"All right. You lot wait just outside the archway. When it sounds like he's good and distracted, go – and don't look back."
They collected their packs, unbolted the door and left their safe haven. Ciara had expected a fire attack straight away, but there was nothing, just empty, silent stone rooms. They darted through corridors, heading in the general direction of the throne room in the hope that they would find it. It felt like they were getting hopelessly lost, like the place had turned into a maze, when she finally saw a burst of fire.
"Look!" she whispered. The walls of a tunnel were glowing orange. "That way."
They crept down the passage, setting their feet down in a silent hunter's tread.
The archway loomed. Everyone but Ciara flattened themselves against the wall. She locked eyes with Fell and he nodded.
Armed and ready, she walked out into the throne room. A man was sprawled out across Hati's throne, draped in a robe so dark it could have been weaved from the essence of the night sky itself. His black hair was long, his crossed legs dangled over an arm of the throne and he held a slender glass of red wine in one hand.
"See, this is what I like about humans. Possibly their only redeeming quality," he said, eyes on the wine. "The excellent wine. Want any, Embla?"
She didn't know whether to laugh or not. "I'm afraid I don't have time to get drunk, Hati."
"But you do. You have all the time in the world." He looked a little like Ask, only his face was more... wolfish. Wild.
"I've got to say, your hair is better than mine," Ciara remarked, trying to keep him in a good mood.
He gave a lupine grin. "Thank you." Tossing stray strands over one shoulder, he raised the glass to his lips.
Ciara risked a glance back at the archway which Fell was peering around incredulously. He swiftly withdrew and she returned her attention to Hati.
"So, are you still going to refuse to listen to us?"
"I may have shifted into a rather attractive human but I am still the same wolf, dear. My decision hasn't changed."
Changing tactics, Ciara strolled across the throne room, keeping clear of the fire. Hati had one dark-red eye on her. "Tell us where your brother is."
Hati laughed softly. He had chosen to keep the long canines. "He is nowhere. He is everywhere. I cannot tell you, because he's always on the move. We guardians have bodies and duties to uphold, too, you know. Searching for us would be a wild goose chase."
"That's why we came to you. But you let us down."
He sipped more wine. "Pity."
She was starting to lose patience. "Can't you just... summon him? Your brother?"
"I'd rather not. He can be very annoying sometimes."
"So you won't help us at all?"
"Let me think. No. Ask one more time and I will turn you to ashes on my floor."
Recklessness seized her. She pulled a bola from her belt and flung it.
Glass shattered. Hati almost fell out of his throne in shock as wine exploded everywhere.
"Go!" Ciara shouted, running towards the guardian and bracing herself. Fell shot out of the archway, leading the others as they sprinted across the throne room.
Hati dived for her. His fingers closed around her chin, forcing her face up. His thumb pressed against her windpipe.
"You little sneak," he hissed. "That was some of my best wine."
"Pity," she choked.
He growled, teeth nearly touching her face. His hand began to burn as his anger grew. But Ciara was ready for him, and she gave her power free reign to combat his flames. Chills raced along her skin and blue marks shone.
"You are an idiot. Do you want me to kill you?"
"I could kill you, too. We'd both just come back." She forced his hand away. "You – all of you – need to stop acting like gods."
He spread his arms. "We are gods, honey."
"No, we're not! We're supposed to protect the balance of the world." Ciara turned and raced after the others. The click of claws on stone told her that Hati was a wolf once more, and he was giving chase. Heat filled the room in an unbearable wave.
Ciara blasted cold air and snow, breathing in it, letting it fill her with strength. She ran across the entrance hall. The others were heading up the stairs.
The stone began to shudder, and the stairs collapsed beneath their feet. Ciara managed to send forward a surge of icy wind and catch the hunters as they tumbled, slowing their falls.
But they were trapped. The wolf was gaining on them. She skidded to a halt beside the others and turned to defend them against Hati.
"Tonraq!" Fell bellowed.
Hati's nostrils flared. He spun around as Tonraq ran from the archway on the opposite side of the chamber. "What the –?"
To Ciara's relief – and terror – Hati took the bait and leaped after him.
"Come on." Isa had found another staircase and they wasted no time, taking the steps in twos and threes as Hati's growling filled the mountain like an earthquake.
Ciara's lungs burst as she fought for breath, still feeling the effects of the smoke. It caught in her throat, made her head pound. Isa hooked her arm through Ciara's, dragging her almost too fast for her feet to follow.
