19. CROSSING THE KERLAUGAR.
"What a day!" moaned Jubilee, dismounting and rubbing her backside
painfully. "One more like this and I'm going to be bow-legged for life."
"Amen to that," said Roberto. "I never want to go horse-riding again as
long as I live."
"I never want to even see another horse," said Ray with a groan. "Just
how much further is it until we reach this Kerlaugar River, anyway?"
"What are you looking at me for?" asked Bobby.
"Well, you're the one who got us into this mess to begin with," said Ray.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Bobby protested. "I don't know anything
more about it than you guys do! Loki certainly hasn't shared any
information about it with me!"
"Maybe he'd tell us if we asked him," suggested Roberto.
"Fat chance of that," said Ray. "To him, we're just another group of
weapons. He's probably just going to keep on using us until we wear
ourselves out, and then put us out to pasture like a bunch of broken
nags."
"Could you use a different example, please?" groaned Jubilee. "Something
that doesn't have anything to do with horses?"
"We're going to have to find some way of breaking out of here," said
Roberto.
"And just how are we going to do that?" Ray asked. "We can't fight Loki
and his friends because of that stupid contract, remember? And we can't
go sneaking off, either! They'd only track us down."
"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" asked Roberto. "Wait for the
others to show up and rescue us? We don't even know if they're still out
there or not. For all that we know, Loki could have grabbed them as well.
And the others back at the Institute don't even know where we are. I'd
say that we're on our own here."
"Just give me a moment," said Bobby. "I'll think of something."
"You'd better," said Ray darkly. "Otherwise I'm going to be testing my
new medallion's effects on my mutant powers on you."
Before Bobby could make any reply, a troll walked up to them. "You four,"
it said to them in a grunting voice. "Here's your food." It placed four
large plates filled with a very unappetizing-looking stew down upon the
ground before them, then turned and walked away.
"Did I mention what I thought of the kind of food they're giving us?"
asked Ray, looking at his portion in disgust. "Even the stuff I ate
before coming to the Institute was better than this!"
"Your folks' cooking was that bad?" Bobby asked.
Ray said nothing, merely looking over the food on his plate in a surly
silence. The other three mutants glanced uncomfortably at each other,
then began to eat. They were all curious about Ray's background; he was
the only member of the team who had never talked about where he had come
from, and the Professor himself had kept mum about just how he had first
made contact with the youth and brought him to the Institute. But it was
clear enough to all of them that he wasn't in the mood to start opening
up to them now. In any case, they had too many other things on their
minds to pursue this mystery further.
"Even Kitty cooks better than this," said Roberto, with a moan.
* * *
"Is it much further?" asked Bobby. It was afternoon of the following day,
and they had been riding on in the company of Loki's army since only
shortly after dawn. The saddle-sores that they had undergone the previous
day were now growing steadily worse. Even walking was starting to seem
better than this.
"No, not much further," said Loki, riding just ahead of them, in an off-
hand sort of voice. He did not appear to be suffering any discomfort at
all, despite the fact that he had been mounted up on a horse just as long
as they had. It figures, Bobby thought bitterly.
Bobby did not feel entirely reassured by those words. They sounded too
much like the sort of things that his parents had said to him on family
vacations whenever he had asked that question. However, he decided
against asking Loki to be more specific. He was certain that doing that
would be a very bad idea.
He glanced back at the army following them. The frost giants, trolls, and
dark elves seemed much less troubled about the whole affair than Bobby
and his friends were. But he felt not the least bit surprised about it.
After all, he reflected, they were the ones who really did hate the Aesir
and wanted to sack Asgard. They hadn't been duped into this expedition.
He still couldn't believe that he and the others were actually helping
these people. Jubilee was right, he thought. With this on my record, I
probably would wind up signing us up for the Brotherhood.
He glanced sideways at the others. Jubilee and Roberto did not meet his
gaze, but turned away from him, while Ray merely glowered at him in such
a way as to suggest that he would very much like to blast Bobby with a
bolt of electricity once he had the opportunity to do so. Bobby sighed.
Right now, he was almost tempted to hope for a quick demise when they did
attack Asgard.
"Halt!" cried Loki, reining in his horse ahead. "Here we are."
