“If Eirik believes he can command the Un, he is a fool,” Rhydan adds behind us. “But he may shatter the world discovering that truth.”
The fortress doors groan open and cold sea wind rushes in, carrying the scent of salt and war. We push our Noctrals faster toward Völundr. The creatures are exhausted but they respond to our urgency.
A horn sounds from Völundr’s harbor. Three long blasts. The call to arms.
We rush toward the naval command.
The seadragons are here. Yet Rhydan’s words are heavier, the weight of truth he laid upon Rhianelle’s shoulders. She now knows her gods are lies. Somehow she has to take that knowledge with her and win an impossible war.
The battlefor Völundr is about to begin.
18
Chapter 17 Svenn
The deck lurches beneath my feet, slick with seawater and blood. Three days of this maritime hell and still the fae come with their cursed dragons, endless as the tide itself.
The fae ships loom ahead like floating fortresses. Their hulls are carved with Eirik Bloodhound’s dark sigils. Each vessel teems with countless fae warriors, their voices lifting in harsh battle hymns.
Seadragons rise from beneath like nightmares along with Myrkheim’s fiend-orcas. Their serpentine bodies ripple with muscle beneath glittering scales, each edged in razor-sharp frills reminiscent of ancient creatures born from storm and legend. The heads are elongated like seahorses with rows of needle-sharp teeth.
One surfaces beside us, water streaming from its fins. A set of intelligent eyes stares back at me.
“Brace for impact!” Red’s voice cuts through the chaos as the creature’s throat sac inflates.
Venom sprays across the deck and hisses where it lands. A soldier to my left takes the spray full in the face. He claws at histhroat, trying to scrape away the burning poison. But it’s already soaking into his skin.
“Get him below!” I shout at the captain. “We need water.”
The captain drives a knife straight into the soldier’s heart instead.
“Water won’t help.” He shakes his head. “I’ve seen this venom before in the deep places where dragons make their lairs. It liquefies prey from the inside out. Makes them easier to swallow.”
Rhianelle stands tall at the helm of the Stormbreaker, silver braid whipping in the wind. Her eyes blaze with unyielding determination.
Völundr’s sailors are born to the sea. They’ve faced storms and sea monsters since childhood. They move deftly amid the chaos, hauling ropes with blistered hands and adjusting torn sails.
The harpoons are Völundr engineering at its finest. Compressed air chambers built into the launchers give them range and power enough to pierce dragon scale. Each harpoon trails chains attached to metal weights heavy enough to drag even seadragons down into crushing depths where they cannot survive.
“Ready!” The weapons master calls, hands steady on the harpoon controls despite the ship’s violent pitching. “Aim for the gill slits!”
Three harpoons sing through the air. Two find their mark, punching through the softer tissue around the gills. The chains go taut as the creature thrashes.
“Cut it loose before it takes us down!” someone screams.
“No,” Rainer Wiolant commands. “Deploy the depth charges. Secure those chains to the capstan.”
The crew moves to obey despite their fear. Depth charges splash into the water around the thrashing dragon. Theydetonate and the concussive force combined with the creature’s own struggles drives it deeper into the ocean.
One dragon down. Dozens more still in the water.
“Your Highness!” A lookout’s cry draws our attention starboard. “The Kestrel’s Rage is taking water!”
Through the chaos of battle, I spot one of our smaller vessels listing badly. A seadragon has its jaws clamped on her stern, shaking the ship like a cat with its prey. Fae warriors swarm her decks.
“Bring us about,” Rhianelle orders. “Signal the Secondson to provide covering fire.”
Völundr’s fleet moves efficiently. One ship baits dragons into kill zones while others strike from the flanks with specialized weapons. The complexity of this naval dance staggers me. Every captain and crew has probably drilled these maneuvers for years.
