by Quinn Loftis
“It will be over soon,” Brant said.
“How do you know?” I whispered as I scooted closer to him.
“Torben will be here soon.”
“Where are they?”
“They weren’t supposed to show up last night,” he said very softly.
My eyes widened. “Gisele had it wrong?”
Brant nodded.
“How can you know that?”
“Because I know Torben.”
“When will he come?”
“Tonight,” he answered. “We need to be ready. Sleep as much as you can. If they bring us sustenance, eat and drink it all,” he said.
I wasn’t sure if Brant knew what he was talking about or if he was just trying to give me hope, but I decided to believe him simply because I needed hope. I needed to believe this would be over soon. I was tired. I was cold. I was ready to be done with witches, evil corrupt men, and being a prisoner.
“May the gods make their way clear,” I whispered.
“And our warriors victorious,” Brant finished.
Now, all I had to do was wait.
“There are two ways to effectively deal with evil. The first is to turn from it and get far away if you can. The second is to face it head on and destroy it.”
~Torben
“All lights have been extinguished,” Kjell said.
The wind had been with us since we started on our journey to Tara, and we’d made exceptionally good time across the water. Thankfully, the night was dark. The moon was barely visible through thick cloud cover and there was no reflection off the water, an ideal atmosphere for an attack.
I raised the spyglass, trying to see if I was able to spot Tara from where we were. At first, I saw nothing but inky blackness. Finally, I was able to make out the faint lights from the glow of the fires that lit the cities gates and various lanterns around the castle walls.
“When we get close enough to anchor, we wait for the signal from Clan Akefor and Clan Bjornvik.” Clan Brending sailed next to us while the other two moved in on opposite sides of our location, one on the right side of the castle and one on the left. Our plan was to make them think the attack was coming straight at them. Instead, there would be multiple attacks, staggered in the hope we could overwhelm them when all their resources were focused on the first attack.
“It’s quiet,” Allete said as she took my hand.
I let my eyes adjust. It was hard to see, but I could tell her lips were pale. “Are you warm enough?” I’d told her several times to stay below so she could keep warm, but she didn’t like being in the bottom of the ship. She said it made her feel like she was a prisoner again. I couldn’t argue with her after she admitted that. So, I wrapped her in as many layers as she would let me.
“I’m fine.” She sighed. “Quit worrying about me.”
“I’m your husband. It’s my job to worry about you,” I told her.
“Your only job right now is to make sure we get to Tara and surprise the hell out of Cathal,” she said.
“Language, Princess.” I smiled. “Dayna would be proud.”
She shrugged. “I blame Freya,” she said.
I believed it. Freya could out curse any man, especially when worked up.
“We should be ready to anchor in about a quarter of an hour,” Amund announced. “All the assassins have given the signal.”
The assassins he spoke of were men who had taken a dinghy to shore an hour earlier in order to dispatch the guards placed as lookouts. Our men had gone in disguised as fishermen. They’d all lit torches, signaling their tasks were done. Now, we could get to the beach without the alarm being sounded. So far, things had been smooth. I prayed our luck and the favor of the gods would hold.
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to Allete’s lips, then pulled back just enough to speak. “I don’t care what happens out there, your job is to survive. Got it?”
She smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell every opponent I face they aren’t allowed to kill me.”
“Smart arse,” I growled before kissing her again. Gods keep her safe, I thought.
We lowered the anchor and began making ready. As silently as possible, we launched and loaded the dinghies. Getting to shore was extremely slow going because there were only so many small boats and each had a limited carrying capacity. It would take several trips to get the entire war party on shore. In addition, we had to row slowly and be careful not to get wet. Not only would that likely lead to hypothermia, but cold muscles would also make us sluggish during battle. That wasn’t an option.
Over an hour later, all of my warriors were on the shore. Allete and I took the final dinghy trip to the beach with the remaining members of our clan. Once we were on the shore, I watched as my clan worked together. I wished my mother were there to see them helping one another, offering their hands, their weapons, anything to make things easier for each other. It was a completely different clan from when Magnus was jarl.
“You would be proud, Mother,” I whispered into the dark night.
Freya and the other shieldmaidens, including my bride, jogged up the beach to stand before me, loaded up with their weapons. “How long ‘til we get the signal?” Freya asked. No sooner had the words left her mouth than we heard the sound of a hawk’s call.
We all waited. Finally, we saw the bird of prey as it soared down in great circles until it finally landed on my outstretched arm. “There’s one,” I said, noting the color of the string tied to its leg. “This is Clan Akefor’s hawk.” I squinted up at the sky, attempting to see if I could catch a glimpse of the other clan’s signal.
“There…” Allete pointed. I followed the length of her arm to where her finger pointed. Suddenly, another great cry filled the night, then a smaller hawk landed on Allete’s outstretched arm. She let out a surprised squeak that made me chuckle. “I wasn’t expecting it to use me as a perch,” Allete said as she stared at the bird. The animal seemed curious about Allete. Even leaned into her when she reached up to gently run a finger down its back.
