Page 24 of The Cradle of Ice

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A HALF-BELL LATER, Nyx found herself posted beside Shiya again. Heeding Nyx’s recommendation, the bronze woman had let her song die away. Nyx had feared that the blaze of Shiya’s shield would be a beacon in this fog.

Rhaif kept vigil on Shiya’s other side.

No one dared speak.

Graylin turned and looked hard at her, his silent question easy to read.

Anything?

She gave a small shake of her head. Her hand reached to Shiya’s elbow. If another attack struck, the pair of them would have to act swiftly. Still, the waiting stretched to a dagger’s edge. Her breathing grew heavier. Her eyes strained as she searched the featureless fog. Her stomach felt another swing of the ship.

At the wheel, Darant slowly circled the Sparrowhawk, spiraling them lower and lower. Blinded by the fog, he dared go no faster. Fenn kept watch under their keel through his farscopes, searching below. But it was as if the world had vanished entirely.

Nyx shifted her feet. By now, her sight had adjusted to the gloom. The mists faintly glowed in the moonlight. This far into the fog, the ship’s windows were pebbled with droplets, obscuring the view. Nyx wiped similar beads of sweat from her forehead.

She studied her damp fingers with a frown.

Something’s not right.

She let go of Shiya and passed to Darant’s right. She reached out and placed her palm against the alchymically hardened glass.

The pirate glared at her, hissing low, “What’re you doing, lass?”

She turned, her voice the barest whisper. “It’s warm.”

Darant thrust out his arm and dropped his hand next to hers. His brows shot high. His voice gasped a bit too loudly in surprise, “She’s right!”

Nyx moved back. Her understanding of the world outside shifted. “It’s not ice fog. It’s not fog at all.” She swung to the others. “It’s steam.”

Graylin came forward to confirm the same, which irked Nyx.

Why can’t he trust my word?

Fenn spoke softly from his station without lifting his eyes from his scope. “Must be some monstrous source of heat under us.”

“And we’re dropping straight toward it,” Rhaif groaned.

Other crewmembers gathered by the windows. Fearful of what awaited them, everyone searched below.

Except for one.

“Beware,” Shiya warned, her voice ringing sharply. Her face stared upward, as if her gaze could pierce through the roof. “They’re coming.”

Nyx felt it then, too. Since entering the steam bank, she had sensed a well of power ebbing and surging through the mists. It had kept a wary distance, but it now surged toward them from above, like a dark wave crashing upon a foundering raft.

She hurried to Shiya’s side, pulling in a deep breath as she rushed. Shiya arched her back and sang, her voice as firm and bright as the bronze of her skin. Strands of bridle-song webbed quickly, knitting back into a shield. Nyx added her voice, focusing hard to push her pounding heart out of her throat.

She quickly found her harmony, bolstering Shiya’s efforts. Together, they expanded the sphere of their protection out to the walls. Golden fire again sheltered those within the wheelhouse. She clenched a fist, bracing herself. She waited for the attack, for those dark spears of bridle-song to pound against their shield.

But that was not the threat.

Graylin stumbled with a gasp from the window. A large shadow swept past the ship’s bow and vanished below them. Nyx caught the barest glimpse of scalloped wings. Her blood turned to ice at the sight. Her song faltered, fraying the edges of the blazing shield.

It can’t be …

Then another shadow swept into view, hanging there for a breath, before snapping huge wings and shooting high. There was no denying the truth. The form was shaggy-pelted, with a shorter tail, but they all knew that creature.