Chapter 17 Willow
Chapter Seventeen
Willow
Aloud roar wakes me so fast, I’m gasping before I even know what’s happening, my gaze flying around the cave as I sit up.
Hawk lifts me to my feet, then moves to stand in front of me, a knife in one hand and his spear appearing almost out of thin air in his other.
I hear a deep growl, something that definitely didn’t come from any man, and I lean to the side to peek around Hawk. A large beast, identical to the one I saw rip a man’s head off, tears through the last of our traps and steps into the cave.
His head turns, assessing the cave until his eyes land on my three Viking warriors. It lowers its head and snarls. Fear rips through me, remembering what that beast is capable of. Although these men are strong and trained warriors, I’ve already seen what the beast can do against men with swords.
Dread pools in my belly, realizing that being hurt isn’t the worst thing that could happen right now. Having any of these three get injured, or worse, killed, would be much worse.
“Take her in the pond,” Ronan yells over his shoulder toward us. “The grimclaw can’t swim.” So this beast is called a grimclaw. I file that away for later, and as Hawk starts to turn to face me, the beast lunges, somehow darting around the other two to head straight for us.
I back up quickly as Hawk aims his spear at the beast, causing it to stop before impaling itself. Bo and Ronan charge it from its rear, and it lets out a roar as it tries to bat their weapons away.
I keep moving back until my back is pressed to the cave wall and watch in fear as the three of them battle the giant beast. Its back is almost as high as Hawk is tall, and its paws are bigger than my head. One swipe from those deadly talons and they could be gravely injured.
It swipes out at Bo, and he jumps back just in time, but the grimclaw manages to hit him with the back of his paw, sending him flying backward. My hand slaps over my mouth to cover my cry, not wanting to distract anyone.
Hawk manages to stab it in the rear with his spear, and the beast turns so quickly that Hawk loses his hold on his weapon. He holds out his knife, which I always thought of as large, but looks tiny against the massive creature.
Ronan uses the opportunity to swing his ax down on the beast's back, and it lets out a pained roar as it turns and backhands him away. He flies almost ten feet before hitting the cave wall and falling to the ground. My hand presses even tighter over my mouth as fear and worry fill me.
Hawk uses the distraction to jump on its back and bring the knife up above its head, but as he starts to bring it down, the grimclaw rolls, sending Hawk sprawling on the ground, his knife flying from his grip in the opposite direction.
My heart hammers in my chest, realizing that they’ve all lost their weapons. The beast seems to know it too, as it prowls in front of them, snarling at each man still on the ground, though, thankfully, all still conscious.
I find where each of their weapons is splayed across the cave floor, but know that I will never get to them without the beast seeing me.
It must have a weakness.
Glancing around the cave, there’s nothing but our firepit, our meager possessions, and the pools of water.
Ronan said it can’t swim.
All I need to do is distract it away from them long enough that they can grab their weapons. And the only place in this cave that it can’t get to me is in the middle of the pond.
Too bad I can’t swim.
I just have to hope that the lessons I had were enough to keep me afloat long enough for them to kill it. Looking back, I can see the beast stepping toward Ronan, who’s feeling the ground around him for any sort of weapon.
Seeing them in danger is all I need to force myself into action. I take a deep breath and step away from the wall. “Hey!” I yell as loud as I can. Its head spins in my direction.
“Willow, no!” Ronan yells as he starts to get to his feet. The beast turns on him and roars, so I move further into the cave, waving my hands about my head.
“Hey! Ugly! Come get me!” I hear my guys yelling at me to stop, but it works. The beast turns back toward me, then suddenly starts to run toward me.
My heart leaps in my chest, and I turn, running as fast as I can toward the larger pool of water. Luckily, it’s not too far away, and I don’t hesitate to place my foot on the large rock at its edge and launch myself as far in as I can.
I’m not prepared for the sensation of being completely submerged in water.
It’s disorienting and suffocating, and now I’m not just worried that the beast can, in fact, swim and is about to jump in after me, but I’m also terrified that I’m about to drown.
I tell myself not to inhale, but it’s almost impossible.
I’ve never had to hold my breath like this before.
My arms and legs flail as I try to remember my lessons, but wearing my dress makes it so much more difficult to move, the wet fabric weighing me down. My head finally breaks through the surface, and I inhale greedily as I glance around for a glimpse of the grimclaw.
