Scorn of the Sky Goddess

by Tara West

  She remembered the king saying that a giant’s angry fist cuts a smaller path of destruction than the cunning of man, and now she understood his resentment toward humankind. She couldn’t blame him for his bitterness or his unwillingness to allow humans into Aya-Shay. Given their past, it was actually generous of the dwarves to allow humans to stay in the hold.

  “Aye.” Zier stared into the fire. “I had not been born yet, but King Furbald remembers how our race was treated by men. His whole family perished, including his wife and young child.”

  “Oh, how tragic.” Her heart ached from sadness.

  “And that’s why the dwarves adopted so many giants?” she asked. “For protection, should mankind try to breach your walls again?”

  Zier nodded. “That might be why he wanted to adopt so many giants, but most dwarves who’ve taken in the orphans love those children as if they were their own.”

  “I’ve seen it with Grim and his giant daughter, Gorpat.” She remembered the way Grim had wept with joy when she healed his daughter’s deadly sea serpent bites and the many other times he doted on his child, referring to her as his pearl.

  “King Furbald doesn’t treat his adopted son so well, does he?” There was no mistaking the accusation in Ryne’s voice. Though the ice dweller focused too often on the negative, she agreed with him on this.

  Her gaze shot to Borg, who was too focused on playing with the baby to pay their conversation any heed.

  “I do not like speaking ill of my king, but nay, he does not.” Zier hung his head. “My parents told me he was once carefree and kind, but the great battle changed him.”

  “It’s not Borg’s fault,” Ryne pressed, “though is it?”

  Zier looked at Borg, who had the babe in his arms once more, tickling her chin while she cooed and clutched his vest. “Nay, it’s not.”

  And that, she feared, was the crux of the problem. King Furbald might have had reason to mistrust humans, but his anger and rage had grown like an infected boil. Now he treated everyone with disdain, even his own people and his adopted son.

  The cold had spread to the ancient dwarf kingdom, which meant Adolan was most likely frigid. Madhea’s power was growing, and soon all the world would be ice. She’d rather have King Furbald on her side for the coming battle, though a nagging doubt told her his alliance would be hard won, mayhap not won at all.

  MARKUS LEANED AGAINST the thin fur shielding his back from the frigid ice wall, welcoming the chill that seeped into his bones, for it helped numb the pain. Some of his ribs were certainly broken, for each breath was a painful wheeze. His jaw and nose felt cracked as well. His own pain he could bear, but the thought of Ura being outed, left alone to starve or be killed by snowbears, was an agony he couldn’t endure. He silently wept for his lost love, praying to the Elements that if she were taken from this world, they’d be reunited soon.

  “Do not lose hope, my boy. Your sister is coming.”

  Markus looked at Odu, who was sitting cross-legged beside Ura’s sleeping father, Jon. The old prophet’s spindly legs poked out from under his robe like sapling branches.

  The hope that welled in Markus’s chest was more like the dull stab of a blade. Even if Dianna were to come, would she be too late to save Ura?

  “When?” he asked.

  “Soon,” the old man said and closed his eyes.

  “How soon,” he demanded, pain slicing through his torso when he raised his voice.

  But the old prophet didn’t answer. The man was more infuriating than helpful, planting a seed of hope yet refusing to water it. He prayed Dianna would arrive in time to save Ura, though he wasn’t sure if the Elements would listen. They had failed his mother and father and so many others who’d perished under Madhea’s wrath. Why would they wish to save him now?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Madhea scowled as she woke up in the scrawny arms of her lover. He’d been nothing like Rowlen, but a mouse of a man, lacking passion and stamina. She was glad last night was over, for now she could coax out of him the way to the Ice People. Once she gained entrance, she’d dispose of the blue fool and destroy the Ice People, but not before taking Rowlen’s son as prisoner.

  She heaved a sigh as she thought of the boy hunter with the strength and skill of a full-grown man. She wondered how it would feel to wake up in his arms, if he was as strong and capable as his father. If he wasn’t too unpleasant a prisoner, she’d like to find out. She dared not use dark magic to trick him into her bed, for she’d no wish to sacrifice her power and beauty once more, no matter how alluring the temptation.

