“Help,” came a child’s voice from the far end of the cavern. The ice spirits had gathered near it, swarming over something.
“Váli?” whispered Silla, hugging the wall to edge around the nest. “Ástrid?”
“Here!” said the voice. “Help me.”
Heart pounding, Silla stepped over another snakeskin, avoiding the gapingrib cage of a sheep carcass. The back of the cavern came into view, and Silla stifled her scream. A pile of broken skeletal remains lay in the corner.
“Váli?” whispered Silla, shock and nausea battling within her, “Ástrid?” But then she saw the symbols frosted all around the corpse. The upside down protection rune was drawn over and over, dozens, perhaps a hundred times. Beside the bones, steam rose from a wedge-shaped opening in the floor of the cave. The ice spirits flew in agitated loops, hissing and gesturing to the pit. This, apparently, was what they wished to show her.
Come closer, my darling, whispered a voice. It was a voice she’d heard before—a voice coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. It was the thing she’d heard and felt in her vision during her Cohesion Rite.
The Dark One.
His presence seeped freely from the crack in the deepest part of Jökull’s ice cave, a rumble from deep below rattling Silla’s bones.
“I should not be here,” she whispered, fighting against the seductive need to approach the abyss, to give herself over to the dark tendrils sliding through her. She glanced back at the pile of bones. Her gaze caught on a bronze cloak pin shaped into the form of a leaf. If she could retrieve that pin, she would have proof that she knew where Váli and Ástrid’s final resting place lay.
She stepped forward, nausea churning in her gut as she fought the intense desire to lean over the chasm—to let the dark force emanating from it consume her. But Silla was no stranger to withstanding powerful longings; for that, perhaps she should be grateful to the skjöld leaves. Clenching her teeth, she shoved back at the presence.
An ice spirit zipped to her, so near Silla could see each tiny, frosted lash framing her wide blue eyes—could make out the delicate iced veins on her wings.
“This is where the monster came from?” asked Silla, unfastening Váli’s cloak pin and sliding it into her pocket. The ice spirit nodded. “I will find help. I’ll bring others who will know what to do.” The ice spirit zipped in a gleeful loop.
Another low rumble shook the ground, sending goosebumps racing up her arms.Closer, came the voice.Come to me, Malla-blessed.
Silla fought the drugging compulsion, forcing herself to step backward. “No.”
Daughter of Svalla, said the thing.Let me look upon you.
Her mother’s name startled Silla, but as the ground beneath her feet rumbled, her senses rushed back. Stumbling backward, she cried, “No!”
A pulse of the thing’s anger filled her, but she shoved it back.I’ll have you soon enough. Surrender now and save yourself the pain.
At Silla’s silence, there was another pulse of anger.A poor choice,said the thing. An odd splintering sound began from behind her. Slowly, she turned. Beside the cave’s exit, fractures spread across one of the eggs. A fragment chipped away, landing on the dark cavern floor.
And from within the small opening, a long, thin tongue flickered out.
“Oh gods,” whispered Silla, backing away.
And then she ran.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Pure panic filled Silla as she fled through the ice caves, stumbling over rocks and slipping on icy patches.
“Help!” Váli’s screams chased after her. “Come back!” But then it shifted into the Dark One’s voice.Save yourself the suffering and give yourself over!
Laughter echoed in her skull, but Silla knew better than to surrender to this voice. And then the hissing began.
“Oh gods,” Silla whispered, digging deep for whatever energy she could spare. She had to get out of here. The ground rumbled, and Silla dared a glance over her shoulder, promptly wishing she hadn’t.
Half a dozen serpents had hatched, all ice-blue scales and glowing red eyes. Each was long as two full-grown warriors, with long, glinting fangs. Yet their movements were clumsy, undulating wide and jostling against each other. As a pair of serpents collided and one struck the wall, the entire cavern rumbled.
Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!Silla tried to push her despair back, but the serpents were gaining on her. Light burst from her palms, flaring through the seams in her wolfskin gloves. Stripping them off, Silla cast them aside. She was primed, the cold tension begging for release.
Teeth snapped behind her, an angry hiss soon following. The distant light of the cavern’s exit met her eyes, fueling Silla with hope. Near, she was so near…
Pain speared from her ankle as a pair of fangs sank through her boot. With acry, Silla whirled, finding that crevasse and pulling it open. The creature reared back at the flare of light, giving Silla time to herd the bonds into place.
