The Fae Captain's Compass Thief

1. Bryn

Bryn

Creative acquisitions had always been my area of expertise.

The legality of which wasn’t for me to debate.

Today’s challenge was the big one, the one I’d been dreaming about for almost a year after hearing the rumors among tavern-goers.

A treasure that could help me get back what I’d lost. The Heart of Hrim.

A crystal pendant so large it could fill your palm.

Priceless. Magical. Perhaps even a deadly trap masked by a fairy tale.

My heart beat steadily in my chest.

There was only one way to find out.

The mountain tunnel around me darkened, and I pulled my cloak tighter around my neck.

My head and white-blonde braid were tucked beneath a thick hood, hiding me in shadows and warmth.

The chill in here was enough to cause permanent damage, so I’d have to keep moving.

My Fjord Fae powers and water-based magic wouldn’t be of any help… yet.

I crept forward, brushing my gloved hand over the jagged wall, the other hand holding a torch high above my head to light the way.

The cave and tunnel system on Niflheim Island was vast and winding, with dead ends and hidden nooks.

But I’d always had a sense for treasure, a pull that thrummed within me alongside my magic, that guided me toward the most precious of gems.

Following that tug, I descended deeper into the ice-cold mountain. When my breaths began to fog before me, sparkly frost appeared on the walls up ahead, like spiderwebs reaching for new victims. My lips tilted into a victorious grin. “Found you.”

I stepped through a chilly archway and let out a light gasp.

In the center of the cavernous room was a mound of gold and treasure, glinting and flickering in the dim rays of light from my fiery torch.

The disheveled heap was as tall as a human stave church and as wide as a Viking ship.

Atop it, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, was the frost giant Hrimthursar.

So he was real.

And so was the treasure.

Here he was all alone, protecting his shimmering stash. Smart creature. Gold was far better than people.

I grinned.

Now all I needed to do was find the necklace I’d traveled across the frigid seas for and get out of here before the monster made of ice decided to end my 150 years on this earth. Or eat me. Neither would be pleasant really.

I located a notch by the entrance and shoved the wooden torch into the crack, then prowled along the edge of the room, keeping to the shadows.

Hrimthursar stretched his gigantic foot and sent a golden goblet and the breastplate of a long-fallen warrior skittering onto the stony ground. I stilled at the noise, but the giant kept sleeping. Thank the ancestors… Wait, were those diamonds? Who put diamonds in their armor?

No, Bryn, focus. I was here for the pendant. I had plenty of gems at home.

The room widened at the back as I crept farther along the wall, searching for the pendant. Rumor said it was hidden in a crystal box, guarded by a nightmare. So far, those rumblings had been true.

My steps were as lithe as the arctic foxes that called the north home, my breaths low and slow, matching the rhythm of the monster in the center of the room.

More gemstones winked at me from the pile of treasure. Plates of gold served up dazzling diadems. And— Oh, hello, pretty thing. At Hrimthursar’s back was a shiny box, so clear it looked like it was made of glass. Within it, giving off a subtle blue glow, was a necklace with a large pendant stone.

My heart beat like the wings of a tiny bird in a storm.

I’d found it.

Crouching low to the ground, I snuck up behind the beast and his mountain of treasure and started to climb.

The ascent was more unstable and difficult than I’d imagined, but each careful step carried me closer to the top while only causing the slightest of clinks against the metals and stones in the heap.

The pendant cast a gentle glow around itself as if begging me to come take it.

Almost there.

One step.

And another.

I reached out, flicked the delicate clasp on the box, and wrapped my fingers around the stone.

As I lifted it out of its home, my breath caught in my throat.

It fit snugly in the center of my palm, the twenty-odd crystal facets cool to the touch.

The whole thing was suspended from a thick silver chain.

Then the pendant stopped glowing, and a low grumble echoed around the cave.

My gut lurched.

Time to go.

I shoved the necklace into the satchel at my waist and scrambled off the treasure like my life depended on it, feet slipping on silver and sapphires.

