Page 28 of The Last Valkyrie

Dark red eyes bored down on us as it charged ahead of its owner. The creature was terrifying with its muscled legs and iron-looking hooves.

Just as a shield wall was forming from Gothi Sigmund’s Huscarl regiment, the stampeding creature tore into them before they could get fully situated. It gored three soldiers at once, raising its head and tossing them high into the air in a spray of blood and guts.

I gawked, frozen out of fear as the thing rampaged deeper into the Vikingrune army. Then I snapped to attention when I saw a large white blur barreling toward it on four legs, Grim shifting into his polar bear form on the run.

My heart sank as my mate let out a guttural roar and lunged into the fray to match ferocity with the giant bull.

Evenyouaren’t big enough to take that thing on, Grim!

My legs moved before my mind could make a plan. I was running toward the danger, toward my mate, desperate to help in any way I could.

As Grim got close, he went on his hind legs and tried to paw and hug the beast to stop it from rioting. The creature bucked like it was in a bullfighting competition and thrashed about with its devastating horns and hooves.

Soldiers were thrown aside, screaming as they went down. The thing absolutely destroyed us, stampeding over fallen bodies, crushing them beneath its massive weight, and easily killing ten people within a minute.

Grim swiped at its face and scored a line of claw marks down its cheek before the crimson eyes turned to him and the horns came down.

My mate barely toppled aside in time to avoid getting skewered. As the bull whipped its head in the other direction, faster than fuck, I watched in horror as the cadet I knew named Rolf Blisdan—the big man who had come from Arne’s village—ran in and got impaled by a vicious goring.

Rolf sputtered blood as he was hoisted up from the ground, the crude point of the horn punching out from his back. Dropping his spear and shield, his hands went to the sides of the horn to try and extricate himself. His eyes closed in pain and he died seconds later, his body going limp, sliding down the horn as the bull bucked its head.

“No, Rolf!” Arne cried out.

Magnus jumped at it, with Arne casting spells and throwing icicles at its thick hide, trying to penetrate the fur that clearly made this thing a magical creature rather than an oversized mammal.

The monster snapped vicious flat-ended teeth at Magnus, Grim, and Arne, keeping them skittering back.

Gothi Sigmund charged. I was next to him, witnessing the skilled chieftain duck beneath a gliding horn and then wrench his blade across its fur, setting a section on fire.

The creature let out a shrill roar and turned sideways toward us—exposing itself to fighters on the other side.

I stabbed at it, keeping my center of gravity low so I could toss myself left or right if it made a move for me. My spear against its fur was like stabbing into a brick wall. The bones in my arms rattled, as did my teeth.

Corym was on the other side, taking advantage of the beast’s vulnerable flank. With a yell, he threw himself across the air and landed on its side, digging his dagger and sword into it to create handholds like a mountain climber.

My brother Eirik was next in line, keeping the monster surrounded and confused. He moved fast, catching its attention as Corym tried to climb up its side to stand atop the beast and do something from above.

We had to keep our distance because its white horns were slick with Vikingruner blood. Bodies were piling up around us. I dodged left and right on my feet, avoiding its swishing tail, its dangerous hooves.

Behind us, draug continued to fight with the rest of our army. Only the bravest of our soldiers came to try and stop this monstrous beast, but luckily shield walls and the other Hersirs like Axel, Gudleif, and Thorvi were keeping the undead at bay so we could focus on toppling the beast.

The bull thrashed some more. Corym held on for dear life and was getting to the top. He reached a hand over its furry spine—

A burst of energy shot out from the north, a flat wave of charged air that slammed into me like a tornado. I was remindedof a similar burst of invisible force from tiny Elayina, but this one came from the huge jotun in the distance.

It roared in a language I couldn’t understand as every soldier within fifty feet of me was leveled to the ground on their backs. Corym was whipped off the back of the bull, cartwheeling through the air and arcing over my vision as I stared from my back up into the predawn sky.

My eyes followed Corym, breath held, and I watched him land at least twenty feet from the bull in a heap. “C-Corym!”

Fighting back a dull ache in my head, I sat up, palmed my noggin, found my spear on the ground, and grabbed it. I ran on unsteady legs toward the fallen elf.

The wave of energy sent all of us to our asses, but the bull remained upright due to its size. It started thrashing and bucking again, stomping into people.

I saw one woman’s chest get caved in, completely flattened as a hoof landed on her and went straight through her armor, pinning her to the ground. Others met similar fates, blood spraying through the battlefield, with those nasty hooves leaving trails of red in their wake.

Gothi Sigmund only narrowly avoided death by getting his wits quicker than the others and rolling out of the way as a hoof landed where he’d just been.

His commander, Canute, hoisted the chieftain onto wobbly feet then stepped in front of the Gothi with his gigantic tower shield. Only the Thane had managed to stay on his feet when the jotun rocked us with its energy wave.

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