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...
We waited on the ice for hours, until the moment when the usual gray sky dimmed into shadow. We went for the baskets then, mostly untouched since Lord Octavia and her allies had brought them to us in the first place, tearing into the food with a new earnestness. Every so often, someone from the village would wander past us with downcast eyes, making an offering of crowns of hair and clay jars to the wooden figurines of Father Ardo.
As the weather worsened, the unnatural blue flames on the torches spilled out over the snow, seeming to reach further than regular light should, seeming to reach out with creeping fingers to dig their claws into all the light touches.
"How long until something happens?" Lief tears into a crust of bread, throwing his head back, all exasperated. "We'll all be frozen corpses if the Masked Men come any later."
If they come at nightfall, we'll lose the jötunn to his curse. Even with his magic, he'll be the size of a mortal. Vulnerable.
As I glance upwards at Fell, his eyes seem to betray the same worry.
"Be glad the Knarr folk gave us these furs," Quinn tosses another patchwork coat at Lief.
We're nestled together in Fell's pack, the villagers' blankets overlaying our makeshift bed. I turn to the nearest torch, a few steps away from yet another Father Ardo figurine. The light spills over the braids of hair, turning the limp coils into curling rats beneath their flickering flame. Still, the light burns violet. Still, we stare out past the mist, trying to see if there are mastheads past the harbor. Trying to see if the Masked Men bring their stolen boats here to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting villagers.
"We'll turn them back." I rest my head on my knees, staring out, trying to see shadows in the mist where, regrettably, there's still the vast emptiness of nothing. "Then we go onto the next city. Help them."
"You'd really freeze your innards out to sit on that throne?" Lief smirks, "there's a lot of Cloelia in you, eh?" His eyes are dancing with mischief.
So, dancing back, I reply, "be glad your name's not Julius, or I'd have to rend your heart clean out of your chest cavity."
For some reason, he doesn't smile back.
Owing my foul mood to the cold, Quinn tosses me another blanket. "Put that one around your head." She advises. "Warmest part on you."
Lief smirks, leaning back in, "she's calling you a hothead."
I smack him lightly on the shoulder, throwing ice down the back of his shirt. He retaliates by throwing a snowball at me. The projectile splatters on my jacket and drips down my arms.
Quinn takes us both by the scruffs of our necks and pulls us away from each other. "You're acting more childish than Octavia's children. Keep it up, and I'll let the Masked Men eat you!"
Lief and I exchange a single look before reaching over to throw snow at Quinn.
The soldier raises her shield, and when she looks back at us, there's a dangerous smile on her face, a glint in her eye. "This means war."
Perhaps it would've been smarter not to anger the trained warrior.
We're leaping and bounding in the snow like pups, weaving between Fell's legs as he sits in the snow with his knees folded upwards. We clamber over mounds of snow, dodging the empty baskets of crumbs at our feet. Moving around seems to bring the life back into us, our hearts beating hard and pounding warm blood through our veins.
I collapse into a snowbank, exhausted, and wipe snow off my hands.
... the torchlight is bleeding bright as emeralds, casting ghoulish light over all of us.
Quinn draws her weapon and Lief brandishes his scimitar. I get to my feet just as Fell falls to one knee. I swivel to face him, and I see the pain in his eyes.
"I'm...sorry..." the jötunn grunts, "but nightfall is coming."
And, at that moment, the worst possible one, our enemies were upon us.
The Masked Men were finally here. And Fell was back to being just a regular mortal.
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Thank you so much for all your votes and comments. Sorry for the late update. School's starting up again, and the year is getting busy!
