The lycanthropes yelped again and fell facedown to the ground as they whimpered in front of her.
The Jötunn was not as intimidated. Instead, he simply stomped forward, his massive feet crushing the lycanthropes as he made his way toward us.
Hans and Greta dove in, one on each side, bringing their swords to bear as they fought against the giant. He swiped at Greta as she flew toward him, sword out. She dodged his hand, and Hans took the opportunity to slice behind the giant’s knee. The Jötunn stumbled, turning to face the priest of Thor.
“In the name of Thor, begone with you!” Hans went in for another swing but the Jötunn leaned down and swung with his hand, smashing his fist into Hans’s side. He knocked Hans off his feet and sent him flying back toward the undergrowth, where Hans crashed against a tree.
Greta let out a war cry, swooping down to stab at the giant’s ear. She managed to land on his shoulder, even though she was half his height, but he shook her off, knocking her to the ground behind him.
Queet, while they’re engaged, get the Abom over here. Do what you have to tempt him.
On it!
Hecate started moving forward toward the giant, still in her massive state. She could match him foot for foot at this point. I glanced over at Hans, who was trying to pick himself up. But the Jötunn hadn’t lost track of him. In fact, he was preparing to land another blow.
“Watch out!” I shouted, hoping that Hans could hear me in the fracas. But I was too late.
The Jötnar smashed his fist against Hans, driving him back against the tree again. Hans slumped to the side, and Greta screamed, sweeping down out of the sky to land on the giant’s back.
I was so involved in watching that I hadn’t noticed Queet coming my way, with the Abom right behind him.
Fury! He’s here! And he’s big, be careful.
I jerked my attention toward the incoming Abomination. He was a big one, his human vehicle must’ve been a good six-foot-six, and he was bald, and burly, and looked entirely too strong for me to deal with. But all I had to do was get around to his soul-hole. I had to take him to the Crossroads, though, I knew that much.
Lure him into the crossroad. And the minute I head over, tell Hecate where I’ve gone. And then join me.
Queet didn’t answer, but he dashed toward the crossroad, a flurry of mist and steam in the pouring rain. I held my breath, waiting, arms raised, whip in hand. The moment the Abom landed one foot in the crossroad, I brought my hands together over my head, clapping loudly as I focused on the Crossroads and transported us over.
ONCE AGAIN, I landed next to Hecate’s cauldron. The moment my feet hit the ground, I jumped back to make room for the Abom. I didn’t want to be within arm’s reach when he came through. As he shimmered into sight, I brought my whip back and then lashed forward, striking him across the face before he could move. I needed to disable him before he came swinging for me.
Fury, I’m here. Queet suddenly showed up by my side. Here, he was a whirling, spinning pillar of energy. He sparkled, with ripples of blue and yellow and pink and a faint orange. The Abom suddenly shifted his gaze from me to Queet.
Blood was trickling down the Abom’s face, and it looked like I had lashed out one of his eyes, but it wouldn’t matter to him. He could feel the pain through the body that he was inhabiting, but nothing would stop him until I managed to either destroy the body—at which point he would be free to jump into somebody else—or to tackle his soul-hole and send him back to Pandoriam.
Check on his soul-hole.
Queet whisked himself around the back of the Abom. Uh-oh.
What’s wrong?
His soul-hole is closing. I’m not sure why. Maybe the giant did something to it. You’ve got to get back here now.
Oh hell.
I had hoped to have a little more time, had hoped to have Hecate with me. I wasn’t sure how strong the Abomination was, or if Fenrir had done anything to him in order to give him more resilience.
You don’t have a choice, Queet blasted at me.
I started to dash around behind the Abom but he suddenly thrust out his fist and clipped me as I passed by him. I wasn’t sure how he had managed to move across the eight feet that I had left between us, but one moment he was standing there, and the next moment he was smashing me in the side.
I doubled over, tripping to one side with the weight of his fist.
Fucking hell! Queet, what happened?
I’m not sure, Fury. I don’t know what he did. He was there and then he wasn’t. Watch out—he’s disappeared again.
