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Torsten
An axe the size of a lamp pole swung for my head. The blade was almost as long as I was tall, and must have weighed twice as much as I did.
The giant hefted it with ease, unperturbed when he missed me by a hair. The bastard actually laughed, the sound rolling like a landslide over the plain of volcanic glass we stood on.
The asshole had backed me onto the obsidian field, knowing full well it would be hard for my claws to find purchase on the smooth surface. My bare human feet would be completely useless here, slipping and sliding like the ground had been coated in grease. As it was, I was mostly evading the axes and spears with a combination of luck and good timing. One solid hit, and the titanic weapons would pin me to the glass, or split me open like an overripe gourd, spilling my guts. That would please their pit-mutts. Would they wait until I’d stopped breathing to dig in, or start eating me while I was still screaming?
Best not to find out.
The giant let out another bellow, swinging the axe back into position. The air screamed as he swung it down. The jagged edges nearly grazed my flesh as I juked sideways, sliding past the pit-mutt that emerged from the smoke. I raked my claws across his eyes, savoring the squelch of blood and jelly between my paw pads as I drew back. The mutt screamed, shaking its head, pawing at its ruined eyes. It stumbled into the path of one of its fellows, giving me a moment’s respite.
A spear punched into the ground near my rear paw, singing the fur off my hindquarters. I let out a yip of shock, shying away from the thing before the giant could retrieve his weapon. The burn was superficial, but the near-hit still left me shaky. Fire demons had me surrounded. Every time I narrowly escaped a set of razor-sharp teeth, talons, blades, or spears, I was sure my luck was about to run out. I ended up throwing myself at another enemy. There was barely room to maneuver. There were too many of them, and not enough of me. They didn’t have to kill me straight away. Eventually I would tire and then they’d have me.
Jovi, I thought desperately. I have to do this for Jovi. If I die here, it was all for nothing.
One of the mutts leaped onto my back, claws singing deep into my flanks. I let out a roar of pain and challenge. The pit-mutts were smaller than me, but only just. King Surtr had bred them to hunt the salamanders that made their home in the magma running under the surface of Muspelheim, as well as the feral predators that lurked in the deep mountains. They were lean, able to burrow short distances, and could withstand the temperatures in the slow-moving rivers of lava.
I twisted and then threw myself backward with every ounce of strength I could muster, throwing my shoulder into the thing’s belly. It drove the air from the mutt’s lungs with a surprised ‘oof.’ It was a brief pause, but more than enough. It let out a pitiful scream when my claws opened its belly.
I looked up and spied another of Surtr’s generals lumbering toward the fight. If I’d had a mouth capable of speech, I’d have shouted “For fuck’s sake!” As it was, I had to content myself with a frustrated snarl.
There hadn’t been a moment’s rest since I passed into the realm of fire. I was tiring, slowly but surely. I grabbed onto a meaty, horned head of a spiked boar as it rushed me, yanking the head off with a twist. The body fell to the ash-covered ground with a sickening thud. Red eyes snapped with fury, and I had a split second to dodge yet another spear that whistled through the air, passing inches from my face before coming to a shuddering halt, stuck in a volcanic outcrop to my left.
The booted foot swung out of nowhere. One moment I was on four paws, shakily navigating past the boar, and the next I was airborne. Every rib on my left side snapped, an explosion of agony that rendered me temporarily blind. I heard a breathless scream split the air. It took me a moment to realize it was my own voice screaming my agony.
“Insolent pup,” the general rumbled with a laugh. “I think I’ll mount your head on a wall in my hall and the rest of your useless body to the All-Father. It will teach him not to send his dogs where they’re not wanted.” He smirked after a moment. At least, I was pretty sure it was a smirk. “The bitch though… her, I will keep.”
My head spun. What bitch? I hadn’t come with a woman. It was only me, naked and alone, braving the fields of Muspelheim for the promise of freedom.
“Your bitch is pretty,” he continued, paying me no mind. He sauntered forward, laughing when I barely managed to climb to my feet. Another kick and I was done for. We both knew it. “Soft hair, beautiful breasts. Shapely legs. And just enough magic to offset Odin’s foul blood. We’ll see how she likes the taste of fire.”
The bastard made a jerking motion around his groin, gripping himself through his armor. He groaned in satisfaction, clearly getting off on my helplessness.
Then his meaning really struck home. A beautiful woman with magic and a direct connection to Odin.
Jovi.
Rage ignited within me. Before I could register moving, I was on my feet, leaping into the air, the fury pounding in my head drowning the agony of my wounds. I cleared the burning blade, landing with a snarl on the flat of it.
I bared my teeth, let out a furious howl, and went for the general’s eyes.
Chapter four
Jovi
Brisingr moved surprisingly fast for someone his size.
I had at least a foot and a half on him, and he was outstripping me by a mile. He hadn’t even shed his armor or dropped the heavy one-handed sword he carried. It seemed grossly unfair that I was the one slowing us down.
“How did you find me?” I asked, gasping in a huge lungful of air. It didn’t help as much as I’d hoped. I still felt dizzy and sick.
Brisingr hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “The same way them dogs did. Yer blood isn’t half as offensive as that pup’s over there, but anything near enough will sense it.”
Panic clenched my heart in a fist. The sounds in the distance had been Torsten. All the hulking shapes that rose from the volcanic ash were moving toward him. If even one of them got within striking distance, he was dead.
“If we keep heading along this course, I think we can—hey, where are you running off to?”
