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Calista looked to my movements, watching with a stoic expression as I unsheathed the blade. She swallowed thickly; I could see the movement of it in her throat, and I slowly took out a dueling pair of knives. Good for throwing and quick movements. Both of which she’d developed into strengths.
Another horn blared into the dawn. The Rave archers shouted from the walls. I watched as the igniter leveled a torch against the arrows, setting them ablaze.
Commands roared from several of the higher ranked captains on the walls. They shouted at their warriors, much like Olaf shouted commands to the whole of the Rave. Arrow points aimed toward the fading starlight. Pale blue burned against the last stars fighting for presence in the sky.
Now, the peace of the dawn burned in anger and fire.
Shouts from the approaching ships grew louder. Strange commands floated to us across the thrashing seas, a few were hums and ethereal songs. With their singing, the sea thrashed more. A thought flooded my head, spilling to my chest, as though some connection drew my seidr toward the sea.
“Calista,” I whispered. “Listen to them, can you sense it?”
She closed her eyes for a few breaths before they snapped open. “There is power in their song.”
“Their magic—it hails from their voice. Like ours.”
She grinned with a perfect touch of violence. “Then I suppose we ought to aim our blades at their throats.”
I spun the sword in my hand. A new determination to slit as many throats as I could thrummed through me with every beat of my heart.
“Olaf!” Calista shouted. “Take their tongues and their ability to sing.”
The captain arched a brow, then grinned. “As you say.”
He roared the commands down the line of Rave. The archers altered their positions. Instead of raining fiery arrows on the ships, they would hold. They would aim at the actual sea folk to rid them of their power.
“Sing us a song,” the seer, Forbi, said with a light playfulness in her tone. She practically danced about with her sisters, casting more rune spells that ignited emerald fire across the shore.
Calista stepped into the center of the Row. I followed, taking hold of her hand. Her skin was flushed as if flames boiled in her veins. It sparked heat in my blood, a need to release some burst of power. The same always took hold when our seidr connected into one fierce song.
“I have words,” Calista murmured. “Sing with me?”
“Always.”
Calista turned into me. We dropped our blades and laced our hands together, brows touching.
“A tale of old, returns anew.
Brought forth by bonds that bind the few.
Love of choice. Devotion of heart.
Honor and passion brought the start.
In dawn’s soft light, a path is growing.
To bring about a gift so cunning.
In realms of darkness, the plan is spun.
To end a game long ago begun.
Find each place for which to rise.
As gifts of fate greet darkness on the tides.”
Her voice was soft, yet strong. I held her close as each word drew out more melodic sounds. My voice joined with hers. Low, deep, and dark. It intertwined with her words in a tune not heard before, but one that was silk over the tongue. It was a harmony that burned in my throat until my body trembled against the sting.
With each word our seidr tangled, almost vibrant enough I could make out the threads spinning tightly into a knotted rope of a path.
