by Alane Adams
“Hold steady,” Rego said. He had Howie and Sam on either side. Farther on, Reesa waited with her army of boys. Speria and Heppner had almost a hundred men in the trees waiting for Surt’s army to attack. Another dozen soldiers were on Teren’s side. It wasn’t much, but it would have to do.
Then there was the clashing of metal on metal as Surt’s men reached the first line.
There were shouts and yells, screams of pain from Surt’s men as they were run through by the very real swords of the dummy soldiers.
“Hey, Rego, I don’t suppose you have an extra sword,” Sam said calmly.
Rego drew the second sword from his back and passed the hilt to him. “No witchfire?” he asked.
“Not today. By the way, you’re still the most annoying dwarf I’ve ever met.”
Rego snorted. “And you still don’t listen a lick.”
Sam laughed. “Touché. Good luck, dwarf.”
Rego took up a position with his sword over his head. “I don’t need luck; I’ve got you watching my back.”
They held their positions, waiting as, one by one, the lines of inanimate soldiers moved off and engaged until finally they were on the edges of the battle.
A fire giant shoved a soldier aside, sending parts of him flying.
“Finally, flesh and blood!” he roared, a sword over his head. He swung it down hard at Rego, but before the dwarf could defend himself, Sam was there. He rammed his sword into the red giant’s side, and Howie did the same from the other. The two boys grinned at each other over the still form of the red giant.
“See? Nothing to worry about,” Rego quipped.
Sam turned his head, catching sight of the Vanirian queen taking out two red giants. She had eight boys around her, fighting furiously.
Sam marked the line of fire giants pouring down the hill. Even with Howie’s army come to life, they needed an advantage. Something to help turn the tide.
Cut off the head, and the body will be lost.
Sam knew what to do.
“Stay with Rego,” he shouted to Howie.
Then he ducked into the mix of fire giants and fake soldiers. The chaos was dizzying. Sam focused on finding their leader. Someone was in charge.
He dodged under red flesh and avoided a wall of flame, racing through the lines until he spied an oversized fire giant barking orders. He was ugly, with a face like a red bull. The fire giant swung his broad sword, taking off the heads of ten of Howie’s fake soldiers, dropping them to the ground in a rattle of armor. His yellow eyes flickered toward Sam and locked in. The giant roared as he began lumbering forward, raising his sword over his head.
Sam held his ground, blocking out everything around him. He couldn’t flinch from this. He couldn’t hide.
Be still, the voice in his head whispered. I am here.
So Sam was still, waiting, watching, listening as the bull man ran toward him with his sword held high. His heart pounded out of control, leaving him breathless and weak, but he clutched his sword with everything he had.
The fire giant leapt the last five feet, soaring through the air toward him, bringing the sword down in a killing blow that would cleave Sam’s head from his body.
Sam’s arm was up, holding a sword that suddenly felt far too flimsy. He shut his eyes as blade on blade clashed with a clang that was loud enough to make his ears ring.
But his blade held.
An immense strength flowed into his arm, into the blade, and, in spite of the superior size and strength of the fire giant, Sam held his ground.
Again, the voice in his head whispered.
Sam raised his arm again as the bull man swung at him with another powerful blow.
The fire giant circled him warily now, looking for an opening.
“I am General Lukas, second in command of Surt’s great army, and you will beg for your life, little boy.”
With a roar, the general charged, this time swinging low to take out Sam’s legs.
Jump.
Sam jumped, leaping over the blade, and then he brought the hilt of his blade down on the back of the fire giant’s head.
There was a sickening thwack and a flow of blood. The general sagged to his knees, shaking his head to clear the stars.
Finish it, the voice urged.
Sam hesitated.
Finish it, or I will, the voice commanded.
Sam raised the sword. Still, his arm wavered even as he willed it to obey. From a distance, he heard a loud whistle. He turned his head toward it, and the wounded fire giant’s hand shot out and grabbed his ankle, yanking him to the ground. In a second, the general was on top of him, a dagger to his throat.
