Finally, the end of the march arrives, and they have successfully squeezed Thrain’s forces.
Whoops fill the air as Sigvid holds the last drauger by the neck over the cliff. He squeezes, relishing the unholy creature’s final breaths as he cracks every bone in his column. With a grunt, he hurls the undead into the fjord below.
Briny God,he offers,please accept who I have sent to the Depths today—fellow warriors for you to welcome.
He scans the crowd until he spots his little Queen. Blood splatters her front as she perches on a small rock,the most beautifully irresistible smile on her lips.
“Great show, brother!”
Sigvid freezes a chill running up his spine. The celebration around him dies as he whips around to find Thrain and another fucking army standing along the slope to the ridge.
Fuck.“Here to face me?” Sigvid roars.
His Drengr form up, and the Timber Army resumes its tactical position along the lower wood line.
“No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that.” Thrain examines his nails, picking at them. “I came here to send a message.”
Pounding hoof beats emerge from the rear, revealing Gunter commanding a small number of armed cavalry with a stupid fucking smirk.
Sigvid steps between his men and Gunter’s, spinning his axes as he watches Thrain’s Second.
“Thordsson!” Gunter hollers with a spear in his hand. “I will be heralded a god for killing you.”
Sigvid sneers, daring the bald man to toss that point at his chest. Instead, a Timber rider nearly unseats Gunter. Taking advantage of the distraction, Sigvid tosses one of his axes, sinking the edge into Gunter’s shiny head. Before he collapses off his steed, Sigvid rips the axe from his skull.
He retreats to his men, looking out for Avina, standing near the cliff with a furious expression.
Still safe.
He glances upward into the forested slope rising to the summit and realizes why Thrain’s troops have not moved up the hill to the top of the cliff. Sigvid’s stomach sinks to his toes as thousands of archers form a thick line along the top of the tree line above the Timber Army. The fucking woods creates a barrier to reaching them.
“Shields up!” His voice roars out and over the fjord. “Shields up!” He yells in time for a hail of arrows to descend upon the ranks of the Drengr and the Timber fighters stuck between the boulders and the tree line.
His quick thinking spares the warriors within hearing distance. However, those further along the path and the cliff edge are not fast enough and drop to theground.
Sigvid revolves around, frantically taking a head count of those near him.
“Calder!” He growls at his younger Drengr. “Find Kar and Slode. Everyone, get the fuck out of here.”
As Calder disappears into the frenzy, Sigvid’s primary concern is locating Avina. He glances up again to see the archers on the steep ridge take aim.
“Shields up!” He bellows in time for all the men to respond. Only a few rogue arrow points take out those unfortunate to hold their shields at the wrong angle.
“Avina!” He recovers from the onslaught and resumes his desperate search for his Queen.
She was on the precipice without a shield.
His heart drops when he finally catches her. A buzzing fills his head, and each step is agonizing.
Avina lies beside a boulder she must have sought shelter behind. Even with her scale armor and invisibility, arrows riddle her body.
He collapses to his knees as his shaking hands shift from one arrow shaft to the next. She cries out in agony as her arms, bearing several arrows, wrap around her midsection.
“Sigvid!” She grabs his wrist with a strength he did not believe she possessed. “Berserk,” her lovely voice is weak. “Save them.” She slides the Sacred Stones from her neck with trembling hands and presses the nautilus shell into his palm.
“I forbid you from leaving me, my love. Not fucking now that I found you.”
She blinks away tears. “Fight for us.”
