41. Kain
Chapter 41
Kain
I plunge my hand into the swirling vortex again and again, water lapping over my head as flaming arrows rain down around me.
Every time, it's like hitting a solid wall.
I can't go through the portal.
I can't leave Featherblade.
"I will end every immortal fucking one of you!" I bellow up at the gods in impotent rage.
She's gone.
And I can't follow her.
Rage isn't enough. Panic is setting in. And I don't fucking panic.
"Kain!" Valdis' voice cuts through my fury.
"They took her through the portal. Go after them!" The words tear from my throat, but even as I shout, the swirling ring vanishes like smoke.
My burning blood runs cold.
She's gone.
My head dips under the water, then Valdis is lifting me out, her bare hands on my bare shoulders.
She gets me halfway across the water before letting me go with a vicious curse, beating out her flaming clothes as I plummet back into the water.
The shock is enough to jolt sense back into me, to snap me out of the numbing panic.
I can't fucking help her if I'm dead.
I power my way back to shore just as Harald charges past, transformed by berserker rage. His eyes are fully black, his form swollen with power as he takes down a Frost Giant with an inhuman roar. Bloodlust surges through me. Skoll's desire to join the carnage is almost overwhelming. One of these monsters must know where they've taken her.
I'm about to shout to Valdis, who is now beating her black wings hard above the water, firing arrow after arrow into the boats of Giants, but a flash of shimmering light makes me spin.
There's nothing there—just Brynhild's corpse, throat slit, silver wings spread in a pool of blood.
A spike of hatred for the shadow-fae who killed her rips another roar from my chest. The blood-spattered wings of one of the strongest Valkyrie I've ever fought with, taken down with such dishonor, makes my soul ache.
Which proves I've still got one.
I'm supposed to hate the other Valkyrie. But all I can remember is the battles we've fought and won together.
Brynhild didn't deserve this. And Erik? Erik will fucking pay.
Harald barrels to a stop beside me, bellowing, "Join the battle, fire-fae!"
He sees Brynhild's body, and his dilated eyes widen. His stature shrinks as he stares, then looks at me. "Did you?—"
My hands are fists in a beat, Skoll materializing with a snarl. "Don't you fucking dare accuse me of this," I shout. "It was Orgid, on Erik's instructions, and he's taken Madivia."
"Lies!"
Valdis lands beside us, blanching at the sight of Brynhild. "What in the fates happened? That wound is not by a Giant's hand." Her accusing glare turns to me.
My rage returns full force. "You truly believe I could slit a Valkyrie's throat?"
"You killed your people," Harald growls, growing again.
"He took Madivia!" The words explode from me. "I would never let anything happen to her. I love her!"
The admission hangs in the air. Two centuries of focused hatred, of single-minded revenge, and the broken ice-fae princess has undone it all. The consequences would terrify me if I weren't already drowning in fear for her life.
"Harald, he's telling the truth." Valdis' words are heavy with resignation, and the crashing in my ears subsides fractionally.
Harald gapes at her. "He can't be! Why would we trust a disgraced mass murderer over Erik ?"
Sadness dominates Valdis' face. "I saw the same Frost Giant who was killed here last time. That's not possible, unless an extremely powerful healer brought her back from the brink of death."
Harald shakes his head. "No, Erik is my best friend. I don't believe it."
"She's Ishild," I say. "The Frost Giant is Ishild."
They both snap their heads to me. "Ishild died on the battlefield centuries ago—we all saw it," Valdis says. "Brynhild…" She looks with renewed sadness at the body. "Brynhild was inconsolable for years."
"Erik loved her," Harald whispers. "He always believed he could win her from Brynhild."
"Well, he did. And I have no idea how, but she didn't die. She became a Frost Giant."
There's a beat of silence, and then Harald barks a curse. "What in the name of Odin do we do now?"
"Get Sigrun," Valdis says.
"We need to find Madivia," I say.
"Why did he take her?"
"He said she has something he wants." My mind whirs as I remember the bag on her back. She had it when she came into the cells.
She'd been to the vault.
She must have found the other ship names—that's why she was down there.
"Fuck!"
Valdis steps back at the ferocity of my outburst.
"Madivia got access to some of the most dangerous things Featherblade has, hidden in the Vault of the Talekeepers," I say fast. "I don't know what she took, but everything in there is locked away for a reason. We have to stop him."
Fear is hurtling through my veins now. If what he wants is in that bag, he has no reason to keep her alive.
Harald is growling, and Valdis is staring at me. "What vault? What are you talking about?"
"I don't have time to explain it all!" I shout. "Erik has her and the bag of artifacts, and we need to find them!"
"We need Sigrun," Valdis says, shaking her head. Before I can stop her, she's launched herself skyward, her black wings cutting through smoke.
Harald stares at me, grief and betrayal warring on his face as his gaze drops to Brynhild's body.
Before either of us can speak, an inhuman roar tears through the air from across the High Hall. A fireball screams between us, close enough that even my cursed skin feels its heat.
Harald's eyes instantly flood black, berserker rage transforming his features. "I will rid this Frost Giant vermin from Featherblade alone!" His voice carries the deep bass of the bear within him as he takes flight, massive wings propelling him toward the boats.
A vicious snarl of frustration escapes my lips—I'm losing precious time, every ally scattering to their own battles while Madivia?—
"Help me."
The broken whisper makes me spin. A figure leans heavily against the Snake Wing's doorframe. Her skin has taken on the sickly green-gray of stagnant water, and angry red veins pulse beneath the surface. Black talons protrude from her fingertips, and her eyes are the color of fresh blood.
"Please, help me," she gasps.
It's Sarra, Madivia's best friend.