Page 130 of Storm of Fury
“If she’s on that mountain, then she’ll stand out like a signal fire,” he muttered, under his breath.
Bryn set her foot on a piece of rock, and chills broke out down his back.
“I don’t think I can do this,” he admitted.
“You rode adreki, Tormund.”
“I know. But that’s different.” Marduk crawled up the cliff face as though he was part lizard. “I don’t know how to explain it. When I’m on Sirius’s back, I’m strapped to him, and if I go down, he goes down.” He looked up, his gut twisting in a huge knot. “There was this time in Sweden when we were hunting a dragon and I had to climb a mountain. I couldn’t do it. I knew Haakon and the others were ahead of me, waiting for me to join them, but my body just froze. Haakon had to slay the dragon by himself, then come back and rescue me.”
Bryn stepped down from the ledge, her hand resting on his forearm. “I’ll be beside you.”
He shook his head, backing away. “I’ll only slow you down. There. There’s a small track over there,” he said, pointing to the right. “You follow Marduk. I’ll… try and join you.”
“Tormund—"
An icy sweat dripped down his spine as a sudden gust of wind nearly blew them off the plateau. “Just go. Marduk will need help with Ishtar, and if those Keepers are up there, he’ll need a sword at his side. I’ll find you. I promise.”
Bryn stared at him for a long time, then stepped closer and kissed him. “Don’t get yourself hurt.” Then she turned back to the cliff. “And yell if you need us. Marduk can send Sirius back down.”
He watched her crawl up the cliff, the strong muscles in her thighs bunching as she swiftly followed Marduk. The sight made him feel sick—and perhaps if Sirius hadn’t dropped from the skies like that, he might be in better condition to attempt it.
No point dwelling on it.
He watched until Bryn had cleared the first part of the escarpment, then looked across a narrow ravine, eyeing the curve in the track. If he got a run up, he should make it. Backing up, he resettled the axe. Blowing into his cupped hands, he stared across the—
A flutter of movement caught his eye.
Tormund froze as a pale-faced figure dashed through the long grass below and into the forest.
And then he blinked.
The princess had doubled back on her tracks and was now heading in the opposite direction. She’d never intended to take the bare, rocky mountain paths after all.
“Mother of dragons,” he hissed, glancing up.
There was no sign of either of thedreki, nor of Bryn. And no means of contacting them without also alerting the Keepers.
“Bryn?” he tried to call softly.
Sirius had made contact with him mind-to-mind, but Tormund had no means of reaching out.
“Bryn?” he half yelled. His voice echoed through the ravine, and he winced. Hopefully Sirius was in a position to see him.
Lose Ishtar?
Or follow her?
“Fuck,” he cursed, ripping a shirt from his pack and tying it around a branch so Bryn would be able to track him. “Run into a dark forest, Tormund. Follow a magicaldrekiprincess who doesn’t want to be caught. All alone.”
That sounded exactly like something he would do.
Where the hell was Haakon when you needed to blame him for a rash decision?
* * *
Sirius soaredaround the top of the mountain, craning his neck to see below. Mist obscured the lower flanks of the mountains, but he caught a glimpse of Marduk and Bryn following Ishtar’s path.
Where the hell was Tormund?