Bobby and the other New Mutants halted their horses just behind his, as
they saw what lay before them. Only a few yards away, a great river cut
through the ground, foaming and churning. Its waters appeared half cloud-
like, billowing wildly. Beyond the river, the ground began to rise,
moving upwards. At the top was what appeared to be a walled city,
battlemented and turreted in the style of a medieval castle. A faint
shimmering glow came from its walls.
"The river Kerlaugar," said Loki. "Our only obstacle before we reach the
walls of Asgard. This is where you come in, Master Drake," he added,
turning to Bobby and looking at him meaningfully.
"Yes, sir," said Bobby.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Loki asked. "We do not have all day,
after all. I want to see some results from you."
Bobby nodded glumly, and rode forward until he was almost at the very
edge of the river bank. Then he pointed the fingers of both hands at the
cloud-like water below.
The result was enough to take him by surprise, even though he had been
freezing things for several months now. A powerful arctic blast shot out
from his hands, encasing the entire river for as far as he could see in
both directions. The water stiffened, turning to ice, groaning as it did
so. At the same time, Bobby slumped forward, managing to cling onto the
reins and keep himself from falling off only barely, staying conscious
with a supreme effort.
"Bobby, are you all right?" asked Jubilee. She, Roberto, and even Ray
rode up to him, all three of them looking at him concernedly.
"That took a lot out of me," said Bobby, in a weak voice. "I mean,
freezing an entire river, and especially one that big."
"Our first obstacle has been removed," said Loki to his army, ignoring
Bobby's plight. "It is time to move forward, before the Kerlaugar reverts
to normal. Across the river, all of you!"
Turning to the four New Mutants, he added, "And that applies to you as
well. No tarrying here! Go!"
"Bobby badly strained himself freezing that river for you!" protested
Roberto. "He needs time to rest!"
"He can rest on the way to the walls of Asgard," said Loki. "And as for
you, I want no further insolence from you, young Midgarder. I need you
for now, but defy me again and you will have good reason to regret it
once this is over. Now, forward!"
The four New Mutants followed him across the frozen surface of the
Kerlaugar, Bobby still looking the worse for wear and barely clinging
onto his horse. Jubilee, Roberto, and Ray all gazed across him
uncomfortably at each other.
"Cannon fodder," said Ray grimly. "That's all we are to him. Cannon
fodder."
"What a day!" moaned Jubilee, dismounting and rubbing her backside
painfully. "One more like this and I'm going to be bow-legged for life."
"Amen to that," said Roberto. "I never want to go horse-riding again as
long as I live."
"I never want to even see another horse," said Ray with a groan. "Just
how much further is it until we reach this Kerlaugar River, anyway?"
"What are you looking at me for?" asked Bobby.
"Well, you're the one who got us into this mess to begin with," said Ray.
"That doesn't mean anything!" Bobby protested. "I don't know anything
more about it than you guys do! Loki certainly hasn't shared any
information about it with me!"
"Maybe he'd tell us if we asked him," suggested Roberto.
"Fat chance of that," said Ray. "To him, we're just another group of
weapons. He's probably just going to keep on using us until we wear
ourselves out, and then put us out to pasture like a bunch of broken
nags."
"Could you use a different example, please?" groaned Jubilee. "Something
that doesn't have anything to do with horses?"
"We're going to have to find some way of breaking out of here," said
Roberto.
"And just how are we going to do that?" Ray asked. "We can't fight Loki
and his friends because of that stupid contract, remember? And we can't
go sneaking off, either! They'd only track us down."
"Well, what are we supposed to do, then?" asked Roberto. "Wait for the
others to show up and rescue us? We don't even know if they're still out
there or not. For all that we know, Loki could have grabbed them as well.
And the others back at the Institute don't even know where we are. I'd
say that we're on our own here."
"Just give me a moment," said Bobby. "I'll think of something."
"You'd better," said Ray darkly. "Otherwise I'm going to be testing my
new medallion's effects on my mutant powers on you."
Before Bobby could make any reply, a troll walked up to them. "You four,"
it said to them in a grunting voice. "Here's your food." It placed four
large plates filled with a very unappetizing-looking stew down upon the
ground before them, then turned and walked away.
"Did I mention what I thought of the kind of food they're giving us?"
asked Ray, looking at his portion in disgust. "Even the stuff I ate
before coming to the Institute was better than this!"
"Your folks' cooking was that bad?" Bobby asked.
