Read Online The Seven Swords by Nils Johnson-Shelton - Free Book Online

But that started to change once I got Cleomede. And it really changed when I got Excalibur.”
    Erik stood. He was shorter than Artie, but outweighed him by about twenty pounds. He may have seemed scrawny to Bercilak, but he wasn’t. He was strong.
    â€œSo,” Erik said slowly, “if I go with you to find Gram—in Sweden—then maybe all this will make a little more sense?”
    â€œExactly,” Artie and Kay answered together.
    Erik looked around the great hall, eyeing the weapon racks at the far end. “Okay. But can I borrow some of those in the meantime? And maybe some armor? I mean, you guys look like you’re ready for a pretty big tussle, and I look like I’m about to go to school.”
    â€œOf course!” Artie said, happy to hear that his friend was coming around.
    Kay clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, Erikssen, let’s get you set up and then let’s get our butts to Sweden.”

8 - HOW ARTIE AND CREW ENJOY CROSSING OVER TO NORTHERN SWEDEN
    Erik chose a chain mail shirt, a thin but sturdy dagger, and a truly frightening war hammer as long as his leg. He figured he’d done well with the carpenter’s hammer against the dragonflies, so he’d probably do even better with the kind that was meant for battle.
    All the same, he was a little freaked out about the prospect of hitting something as hard as he could with a hammer.
    While Artie and Thumb huddled over the iPad, studying the map of Sweden, Bedevere and Lance gave Erik some last-minute fighting tips (how to parry a thrust, how to duck a swipe, how to use the war hammer like a staff, and, most important, to remember that in hand-to-hand combat a fighter’s first weapon was his feet—keep them moving at all times, and run if necessary). Kay sat next to her brother, coiling a long length of rope. They’d really needed rope when they were making their way down to Tiberius’s cave a few weeks back, and they weren’t going to forget it this time.
    Thumb pointed at the map on the iPad. “For Gram, we have to start in the Otherworld land of Surmik, where we can open a crossover to northern Sweden. All we have to do is punch coordinates into this app and it will show us exactly where we need to go on this side.”
    Artie entered the Swedish coordinates, and a blue circle snapped to the middle of the screen as Sweden dissolved into a map of Surmik, the circle still intact.
    â€œThere it is!” Artie exclaimed.
    â€œLooks like a pretty happening place,” Kay said sarcastically, peering over Artie’s shoulder at an icy, barren landscape.
    â€œYou’re right that it isn’t, Sir Kay,” Thumb replied with a smirk. “It’s big and cold. Lots of animals and very few people.”
    â€œWhich I guess makes it a little like Sweden, huh?” Artie mused.
    â€œNah, Sweden’s cool,” Erik interjected, taking a break from swinging his war hammer. “We went there when I was eight. In the summer the sun never goes down, and in the winter it never comes up.”
    â€œFor real?” Kay asked.
    â€œFor real,” Erik said. “Since it’s September, it should still be sunny most of the time.”
    â€œCool,” Kay said, putting the rope in the infinite backpack.
    Artie smiled. “Definitely. Lance? Bedevere? You guys ready?”
    â€œYes, sire,” Bedevere said.
    â€œYou know it,” Lance boomed. “I need to see me some more of this Otherworld ASAP. I still can’t believe I’m finally here!”
    Artie turned to Thumb. “When will you and Tiberius leave for Leagon?”
    â€œRight after you.”
    â€œGood. How long before you return?”
    â€œUnsure, lad,” Thumb said. “Dealing with fairies can be tricky.”
    â€œAll right, but don’t take long. We’ve got only nine days,” Artie said despondently. He knew that they were going to be the hardest nine days of