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Kolfinna opened her mouth to say something, to tell him tostop, but the Jötnar’sgluttonous, oily profile in her peripheral silenced her. She clapped her hands loudly to get his attention and snatched the spike from him when she drew near.

Mímir seemed to understand because he backed away as she went to work. When she slid the last spike into its hole, a hissing click sounded at the doorway. Kolfinna scrambled toward the handles and placed her shaking hands on them.Please. She begged.Please open. She didn’t want to stay a second longer with that monster.

Her prayers came true as the door creaked open.

“Thank go—” one of the soldiers, Eyjarr, accidentally whispered.

Kolfinna’s eyes widened and the Jötnar screamed, lurching forward. Without thinking, Kolfinna shoved him through the doorway and sprang inside herself. Everyone spilled out of the room while the Jötnar screamed, its claw slamming the floor where Eyjarr had been.

“Close the door! Close the door!” Kolfinna screamed, crawling further away from the room.

The Jötnar screamed again from the open doorway, but it didn’t pass through, its beady eyes narrowed in fury. Mímir slammed the door shut behind him loudly.

For a moment, it was hard to do anything but stare at the door, as if the Jötnar would come crashing through it. Kolfinna’s body shook with adrenaline and she ran a shaky hand over her face.

That was close.

All at once, everyone released a breath of air.

Kolfinna took notice of the room they had entered. Torn paintings hung on the walls, various broken statues littered the carpeted floors, which were splattered with who-knows-what, and moss covered the pillars in the rooms. There was nothing out of the ordinary compared to the previous rooms. Light spilled from an open doorway to another room that, from the outside looking in, was more spacious and must’ve had many windows with how brightly lit it was.

“That was intense,” Eyfura breathed. “Gosh.”

Eyjarr stumbled back against a broken statue of a man, and it crashed to the floor, where it splintered and white chunks of it sprayed the grimy floor. Eyjarr’s body racked back and forth and Kolfinna realized he was crying. He was a robust man and although he had appeared easily spooked these past two days, Kolfinna hadn’t expected him to openly bawl. A sturdy, manly man like him?

“Oh, Eyjarr, it’s all right.” Eyfura stepped over the sharp edges of the statue pieces and patted Eyjarr’s shoulder in a comforting manner, but she looked just as shaken as he did. “I’m sorry.”

He cried harder and the discomfort was palpable. Magni stiffened and pursed his lips together. There was a haunted look on everyone’s faces. Kolfinna couldn’t fault them for being shaken; she felt the same. First it was the draugrs and now the Jötnar. What more was out there for them? But she didn’t allow herself to think too much about it. It must’ve been worse for everyone else; they watched their friends and colleagues die in that room in a gruesome way.

“Pull yourself together,” Magni snapped at Eyjarr, who was still sobbing silently.

“Excuse me?” Eyfura’s mouth hung open. “Don’t say that to him! We’ve just been through something highly traumatic—”

“And you don’t see the rest of us crying!” Magni’s nostrils flared and his eyes grew flinty. “He needs to toughen up. Stop your crying and let’s move on. You knew this would happen.”

“No, we didn’t!” Eyjarr bunched his hands into fists. Tears glistened on his cheeks. “This isn’t what we signed up for! What was that over there? Itatethem! What the hell are we supposed to do against something like that?!”

Magni cringed. “Don’t yell at me about that. I don’t know how you military folk are trained, but we Royal Guards are trained to be on our toes at all times. So yes, toughen up. You don’t like it? Well, you’re free to leave where we came from.”

“Stop.” Mímir placed a hand on Magni’s shoulder. “Eyfura is right—”

“Screw you!” Eyjarr shoved Magni and he stumbled against the wall, where an indecipherable decaying painting broke and crumbled to the floor upon impact. A plume of dust rose around him. “Unlike you, I’ve got kids to look after! I can’t die here! And if I could go back, I gladly would!”

“You—” Magni hauled Eyjarr close to him by the collar of his uniform, fire glinting on Magni’s free hand.

“Stop, both of you!” Eyfura grabbed Magni’s bicep and pulled his fiery hand. “Magni,stop! We’re supposed to be a team! Fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to solve anything!”

Eyjarr slapped Magni’s hand away, breaking his hold on him. “You’re lucky she’s holding you back, or I’d pummel your face.”

“Eyjarr!” Truda’s mouth hung open in surprise. “Stop—”

A muscle on Magni’s jaw twitched, but Kolfinna noticed he didn’t shove Eyfura away from him like she expected him to. “You act like you’re the only one who has something to lose. Maybe you should’ve thought twice before having kids and being in the military. It’ll be nobody’s fault but your own if you end up dying and making them orphans. Don’t have kids if you can’t keep yourself alive.”

Eyjarr stomped his foot and the uncovered sections of the floor cracked, forming an imprint of his foot.He’s an Enhancer, Kolfinna realized with a start.

“What did you say?!”

“That’s enough!” Truda moved in front of Eyjarr, creating a barrier between the two men. She looked at both of them incredulously. “I understand we’re all riled up and shaken at what just happened, but come on! We’ve been trained better than this!”