Page 69 of Sky in the Deep
“I knew you were alive. I knew I’d see you again,” he choked out. “The Riki took you?”
I nodded, sniffing back the rest of the tears. But it only took him seconds to see the thing I hoped he never would. His fingers dropped from my face to my neck, running along the skin beginning to scar from the burns.
His breaths came harder, his eyes going wild. It crashed over me, violent and angry. Because I’d never seen my father look at me like that.
Shouts rang against the rock and I tore my eyes frommy father, trying to find Fiske. But there were only Aska in every direction, pushing in around us. I lifted up onto my toes, letting go of my father and shoving into the bodies around us as panic rose up inside of me. When I broke through the crowd, Fiske was standing with his back against the cliff face, surrounded. His hands were down by his sides, pumping into fists. I hoped the murderous instinct beneath his hardened face was invisible to the others. His eyes shot from left to right, looking for me.
My father pushed through and I reached out for him when I saw the look on his face. But he broke from my grip, going for Fiske.
“Aghi.” I ran after him, trying to stand in his path, but he was too strong. My boots slid on the sand as he pushed forward.
He took Fiske’s armor vest in his clutches, slamming him back into the wall. A growl erupted between his lips as he pulled his sword from its sheath.
I wedged myself between them, my back pushing into Fiske’s chest and my hands pressing against my father. “Don’t!”
His breath was angry in his chest, the hatred in his eyes shining.
Espen appeared behind him with his axe in his hand. “What is he doing here?”
“Listen, please,” I said, Fiske breathing against me. The tension in his body radiated out of him and bled through my armor vest. “He’s not here to fight. He helped me get off the mountain.”
My father took a step back. “What is hedoinghere, Eelyn?” He echoed Espen’s words, but they were bloodthirsty in my father’s mouth.
“The Riki…” I tried to get it out. But I could see in their faces they were all waiting for the chance to rip Fiske to pieces. “They’ve all been raided. Like Hylli.”
The crowd went silent, the Aska turning toward each other. Espen lowered his axe, setting it against his leg, and looked to my father. They didn’t know.
“The Herja came to Fela. The village suffered losses, but not as many as others did. I saw Möor before I came here. It’s almost gone.”
“They’ll come back to finish us.” My father turned to Espen.
His eyes were on the sand, thinking. “We’ve had scouts running to their camp. They’re at least eight hundred.”
My stomach dropped.
“They have a group raiding on the mountain. At least fifty of them after their losses.” Every head snapped up at the sound of Fiske’s voice.
Espen bit his lip. He turned and the crowd opened up to let him through. “Bring him.”
We followed, weaving through the Aska. They snarled and spit at Fiske as we passed, curses riding under their breath. When we made it out from under the overhang, I finally looked up. The cliff came over the sandy bank sharply, like a roof, and the water ran past in a fast, white-capped current. We followed the rock wall until we reached a lineof huts made of bowed branches and grassy tops. Fire pits sat beside each one, dug out of the sand, and the howling wind hit the wall with the smell of mud and wet stone.
Espen stood with my father and the village leaders in front of a large wooden table at the end of the small bank, waiting.
“How many Aska are left?” I’d been dreading the answer.
My father looked as if he didn’t want to respond in front of Fiske, his eyes skipping between us. “Two hundred and ninety able to fight from all the villages. How many Riki?”
I looked at Fiske. The number was low. Too low. All those Aska. Gone.
He met my eyes. “We aren’t sure. When we left, the other village leaders hadn’t come together yet. I would say a little less than three hundred from Fela and Möor together. Maybe five hundred including the other villages’ survivors.”
My father’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“Are you speaking for the Riki then?” Espen leaned into the table.
Fiske relaxed a little, still keeping an eye on the shadows down the bank. “I am. The Riki leaders want you to join with them to fight the Herja.”
Espen and my father looked at each other.