I blinked. The Abomination had vanished. But as I turned, he was there behind me, and he swung again, knocking me backward, toward the cauldron. I landed, skidding along the road, wincing as the dirt and rocks took their toll on my legs as I slid along the dirt path.
Fury, are you all right?
Yeah, but I won’t be for long if he keeps doing this. Can you see him?
I looked around, trying to find some sign of where he was. But the Abomination had vanished again. Cripes, I had never dealt with an Abom who could do this.
I’m looking, I’m looking! I don’t… Wait! There, about two yards from you coming in from behind. Dodge left.
I didn’t question it, I just did as Queet ordered. I dodged to the left, and this time he barely missed me. Those fists of his were like steel.
I’ve got to get him to hold still long enough for me to get behind him and find the soul-hole.
I’ll see what I can do.
Queet suddenly darted between the Abomination and me. Instead of dancing around, he stayed very still. I suddenly realized what he was doing. He was sacrificing himself in order to help me.
Queet, get the fuck out of there!
No, Fury. You have to take him down now. Hurry up.
Quit being a martyr— I started to say, and then I stopped. Queet was doing exactly what he was supposed to. He was helping me take down an Abomination.
Even as I paused, the Abom started siphoning off his energy. I could see the tube running from the soul-hole in the back of his neck, around to the front, plugging into Queet’s energy.
Hurry up, I don’t have much time!
Startled out of my paralysis, I dashed around behind the Abom. I couldn’t let Queet’s gesture go to waste. I brought back the whip, taking careful aim, and lashed out, slicing through the feeding tube and into the soul-hole. I focused all my energy through the whip, all of my inner fire, letting it out in one giant flash as it ricocheted into the Abom’s soul-hole. The Abom screeched as a sickly green light began to emanate from the soul-hole where I had hit square center. He turned, howling, and lurched at me.
I tried to dart away, pulling my whip back, but he grabbed hold of the end and he yanked it to him, dragging me along with it. The green flames flickered brightly now, pouring out of his soul-hole, draining him even as he grabbed hold of my wrist and squeezed. I screamed and dropped my whip as the bones in my hand shattered.
He let out another shriek as he leaned forward, drool running down his face from his mouth. The lights in his eyes were dead, and suddenly, there was another rush of energy as he spiraled up, fully out of his soul-hole, and then with one long shriek, vanished. The corpse he had been wearing fell, dragging me down with it, still holding onto my broken hand. I tripped and landed hard on top of the dead man, further dislocating my bones.
Queet, are you there?
As the haze of pain and exhaustion hit me, I looked up, trying to find Queet.
Oh, please let him still be alive. Please, let Hecate get here soon.
But I couldn’t see or hear anything, except the drumming in my ears. I realized it was my own heartbeat, thudding so fast that I could barely breathe. The pain in my wrist hit me, and I managed to extricate myself from the corpse, scooting away from it. I looked at my hand, groaning as another wave of pain hit me. It was coming from all directions now, my hand, the bruises on my legs where I had
gone skidding across the ground, and the migraine that always seemed to hit after I had been on the Crossroads.
My right hand was swollen, and the fingers looked misshapen, out of joint. I tried to get to my feet but I could barely roll over on my knees, and I couldn’t support myself with both hands so I had to crawl along with just my left hand for balance.
As I looked around the Crossroads, barely able to keep my eyes open, I thought I heard a faint music. It was coming from the road that passed Hecate’s cauldron, and I tried to call out, but the words wouldn’t leave my throat. I could barely think now, barely even remember my name. Then exhaustion from the fight overtook me. I reached out with one last cry, not sure if it even left my lips or not.
The next moment, the sky went black, and I fainted.
Chapter 14
FIRST CAME A light that was too bright, and when I tried to shield my eyes from it, searing pain raced through my arm. I moaned, trying to turn over to get away from the light, but someone was holding me by the shoulders.
Fury? Fury, it’s me. You need to lay still.