Fell's face was set and grim as he clutched his axe. They climbed higher, scanning for any sloping tunnels, and she watched the Midgarsons anxiously, hoping their faces would light up with recognition soon.
The occasional thud or snarl rumbling through the walls told them Hati was still giving chase. Then a yelp.
Tonraq? How badly was he hurt? She couldn't think about it. Couldn't think about anything other than the desperate need to escape into fresh air. She imagined the tonnes and tonnes of rock pressing down on them. If the mountain spirit shifted in its sleep, they would be crushed.
"Over here!" Sebastian had found a rough hole in the wall. It was a harsh contrast to Hati's smooth, flawless hallways.
At that moment, Tonraq appeared out of an adjoining archway. Light blazed behind him.
"Run!" Sebastian shouted.
The tunnel was so narrow they had to file in one by one. Hati was going to drag them out like weasels... It sloped up sharply, forcing her to scramble along on her hands and knees. Hati's claws scraped stone.
"Go ahead of me!" Ciara pressed herself against the tunnel wall and forced Tonraq ahead. She was Embla; it made sense that she had to be the one to protect them against Hati.
She stuck her palm out and an ice barrier crystallised out of nothing, spanning the length of the tunnel. No time to check if it was thick enough – she had to keep moving.
She had barely gone five paces before she heard Hati smash through it as if it were paper. Her stomach lurched, but then she spotted light ahead. They were so close.
As they hurtled out onto the mountain slopes, gulping down snowy air, one final burst of fire followed them. It snapped at their heels and turned the white sky momentarily orange. Hati's message was clear: if they returned, they'd be incinerated.
They staggered away from the half-collapsed hole in the mountainside, but all had gone dark and still once more. Had Hati actually retreated?
Isa was on her hands and knees, shuddering, while Tonraq gaped at the tunnel as if he couldn't believe what had just happened while Sebastian held his arm, steadying him.
Ciara's hands were shaking. She wished the blue marks would disappear. "Now what do we do?" Frustration descended upon her chest. They had failed. "Fell?"
Fell stood on a rise of snow, gazing down at an elegant manor house with an arching roof perched on the mountainside. He didn't seem to notice the wind buffeting him, tossing his hair around his face.
Ciara crunched to his side. "Fell?"
"Home. A place I'd once called home, anyway. We can take refuge inside."
"We have to get the dogs, bring them in, too," Sebastian added.
The struggle down the mountain was laborious. All Ciara wanted was to sleep and wash the stink of Hati's fire away, but her life had turned into the unending task of putting one foot in front of the other. Her companions were sweaty and streaked with grime despite the fierce weather, their hair dishevelled, and she doubted she looked any better.
Luckily, the dogs were unharmed; just grumpy and covered in snow.
"I'll drive, Ciara," Tonraq offered.
"No. You let Hati chase you in circles all through his palace, you should rest."
"You used your ice to save us back there. You need rest more." He pushed her gently onto the cargo seat, and added quietly, "Why is it that whenever we speak to each other, we disagree? It didn't used to be like this."
"I know," she whispered. But she couldn't give him an answer.
The Midgarson house was huge, with large glass windows and slender spires that pierced the dark sky. Fell led the way as snow whirled around him, whipped up by the gale. The double doors were slender and rose to a graceful point high above their heads, but inside the house looked completely dark. No sign of life.
Fell withdrew an old, tarnished key and unlocked the doors. He hesitated before opening them.
Ciara approached him. "What's wrong?"
His eyes were swimming with the past. "My entire family used to live here. It was where Isa and I grew up. But... well, you heard what Hati said. My father wanted to break into Hati's home, and steal whatever treasure was rumoured to lie within. So the wolf – he – he killed them all. My mother. My father. Our cousins. Then he banished us, and we never returned. We wouldn't have been able to face the past even if we'd wanted to come back. Our family's wealth, status and honour... all gone."
"But we're with you now." She began to realise how he must feel. All his talk of honour... He must have grown up being told how important it was. She sketched a mental picture of a stern, proud family. He must have wanted to impress them. To be someone – not just another Midgarson. To step out of their shadow.
Isa stood on Fell's other side and put her head on his shoulder as Tonraq and Sebastian led the dogs closer.
Fell pushed the doors wide and they walked into a high-ceilinged hall, with massive windows at the front and back. The great room spanned the length of the house, with all other doorways and staircases leading off from it. Glass panes took up most of the front and back walls, mirroring each other. Everything was in shadow, silent and covered with dust.
