Chapter 15 #2
Thankfully the twins moved as one. With barely an inch to spare, Kilia dragged us through the opening, and Oscri followed so swiftly he barreled into us, sending all four of us into a heap on the grass.
Kilia dragged us to our feet as the trees went silent.
My heartbeats pounded between my ears as we faced the glen.
There were no wolves there anymore. Only a thick line of trees where no light or space trickled through.
I spun. It was the same thing behind us.
It was as if the trunks had all grown together, forcing us into a cage that we wouldn’t escape until we’d faced whatever it was the woods here wished us to.
“I don’t like this,” I muttered.
A low laugh followed my words, and my nostrils flared. Somehow Darcke sat atop the tall rock, his long legs dangling as he flicked his axe in his hands. Beneath him, his men stood surrounding the silver arm rings, each one with his back to the rune stone.
The warrior wiggled his fucking fingers before I turned away.
“I don’t like this either,” Oscri said. “Look at them.”
He pointed straight ahead. I couldn’t make out who they were, but all around us in the darkness, lingering by the tree line, stood other initiates in pairs.
Heads turned in all directions, and the wind died down, leaving us all in a pressing silence. The blades of the grass whistled softly, almost invitingly, as if the most monstrous wolves I’d ever seen hadn’t recently stalked through them.
“There aren’t enough of them for all of you.”
Darcke’s voice rattled my bones.
“I’m surprised so many of you made it.” He threw his hand out to where more initiates stepped into the little light there was. “We underestimated you.” He clicked his tongue. “Too bad…”
“We need to go,” I said urgently.
“Wait.” Kilia slammed a strong arm into my chest, and I had to pretend it didn’t hurt like Hel. “We don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“Ottoh got there somehow,” Oscri said. “We need those to move on to the next trial.”
My nerves felt like they were on fire. I swept my hands over the tall grass. “Kilia is right. Just… wait one moment.”
A whisper of a smile took the silver-haired man’s features before he locked it down. Something warm clawed itself into my chest when the back of his hand brushed mine, and not in a demanding way.
“I think we’ve saved each other’s lives enough times today for you to be allowed to smile at me, you know.” I elbowed him as a pair of initiates hesitantly started walking into the glen. “Your brother has.”
“I won’t smile at a Sweengard,” Kilia responded.
I gave a short, wet laugh that tasted of iron. “Even though I’ve been so kind? Both you and your brother would be in Valhalla if it wasn’t for me.”
Oscri hushed us. “Stop fighting. Something is wrong.”
The hair on my neck stood like a hound’s hackles when the air went hot. The damp forest bed beneath our feet shivered, and a rhythmic thudding, faint as a heartbeat, vibrated through the grass.
“What—” Kilia started, but I interrupted him.
“The wolves,” I whispered.
The onyx and silver wolf appeared as if they’d been conjured by a shaman. As they stalked the towering wall of interlocked ash and oak, where the trunks were so tightly woven that not even a blade could find a gap between the bark, several initiates gasped.
“Do you think they eat humans?” Oscri asked.
“Amongst other things,” I replied.
The vibrations running along the ground intensified, each beat hammering like a breaking heart driving against a rib cage. Another howl pierced the night, and we froze when the two initiates continued their way toward the stone even as the wolves prowled the area around them.
There were several paths to Darcke and the arm rings, the tall grass already cleaved by boots, but on either side the gray and the black wolf pranced, their maws lifted in menacing smiles.
A scream split the night. I stepped into Kilia when the two shadows began running to the stone, their feet hammering against the ground and their faces hard and determined as they tore at the tall grass.
It was a fool’s errand. It took only seconds for the wolves to catch up with them in a blur of fur and muscle. I swallowed back bile when the black animal threw a man into the air before jumping and ripping his head off his body.
Another silence settled over us before terrified whispers beat against the trees.
“I don’t want to die.”
“You go first.”
“Let’s wait and see.”
“Becoming a warrior is not worth this.”
The trees hovered closer, their tall shadows spreading out over the dark meadow, mirroring the starless sky above. Something within me twisted as my eyes lingered on an especially old oak, its crown towering over the rest as if in challenge.
“It’s a test,” I mumbled to myself.
“What do you mean?” Oscri jerked when the gray wolf started toward him, swiping a large paw in the air as if she was inviting us closer.
I turned to Darcke and his men again. The warrior stared emotionlessly back at me, but from his posture—the way his muscles weren’t drawn taut like they had been when he yelled at me…
“They can’t reach him,” I said.
