Secrets of Valhalla by Jasmine Richards Page B

Forgive me, Buzz.” Her hazel eyes were uncertain behind her glasses. “Can we start again? No secrets this time.”
    Buzz rubbed at the back of his neck. Maybe Mary should have told him the truth. But to be fair, all that stuff about seeing ghosts and people’s deepest fears sounded even stranger than seeing an actual dragon.
    I understand why she didn’t say it, he realized. And right now, he needed her. They were the only two people who seemed to notice that Saturday was on a loop.
    â€œLet’s go find that tree,” he said. “It’s the only lead we have.”
    Together, they followed the brook toward Mornings Lake and between them tried to decide if any of the scenery looked familiar.
    â€œIt’s strange,” Mary mused. “I put the coordinates of the tree into my watch, but we still can’t find it.”
    â€œSo what do you think is going on?” Buzz asked.
    â€œWell, the tree is magic. I suppose I could have guessed my watch wouldn’t work.”
    â€œNo, I mean the Saturday loop thing,” Buzz responded, trudging through the leaves. “Why is it happening? And why are we the only ones to notice it?”
    Mary grinned in the gloom of the forest. “I’m smart, but I’m not a genius.”
    â€œBut you have a theory, right?”
    Mary shook her head. “Not this time. But I do think the dragon thing, the Sunna thing, and the Saturday thing are connected.” She rubbed at her forehead. “I think seeing Sunna being taken means we aren’t affected by the Saturday loop like other people.”
    â€œOkay, so can we recap what we know?” Buzz suggested. “I’ve spent the last two days trying to forget everything because I thought I was going mad.”
    â€œI’ve been doing some research,” Mary said. “Sunna said that she’d been a goddess a long time ago, before she went into her deep sleep.” Mary reached into her pocket and took out the necklace with its half of the pendant.
    Buzz took out his half, and they clipped them together to make the bolt of lightning:

    â€œThis is Sunna’s rune mark, her insignia,” Mary said, placing it around her neck. “It means sun.” She looked excited. “I didn’t remember the name before, but Sunna is the Norse goddess of the sun.”
    â€œHoley pajamas!” Buzz exclaimed, and he wasn’t even embarrassed that he’d used the phrase. Nothing else was really going to cut it. “But if Sunna is the sun, what is that star 92.96 million miles away? You know—the one that kind of powers our whole planet?”
    â€œYou’re the son of a mythologist, have no clue when it comes to mythology, and yet you know exactly how far away the sun is!”
    â€œI’m full of contradictions.”
    â€œClearly.” Mary shook her head in disbelief. “Anyway, I didn’t say that Sunna was the sun. It was the people who worshiped her who made her the personification of that star 92.96 million miles away. They made her a day guardian to boot, just like she said. Sunna is just a person with superpowers. I think that might be true of all these gods.”
    â€œOkay, so Sunna and her other superpowered day guardian mates fell out with this Loki chap and imprisoned him, but now he is free and has kidnapped Sunna in revenge.”
    â€œNot just for revenge. He wants her powers and the powers of the other gods who wronged him, remember?” Mary pushed her glasses up her nose. “Those powers are in the Runes of Valhalla. We need to find them before Loki does.”
    â€œBut what does any of this have to do with us all being stuck in a Saturday loop?” Buzz asked.
    â€œYer can’t have a Sunday if the sun is gone from your realm, bird brains,” a gruff voice said from above their heads. “Everything is stuck, stuck, muk , muk .”
    There was a sound of rustling leaves and more muk , muk