Chapter 33: What Could Be

“Who else knows about your condition?” Quint asked.

“Alena, Dee, and now you. I don’t have the heart to tell the others what’s going on with me. I probably should—but—I just can’t. They already have so much to worry about because of me.”

He clasped his hand together and rested them on his lap. “And Alena thinks you’ll be okay?” His steel blue eyes searched hers for the answer he was looking for—the only one he wanted to hear.

Nienna looked away and shrugged. “That’s what she says, but I don’t know. We’ll probably find out soon. It’s progressing pretty quickly.” She reached up and pulled down her coat collar for him to get a better look at the dark lines now crawling their way up her neck toward her jawline.

He frowned at the sight of the marks. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left. If I would have known-”

“No,” she stopped him. “This isn’t on you. You didn’t know what was going to happen at the time. I didn’t even know what was going to happen.” She looked down at her gloved hands and flexed her fingers. They were starting to grow numb now, and no amount of flexing or moving them seemed to draw the feeling back. “It doesn’t matter. I’d pick it up again in a heartbeat if it meant saving them.”

“The timing doesn’t seem ideal, does it?”

Nienna shot him a sad smile. “Time never seems to be on our side.”

“I’m sorry for my part in all this,” he said.

“Me too.”

The two sat in silence, watching the wind kick up freshly fallen snow and carry it some distance along the shear. It was a peaceful scene. For a while, Nienna forgot her troubles and burdens weighing so heavily on her shoulders. She could have stayed there forever; she wanted to stay there forever, but it was not possible. They needed to keep moving if they had any hope of catching up to the Byrnes to find Seren and the blade piece.

“I’ve already given Dee instructions in case things go sideways with me,” Nienna began. “She knows what to do and can fill you in.”

“That’s not necessary,” Quint immediately responded, his tone firm. “There’s no need to discuss this.”

Nienna furrowed her brow and turned to face Quint. “We have to. We don’t know what’s going to happen with me, and if I turn into some monster like back at the hall, we need to be prepared.”

“Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. We don’t need to have this conversation,” he insisted.

“Yes, we do,” Nienna argued. She padded her coat where the pages were hidden underneath. “Have you read what was on the parchment you gave me?”

He nodded. “I did.”

“You know what happens if I can’t do it.”

“I know.”

“It falls to Seren—if we can get her back.”

“I know.”

Nienna took in a deep breath, trying to stifle tears swelling in her eyes. “She doesn’t deserve that on her shoulders. She didn’t even know she was a Valar. I didn’t know. but if I’m not able to do it, the task will fall to her if we’re to end this. She’ll be the only one left. We have to get her and the blade piece back—just in case. This all has to end.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it.

“Please.”

“Okay,” he finally said after a moment of silence. “We’ll handle it.”

Grateful he didn’t keep pushing, Nienna returned her attention to the snow. She was already mentally and emotionally exhausted by the conversation. The stress and worry of what was and what could be had drained her. A part of her wished whatever was going to happen to her body would happen sooner rather than later, because the waiting felt almost as bad as the worst possible outcome. She let out a heavy sigh and rest her hands on her lap as they sat together in comfortable silence.

“I’m glad you came back,” Nienna confessed.

A smile grew on Quint’s lips and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Me too. I have a feeling I would have found retirement far too boring.”

The two settled back into a comfortable silence as they returned to watching the snow. At some point, a white rabbit come out of its warren. She watched as it cautiously hopped over to some greenery poking up through the snow and started to munch on it. Nienna then felt a tapping on her arm. She looked over at Quint whose attention had been pulled off into the distance. She followed his gaze, squinting her eyes and focusing on the dark, moving dots in the distance. She panicked, thinking it was Morrow and her mercenaries coming back for another fight. Something didn’t feel right about that, though. Why would they be back so soon? Compelled to get a better look, Nienna stood up and motioned for Quint to follow. As they passed by the others chatting with each other, she tapped Dee’s shoulder and motioned for her to follow them. The norn leaned in and said something to Tuborg before leaving the group.

“What is it?” Dee asked as she filed in next to Nienna, matching her normal stride with short strides of her own.

“That,” Nienna replied and pointed off into the distance. “What do you make of it? You think Morrow and her mercenaries would come back for round two?”

