Chapter 81
The wind bites my skin, cooling my sweat and causing me to shiver. Or maybe the chills come from the scene I’m observing.
The forest below us is a nightmare of broken trees and shattered stone. No training or story prepared me for the violence of giants. Awestruck, I wonder, has any mortal seen a fight like this before?
Ari and Elof tear into each other. Two forces of nature finally unleashed.
Frost explodes from Ari with every strike.
Elof’s stone cracks with every blow. But they both just seem to rejuvenate instantly.
Neither one falters. Neither one sways. Ari has sharpened his senses, losing the clumsy gait that hindered him earlier.
He moves like he’s born for this. I should be terrified, and part of me is.
The other part is spellbound. Such raw power. Nature’s power.
“Men,” says Ylvin, her deep voice a mix of speech and growl.
I don’t have the mental capacity for humor. Neither does Eidunn. Ylvin is way too calm considering the situation. The two Jotnars’ roars echo against the mountainsides. The forest, the stones, the rivers—they shake. The air in my lungs is rattled.
Elof drives his shoulder into Ari’s gut, lifting him like he’s nothing. Ari slams backward into a cluster of pine trees, snapping them like sticks. Shards of ice fling off his skin, glinting in the moonlight.
“He’s winning,” I whisper. “Elof’s winning.”
“That’s the plan,” replies Ylvin.
Elof jumps on Ari, planting a knee into his chest. His stone fists slam into Ari’s face again and again, cracking off icy plates of flesh. Ari howls, frost billowing in a blizzard around him.
It hurts to watch. My heart is about to explode. Gods, how it hurts to watch. I’ve seen him bleed for me, but this… and against Elof…
“Stop,” I gasp, taking a step forward. “I’m going—”
An enormous snout, white and warm, blocks me.
Ylvin stands before me like a wall.
“You’re not going,” she rumbles.
“He’s hurting him! Elof’s going to kill him!”
She snorts.
“He won’t kill him,” the she-wolf says, gaze fixed on the battle. “He’s wearing him down. Ari is in his first transformation, he’s—”
I try to push past her massive form. Every instinct screams for me to help him. I’m not sure how, but I have to try. His pain claws at the depths of my heart.
“But I can’t just—”
Ylvin brushes me with her side, knocking me to the ground.
“Sit, girl!” snarls Ylvin. “You’ll get us all killed. Just listen.”
My pride stings. Her strength reminds me of how small I am in all this. I’m just a helpless thrall girl again, like this morning.
A hand lands on my shoulder. I turn to see Eidunn, tears streaming down her cheeks. It’s not up to me. I can’t risk everyone anymore. How many more need to die? Eidunn strokes my cheek with her soft hand.
“Please, Kilda, listen to Ylvin.”
I stand and nod at them both.
“I want to see,” I say.
Ylvin moves and continues.
“Ari is in his primary transformation. Those are always… violent. Pure berserk energy with no mind to guide it. No discipline, but it makes him powerful. He’s practically unkillable in this form.”
Ari scratches desperately at Elof’s arms, trying to break free. To no avail. The punches keep hammering into my Ari’s monstrous face.
“How can I just watch?” I shout into the night, my blood simmering. If Ari dies and I do nothing, what does that make me? Just watching feels like… betrayal. I would be no better than those who watched me suffer.
Ylvin laughs. A primal laugh. Raw pleasure.
“I love your temper,” she says. “But what the fuck will you do down there? And Ari might target you. Elof will have to protect you. Then we risk losing. If Ari knocks Elof out of his giant form, we’re in real trouble.”
Beyond the Jotnar battle, the blazing fire lights up the night sky, even if the farm is out of sight. All the pain. All the loss. On my shoulders. It has to end well. As well as it can. I can turn Ari back, wake him up.
“But I—”
Ari throws off Elof with a sudden surge of strength, frost energy crackling along his arm like lightning.
He lunges forward, snarling. A wounded god.
I know it’s selfish, completely fucked up, but somewhere within me, I hope Ari wins.
Even if it kills us all. Even if it curses me.
I don’t want Ari to die. I want my Ari back. Soft, warm Ari.
“Here we go,” laughs Ylvin, like it’s a game, some silly children’s game.
Elof dodges Ari’s attack easily, making Ari overreach and stumble forward. The rock giant smashes a fist into the back of Ari’s head, crushing his face into the mountainside. Chills run down my spine.
“That’s it—” I say and prepare to descend.
“Kilda!” Eidunn’s voice rings out.
She looks furious, not crying anymore. She holds a finger up at me like she’s reprimanding a little girl. This is the Eidunn I know, the Eidunn I remember. Despite the situation, a silly smile grows on my face.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” she hisses. “You listen to Ylvin now, or I’ll—”
“Watch out!” shouts Ylvin, moving out of the way.
The air is quiet. A shift in the rhythm below.
No rumbling. Is it over?
Is it—
The world explodes.
