The arrows whistled through the air and hit their marks. The dead creatures plummeted into the water. Lucenna sent streaks of lightning, hitting the remaining grindylows clinging to him.
That freed Cassiel, and he flew higher into the air. He looked at Zev, and his eyes widened. “Zev!”
More rose out of the water. So many more. They were all around him, filling the fjord. Hundreds of black, glistening eyes fixed on him as they bared their teeth. Zev’s breath stalled and for once, his veins ran cold. The multitude attacked the boat and the shore. Their claws cut into his limbs, and they yanked him towards the water. He tore into their eyes, snapping their necks, thrusting his claws into their chests, but more kept coming. They were endless.
Dyna’s scream rang through the fjord. He tore a grindylow in half and whipped his head toward her. She and Lucenna backed away from the shore as grindylows slithered across the ground for them, climbing over each other with a vicious hunger.
God of Urn.They could go on dry land.
Electricity stormed in every direction, a sporadic flash of green following. Arrows and fire sliced through the air, but it wasn’t enough.
“Get them out of there!” Zev roared at anyone who could listen as he cut another grindylow down.
Rawn began scaling down from the ledge. Zev rowed for them, but the sea creatures wrenched the oars from his hands. They lunged for him. Slashing and biting, trying to drag him off the boat with unexpected strength. He tried to keep an eye on Dyna, but he couldn’t see past the claws swiping at his face and biting his flesh. Tearing them off him, he snapped their slimy necks and shredding through them with his claws before tossing them back into the lake. He hardly noticed his wounds, desperate to keep his view on the shoreline. His fist slammed into another creature’s head and its skull caved in like an egg.
The onslaught suddenly stopped. The grindylows moved away from the boat and bared their teeth, watching him cautiously.
Zev snarled back and raised his bloodied claws. He was not easy prey. They hissed angrily, then dove back into the water.
Their shadows swam beneath the surface in direction of the shore, right for the girls. He grabbed a broken oar and tried to row back, cutting down any grindylow that attempted to attack him. He scoured the land, spotting a flash of green. Dyna threw spells left and right, but she stumbled and the green light in her hands sputtered. Claws yanked on her ankle and she fell, disappearing under the mass of writhing bodies.
“No!” Zev cried.
Cassiel dove into the throng and ripped her free. Rawn threw a knife, impaling the creature springing for them.
“Go. Take her!” Lucenna told Cassiel as she hit another with a blast of electricity.
He lifted Dyna in his arms and flew her away from the shore. Zev watched with relief as he brought her to the rocky island in the fjord, far from the shore. It rose high from the water with a narrow base and wide flat top. Cassiel checked on her briefly, then went back and grabbed the sorceress.
Leaving Rawn to face the mass alone.
He whipped out his sword and sliced through them as rapidly as he was able, throwing out flares of fire. They came from all directions, forcing him across the clearing. Right for the shore. They were herding him.
Zev shouted his name. Two grindylows vaulted out of the water and tackled Rawn. His sword hit the mud as he vanished into the fjord. With their victim, the throng dove in after him, and the water eerily stilled once more. They were gone as quickly as they appeared.
“Rawn!” Dyna jerked to the edge of the island.
“Don’t,” Zev ordered from the boat.
Cassiel pulled her back. “They will kill you before you can reach him.”
“But we have to save him. Lucenna, send another volt!”
The sorceress shook her head, her eyes wide. “I can’t. If I electrify the water, it will kill him too.”
“Levitation then,” Zev said. “Lift him out.”
“We only practiced with you, Zev. I don’t have a lock on Lord Norrlen’s Essence.”
Nausea churned in his stomach. This was his fault. Rawn tried to tell him. He refused to listen. Now Rawn would die because of him, same as his father.
“Is this it then?” Dyna said, gripping her hair. “We can’t let them have him!”
“We won’t. I’ll go.” Zev stood. “No matter what happens, stay with Cassiel. Promise me, Dyna.”
“I promise,” she said shakily. “And promise me you will come back.”
Zev held her gaze for a moment, his chest tightening.
