Bryn's throat clogged as her eyes burned. Oh gods.
Hakon entered the tent before she could crumple in defeat, his hair and eyes wild with adrenaline as he looked for his brother. He scanned the tent and found Bryn and Herrick sitting side by side on the ground in front of Svend's cooling corpse.
He called their names, but the words sounded muffled to her, far away and nonsensical. Someone shook her shoulders, and her head snapped back hard enough that it pulled her back to the present. Dahlia was crouched in front of her, assessing her with those otherworldly eyes that seemed to catch everything.
"Bryn, you have to snap out of it," the Elven healer ordered, her voice sharper than she had ever heard it before. "We are needed at the front."
Hakon was shaking Herrick out of his stupor at her side, but the General could only stare forward.
"Where is Maude?" Dahlia asked, alarmed as she must have felt Herrick's shock mirroring Bryn's. "What's happened?"
"She's gone," Herrick whispered as his eyes came back into focus. "Hela took her after she killed Svend."
The Elven placed her hand over her small mouth as she sat back. Bryn numbly explained what had happened, what Svend had confessed to before Maude had gutted him, giving Hela the last grip of control she needed to overtake her sister. Hakon stood, pacing in front of the tent opening, his hand on his sword for several long minutes until he finally spoke.
"So what?"
That got their attention. She and Herrick both got to their feet, each of them reaching for their weapons on their belt. Dahlia immobilized them before they could do anything to harm the Heir of Rivers.
"Bastard!" Bryn shouted at him through her teeth.
"I just mean that there is nothing we can do about that right now," Hakon replied calmly. He stopped in front of his brother. "Those soldiers out there need you to lead them into a fight they probably never expected to happen in their lifetime. They need their General. And I'm sorry about Maude; I want to find a way to help her too, but she isn't here right now— you are. And we needyou."
Gods damn it. He was right.
Herrick seemed to realize it too, deflating as his brother's words settled on them all. "When did you go back to being so sensible?"
They all chuckled, but Hakon glanced at Dahlia, a motion so quick that Bryn would have missed it if she hadn't been watching.
"When I realized I had been acting like a complete ass to everyone who needed me," Hakon said, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder before meeting Bryn's eye. "Forgive me."
Bryn only nodded; she was too numb to do anything else. That night had taken too much from her, and now they were due to lead soldiers into battle. And all without the reinforcements from the Kingdom of Shadows.
"We need to send word to Liv and Gunnar," Bryn finally muttered to Dahlia. "Tell them that the battle is starting and that we need them to get here as soon as they can."
The Elven nodded once before turning to scribble the missive onto a torn piece of paper. When she folded it up into the shape of a sun with small paper spirals coming out from the center, Bryn twirled her fingers over the paper to sprinkle some embers from hergalderso the paper sun would burn like the real thing without destroying the paper. Her own message to Liv that she was okay even if she felt like crumbling into a thousand tiny pieces.
When the note was sent, and they were dressed for war, the four of them exited the tent and headed toward the field Herrick's men had sequestered for the fight.
Quiet calm hung in the heavy dew that clung to the atmosphere as it charged with the fight to come. Energy swirled above them as the gods prepared to watch this battle play out like a personal production of their subject's woes. Bryn directed her hatred up into the clouds, hoping it reached the sick bastards as they used their suffering as entertainment.
Maude was right— the gods were cruel, and they should never have placed so much faith in them.
Before, Bryn would have taken the time to clear her mind of everything but the goal ahead. Formations and strategy would have taken the forefront of her thoughts. Before, she would have slipped into the cruel Lieutenant mask that shielded her in more ways than she cared to admit.
But now, she was hollow as her sister's lack of presence threatened to consume her. Now, haze clouded her mind as she searched for that fire in her heart to aid her in this fight.
She came up empty.
They cut through the many formations of Rivers Soldiers, poised and ready for the fight ahead. Slowly, Hakon started to bang his sword against his shield, breaking through her haze. Each dull bang of the metal against wood reverberated in Bryn's soul.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Every beat matched the rhythm of her heart, forcing it to calm as Hakon's message was sent to the entire army in waves that overwhelmed the swirling energy of the gods above them.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Other soldiers copied the Heir of Rivers, their swords and axes pounding against their shields, the spears digging into the frozen ground, adding to the frenzy of sound that had broken out amongst the army.