“Return,” I told the hawk, giving my arm a little shake to indicate the bird should take off. Its wings unfolded immediately, and it rose into the air.
Allete raised a brow. “I’m guessing that’s what I’m supposed to do now?”
I nodded.
“All right, friend,” she said to the bird on her arm. “Thanks for your service. Return to your owner.” She gave it a little toss, and the hawk took off into the night.
I raised my fist in the air, watching as Clan Hakon and Clan Brending began to assemble as we’d practiced. Freya held up her fist, and the shieldmaidens lined up across and behind her. When everyone was in formation, I pointed forward and we all began to move as one. We were silent shadows that moved over the land, barely disturbing so much as a blade of grass as we traveled. We wanted to stay undetected for as long as possible. So far, so good. The less time our enemies had to prepare for our attack, the better.
We picked up the pace. I’d have to compliment Freya on the shieldmaidens because they moved even more stealthily than my own men. Even Allete moved smoothly. She’d been working so hard on her fighting skills, and she was getting stronger. She’d proven to the clan she was worthy of the position at my side, not that I’d ever had any doubts.
The castle walls were in range of our archers now. I held my fist up again. Everyone came to a halt. I made a motion as if I were shooting an arrow, and our archers moved into place. There were five guards on the wall. The archer’s commands were to take out the men who could sound the alarm. We couldn’t get over the wall if there were guards standing on it, raining down arrows, rocks, or hot pitch on our heads.
The arrows were loosed. A silent second stretched on for an eternity. Then, by some miracle of luck or divine intervention by the gods, five arrows struck five men and they fell nearly as one. I felt my certainty we would be victorious grow.
Amund fired a crossbow loaded with a grappling hook attached to a rope. There was a thud as it l
anded on top of the battlement. After ensuring it would hold fast, he and Kjell, my other nimblest warrior, scurried up the wall. Once inside, they would open the gate for the rest of us. In the meantime, the other clans should be moving into place. If all had gone as planned, they’d have found their own ways over the wall. I heard the hawks cry out again. That meant the other clans were indeed where they were supposed to be.
“So far, so good,” Delvin whispered as he pushed closer to the wall. I didn’t respond. Instead, I looked around at my clan. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. The night was silent around us. Seconds stretched into minutes. I was just about to order two more men to scale the rope when the gate gave a shudder and slowly began to rise. We scuttled under the iron bars, filing into the castle. Amund and Kjell labored at a giant wooden wheel next to the guardhouse. I winced as the mechanism clicked loudly and continued to raise the castle gate.
“Enough, we’re all in,” I whispered. “What took so long?”
“One of the sentries was still alive. He was crawling toward the alarm bell. I had to finish him off,” Kjell said.
“Then we thought it best to check the others, just to make sure,” Amund added.
I nodded. “Good work. Let’s go,” I whispered as I drew my sword.
“Does this feel too easy?” Allete asked.
I didn’t answer because I wanted her to be wrong. It did feel too easy.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, Al,” Freya whisper-yelled as we hurried into the castle grounds. We stopped to get into a battle formation with our backs to each other in a circle so we were covered on all sides.
“Break,” I said, and the circle formed into many smaller circles, all of us moving in the same direction toward the castle.
I’d given orders not to kill any innocent bystanders, only to incapacitate if necessary. We weren’t there to become like our enemy. We were there for justice and to give a warning to any future enemies that we wouldn’t let atrocities committed against us go unanswered.
Just as we made it around a sharp turn on the rock path, I saw the jarl of Clan Akefor. I gave him a quick nod, and we continued on our way. A few seconds later, the silence of the night air was broken by a loud horn blast.
“Damn it! They know we’re here,” I shouted. “Shields!” The collective clang of everyone’s shields moving from their backs to their fronts rang out. “Lines,” I roared, and the circles broke apart and lines were formed, one facing forward, the other behind, all of our shield held aloft. “Step,” I yelled and then again, “Step!” One step after another, we moved forward as two solid walls. When I heard the first arrow cutting through the air, I didn’t have time to yell out. Freya beat me to it.
“Shields up,” she bellowed at the same time she raised her shield above her head and lowered her legs to get beneath it.
“Shift,” I roared, then felt the lines beginning to shift until there were shields all the way around and above us. The flying arrows struck our shields. Some bounced off while others embedded themselves, but none made it through our defenses. I heard the rumble of feet marching toward us.
“Shieldmaidens,” Freya yelled. “Separate!”
The shieldmaidens began to circle our flank, keeping any attackers from sneaking up on us.
“Allete,” I said before she could separate. “Be safe. I love you.”
The fierce gleam in her eyes made me smile. “You too, Viking. I love you back.”
“Give them hell, cousin,” I heard Thomas yell, though I couldn’t exactly tell where it was coming from.
Allete laughed. “Just try not to get killed, Thomas.”
~Allete
I tried to keep from glancing back at Torben because I needed to pay attention to where I was going considering I could run into one of Cathal’s men at any second. But it was difficult because I wanted to know he was okay. I could feel him through the unique bond we shared, but just barely.
