Chapter Sixty-Three
KALASGARDE
Clad in her lébrynja armor, Silla joined more than a dozen fur-clad men and women climbing up Jökull to collapse the ice caves. The northern lights had gradually faded, leaving a blanket of stars illuminating the sky. Silla gazed up at them as she climbed, wondering if her birth parents were up there watching over her. If they’d be proud of her, stepping into Eisa’s shoes.
The last time she’d hiked up this mountain had been a solitary event for Silla. But in the dead of night and surrounded by Galdra, it felt entirely different.
Of course, it could also be the anger in her chest whenever the owl flashed in her mind’s eye. Couldn’t Reynir Galtung get it through his thick skull? The owl was a sign—be it from the gods or the spirit of his brother—that they were meant to be together.
I’ve let this go too far, he’d said coldly instead. Silla had seen through his words in an instant. Rey saw only the reminder of his brother; was frightened and tried to push her away. Perhaps she ought to have been softer. But his willingness to give up on them so easily made her burn with anger.
For the time being, Silla shoved her emotions aside, focusing on her actions. Destroy the hatchlings and mother serpent. Retrieve the bodies of Ástrid and Váli. Collapse the ice cave over that chasm.
And so, she trekked up the mountain behind a burly Blade Breaker named Nefi, who, from the smell of things, had not washed his furs in quite some time. The moons were high in the skies, foliage glowing all around them—the strange, tentacled plants unfurling from nooks in trees and between rocks, huddles ofmoonflowers glowing brightly. It should have been magical, but Silla was numb.
Hearthfire thoughts, she thought as she walked.Harpa’s steam bath. The ice spirits. His Almost-Smile.
Within an hour, the flat, frozen lake spread wide before them. When last she’d seen it, the lake was covered in snow, but the howling winds had blown it clear. Now the stars reflected on a sprawl of black ice.
Her gaze darted across the lake, landing on the cave’s entry. Silla let out a relieved breath as she saw the crumbled snow and ice sealing the entrance—the small collapse she’d caused had held.As they crossed the lake, Silla looked down. Swept free from snow, the lake proved larger than she’d expected. It was impossible to tell the depth; beneath her feet was only the reflection of stars.A loud groan came from below. Stopping dead in her tracks, Silla stared hard, but found only the black gleam of ice.
“’Tis merely the ice shifting,” said Mýr, clapping her on the shoulder. “Do not worry, Eisa, this ice is as thick as Rannver’s skull.”
Rannver grumbled his annoyance from behind her. Exhaling, Silla hurried to join the rest of the Galdra gathered at the ice cave’s entrance.
“How did such a cavern appear?” asked Hef, unstrapping a shovel from his back. “Do you think the mother serpent could have carved it?”
“Perhaps,” said Rey, beckoning them all closer to run through the plan. “We dig out the cave. Take out each hatchling as they emerge.”
“What if the mother shows up?” asked Nefi.
Rey leveled him with a stern gaze. “The mother is not in the cave, else the blockage would be gone. But if she shows herself, we work together. Aim for the eyes and underbellies.” His gaze shifted to Silla, and it looked as though he wished to say something more. The man looked uncomfortable. Miserable perhaps. Throat working on a hard swallow, Rey looked away. “Once the entrance is cleared, we move through the cave as a group.”
Hef and the other warrior began digging out the cave’s entrance, while a pair of Ashbringers pushed their fire on a targeted location. Silla knew they’d planned to widen only a small area—to allow a single hatchling out at a time—but it quickly became apparent the icy wreckage was unstable. Each time they tried to create a single, narrow hole, the top section of the debris crumbled away. Before long, an unintended hole had formed at the top of the snowpack, a forked tongue darting through the gap. One warrior fell back with a yelp, while Hef’s shovel slashed into the snowpack. It struck the serpent’s nose with a clang, causing Hef to curse and shake out his arm.
“Underbelly,” Vig reminded him.
The tongue had vanished into the blackened cave, but with the hole now widened, they could hear the rest of them hissing in unison. How many serpents were trapped in the cave?
Behind them, the ice groaned, loud and so long it set the hairs on the back of Silla’s neck on end. Beside her, smoke peeled up from Rey’s palms, while Kálf formed a whip of hissing flames. Heart pounding, Silla primed, closing her eyes while she expressed and herded her light into place. Within moments, she was holding a sword of shimmering frostfire.
Murmurs rippled through the Galdra, but they quickly focussed on the cave’s entry. Anticipation rattled the air as the group listened to the serpents begin to slam against the wall of snow.
A bang from the lake behind made Silla’s heart leap into her throat. Snow crashed down from a nearby tree. And then, the debris blocking the cave’s entry exploded as the serpent hatchlings smashed through.
Any hope of quick, orderly executions was immediately lost. The hatchlings swarmed out of the cave, Galdra stumbling back in shock as the sheer number became apparent. When Silla had sealed the cave, there had been perhaps six hatchlings in pursuit. Now, there were easily ten times the amount.
The world descended into chaos. The heat of Rey’s galdur radiated from her left, smoke tunneling down serpent throats and wrapping around their bodies. An ice-scaled beast lunged at her, Silla’s sword sweeping up in reply. It sank through its underjaw and into its skull, the glowing red eyes extinguishing as the creature fell.
The Galdra battled all around her, the serpent’s moldering stench mingling with charred flesh. But there were too many serpents, and it was impossible to contain them. One then two slithered past the group, escaping into the trees beyond.
“Do not let them escape!” bellowed Rey, rushing at a hatchling sneaking between Hef and Mýr. A trio of hatchlings took advantage of the gap, advancing with those unnerving red reptilian eyes trained on Silla. One lunged, and Silla’s sword whipped out, embedding deep in the snake’s underbelly. As she pulled her sword free, the other pair slithered past her, making their way toward the woods.
“No!” she cried out, rushing after them as they neared the lake’s edge. She would not let them escape. Would not let them harm another child. Anger and battle thrill powering her, Silla threw herself at the nearest hatchling, her sword slicing deep into its underbelly. But tears of frustration burned in her eyes as she watched the third serpent’s tail vanish into the dark woods.
“Silla!” boomed Rey. “Shore up!”
She began to trot back to the group but was soon greeted by a cloud of writhing blue; the ice spirits, freed from the cavern, were in a frenzy, jostling and crashing into one another as they pointed to the lake’s surface. Brows furrowing, Silla looked down.
