18. NIDAVELLIR AGAIN.
"Found anything yet?" asked Scott, as he and Jean rejoined the other three members of their party.
"Still nothing," replied Beast. "Either these dwarves are astonishingly clever at concealing the entrance to their homes, or else we're in the wrong part of the mountains altogether. At this point, I'm not even going to guess as to which it is."
"Jean, I think that we're going to have to try scanning those mountains with your telepathy," said Scott. "That's the only way that I can think of for us to locate those guys."
"I still don't think that that'll work," replied Jean doubtfully. "But if you guys really insist - well, here goes nothing."
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Scott, Kurt, Kitty, and Beast watched in silence.
Minutes passed, and the expression upon Jean's face became increasingly strained. She appeared now to be struggling hard against something, and let out a gasp. Scott stepped towards her uncertainly, but she opened her eyes just then, swaying back and forth unsteadily as she did so.
"I thought that I'd made contact with something," she said, "but I couldn't be certain. It was just too - different."
"Different?" asked Kurt. "Vhat do you mean?"
"Well, it's hard to describe," said Jean. "It was almost like coming into contact with rocks that had become alive. I know that it sounds crazy, but that's how it felt to me."
"Well, we are searching for dwarves in a world which is clearly connnected somehow to Norse mythology," said Beast. "And I understand that in the Norse myths, dwarves were subterranean people, partaking of the nature of stone and earth. So that description of yours might indeed make sense, Jean."
"We're looking for living rocks?" asked Kitty. "Like, you know, this is making this adventure all the more totally creepy."
"Well, we don't have any choice," said Scott. "These dwarves are probably the only people who can help us find the missing students. They're certainly the only lead that we've got. We have to find them somehow."
"Actually, I would say that we have found you," replied a gruff voice.
The X-Men turned in the direction of the speaker. A small troop of what appeared to be very short men with long beards, dressed in mail-coats and helmets and carrying axes and shields, had emerged from the rocks and was slowly surrounding the mutants, gazing at them suspiciously.
"Ah, I suppose that you're the people that we've been looking for," said Beast to the newcomers at once. "Perhaps you can help us. You see, we were wondering if you'd seen three youngsters in this area."
"By all rights, I should be the one setting the questions to you," said the leader of the dwarves sharply. "You are intruding upon our lands. State your names and your business now."
"We come in peace, I assure you," said Beast. "My name is Henry McCoy, and these are four students in my charge. We are looking for three friends of ours, and thought that you might have seen them."
"Friends?" asked the dwarf leader, looking at Beast closely. "And just who might these friends of yours be?"
"They are youngsters from our homeland," said Beast calmly. "You might know them if you've seen them."
"Yeah," said Scott. "There's a lanky blond boy, a dark-haired girl, and a small brown-haired boy."
"You must be speaking of the three young Midgarders that we gave shelter to," said the dwarf leader. "For they indeed answer to those descriptions." He looked at them closely before continuing. "Is the werewolf girl also one of your friends?" he asked.
"Rahne?" cried Jean. "She's been here as well?"
"So you do know her," said the dwarf. "Or at least know of her. That may be a good sign. However, that is up to King Eitri to decide. We are taking you to see him now. Come with us."
"So, like, what do we do now?" asked Kitty apprehensively.
"Go with them, of course," said Scott.
"You, like, can't be serious!"
"No, I agree with Scott on this matter," said Beast. "These people have clearly met our friends, and the best way for us to find out just what has happened to them is to come with them."
"All right," said Kitty, as the five mutants set off with the dwarves. The stocky little men surrounded them, more as if the X-Men were their prisoners rather than invited guests. "But, like, I've still got a bad feeling about this."
* * *
King Eitri stared down at the newcomers that stood in a group before his throne. "Five more of you?" he asked. "Why is it that so many of you Midgarders are coming to these parts now, after so many years?"
"It's a long story, Your Majesty," said Scott. "You see, a friend of ours rigged up some kind of dimensional portal, and some other friends of ours got sucked into it."
"The four younglings from Midgard who came here earlier," said King Eitri. "Yes, I know of them. They are not here at present, however."
"Well, do you know where they've gone?" Jean asked. "Because we really need to find them. Actually, we really need to find all eight of them."
