“Hróarr!”Cenric shouted.“We’re going to find Vana and the others!”
Hróarr dropped the head of his defeated foe.Jogging toward them, he held onto his bloody axe.“Vana?”
“We’re going to look,” Brynn said.
“I’ll come with you.”Hróarr’s jubilation was gone.He looked to Ovrek.
“Go.”The king turned back to the light of his burning hall.“I should make sure my daughter is among the dead.”
Cenric wondered if Ovrek would kill Tullia if he found her alive.Would the king slay his own flesh and blood?His firstborn?There was a time when Cenric would have never even asked the question, but he was not so sure now.
He turned back to Snapper.Find Kalen.
Kalen.Snapper sent back an image of the boy.He let off a bark, bounding ahead.
Cenric needed to find Vana, Esa, and Guin, too, but it was easier to give the dog one set of instructions at a time.Not to mention that Snapper was already getting caught up in the screaming and the riot of noise and smells.
Snapper led the way, tail wagging.He leapt over the debris and flotsam of the beach, only growing solemn when they came across bodies.
Some people were still alive, and Brynn stopped, trying to help those she could.Others were past her skill and Cenric had to pull her away.He was sure that only the thought of Esa and Kalen allowed her to abandon her efforts.
“Kalen!”Cenric shouted, searching the darkness.“Kalen!”
Hróarr jogged beside Cenric, bloodied axe in one hand.“Vana!”he roared into the smoke.
Shouting as they ran down the beach, Cenric finally spotted a familiar ship with its deer heads in place on the prow.It seemed that Hróarr’s ship was intact, if nothing else.
TheWolf Starhad been unanchored and a deep groove in the sand stretched back several paces, as if someone had tried to push it out to sea, then been stopped.
“Kalen!”he shouted.“Where are you, boy?”
A body lay on the sand in front of Cenric and he feared the worst for a moment, but as they drew closer, he realized it was a Valdari man.The stranger’s neck had been sliced open in a clean wound, almost like…
Kalen!Snapper sent the name with an image of the boy crouched beside the ship.Kalen!
Cenric followed the sound of whining as Snapper licked the boy’s face, hopping and dancing in the sand with glee.“Kalen?”
“Lord?”Kalen sputtered.His voice came from the shadow of the ship, hesitant.
“Are Vana and Esa with you?”Cenric called.
“Vana!”Hróarr barreled toward the sound of the boy’s voice.“Where is Vana?”he demanded.
“Hróarr!”The pale woman flew from the darkness, meeting him in a tight embrace.
Hróarr pulled her against him, cradling her in the shelter of his body.
“Esa?”Brynn stepped forward, voice shaking.
“She’s here, lady.”Kalen reached back to pull Esa out of the shadows.
Esa emerged, looking shaken by the light of the fires, Guin clutched in her arms.The puppy squirmed, squeaking for Brynn.
Brynn caught her ward in her arms, Guin clutched between them.Brynn stroked the girl’s hair, pressing her cheek to the top of Esa’s head.“I’m so glad you’re safe.Both of you.”
“You too, lady,” Esa whimpered.“We were so frightened when we saw the fires of the hall.”
“Daven and the other thanes went to find you, lord,” Kalen said.“We thought for sure you were dead, but then Vana found us, and we dared hope.”
