Sensing her panic, I grabbed my crossbow. “What is it?”
She tilted her head, listening. The hollow wind whipped around us.
“Load your crossb—”
A crack split the air. I spun, a hiss escaping my lips.
A couple of lengths away, a spear jutted up from the ice. A head followed with red eyes and ice-encrusted hair.
Before I could process this, the merman raised his arm.
“Down!” said Lysi.
We flattened, rolling out of the way as the spear flew towards us.
Without considering, without choosing to act, I sat up and let loose a bolt.
It grazed the merman’s ear, catching a lock of hair. I cursed. I’d forgotten to compensate for the weight of the ironwood.
Another crack rang beside us. Lysi ducked in time to avoid a flying dagger.
The first merman shouted, voice rough. “It’s them! Don’t let them get—”
I fired. My bolt hit him in the chest. Blood splattered over the snow, shockingly red. He sank out of sight.
His words echoed.It’s them. Was the army instructed to watch for the two of us?
I spun to the second merman and found him already pinned beneath Lysi, her blade pressed to his throat.
A dark shape appeared in my peripheral. Someone had erupted from behind an ice mound. I flattened out as something soared over my head.
Three figures raced towards us, roaring.
Humans.
At the same moment, more mermen pulled themselves up through cracks in the ice.
I turned my crossbow, not knowing whether to aim at humans or mermen.
There was a squelch and the overpowering smell of blood. I whirled to Lysi, heart wrenching. The merman beneath Lysi went limp as the longblade drew across his throat.
In my moment’s hesitation, the nearest human threw something—and it hit my stomach.
Lysi screamed. I gasped, falling onto my back. In the next second, Lysi was bending over me.
“Meela!”
I clutched my stomach, panicking. “Did it go through me?”
Lysi yanked my hand away. She examined my stomach, wide-eyed.
“Oh, it’s okay! It was stone, not iron. You’re fine.”
I looked down. Not even a mark.
I had no time to feel embarrassed in the chaos erupting around us. At least a dozen mermen had pulled themselves from the water. But with the humans advancing, all focus turned to them.
The nearest human fell back, blood spurting over the snow through a gash in his sleeve. The other two drew closer. I couldn’t tell if they were men or women behind their parkas and covered faces. They hurled dagger after dagger at the mermen.