"That might well be difficult," said King Eitri. "The other four young Midgarders, from what we have been able to learn, have apparently been recruited by Loki for some great assault upon Asgard that he is planning. It appears that he wishes to exploit their abilities for the purpose."
"And you don't know where we can find him?" Scott asked.
"We do not know Loki's whereabouts," said the dwarf king. "So we are unable to assist you in that matter, just as we were unable to assist your friends. We advised them to consult the Volva instead."
"A Volvo?" asked Kurt, looking puzzled. "I didn't think that this vorld even had any cars."
"He said 'Volva', not 'Volvo'," said Jean. She paused, an uncertain look upon her own face. "What is a Volva?"
"That question would be more accurately, 'What is the Volva,'" replied King Eitri. "There is only one of her. She is an ancient seeress, who lives in her mound to the north of the forest of Jarnvith."
"Well, can you give us directions to her mound, then?" asked Scott. "Because it's vitally important that we find them."
"I very much doubt that you will find them there," said the dwarf king. "They have already left for there long before your arrival, and I do not think that they will linger there once they have learned from her what they will need to know. By the time that you reach the mound, they will have already gone on their way somewhere else."
"But we could, like, ask her which way they went?" asked Kitty.
"You might ask her, yes," said King Eitri. "But it is very unlikely that she will answer you. The Volva does not share her wisdom willingly with others. Indeed, I will be very much surprised if she has even deigned to answer the questions that your friends ask her. No, I very much doubt that you'll receive any help from her."
"Then what are we going to do?" Jean asked, in near-frustration. "I mean, we have to find them!"
"I can sympathize with your desire to find your friends, maid of Midgard," said King Eitri. "But I can provide you with no further assistance than I have already given you. You are on your own now, I fear."
"So in other words, we'll have to search through this entire world for them, and we don't even know how big it is," said Scott. "This could take years." He groaned. "Why couldn't we have found some way of getting Cerebro into this world?"
"We'll think of something, Scott," said Jean. "Besides, remember, we're not the only ones looking for the students. Maybe Wolverine and the others will find them. I mean, Wolverine's got his tracking ability."
"Yeah, I'd forgotten about that," said Scott.
There was suddenly a blast of horns from outside, and a dwarf entered the hall. "Sire," he said, bowing before King Eitri.
"Yes, Eikinskjaldi?" asked King Eitri. "What is it?"
"The younglings from Midgard have returned, with friends," said Eikinskjaldi. "And one of them is an old man with a staff, who craves an audience with you at once."
"An old man with a staff," said King Eitri. He had a thoughtful look upon his face. "Tell me, does he have one eye or two?"
"Only one, sire," said Eikinskjaldi.
"I might have known," said the dwarf-king. "Well, admit them, by all means."
The doors swung open all the way, and the four missing students, accompanied by Storm's party, came in. Jamie and Sam were both wearing chainmail and helmets and carrying shields, with swords at their belts, both looking considerably awkward with their metal gear. With them was an old man with a long beard, his floppy broad-brimmed hat pulled down low over one eye, and bearing an ash-wood staff.
"King Eitri," said the old man, walking up to the dais, not even glancing for a moment at the X-Men standing beside him.
"So you have come," said King Eitri, rising from his chair. "It clearly is you, then."
The old man nodded. "We have much to discuss, you and I, but it must be apart. If we might converse in a more private chamber -".
"Of course," said King Eitri. He turned to his chancellor. "Hlevang, attend to matters here. I must speak with my guest alone."
"As you wish, sire," said Hlevang.
The dwarf-king rose from his throne and followed the old man out of the hall. The X-Men paid them little attention, however, being too busy with their reunion.
"Well, I'd say that you four have a lot of explaining to do," said Scott to the New Mutants. "Running off like that, getting us worried, and all the rest."
"Could you save it, Scott, please?" asked Sam. "I mean, we've already had one lecture about it from Wolverine already. And that's more than enough."
"So vhat are you two doing in all that armor, anyvay?" Kurt asked Sam and Jamie.
"Yeah," said Kitty. "You look like you're, like, going to a costume party or something like that."
"It's kind of complicated," said Sam. "We'll fill you in. Along with all the other things that we'll fill you in on."
"Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be a long afternoon?" said Scott, to nobody in particular.
