Page 111 of Storm of Desire
Haakon frowned. Manacled or not, herdrekirode just below the surface of her mortal skin. He could still feel the bite of her nails in his shoulders and back, and she'd been somewhat territorial in her affections. Not that he was complaining, but herdrekiseemed to be chafing at the manacle's holdtonight.
A landscape of color caught his eye. A flicker of green on thehorizon.
Haakon leaned on the rail as soft green light fused with the horizon. Hints of pink streaked through the colors, and he half imagined he could see the spirits of Árdís's ancestors. His breath caught, and though holding Árdís had seemed to heal him, the muscles surrounding his lungs clenched a little. He barely felt it. Wonder filled him. "The Bifrost Bridge," Haakon murmured, tilting his face back to stare up at thesky.
Or so his mother had always toldhim.
But tonight was different. He'd seen the lights many a time, but never like this. This was no Valhalla, but soaring shapes flickering on the horizon, as if something lureddrekispirits back into the mortalworld.
"Árdís," he whispered, "what are youdoing?"
Árdís stared up at theaurora borealis, her shawl draped over her shoulders and a faint green light shining in her pupils. The weight of portent chilled his skin. The very air felt thick and heavy to breathe, and he felt, for a moment, as though she was so very faraway.
And that he should not interrupther.
Lifting her palms up, Árdís let the shawl fall, her hands shaking minutely. Wisps of green light began to illuminate her pale skin, and writhe over herlimbs.
Chaosmagic.
Haakon swallowed hard, forcing his hand not to reach for her. The last time she'd manipulated the dangerous magic, she'd been comatose forhours.
But what would happen if he interruptedher?
"Haakon?" Tormund breathed, but he held a hand up and shook hishead.
All along the rail, men lifted their faces to the sky, eyeswidening.
He saw wings gliding through theaurora, as if a flight ofdrekirode the horizon, calling to her. Ethereal. Unearthly. The sort of thing a man would remember for the rest of hislife.
Árdís began toglow.
Her magic fused into a monstrous shape, wings spanning out of her back, and then forming distinctly in the air above her. Adrekiof pure spirit form, similar to what she'd conjured last time, but not as furious, orweighted. This was far more insubstantial, like aghost.
"Árja?"
The shimmeringdrekispirit hissed at him, but subsided when he glared atit.
Haakon's hands closed over her shoulders. "Árja, be careful. Don't overstretchyourself."
Her lashes fluttered open, and the unearthly green depths of her eyes blinked up at him, as if slowly coming into focus. He'd never before seen that look upon her face; a mixture of violence, barely suppressed; a fierceness he'd only ever encountered the day his little sister, Margit, stumbled across a bear, and his mother, still frail from the birth of little Arne, picked up a stick and faced it down. That expression said:I will die before I let you take what is mine,but it wasn't aimed athim.
"You were right," she whispered. "She uses my fear as a trap. It's time I was free ofit."
She was glorious, and wild, andfierce.
A creature he could barely fit within the framework of his reference to the wife he'd onceloved.
She was both utterly fascinating and terrifying, for this was not the woman he held before him in this moment, but thedrekiprincess in all herglory.
Hisdrekiprincess.
"Begone," she whispered, and the etherealdrekisoared above her head, and then swept into the night sky, racing counterpoint to the aurora. It fled south, ethereal wings trailing streamers oflight.
Árdís shuddered, as if the effort had costher.
"What are you doing?" he whispered, taking her chin and checking to see if her nose was bleedingagain.
"Sending my mother a message. And I'm fine. It was easier this time. It seems I need a strong enough motive to be able to wield my Chaos magic, and my mother provided it." Árdís tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her shaking hand belying the words. "You were right. I cannot run. I cannot hide you, not now, when she knows who you are and what you mean tome."
