Chapter 42
Ican barely breathe as my brain puts it all together.
Stefan has just been biding his time, trying to manipulate the situation so that no one could doubt it was an accident.
A jotnar attack. I bet he plans on fixing that ravine afterwards, too, so if people come to the scene of my death, there’ll be no evidence of his part in it.
‘Rose!’ Benny yells. ‘They’re coming. They’re definitely jotnar. There are at least two of them. From that side and that side.’ He points.
‘You planned this,’ I snarl to Stefan, my body trembling. ‘Kyor was right all along. You want me dead. And how perfect that he isn’t here to interfere.’
‘He’s pesky with those lightning bolts of his. But good work on that little ravine of yours. Really, I mean it. Rumblings in the ice really help to attract the attention of the jotnar. Although if we’re honest, it was probably my little safety gully that called them first.’
‘You’re insane.’ I shake my head in utter disbelief.
‘No, I’m not. I want to rule. I have been raised my whole life to rule.
And I will rule. Besides, you might yet get out of here alive.
Call it my final test of leadership capability if you will, Princess.
You could build a bridge, get your friends across safely, and then do as you wish, but I’m guessing in the amount of time that’s likely to take you, the jotnar will already be upon you. ’
‘You fucking—’
I can do it. I can make a bridge. Surely. Magic flares in my hands as I sweep them in an arc. Brilliant white ice erupts in front of me. It’s thin, yes, and the arc is a little steep, but it traverses the gap of the ravine.
Stefan blanches, only for his expression to shift into a rictus of false pride.
‘There it is, Rose!’ He claps slowly. ‘Another test. Another skill mastered.’
Let me rip out his throat, Fen growls.
Not yet. I want to do that myself.
I walk towards the makeshift bridge, only for Benny to call out in warning, ‘Rose, they’re coming in fast. Too fast. If we don’t stop them … without the alarms … they’ll keep going straight to the city.’
‘They can’t,’ Stefan snorts. ‘The ravine will stop them.’
‘Are you fucking joking me?’ Benny swings around to face him. ‘One of them is nearly sixty feet tall. It’ll walk across your fucking ravine without even trying.’
‘You’re wrong.’ Stefan shakes his head. ‘The largest giant I’ve ever seen was only just over fifty feet.’
‘Well, you’re about to meet a much fucking bigger one,’ Benny insists. ‘Up close and personal.’
He’s right. It’s not just a flurry of snow now. I can see the silhouettes, the flashes of muted colours amid the white storming towards us.
Get on my back, Little Raven, Fen says, his eyes locking on the horizon. We need to move now. I hear him, but I can’t move. With every passing moment, the creatures are growing in size, approaching from either side of us. It’s an ambush.
Fear wheels in my stomach.
I once thought the jotnar in the Retterheld were big, but those were just some damn babies compared to these juggernauts.
The one Fen and I brought down seemed towering when it first lumbered out of the snow, but like the Retterheld giants, it didn’t act strategically.
It was rage-filled, disoriented. But these …
these ones know exactly what they’re doing.
And that’s scary as fuck.
Little Raven! Fen’s voice is urgent.
You can’t carry all of us, can you? My reply is a fast snap, my eyes still not leaving the mountainside as I reach for the dagger at my side. It’s small, yes, but Fen and I killed one of them together with it when we first came here. If the others can manage the second…
No. Maybe three at most. But Fen’s tone is dubious. I don’t blame him.
We leave the Issen behind, Fen suggests. He did this to us.
I spin around, only to see Stefan is already sprinting back to the city.
‘No fucking way!’ As words blast from me, my magic flares and the ground cracks.
I create a well, just like Stefan wanted, and he falls right down to the bottom of it. I feel a flicker of satisfaction as I hear him cry out in pain, but the jotnar are closing in way too fast to revel in it.
Little Raven, Fen warns again.
I will not flee. We have to fight.
I cannot reach my mate, he warns. The distance is too great. All I can send are my feelings.
Then send her your fear – and your love – and then let’s focus on this fucking fight.
‘What are we doing, Rosey?’ Ruben asks, his voice sharp now.
‘We’re up to three now,’ Benny adds as another jotunn appears from behind the mountain beside us.
I swallow hard. Three jotnar versus three humans and a wolf. But deep down, I know this fight is on me. Of course it’s on me. It’s my fault we’re here. My fault there was no warning. And if they get to the city, I will have to shoulder the weight of every life lost.
I’m not going to let that happen.
‘We’re doing the only thing we can,’ I tell them. ‘We’re fighting.’
Fen growls a low rumble of dissent.
I reach out to him. What was it you said about wanting jotnar trachea? Now’s your time to shine.