"Found anything yet?" asked Scott, as he and Jean rejoined the other three members of their party.
"Still nothing," replied Beast. "Either these dwarves are astonishingly clever at concealing the entrance to their homes, or else we're in the wrong part of the mountains altogether. At this point, I'm not even going to guess as to which it is."
"Jean, I think that we're going to have to try scanning those mountains with your telepathy," said Scott. "That's the only way that I can think of for us to locate those guys."
"I still don't think that that'll work," replied Jean doubtfully. "But if you guys really insist - well, here goes nothing."
She closed her eyes and concentrated. Scott, Kurt, Kitty, and Beast watched in silence.
Minutes passed, and the expression upon Jean's face became increasingly strained. She appeared now to be struggling hard against something, and let out a gasp. Scott stepped towards her uncertainly, but she opened her eyes just then, swaying back and forth unsteadily as she did so.
"I thought that I'd made contact with something," she said, "but I couldn't be certain. It was just too - different."
"Different?" asked Kurt. "Vhat do you mean?"
"Well, it's hard to describe," said Jean. "It was almost like coming into contact with rocks that had become alive. I know that it sounds crazy, but that's how it felt to me."
"Well, we are searching for dwarves in a world which is clearly connnected somehow to Norse mythology," said Beast. "And I understand that in the Norse myths, dwarves were subterranean people, partaking of the nature of stone and earth. So that description of yours might indeed make sense, Jean."
"We're looking for living rocks?" asked Kitty. "Like, you know, this is making this adventure all the more totally creepy."
"Well, we don't have any choice," said Scott. "These dwarves are probably the only people who can help us find the missing students. They're certainly the only lead that we've got. We have to find them somehow."
"Actually, I would say that we have found you," replied a gruff voice.
The X-Men turned in the direction of the speaker. A small troop of what appeared to be very short men with long beards, dressed in mail-coats and helmets and carrying axes and shields, had emerged from the rocks and was slowly surrounding the mutants, gazing at them suspiciously.
"Ah, I suppose that you're the people that we've been looking for," said Beast to the newcomers at once. "Perhaps you can help us. You see, we were wondering if you'd seen three youngsters in this area."
"By all rights, I should be the one setting the questions to you," said the leader of the dwarves sharply. "You are intruding upon our lands. State your names and your business now."
"We come in peace, I assure you," said Beast. "My name is Henry McCoy, and these are four students in my charge. We are looking for three friends of ours, and thought that you might have seen them."
"Friends?" asked the dwarf leader, looking at Beast closely. "And just who might these friends of yours be?"
"They are youngsters from our homeland," said Beast calmly. "You might know them if you've seen them."
"Yeah," said Scott. "There's a lanky blond boy, a dark-haired girl, and a small brown-haired boy."
"You must be speaking of the three young Midgarders that we gave shelter to," said the dwarf leader. "For they indeed answer to those descriptions." He looked at them closely before continuing. "Is the werewolf girl also one of your friends?" he asked.
"Rahne?" cried Jean. "She's been here as well?"
"So you do know her," said the dwarf. "Or at least know of her. That may be a good sign. However, that is up to King Eitri to decide. We are taking you to see him now. Come with us."
"So, like, what do we do now?" asked Kitty apprehensively.
"Go with them, of course," said Scott.
"You, like, can't be serious!"
"No, I agree with Scott on this matter," said Beast. "These people have clearly met our friends, and the best way for us to find out just what has happened to them is to come with them."
"All right," said Kitty, as the five mutants set off with the dwarves. The stocky little men surrounded them, more as if the X-Men were their prisoners rather than invited guests. "But, like, I've still got a bad feeling about this."
* * *
King Eitri stared down at the newcomers that stood in a group before his throne. "Five more of you?" he asked. "Why is it that so many of you Midgarders are coming to these parts now, after so many years?"
"It's a long story, Your Majesty," said Scott. "You see, a friend of ours rigged up some kind of dimensional portal, and some other friends of ours got sucked into it."
"The four younglings from Midgard who came here earlier," said King Eitri. "Yes, I know of them. They are not here at present, however."
"Well, do you know where they've gone?" Jean asked. "Because we really need to find them. Actually, we really need to find all eight of them."
