“Gods damn it, Lynx!”
And then, she was gone.
The skies wereblack and moonless, and the air held a smothering feel. The darkness was more than a mere absence of light—it was a living thing, its heartbeat throbbing in time with her own. Or perhaps it was merely the drumbeat filling the air as Hekla walked through Istré’s streets.
She wove between revelers toward the town square. V-shaped pillars loomed before her, and she passed grappling warriors, playing their fighting games. The drums seemed to drive her movements. Forward, she stepped. Onward, she moved. Until she stood before it. The dais.
A grand oak table had been set on the dais, feast fare spread uponit. Loftur ruled from his high seat, Eyvind and Konal flanking him. The pulsing beat was like a hook in her belly, pulling Hekla up the stairs and into a chair beside Eyvind.
“A toast,” bellowed Loftur, lifting his cup, “to the old gods!”
The crowd shouted their approval, and as Hekla drank her wine, her ears caught something above the din. A heartbeat.
Hekla opened her mouth to warn them, but it was too late. Thick white mist slithered all around them, its hunger filling the air. It darted forward. Slid down Eyvind’s throat. Hazel eyes bulged. She could hear the tear of muscle and sinew, the crack of bones. Eyvind had to be broken before he could be remade.
“Forsaken!” screamed Loftur, climbing over the table. “The old gods have forsaken us!”
But Hekla could not take her eyes from Eyvind. He thrashed and bellowed, clawed at his own skin. Eyvind drew a tremendous, shuddering breath. Then stilled.
And when he turned to her, his eyes glowed like the red embers of a fire.
Wake, said a childlike voice.
Hekla awoke with a gasp.Her heart pounded as though it tried to hack free from her chest, horror and panic churning violently through her blood. But rather than the dark, forbidding canopy of a half-dead forest, her eyes met a sliver of daylight on timber beams. She followed the light to the covered window, then to the small, furry rodent perched on the ledge before it. The creature’s tail twitched.
“You’re awake!”
Hekla’s gaze swung to Gunnar—whose face was etched with pure relief—then back to the window.
The ledge was empty.
Hekla rubbed her eyes and took in her surroundings. Aged timber beams above her. Wolfskin furs draped over her. The faintsmell of woodsmoke and cooked food in the air. She was back in her chambers at the inn, with Gunnar and Sigrún hovering over her bed.
“What happened?” Hekla winced at the throb in her temples as she tried to sit up.
We might ask you the same,signed Sigrún.When Hakonsson carried you from the woods, you were unconscious and burning with fever.
That explained her aching muscles and pulsating skull.
He brought you back to Istré on his horse. Put you to bed. Fetched a healer, then kicked the healer out.
“He...what?”
Sigrún glanced at Gunnar before signing,After a full day and night, the local healer said there was nothing he could do for you. Hakonsson was angered and sent his second to fetch a new one.
Hekla’s insides rolled. “And the new healer?”
Steeped a mushroom tea and used a cloth to drip it into your mouth.Sigrún’s brown eyes held uncharacteristic emotion.It was a long night, but your fever broke in the morning.She paused.I think they saved your life.
Hekla let out a shaky exhale, pressing her fingers to her temples. Saved her life.
“Hek—” Gunnar’s voice cracked. “I’m...we’re...we cannot lose you, too!”
He leaped forward and pulled her into a forceful hug. Hekla blinked back her shock as Gunnar buried his face in her neck, incoherent words coming between his sobs. Hesitantly, Hekla patted his locs, meeting Sigrún’s amused gaze over his shoulder.
Gunnar and I have been talking. Sigrún’s jaw hardened before her hands signed with swift, confident gestures,We’ve let everything fall on your shoulders. We haven’t been there for you. We will do better, Hekla, we promise it.
Her words meant more than Hekla could say. The past few weeks had been so isolating. Perhaps it had made Hekla more impatient...more reckless than she ought to have been.