“Die now, human scum.”
The fire giant raised his knife to deliver the killing blow, but a loud thumping sound made him pause. He looked up in time to see Fenrir’s gaping jaws, and then the giant wolf bit down on the general’s head and shoulders, tossing his body through the air.
The wolf barreled through the lines, knocking down the fire giants like bowling pins, sending their bodies hurtling through the air with a snarl and snap of his jaws. Surt’s army began to scatter and run for the hills to evade those deadly teeth.
Breathing heavily, Sam let Howie haul him to his feet. Damarius jumped up, putting his paws on Howie’s chest and lapping at his face.
“I think we won this round,” Howie said, rubbing the wolf’s ears.
“Should I ask where Fenrir came from?”
“Nope. And let’s hope he keeps going. He eats more than he weighs.”
Sam probed around inside his head. Odin had gone silent. He felt cold, like a warm blanket had been removed. He had disobeyed the god, hesitating over taking the life of that fire giant. Was this his punishment?
Men began streaming from the trees. They started racing past Sam and Howie as if the devil himself were after them. They turned to see what the problem was.
A wall of red flesh began to march out of the trees.
A second army. This one bigger and fiercer than the one they had just defeated.
Chapter 38
While the battle raged on outside the walls, Keely clung to the rampart, willing Sam and Howie to be okay. She had seen Sam arrive, and she cheered with the others, hugging Leo with joy. Even from a distance, she could see he was glowing with some kind of inner power.
Odin. It had to be.
“It’s going to be okay,” Leo said, his eyes bright. “Sam is back. Look how he glows.”
Keely clasped his hand, raising it high. Sam would do something amazing, and Surt would run off.
But that’s not how things went. Once the battle began, Sam was nearly killed by a fire giant. Odin wasn’t all-powerful, at least not here.
It had taken everything to keep Abigail from rushing to her son, but Gael kept her busy with her team of witches, sending blasts of witchfire at the fire giants that got too close to the wall.
Fenrir had turned the battle—that is until Surt’s second, even bigger army had emerged from hiding.
Along the ramparts, the Eifalian archers began firing their bows, but the arrows bounced off the shields and armor of the red giants. Teren and Galatin did their best to rally the men for the oncoming horde. They gathered at the gates, shouting orders at the men as they waited for the signal to rush out to battle.
Leo drew arrow after arrow, letting them loose while Keely gripped the rail. Only the iron bolts of the crossbows could penetrate the giants’ thick armor, and they had few of those weapons.
Feeling helpless, Keely’s hand went around the pendant at her neck. The power in the amulet made her blood sing. It was like the Eifalian ghost was whispering in her ear.
You will know when the time is right, Gael had said. Was that time now?
The gates were flung open as the Orkadians poured back into the safety behind the walls. Surt’s army marched relentlessly closer. They would reach the walls in minutes, and then they would tear it apart with their bare hands. Teren’s men would be minc
emeat.
“Not today,” she whispered. “We’re not going to lose.”
“Keely, what are you doing?” Leo was there at her side, gripping her elbow.
“Trust me,” she said. “But don’t let go of me.”
Keely wrapped her hand around the pendant. Instantly, she felt a powerful magic move in her, like a live current charged with energy. They needed to take out this army, but they had no weapon that could do that.
“Nehalannia,” she whispered. “Show me. Show me how to use this.”
She felt the stone begin to vibrate under her fingers. It grew cold, colder than ice until it burned. She felt Nehalannia’s spirit guide her. Water. Nehalannia loved the water. Water was powerful.
Keely turned toward the seas, letting the pendant fall to her chest as she raised her hands. “Spirit of the water, I command you to rise and obey my command.”
“Keely, are you sure?”
She blocked out Leo’s voice as the magic surged in her blood and a connection with the sea engaged like a lock and a key.