"That might well be difficult," said King Eitri. "The other four young Midgarders, from what we have been able to learn, have apparently been recruited by Loki for some great assault upon Asgard that he is planning. It appears that he wishes to exploit their abilities for the purpose."
"And you don't know where we can find him?" Scott asked.
"We do not know Loki's whereabouts," said the dwarf king. "So we are unable to assist you in that matter, just as we were unable to assist your friends. We advised them to consult the Volva instead."
"A Volvo?" asked Kurt, looking puzzled. "I didn't think that this vorld even had any cars."
"He said 'Volva', not 'Volvo'," said Jean. She paused, an uncertain look upon her own face. "What is a Volva?"
"That question would be more accurately, 'What is the Volva,'" replied King Eitri. "There is only one of her. She is an ancient seeress, who lives in her mound to the north of the forest of Jarnvith."
"Well, can you give us directions to her mound, then?" asked Scott. "Because it's vitally important that we find them."
"I very much doubt that you will find them there," said the dwarf king. "They have already left for there long before your arrival, and I do not think that they will linger there once they have learned from her what they will need to know. By the time that you reach the mound, they will have already gone on their way somewhere else."
"But we could, like, ask her which way they went?" asked Kitty.
"You might ask her, yes," said King Eitri. "But it is very unlikely that she will answer you. The Volva does not share her wisdom willingly with others. Indeed, I will be very much surprised if she has even deigned to answer the questions that your friends ask her. No, I very much doubt that you'll receive any help from her."
"Then what are we going to do?" Jean asked, in near-frustration. "I mean, we have to find them!"
"I can sympathize with your desire to find your friends, maid of Midgard," said King Eitri. "But I can provide you with no further assistance than I have already given you. You are on your own now, I fear."
"So in other words, we'll have to search through this entire world for them, and we don't even know how big it is," said Scott. "This could take years." He groaned. "Why couldn't we have found some way of getting Cerebro into this world?"
"We'll think of something, Scott," said Jean. "Besides, remember, we're not the only ones looking for the students. Maybe Wolverine and the others will find them. I mean, Wolverine's got his tracking ability."
"Yeah, I'd forgotten about that," said Scott.
There was suddenly a blast of horns from outside, and a dwarf entered the hall. "Sire," he said, bowing before King Eitri.
"Yes, Eikinskjaldi?" asked King Eitri. "What is it?"
"The younglings from Midgard have returned, with friends," said Eikinskjaldi. "And one of them is an old man with a staff, who craves an audience with you at once."
"An old man with a staff," said King Eitri. He had a thoughtful look upon his face. "Tell me, does he have one eye or two?"
"Only one, sire," said Eikinskjaldi.
"I might have known," said the dwarf-king. "Well, admit them, by all means."
The doors swung open all the way, and the four missing students, accompanied by Storm's party, came in. Jamie and Sam were both wearing chainmail and helmets and carrying shields, with swords at their belts, both looking considerably awkward with their metal gear. With them was an old man with a long beard, his floppy broad-brimmed hat pulled down low over one eye, and bearing an ash-wood staff.
"King Eitri," said the old man, walking up to the dais, not even glancing for a moment at the X-Men standing beside him.
"So you have come," said King Eitri, rising from his chair. "It clearly is you, then."
The old man nodded. "We have much to discuss, you and I, but it must be apart. If we might converse in a more private chamber -".
"Of course," said King Eitri. He turned to his chancellor. "Hlevang, attend to matters here. I must speak with my guest alone."
"As you wish, sire," said Hlevang.
The dwarf-king rose from his throne and followed the old man out of the hall. The X-Men paid them little attention, however, being too busy with their reunion.
"Well, I'd say that you four have a lot of explaining to do," said Scott to the New Mutants. "Running off like that, getting us worried, and all the rest."
"Could you save it, Scott, please?" asked Sam. "I mean, we've already had one lecture about it from Wolverine already. And that's more than enough."
"So vhat are you two doing in all that armor, anyvay?" Kurt asked Sam and Jamie.
"Yeah," said Kitty. "You look like you're, like, going to a costume party or something like that."
"It's kind of complicated," said Sam. "We'll fill you in. Along with all the other things that we'll fill you in on."
"Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be a long afternoon?" said Scott, to nobody in particular.