“Ivor, stay in bed. I’m going to see what’s going on,” she said. Using the furniture pinned into place, she pushed herself to the door.
“I should come too, just in case—”
“Clearly you haven’t broken in your human legs, much less your sea legs. Rest, Ivor. I’ll be back soon.” The wolven made a sound of protest, but reluctantly agreed. Ailsa threw herself from the room, meeting the violent beginnings of a sudden storm on the other side.
Black clouds plastered a dark canvas across the sky, the moon and stars disappearing behind the walls of a fierce squall. She smelled the rain in the torrential wind, turbulent against the waves and forcing the spray of whitecaps over the edge of the vessel. The ship groaned. Everywhere she looked things were breaking, ropes snapped, the sails tore against the force of nature.
A thick fist snagged her arm. She turned to find the face of one the inebriated officers, now sobered by impending danger. “Get back inside!”
“I can help!” she shouted above the beating wind stealing her voice. Ailsa had never been on a ship of this size, but the mechanisms were similar to the longships she was taught to manage. Even though she never left home, her father made sure she could sail, fight, and take care of herself. She would finally use her lessons in a way that mattered. “Release me, Sorrin!”
His grip only constricted, pushing her back towards her cabin. Before she could argue, a sound disrupted the chorus of waves crashing against the hull. The raspy sound of a throaty growl made the world quiet for a beat, and the officer paled as his eyes caught something behind her.
She turned and found the face of a serpent. His massive head lifted from the water, jaws parted to reveal several rows of serrated and salivating teeth. Lightning veined the sky behind the beast, reflecting the luminous emerald green of its neatly folded scales. His head must have been the size of their ship, able to consume the great vessel in one jaw-stretching bite.
Jormungand.
She knew the tales of the serpent encircling the world, lurking beneath the depths of the Great Sea and guarding the edges of Midgard. But they were only tales, and this beast before her was very,veryreal. The beast croaked another bone splitting sound before its head dunked back into the ocean, a great wave produced in its wake.
The swell hit the side of the boat, lurching the vessel and tangling the masts in a mess of canvas, wood, and rope. The elves had already sprung to work, using their magic to catch the broken ropes flapping wildly in the salty gusts. But they were unable to maintain control of their power as the wreckage slipped free of their enchanted fingers. The world was too disorienting, the air moving too quickly to aim the enchantments properly, and without the daylight to fuel their power, they were running out quickly. The ship was tipping, and if the crew didn’t take back control of the vessel, they would surely be swallowed by the sea—then by the beast.
“It senses you, Ailsa!” Sorrin shook her back into focus. “You have to get inside and maybe the serpent will spare us all.”
Another male Ailsa did not recognize joined them in the center of the lower deck. “Use her! If there was ever a time to test the power of the Tether it is now! Make her destroy the beast!”
“She could destroy this realm if the power in the Tether feels threatened!”
“I’ll take my chances,” the male replied. He yanked Ailsa from Sorrin’s grasp and pulled her toward the edge of the vessel. She tried to twist her arms from his grip, but the sailor was unnaturally strong. He pushed her in front of him, pinning her against the side by his hips so she was forced to look over the boiling sea.
He displayed her to the beast like carrion for a crow. Like bait.
“Let me go!” She writhed against him, but it was futile. There was no outmatching this male pressed against her back. The waves near the boat foamed as the serpent slid beneath the water’s edge. Her skin was suddenly fevered, the marks across her forearms burned as hot as her fear.
“What are you doing?” A distinguishable voice boomed behind them, anger as familiar as the night she first experienced its wrath.
“Captain, we must use her to kill the beast, or we have no hope of ever making it out of this infernal realm!” Her captor tensed; his body went rigid as if he were frozen in place.
“Let her go,”the elfin hissed. There was a moment of disobedience before the male complied. His arms fell limp at his sides, and she pushed away from the edge.
Falling to her knees at the expense of the ship's lurching, she crawled to the staircase leading to the upper deck, holding on to a post so she could regain orientation. The thrill in her heart would not be soothed, not when the beast was still somewhere beneath their ship scratching the casing with its scales—looking for her.
“Did I order you to use the mortal woman, Thoriel?” The elfin held his sailor by the throat, the man’s eyes bulging from his skull while the sea beat the hull behind them.
“No, my lord, I just thought that—”
“I didn’t hire you tothink. Do you know what you have risked in reaction to your own pathetic fear?” The elfin squeezed his neck until his knuckles turned white. “I should toss you to the serpent for your disobedience.”
“No!” Ailsa shouted, unable to fathom anyone fairing a fate in the jaws of the sea snake. He had only acted out of self-preservation, and that in her mind was not enough to receive death as punishment. “Let him go! We have enough to worry about without killing each other.”
The elfin’s gaze flashed to hers for a moment, considering her as she clung to a wooden post as if trying to understand why she would defend a male who forced her against the beast. He released the soldier and spat an order at him, before turning and offering his hand to her.
“I amnotgoing inside, in case you were going to order such a thing,” she shuddered the words. Her lips now numb from the icy water spraying over the sides of the vessel.
“Yes, you’re too foolish to do anything rational.” Yet despite his disapproval, the side of his lips curled in a subtle smirk. He pulled her to her feet. “It would be better if I tied you to the mast.”
His words struck an idea, and she took off toward the main mast before useless rationality made her hesitate. The elfin followed her like a loyal shadow as she climbed the ladder, skipping rungs as she raced to the top. Her flats faltered on a slippery step, and she stumbled, catching herself with an unsteady grip.
“Are you mad, Ailsa?” Vali said below her. She grinned a smile that showed teeth. She was quite possibly mad, and her lungs were sore from the excitement, but this was the most alive she’d felt in years. Maybe ever. She recovered her rhythm and pushed to the top, her soaked gown clinging to her legs every step of the way, but never slowed her pursuit.