Blackness sprang up around her as though Fenris the wolf had swallowed the sun. With the dark came a host of horrors. Svartdemons leered at her. Arula took a quick breath and opened her eyes, but the blackness remained. She raised the Thunder Hammer, alert to the danger she was now facing. Impulse forced her to look towards the dais. The altar was split asunder--she saw it clearly now--and red light burned within the gap. Behind the altar stood a figure in long, ebony robes who held a hammer blacker than a moonless night.

The svartdemons whispered and chortled, but kept their distance. The Thunder Hammer had started to glow as though it knew there was a need for some form of light. Slowly, the Black Priest came around the altar to stand at the edge of the shadows on the dais.

"Greeting, Hammer Maid," a deep voice spoke from the faceless abyss of the cowl. "We have been expecting you."

"Expecting me?" Arula said.

"Helas told me you had come to Thunor's Hill. You are the Chosen of Thunor, the Hammer Maid. Thunor said you would come to cleanse this place. You are she who is blessed with the strength of ten mortal men, she who will fight at Thunor's side when Ragnarokk sets the world aflame."

"And you are the priest they once called Hengst who turned against the thunder god and made a pact with Helas."

There was a moment of hesitation from the Black Priest. "You know me, Hammer Maid?"

"I know what you were," Arula replied. "And I see what you have become. Why must you torment these villagers? Why must you make them fear the dark?"

"Helas wishes it. She claims this small realm as one day she will claim others in the Nine Worlds."

"This place belongs to Thunor, and to the people who live under his protection."

"So long as this gate stands open and I am its guardian, Thunor is powerless to reclaim his temple from me. Helas' magic rules here now. It was by her power that I drove Thunor from this place, and it is the power of the open gate that prevents him from returning."

"Then I will close that gate."

"You will die, Hammer Maid."

"Then I will die as Thunor would choose--a warrior's death," Arula said. "I challenge you, Hengst, you and your black hammer. I challenge you alone to the Hammer Dance of Death!"

"I am already dead," the voice within the cowl mused. "And I have defeated a god."

Arula shook her head and smiled. "You're wrong, Hengst. That god defeated you, and I shall do likewise."

The Black Priest drew back his shoulders. "Then, I accept your challenge, Hammer Maid!"

Before Arula could nod, the Black Priest leapt from the dais, swinging the ebon hammer for her head. Fast steps backwards took her out of range. She slipped the shield down onto her forearm as she went. His second blow struck the thick wood and metal surface with a heavy snap, knocking Arula back a few steps and cracking her shield.

Startled, she tossed her shield aside and brought the Thunder Hammer around to hit the Black Priest a solid blow. He laughed and faded so all she struck was air. She barely got the Thunder Hammer around in time to stop his riposte as he materialized again. When the black hammer struck Mjolnir's twin, the air was filled with the anguished scream of the meeting of opposing magical forces. Bright sparks flew from the contact, startling Hengst. He fell back only to rally again when Arula attempted another blow. Once more, the Thunder Hammer passed through nothing, and the Black Priest chuckled with wicked glee.

His next swing came too close for comfort. Arula avoided it with a great deal less than her usual grace. Her foot caught on the loose rubble littering the temple floor, and she fell. The sideways swing of the black hammer missed her by inches. She felt the wind as it passed. Rolling, she cast herself aside before another blow could descend upon her. Where the black hammer struck, the earth trembled and a wide crack appeared in the floor.

Arula staggered to her feet close to one of the svartdemons. Snarling, the monster reached for her. Talons ripped her sleeve as Arula twisted and wrenched herself free. She struck the svartdemon with the Thunder Hammer, felling the beast where it stood.

Instinct told her to duck, and she obeyed the whim. The black hammer whizzed over her head. No balance--no rhythm--this was no Hammer Dance, she snarled to herself. This was a struggle to survive. Arula dropped and came in under the swing, reaching for the filmy robe with her free hand. This time, she felt something solid within her grasp. Hengst snarled and started to evaporate as before. Arula's forward motion pushed her into the mist that had been his form. A cloying stench of rot and decay made her gag for fresh air, threatening to choke her. She couldn't breath--couldn't draw away when she felt the symbol fashioned by Aunt Nora's hands leap out on its own to touch the ghastly fog.

Hengst let out a scream of pain. Glowing with an eerie light, the twigs clung to him, forcing him to return to solid form. Arula broke away, and the flimsy cotton cord snapped. She felt sweet air filling her lungs. Before her the Black Priest shrieked and clawed at his chest, trying to extract the symbol that was burning Thunor's rune into him like a firebrand. He fell to his knees as Arula raised the Hammer and struck a fatal blow. The Black Priest disintigrated into a fine power and scattered across the temple floor.

Unearthly screams surrounded her. Svartdemons dove at Arula from all sides. She grabbed the black hammer and nearly dropped it when pain tore at her hand, trying to force her to let go. Gritting her teeth against the burn, she clutched the haft and continued to swing around her with Mjolnir's twin, clearing a path to the altar. Heavy darkness threatened to smother her as she fought her way through the minions of Helheim. I am Thunor's Chosen! I will do what he wills and close the gate of Helas! Only words, she would have told herself many years ago, but she was no longer the overweight, over tall child who lacked faith in herself. She reached the altar, sprinting around behind the gate. The svartdemons crowded after her, screeching bitterly, claws and fangs gnashing in outrage.

Once she was behind the altar, Arula raised her Hammer and closed her eyes. The True Seeing came, and she focused on those dimly shining cornerstones of the temple's foundations. Throwing back her head, Arula filled her lungs with air and shouted to the skies, invoking the magic of her god. "Thurisaz Fehu!"