Page 80 of The Viking in the Vault
“Stick together!” Davina calls. “Do not run—stay in formation!”
I nod, adjusting my hold on Elena before setting her back on her feet. She’s shaking, but her chin is lifted, her jaw set. She is afraid, but she does not give in to it.
Pride swells in my chest.
“This way,” I say, motioning for the others to follow.
Fenrik is already ahead, his nose low to the ice, his body tense. His paws barely make a sound as he moves, instinct guiding him deeper into the tunnels.
Behind me, the others hesitate. Kallisto glances down at the silver comm on her wrist, the device flickering with data, mapping the shifting tunnels in real time. She presses her lips into a thin line, weighing options. Logic against instinct.
Logic is slow. Instinct is fast.
She exhales sharply and falls in step beside Davina.
The tremors haven’t stopped. They’re weaker, but the ground beneath us still hums with something unsettled, something shifting far below. Ice cracks somewhere behind us, the sound like a branch snapping in deep winter.
We move.
I keep my stride long, forcing Elena to keep up. The last thing I want is for her to slow, to falter, to hesitate when the tunnels could still collapse at any moment. She’s breathing hard, her breath fogging in the air, but she doesn’t complain. She doesn’t question me.
Behind her, Ves mutters something under their breath, and Rishik lets out a sharp exhale.
We turn a corner. The passage narrows, the air thick with cold.
Fenrik stops.
I freeze.
The others stumble to a halt behind me, silence falling heavy over the group.
The tremors have stopped. The ice is no longer groaning under pressure.
Still, something feels…off.
Elena shifts beside me, her breath unsteady.
“We should?—”
A sound cuts her off. Low. Distant.
Like ice settling…or something else shifting below.
Kallisto pulls out her datapad and frowns. “We need to figure out where we are before we go any further.”
I inhale deeply, scanning the tunnel ahead. “Fenrik knows the way.”
Kallisto lets out an unimpressed huff, but she doesn’t argue.
We survived. For now.
But something tells me the ice is not finished with us yet.
Elena pants beside me, bracing a hand against the nearest frozen wall. Around us, the others check their gear, their bodies, their friends.
“We’re alive,” Cosmia breathes, pressing a hand to her chest. “I thought—” She cuts off, shaking her head.
“No one is injured,” Rishik says, scanning the group. “Some bruises, but we’re all in one piece.”
