“Are you saying Egil’s corpse is somewhere inside the giant’s body, fueling the monster’s wrath?” Njord asked.
“I think that’s the only way to pull off a spell like this. And to stop the giant, we must shatter what’s left of Egil’s body.”
“Whales and waves.”
He was too old for this madness.
The creature was moving swiftly, despite its size, and Sveinn’s longships attacked in its wake.
“Archers!” he heard Gylfa’s command from the lower battlements. “Shoot!”
Hundreds of arrows flew toward the giant. They struck its body and simply disappeared into the mud, swallowed without effect. The creature didn’t even slow.
“Flaming arrows!” Gylfa shouted.
The flaming shafts had more effect, hissing and steaming where they hit, but it didn’t take long for the flames to die, andthe giant just kept coming. It closed its hands around the top of the outer wall, and the ancient stone groaned under its grip. Warriors scrambled away as the giant pulled itself forward, its weight leaving cracks in the foundation of the battlements, and the whole fortress seemed to shake.
“Njord?”
Thori had lowered the bow and offered his hand, lightning already dancing at his fingertips.
“Are you still willing to do this?”
“Would you allow me to change my mind?” Thori sounded exasperated. “Now? In the midst of battle?”
And although Njord knew the foolishness of it, he didn’t have to think twice about his answer.
“Always.”
“You’re too honorable for your own good,” Thori said, but his voice had turned all soft. He snatched Njord’s hand, and Njord could feel his untamed power thrumming through their connection. “If I kill the giant, can you sink their fleet?”
“I… Well, truth be told—”
Thori smirked.
“Let’s do it then.”
Turning toward the giant, Thori let storm clouds gather above them, dark and threatening, and Njord made up his mind.
He pulled Thori back against his chest, one arm curling around his waist, one hand resting against his throat, covering the collar, and Thori leaned into him with a deep sigh. His thunder was right there, offered on a silver platter for Njord to take, and yet he hesitated.
“You wield it,” he whispered against Thori’s ear.
“What?”
“I’m right here. I’m going to help you channel your power. But you wield it.”
He gave Thori a little push, amplifying his power with his own storm, and he could feel the exact moment Thori let go.
The clouds above them went from gray to black in a heartbeat, swirling madly. The wind picked up, and the sound of the waves below them increased.
Lightning jumped from the boiling clouds into Thori’s waiting palm, and he threw the first bolt at the giant, catching him in the shoulder. Steam hissed where it made contact, and a chunk of mud sloughed away, but the creature kept trying to scrabble at the battlements, pulling parts of the wall outward.
“Again!” Njord commanded.
Thunder crashed, a deafening sound, and another bolt of lightning carved through the giant’s torso, leaving a smoking crater, and still it moved forward, uncoordinated yet unstoppable. The defenders on the lower walls hastily retreated as the giant pulled itself higher, its upper body already leaning across the wall.
Thori’s breathing quickened, his power unleashed now that Njord allowed him free rein. The feeling of Thori in his arms, trusting and powerful, was intoxicating. Bolt after bolt of silvery lightning struck the giant and the longships beyond. Magnificent. But not enough. The giant was too massive, theseiðrfueling its cursed existence too powerful. Every strike carved away chunks of its body, but more mud flowed upward to fill the gaps.
