The giant beneath the mountain has awakened after three centuries' slumber and devours some of my fathers' best men every morning. He will continue taking lives, one for every giant our ancient ruler killed to steal his land. But I know this ice gia...
The dampness in the tunnels, the slick as I place my hands on either side of myself to brace me, it feels eerily warm. It's like descending down the throat of an ancient serpent with roots in the belly of the universe. Every step I take, I descend closer into the reykr, the stomach burbling of a foe I can feel and taste, but not see properly.
Not trapped within like this.
Quinn takes my hand and squeezes tight, "you okay?"
"Aye." I tell her. "Yes, sorry."
"Don't forget to watch your feet." She whispers, softly letting go of my hand when I've recovered enough to walk. One foot in front of the other. Sliding, slipping, down into the dark.
Then, silhouettes rise from the reykr. Hunched figures, sobbing. The other, unconscious.At first, I think it's just the magic swimming in my head, but Leif calls out first.
"Ey there! We've come to help you." The young lord rushes forth.
"Idiot, get back here!" Quinn reaches for his cloak, but he's slipped past me towards the silhouettes. I look down and see it...
The chasm dropping in front of us, just a few steps away.
I wrap my arms around Leif's belly and pull back, falling onto Quinn. The wind's knocked out of me as Leif's elbow accidentally digs into my chest.
Leif rolls off, staring into the chasm that he nearly dropped into, the planks of wood from the fallen miners' path.
"Thank you." He tells me, pressing a soft kiss on my palm. "You've saved me again."
"Royals. Lordlings," Quinn sniffs. "Always in need of a queen to rescue him."
Leif leans in close to me, whispering in my ear. "There's no other queen I'd prefer to be rescued by."
I blush despite my best efforts to segue into an eyeroll. "Idiot..." I reply, still affectionately. His dark, platinum-tipped hair brushes my cheek softly as he plants another kiss there before we help each other up.
We get to our feet, slowly, shakily. The sobbing stops as a figure comes closer; their face lit by reykr's glow. I look to my belt, see of all things, Julius' calcified, diamond heart glowing at my belt. I lift it forwards, the seiðr spell Fell placed on it making it better than a lamp.
Again, at least the fool is good for something.
I see the appeal of why my grandmother tore the original's heart out the first time he betrayed her.
With the glow of Julius' torn out heart, I see her, hair straggling around her swollen face. It's Gertrud, Sigrid's eldest daughter. She's got some bruises and the fear of the gods in her, but not much worse than that, thankfully.
"I went to get Bran," she gestures back to the slumped figure, still unmoving. "At the news that Julius had died, I knew he'd be free from working in the mines. I'd left baby Nova with the neighbors before going. I knew I'm the fastest one running." She shudders, hugging her arms around herself. "Not fast enough to beat the collapse though. Idiot. Now we're all trapped here." She shakes her head, rubbing her arms faster. She has a makeshift mask tied around her mouth, a bit of processed reykr serving as a cleansing device. The bauble's cracked though, and she has to take in shallow breaths because of it. "I just wanted to get him out before something bad happened to him, like all the others kid miners they got down here."
"You're brave to try and rescue him." I step forwards, gauging the chasm again. "But first, we have to get you out. I promise we'll get Bran too."
The chasm looks about one good leap from clearing. There's a good amount of space behind Gertrud. If she jumped...
I hold out my hand, moving with Quinn on my other side. "Run and leap the gap. We'll catch you." She stares nervously at the cliff face, swallowing hard. "Come on, Gertrud. You said it yourself. You're the fastest in Dreki."
She shakes her head. "No. I'm too scared. The road collapsed with the mines. The gap wasn't this big before."
The earth rumbles beneath us. I brace myself with my hands. When I look up again, Gertrud's shaking harder.
Aw, Mother Metis have mercy.
I push back quick before taking a running leap. Nothing but air beneath me, reykr streaming past my body. My heart pounding like mad.
I hope they tell stories about me.
I hope they don't call me a fool.
Thankfully, I make it to the other side, breathing a little hard. My chest aches, but I can manage through the hollow feeling there. "Come now." I gasp. "If I can do it, so can you."
"Helvete! You stupid sack of troll dung!" Quinn swears at me, her voice high in anger even as her eyes are wide in fear. "You absolute fífl!"
"Thanks for your concern, captain." I salute her as she swears at me so hard her face changes colors. I hold onto Gertrud's hand.
"But Bran..." She whispers, pointing back.
Helvete.
"We'll figure it out." I lie. "Now jump."
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