White Stag (Permafrost #1)(56)

I followed him, casting a glare at Seppo as he came beside me. “Why did you betray Lydian?” I asked. “Or did you really?”

He eyed me calmly. “You really dislike me, don’t you?”

“Give me a reason to like you,” I said.

Seppo started ticking off fingers. “Well, one, I saved you from becoming lindworm chow. Two, I saved you and Soren from Lydian. Three, I think I have an idea about how to heal Soren. And last, but definitely not least, four, I know what Lydian is planning.”

We’d reached the rock-and-ice wall. From where I stood, looking up at the daunting climb, the hole seemed miles away. But without a word, Soren boosted himself up against the crags, his body searching for any hold it could get. I found a foothold and started the ascent myself, forcing my gaze upward, never down at the ground, as I slowly went higher. Soren hissed as a piece of ice broke apart in his hand, leaving him hanging on by his bad arm. In one smooth motion, he swung his body until his back was against the wall, his feet on precarious ledges.

Before I could do anything to help him, he tensed the muscles in his legs and sprang up, managing to grab a higher hold that jutted outward. The muscles in his arms were quivering, a sight I’d never seen before. But despite the pain he had to be in, not a single sound escaped from his lips.

My fingers curled against the ice as I pulled myself farther and farther up. The temptation to look down gnawed at my insides, but if I did, I was positive I would freeze on spot. The muscles in my arms screamed as I pulled myself from handhold to handhold, jagged piece of ice after jagged piece of ice. When I finally got through the hole, which Soren had already climbed through, my body crumpled to the ground with exhaustion. I lay on the smooth stone, muscles still shaking with effort.

Seppo came up last. For a moment we just lay there, fighting for breath. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of putrid flesh. Soren’s arm was getting worse.

Even though my body screamed at me to rest, I stood and straightened my weapons. “You said you knew a way to heal Soren,” I said to Seppo.

“I did,” he agreed.

“Well, then let’s hear it,” I snapped, glancing back to where Soren lay, clutching his arm. Fear fluttered in my throat. He can’t die. He can’t.

“You know you’d make a lot more friends if you weren’t so tense,” Seppo said.

“I’m not here to make friends,” I said. “Do you know how to heal Soren or don’t you?”

Seppo rubbed the back of his neck. “When she was younger, my mother spent a lot of time down here. She befriended the folk who lived here and mapped out every passage and which creature lived inside it. She even had a nickname.”

“Fairy Tail,” Soren rasped. “Because she followed the folk more than she did goblinkind.”

“She taught me about the passageways. About how if you whistle high enough, you can cause rocks to cave in, about where each creature resides, what it does, what you can get from it. Svartelves give knowledge about yourself, if you can survive the twisted way they show it; others grant pleasure, riches, wishes.” His gaze narrowed. “There’s a n?kken down near here, and I think if we play him right, he can give us something.”

Soren nodded gravely, standing with slow, heavy movements. I hoped it wasn’t the venom, but instead his body aching from the climb. My own muscles were still spasming in pain, but I forced myself to keep standing. I would go on until I dropped.

“N?kkens grant wishes, if you give them something in return,” Seppo said. “Something personal, usually. It doesn’t matter if there is no known cure for lindworm venom. A n?kken can make it if you desire it.”

“They also like to trap their victims down underwater until they die,” I said. The mothers of my village told their children the story before we could even walk. Don’t wander too close to the water’s edge. The n?kken will take you down to his realm.

“That won’t happen,” Seppo said, his voice sure. “We can outsmart them. You can outsmart them.”

We’d started moving again, following Seppo down the darkened tunnels. Every nerve in my body urged me to kill this man. I didn’t trust him. I’d made that clear, and whatever Soren thought of him, I would continue to be wary. He’d been Lydian’s man.

“Why me?” I asked.

“Can’t you hear it?” That was Soren, his voice stronger now than before. “The rushing sound? Wherever that creature is living, the current’s too strong for any goblin to stand it. It’ll have to be you.”

I closed my eyes, straining my ears. Yes, he was right. The violent, thunderous sound of rushing water was close by, like a hundred horses stampeding past. It wasn’t a current any goblin could survive in; it would suck all their power away the minute they hit the water.

“Seppo, can you give me a moment with Soren alone?”

He nodded and stepped away, back the way we came.

Soren eyed me. “You really don’t trust him, do you?”

“Do you?”

“No. But I’d also rather not die, and I know he’s telling the truth. Even if he is only half goblin, I can still tell if he lies, just like every other goblin. If we let him leave, we risk Lydian knowing what we’re up to. If we keep him close, at best he can tell us what Lydian is planning; at worst, we have a hostage.”