Page 115 of A Light So Blinding
A lot of them.
Trolls who had fought beside him long ago, but who were now used to fighting together. They were willing to battle beside him, knowing that he would take the brunt of the pain and injuries for them. Ragnar was there as well, his lavender features hard to miss among the others. All Bjorn had to do was... was...
He could feel her, he realized. The brightness of her magic stretched into his until he could almost feel the glow in his palms. She wanted him to use that power. She wanted him to spread it, coil it around the trolls...
Oh, he realized what the plan was.
“I’m going to pull out their fylgja,” he murmured. “They’ll fight with us, not just against the person who had ignored it.”
“You’re what?”
He grinned at Rabbit. “There are many benefits to having a troll wife, my friend. Someday you will see.”
Rabbit made a face. “Do not curse me with a woman, Bull. I have no interest in one.”
Of course he didn’t. But Bjorn was quite certain that, whether troll wife or husband, the magic was still spread to each. Regardless, he was quite certain he could convince the spirits to fight with them. Sure, he’d only seen her summon them to battle against their own person, but... surely they would fight together as well. It had to be possible.
So he wove the magic, pulling it from the first few trolls across the way. It took some doing. After all, the spirits were only there to guide the troll they were connected to. But he could speak with them, unlike Astrid. He could tell them why it was so important that they fight alongside the person they guided and protected. This was about protection, after all. It was about keeping all of them safe.
More and more he pulled. Wolves and beasts from the woods. Giant spiders, elk, monstrous crocodiles, over and over again. Until finally he turned to his dear friend and reached for the creature within him.
Rabbit sighed, reached down, and lifted his spirit animal up by its very long ears. “Really, Bjorn?”
He shrugged. “I don’t make them, you know. I just pull out what is already there.”
“A rabbit? What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Tell it to bite?”
Rabbit held it out to him and said, “Bite.”
The little creature was highly uninterested in that option. It just hung there, dangling from its ears and twitching its tiny little nose. Probably not a very good guardian spirit but one that fit his friend.
“Stay behind us all,” he said, trying very hard not to chuckle. “The last few of them will be terrified of your beast. I am certain of it.”
“I will kick you the first chance I get.”
“If I’m still alive, yes. You may.”
Then, Bjorn walked into the hall. Just himself, subtly motioning for everyone else to stay where they were. He didn’t want the king to know that there were more of them. At least, not yet.
He stared down the hall to see the room where it opened up. There were plenty of guards, at least twenty men pointing crossbows at him and even more ready with swords and blades.
“You brought a lot of soldiers to fight me,” he said, meandering ever forward.
He couldn’t see the king or Astrid yet, but he was glad for it. It was already hard to keep ahold of himself. Seeing her, and the fear he knew he’d recognize in her eyes, would make him lose his mind.
But then he saw the king. He was hidden among all the gleaming armor and all the nonsense that he’d brought with him. Did they really believe flimsy metal armor would keep Bjorn away from their vital organs?
The king stared him down. “You were a dog ready to take any order I gave you. I told you to bark, and what did you do? You barked.”
“I did what I had to do to stay alive,” Bjorn replied. “And now, I am back for revenge. Where is my woman?”
“Your woman?”
“Mywife,” Bjorn snarled.
The crowd of soldiers parted to show her, with a sword at her throat and her posture straight as an arrow. She stood there, unafraid of anyone who touched her, because she was looking at him.