  The blue man’s beady eyes flew open, and he looked at her with a start, then down at his scrawny, bare body. “What happened? Did we?” He blushed and looked away.

  Madhea fought the urge to snap his neck. “How could you forget our glorious night of passion?”

  “Oh, yes,” he mumbled, pulling the fur up to his chin.

  “So,” she drawled, yanking it down and tracing lazy circles across his collar bone, “are you ready to take your rightful place by my side and vanquish this boy hunter once and for all?”

  The ice man’s eyes lit with recognition. “Destroy the land dweller?” He eagerly nodded. “Yes, as long as you keep your word and don’t harm the others.”

  “My darling,” she cooed, nibbling his ear. “On my honor, I vow to keep my word.” Too bad he hadn’t thought to demand she make a blood oath, for Madhea knew nothing of honor. Only revenge. Sweet, bitter revenge.

  URA STOOD ON THE PRECIPICE of fate, knowing her punishment could possibly be her salvation. They had gathered in the same chamber where she’d first found Markus unconscious on a wide spike the Ice People commonly referred to as a Dragon’s Tooth, a column of ice that was ten men in height. They were surrounded by hundreds of such spikes, jutting up in to the air like a dragon’s barbed tail. The only portion of the chamber devoid of them was the platform on which she stood.

  She was amazed at how many ice dwellers had come to hate and mistrust her, yelling obscenities and throwing objects at her feet. She turned up her nose at their anger and dodged fish guts and chunks of ice. A few came to offer her their support. They didn’t trust Ingred’s tyranny and were mad at her for sentencing Odu to a slow death. If only their numbers were greater, they’d stand a chance at overthrowing the current ruler and saving her husband and father. Their chants of “Tyrant, tyrant!” were drowned out by the majority, calling for Ura’s swift punishment.

  Her only hope was to get down the unforgiving mountain, unseen by Madhea, and find Dianna in time to save Markus and her father. Her plan sounded impossible, but what other options did she have?

  The ice climbers had scaled a spike and burned a hole through the ice ceiling with one of two remaining stones. They quickly came back down and prepared the harness for Ura.

  Ingred sat behind her upon yet another throne carved of ice, clapping her hands. “It is time!”

  Ura stepped back, shaking off the grip of a beefy guardian when the climbers came for her. “Wait!” she cried. “Where is my pack? Where are my bow and arrows?”

  Ingred steepled long fingers beneath her pointed chin. “We’re keeping your possessions in partial payment for the stone.”

  Ura had never heard of such an outing. The accused was allowed a pack and a weapon. “You can’t do that! Our laws state that those outed are granted use of their weapons.”

  Ingred tapped the armrest of her chair. “We have given you another weapon.” She nodded to a guardian, and he stepped forward with a rusty, dull blade.

  “I can’t fight with this!” She threw it at Ingred’s feet, wishing she had the nerve to plunge it into her cold heart. “You are no chieftain. You are a tyrant. First a secret hearing, and now you break the laws again.” She turned to the Ice People. Her bellow was so deep and powerful, it surprised even her. “Is this what you elected her to do? Is this the kind of ruler you want, deciding fates without the input of the Council? Outing people without giving them a
chance at survival?”

  A few people in the crowd yelled, “Give Ura her bow!” while others chanted “Tyrant! Tyrant!”

  Ingred shifted in her chair, her mouth twisted in an uneasy grimace. “Very well,” she snapped, then beckoned a guardian forward. “Bring her bow and pack.” Then she flashed Ura a mocking smile. “I doubt your meager little weapon will stop a snowbear.”

  “I know it will, for my husband taught me how to shoot. You think this is over and that you’ve won, but you haven’t. I will not die out there.” She looked at the crowd, resolution hardening her voice. “I know how to survive, and I will be back with help, but not for those who have sided with the tyrant.” She sneered at Ingred even as a guardian handed Ura her bow, quiver with arrows, and the soft doeskin pack Markus had made for her. “When Madhea comes, there will be no one here to save you.”

  “Foolish girl.” Ingred snorted. “You will be snowbear bait before you make it halfway down the mountain.”

