“Maude, what are you doing?” Liv asked from the top of the wall, her voice tinged with panic.
Like she knew what Maude was about to attempt.
“Buying us some time,” she replied quietly, but she knew her friend had heard her.
Closing her eyes and blocking out all sound, she focused only on the calming energy of the man she had fought so hard for today on the ship. Sending this awareness to her palms that were pressed to the ground, Maude pulled hergalderto the surface and ran a mental hand through the elements that she felt lived in her veins.
Not just flame and wind… butallof the elements.
The ground beneath her began to quake, the stones from the burning building in front of her shaking with renowned vigor. She heard her name being called from behind her, but it was not Liv this time. It was Herrick. Perhaps he had felt her calling for the calm he brought her and came looking for her.
A small smile graced her lips as cool, strong hands wrapped around her middle and tried to pull her back, but it was too late. Maude was connected with the ground as she poured her intention into it.
The earth shuddered beneath her again, this time knocking soldiers off balance. A man in all black with deep obsidian hair that had strands of ruby scattered throughout stood before the rest of the soldiers, eyeing her with something like awe and fear. His wide frame stiffened when he realized what she was doing and what secret she was revealing to them all.
He turned and tried to usher his soldiers away from her, but it was too late.
Maude screamed as thegaldershe had poured into the earth shook and cracked, a new division line yawning open between them. A canyon as deep as the Bone Chasm divided where she and her friends stood from the rest of the palace. Water rushed in from the surrounding ocean. Steam exploded from the depths where the water met with molten rock, but still, the crack in the earth grew under her power.
Her vision started to flicker in and out, her body beginning to go limp as someone yanked her from where she had crouched and sprinted away from the growing chasm. Soon, darkness enveloped Maude, but it didn’t matter because the scent of rain-kissed soil was wrapped around her as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Herrick wrapped Maude in his arms as he sprinted back to the longship. His brother was ushering the last of the freedvitkionboard while Liv carried Bryn to the door leading to the lower deck and disappeared. The woman who was wrapping vines around the dock looked close to passing out from so much use of hergalderat once, so Herrick rushed to board the ship so they could set sail.One of the silver-haired men rushed to the woman's aid as soon as her vines disappeared, her excruciatingly thin form collapsing into his arms as her exhaustion overwhelmed her.
The ground beneath them was still shaking from the massive rift Maude had carved into the earth, a situation he needed to speak with her about as soon as possible, but on the water, the quakes were less noticeable.
“Cast off!” Hakon ordered from the deck as Herrick followed Liv deeper into the ship.Quickly, the sound of a bustling crew readying to set sail was swallowed by the harsh winds over the open ocean as he disappeared below deck.
Below the deck, the space was as long as the ship, with hammocks that hung between poles. Several of thevitkiwere already settled into a few. The ship waslarge enough that between the existing crew that Herrick assumed his brother was commanding and the freedvitki, there was plenty of space for them all.
Liv quickly made her way to the back of the ship, where a door separated the communal living space from a private one. With Bryn still cradled in her arms, his friend opened the door to a small space with a large bed, a desk in the corner, and a circular porthole that overlooked the ocean.
The captain’s quarters of the longship. This was quite the vessel if there was an entire space dedicated to the captain.
Liv placed Bryn on the large bed, her hands brushing away copper hair from her freckled face. Her touch was gentle and lingered for a moment too long, but soon, it didn’t matter what he had seen pass between his friend and Bryn because Maude began to stir in his arms. He placed her quickly on the bed next to her sister, the hood of her cloak falling back to reveal her red hair shining brightly in the watery sunlight leaking through the porthole window.
Herrick kneeled by her bedside and just stared at hiseldr, taking the opportunity to take in her features. His fingers moved lightly over her face as he traced her scar and then ran his thumb along the seam of her lips. With his other hand, he cupped the top of her head, tangling his fingers into her hair.
Finally, his hand rested on her chest, right above where her fatemark would lie. He felt her chest rise with breath and fall again in an even rhythm.
Alive. Maude wasalive.
All the emotion that had been barricaded behind a wall he had erected threatened to overwhelm Herrick as he placed his forehead to hers, his body beginning to shake under the onslaught of relief and the adrenaline leaving his system. Unbidden tears clouded his eyes as he cupped Maude’s face again. His fingers skated over the soft skin of her throat until he found her pulse bounding at a steady rate. Soon, his heart was able to slow until it matched hers.
“Allfather,” he whispered. “How is this possible?”
Herrick had not asked anyone in particular, but Liv was still in the room with him, so her responsecame quickly.
“It’s a long story, and most of it is Maude’s to tell you, but the first part belongs to me,” Liv said, her voice strangely melodic.
Herrick turned to look at his friend and properly greet her, but then hereallylooked at her and froze.
“It’s still me,” Liv said with her hands up, palms facing him. She sat on the desk in the corner and motioned for him to take the chair. “I may have just fudged some of the details about me like my age, species, andgalder.”
“You’re Elven,” Herrick said, his voice coming out cracked.
“Yes,” Liv replied.
“How?”
