“What the fuck is happening now?” Solveig cursed under her breath.
More smoke wafted from the direction of the stables. Solveig’s indecision showed clearly on her face. He tried not to take that personally.
“I swear, if you leave me here for a horse ...” Westley took a steady step on his own, feeling a little better this time. He wanted to check after Njord just as badly. Solveig’s eyes swept over his body and she sighed.
“I’m not slowing down to help you, and if you get in my way, I’ll make it so that arrow wound is a distant, fond memory,” she said, sticking a finger in his face. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him.
“You’d better follow through on these threats you keep making. Otherwise I’m going to think you’re going soft on me.” He let his eyes flick to her mouth.
“You’re the soft one here,” she said breathlessly.
He smirked. “General, there’s nothing soft about me.”
He dropped her wrist and took off towards the stables before he could do something stupid like kiss her. He hated to admit it, but they had more important concerns at the moment.
Westley’s side still throbbed as he raced through camp. Solveig quickly caught up and sped past him, a taunting smile on that tempting mouth. He urged his body forward to try to catch up to her, cold sweat dripping down his back.
“There’s a shortcut this way,” Solveig called from up ahead, leading him to a narrow, overgrown path through the forest. They ran through trees and over roots, Westley’s side still sending shooting pains throughout his body, but he pushed through.
He lost sight of Solveig for a moment as she rounded a bend, and almost ran into her when he caught up. She had stopped, and Westley pulled up short behind her, instinctively grabbing hold of her so he didn’t knock her over. It was a good thing he did.
In front of them was a giant fissure in the very foundation of the world.
Solveigstaredoutatthe wide chasm that had opened up in the middle of Vanaheim. Who knew how many lives had been lost to the ground swallowing them whole?
On their side of the chasm lay the dungeon, training rings, and some tents. But the majority of her people would be on the other side. She had to get to them, no matter what.
What had happened to them? How many had they lost? She peered over the edge to see a river of lava flowing freely through the channel, spanning miles in each direction.
“What have they done?” she whispered to herself.
Westley’s hands tightened on her arms, but he said nothing. They both stared into the gorge until screaming from the other side broke their trance and Solveig burst into action. She ran to the trees and began tying vines and branches together.
“What are you doing?” Westley asked, incredulous.
“I have to get across. It’ll take too long to go around. We don’t know where it ends or evenifit ends. They could’ve split the world in half for all we know.” Her voice was strong and determined, but her arms grew weak as she yanked more vines from the trees.
“And how are you going to do that?”
“See that ledge over there? If I can make a rope ...” Her voice trailed off as her plan formed.
“You’re kidding, right? That’s your brilliant plan?”
Solveig glared up at him. “You can leave if you’re not going to help.”
Westley threw his arms in the air. “You’re going to be the death of me!” he exclaimed as he started gathering vines.
“I keep telling you that you’ll die by my hand,” Solveig said under her breath. They worked in silence for what felt like an eternity.
Solveig surveyed the length and stood, wiping her hands on her pants. They came away dirtier than before, flecks of crusted blood mingled with mud.
“Now all we need is a bow and arrow,” she said thoughtfully.
“This is not going to work.”
“Do you have a better idea,Prince?”
“So we’re back to prince now,General?”