  “No, I will survive. I have to.” Ura said to herself, even as two guardians jostled her into the harness. She was about to leave Ice Kingdom for the first time in her life, thrust into the unknown and beneath the vengeful eye of an evil goddess, her only hope of saving the people she loved.

  DIANNA WOKE UP TO THE morning sun peeking through clouds. There was frost on the windows and ice hanging from the eaves. How had the temperature changed so drastically in a few hours? She knew without a doubt Borg and the babe would not survive the frigid air much longer. Borg’s teeth rattled as he shifted from foot to foot, complaining of the frost on his toes. After using much of her energy to heal his gargoyle bites the night before, she couldn’t imagine the strength it would take for her to continually heal frostbite. Twin frozen pendulums of snot trailed from each nostril to his upper lip. If Borg accompanied the group much longer he’d surely freeze to death.

  Then there was the matter of the baby. The stone could only keep a child of that size slightly warm. She would perish before Borg, for they couldn’t scrape together enough furs to cover her body.

  She went outside, breathing in the crisp morning air and impatiently tapped her foot, waiting for Ryne to finish up in the bathing hut. She’d no idea what could take a grown man so long, but she was too distraught to stand around.

  She’d tried to reach the dragons again, calling to them most of the morning, but neither answered. What if the giants had come across Lydra and Tan’yi’na on their way to the sacrifice? If they were heartless enough to sacrifice their young, they wouldn’t think twice about butchering two dragons. The thought twisted her stomach in knots.

  The babe’s loud giggle pulled her from her worries. She couldn’t help but smile as Borg played with the child, letting her ride on his back while he stomped through the city, heedless of the chafing on the frozen soles of his feet as he climbed over rubble.

  “Brrrrr!”

  She turned at the sound and looked through a broken window. Simeon shivered in front of the dying embers in the hearth. She was grateful to him for loaning his stone to the babe to keep warm, and though she wanted to make him comfortable, she couldn’t risk parting with another stone, not after her trial with the gargoyles. The only option that made sense was for him to take back the stone he’d lent the babe, and Borg had to take the child to a warmer climate.

  “The giants need to retreat to Aya-Shay,” Dianna said to Zier as he joined her, back bent even though he had yet to shrug into his pack.

  “Aye.” He squinted, rubbing his bushy beard. “And I must volunteer to lead them.”

  “You, Zier? But you’ll miss out on trading with the Ice People.” Elements save her! He couldn’t leave her alone with Simeon and Ryne!

  “I know.” He slipped his flask out of his vest, uncorked the cap, and took a hearty swallow. “But the babe’s safety is more important. I cannot trust Borg to keep a steady eye on her.”

  She thought it ironic that Zier would accuse Borg of not being steady while drinking from a flask shortly after dawn had broken. Come to think of it, she’d seen him drink from that flask many times during their journey, yet he always appeared lucid. Perhaps there was something good to say about dwarf constitutions.

  “Do you think Borg will agree to go back?” She’d be sad to see her friend go, but the baby needed someone with more experience to look after her. She didn’t know Borg’s age, but he acted as if he was still a child.

  “He has to see he has no choice.” Zier put away the flask. “Even if he cares nothing for his safety, the babe will perish if he doesn’t turn back.”

  “Zier.” Dianna knelt beside the dwarf, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for accompanying us this far.”

  When Zier turned his steady gaze on her, she thought she saw a sheen of tears in his eyes. “It was an honor, Dianna. I have faith in you. One day you will rightfully take your mother’s place. The world will once again be ruled by a benevolent goddess like Kyan, and I can say I helped our deity on her way.”

  Emotion tightened her throat. “I hope you’re right.” She worried over her failure with the gargoyles. If Borg hadn’t shown up to distract them, she wouldn’t have had time to focus her magic. She doubted she’d have giants on hand to distract her mother when they faced each other in battle.

  Zier surprised her by clutching her shoulder in a steady grip. “I know I am, lass. Mark my words, you will be victorious.”

  She swallowed. Zier put too much faith in her. She hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him, for everyone’s sake.

