The vamp whipped around, glaring at me in outrage.
“Shut up,” I told him and turned to the draugr. “Blood ale, undead. If you want any more, you will grant me my boon.”
The draugr rose, slowly. His fur mantle closed about him. Cold spread from him. My breath turned into a wisp of vapor.
“Ask.”
“How do I find Ivar the Dwarf?”
“He lives in a hidden valley,” the draugr said. “Travel to Highlands and find Cliffside Lake. At the north edge of the lake, you will see a trail leading you to the mountain scarred by lightning. Make the offering of gold, silver, and iron, and the dwarf will permit you to enter.”
I released the runes and backed away. “The blood ale is yours.”
“It’s grown cold.”
I kept backing up.
Magic accreted around the draugr like a second cloak. “I do not want it. I want my blood hot.”
Mayday, mayday. “That’s not the deal we made.”
I passed the stick guarding the road.
“I make deals and I break them.”
The wooden stick between us shivered in the ground.
“There is no escape, meat.”
The cocoon of the draugr’s magic burst with icy fury, snapping at me with dark fingers. The stick shot from the ground and pierced the draugr’s head.
I ran.
Behind me a wail of pure fury tore through the forest and Ghastek’s voice barked, “Secure the creature!”
Magic exploded with mind-numbing intensity. My eyes watered. The breath in my lungs turned into a clump of ice. The path veered right. As I took the turn at a breakneck speed, I saw the draugr, towering over the trees, a mantle of dark magic streaming from his shoulders as he ripped a vampire in half with his colossal hands.
“I have your scent,” the giant roared. “You won’t escape!”
The translucent flood of magic crested the edge of the glade and rolled down, chasing me.
The forest turned into a blurry smudge of green. I flew, jumping over the roots. Weeds slapped me.
The harsh stench of rot filled my mouth. Around me the trees groaned, as if pulled upright by an invisible hand. My throat burned.
I could almost see the road through the shrubs.
The path turned left and I leaped straight down, praying the old injury to my left knee wouldn’t flare up. The brush snapped under my weight and I tore down the slope, squeezing every last drop of speed out of my body.
A deep roar shook the ground.
No way to dodge, no direction to take but down.
A shadow fell over me. I threw myself forward. I rolled once, twice, catching a glimpse of a colossal clawed hand raking the forest behind me, flipped to my feet, and burst onto the road.
The pillar loomed to my right. I sprinted to it.
The air whistled. Something large crashed on the road ahead of me, bounced, and sprung to its feet. Ghastek’s vampire. Deep gashes scoured its flanks, oozing thick undead blood onto the sunblock. It looked like it had gone through a shredder.
The trees creaked behind me. The draugr had made it onto the road.
I ran like I’d never run before in my life.
The vampire froze for a fraction of an instant and galloped to the pillars.
My feet barely touched the ground. In my head my bad leg snapped like a toothpick.
The draugr’s magic whipped at me, slashing at my back. I went airborne, rolled, and hit the ground hard. My head swam. I rolled to my feet.
Taller than the trees, the enormous undead towered above me, his eyes spilling icy green mist. Ragged chain mail hung from his torso. Colossal iron pauldrons guarded his shoulders. Huge chunks of his flesh were missing, and bone glared through the holes.
Holy shit.
The draugr raised a foot the size of a car. His magic swirled about him in a stormy cloud.
Curran in his warrior form shot out of the treetop, flying through the air like a gray blur.
I stood still, presenting a clear target for H?kon.
The draugr stomped forward.
Curran smashed into the back of the undead’s neck. Bone crunched. The draugr spun, and I saw Curran ripping into the space between the neck vertebrae with his claws. Undead gristle flew.
The draugr roared, trying to swat at the Beast Lord. His head began to droop.
Two ribbons of green magic snapped backward from the draugr, aiming for Curran.
Oh no, you don’t. I opened my mouth and barked a power word.
“Ossanda.” Kneel, you undead sonovabitch.
The magic burst from me. It felt like someone had sunk claws into my stomach and tore out the muscle and my innards. The world went black for a tiny moment. I’d sunk a lot of magic into it.
The horrible creak of bone snapping rolled through the air. The draugr’s bony knees hit the road. The forest quaked.
I took a running start and sprinted at him.
The dazed undead raised its huge hands, trying to grab me. I veered left, avoiding the gnarled bone fingers, and scrambled up the giant’s body, climbing the chain mail.
Above me, Curran snarled.
The draugr slapped his chest, missing me by a couple of inches.
I pulled myself onto his shoulder and ran down the iron plate to his neck. Curran was ripping into the gristle. The undead flesh tore under his claws, and snapped back, regenerating.
I pulled Slayer and chopped at the gap he’d made. My saber smoked from the contact with undead flesh. The gap widened.
Curran grasped the edge of the two vertebrae and forced them apart. I cut into the cleft, slicing through the connective tissue.
Cut. Cut. Cut.
Cartilage crunched.
Magic stung me, weaving about me in green strands.
“Wait!” Curran growled.
I stopped my sword in midstrike. Curran jumped into the gap, his clawed feet on the edge of one vertebra, his hands on the other. He strained, pushing them apart. Steel-hard muscle bulged on his frame, shaking with effort.
The draugr howled.
Curran snarled, a vicious, short sound born of strain.
With a sickening screech, the draugr’s head fell and rolled off his body. The colossal torso toppled. I jumped and landed on the road, my sword in my hand. Curran dropped down next to me.
We ran. We sprinted to the pillars.
Behind us an eerie, unnatural noise announced the draugr reassembling himself.
The green vampire that had fallen on the road picked itself up and chased after us.
We were almost to the pillars.
A shadow fell over us.
Curran spun. His head melted, reshaping into a lion’s head. The Beast Lord roared.
The sound was like thunder. Deep, primeval, arresting, it froze the marrow in my bones. My instincts screamed and tried to drop me to the ground in a small quivering ball.
The draugr screeched to a halt.
We dashed forward.
The pillars flashed by our sides. I ran to a stop and turned around, my ribs hurting.
The undead giant strode toward us.
The pillars flashed with deep amber.
The draugr smashed into an invisible wall. Streaks of orange lightning clutched at his flesh. A deafening wail slapped my ears.
“I will kill you! I will gnaw the flesh off your bones! I will pick my teeth with your femurs!”
I vomited onto the ground.
Next to me Curran patted my back, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
The vampire next to me collapsed. The gashes on its body knitted together. A new pale skin slid over the cuts and began to smoke.
“You owe me vampire blood,” I told him.
“Yes, yes.” Ghastek sounded sour. “Do hand me that canvas before he burns to death.”
I jerked the canvas off the cart and held it up. “I just want to hear you say it.”
The vamp squirmed.