Chapter 29 Bjorn
My father’s voice filled my ears, and I whirled, ready to throw my axe.
But I was too late.
“Stand down!”
Freya doubled over as though she’d been punched, and then fell to her knees on the bottom of the ship.
“He’s got control over her,” I shouted. “Tora, sink them!”
Tora lifted her hands and lightning crackled between them, but before she could send a bolt into Snorri’s ship, Freya moved.
Quicker than I’d believed possible, she threw herself at Tora, a cry of pain tearing from her lips as she hit the charge of lightning.
“Freya!” I fell to my knees next to her. She was curled up in a pool of water, teeth clenched in pain but alive. Tora lay stunned next to her.
“Don’t hurt him,” she choked out. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Bjorn, they’re going to board us!” Guthrum shouted. “What do we do?”
Freya caught hold of one of Tora’s wrists, covering her hands with Hlin’s magic so that Tora could not call her lightning. “No!”
Tora struggled to get out of her grip. “Bjorn, what do we do!”
“Stay down,” I shouted at Tora, then caught hold of the side of the drakkar and pulled myself up. Three vessels were almost near enough to board. Near enough for me to hear Snorri scream, “Sink his fleet! Let Nordeland pay the price for its actions, but bring me Harald alive!”
Word spread across the fleet like wildfire, and with a roar, they began to row. I knew that even with Skade, Troels, Astrid, and the other Unfated among them, my people might not win this fight. My eyes filled with my mother’s vision of thousands of dead. Not in fields but floating on the waves while the Skalanders carried on to inflict carnage across all of Nordeland.
“Bjorn, stop him!” my mother screamed, on her knees next to Freya. “Stop Snorri!”
“Tyr,” I snarled, my axe manifesting in my palm as Snorri’s drakkar bumped against ours.
“Freya!” Snorri shouted, clambering to the edge. “Freya, we are here! You are liberated!”
“Get back!” I shouted at him and our eyes locked.
“What are you doing, Bjorn?” he demanded. “Stand down! You are saved, and all of Nordeland will burn for taking you!”
I lifted my axe to throw. Ready to silence him once and for all, to Hel with my mother’s prophecy. But Freya slammed into me right as the vessel rolled over a swell.
I staggered and nearly went down, vanquishing my axe so that I could catch Freya without burning her.
My mother was still on her knees in the bottom of the drakkar, cowering out of Snorri’s sight. “Stop him,” she repeated. “You must wield her to stop him.”
“No!” I regained my balance. The Skalanders were converging on the Nordelander fleet, Skade’s arrow flickering over and over. “I will not!”
“Freya!” Snorri shouted. “Come to me! Climb over!”
Freya’s arms wrapped around my waist and her whole body shook with the effort of resisting his command. “Do not let him take me!”
Lightning burst from Tora’s hands into one of the other drakkar but the vessel only glowed a bright blue, the runes carved into the wood flaring brightest of all.
“It’s warded!” Tora’s eyes locked on mine. “Ylva’s put protection wards on them!”
“Tyr!” I growled the god’s name, then threw my axe. It embedded into the wood of a ship, but the flames didn’t take hold. Cursing, I recalled it and threw it at a man.
It sank deep into his chest, his scream cutting short.
In an instant, Tora was sending bolt after bolt of lightning into the Skalanders, the stink of burned flesh filling the air even as they poured onto our vessel.
“Freya, stop the child of Thor!” Snorri howled. “Kill her!”
Freya drew her sword, but I caught her wrist. Held it tight as I fought back the seemingly endless warriors trying to climb aboard from all sides.
“Bjorn!” Guthrum screamed, his eyes brilliant yellow. “They are sinking our ships! Astrid’s ship is sinking!”
“Bjorn, control Freya!” my mother screamed. “Don’t let Snorri take her back!”
“Fight, Freya!” Snorri roared over the tumult. “Fight for Skaland!”
It was all I could do to keep a grip on Freya. Blood dripped from her nose and tears from her eyes, misery written across her face as she tried to combat Snorri’s will.
“Bjorn, help them!” Guthrum screamed. “Freya, help—”
His pleas were cut short as he was knocked overboard and disappeared beneath the hull of Snorri’s ship. Freya screamed, the grief in her voice tearing at my heart as I cut down yet another Skalander. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed, but my eyes kept drawing back to the fleets.
To the smoke rising.
To the masts sinking beneath the waves.
“Bjorn, wield her!” my mother screamed. “Protect Nordeland! Control the shield maiden!”
Freya abruptly ripped from my grip, leaving her bracer clutched in my hand. She snatched up her shield and advanced on Tora.
“Kill the child of Thor, Freya!” Snorri screamed from where he still stood on his drakkar. “Have vengeance for Skaland!”
“Bjorn!” my mother howled. “It’s happening! My vision is becoming reality!”
“Freya, stop!” The order slipped from my lips almost without thought, and yet she fell still. Lowering her shield, she met my gaze. “Don’t hurt him.”
My axe burned in my hand, every part of me wanting to take off Snorri’s head. But if I tried, Freya might act. And beyond, Nordeland’s fleet was losing the battle.
“You promised.” My mother clutched at my ankles, face drenched with tears. “You swore to protect them. Swore to help her change her fate.”
Killing Snorri would not stop the carnage. It was beyond his control.
“Bjorn, no!” Freya screamed. “Bjorn, don’t do it!”
The terror in her voice made me sick, but our plans were in tatters and the sea already red with blood.
I had to change our fate.
Looking into her amber eyes, I said, “Freya, I call on you to fight for Nordeland. I call upon you to send all who attack her to Hel.”