Secrets of Valhalla Read Online Free PDF

waist. He hadn’t noticed her at first because her gray suit, tattered and smeared with mud, blended so perfectly with the bark of the tree.
    The woman’s blond hair hung in rat tails around her face, but Buzz caught a flash of amber eyes as she turned her head at their approach. “Thank the gods,” she gasped. “You must help me. And quickly, before Nidhogg comes. He has been summoned.”
    Her voice was hoarse from screaming, but Buzz was sure he recognized it. “Wait a second, I know you!” he said. “You’re Eleanor Bright, the weatherwoman.”
    Eleanor’s unusual amber eyes held his gaze as she nodded. “Yes. Sort of.”
    â€œI can’t believe it’s really you!” Buzz exclaimed.
    â€œBuzz, this is not the time to get star-struck.” Mary bent down and began to scan the rope that strapped Eleanor to the tree. “You can get her autograph another time.”
    â€œNo, you don’t understand,” Buzz said, even as his eyes searched the rope for the knot that must be securing it to the tree. “Eleanor Bright has been missing for almost a whole week now. It’s been all over the news.”
    Eleanor blinked rapidly for a moment, her whole face seeming to shift in and out of focus. Then she flashed an impossibly white smile. “Really? Did I make national news?”Eleanor’s voice sounded different. Younger somehow.
    â€œYou did, actually,” Buzz said. “Even Crimewatch .”
    â€œHey you two, none of that matters,” Mary said impatiently. “I can’t see a knot here.”
    Buzz sprinted around the whole tree and shook his head. “I can’t see one, either.”
    â€œStrange. It’s got to be somewhere.” Mary planted her knees in the earth and reached out for the rope. “Perhaps if we give it a really good tu—” She broke off with a howl of pain and fell backward.
    â€œMary, are you okay?” Buzz knelt beside her and gently sat her up.
    Mary stared at the rope even as she cradled her right hand, where red blisters bloomed on her palm. “It’s not a normal rope, Buzz. Look!”
    A neon blue flame was now racing along the length of the rope, swiftly turning it into a thick lasso of fire, which encircled the weatherwoman.
    It flared brightly, illuminating the golden threads in Eleanor’s hair and the fear on her face. The weather woman opened her mouth to scream, but then her features blurred again, and her expression changed to one of absolute calmness. It was as if someone had turned the page of a book and Buzz was now seeing a new chapter. He realized that the blaze was not even touching Eleanor, and almost idly the woman brought her lips together and blew on the flames.
    The blue fire instantly dulled, solidified, and then splititself into three threads that plaited themselves into rope once more.
    â€œWhat. Exactly. Is going on here?” Buzz’s voice was a croak.
    â€œThere’s no time for that now.” The voice was different again, deeper and more authoritative. Eleanor Bright is herself but not herself, Buzz thought. But how is that even possible?
    â€œWe need to think of another way to free me.” She pointed upward. “I need to climb this tree and gather the Runes of Valhalla. It’s the only way to stop him.”
    Mary’s face was tight with pain, but she didn’t once take her gaze off the weatherwoman. “We’re not helping until you tell us what’s going on. All of it.”
    Eleanor inclined her head.“This rope that binds me is enchanted. If I try to break it, it turns to fire. A fire I cannot cross,” she explained. “I thought the enchantment might not initiate if a normal mortal touched it. I was wrong. I’m sorry that you got hurt, but you’ve got to find a way to free me.”
    â€œAll of it,” Mary repeated. “I said tell us all of it.”
    â€œThere’s no