Page 35

Liv watched as Maude cut through the crowd of warriors they traveled with.

They parted for her without realizing it; her presence that powerful and captivating.

It was a sort of solemn leadership that Liv knew lay deep within her friend, one she never let show.

She had watched as Maude shed the skin of the pit fighter and rose as the Heir of Shadows Liv knew she could be.

Her galder had reacted to Maude's even voice as she spoke, rising to force an intense gust of wind that pushed them the final leg they needed to overcome to close the distance between ships.

Whether her friend knew it or not, she had declared herself a leader today to the Elven and vitki they had freed, one to look to for strength in battle.

Noticing her attention, Bryn glanced at Liv before facing the warriors again.

Two of the Elven were making their way to the starboard rail with the plank that would allow them access to the Flame Soldiers.

Their stark silence was noticeable against their angry battle cries.

Unease spread in Liv's gut, slick and oily. These were not their typical foes.

"I've never seen these soldiers before," Bryn said wearily, confirming what Liv was dreading. "Be careful of their blades; they might have that same belladonna poison on them that's affecting Gunnar."

Bryn was breathing heavily at her side from the exertion of wielding so much galder , the wind tossing her copper curls behind her in a frenzy that captured Liv's attention despite the growing chaos that Maude was igniting on the deck.

The true Heir of Flames rolled her neck, trying to work out the tension in the muscles.

As Bryn's head fell back, her mouth parted slightly, allowing a few raindrops to slip between her pink lips.

Liv was staring now, her thoughts thoroughly indecent.

She forced herself to look away as she swallowed thickly.

But when Bryn went to step forward to go to her sister's side, Liv impulsively grabbed the former Lieutenant General's arm to stop her.

Lightning arced across the sky at the exact moment their eyes met, but all Liv could feel was the lightning in her veins as her skin came in contact with Bryn's.

A fire sparked within Liv, the element she did not favor so much.

Bryn looked at her expectantly as the sky returned to its darkness, but all Liv could think of doing was pressing her lips to the solemn warrior who stood in front of her.

She glanced down at her hand still clutching Bryn's arm, the contrasting colors of their skin stealing her breath even in the dark light of the storm.

Unable to do the one thing Liv craved at that moment, she curled a lock of Bryn's hair around her finger and gently tucked it behind her curved ear.

Bryn's face turned a bright tinge of pink underneath her freckled cheeks— it was so beautiful that Liv wanted to say to Hel with the fight and just run away with Bryn that very moment.

They didn't even know each other that well, and yet this woman consumed her every waking thought.

And there was no way Liv could ever tell her.

"Stay alive, Helvig," she said as she finally withdrew her hand.

She walked away without waiting for a response, allowing the cool rain from Thor's storm to invigorate her rather than finding out what Brynna Helvig tasted like.

Hakon buried his sword into the gut of the soldier in front of him, their blood splattering across his face in a brush of warmth before the rain washed it away.

He didn't take the time to register anything about the warriors he fought, only moved on to the next one.

His blood was pumping with adrenaline from the fight, his pulse pounding in his ears until all he could do was move and react to the soldiers attacking.

Herrick was to his right, fighting in tandem with Maude, moving as a singular force that sliced through the swarm of bodies.

The speech that had rallied their warriors to face the oncoming fight had resonated with him as well, though he would never admit that to anyone else.

Hakon had looked at his brother in a different light— he was a true leader, and with Maude at his side, they became an unbreakable force that could bring peace to their kingdoms or cause irreparable damage.

If Maude landed a deadly blow, Herrick cleared her way for more.

If Herrick faltered, the iron band around his neck sapping his strength, Maude backed him so he was guarded.

They each lent their strength to the other when they needed it, communicating wordlessly, surrounded by the screams of battle.

Turning his focus back to the continued onslaught of soldiers, Hakon let himself drown in the blood of the kingdom that had run his elvindr out of its safe walls and to her death.

For the first time in weeks, Hakon felt like himself, like the person he could be if he stepped down from his birthright and allowed Herrick to be crowned instead.