Fell and Isa took in their childhood home mutely. Ciara tried to imagine the house when it had been lived in: not grand, but very pristine.
"We'll rest here." Fell's voice sounded impressive as it echoed in the vast space. "Everyone make yourselves at home. Use whichever rooms you want. No one lives here." He gazed sadly up at the high windows.
Ciara glanced at Sebastian in time to see a crease appear between his eyebrows.
*
They spread out, looking for rooms to settle in. Ciara wandered the house despite the pain of her twisted ankle, sensing the loneliness that had seeped into its walls. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked through the different chambers, feeling like an intruder. The abandoned furniture was washed with pale blue moonlight – the storm had passed on.
She deposited her pack in a bedroom. It, and her coat, smelled of smoke. Tonraq and Isa treated their burns and scrapes with a salve, and they ate together in the kitchen, but there was no sign of Fell.
Ciara walked back through the dark hall, glancing up at the high, vaulted ceiling.
Where had their leader gone?
A door was ajar. Ciara pushed it a little, and entered a music room. Shelves full of sheet music and a few old instrument cases lined the walls, and Fell stood in the centre of the room, a solitary figure.
"Fell? Aren't you hungry?" She felt idiotic asking the question. He had just returned to his family's house for the first time since a massacre. Of course he didn't want to eat.
Fell stretched out a hand. It hung motionless for a moment, disembodied, lit with a stray shaft of light from a hole in the roof. He visibly gathered himself before sweeping the cloth away to reveal a beautiful cello resting on a table. Made of spruce wood with horsehair strings, it gleamed, and even with her meagre musical knowledge Ciara could tell it was of fine craftsmanship.
"This is cello was created for me." Yet he moved as if he expected it to scald him. "I hated my parents," he said unexpectedly, not looking at her.
Ciara blinked.
"They were severe. They wanted so much from Isa and I. Our sister, Sebastian's mother, shielded us from them for a while, but she left Blackwolf when she married. They were insistent we learned to play instruments, telling us we needed the discipline it would bring. The cello was one of the only things I agreed with them upon. It was mine, its music mine. But after all the death, I couldn't bring myself to take it with us."
"Would you play now?" Ciara bit her tongue, furious at herself. She should take more care not to overstep her boundaries.
Fell huffed a laugh and ran the bow across the strings. "It must be falling apart by now –"
The cello produced the deepest, richest notes she had ever heard.
Fell's eyebrows lifted. "Skald. Of course. He must have oiled it and tended to it all this time, even though there was no one to play, because he knew how much I loved it." Pain contracted his face. "That was what Skald did – he made instruments and taught the village children how to use them."
Ciara gazed at him expectantly.
"I don't know... It's been so long."
"You could try?" The haunted look in his eyes worried her more than she cared to admit.
Fell frowned. He sank onto the stool, pulling the cello toward him.
Tentative at first, he began by plucking a soft, gentle melody, hair falling across his face as he bowed his head in concentration.
From the moment he drew the bow across the strings, a shiver rolled down her spine. The notes poured into the hall like honey, like night, like dusk. As deep as his own voice – no, deeper, reaching a pitch which he could not, yet it sounded as if he were releasing a sound which had been trapped inside his body forever. He played as if he was conveying everything he couldn't say, everything he had ever felt but had never found the words to express, as if this was his last night on earth and he had to pour his entire being into the piece. There was something primal about it, sending a chill creeping over Ciara's skin.
Fell's hand flew up and down the neck while the bow glided across the strings with such grace it was as if it was unsupported. His notes swelled and crashed in a crescendo before dimming and dipping, swooping like a raven's flight. He climbed melodies with ease, and she felt every flutter of every scale in the pit of her stomach.
Ciara sensed Sebastian and Isa's presence on either side of her as they joined to watch. Without thinking, she gripped Sebastian's hand. He gave a soft intake of breath before his fingers curled around hers.
Fell's music was the unforgiving calamity of grief. It was love felt for the first time. It was uncontainable unbridled joy. Each note built on the last, and her heart swelled with it until it was too large for her ribcage. Until her lungs were constricted and she could not breathe. Hot tears rolled down her face and she could not even summon the will to wipe them away – she was paralysed, transfixed, taken out of her own body by the power of the dark notes. Each vibrato was a tremor rolling down her bones, shivering through her guts.
When the song finally ended, awed silence reigned.
"That was..." She had no words. She had never learned how to play anything and found herself fiercely regretting it. Her hand drifted to the vegvisir around her neck.
