Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Author:Adrienne Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2018-04-23T14:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

As soon as I thought it, the warning bell sounded in the ritual house and Iri and Fiske moved like one person, going for their weapons on the wall.

I pulled the door, leaving it cracked open just enough to peer out. The only thing I could see was the warm glow of the fire in Gyda’s house across the path. When I turned back around, Fiske was holding my weapons in his hands. They hovered in the air between us. My sword and my axe. My knife.

I stared down at them, my mouth falling open.

“Fiske?” Halvard’s sleepy, wavering voice came down from the loft.

He pushed the weapons into my hands and I clutched them to my chest as that still quiet poured into me. That sure, steady thing I knew. The fight inside of me. The whistle sounded again and the bellowing grew, getting closer. Fiske looked at the door and then back to Halvard.

“Go.” I dropped the scabbard over my head, tightening the straps. “I’ll stay with him.”

He looked at me and then back up to Halvard. “Get across the path to Gyda’s when it’s clear.” He waited for me to nod.

Iri went to the door, sliding his knife into his belt and taking an axe into each hand. I swallowed hard, turning back to the fire, and they slipped out into the dark, where more wailing echoed in the village.

I fit the axe onto my back and it centered me. Brought me back into myself. The familiar weight of my sword at my hip was an anchor.

Above me, Halvard peered over the edge of the loft. “What’s happening?” Tears glistened in his eyes.

There was no point in coddling him. He knew what a raid was. “Where are your weapons?”

He disappeared over the ledge and a few minutes later, he came down the ladder with his scabbard fit to him. He went to the trunk against the wall and pulled out a belt with a knife in it.

He handed it to me. “It was my father’s.”

I pulled it around his waist, tying the leather into a knot because it was too big to fit him. But it would do. He could reach it and that was all that mattered.

I knelt down in front of him, looking up into his eyes. “Have you ever killed a man?”

He shook his head skittishly.

“Do you know how? Where to strike?”

“I—I think so.”

“Show me.”

His small, shaking hand lifted, pressing to my neck. I nodded. Then he dropped it down to my stomach, my side, my lower back.

“That’s right.” I tried to smile. “Are you better with a sword or a knife?” I knew he wasn’t very good with the axe. I’d seen it.

“Sword.” He lifted his chin and tried to pull the nerves back inside.

“Alright. Take a deep breath and listen to what I’m about to tell you.”

He obeyed, inhaling slowly and standing up straight in front of me.

“In a moment, someone will come through that door. They will try to kill us or take us, but I’m going to kill them before that happens.

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