To Be A Champion

Chapter 38: Dangerous Type

"So, wait," Sam chokes. "We've been racing around all of Mor Island looking for the Edda. As of yesterday, Amelia's threatening to nuke the place if she doesn't get it right now. And it turns out Morag's had it all along?"

"Is that..." My voice sounds much more timid than I'd like, but I can't help it. "Is that really the Edda?"

She nods at the bag in Tom's hand. "Take a look."

Tom opens the bag, pulling out a book with a white leather cover bound in rubies. He flips through the pages, his chest rising as he inhales sharply at the Old Norse that he can understand bits and pieces of. He doesn't know much, not as much as Jody, but he knows enough to know if this is what we think it might be. "This is real. I'll keep it safe, Morag."

She seems satisfied with that.

"Oh, crap," Sam says, and ice floods my veins. "Morag, I don't know how, but you might be right about the skincoats hearing your thoughts. There are three of them converging on the grain store right now by the three paths that lead off that corner of the island."

"We'll scramble down the headland, tell Amelia we have the Edda," Tom says, his tone firm. We quickly leave the silo, racing down the stairs and out the door. "They might have skincoats, but she's got armed soldiers."

"Will she call off the nuclear attack?" Morag asks.

"Not until she has the Edda," I answer.

Sam lets out a fearful noise. "Oh, one of them spotted you. Five, you lead the way. Run!"

I take point as told, grabbing my pistol from its holster and glancing around as I run, trying to find any sort of gray amongst the green grass and blue sky. No more playing nice. No more waiting. We may be running, but I won't hesitate to put a bullet through any of these skincoats.

They'd rather see humanity die than let us use the Edda to save the world, all because it would mean some kind of change for their island.

Why are they doing this now? The Edda has been missing from their island for hundreds of years, just now having been brought back. Did they not want to leave the island to search for it? Why only care about it now that it's been returned for them to steal? That doesn't seem very much like a group clinging to tradition if they weren't willing to even search for what is one of their most significant books relating to tradition.

My blood feels like it's boiling under my skin in anger. A part of it is due to my inner thoughts, although a lot of it has to do with the fact that I haven't seen a single skincoat coming after us as we run. I don't doubt Sam—no, of course, I don't. It makes perfect sense that they'd be after us now, especially if what Morag said about them being able to see through other people's eyes as well as their own in the group.

But they're insanely good at hiding. A part of me wonders if they were only seen those few times because they wanted to be seen. After all, we didn't see them until after Jones had died. And with how fast-acting they seem to be, I highly doubt they simply banded together after Jones was taken care of.

No, they've been working behind the scenes this entire time, although they must not have been as good as they like to believe when it came to finding people since they never could find Jones. They must have known about some of this and stayed hidden, waiting to come out at just the right moment.

My irritation at them only burns brighter.

"I've raised Amelia," Sam says after a few minutes, much to my relief. "She's sending a boat from the Undaunted to meet you. You need to keep along the cliff path you're almost on. She'll meet you at the far beach."