There are forty of us and nine jötnar. That means four-point-four people for each giant. Obviously not an even number, but with the variation in the sizes of people’s allegiances, some of the bigger groups could split into two or more. But the announcement of the reward changes everything.
Surely everyone will want to bring down a jötunn alone? It’s a mess. Suddenly, we’re not just fighting the giants. We’re fighting each other, too.
The line of Rettlings begins moving forward, heading onto the beach. Several people drag their heels – one or two out of fear, but others, like myself, are trying to work out which jötunn will be easiest to take down.
‘Our alliance still holds,’ Benny announces firmly as our group huddles together. ‘It doesn’t matter which one of us takes it down, right? If any of us get excused from the second trial, then that’s a win.’
‘Right,’ I agree.
My heart is beating so fast that I’m having to remind myself to breathe as I move forward. As fear threatens to consume me, Zelle’s words of advice echo in my mind. I know myself. I know that I was accepted into the Retterheld because I deserve to be here. Which means Etta believes I have the strength to survive this.
A spark of confidence flickers inside me, and I glance over my shoulder, counting the moments until the last person steps onto the sand. Then a snarl, raw and alien, shatters the air. The sound is deafening – a thousand times louder than the bell this morning – and accompanied by a rancid smell that burns the back of my throat.
Chaos breaks loose.
The jötnar are dressed in rough garb, and though they don’t seem to have weapons, it’s clear that they don’t need them. They’re waving their arms, growling, snarling, and simply bending down and scooping up sand and Rettlings alike. I watch in muted horror as one body is flung towards the sea, into the white-capped waves. I don’t need to look to see if they stand again. There’s no chance of surviving that.
Some of the Rettlings are running, running straight to the edge of the water, as if being there will save them. Instead, it just pins them in if a jötunn comes for them. Not the wisest move.
Then there’s the magic.
This entire place is filled with it. Fire is hurled from every direction, but it doesn’t seem to touch the giants, and blasts of wind that would have me flat on my back appear to do little more than irritate them. It’s not thatthey’re impervious to the Rettlings’ powers; they’re simply too big for the magic to affect them to a significant enough degree.
I glance at Zara and find her standing frozen, her face twisted in concentration. She’s trying to open up whatever wounds they have, and though it seems to be working – there are certainly a few bleeding gashes appearing on the jötunn she’s fixated on – it’s primarily just making him angrier.
It’s the people who are running around that seem to be getting the brunt of the force of our enemy, the giants swatting them like flies.
‘We have to bring them down,’ I say grimly. ‘There’s no way we’ll survive for thirty minutes just dodging them.’
‘Agreed,’ Llinos replies.
‘That one, the one with the jagged scar,’ Jonas yells. It’s hard to hear him over the roar of the giants, so he points again.
‘No!’ Benny shouts. ‘That one.’
He gestures towards a jötunn at the back of the group. Even the smallest of the monsters are at least thirty feet, but the one Benny picked must have another ten feet on that.
Ignoring Benny, Jonas tugs me towards the jötunn he picked, but the Eastern Islander shakes his head.
‘That one,’ Benny says again, more adamantly this time.
I pull my hand from Jonas’s grip. ‘He can see,’ I say, hoping Benny doesn’t mind me sharing what his power is. ‘He cansee,Jonas. He knows which one to go for. Trust us, please.’
Jonas looks between us, pressing his lips together. ‘It’s enormous.’
‘Trust me,’ I plead.
A muscle twitches along his jaw. ‘Fine, but only if you remember what I said,’ he murmurs before sprinting across the sand towards Benny.
As I move to follow them, a figure appears at my side. Estel.
‘You want another pair of hands?’ she asks.
Since we’re facing giants, I give the only reply I can. ‘Absolutely. The more the merrier.’
Together, we race towards the others who are now less than twenty feet from the colossal creature Benny chose.
‘What are we doing?’ I yell above the roars.
