Page 81 of Warrior of the Wild
It will take two of them to hoist Iric’s prize toward the lake’s edge.
CHAPTER
16
The boys groan from the weight of the hyggja, but I can barely hear it over the sounds of my own breathing. That last round in the water had to have been at least a couple minutes. Either my eyes are watering or the lake water runs down from my hair.
The beast is only halfway out of the water, its right side exposed to the air, while the left is buried in the lake. Without the buoyancy of the water aiding us, the hyggja becomes far too heavy to manage.
I turn my body around, holding the jaw closed while getting my feet on the ground in front of it and pushing.
But it doesn’t make a difference. The hyggja isn’t going anywhere.
The beast tries to wriggle from side to side. I don’t let go. If the snout gets free, it will still be lethal.
Iric and Soren stare at me.
“Do something!” I snap.
An airy growl spits out between the hyggja’s nostrils, and I look pointedly at Iric.
He retrieves his ax from the cliff, where he left it with his armor, hoists it over one shoulder, and treads for the hyggja. With Soren at the tail and me at the head, we attempt to hold the beast steady as Iric’s ax hovers over the beast’s neck.
He swings.
The neck is so thick, it takes him three tries to cut through the width of it. Each swing sends red-brown water flying through the air, drenching me all over again.
But I’m finally able to let go. I sprawl onto the ground and just breathe. Nothing else in the world is so important as breathing. Though my limbs are exhausted, triumph pulses under the surface, and I relish the feeling.
Iric did it.
And so did I.
I’m that much closer to defeating Peruxolo.
I let out a scream of victory, and Soren joins me, the two of us whooping into the air. When Iric doesn’t join us, we go silent, eyes fixed on him.
“What the hell was that, Soren?” he demands.
“What?” Soren asks.
“What was the one rule? Donotgo in the water. Soren! I thought you were dead!”
So quiet, I can barely hear it, Soren says, “You said not to let go. I listened.”
“I didn’t mean to let yourself get dragged into the water! Why would you do that?”
“I owed you. I got you banished. I hoped I could help make things right between us again.”
“You didn’t need to put yourself in danger for that. Soren—” His voice drops. “Rasmira was right all along. You were not to blame for my banishment. I was, and I knew it. It was so much easier to be angry with you rather than myself, but I’ve already forgiven you.” Iric reaches over and puts a hand on Soren’s shoulder. “You didn’t need to prove yourself to me or make up for anything that happened in the past. We’re good, brother. We’re good.”
By the look on Soren’s face, I think he might be ready to cry. Instead he coughs. “Thank you.”
“So don’t do anything that stupid again or else I’ll take off your head just as I did that beast’s!” Iric says.
“Do me a favor and manage it in one swing, won’t you?”
“I’d like to see you hack through that mass in one swing!”
