But doesn’t she understand? It can never be that way. No matter what she does, no matter how hard she tries, my doom is already set.
And there is one last thing I can do for her.
I draw myself up on my hind legs, and with a mighty blow, crash down onto the ice. It cracks and splinters. And I hear the furious roar of the river still rushing underneath, great chunks of ice rising around us.
Goblins cry out in panicked fear as they try to run from the collapsing ice, but they can’t escape. Their scrambling bodies fall and are swept beneath the surging river.
The last I hear before the icy water takes me are Rosalina’s desperate screams.
Cold engulfs me. Cold even a beast of Winter will not survive. And I wonder if I will sink all the way to the Below.
54
Rosalina
Onemomentthegiantwolf and a hoard of goblins are standing across from me and the next, there is nothing but the winter wind and the rush of the river.
That stupid icy bastard.Iwas going to savehim.
I would have sunk to any depth if it meant giving him a chance. It was so strange. In the space of a single breath, sinking beneath the ice went from my biggest fear to nothing. Because I realized my real biggest fear was happening right before me. With every strike the goblins made against Keldarion, with every drop of his blood that spilled upon the ice, I knew no other fear could compare.
I keep cursing his stupid name as I put my thorn crown back on and hobble to the broken ice. I slow as I approach. It’s still coming apart in great chunks. But this isn’t a lake. It’s a river; anything that fell in is being carried downstream where the ice is too thick to break out from.
I don’t have much time.
The moon is bright, and shadows sweep fast beneath the ice. The goblins. Kel.
I take off in a run, ignoring the blinding pain in my leg. I need to get to him. Nothing else matters. The river narrows ahead, and more briars close in around the edge.
Something slams up beneath my feet, a hand flat against the ice—an ashen-faced goblin, eyes wide, bubbles rising out of its nose as it drowns. It sinks as another drifts passed, then another. A swirl of goblin bodies dances below the frozen depths.
Up ahead, the river is dammed with a thick cluster of briars. The bodies have piled up beneath the ice or slammed against the brambles frozen within the water. A kaleidoscope of goblins swirl beneath my feet, desperately pounding at the solid surface.
“Kel!” I scream. “Kel!”
Running from one end to the other, I see nothing but dark, rotten shapes. I slam down to my knees, trying to see deeper. Nothing.
He has to be here.
Hehasto be.
I fall against the ice, feeling nothing but cold beneath my skin. Why would he do that? Why would he throw himself in?
The river is dammed. He should be here. Tears of rage and sorrow drip from my eyes, yet I can’t accept he’s gone.
He’snotgone.
Something sparks inside me.Heishere.I raise my head, feeling my heart stutter. Something tugs in my chest, my whole body shaking like I’ve been electrocuted.
As if I’m being pulled, I jump to my feet. It feels like there’s an arrow exploding from my heart, guiding me. I rush to the edge of the river and crawl beneath a cluster of a low-hanging briars.
Quickly, I swipe away the top layer of frost and see white fur pressed against the ice.
“Kel!” I grab the crown of thorns off my head. It twists in my hands and smoke rises from beneath my palms. The crown changes, lengthening into an enchanting purple sword.
“Creepy but great,” I say and plunge the thorn sword into the frozen river. The ice cracks, a hideous groaning sound. I spring up, taking my sword with me. The hole widens, ice chips floating away. The white wolf’s body rises to the surface, along with a couple bobbing goblins. All dead.
But he’s not. Iknowhe’s not.