I see it standing on the rock I jumped from, snarling down at me as if it’s tempted to pounce. A sword suddenly appears above it, and it comes down fast, impaling its back. The beast roars in pain as it turns.
I don’t see what happens next as I fall below the surface again, not even managing to get in one last breath of air before the water covers my head. Fear races through me as I try to remember how to move my arms the way Bo had shown me, and how to kick my legs the way Hawk had explained.
You can do this, I chant to myself as I try to block out any thoughts of the beast and my men fighting for their lives. Instead of clawing at the surface as I had been doing, I move my arms to my sides and glide them back and forth as I kick my legs in a steady rhythm.
Almost immediately, my head breaks the surface again, and I sputter, trying to take in air without any water.
“Willow!” someone yells, though my ears are partially underwater, making it hard to hear. The beast cries out, and I see its brown fur and the glint of a blade before I dip down again. This time, I’m able to push myself back up much quicker and take in a deep lungful of air.
The beast's snarling face turns in my direction, and he bends down as if about to launch himself toward me. I gasp, losing my rhythm as I fall beneath the surface again. Fear has me forgetting how to swim, my arms and legs flailing uselessly as I wait for the beast to land on me.
I see it break the surface as it dives down in front of me, and it takes me a few seconds to realize the form is much too narrow and majestic to be the beast.
Hawk’s eyes find mine in an instant, and he kicks his legs, propelling himself to me in mere seconds, then he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me to the surface with him. I loudly inhale as I break the surface, coughing when some water mixes with the air.
“I’ve got you,” he says gently as he turns me in his arms so I’m wrapped around his front. I keep coughing over his shoulder, and he pats my back as he moves us to a spot in the water where he can stand.
Fearing the grimclaw will attack us here, I lift my head and glance at where I last saw it. Bo is pulling both his swords from the beast's body, as Ronan is squatting near its head. It lies unmoving on the ground, telling me that the battle is over. We’ve won.
“It’s dead,” Ronan says, pushing to his feet. Then he turns, instantly finding us as a look of relief washes over him. I start to cough again, and Bo and Ronan jog over to the nearest part of the shore with us.
“Are you okay?” Bo asks in alarm as Hawk pats my back. I nod and try to respond, but can’t stop coughing.
“She’ll be okay,” Hawk tells him. “She just took in a little bit of water.”
“We need to get her out of that wet dress,” Ronan says, beckoning us over. “Bring her here.”
“The cave isn’t secure right now either,” Hawk reminds us all as he carries me over to them. “The grimclaw took out our early alert system.”
“Fuck, you’re right,” Ronan says as he reaches for me. I lean into his hands and let him pluck me from Hawk’s hold. I’m always surprised by how easily they lift me, and secretly, I love it.
I wrap my arms around his neck as he moves me toward the fire.
“Okay,” Ronan says as the three of them stand in a triangle. “Hawk, you start reassembling the traps. Bo, you stoke the fire then help him. I’ll take care of Willow, then we’ll deal with the carcass.”
“I-I can change on my own,” I say, not wanting to be a burden.
Ronan stares at me with a look I haven’t seen on him before. It’s not anger, but disappointment, I think. I’m used to seeing that expression on my father, and it makes me worry about what will happen next.
“No,” is all he says before the other two move away to take care of their tasks. Ronan stops at our bags to grab my nightdress, then carries me over to my changing corner and sets me on my feet. I reach for my pajamas, but he pulls it out of my reach and shakes his head.
“No, I need to see you’re unharmed.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “I’m not injured. Besides, I’m naked under here,” I tell him, feeling nervous about the darkness I see in his green eyes.
He takes a step toward me, and I back up, feeling unsure about his intent. He doesn’t say anything as he stares down at me, and for the first time since I’ve met him, I feel afraid. My vision blurs a second before I realize I’m crying, and I quickly try to wipe the tears away.
Suddenly, he’s on his knees before me, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer to him. He’s so tall his head is only slightly lower than mine now. He looks up at me, the anger gone, now replaced with sadness as he reaches up and wipes my tear-stained cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” he whispers. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You’re angry,” I say before sniffling.
“I’m upset,” he clarifies.
“At me,” I say, because I’m sure that he was looking at me with disappointment earlier.