Page 16 of Storm of Fury
And she realized what he meant.
Spine stiffening, she turned back to the fallen corpses, ostensibly checking them to ensure they wouldn’t rise again. “Do you think I needed your help?” She kicked one of the draugar’s heads toward him pointedly.
Tormund shook his head. “Prickly,” he muttered under his breath.
“What was this song that the völva spoke of?” Haakon demanded, wiping black clotted blood from his blade.
The Blackfrost paced the clearing, examining the corpses of each of the draugr. He poured a small pile of ash onto each of their bodies, and then with a snap of his fingers, ignited all three with a white-hot fire that burned blue. “Perhaps you should ask your mate. The old stories say that the Great Goddess, Tiamat, forged the world out of Chaos and Order.” He stomped a foot on the ground. “This is real. This is solid. This is order.” Bending low, he picked up a handful of dirt and let it trickle through his fingers. “You can see it. You can feel it.
“But there is another piece of the tapestry of life, and that is Chaos. The beautiful weft that binds the reality of the world together. Silent. Invisible. A song of power and fury and disorder that very few creatures can ever see or hear. Árdís is one of the few who can channel such powers. Her mother was another. But Marduk never owned such a gift—it is usually only females who can sense the song of Chaos.”
Standing up, the Blackfrost let his handful of dirt fall and brushed his palms against his leather-clad thigh. “Long ago, some of the more superstitiousdrekiused to sacrifice Chaos-wielders to the gods. It’s a dangerous magic and many argued that to allow one who could wield it to walk free was to invite ruin and destruction.”
“If anyone even thinks they’re going to lay hands on my wife, then they will have to go through me.” Haakon bristled.
“Easy,” Tormund muttered, squeezing his cousin’s shoulder. “Nobody is going to hurt Árdís. Besides, she’s mean enough to eat them herself.”
“And theZiniclan allows Chaos practitioners,” the Blackfrost replied. “It is only some of the older clans who are still steeped in tradition that follow the old ways and kill their Chaos-wielders.”
And then he frowned.
Bryn barely knew him, but she could read the unease in his posture. “What’s wrong?”
“There was something the völva said before she unleashed her draugr about a Monster With No Name. There is adrekiprophecy that claims a Chaos-weaver will spawn the destruction of the world. A very famous poem was written about it, and one of the lines says ‘Destruction has no name….’”
“Could be coincidence,” Tormund said.
The Blackfrost’s brows drew together. “I don’t believe in coincidence. There’s a cult ofdrekiwho believe in the prophecy. They call themselves the Keepers of Order, and they believe the Destroyer will come from Chaos. Some of them are natural Voids, which makes them immune to Chaos magic. Their followers circumnavigate the world, seeking to hunt the few Chaos-wielders that remain.”
Haakon stilled. “Why am I only now discovering this?”
Tormund settled a hand on his shoulder. “She’s safe, cousin. Rurik will sacrifice his entire court full ofdrekito protect his sister. Nobody is going to hurt Árdís.”
“The Keepers are easy enough to avoid as they wear marks tattooed on their faces,” the Blackfrost said. “And for all Queen Amadea’s faults, she banned the Keepers from Iceland upon pain of death. They may not have realized the queen is gone. Árdís will be safe.”
Drekiand their plots. Bryn crossed to the burial mound, kicking at a scattering of kroner. But she kept an ear open. Chaos magic was something even the gods avoided—except for Loki—and this job seemed to be getting more complicated by the minute.
Ragnarök, the völva had said.
That word was enough to send a chill down her spine, for most of her life’s purpose had been spent preparing for the end of the world.
And a Monster With No Name.
What did that mean?
She was no longer Valkyrie—not in the true sense of the word—but she had been raised to protect the world, and that calling hadn’t completely faded. She needed to know more.
Tormund looked toward the east. “How would Marduk hear the song if he cannot wield Chaos?”
The Blackfrost hauled his pack over his shoulder. “He shouldn’t be able to.”
“Perhaps someone else is using such magics, and he is searching forthem?” Bryn called, lifting her arm as Sýr came soaring in. The merlin landed on her glove and Bryn rubbed her under the beak. “Youdrekibelieve in true mates, yes?”
The three men exchanged glances.
“Would Marduk have felt the mating bond?” Haakon asked.
“Possibly.” The Blackfrost shook his head. “If he has found his mate, then it will be next to impossible to part them. If she can weave Chaos, then…” He cursed under his breath. “This is not ideal.”