Ray said nothing, merely looking over the food on his plate in a surly
silence. The other three mutants glanced uncomfortably at each other,
then began to eat. They were all curious about Ray's background; he was
the only member of the team who had never talked about where he had come
from, and the Professor himself had kept mum about just how he had first
made contact with the youth and brought him to the Institute. But it was
clear enough to all of them that he wasn't in the mood to start opening
up to them now. In any case, they had too many other things on their
minds to pursue this mystery further.
"Even Kitty cooks better than this," said Roberto, with a moan.
* * *
"Is it much further?" asked Bobby. It was afternoon of the following day,
and they had been riding on in the company of Loki's army since only
shortly after dawn. The saddle-sores that they had undergone the previous
day were now growing steadily worse. Even walking was starting to seem
better than this.
"No, not much further," said Loki, riding just ahead of them, in an off-
hand sort of voice. He did not appear to be suffering any discomfort at
all, despite the fact that he had been mounted up on a horse just as long
as they had. It figures, Bobby thought bitterly.
Bobby did not feel entirely reassured by those words. They sounded too
much like the sort of things that his parents had said to him on family
vacations whenever he had asked that question. However, he decided
against asking Loki to be more specific. He was certain that doing that
would be a very bad idea.
He glanced back at the army following them. The frost giants, trolls, and
dark elves seemed much less troubled about the whole affair than Bobby
and his friends were. But he felt not the least bit surprised about it.
After all, he reflected, they were the ones who really did hate the Aesir
and wanted to sack Asgard. They hadn't been duped into this expedition.
He still couldn't believe that he and the others were actually helping
these people. Jubilee was right, he thought. With this on my record, I
probably would wind up signing us up for the Brotherhood.
He glanced sideways at the others. Jubilee and Roberto did not meet his
gaze, but turned away from him, while Ray merely glowered at him in such
a way as to suggest that he would very much like to blast Bobby with a
bolt of electricity once he had the opportunity to do so. Bobby sighed.
Right now, he was almost tempted to hope for a quick demise when they did
attack Asgard.
"Halt!" cried Loki, reining in his horse ahead. "Here we are."
Bobby and the other New Mutants halted their horses just behind his, as
they saw what lay before them. Only a few yards away, a great river cut
through the ground, foaming and churning. Its waters appeared half cloud-
like, billowing wildly. Beyond the river, the ground began to rise,
moving upwards. At the top was what appeared to be a walled city,
battlemented and turreted in the style of a medieval castle. A faint
shimmering glow came from its walls.
"The river Kerlaugar," said Loki. "Our only obstacle before we reach the
walls of Asgard. This is where you come in, Master Drake," he added,
turning to Bobby and looking at him meaningfully.
"Yes, sir," said Bobby.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Loki asked. "We do not have all day,
after all. I want to see some results from you."
Bobby nodded glumly, and rode forward until he was almost at the very
edge of the river bank. Then he pointed the fingers of both hands at the
cloud-like water below.
The result was enough to take him by surprise, even though he had been
freezing things for several months now. A powerful arctic blast shot out
from his hands, encasing the entire river for as far as he could see in
both directions. The water stiffened, turning to ice, groaning as it did
so. At the same time, Bobby slumped forward, managing to cling onto the
reins and keep himself from falling off only barely, staying conscious
with a supreme effort.
"Bobby, are you all right?" asked Jubilee. She, Roberto, and even Ray
rode up to him, all three of them looking at him concernedly.
"That took a lot out of me," said Bobby, in a weak voice. "I mean,
freezing an entire river, and especially one that big."
"Our first obstacle has been removed," said Loki to his army, ignoring
Bobby's plight. "It is time to move forward, before the Kerlaugar reverts
to normal. Across the river, all of you!"
Turning to the four New Mutants, he added, "And that applies to you as
well. No tarrying here! Go!"
"Bobby badly strained himself freezing that river for you!" protested
Roberto. "He needs time to rest!"
"He can rest on the way to the walls of Asgard," said Loki. "And as for
you, I want no further insolence from you, young Midgarder. I need you
for now, but defy me again and you will have good reason to regret it
once this is over. Now, forward!"
The four New Mutants followed him across the frozen surface of the
Kerlaugar, Bobby still looking the worse for wear and barely clinging
onto his horse. Jubilee, Roberto, and Ray all gazed across him
uncomfortably at each other.
"Cannon fodder," said Ray grimly. "That's all we are to him. Cannon
fodder."