Page 45 of Storm of Fury
Bryn sprinted into the passage.
Leaping over a fallendrekiguard, Bryn skidded to a halt as she beheld the stairs. They’d never make it in time. There were so many of them. She stared up in dismay at the enormous cavern roof, and the hole far above them that spilled sunlight into the center of the mountain.
It was barely a pinprick.
Golden light washed over her from behind, and then an almighty roar shook the world.
She spun, hand on her sword, as her eyes finally made out the image of an enormous goldendrekiflaring his wings. There was no sign of Marduk, but the way thedrekihovered over the frail Ishtar proved thedreki’sidentity.
“Climb on!” Haakon yelled, scrambling up the slope of thedreki’stail.
He nestled in behind Marduk’s wings, straddling the creature’s spine. Ishtar followed him, her face tilted toward the light above them as if she’d never seen its like.
“Wait.” Tormund looked back toward the tunnels. He shot her a frustrated glare, then bolted back into the darkness.
“What are you doing?” she screamed, as Marduk roared behind them.
Tormund slid to his knees beside the fallendrekiguard, slinging the bastard’s arm over his shoulder. “I can’t just leave him here. He can’t move. He’ll die.”
“You can’t save them all!”
“But I can savethisone.”
“He’s the enemy!” She shook her head. “He wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.”
Knees straining, he hauled thedrekiguard half over his shoulder. “Aye, well, I’m not the kind of man who can just walk away.”
The weight was too much for him, she saw.Drekiwere heavier than they looked, and the guard had an inch on Tormund. But she knew he wouldn’t give up.
“Damn it.” Bryn slipped under thedreki’sother arm, helping to share the burden. “You’re the stupidest man I know.”
Their eyes met.
“Stupidly brave,” she amended.
“You don’t have to help.”
And it was true. She’d done her task: Marduk was found, and as soon as they were free of this blasted mountain she could summon the warlord of theSaduclan.
“I could never forgive myself if you die in the bowels of a mountain,” she growled. “All I would hear in my dreams is, ‘I could have died an old man if you didn’t drag me into this hell forsaken mountain’. Your ghost would haunt me. I know it. I would never have peace.”
Tormund laughed. “Is that the sound of a heart beating in your chest? Are you growing fond of me, Brightfeather?”
That name. She gritted her teeth. “I’m starting to regret this decision already.”
Together they hauled the guard toward the waitingdrekiprince.
“Thank you,” Tormund said as Haakon shook his head and hauled the guard onto Marduk’s back.
“Never. Again,” she told him as she climbed up behind the guard.
The volcano shook as if the gods heard her oath, but that was only pure superstition.
The gods had abandoned her long ago. The only one she could count on was herself, and if she continued to follow this fool, then she’d get herself killed.
Nine
Marduk landed by the lake,listing badly under their combined weight.