I struggled for a moment to understand before I realized it was Queet. He was still alive. Well, as alive as a ghost could be.
Where am I?
You’re in UnderBarrow. Sarinka is here and she’s tending to you. Hecate found you and brought you back. She found me too and helped heal me. The Abom nearly ate me.
Is Tam here?
No, but he knows you’re safe. You have to stop moving around. The Abom did a number on you. Not only is your wrist shattered, but he managed to damage your liver. Sarinka can heal you, but you’re not going to be out of bed for any length of time.
My liver? I hadn’t realized I had been injured so badly. I forced myself to lay back, to quit struggling. I closed my eyes again, trying to shut out the light.
“Fury? Can you hear me?” This time it was a woman’s voice, and I could hear her audibly, rather than in whisper-speak.
I struggled to open my eyes again. Sarinka was there, looking down at me. She had healed me up a number of times over the years, but this was probably the worst I had been hurt since the first time Jason brought me to her, so many years ago.
“I can hear you.” My throat was raw and scratchy, and it hurt to even form the words.
“I’m going to have to perform surgery on you. Your liver’s has been damaged, and I’m going to have to remove part of it, but don’t worry, it will regrow, and you’ll be just fine.” She tried to sound soothing, but the thought of a knife opening me up did nothing to calm me down.
“No! Where’s Tam? Greta? Hans? I need to get up. They need me.” I started to struggle, suddenly feeling like if I didn’t get up right now, someone would die. They needed me to…then I flashed back again. The fight with the Abom.
“Fury, you need to relax. I’m going to give you a sedative. Lord Tam will be here shortly to check on you.”
“I want to see him—to tell him I love him.” I started to cry, suddenly feeling alone with the sudden fear that everybody I loved was fading away. That I was losing everybody.
“I’ll tell him. He’ll be here and if you’re still awake, you can talk to him. But we have to get in there and fix your liver.” She held up a needle, and the next moment, a warm rush filled my body as she injected me with something. I tried to fight it, but it caught me up like a gentle wave, and then, I was drifting in a golden fog. I finally gave in to the exhaustion, closed my eyes, and once again, drifted off to sleep.
MY NOSE WAS the first to wake me up. Or rather, the scents of bacon and eggs and bread. I sniffed, wondering why my nose felt so raw inside, and then opened my eyes, trying to blink away the crusts that had formed on the inside corner. I reached up to wipe them, but something pulled when I did, hurting just enough to make me lower my arm again.
“Tam? Tam?” I managed to get the words out, even though my throat felt parched.
“Love, you’re awake!” Tam’s voice cut through the fog as he leaned over me, his silver eyes wet with tears. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead. “How are you feeling, my love?”
I coughed. “Like I’ve been run over by a truck. What happened?” I vaguely remembered Sarinka talking about needing to fix something, and Queet reassuring me that he was still around, but other than that, everything seemed terribly fuzzy.
“You had to have an operation. Sarinka had to sew up your liver. The Abomination hit you square on, and ruptured part of it. You also have a shattered wrist and fingers. She operated on your hand, too. But you’ll be fine. You’ll need some physical therapy on the hand, and you need to rest, but you’ll be up and around soon enough.” His smile ricocheted through me like the most glorious morning ever.
I shivered, thinking of all the needles and knives Sarinka must have used on me. “What happened? Willow Wood? How is the village?”
Tam’s gaze darkened. He hung his head. “Battered. It took a real blow. We managed to beat them off, but they’ll be back. Anybody still living there, well…they took their lives into their own hands.” He paused, then said, “I don’t know whether I should tell you now, but I might as well. We’ve left. UnderBarrow is in the Shining Lands now.”
As the realization of what he was saying hit me, I let out a cry. “What? What about Hecate? And Greta and Hans? How long have we been here?”
“We’ve been here a week. And Greta and… They’re back in Willow Wood and Gudarheim. Hecate said to tell you she’ll come to visit you soon. I sent word that you survived the surgery.” Tam paused, still looking hesitant.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. There’s something I have to tell you, love.” He lowered his gaze.
