Through the Pass

238K 8.4K 2.2K
                                    

                The world suddenly tilted around me and I slid backwards, landing in the snow so hard I couldn’t breathe. It was chaos. The horses were screaming, galloping for the pass. When I looked up I saw Loki standing over me, hands raised in front of him as a huge black shape barreled towards him. My mouth was open, but I had no breath to scream. Something orange flickered across Loki’s finger tips, and there was the roar of flames starting. He was cradling a flickering ball of fire in his hands.

                He drew back and threw it, and the black shape fell back with a snarl.

                “Megan!” Loki yelled, “get up! There’s more!”

                I struggle to my feet, shooting up out of the snow, hands tugging frantically at my katana. I couldn't get it out! There were more dark shapes emerging from the trees. The wolves approached more cautiously this time. The one that Loki had scared away was moving back towards us. Up close they were a nightmare. I’d only seen wolves on television and in pictures, but these didn’t look normal. They were pure black, fur standing up in spiky ridges over their necks. They were nearly as big as the horses, and they snarled and showed their teeth to us as they came, each one had a set of fangs as long as the palm of my hand.  As they crept closer I was horrified to see that their eyes shone different colors, green and brown.

                Someone skidded to a halt in the snow beside me, and Erik’s voice rang out, “Sons of Fenrir! We have no wish to fight with you!”

                The wolves paused, and out of their midst stepped the biggest one. In spite of his size he stepped forward gracefully, barely leaving a mark in the snow as he came. His coat was coal black and reflected the sun as he moved, and his mismatched eyes swept over us, coming to rest on me. The weight of his gaze stole the breath from my lungs, and I knew in that instant that this wasn’t a dumb animal driven by instincts. This was a thinking, calculating individual pondering his next move.

                The wolf opened his mouth, revealing long white fangs that dripped with saliva. I staggered back a step as a guttural voice emanated from him,

                “Jotun, you have our enemy with you. Daughter of the Queen. We can scent her blood from miles away.”

                My heart was beating so hard that I wondered if the wolf could hear that too. Loki shifted slightly, so that he was in front of me. Erik lowered his broadsword,

                “Please listen to me, we are aware of all that the jotun has done to your kind. You have no love of the Queen, but nor do we. She hunts us down as we speak. This is not truly her daughter, though she does have royal blood. Perhaps that is what you smell.”

                The wolf stepped closer, eyes fixed on me. Loki held up his hands again, and the wolf halted, glancing back over at Erik, “You say Eira herself is traveling through the woods after you?”

                “Mostly likely, yes.”

                Nobody even got a chance to move as the huge wolf suddenly launched himself forward. This time I had the air to scream, and my voice blended with Loki’s cry of dismay as he was batted sideways by one massive black paw.

                I found myself on my back in the snow, struggling to breath with the full weight of the animal on top of me.

                “I am Fenrir,” he growled.

FROST- Jotun Chronicles #1Where stories live. Discover now