Page 138 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

“Cover me,” Maude shouted to Liv before running to Eydis.

“Go,” Liv said through gritted teeth, her axe flashing toward yet anotherdraugrthat sprinted towards her. Rage burned in her gaze, and Maude knew then that she would never want to be on the receiving end of Liv’s anger. Again.

Maude released arrow after arrow to slow thedraugrdarting for her, but the only way to kill them was to behead them. She slid beneath the legs of adraugrLiv was fighting, making Liv jump to avoid crushing Maude. When she stood again, she snagged the sword hanging off the back of Liv’s belt and pivoted in place to face thedraugrEydis had been fending off.

Slicing through bloated neck tissue and muscle belonging to the undead guards of this Hel on earth, the monster in front of Eydis fell to its knees, its head falling in front of it and rolling toward Eydis.

“Maude,” she said weakly, swaying on her feet. Her staff dropped to the ground, the bloody pointed tip clanging against the stone floor. The sound rattled something deep in Maude’s gut as she saw just how much Eydis had been bleeding.

She rushed forward to catch Eydis and helped lower her to the ground, where she could inspect the wound on her arm. A large tear in the muscle of her arm that began with a bloody crescent shape that belonged to teeth had been gouged into her bicep.

“They came out of the walls,” Eydis whispered, eyes fluttering. “I thought I had this one until my staff got caught in the tight space, and it lunged forward.”

Her caramel eyes darted in every direction until they settled on Maude’s face.

“Don’t you dare, Eydis,” Maude snapped, grabbing her friend's face and shaking her.

Dull eyes looked through her when Maude finally stopped shaking her. With one hand, she ripped the bottom of her shirt off, thinking to herself how she could have any clothes left at this rate if she kept having to bind others' wounds. Maude said as much to Eydis, who cracked a weak smile.

“You’re pretty funny when you want to be, Maude,” she said, her voice as thready and weak as her pulse. “I’m going to miss that about you.”

She ignored the farewell that Eydis was trying to make as she continued wrapping tight bandage after tight bandage over the bloody wound. It didn’t matter how much pressure she put on it; the blood soaked through each strip of linen within seconds.

“I know that you’ll look after my Hakon,” Eydis continued, looking past Maude to find the man she had given her heart to. “Don’t let him grieve forever. He will be a wonderful King of Rivers, but not if he is stuck in the past with me.”

“You are going to make it out of this cave, Eydis,” Maude said, instead tying the linen tight around Eydis’s arm above the wound to try and stop the bleeding long enough to heal it. “I do not permit you to die here. Do you understand me?”

“As you order, Your Highness,” Eydis whispered, a weak smile faint on her pale lips. “But if I do die, I need you to know that I’m so glad I met you as Maude. Our people need a leader; they needyouto lead them out of the darkness and fear they know so well.”

Maude’s vision blurred as she tried to stop Eydis from bleeding out in the dank tunnels beneath the sea. Eydis deserved to make it out of this Hel-hole and have a life filled with friends and family.

Her younger brothers, who were too little to understand why their sister would never come back, needed her to be there for them. To protect them, just like she was now, by leaving them behind in safety.

“Lead our friends and loved ones from underneath your father’s rule to freedom,” Eydis whispered, eyes fluttering shut. “Only you and Herrick can do it. That’s why you found each other.”

Maude spared her friends a glance before she continued working on Eydis. Hakon was closest to her, keeping himself a barrier between her and thedraugr. Herrick swung his battle axe through the neck of thedraugrhe had been fighting, killing it permanently. Liv and Gunnar were facing off together against the biggest beast of them all.

Maude finished tying the last bandage above the bite and then quickly spilled her canteen over the skin to inspect the damage. The wound was still bleeding, pulsing rather. Arterial.

“Fuck, okay,” Maude said, cleaning off more of the wound just to be sure. “Eydis, I have to burn the wound, or it won't stop. I’ve slowed it a bit, but it can’t wait.”

Maude checked her friend’s pulse; it was irregular, but it was there. Eydis didn’t respond. She shook her shoulders.

“Eydis!”

No response. Maude put her hand over Eydis’s chest and felt it rise.

“Do it!” Hakon shouted over his shoulder to Maude.

Needing no further encouragement, Maude snapped her fingers. Her fire sparked to life at her fingertips but sputtered out immediately. She tried again, but it shot up into the ceiling of the tunnel.

“Focus,” Herrick shouted as he dodged a blow from thedraugrin front of him. “Breathe and try again.”

Maude closed her eyes and tried again with no success. She felt Herrick crouch in front of her and grab her face.

“Maude. I’m here. Tell me what you need.”

“I can’t get my fire to ignite,” Maude cried, panic and desperation threaded into her words.

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