Darcke’s full lips twitched.
“They can’t reach him,” I said again slowly.
“So?” Kilia demanded. “We don’t know how he got there.”
The grass tickled my palms again.
To survive, you must follow in the footsteps of those that came before you.
“The grass,” I said.
“What about it?” Oscri asked, but as I turned to the twin stuck with me, light flickered behind his amber eyes.
“The footsteps,” Kilia said. “Guner said we needed to follow the footsteps.”
I dipped my eyes.
“If we go in their footsteps, they can’t reach us,” Kilia finished. The twin moved ahead of me, staring at the prancing canines. “Look.” He pointed behind the black one. “Do you see?”
Something shimmered there, something that moved when the wolf did.
“A chain,” Oscri breathed. “Like Fenrir was bound by the gods.”
“But Fenrir broke those chains,” Kilia said.
“Not the last one,” I replied, my skin alternating between heating and chilling. “He didn’t break the last one.”
“No, he just bit off Tyr’s hand,” Oscri muttered.
This test must be the shaman’s work. Those chains were created from divine magic.
Ignoring Oscri’s mumbles, I pointed to the narrow path, where each footprint lay ahead of the other. “We have to walk in line, trusting each other not to stray from it.”
There were a few spots where the grass leading to the rock was bent and broken. I didn’t linger on what could have happened to those who had caused it. I nudged Oscri to take the lead, me following with Kilia falling in step behind me.
My heartbeat thrummed through the night.
Quite ironic, this challenge.
The leashed wolves. Not stepping out of line.
“The king is sending us a message.” Kilia confirmed my thoughts.
Nodding, I kept my gaze on the warrior, who had moved to study his nails.
It was quiet the first few steps, and I almost relaxed when a darker shadow layered over us. I didn’t have time to take a breath before a deafening dry rattle of thousands of feathers shattered the night.
Kilia screamed as a flock of ravens fell upon us, blocking every bit of light trickling through the meadow and turning the towering wall of trees into a flickering blur of black.
“Don’t run,” I cried when he pulled me backward so forcefully I nearly fell.
“E-easy”—Oscri panted as he swatted at the birds—“for you… you to say. You’re in… in the middle!”
“Kilia!” I screamed as my weight shifted toward him. “You can’t leave—” I spat as a feather found its way into my mouth. “We can’t leave him!”
“Fuck!” Kilia cursed as the rope slacked. “I hate birds!”
So did I. It was like being beaten by a thousand wet capes, and the air became heavy with the stench of old blood and oily feathers.
My eyes widened when a raven broke free from the swarm and flew straight for my face.
I ducked at the last second, but the bird still caught my forehead, the sharp beak slashing into my skin before it took flight again.
“Watch your eyes!” I bent my head down, keeping my steps on the narrow path while using my free arm to shield my face. “They’re going for the eyes!”
Kilia cursed again.
“Oscri,” I called. “Wait for us!”
I had no idea if he did as I asked. The birds came down once more, their wings smattering against our skin and beaks jabbing at us, drawing blood with every peck.
“Oscri!” Kilia screamed. “Answer!”
“There!” I shouted. “He’s over there.”
Oscri stood a few steps ahead of us, and I pushed and shoved through the manic flock to get to him. I was about to nudge him so that he could move when the man on his shoulder stirred.
Muddled green eyes found mine before they widened and—
“No!” I cried.
I was pushed into Kilia’s chest when the man broke free from Oscri’s grip and twisted and kicked and screamed to get down. Oscri fought back, but more birds attacked, and their battle ended before it even began when he had to shield his face from several ravens coming for him at once.
Kilia’s heart thundered against my back when Oscri’s partner’s foot thudded against the ground outside the path.
It went quiet for a second.
Then the birds cawed as one before taking off. Pure dread filled Oscri’s face as he spun to his brother.
The wolves attacked. The black wolf grabbed the injured man’s arm, and the scream that left him as the animal ripped it off would forever be burned into my mind.
Kilia cried out as well—a raw, desperate bellow that crawled under my skin and jabbed at my soul—when the gray wolf went for the other arm, the one Oscri was tethered to, driving his brother to stumble.
“No!” I flew forward when Oscri was forced off the path.
The black canine didn’t wait. Jumping in the air, it lodged its sharp teeth in Oscri’s shoulder, and with a violent shake of its head started to pull him backward.
“No!” I cursed as I reached out a hand, praying it was only my feet that couldn’t leave the path. “Kilia, hold me!”