The thought did not sit uncomfortably in Hakon's mind. Quickly, the idea sank its claws into his consciousness and burrowed itself into his mind until he knew there would be no removing it.

Feeling a keen sense of loneliness, Hakon turned away from his brother and Maude so he didn't have to witness the way they easily cut through the world together. He focused his newly simmering grief and anger on the soldiers who were trying to bring them back to Logi in chains.

The violent rocking of the ships on the roiling seas made Bryn lose her footing more often than she would have liked.

The Elven and freed vitki barreled through lines of soldiers, their axes and swords flashing in the lightning that cracked the skies above them.

The ringing of battle quickly pierced through Bryn's hearing, deafening her to all other noise.

She welcomed the silence, welcomed the strain in her muscles as she fought at her sister's side.

Sweat mixed with the frigid rain from the heavens, cleansing her of all but the violence that broke out in front of Bryn.

In the brief moments that Thor lit up the sky, she would get glimpses of Maude and Herrick fighting in front of her.

To her immediate right, Liv was keeping pace with Bryn as she cut her way through any soldier wearing the all-black of her father's new court.

Knowing the Elven was close by settled some intrinsic part of Bryn's waking thoughts, allowing her to focus on the battle rather than where Liv was.

Later, when the fighting stopped, Bryn would reflect on how easy it was to be by Liv's side— how in tune she was to the Elven's movements and vice versa— and she would have to face the sad truth that she had never had that synchronicity with Revna. So why was it this easy with Liv?

Bryn swung her sword in a deep slice across a shieldmaiden's belly, emptying her insides onto the soaked, wooden floorboards of their longship.

Taking no time to rest in between opponents, Bryn dove further ahead into the chaos until she had carved a path through the bulk of the fighting.

Her chest heaved with the exertion, but she felt alive .

Arriving at her side within seconds, Liv stopped to catch her breath alongside the former Lieutenant General of Flame.

They did not utter a single word to each other as they stood on the outskirts of the fighting.

Rain and blood coated Bryn's every inch of exposed skin, her copper hair becoming a deep rust color as it soaked in the water and bloodshed.

Liv didn't look much better off, her dark skin glistening with gore in the brief flashes of light from Thor's storm.

"The fight is turning in our favor," Bryn huffed, wiping the blood from the last warrior she downed from her blade.

"We might make it out of this alive," Liv chuckled .

The Elven's laughter reminded Bryn of the sun in the desert; how bright and blinding it could be in the later afternoon even as it was warm and welcoming.

"The vitki seem to be enjoying spreading some of their vengeance," Bryn pointed out as an earth wielder wrapped three soldiers into a net of vines coated with thorns that oozed a poison that appeared a deep purple.

"Well, we can't be the only ones with a score to settle," Liv replied with a sly smile.

Her breath caught in her chest the same way it did when Liv had braided her hair on the journey to Logi.

They only had a moment before more soldiers charged at them, interrupting the path her mind was starting down.

Bryn ducked as a man bedecked in medals for valor in battle swung his axe at her.

She pitched forward to catch the man by his knees, knocking him off balance as she sliced her dagger across the back of his ankles.

The man screamed, his tendons severing under Bryn's knife, and she took the lapse in his attack to lift him over her shoulder.

She pivoted and dumped the man overboard into the roiling sea beneath them.

Liv, having just dispatched two more attackers, gave Bryn a side-eye glance and muttered, "Gods, Bryn. A slice across the throat would have been more humane."

She only winked at Liv.

Exchanging only a short smile, their teeth bright in the sea of black uniforms and waterlogged warriors fighting for their freedom, the two women threw themselves back into the thickest part of the battle.

Eventually, Bryn lost sight of her sister and Herrick making their way to the captain's cabin on their enemy's ship.

Soon, it was only Bryn and Liv fighting side by side against their oppressors. Soon, Bryn fell into a rhythm with Liv that seemed to exist long before either of them knew about it.

Herrick was beginning to tire out at an alarming rate. It had only been a few weeks that he was imprisoned, and yet, his strength started to fail him. The iron band remained bitterly cold around his throat despite the heat that radiated off his skin as he cut through body after body.