Frosty eyes spun on me, and… My word, he was bigger than the rumors foretold.

Hrimthursar rose steadily as if he were a bear coming out of hibernation readying to eat its first meal after starving for months. Specks of snow and ice flaked off him as he shook out his limbs.

Swallowing hard, I sprinted, not daring to look back.

That would waste precious time.

Time that would be better spent on saving my own life, because I highly doubted Hrimthursar was fond of fae. Especially ones who took his things.

A roar of rage sounded behind me as if to confirm my thoughts, and the ground shook. I stumbled and twisted, getting a full view of the giant. Beady blue eyes the size of boulders glared at me, frozen fists the size of small boats readying to punch.

I pulled on the magic swirling in my sternum. The power skipped down my arms forming a boiling ball of water between my outstretched palms. Without waiting, I launched it at the giant. It smacked against his chest with a hiss.

He bellowed, the noise dislodging shards of stone and ice from the ceiling.

I ducked and dodged, aiming for the torch across the room.

I needed that to get out of here. There was no light in those tunnels, and I wasn’t a royal fae with light magic, nor the sole Fjord Fae who’d been granted such powers from the ancestors.

He lived in Skolvik at the Fjord Fae palace with the king—

My toe caught on something and sent me flying. I landed with a thud against the floor, my hands catching me before I could smash my jaw.

A jet of ice speared the ground beside me, and I rolled to my right. Only to land on my back and see another spear heading my way. I rolled back and scrambled to my feet, only then noticing what had caused my fall: bones.

Lots and lots of bones.

Oh my word, and a skull.

Looked like I wasn’t the only one to hear the rumors.

But I’d be damned if I was going to end up like these skeletons.

I bolted for my only light source. Ice shattered against the wall, narrowly missing my hand and almost snuffing out the torch. I grabbed the fiery stick and raced down the tunnels, zipping around corners, listening for the sound of the ocean.

A bellow sounded at my back.

“Sorry, mate. Finders keepers.”

Or more like little thief hands keep what they can.

My free arm pumped at my side until a circle of daylight appeared up ahead. I abandoned the torch and sprinted toward it.

Yanking on the ties of my cloak, I unfastened it and flipped it as quickly as possible, revealing the white underside.

The two-toned material had gotten me out of many a scrape in the far north.

With one side as dark as the rocky mountains and the other as pristine as the whitest snows, I could blend into the terrain wherever I went.

Flakes of snow battered my cheeks and the wind drew tears from my eyes—the cold equally angry with what I’d just done.

I pulled my cape tighter around me. Hopefully, the white material would blend with the island’s snowy terrain and hide my hair and features from the giant.

If it didn’t… Well, it was better to err on the side of optimism.

Optimism with caution got one treasure.

Optimism with recklessness got one killed.

Thankfully, I’d always found myself in the former category. And today was no different, as long as—

The ground shook beneath my feet and a loud groan echoed from the cave.

Shite. I pushed ahead, the ocean undulating near the horizon.

Not far to go.

I just needed to keep running.

Keep moving.

Bitterly cold air scraped at my throat and lungs and nipped at my exposed cheeks.

Another roar sounded from behind me, and the entire island shook, sending me to my knees. I spun around to find the top of the mountain bursting open like a snowy volcano, sending rocks and ice into the sky along with… Oh, ancestors, what had I done?

Hrimthursar shot through the detritus. Those sharp eyes searching far and wide.

I needed to leave.

Now.

My breaths fogged the air in front of me. I needed to get off this island as quickly as possible. Head south with my spoils and never return. Find a ship, then perhaps commandeer a horse, maybe even a carriage, and lie low in one of my favorite hiding spots.

The ground shook again, the sound of cracking ice piercing the blizzard of rocks and snow.

The Fjord Fae ancestors could damn me when I finally joined them, but I wasn’t going to die today. I had the steal of a century in my bag, and I was escaping with it.

Hopping back onto my feet, I raced toward the edge of the island and launched myself off the cliff and into the tumultuous North Atlantic.