“What is it?”
“Hans…he didn’t make it. The Jötunn punctured several ribs when he hit him. Greta…she had to carry his soul to Valhalla.” Tam hung his head. “I’m so sorry, love.”
“Hans? Hans is dead?” I stared at him, unable to fully comprehend what he was saying.
“Yes, my love. He died helping to protect you. He died a hero’s death.”
I pressed my lips together, a bitter taste in my mouth. Hans was one of the bravest, most resilient men I ever had known. After a few moments, I asked, “How’s Greta?”
“She was… I have a feeling she’ll be hunting down giants right and left to avenge Hans’s death. Thor sends his regards, by the way, and his thanks for your help. The gods are marshaling armies to fight the incoming invasion. Fenrir is wily and clever. They’ll need every resource they can get their hands on.”
“How many escaped with us?”
Tam let out a soft sigh. “We came away with four hundred and twelve from Willow Wood, plus everyone who lived in UnderBarrow. I received word that once the dead from the siege were counted, there are three hundred left in Willow Wood. Quite a few died that night. Luckily, we got all of the children who were on our list to bring. And do not worry—Shevron and Jason and Leonard are safe with us. Also Elan and all of our personal guards.”
I thought of all the death, all the blood that had been shed, and how the people of Willow Wood were defenseless now. How many would have come with us if we had actually had that extra day? But there was no way to know. And I didn’t even want to think about it.
“I’m tired,” I murmured, wanting to be alone with my thoughts. I loved Tam more than I had ever loved another person, but I was weary, and I ached, and now my heart ached for all those left behind, and for Hans most of all.
“Sleep, then. Rest and when you wake, you’ll be a little stronger. And when you’re stronger, I’ll show you our new home, my love.” He kissed me again, and then Sarinka gave me another shot, and I drifted off into a melancholy sleep.
THREE WEEKS LATER, I was standing by the door of UnderBarrow, with Elan and Zed flanking my sides, and Tam standing in front of me, waiting. I was wearing a beautiful dress, slit up the right side for easy access to my whip. It always returned to
me after a fight—we were inseparable. The circlet around my head was the lighter one, easing the strain on my neck. My dress was filmy, leaving me to feel almost naked, but it was warm and sturdy beyond the illusion of being gossamer.
I was healing up remarkably fast, though my heart was still heavy as I thought about Hans and Greta and the world we had left behind. But I had news to offset my sorrow. Something I hadn’t told anybody about just yet. But it was time, now that UnderBarrow was in a safe place.
Patrice draped a cloak over my shoulders as I stood there, waiting to exit the Barrow. I turned to the others.
“Can Lord Tam and I have a moment of privacy, please?”
They blinked but backed off, giving us room.
Tam waited, curiosity flooding his face. “What is it, my love? We’ll be late to meet my parents and they don’t take kindly to stragglers.”
“They’ll just have to wait for a moment. There’s something I haven’t told you.” I took a deep breath, gathering my courage.
“What’s wrong? Did Sarinka find something else wrong?” He took my hands in his. “What’s going on, Fury?”
I squared my shoulders. “Well, she did find something, but nothing wrong. When Sarinka was mending me up, she discovered something else beyond the scars and the fresh wounds.” I smiled slowly. “Tam, my love, UnderBarrow will have an heir. Two of them, actually. You’re going to be a father. I’m pregnant with twin daughters.” My heart raced as I waited for his reaction.
Tam stared at me for a moment, then let out a shout, fist-pumping the air. “Yes! Oh, my love.” He gathered me into his arms. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
I laughed, extricating myself from his embrace. “Yes, it’s real. We’re having twin daughters. I couldn’t figure out why I was so tired and weepy. Well, this explains why. I suppose I’m going to have to take the next seven months off from chasing Aboms. Maybe it’s best we came to the Shining Lands for now.” I thought about everything going on back home and shivered. Carrying children in the midst of a world war? I couldn’t have managed it, not if I was on the front lines.
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