Once in the nest she found the loose rope that dangled to the deck below and pulled it up.
“Ailsa—”
“Thoriel was right, you need to use me. If the beast wants me, then let’s bait him into a snare,” she said. Turning to him she held up the frayed end of the long rope. “When it comes up from the sea, help me get its attention. When it attacks, we jump.”
“We jump?” he asked, clarifying. “You haven’t thought any of this through, have you?”
“There!” she shouted while pointing toward a spot in the rolling waves that had begun to bubble. The elfin stepped behind her, flush against her back. He placed his hands on either side of her waist, his palms emitting a golden light that attracted every eye with its brilliance. It surrounded her, warm and shielding the wind still shredding their sails. Beautiful magic she didn’t know a creature like him was capable of. It almost distracted her from the beast now setting its sight on the nest.
“Ailsa…” he warned behind her.
“Wait for it,” she commanded, and for some reason he listened. One hand clasped the rope, the other his wrist, the hum of his magic vibrating beneath her touch. She waited for the beast to lunge. The serpent coiled, then decided on its attack.
“Now!”
The elfin wrapped his left arm around her waist and pushed them both over the shallow half-wall bordering the nest, his other hand grabbed the rope to hold them up. Ailsa wrapped her body around the rope, leaping with him as he pushed against her back. He clung to her as much as he clung the corded line, his fingers dug into the soft part of her stomach. His desperation palpable in the way he held her against his hard chest.
Wind scorned her ears as they fell, a sharp tug of the rope bruised her fingers as their slack ran out. They swung beneath the main mast and toward the quarterdeck, timing their release just right to land near the bow with Ailsa sprawling and the elfin gracefully landing on both feet. On her back, she looked up to where they once stood, the serpent’s jaws wrapping around the nest in a sickening crunch as the pointed beam pierced its palate. Blood rained from the broken mast, spilling down the white canvas in scarlet streaks. The momentum of his body leaping towards the main mast sent it arching over the vessel, landing in the ocean on the other side, its scaly tail landing with a loud splash. But the sea remained undisturbed.
The elfin heaved a sigh of relief and turned towards her, offering his hand to help her up. “That was brilliant, Ailsa. But gods below, don’t ever use yourself as bait again.”
Lightning streaked the silver storm behind him, the sheer power of its light made her wince. Through the slits in her eyes, she saw a burst of energy strike the foremast, splitting straight through the beam. The fractured mast groaned started tipping towards them.
“Look out!”she shouted, but he did not hear her above the moaning of the wood as it fell nor the sounds of the storm. She stood and rushed him, pushing him back and over the railing where they fell to the lower deck. The broken foremast narrowly missing them both.
She landed forcefully on the flat plane of her back. The air rushed from her chest, stolen from the fall. Her throat shut in on itself, and she couldn’t take a breath no matter how much she needed it.
“Ailsa!” Above her golden eyes looked down, the only color alive left in the world. She clawed the wet skin exposed from his torn shirt, desperate for a drop of their life.
Vali only panicked; his lips parted as his eyes searched for an answer coded somewhere in her struggle. He placed a frozen hand on her chest, as if he were able to command the air to find its way inside her.
“Turn her on her side!” Ivor commanded, appearing out of nowhere. The elfin did as she said, and Ailsa curled into a ball to let the blood pool across her lungs. Her nails scratched the weathered floorboards of the deck as she used every ounce of her strength to focus on the hardest inhale of her life.
Sweet relief flooded her chest as her airway finally obeyed, letting in a strangled gasp that sounded more like a choke. She coughed in a fit after that first breath, spitting crimson that washed away in the harsh rain.
“I’ve got her,” Ivor spat above her head. “Go manage your crew, fae filth. Get us away from the beast before it finds the strength to come back.”
Vali did not listen to her, nor did he move right away. Only when she had taken several full breaths did he stand slowly, and she heard his footsteps run off to somewhere far from where she coiled.
Ivor drug her back to their cabin, concealing the storm behind a closed door. And she held Ailsa as she breathed, her tears hidden in the saltwater streaking her cheeks.
Only then did Ailsa let the void take her, falling into a deep sleep.
That night she dreamed of a blind crow.
The sea settled after he and Ailsa baited Jormungand into its own undoing. They didn’t kill the monster, but they had injured its pride enough for it to sink into its home and nurse its wounds. Her plan prevailed, buying them time to escape the heart of the storm and continue to the Edge.
Repairs were already in progress, the crew using their magic to seal the sails. He did not worry for the ship nor crossing the border of this realm in its weakened state, but another thought troubled his mind—the reason for the damage. Ailsa had not emerged from her cabin since the wolven drug her inside, and he was resisting the overwhelming desire to check on her.
But she was not his to worry about, and he remained in his chair, drowning away his impulses with the help of his commander.
“Are you all right, Vali?” Seela sat in his cabin, assisting him in draining a small barrel of barely good mead. “You look like you haven’t slept for three summers.”
Vali shook his head, clearing his thoughts of the mortal woman who had enthralled him on a level he was uncomfortable with. “I’m fine. Have the spirits sent you any word of home?”
“Not a whisper. I don’t know whether that is good news or bad.”
“They have been silent for me as well. I haven’t heard anything since that woman boarded this ship.”