He brightens. True! I will feel the cartilage crack beneath my jaws.
‘Benny, every strike we make needs to count, so you’re going to have to tell us where to aim. You understand? Just keep telling us where to strike, and Ru and I will see to it. Right?’
Ruben nods in acknowledgement. ‘Sure, but I’m gonna need you to give me a hit here.’
‘Right. Right,’ I say, only for anxiety to lurch through me.
Every time I’ve given Ruben a decent hit of magic, it’s come from the plants.
It’s come from me expanding vines, then drawing the magic back out to give to him.
The only times I’ve used my Issen powers like that, it’s been in the library with the frozen glasses of water, and other than the water in the air, there’s no water here to freeze.
And freezing the air might kill the jotnar, but I suspect it’ll kill all of us as well.
‘Rose,’ Benny speaks. ‘Ru’s right. He’s gonna need to get those flames ready.’
‘Right,’ I say again, shaking my head and trying to ignore the way my breaths are growing quicker. ‘Right.’
‘Make something big, like the wolf,’ Ruben suggests. ‘Try to recall the feeling you had before you made that. We were together then too, remember? Which I think means I’m your good luck charm.’ He flashes me a smile, but I can’t reciprocate it.
He’s right. We need something big. I need that feeling from before, but that tingling light is refusing to appear, even at the tips of my toes.
What was it that Kyor said to me? When push comes to shove, when people I care about need saving, I can do it. That’s what this is. This is saving the people I care about. Not just Benny and Ruben, but all of Isthyr. Kyor. My grandfather. The Issen. My people.
Which means I need something big. Something full of power. I close my eyes and imagine the light within me.
Sound hammers in my eardrums as vats of water that were previously invisible within the air are drawn inwards.
I picture Fen, just as I did that day, and then I release it in a rush.
When I open my eyes, it’s there. A wolf. Maybe half the size of the other one, but made like this, under serious time constraints, I’ll take it. Without wasting a beat, I pull the magic back out, collapsing the statue into nothingness, and pass it into Ruben.
‘How do you feel? Is it enough?’ I ask.
‘It’s good. I can take more.’
‘You don’t want to push it,’ Benny warns.
‘I know,’ Ruben agrees. ‘But we need to make sure I can roast these guys. Honestly, I’ll be fine. Just give me a little more.’
As much as I don’t want to put anyone in danger, he’s right. We’ll need his powers to survive this. The jotnar here are likely used to the Issen fighting them, used to ice. They won’t be expecting fire. And it’s certainly more reliable than anything I can do.
So I do as Ruben asks, and this time I make the wolf almost effortlessly. Panic seems to be my secret weapon, which is great because I need any form of weapon I can find.
The huge ice beast appears in front of me once again, a little less refined than the first one, but I don’t give a shit about refinement right now.
With no time for self-congratulation, the instant the figure is complete I sweep that magic back and pour it into Ruben.
‘Okay,’ I say, breathless. ‘Now for me.’
Without vines to grow and lash around the giants, I’ve only got two options.
I can fight in close quarters like I did on our first night here, or I can take on Llin’s role in our last fight against the giants and use a snowstorm to try to push them back.
That feels like the best option right now, at least to begin with.
‘Are you armed?’ I ask Benny.
Other than the expansionists, who mainly hurl words, we’ve been safe in Isthyr. There’s been no need to be fully armed everywhere we go, not like in the Retterheld.
He pulls out a tiny dagger from his side. ‘Not really,’ he says. ‘Wasn’t expecting much need to be armed. Which is pretty stupid, considering our record.’
He looks at my dagger. ‘We’ve both brought knives to a sword fight.’
‘Yeah. Live and learn.’
‘Or we’ll die, and we won’t,’ Benny says with surprising cheer.
‘Okay, so we need swords.’ I breathe out.
When push comes to shove, I remind myself. I feel cold sweep into my hand, cutting across my palm, and when I look down, it’s there. A sword of ice. A solid weight. A firm hilt. Not perfect, but close. Really close.
‘That okay?’ I say, throwing it to Benny, who catches it with the effortless ease of someone who can see everything in minute detail.
‘You might have a career in sword making after this, Rose,’ he jokes.
‘I think I’ve got enough to crack on with for now,’ I reply drily.
I make myself two more swords. The second is good, but the third is totally off-balance.
‘Ruben?’ I nod to the weapon in my hand. ‘Can you take a little more?’
‘That little thing?’ He grins. ‘Easy.’
I draw the power out of the shit sword and pour it back into Ruben.
Little Raven, Fen warns. They’re getting closer. We should attack.