The Girl the Sea Gave Back(63)

Jorrund’s face twisted in fury, his teeth clenched so tightly they looked as if they may break in his mouth. Vigdis stood broad-shouldered beside him and I knew what he was thinking. That he should have killed me when Vera died. That he should have let me burn when Bekan fell in the glade. Every drop of blood spilled from here to Liera was the sea I was cursed to drown in. Somehow, Vigdis had known it. He knew that I’d bring death since the moment he first laid eyes on me.

And he was right.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT


HALVARD


The signal moved through the wind like thread through a needle as the Svell came into view.

The front line of their warriors stretched as long as ours, but there were rows upon rows of them waiting to press forward, toward the slope that led down to the village. Vigdis stood at its center before the others, his hair picked up by the wind, and even from this distance I could see that the blade clutched in his hand was the jeweled sword that Bekan had brought to the glade as the offering of reparation. It was the weapon that took Espen’s life. The amber stone at its hilt almost seemed to glow in the palm of his hand.

I looked to Fiske and he gave me a tight nod before he slid his own sword free. I’d never seen him in battle. I’d only ever heard the stories. But looking into the face of my brother, it was as if a different person had come alive behind his eyes.

“I’m with you, brother.” His deep voice carried the words in the silence and they were the only ones I needed. With Iri, Fiske, Eelyn, and Myra at my side, I was suddenly unafraid.

Tova set her dark eyes on the Svell army. The Tala I’d seen her with in the glade stood beside Vigdis in the distance, his face full of horror at the sight of her. But she looked back at him with no expression, the bow light in her hands.

Their warriors came to a stop and Vigdis looked to the trees around us, studying the space between the two multitudes. In more than one way, meeting them in the forest gave us a disadvantage, but if fate was on our side like Tova said it was, it would be the only way to win. From the look of Vigdis, he was suspicious of the move.

I kneeled down, taking a handful of cool, damp soil into my hand and crushing it between my fingers, the feel of the earth centering me. I breathed, summoning the sight of Hylli at sunset to the front of my mind. The smell of the sea and the golden light. The sound of the water against the hull of the boat and the shells chiming in the windows. I’d been born on the mountain but I’d become a man on the fjord. Its waters flowed through my veins.

I whistled again as I stood, letting the sound ring out, and drew a last steady breath. It was the end, and I couldn’t help but think it felt right. I let the weight of my sword pull me back to the battlefield and my gaze settled on Vigdis before I tipped my head back and screamed.

The rush of wind slid past me as I took off running and the war cries of my clansmen threw me forward. My feet sank into the soft ground as we wove through the trees, the Svell racing across the forest toward us. And then there was a moment of silence. A space splintered between beats of my heart, before every raging thing collided and the earth underfoot was eaten up with war.

Vigdis’ towering frame ran straight for me at the front, his teeth shining as he roared. My steps hit the ground faster and I didn’t slow until the glimmer of light on steel made me sink low. An axe flew over my head, catching a Nādhir woman behind me, and she was knocked from her feet, hitting the ground hard. I stood just in time to catch the man who’d thrown it with my blade, dropping him with one strike before I jumped over him. I searched the haze for Vigdis as bodies flooded around me. But he was gone, lost in the sea of battle ahead.

Fiske ran past me, his sword swinging up and over his head before it sank into the back of a Svell. The man fell at his feet and he yanked it back, spinning and taking another down with a second stroke. My eyes focused on a woman lifting a bow behind him. She sighted down her arrow at Fiske, her mouth dropping open as her fingers slid from the string.

“Down!” I ran for her as Fiske dropped to his haunches and the arrow sailed over his head and hit the Svell behind him.

She reached for another arrow but I was too close. I brought my axe down onto her shoulder and she fell to her knees, reaching for Fiske. He toppled backward, driving his sword up to impale the woman with it. The length of the blade shone with blood as Fiske pulled it from where it was wedged between her bones and stood, heaving.

I stepped over the woman at my feet, picking up her sword with my free hand.

“Alright?” Fiske waited for me to nod before he turned back to the three warriors running toward us.

He readied, one hand hovering at his side to steady himself, and I took a step forward, pivoting on my foot to bring the axe around me with more momentum. I didn’t look at the mark before it landed, relying on my aim so that I could keep an eye on the Svell woman closing in. The point of the axe blade sliced clean through the thick of the man’s leg and I let the handle slide from my fingers as the woman reached me. I dropped to one knee, taking the hilt of the sword into both hands before driving it upward with a snap. It sank into the center of her chest and Fiske yanked me by my armor, pulling me up and shoving my axe back into my hands. We pushed forward, to the front line.

But before we made it, a man barreled into me, knocking me off my feet. My axe flew from my grasp and as I braced for the blow of his sword, he suddenly froze, falling to his knees before me. His hands clutched at the iron point punctured through his throat. Blood spilled out between his fingers as he clawed at the arrow.