14. Bryn
Bryn
My head spun from the impact, and I let out a groan. “What just happened?”
Henrik scrambled over to me and brushed his hand across the back of my head. “Are you all right?”
“Sore, but fine. Any blood back there?”
“Thank the ancestors, no.”
Another scream rent the air, and the ship swayed.
We were both on our feet in an instant. He strode across the room and grabbed two swords off the wall, tossing one to me.
“Don’t die,” he said.
“You either, Captain.”
We ran outside and were met with a sight that had air lodging in my throat. Icy rain lashed across the boat, waves undulating over the sides of the vessel, and to our right, leering down at the ship, was the frost giant, Hrimthursar. He let out a massive roar of anger and pain.
Ancestors help us, that mouth could practically unhinge itself. Thick shards replaced teeth, and an eerie darkness loomed within his maw.
What was he doing here? It couldn’t be the necklace, could it?
Hrim reached out and plucked a crew member from the crow’s nest. The man screamed, arms and legs flailing, magic swirling around him in an attempt to get free, but it was useless.
In the next instance, the man’s head was ripped clean off his shoulders and tossed aside.
The body was dropped into the ocean too, like a child had grown bored of its toy.
At the sight, a new sense of panic and urgency surged through the sailors around me. There would be no mercy from our attacker.
“Kill him!” Henrik roared as he ran to the helm, sparking sword held aloft.
Another wave of cannon fire shot through the air at his command. Three cannonballs made contact with Hrim’s abdomen, taking out chunks of ice that splashed into the ocean.
Hrim roared, and swirls of pale blue and white magic emitted from his hands. The air grew colder as the magic danced through it in eerie spirals and landed on the vessel. Ten spots of impact. All of which were marked with frost.
Horror settled in my bones as shards pierced upward out of the ice patches and turned into eyeless creatures. Minions forged of ice and snow. They looked like icy skeletons with long talons for fingers and skulls void of features.
“Slice them down!” Sverre yelled from somewhere, and the crew acted on his command, stalking toward the beings.
I aimed for the one closest to me. A warm swell of energy coursed down my arms as I pulled on my power and shot two balls of boiling water at the ice monster.
One crashed against his shoulder, the other steamed through his abdomen creating a crater the size of a cannonball. The being stopped and assessed.
Now. It was distracted. I needed to attack now.
Storming at the creature, I grabbed my sword with two hands and raised it high.
With all my might I swung and connected with the being’s shoulder, right where I’d already made a dent and near where it connected with his neck.
I sliced downward and bellowed. The blade hacked against the ice, sending shards flying, but it wasn’t enough for a beheading or to stop him—even though that move would have hit an artery on a human or fae.
Shite. I had to keep at him.
Swipe.
Stab.
Swipe.
Jab.
I pulled on my magic again, this time opting for a jet of water. The liquid propelled at the being’s face. It raised those sharp talons to shield itself, hiding its eyes. Perfect.
With my sword hand, I swung and made contact, reverberations thrumming through my arm as I connected with a thinner throat and sliced right through.
An icy thunk sounded against the deck, and I retracted the magic waterspout.
The head rolled toward the railing as the corpse collapsed in a heap of icicles.
Thank goodness. One down—I turned, and my stomach flipped—at least eleven to go. It was as if more had spawned while my attention had been on this one.
Yells and grunts mixed with the clattering of swords, and freezing rain pelted everything in sight.
Frost clung to every surface like barnacles, blood mixing with the pale hue.
My stomach flipped again. We were going to be overrun unless we did something drastic.
A tinkling noise sounded behind me, and I spun on the spot.
The icicles at my feet were morphing, shifting, restacking… Oh, shite!
Cutting off the heads didn’t work, which meant we had to cut off the source of magic. We had to stop Hrim.
“Henrik!” I screamed.
“A little busy!” came in reply.
How he could hone in on my voice in the cacophony was something I couldn’t focus on right now.
The amount of noise and movement was overwhelming, but somehow my mind locked in on what it needed to do and my body listened.
Another set of sailors sparred with a frosty being that had somehow gotten hold of a sword.
They swung and stabbed at each other, none getting in any good swipes.
I sprinted toward them, magic brewing in my palm, an almighty sphere of steaming water that would do well against the monster’s head and give us time to turn our attack on Hrim.
“Cull them and focus on Hrim!” I yelled toward Sverre as I ran past.
“What?”
“Hrimthursar. Cut off the source!”
The boat swayed as I readied to launch—
A crate crashed against me, knocking me off balance and sending me flying through the air. My eyes went wide as my body sailed backward and my feet passed the edge of the ship. Next thing I knew the waves reached up and tugged me under the tumultuous surface.
Frigid cold latched on to my aching limbs and shock temporarily blurred my vision. I hadn’t even had time to form a bubble around myself. Which now left my clothes soaked through.
I treaded water and called on my powers, but there was no use down here.
The boat looked like a toy compared to the giant attacking it. His legs moved back and forth, keeping him afloat while kicking up more water. Something shimmered in front of them while the ship swayed violently, sending more detritus and bodies into the inky depths.
Why was he here? What did he want?
I’d never heard tales of Hrim leaving his island. Unless something had changed? What could have brought him this far—
No.
I reached for my throat… No. No. No. No.
The necklace.
It wasn’t around my neck.
Shite. I’d given it to Henrik last night. He’d put it somewhere in the cabin.
That had to be what Hrim was after. If I could just get to—
What sounded like cannon fire knocked the giant back a few steps.
Oh, ancestors, this was beyond bad. I pulled on my power and propelled myself toward the surface. Breaching the waterline with a gasp, I looked on as another volley of cannonballs crashed against the giant and knocked chunks of ice off him.
Using my magic, I pushed a jet of water beneath my feet, launching myself into the air onto the ship. I landed in an ungraceful heap, pain smarting across my hands and knees from the impact.
“Henrik!”
No reply.
I glanced up at the helm where the man himself battled with one of Hrim’s icy hands. Sparking royal magic wrapped around the monster’s fingers, and the beast retracted his hand like he’d been stung.
There wasn’t time to waste. I scrambled across the deck, narrowly avoiding injured sailors and puddles of dark blood. Taking the steps two at a time, I hauled myself up the stairs to the helm.
“Henrik!”
The man shot a look over his shoulder, eyes filled with a darkness and resolve I’d never seen before.
“He wants the necklace!”
“What?” the captain yelled back, his voice barely audible through the downpour and swelling seas.
“The necklace!”
“FIRE!”
The entire boat shook as a line of cannonballs sailed across the sea and exploded against Hrim’s torso. The giant wailed and covered his injuries with his arm before backing away from the ship.
I held my breath, clothes dripping onto the planks beneath me.
As did every other being on the vessel.
Snowy swirls of magic wrapped around the monsters on board and they vanished.
Hrim let out another roar as if to say this was the first battle, but he would return to continue this war. With that, he slipped beneath the roiling surface and disappeared.
A round of applause filled the air, but my heart was in my throat as I stared out at the bloodied deck and prone bodies of Henrik’s fallen crew. Hrim had come hunting for me and the necklace… and they’d been killed because of me.