Ari’s enormous body flies above us, flung through the air like a rag doll. He sails above me, so close I feel the icy aura that surrounds him. So close my hair is dragged by the wind following his body. For one breath, for one impossible heartbeat…
Our eyes meet.
A flicker of blue drowning within the titanic glowing white. Just enough for me to know. I always knew.
Ari is in there. Still. Ari is alive.
Hope heats my chest. My heart jumps with joy. But it’s only for a brief moment.
Ari crashes into the mountainside behind us, rock raining down his massive form. Elof leaps over us, shaking the earth beneath my feet as he lands closer to Ari. He charges the ice troll, storming forward at horrifying speed.
“Elof!” roars Ylvin. “Don’t bring him here, you troll!”
Elof doesn’t answer. Or he can’t, I don’t know. He is made of rock. A mountain giant. He ignores Ylvin’s complaint and smashes a fist into Ari’s chest.
And again. And again.
Each earth-shaking blow shatters more ice from Ari’s ribs. Frost sprays in violent bursts. Ari screams, clawing wildly, struggling to survive. The mountain shudders under their fury.
Shockingly, Ari surges upward, striking like a snake. As Elof regains his balance, Ari grabs the mountain giant’s arm with both his gruesome hands.
“Not good,” growls Ylvin.
Ari twists.
Bone, or stone, cracks. Elof’s arm snaps at the elbow like a brittle branch. Gods, they can break. He tries to rip his arm loose, but Ari doesn’t let go. Holding onto Elof’s arm and twisting the other way.
“What’s happening, Ylvin?” shouts Eidunn.
I could easily answer her. Ari is fucking up Elof’s arm. But Ylvin’s words bear more wisdom.
“If Elof can regain control, he can wear Ari down. Ari will fizzle out. But Ari is full berserk. He draws from a well of power only accessible to the mad. The mindless.”
“He isn’t mindless!” I shout.
Ylvin snorts.
“You think Ari would ever hurt Elof? They drank mead together. Elof taught Ari about his blood.”
“No, but—”
“Prepare to run,” growls the she-wolf. “Elof will be fine. Climb on.”
Eidunn runs to Ylvin, climbing onto her back.
“Come, Kilda,” says Eidunn.
Ari releases a strange sound. It reminds me of…
laughter? Elof’s arm still seems to function, but Ari controls it, pulling Elof back and forth with it.
I regret my wish. I don’t want Ari to win.
Or kill Elof. I just want Ari to survive.
Freya give me strength. This is all my fault.
Why do others always pay the price? I always bring… ruin.
Letting Ari drown in this madness alone is not an option.
I run forward.
“Kilda!” shouts Eidunn. “Don’t go!”
“Sorry!” I shout back, unsure if they can hear me over the clash of giants.
I don’t even look where I plant my feet. They move before my mind agrees. My hand dives into my satchel, yanking out the hammer. It quivers, thrashing in my grip. Eager.
“Kilda!” roars Ylvin.
I raise the hammer over my head.
“Ariii!” I scream at the top of my lungs. The hammer crackles with ice energy. The same as Ari’s. Frost lightning shoots from its head.
He turns. Sees, or feels, the hammer. He shrieks and pulls Elof’s arm, smashing his head into Elof’s. A sky-splitting blow. Rock flies in all directions. Elof crumbles forward to his knees, leaning on his arm.
Ari stomps viciously on Elof’s back. It’s hard to tell if Elof really is a stone giant or just a heap of stones. Ari turns to me. An alien smile under his eldritch eyes. Crow bastard.
I pull my arm back, closing my eyes as I hear Ari’s titanic steps draw nearer. Seconds, that’s all I’ve got.
Ari. My man. He killed for me. He would do it again—his own words. He strikes like a snake. In and out of the neck. His gladius. I remember. To protect Eidunn. To protect me.
Now it’s my turn. My turn to protect him. From himself.
My arm vibrates. Every moment I shared with the love of my life flashes before me. When we cooked. When he dried me. His songs and poems and stories. His insults and flirts. His naked laugh. Naked body. His eyes. Smile.
The hammer howls in my hand. Excited. It shrieks like Ari. Crying into the night. Yearning to reunite with its goal.
Its goal? My man. My love.
My Ari.
I open my eyes, staring straight into the frost giant’s empty glare.
That’s not my Ari.
I want him back.
I scream at the top of my lungs. It’s time to throw my weapon. Thrust. Like Odin.
The hammer doesn’t decide.
The Queen doesn’t rule.
Only me.
I am the only ruler.
Ari is my man.
Let them weep!
Still screaming, I fling the hammer at my monstrous lover. The curse screeches as it flies at its target.
Not where it wants.
Where I decide.
My target.
I see it for a split second. White. No longer metal. Not even ice.
Pure energy.
It connects with Ari’s chest. Thunder booms. Shattering reality.
The world vanishes.
My vision explodes into a flickering flower of light.
No Norns. No Queen.
Kilda the Wild.
The choice is mine.
All white.