“Rise,” she repeated, lifting her hands up again and again. A cold wind whipped across the seas, carrying the scent of brine and something else, electricity. Waves began lapping at the rocks. The water rose higher as the seas swelled, building up a giant wave.
Leo guessed her plan, and he shook her by the arm. “Stop! Sam and Howie are still out there.”
But it was too late. Keely couldn’t stop the spiral of power that had taken hold of her, a siren song calling up the water. She raised her hands in the sky as power poured from her. A bright light shot out of the amulet around her neck, and the giant wave swelled, casting a dark shadow over the battlefield.
At the sight of Surt’s fresh army, Sam wanted to hightail it back inside the walls of the city, but Howie was running from pile of armor to pile of armor.
“Howie, we have to go!”
“Not without Rego; he’s here somewhere. He was battling ten fire giants keeping them off me while I called Fenrir. Damarius, find Rego,” Howie snapped at the wolf. The Shun Kara ran around, sniffing the piles of armor, and then he tilted his snout to the air and howled, sitting back on his haunches.
There was a large pile of fire giants, limp and unmoving. At the bottom, a familiar pair of boots stuck out.
“Help me get him out of there,” Sam said, pushing off the top giant.
They pulled and pushed the pile of flesh until they got to the dwarf. His eyes were closed. Blood soaked his clothes.
“Rego, speak to me,” Sam said. “Come on, you annoying dwarf, don’t tell me you let a few nasty giants beat you. I’ve seen you survive worse.”
But this time, Rego didn’t move. After a moment, Sam laid him back down. “I guess that’s it, then.” His voice broke with emotion.
“That’s what?” the dwarf said, opening one eye to look up at him. “I was just waiting to see if you were going to cry like a baby.”
“Rego, you’re alive!” Sam said, crushing him in a hug.
“Don’t get all weepy on me. Takes more than a dozen fire giants to wipe me out.”
They helped Rego up. That’s when they realized the battlefield was deserted.
Surt’s army bore down on them.
“Give me my sword,” the dwarf slurred. “I can take them.”
Sam looked at Howie. This was bad. They could never make the walls in time.
“Friends to the end,” Howie said as Sam tossed him a sword. Rego clutched his own, swaying on his feet. Damarius planted wide paws, lowering his head to snarl at the oncoming horde.
“Till the end,” Sam said. “Defend Rego as long as you can.”
The red giants didn’t attack; instead they swarmed around them, forming a circle and marching in tighter and tighter until they formed a solid ring.
One pushed through, a horrible-looking female in studded armor. She had an ugly twisted scar on one cheek, and her yellow eyes flashed with rage. “I am General Bellac,” she sneered, her teeth a mouth of polished metal. “I have always wanted to taste Orkadian flesh. I hear it is sweet as young lamb.”
The fire giants laughed.
“Then fight me, unless you’re scared,” Sam said, beckoning her into the tight ring.
A snarl of laughter ripped from her. “Scared of a little boy?”
Bellac stepped into the circle holding a meaty hand up to her men. “If any one of you interfere, I will personally cut your head off. This one is mine.”
The she-warrior raised a heavy broadsword over her head. Bellac towered over Sam; she was nearly seven feet tall. She spun in a circle, moving lithely for her size. Her twin braids flew out, spinning like a helicopter blade before she brought her sword down at him.
Sam barely had time to get his arm up. The thrust of her sword against his blade made his whole body go numb, but his arm held.
The thrumming power in him gave him the answer why. Odin was back.
“About time,” Sam muttered, moving sideways as Bellac advanced on him. “I could use a little god magic right now.”
You don’t listen, Odin chided.
“Yeah, that’s teenagers for you. I’m listening now,” Sam whispered. “What do I do?”
Bellac charged him, and Sam’s body started to glow, as if lit by an inner fire. She was like a two-ton freight train coming at him. He wanted to run, but the voice in his head commanded him to hold his ground.
The light around him burned brighter until it was almost blinding. Bellac didn’t slow down or show fear; she thrust forward with her blade into Sam’s middle, only to see it incinerate like it had been thrust into the fires of a forge. She was left with the stub of a hilt in her hand.
