The draug sailed through the air, smashing into those behind it. Righting themselves, the creatures crouched on all fours, hissing like beasts. Except instead of attacking again, the draug bent their heads together, and my hopes that they were mindless entities disappeared like smoke. Cursed and skeletal as they were, some of the warriors they’d once been remained.
Sweat slicked my palms as one of them leapt, clinging to the ceiling, its neck bending backward unnaturally so that it could watch me as it prowled closer. Another clung to the wall, finger bones slipping into cracks in the stone, knife clenched between its teeth. But it was the largest, which strode with heavy scraping strides, that led their attack.
My breath came in too-quick pants, and it took all my willpower not to retreat. Not that there was anywhere to go. Behind me, Bjorn grunted with effort as he battled screeching draug, but I dared not look. Not when he was trusting me to guard his back.
The draug moved closer. My shield was nowhere near wide enough to block the width of the tunnel, and my attention skipped from the one on the ceiling to the one on the wall to the one striding upright, its jaw cracking open in a parody of a grin.
Step. The bones of his feet scraped on the stone. Step.
It tensed, preparing to attack.
But it was the one on the ceiling that moved.
I shifted my shield, clenching my teeth as he rebounded off it, barely managing to move my arm in time to knock back the one that sprang from its perch on the wall.
And not nearly fast enough for the third.
His sword slashed past the right edge of my shield. I jerked my own blade up to parry and the impact of his weapon against mine sent me staggering. He swung again, and my arm shuddered as I knocked it away.
Beyond, the other draug were back on their feet, and more had exited from the stairwell, the stink of rot wafting ahead of them.
The big draug tried again to slice at me. This time, I blocked the blow with my shield. My magic sent the weapon flying out of his hand, and I took advantage, thrusting my sword toward his heart.
Only for the weapon to pass right through the creature as though it were no more than air.
The shock cast me off balance, and I staggered.
Right into the draug’s grasp.
Its skeletal fingers closed around my throat, mouth stretching wide to reveal blackened teeth as it pulled me toward it. Pain lanced down my neck, my lungs desperately trying to draw in breath, and beyond, the other draug moved to take advantage.
I tried to cut at the creature with my sword, but the draug only let out a breathy laugh, stink rolling over me.
No weapon forged by mortal hands can harm them. Bjorn’s warning filled my ears, but I couldn’t move my shield to strike without giving the other draug space to pass. If I did, they’d stab Bjorn in the back, and I refused to allow that to happen while my heart still beat.
Which might not be much longer.
My chest convulsed with the need to breathe, and mindless desperation drove me to try to stab the draug over and over, but the tip of my sword only slammed into the tunnel wall.
So I let go of my blade.
The weapon clattered to the ground as I balled my hand into a fist and swung. My knuckles split as they collided with the creature’s skull, but though it recoiled, it didn’t let go.
My lungs were agony and my vision was blurring, but I bared my teeth and swung again. And again. My knuckles bruised but the pain was secondary to the need for air as tears slicked my face. Then the draug caught hold of my wrist, bony fingers digging into tendon and flesh, and…
Flame flashed overhead, and Bjorn’s axe cleaved through the creature’s skull. For a terrifying heartbeat, its grip on my throat remained strong.
Then it exploded into ash.
I sucked in a breath, the world swimming, but I managed to keep my shield up, protecting Bjorn’s left as he carved into the draug, leaving explosions of ash in his wake. The creatures shrieked in fury and fear, one trying to flee, but Bjorn threw his axe, the fiery blade turning it to dust. Bjorn spun, the axe reappearing in his hand as he searched for another opponent.
But we once again stood alone in the tunnel.
“I’m sorry.” My voice was raspy and barely audible as I reached down to pick up my sword and sheathe it, my battered hand barely managing the task as pain lanced up my wrist and arm. Yet for all the pain, what I felt most was shame. “My weapon passed right through it and—”
“I saw what you did.” He caught hold of my waist and pulled me close, the light from our magic revealing a deep cut on his brow that spilled blood down his face. On the ground farther up the tunnel, his shield rested in pieces. “Don’t you ever put yourself in danger for me again.”
My pounding heart flipped at the intensity of his voice, the warmth from his hand spreading where it pressed against my back. The adrenaline racing through my veins, now deprived of a threat, turned to another purpose and I found myself leaning closer. “Why? Because your father will kill you if I so much as stub my toe?”
Bjorn’s fingers tightened, sending a jolt like lightning into my core. “No,” he answered. “Because I don’t deserve it.”
“Why would you say that?” I demanded. “Because I assure you, some foretelling doesn’t make my life worth more than yours.”
“There are many who’d argue that is precisely what it means.”
“Well, I’m not one of them.” I stared into his eyes, which reflected the glow of his axe. His rapid breath was hot against my face, his fingers still gripping me tightly, my mail-clad breasts grazing his chest. “And before you start arguing, allow me to remind you that I don’t give a shit about what you think when what you think is complete shit.”
Bjorn huffed out a laugh. “If the gods decide you are not a king-maker, Born-in-Fire, you should become a skald. People would come from all around to hear the poetry of your words. Steinunn would be out of a job.”
My cheeks flushed. “Kiss my arse, Bjorn.”
A smirk worked its way onto his face. “Perhaps later. I doubt that was the last we’ve seen of the draug, and while meeting my end with my lips pressed against your backside might not be the worst death, I don’t think it will earn me a place in Valhalla.”
My skin was blazing, but I managed to get out, “I’m sure you wouldn’t be the first arse-licker to enter Valhalla.”
“It’s licking now, is it?” His shoulders shook with mirth, and I cursed myself because I never seemed to get the better of him. “Such a filthy mind, Freya. Does your mother know the things you say?”
I was not going to win this round, but I vowed that once we were out of these cursed tunnels, there’d be a reckoning. “We should go.”
Bjorn looked like he might say more, but then shrugged and started up the tunnel, leaving me to follow at his heels. Though the screams and drums no longer deafened the air, I knew the whispers and faint tread of feet were not my imagination.
We were being watched. And when the draug came again, they’d be prepared.
* * *
—
Neither of us spoke as we carried on our climb up the mountain, and for me, much of that was driven by exhaustion. Each step was an act of will, my legs like lead, the shield once again strapped to my back having tripled in weight since we started our climb. My bruised throat ached and my battered knuckles throbbed.
But none of it compared to the gnawing sense that we were being trailed, our enemy waiting for the right moment to ambush us. Judging from the tension radiating from Bjorn, he felt the same, meaning it wasn’t my imagination.
Climbing over a crumbled stretch of stairs, Bjorn reached back to help me over. The left side of his face was a mask of blood, the wound on his brow still seeping. “You should let me bandage that cut,” I said. “You’re leaving a trail of blood.”
“I’m fine.” Our hands interlocked, his large enough to conceal mine entirely, holding tight until I was over the broken rocks. “And the cowardly vermin know we’re here regardless of what I do or don’t do.”