We divided up into pairs, and I was with Freya. Back to back, we walked through the side streets of the castle grounds, watching for any signs of soldiers who had broken away from the main attack.
“You hear that?” Freya asked.
The clashing of swords and the shouts of men burst through the air. “Hard not to,” I said, trying not to worry about Torben. The worry didn’t last long because there were suddenly three of Cathal’s guards marching toward us.
“All right, Al,” Freya said. “Time to get down to business.” I could see her swinging her sword out of the corner of my eye. “I got these three.”
“Um, I’ve got three on my side, too,” I replied, watching the men slowly advance.
“Show ‘em what you’re made of, Al. Do me proud,” Freya said, her voice filled with a little more glee than I felt the situation warranted.
Holding my sword up in front of me, I spread my feet apart to give myself good balance. I bounced on the balls of my feet, trying to remember everything I’d been taught over the past few weeks. I knew I needed to move quickly because my best defense would be to tire them out and weaken them.
I heard Freya taunting the guards she faced, but as soon as the men coming toward me got closer, I focused my attention on them. The first one came at me, and I dodged the blow of his sword. I had no idea if they were all going to take me on or if they would at least be honorable and fight one at a time.
“You call that a sword?” Freya cackled. I rolled my eyes, but kept my attention riveted on the man in front of me. He lunged again. I raised my sword with both hands, catching his blade against my own. The blow ricocheted down my hand, through my wrist, and up my arm. I could feel it rattle my teeth. I tried to hide my fear. As I continued to dodge and trade blows with the soldier, I knew if I didn’t end this or get away from him there was no way I would be able to continue fighting the other two. I wasn’t winded, but my muscles were already beginning to tire.
When he came at me again, I remembered a piece of advice Babs had given me. When he stepped toward me, I dropped to my knees, shifted my sword to my left hand, and swung it to the right, catching him across the back of one of his ankles. He went down immediately. I jumped to my feet, turned again, and arced my sword down, slashing it across his back. Freya was suddenly there, slamming her sword into the man’s spine as she yelled, “Turn!”
I whipped around, pulling my sword up at the same time, barely catching another guard’s sword against my own. I was nearly driven to my knees, but I put my shoulder into it and was able to push him away from me.
Freya was at my side in an instant, and we took the man on together.
“Did you already take care of your three?” I asked.
“And one and a half of yours,” she added.
“I would have finished him,” I said.
“And then you would have been dead because you wouldn’t have known about the man coming up behind you,” she pointed out.
Said man charged us, his sword raised, and Freya sighed. “Now he’s not even really trying. He’s totally underestimating us.” When he was close enough, she sidestepped him and ran her blade across his stomach. I looked away before I had to watch his intestines spill onto the ground.
All six men were on the ground, dead. Grinning, Freya wiped her blade on her pants leg. “That was fun.”
“I feel it’s necessary I point out to you how disturbing it is that killing six men is your idea of fun,” I said.
She shook her head. “No. Fighting six men is what was fun. The fact they ended up dead was just an unfortunate, though unavoidable, side effect.”
I had nothing to say to that, so I just motioned her forward. “Shall we?”
“Oh, Al,” she sang. “You know we shall!”
I was beginning to wonder if Freya had brought a bottle of mead she’d been secretly swigging from because the shieldmaiden was drunk on something.
I was panting like a cat in heat by the time we’d made it to the castle doors. They stood wide open, which felt like a bad sign
. Nothing came from within. Hearing someone coming from behind me, I whirled around. I relaxed when I saw the rest of the shieldmaidens, quickly assessing them to assure myself they were all accounted for and unharmed. I was ready to heal any injuries they might have sustained. Initially, I didn’t see any life-threatening wounds, just a few cuts and scrapes. But then Taina stepped out from behind her sister. I could tell from her face she was in immense pain. She held her upper arm. The magic within me practically leaped at her in an effort to fix the brokenness. A river of red ran out from under Taina’s hand and down her arm. I couldn’t see how wide or deep the gash was, but Taina wouldn’t be grimacing that badly from a mere scratch.
“Sit down, let me see.”
“No,” she replied as she retreated a step. “It’s nothing. We don’t have time to waste.”
“Taina, don’t be foolish.”
“It’s foolish to waste time here while the battle rages, Princess. You can tend it afterward. Now, we fight. Our clansmen need us.”
“You might not make it through the battle if I don’t fix that arm.”
“And other clansmen might die if you do. It’s not just the wasted time. We may need your power later. Best not waste it on me,” Taina said.
“Damn it, Taina,” I practically yelled. “I’m not—”
“She’s right.” A sharp voice from the shadows of the castle doorway cut me off. Myra stepped out. “We must hurry, and I might need your help to defeat Gisele and Evelyn. The arm will have to wait.”
“I thought you were back at the beach,” I said, frowning.
“I was. But that isn’t where Gisele and Evelyn are,” Myra said. “They’re here.” She pointed into the long corridor of the castle.
“I’ll be fine, Allete,” Taina said. As if to prove her point, she reached down and practically jerked me to my feet. “Let’s go.”