ran after him, attempting to pull him back but without success.
The Volva turned her shrouded head towards the newcomers. "Go your way, strangers," she said. "I have nothing further to say unto you."
"But we need your help!" Sam protested. "We're looking for Loki and we need you to find him!"
"You are either very bold or very foolish to seek out the trickster," said the Volva in a severe tone of voice. "You must attend to him yourselves, without my words. Now go."
"But -" began Sam. He turned to Rogue. "Can't you do something?" he asked her.
"Well, Ah still think that we're only going to get ourselves in bigger trouble than before if we go around arguing with her," said Rogue. "But if you insist -". She walked towards the Volva, who was beginning to sink back into her mound, and spoke. "Listen, maybe you don't want to help us, but we still need it. We need to find our friends, and we can't do it without you lending a hand!"
The Volva turned her head and stared Rogue straight in the eyes. As she did so, Rogue saw what lay beneath her hood, and stared in amazement. She had seen that face, or one very similar to it, before and knew it well. The Volva's features were an almost perfect duplicate of Irene's, except that she lacked the dark glasses that Rogue's guardian had worn. Her eyes were white, without pupils or irises, and staring into them was like staring into an endless void. Rogue felt for a moment as though she was standing at the edge of a cliff, looking down from a tremendous height.
"You will find your companions, but not with my aid," said the Volva. She then turned back to the old man, who had been watching the conversation between her and the mutants in silence, still leaning on his ashwood staff. "I have told you all that I can, old one," she said. "Now go, and do not trouble me again." Then she disappeared into the mound.
"No!" shouted Sam. "Come back!" But there was no answer. The mound remained still and silent.
"We came all this way for nothing!" the Kentucky mutant cried. "That old lady was our only hope, and she let us down! Now what are we going to do?"
"What Ah want to know is why she looked so much like Irene," said Rogue. "Ah mean, is this how this place works? Is Loki going to look like Magneto when we run into him?"
"Is it safe for the rest of us to come out now?" asked Amara, emerging from the trees with Jamie, Rahne, and Evan. Storm and Wolverine followed, but Hrimhari waited just within the forest.
"Ah suppose so," said Rogue. "Though it looks as though we're going to have to rejoin Scott and the others now. Ah hope that that doesn't mean we'll have to go back through that forest again."
"And who are you strangers?" the old man asked, turning towards the mutants. "I have certainly never seen you folk in these parts, and I have lived here for a long time."
"You might as well tell us who you are first, old guy," said Wolverine.
"My name is Vegtam son of Valtam," said the old man, in a stiffly dignified tone. "And now I would have your names in return. And what business have you in these parts? I thought that I was the only one who came to consult the seeress."
"It's a long story," said Wolverine. "And we're not in the habit of telling strangers our problems."
"I would suggest that you make an exception for this occasion," said Vegtam sternly.
"Look, old-timer," replied Logan sharply. "I don't appreciate people like you poking your noses into our business. So I'd say that you'd better be on your way and let us go off our own way."
"Do not provoke me, warrior of short stature," said Vegtam. He seemed to grow taller, and his voice rang out with a tone of command. "I am more than I appear to be."
"Yeah, well, so are we," said Wolverine, unsheathing his claws with a "snikkt". "So you'd better watch it, bub."
"Indeed?" asked Vegtam. He was standing fully erect now, his one eye shining as though it was beginning to glow. "I believe that it is you who should be the cautious ones."
Wolverine growled in response. Storm spoke up, however, before he could do anything more than that.
"No, Logan," she said. "We have enough troubles upon our hands without adding to them. Let us not fight with this man as well."
"She's got a point," said Rogue. "Ah've got the feeling that this guy's a lot tougher than he looks."
"All right," said Wolverine reluctantly, sheathing his claws. "But I still don't like just anybody walking up to us and asking us a lot of questions, especially in a place like this."
"If we are to work together, then we will need to share the information that we have with each other," said Vegtam.
"And who said anything about us working together?" Wolverine asked at once.
"It makes sense, does it not?" said the old man. "I may not know your entire tale, but this I do know from the words that you have spoken as yet. It appears that you have trouble with Loki Laufeyson. Is that not true?"
"Yeah, it is," said Sam.
"Then we share a common foe," said Vegtam. "In which case it would only make sense for us to form a league to thwart him. If we combine our forces, we may well be able to defeat him."
"Perhaps," said Wolverine, still looking suspiciously at the old wanderer.
"What you say makes sense indeed," said Storm. "But we should find the rest of our party first, before we proceed any further. They should have their say on this matter as well."
"The rest of your party?" asked the old man. "So there are others like you in these parts?"
"Indeed there are," said Storm. "Since our journey here is over, it is time for us to rejoin them."
"In that case, I will come with you," said Vegtam. "And along the way, you can tell me more of your tale and what manner of folk you are. Clearly you are no ordinary Midgarders; that much I have seen already. I would gladly know much more about you." He glanced over in the direction of the Iron Forest. "And the wolf can come too," he added.
"How did ye know about him?" asked Rahne.
"I may have only one eye, little maid, but I am not blind," replied Vegtam. "It is clear that he is a companion of yours, so he may as well accompany us."
Hrimhari emerged from the woods, and sniffed at the old man intently. A look of awe came over his features, and he stepped back a pace hesitantly.
"So where are you going?" Vegtam asked, after nodding a trifle absently in the wolf's direction.
"Back to the mountains south of here, on the other side of the forest," said Storm. "We parted from our friends in those parts."
"That is not far from Nidavellir," said Vegtam thoughtfully. "It has been a while since I was last there, but I still remember it well. Perhaps it is time that I paid the dwarf-folk another visit. I will certainly need their assistance now."
He strode off southwards, walking at a much greater speed than one would have expected from an old man with a staff. The X-Men watched him go, then turned to each other for a moment.
"Are we really teaming up with him?" asked Wolverine. "I'm not quite sure that I trust this guy. There's too much about him that I don't know, and I don't like it."
"I also wish that we knew more of his nature," said Storm. "But what he says makes sense. It appears that he has no greater liking for Loki than do we, and he knows this world better than we do. I believe that we must join forces with him."
"Hrimhari certainly thinks that there's something about him," said Rahne. "And that's good enough for me."
"All right, then," said Wolverine, with a sigh. "We'll go with him. But I'm keeping an eye on him all the same. That guy seems to know more about us than he's telling, and somebody had better make sure that we don't get into trouble with him. Especially not since we've got enough problems already. Now let's move."
They followed after Vegtam through the snow, leaving the Volva's mound once again silent and undisturbed.