  MADHEA’S WINGS BUZZED excitedly as she watched the ice on the ground beneath their ledge melt. The hole appeared on a sloping patch of Ice Mountain between Madhea’s ledge and another one below. After an interminable wait, two blue men climbed through the opening, pulling with them a blue girl with a pale curtain of hair. They shoved her hard to the ground, laughing while she grunted and spit out snow. Then the men climbed back through the hole, and the ice magically sealed above their heads. No wonder Madhea couldn’t find the way to their secret city. They had used their goddess stones to seal the entrance.

  “So this is it?” she hissed in Bane’s ear. “Who is that girl?” Madhea watched with fascination as the girl got to her feet, stomping the ground and cursing the Elements. Madhea knew the girl had been outed, just as the Ice People had done to Bane.

  “Nobody important,” Bane said rather too quickly, gawping at the girl.

  “Why are they outing her?” she asked. If she were to conquer this disobedient race of people, she wanted to better understand them.

  “I don’t know.” Bane turned to Madhea with a quivering lip. “Do you think we could help her?”

  She narrowed her eyes as suspicion planted a seed in her gut. “Why?”

  He turned back to the girl, his voice wistful. “She’ll die out there.”

  That seed of suspicion sprouted, its long-barbed tendrils wrapping around Madhea’s heart. How dare Bane pine for another! Never mind that she had already planned to discard the weakling ice dweller after she’d finished with him. He should’ve had eyes for Madhea and Madhea alone!

  “Why should I care?” she asked accusingly, not bothering to hide the venom in her tone.

  Bane’s nostrils flared. “Because you told me you cared about the Ice People.”

  The girl threw a rope over the side of the mountain and rapidly descended out of view. Madhea wondered if that was the girl Ura whom Bane had mentioned was in love with Markus. She seemed in a hurry to leave the mountain.

  “I didn’t see Markus leave with her. Do you think Markus is still with the Ice People?”

  Bane faced her with a stony expression. “You don’t care about the Ice People, do you? You were only using me to enact your revenge.”

  She didn’t know how to answer his defiance with anything other than mockery, so she laughed until her eyes watered. “Do you think I could love a scrawny bird like you when I’ve been wrapped in the strong arms of a real man?” She defiantly tossed her ha
ir over her shoulder, flaunting her beauty. Let this be the last time the ice dweller looked upon her face. He didn’t deserve her as a lover, and he certainly didn’t deserve to live.

  She saw the flash of steel in the ice dweller’s hand, but her reflexes weren’t fast enough. She buckled under the thrust of the blade when he drove it into her gut.

  He stood above her as she clutched the hilt. She recognized the weapon as one of her own, a tool she’d given him when he’d complained the meat from his meal was too tough. The sneaky slog! How dare he deceive her!

  “You are no goddess,” he spat, his ugly, gaunt face contorting into a mask of malevolence. “You bleed just like a mortal.”

  Though her powers were weakening, she was able to summon a magic that blew in like the wind and knocked a shocked Bane right off the ledge, sending him careening though the air with a squeal before he hit the unforgiving ground below. Even from her perch high above the ground, she heard the sickening crack of his skull. Blood pooled around his head, darkening the ground around him.

  Clutching her wound, she fluttered into the air, flapping as hard as she could. She had to reach her chamber before she bled out. Elements have mercy, only dark magic could save her now.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dianna was grateful Ryne and Simeon were young and strong. A break in the weather meant they were able to make good time up the mountain. Another blessing: because they jogged most of the way, neither man had enough energy left to bicker. In fact, the most vocal member of their party was Tar, barking at every petrified tree as if he expected gargoyles to spring from them. He was so much on edge that he set the rest of the party on high alert, too, making for a very stressful journey.

  She knew not what had happened, but the icicles on the trees began to melt, and the Danae River swelled once more. By the time they reached Adolan, the town appeared unchanged, other than the mud surrounding the huts from the sudden thaw. The town was devoid of life and eerily quiet. They heard not even the chirping of birds, but Tar’s superior sniffing ability unearthed enough petrified nests and animal carcasses for her to know they hadn’t survived the frost. She only hoped the people of Adolan had escaped in time.