Dee squinted as she looked at the approaching group off in the distance. “I don’t think so. Her thugs were all wearing dark clothes. This group doesn’t look like they’re all in black. And unless they’ve pulled an airship or a cannon out of their ass, I doubt they’d try a second attack.”

Nienna made a thoughtful noise while considering what Dee said. She had a point, but there was still something not right about the group’s presence. The sun’s afternoon light glinting off numerous individuals in the group forced her to shield her eyes as they grew closer. It was almost as if they were covered in-

“Ice,” Nienna blurted out as she started forward. “They’re frozen, just like the jotun. They’ve left behind more frozen!”

“Wait!” Dee called out as she reached for Nienna, but she escaped the norn’s grasp as she broke into a sprint toward the approaching strangers. Dee flashed a worried glance at Quint, and the two ran after Nienna, yelling for her to stop.

Nienna’s hate of the Byrnes’ and what they had done to the people she cared about fueled her rage and her will as she ran. Her vision, narrowed by encroaching shadow, pulled all her focus onto the ice threat ahead. Her friends’ voices faded into echoes somewhere in the background of her senses, but they remained and begged for her to stop. She ignored them and pressed on. Her fingers found her axe’s grip and pulled it free from its holster. She wasn’t going to let the Byrnes, their people, or any of their sick creations hurt her friends. It was all she could think about as she raised her axe up high and brought it down on the first frozen limb she saw. She heard a scream somewhere nearby as her blade sunk deep into the ice. Nienna tried to pull it free, but it was stuck in the ice, and her hand slipped from the grip.

A pair of green eyes peered over the top of the ice encrusted arm where Nienna’s blade was lodged. The red illumination in the gothic filigree continued to undulate, even as she stepped back away from the creature. The light had only ever responded to her proximity. She had never seen it react to a stranger.

“Grenth’s horns,” Nienna uttered, her eyes unable to leave the light on her blade. She strained her eyes, peering through the film of ice covering the woman’s face. She felt a shadow of something recognizable in her visage.

“Finally, we’ve found you,” the creature uttered in a voice distantly familiar.

***

The woman’s attack seemed to come out of nowhere. Mira Jayne screamed, and suddenly there was a flash of white as Mending Heart rushed forward and placed himself between Mira and the danger before them. He drew his sword and bared his teeth as he uttered a low warning growl at the attacker. As a hush settled over the shear, Mira braved a look and peered around the kodan’s large frame to watch the events unfold. She wanted to get a better look at this red-haired woman who insisted on attacking their frozen traveling companions.

“Be careful, Many Words,” Mending Heart warned as he placed a free paw on her shoulder. “We do not know her purpose.”

“Look, she’s backing away,” Mira noted. “I think it’ll be all right.”

The woman had indeed stepped back from the situation she ignited. Her demeanor had changed from one of intense violence to one of confusion as she stared at her frozen victim. Two others: a man and a tall, norn woman, joined the strange woman at her side. Nothing about them showed any signs of danger. To Mira, they looked more flustered and confused than anything else.

“Hello,” she offered, trying to diffuse the awkward situation.

The norn woman looked down at her and arched a dark eyebrow. “Um, hello,” she replied.

“Please forgive our hostile actions. There’s been a misunderstanding here. We were recently attacked by a group of mercenaries and frozen creatures under their command. We mistook you for them returning,” the man quickly explained.

“Oh no, that’s terrible,” Azoricum said. “Is everyone all right?”

While the others engaged in introductory chit-chat, Mira glanced over at Rhrya, the frozen woman, and watched as she pulled the double-headed axe from the ice encasing her arm as easily as pulling a thorn from her flesh. She didn’t seem phased at all by the attack. In fact, she flashed a warm and welcoming smile at the red-haired woman: something Mira did not expect. Rhrya then held out the axe for the stranger to take.

“You,” the red-haired woman started to say as she reached out a shaking hand and took back the weapon. “It’s not possible.”

“It is, my little lovey,” Rhrya replied. Her smile grew pained from the weight of the ice. “Though I suppose you’re not so little anymore.”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Mira blurted out, “is this her? Is this your daughter?”

The frozen woman looked over at Mira. The film of ice over her face could not hide the mirth in her green eyes. “Yes, this is our Nienna.”