Page 49 of Heart of Fire
Then its massive claws curled around her shoulders with a delicate gentleness, and with a mighty surge, he thrust into thesky.
“Now!” Benedict bellowed, as Freyja’s feet left theground.
She screamed and wrapped her arms around the scaled claws; terrified thedrekiwould dropher.
“Release!” That was Haakon’svoice.
The world turned upside down as thedreki’swar cry pierced the air and it threw itself into a tumble. Over and over and over, her body jerked around like a rag doll. Something screamed through the air as it tore past them, and Freyja suddenly realized what hadhappened.
They’d used her as bait. Something to lure thedrekifrom his lair so they could killhim.
She ripped the blindfold from her eyes as thedrekirighted himself, catching a glimpse of the tableau beneath them. Wind whipped at her skirts as little figures ran and screamed, pointing at the sky abovethem.
Haakon was clearly visible, the muscles in his biceps straining as he loaded the ballista and cranked the shaft back. The heavy steel cable tautened, the deadly sharp spear gleaming in thesunlight.
And Freyja felt a rage she’d rarely feltbefore.
Not powerless now. Not blinded, her magic muted within. She lashed out, her temper a whip she wielded with ruthless efficiency. She couldn’t touch the iron cable—iron was one of the few things that refused her power—but the heavy wooden wheels of the ballista were made of the earth. As Haakon reached for the release, she smashed eachwheel.
The ballista angled forward, its sharp steel point dropping as the handle tore through Haakon’s grip. The cable let go, steel snapping with an audible twang as the javelin cut straight through cloth and flesh and buried itself in the stone wall of one of the houses, with Benedikt dangling from the end ofit.
He squealed like a stuck pig as thedrekiwheeled around curiously towatch.
“Remind me never to allow you near that thing,”thedrekiwhispered in her mind with alaugh.
Then he angled sharply, his fluid shape cutting through the wind as he soared towardKrafla.
* * *
The flight was barelyten minutes, but even Freyja was starting to shiver with cold by the time Krafla loomed in front of them. The sparse, barren fields that surrounded the volcano smoked and bubbled, but she could see the glittering white of the glacial fields further south, and her breath caught, even as the wind stole it fromher.
She could scarce believe the sight before her. The entire world stretched out in miniature, like a map come tolife.
Thedrekitouched her mind, as if wondering what had caught her attention so. A light caress against her senses, a sudden connection where she sensed hiscuriosity.
“You wish to see the glaciers? I will take you oneday….”
And just like that her sense of wonder died, protective walls sliding into place between her mind and his.“Put me down.”She eyed the sheer rock walls of the volcano’s side.“Gently,please.”
They wheeled lower, the sudden downthrust of his wings halting them mere feet above the ledge that led to the caves. His claws released her, and Freyja dropped. She landed on the ledge, her ankle giving way beneath her as she fell. Though his touch had been gentle, her shoulders ached from his grip, and for a moment she simply lay there, trying not tohurt.
The sinuous head was suddenly directly in her field of vision, and Freyja screamed despite herself, scrambling onto her back and away. Thedrekifroze, his golden eyesgleaming.
“Are youhurt?”
Freyja stared at him with the rock walls against her back, her breath coming hard and her skirts tumbled around her knees. “Am I hurt?” she gasped weakly, hot and sharp emotion dampening her eyes. She could barely hold it in anymore. The only creature that gave a damn about her was thedreki, and even he had ulterior motives, though what they were she couldn’t even begin toguess.
“I have been kidnapped, tied down, and offered as sacrifice to… to you. Then dragged through the air, dropped, and—” She couldn’t hold it in anymore.Rurik, damn you. “Nobody came to save me! They all just watched! My father will be beside himself with worry! Who will care for him? What do you want with me? Damn you,what?”
She exploded into tears, angry, damning tears that blinded her to the world around her. The last thing she thought she saw was an expression on thedreki’sface that could only be described as perplexed. And that set her off, laughing, crying, and hiccupping all at the sametime.
“Why am I even telling you?” she whispered, scrubbing at her hot eyes. “You would not even begin to understand what is wrong with me. With theworld.”
“There are many things wrong with the world.These puny humans insist on marking it as theirs, even though it belongs to noone.”
“Not evenyou?”
His glorious eyes narrowed.“Only a fool thinks he owns such power. I may wield it, but I do not own it. And why would I wish to?”Even she heard the hesitation.“I admit I am not certain what is wrong with you, however. It is difficult to understand in this form.Where is yourblindfold?”
