Book 08 Plot

Weasel and his friends have arrived back in Bjørnholm after getting the key to Yggdrasil and the Hammer of Thor. However, when they ask Delaney to prepare for an assault on Yggdrasil, she says a band of their warriors already managed to dig their way into Nastrond and have not been heard from since, indicating they were probably either killed or captured. She then tells Weasel and his friends to go down into the pit they dug to investigate. When they get to Nastrond, they find a bear in full battle gear named Dulin Skullsplitter. He said that he and his small band of warriors dug into the ground near Yggdrasil to search for hidden passageways to Nastrond, but ended up falling directly into it. They were immediately attacked and captured by Draugr, skeletons of dead warriors that Santa Muerte reanimated. Dulin says that he was forced to hide behind a rock to escape them. He says that if they can recover his war hammer from the Draugr, they can use it to break down the icy barrier in front of the chamber where one of the members of the band, Truda Stoutheart, is being held. When Weasel says he has the Hammer of Thor, he says that immortal weapons only work on immortal beings and their magic, so it would be useless against the barrier. Weasel and his friends then charge the Draugr and completely rout them from the field, allowing Weasel to take Dulin’s hammer and break down the icy barrier. Once they are past the barrier, they find Truda Stoutheart in a cave, being guarded by Kulgrim Soulsunder, the king of the Draugr. Weasel and his friends manage to kill Kulgrim after a long match, and they free Truda. Weasel and his friends take Truda back to Dulin, and Truda says that the Draugr took the rest of Dulin’s Band across the Root Bridge, which Tate has since used Shadow Magic to collapse. Weasel and his friends, completely tapped for ideas, then release the Star Magic they had absorbed when they entered Mirror Lake, sacrificing their ability to breathe underwater but undoing the Shadow Magic that collapsed the bridge. They then cross the newly restored bridge to find one of the members of Dulin’s Band, Hauk Horncaller, fighting a horde of Ice Trolls. Weasel and his friends then join the fight and chase them back to the cavern from which they came. Hauk says that that cave is where Thellik Coldclaws, the leader of the Ice Trolls, dwells. He also says that the Draugr took the rest of Dulin’s Band into Tate’s chamber, where he bewitched them with Shadow Magic to make them join his cause, and stationed them in the room beyond Thellik’s Chamber to buy him time to finish absorbing the Song of Shadow. Weasel and his friends make short work of Thellik Coldclaws, but run into a real problem when they have to fight all 4 of the remaining members of Dulin’s Band: Thorfin Treetamer, Ulfank Greathorn, Agnetta Broadblade, and Njal Silversong. Once these 4 are dealt with, Tate’s spell over them wears off, causing them to return to their original selves and return to Dulin. Weasel and his friends then enter the next room, which is Asgard. At the far end of the room, they see Tate absorbing the power of the Song of Shadow from the Lords of Xibalba, who are being held in prison cells. Directly in front of them are Macye, Sir Will of Cole, Inquisitor Rhys, Lord Ombra, Lord Whelan, Prince Lane of The North, Macie, Thomas of Meyer, Santa Muerte, and Elliot. Tate then orders all of these warlords except Santa Muerte to charge at Weasel and his friends. While Weasel and his friends are fighting this mob, Tate orders Santa Muerte to awaken Jörmungandr. Meanwhile, during the battle, Macye betrays Tate’s side and stabs Thomas of Meyer in the heart, killing him. Macye then reveals she was waiting all along for the right time to betray Tate’s forces and join up with Weasel’s friends, and now was that time. Tate’s warlords then fled in shock of Macye’s betrayal. Then, a loud rumbling shook the caves as the giants Nordri, Vestri, Austri, and Sudri appeared from the ground, their minds controlled by Tate's shadow. After Weasel and his friends barely managed to defeat them, another huge rumbling shook the entire planet as Jörmungandr’s head burst through the cave wall. Santa Muerte then ambushed Morgan and began a duel with her while Weasel charged Jörmungandr with the Hammer of Thor. Weasel was knocked unconscious by a simple shake of Jörmungandr’s head. Ryan was the next to try and he was just as easily knocked aside. Eventually, Nate was the last of Weasel’s friends to remain conscious (with the exception of Morgan, who was still dueling Santa Muerte). Nate took up the Hammer of Thor, and managed to block all of Jörmungandr’s attacks with his shield (though the last one shattered his shield in the process). Nate then climbed onto Jörmungandr’s head and whacked the beast directly on the skull with the Hammer of Thor, knocking the great immortal beast unconscious, while Morgan hit Santa Muerte in the leg with a glancing dagger blow. Tate then said, “You may have won this battle but you will still lose the war,” and teleported away with Santa Muerte. When Nate asks the Lords of Xibalba why Tate just left them there, they say that Tate has already finished absorbing the power of the Song of Shadow, but could not use it on an unconscious Jörmungandr. Morgan and Nate then free them from their cells. The Lords of Xibalba say that they have no reason to linger on as ghosts in the world of the living because they no longer have their song to protect and their home planet is now uninhabitable, so they imbue the last of their life force in all of the people that Jörmungandr knocked out, restoring their consciousness. Weasel and his friends then leave Nastrond, and are paraded around the streets of Bjørnholm as heroes. After Nate finishes telling Weasel about Tate’s words after Jörmungandr’s defeat, Weasel expresses his concerns about Tate’s last statement to the Norns, who say that Tate has officially declared war on Aurea with that statement. They say that they must let the war play out according to the prophecy, or else the galaxy will be destroyed. King Ragnar Lothbrok then says, in any event, the planet of Ryu 108 will proudly fight with Aurea against Tate’s Empire. With that, he tells Weasel and his friends to return to Aurea to prepare for war with Tate and his army.