Page 5 of The Magic of Vanaheim

“Not so united after all,” Arngrim growled. “Bergelmir’s court is a fucking viper’s nest.”

“Do you think King Bergelmir is behind this?”

“You bet. His bastard does nothing without his approval.”

Although he couldn’t really argue with his logic, Talvi didn’t like the way Arngrim talked about Håkon.

“He’d be Bergelmir’s heir if it weren’t for the ridiculous laws of theJötnar,” Talvi grumbled.

“Still not over this infatuation, I see.”

“Shut up.”

More magic was saturating the air, but Talvi could sense Perhonen keeping the enemy’svölurat bay. Good. And if this really was Bergelmir’s scheme, then Talvi would bet a warship filled to the brim with treasure that his favorite son was lurking somewhere in the background, ready to claim victory for himself.

He scanned the battlefield for a familiar silhouette. There!

Pulling at the endless source of power connecting the worlds, Talvi threw a deadly storm of icy spears at theJötnar. The brunt of his wrath purposefully struck where he suspected Brogar was hiding, conveniently away from Håkon.

The effect was instantaneous. There was screaming and chaos breaking out among theJötnarlines. Oh, it seemed like they had planned to deal with Perhonen, but hadn’t prepared to face another powerful sorcerer.

Håkon caught his gaze over the distance separating them. His face showed wide-eyed surprise, but he immediately flagged Talvi as the new threat.

How Talvi adored him.

“Charge!” Håkon roared. “Break their shieldwall!”

He was already running, his warriors on his heels.

“Hùh!” Talvi chanted, gathering power for another attack and keeping a close eye on Håkon. “Hùh!”

TheJötnar’sforces were only a heartbeat away from reaching them when Talvi threw another wave of freezing winds and knife-sharp crystal shards at them.

“Shield wall!” Arngrim yelled.

Talvi had only a second to register that hisseiðrdid considerably less damage this time. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise; Håkon and his sworn warriors used protective runes to shield themselves from magic, after all. Only the simpleJotunnwarriors fell under Talvi’s spell.

With an audiblethud,the shield wall closed, and Talvi braced himself.

The wave ofJotunnwarriors crashed into the shield wall with enough force to nearly lift Talvi off his feet. He stood his ground, pushing back with all his might.

“Push!” he roared, enhancing their joint effort with a nudge of magic like Uncle Njord had taught him.

It gave them room to maneuver. The shield wall opened, blades cut into the ranks of the attackers, and blows were exchanged.

“Arrows!” Talvi commanded, even before they closed the shield wall again.

He didn’t see how their archers were lifted up behind them, but he heard their arrows whizz over the shield wall and the screams of theJötnar.

“Push!”

Face splattered with bluishJotunnblood, Arngrim grinned at him. Talvi flowed with the rhythm of battle, the pushing and countering, and the opening and closing of the shield wall.

He sensed a flash of movement over his shoulder and to his left. Screams and chaos erupted behind him. Had theJötnarbroken through? Another shadow came flyingoverthe shield wall, immediately attacking from behind. Håkon.

“Take my place,” Talvi ordered a young shieldmaiden. She traded places with him without batting an eye.

Whirling around, Talvi faced Håkon. He couldn’t let him and the twoJotunnwarriors with him break the shield wall after all.