Now! the voice said.
Sam didn’t hesitate; he thrust forward with his sword, but she parried left, ducking into a roll, and he missed. He was about to go after her again when the roar of the ocean brought his head up. The rest of the warriors in the circle all turned as one to stare at the freaky giant wave that loomed over them.
There was no time to scream. The wave hovered over them, and then, with a crashing roar, it broke, and the space in front of Skara Brae filled with the onrush of the sea. The wave came rolling in like a tsunami, knocking men off their feet and roiling them in the water.
“Run!” Sam shouted.
Sam and Howie each got an arm under Rego, but in seconds they were swept off their feet by the flood of water. Sam grabbed on to Howie’s arm, and he held Rego’s as they were tossed and tumbled. They managed to stay afloat as the water level rose.
“When it goes back out, we’re going with it,” Sam said.
They would surely drown.
Lingas circled over their heads, letting out a harsh caw.
“Go away, Lingas!” Howie shouted.
Damarius splashed next to them, dog paddling.
The iolar dove, grabbing at Howie’s shirt with its claws, as if the bird could tug him to safety.
It was pointless. A single iolar couldn’t save Howie, let alone all of them.
But then a ladder splashed into the water next to him. Sam looked up to see Perrin grinning down at him. “Need a ride?”
Skidbladnir!
Sam grabbed on to the ladder, hauling Howie up behind him. Geela lifted Rego by his armpits, Perrin grabbed Damarius, and then Skidbladnir lifted them over the water.
Magic roared in Keely’s veins. Power surged through her as she held her hands up to the sky. The seas rose higher and higher. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. She couldn’t stop it. She didn’t want to stop it. The power was like a living torch inside her. Someone was by her side, shaking her arm, shouting words at her, but she couldn’t hear them.
Fire giants were bobbing and screaming in the water. Some sank as their heavy armor weighted them down.
A faint voice got through.
“Keely, stop. You’re going to flood the city. Everyone is going to drown.”
Stop. I have to stop. Keely tried to tamp down on
the power, but it roared at her, like it wanted to consume the world.
Then a hand gripped hers tightly. The touch was warm and familiar.
Leo. It was her friend Leo.
“I’m right here, Keely. You can do this. Fight it.”
Slowly she put a lid on the power, reeling it in, tightening her grip on it. The Pendant of Helina belonged to her. The power belonged to her. She could control it. She would.
The water stopped rising. She pushed harder, releasing her hold on the sea. With a sucking noise, the ocean called the water back, and it receded as fast as it came in, taking every scrap of living thing with it.
In moments, the battlefield was empty, wiped clean, with only a puddle of seawater left.
The pendant in her hand went cold and still. Keely shuddered, then collapsed, but Leo caught her.
Perrin landed the ship in the center square, and Skidbladnir bobbed in the air over the paving stones.
“What happened out there?” Sam asked, jumping down to shout at Teren. “Where did that water come from?”
Leo appeared at the top of the rampart, carrying a limp Keely in his arms. He laid her down on the ground as Gael rushed to her side. “Keely used the magic from Nehalannia’s pendant. She called up the water to save us.”
Gael knelt over her, passing his hand over her head and chest. “She is resting. The magic has drained her. If she had continued, she would have perished.”
Abigail appeared, crushing Sam in her arms, and then she held him at arm’s length. “I will lecture you later. The danger isn’t over yet. Surt still has his army of boercats. He could burn the city to the ground.”
On cue, dark spots dotted the sky as tongues of flame began shooting out, catching rooftops on fire.
“Protection spell now!” Abigail shouted to the witches. They thrust their fists in the sky in unison. Perrin and Mavery joined in, sending up a blast of blue and green flame that flickered and joined with the others, creating a shimmering dome over the city. As the first boercat drew near, it belched out a blast of fire that bounced off the shield.
“Sam, help us,” his mother commanded.