"Do you remember when we were children," Isa sounded choked, "and I told you I would beat you with it if you continued to infuriate me with your practicing?"
He gave a wry smile.
"Can you teach me how to play?" Ciara blurted out.
All three of them stared at her.
She felt herself going red. "I've never – music is never something I... I didn't realise it could be so... I want to learn."
Fell raked his hair away from his face with one hand. "I don't know, I'm not much of a teacher."
"Oh, please, spare us," Isa said tartly. "Stop being so humble."
"Would you rather I act big-headed, sister?"
She thought about it. "No. Absolutely not."
Fell rolled his eyes.
"I'll take your lack of further objection as a yes," Ciara told him. "But I have to warn you, I know nothing about instruments. Or music. Nothing at all."
"Guardians save me," he muttered.
While Isa and Sebastian wandered around the music room, Ciara followed Fell into the sitting room, telling herself that he'd let her know if he wanted to be left alone. They'd been travelling together for over a month now, and still she found him intimidating.
Someone, Sebastian, perhaps, had built a blazing fire to chase away some of the house's chill. Fell froze for a moment, unmasked horror on his face, but he forced himself to sit on the sofa. Ciara sank down beside him.
She bit the inside of her cheek. "How do you stand it?"
"What?" He didn't look at her, eyes fixed on the fire. As if he had to watch it, to make sure it didn't come to life.
"Being near fire. Making a fire when we set up camp. You walked back into Hati's lair! You faced him again, after everything..." Her voice trailed away. She realised the enormous amount of strength and courage he had, to keep going through all of this. And he barely let any of his turmoil show.
Fell clasped his hands together. "It started when my father began his... obsession... with the mountain. It drove him crazy. He wanted treasure at first, but then he wanted to capture Hati. He wanted power. Isa and I tried our best to stop him. It was also when we first met Darius, who had been drawn to the mountain for similar reasons. The guardian within." It was like a dam had broken – he'd been keeping this story to himself for so long that he had to let it all out.
Ciara blinked. Darius... what did you do? The fire crackled, casting light and shadow over Fell's face.
"Hati killed our mother as a warning to our father. He paid no heed to any of it. Isa witnessed his death, too, although I wish she hadn't. It was..." Horrible. A haunted look crept into his eyes.
Ciara reached for him without even thinking, clasping his hand tightly in both of hers. "Were your, um, your burns... from Hati?"
He sucked in a breath. Between her hands, his fingers curled into a fist. "Yes."
Yes. That one word, sharp and full of pain. So that explained the secrecy. She knew he wouldn't tell her any more; the answer had been abrupt. Did the scars still pain him now? Fury heated her blood.
Hati deserved to be dragged out of his mountain to answer for his crimes, burning an innocent man, attacking an innocent town... Had Fell and Isa kept it quiet because they knew Ciara, Sebastian and Tonraq wouldn't want to ask him, of all guardians, for help?
How had Fell managed to walk back into the mountain after all this time, without anger or the need for vengeance? Ciara couldn't even begin to imagine his dread, the anxiety he must have felt.
"He did all this, caused so much suffering, yet you don't want to make him answer for it?" she asked.
Fell pulled his hand away. "No. Like I said when we started on this journey, there are more important things – the balance of the world, for example."
"But don't you want revenge?"
"Of course I do. I've imagined killing him too many times to count. But he can't die, not truly. The guardians have done many terrible things in their lives, but they're always reborn. I can't judge you based on a crime from Embla's past, can I?"
"But I don't have my memories, and I wasn't born like this. It's not the same."
"We don't know that." A muscle flickered in his jaw. "It's hard, putting it behind me, but I try. So should you."
That sounded like dismissal.
"You should eat," Ciara whispered, standing. "There's food in the kitchen."
How and why had Fell killed Darius's brother? The more she learned, the more they let her into their lives, the more confused she became. Would she ever have the courage to ask outright? And if she did, would they actually tell her, or would she lose this fragile connection she had built with the Midgarsons forever?
On her way back across the hall, Ciara spotted Tonraq. The air between them was heavy with things unsaid, but Ciara marched across to him and hugged him before he could speak.
"Ciara –"
"I'm sorry for being so argumentative. I was really scared, when you volunteered to distract Hati. I thought if you got hurt, I'd never forgive myself... Sorry, I'm bad at explaining these things."
"It's all right. I know."
"We good?"
"We're good."
"I'm glad you're with me, Tonraq."
"So am I. What would you do without me? I'm the backbone keeping this entire group together, you know."
She laughed. "Yeah, whatever."