Page 89 of The Heartless Archer

Shaking her head to refocus her thoughts, Noora moved her arms from side to side, ducking her upper body to gain more speed, the wind like a resistant wall that made it its goal to not let her through. Her lungs were burning with every breath they expanded with, the cold air stinging her eyes. Tears ran over her face but she stayed focused until she could make it out.

There in the distance, she could see a small pole, driven into the ice of the lake, a blue topaz-coloured flag flickering in the wind, the motif of the crown woven onto the fabric. It marked the small hole she had to take to get into the underwater entrance of the caves that resided in the mountains. Considering her speed, she would take a few minutes still until she reached the hole.

Her feet started to wobble and she almost lost her balance with her next step. When looking down, a surprised breath left her lips at the sudden change in balance. Her eyes zeroed in onher left skate and then it happened again. Her foot slipped on the ice without any apparent reason, though she kept pushing forward, which was rather stupid on her part.

With her next step, the blade of her left skate came loose at the top. “You’ve got to be kidding me-“ she cursed, lifting her left leg and shifting her weight onto her right. Her speed sufficiently lessened with the change of balance and strength of her left leg. Why in Hel was her skate coming apart?

The Flagpole was advancing closer and closer, with only a few pushes left until she would reach her destination but apparently, her skates had other plans. Her right leg started to wobble and she could feel the blade coming loose. An angry scream left her lips as she rebalanced herself on both feet and pushed with all her might.

She heard the ice cracking beneath her with her next glide, her body barreling forward and the blades coming completely loose. Her body soared through the air and she desperately tried to flail her arms and slow herself down but it was no use. She soared past the pole, her knees colliding with the edge of the carved hole. She could feel her left knee bone shattering into pieces at the impact, her scream got swallowed up by the water as she fell right into the lake.

For a moment darkness surrounded her panicked state, her lungs screamed at her to take a breath and she tried to kick her feet to get back to the surface. Pain exploded in her left knee as she kicked until she resurfaced from the lake. A strangled inhale left her lips as she started to shiver, the water colder than Hel. Steam was rising from around her as her hands drove into the edge of the ice. She needed to get out of the lake so she could take off her shoes and rebind her broken knee, without her leg she was nothing.

Her nails drove into the cold ice, her skin burning with the impact, ice shoveling as she tried to pull herself out.

Her nails slipped on the ice and she barreled back into the water.

“Godsdamnit!” she cursed, hitting the water frustratedly. Her shivers were getting worse and if she did not get out or swim to the underwater cave anytime soon—which was impossible with her knee—she would freeze to death. Taking a few short breaths, she prepared herself to try again when something snaked around her leg and pulled.

Her hands still tried to grasp for the edge of the ice but whatever was pulling her down was too strong for her to even try. Taking in a last desperate breath she was pulled under, her hands drawing an arrow and shooting blindly. Whatever creature lived under the water let out a horrific scream as the arrow grazed its strangely shaped arm. Noora started to kick her legs to swim back, another arrow drawn as the creature regained its composure and lunged for her. It was strange, its upper body shaped like a woman’s, green scales littering her skin like mold, and her hair looked stringy as if it was made out of seaweed coloured in black ink. Its fingers—claws lunged at her and Noora shot another arrow, though this time the creature was smart enough to swim out of its way, that was when Noora noticed the scaled tail as the lower body.

A surprised breath left her lips, bubbles floating from them as she noticed the iron shackle wrapped around its tail, chaining it to the ground. A wail left the creature’s lips, revealing a row of sharp teeth, her gills flaring at the sides of her neck as she tried to lunge for Noora, though she was out of her range. That was when she looked at the strange half-woman half-fish again. Another wail left her lips, echoing around the lake and Noora realised she was calling for help. Although she would not receive it. Noora knew what the creature was. They usually did not reside in small lakes, especially not chained tothe ground. She had been caught and used for this inhumane tournament to pose as a threat.

Noora’s lungs started to burn; she would not be able to stay that long under. Without looking at the creature again she turned to search for the entrance into the mountains. Until the toe-curling wail reached her again. Noora kept on pushing with her right leg, her eyes blinking desperately against the darkness. How would she be able to find this entrance?

She stopped her desperate kicks and turned around. The Margygr did not move—chained to the ground as it was— but it stopped its wailing, its eyes blinking curiously after Noora’s form.

She knew she was going to regret this.

Drawing a new arrow she slowly kicked back to the creature, who started to bare her teeth again when the witch approached.Stop being dramatic, if you bite me I’ll shoot you again.

Noora thought and suddenly the Margygr stopped hissing, looking at her in surprise. Her big reptilian eyes blinked, her gills flaring with her next breath as Noora realised that she just projected her thoughts. Or maybe it was the lack of oxygen reaching her brain. She slowly withdrew her arrow and kicked down to the ground, her vision starting to swim in front of her. Withdrawing the knife from her, Noora started to hit the chain around the creature’s scaled tail, swishing the sand off the ground into her eyes as she desperately tried to escape the chains.

Noora hit the iron again but with her lack of strength and the water resistance, she was not able to break it. She looked up at the creature who slowly bent its body down so her face was right in front of Noora’s. She quickly withdrew in panic but the creature just grabbed for the seaweed surrounding her, tugging at it as if it would help her. Its eyes blinked again at Noora who slowly realised what she was trying to tell her.

This time she drew the knife to her wrist and sliced her skin open. The pain was minimal, compared to her leg and the blood spilled lazily in the water. It swished around them like spilled ink. She needed air, she needed to get out, not knowing what more creatures would have been drawn out by her blood.

Gaining her last strength, Noora concentrated on the blood leaving her body and imagined the seaweed rising slowly and wrapping around the iron ring. Her eyes opened lazily and in front of her, she slowly saw the seaweed wrap around the shackle, drawing tighter until a crack appeared in the middle. Bubbles escaped Noora’s lips as she pushed harder, the seaweed drew closer, and the iron broke.

The Margygr swam free and Noora blinked slowly, the last breath of air leaving her lungs as she saw the monster lunge at her with speed. She tried to go for her bow but it was too late. Darkness surrounded her.

Chapter 35

Nikolai

His knee bounced nervously to the roaring of the crowd, the noise tumbled into a chaos of nothingness. A buzzing grew louder, annoying him like a fly trapped in a chamber, unable to find the godsdamned opened window. His fingers curled into his palms as he stared at the line of trees, hiding the tress of danger behind them. Was she already through the forest? She had to be, taking into consideration that her body weight was the lightest one of the three contestants meant she was the fastest. She knew the grounds of his kingdom, the forest was second nature to her. Did that mean she was at the lake? Or already in the cave.

His knee bounced harder and he started to bite his bottom lip as he stared intently at the tree line as if that would make her form appear out of thin air. Iron spread in his mouth and he realised he had bitten his lip bloody.

“You are driving me mad with your fidgeting,” his mother barked from his side and his knee stopped bouncing.

“I am not fidgeting,” he snapped, leaning back in his chair and crossing his feet in front of him. His mother threw him a sharp look and he had to resist staring back at her in defiance, though his gaze stayed focused on the trees.

“A king is not to show his emotions, especially not if he favours a contestant.”

Nikolai ignored his mother as he felt a hand on his knee. It had started to bounce again, he turned to look at Marid who gave him a kind smile, her eyes shining with slight amusement. She leaned in, her words quiet enough for his mother not to hear. “She is going to be fine.”

“I know. I am not worried,” Nikolai said, his eyes searching the forest.

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