Page 20 of The Cradle of Ice
She swung toward him. For a breath, she saw him writhing within a net of fiery threads. He fought it with his own song buried in that scream of rage, shredding it apart.
Someone’s trying to bridle him.
Nyx struggled to stand, to go to his aid.
Shiya’s hand tightened on her. “Help me.”
Nyx turned to see Shiya fighting the same assault. Only now did Nyx realize how sluggish she felt. Her limbs had gone leaden. Jace’s hand dropped from her slack grip. He slumped in Shiya’s embrace, his head lolling to one side.
Jace …
Nyx’s vision narrowed to a point. Still, she felt Shiya cast out her own song. Her bronze form vibrated with the effort, her chorus laced with fury. Her threads wove into a glowing shield around her.
Nyx swallowed the numbness from her throat and hummed forth her own song. She added her voice to Shiya’s. Their two choruses struggled for a moment, then settled into a tentative harmony, though Nyx suspected even that success was due to Shiya’s skill. Focusing harder, Nyx bolstered their efforts. The shield slowly grew stronger, forming a shell around them.
As the two forced it wider, Nyx found her strength returning. Her voice grew firmer. The shield hardened and extended, pushing against the assault.
Safely ensconced within the shell, Jace groaned and stirred, shifting upright again. He rubbed his eyes. “What … what happened?”
Nyx couldn’t falter from her song to answer. She knew Jace could not see the war waging within the hold, nor the shield protecting them. Still, he was no fool. He glanced between her and Shiya, likely recognizing the strain of the song they shared, though unable to determine the necessity of it.
Nyx glanced over to Bashaliia. He continued his own fight, but the assault shifted its intensity away from him and over to the protective shell, lashing it even harder. Nyx turned to Kalder, who appeared unaffected, as alert as always.
Nyx risked adding words to her song, to communicate to Shiya. “Whoever it is … they’re targeting those aboard.”
As proof, the bow of the Sparrowhawk dropped precipitously, tilting the ship toward its nose. A set of barrels broke loose from their netting and rattled away into the darkness. Nyx and Jace would’ve followed, but Shiya still anchored them.
Nyx pictured everyone in the wheelhouse succumbing like Jace had just done, bridled into oblivion by that malignant song. She wouldn’t have thought it possible. Those gifted like her could sway lesser beasts, but the minds of men and women were too multilayered and complex to bend. Even some beasts were too clever to successfully break.
“Can we extend this shell around the entire ship? To protect everyone?” Nyx sang to Shiya, though she suspected this was an impossibility.
The bronze woman confirmed with a shake of her head.
Nyx grimaced and pointed toward the spiral stair that climbed out of the hold and up into the main ship. “We must get to the wheelhouse. Carry this shield to the others.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jace said.
“No.” She pointed behind her, sweat beading her brow. She struggled to sing and explain. “If we lose the ship, those sailrafts are our only hope. Free their tie-downs and get ready to winch the stern doors open.”
Jace nodded.
Shiya intoned a warning. “The shield. If Jace leaves its protection…”
Nyx had already anticipated this danger. She loosened enough threads to reach across to Bashaliia. She infused her intent.
Protect Jace.
Bashaliia had already proven himself capable of thwarting this assault. Her brother understood and whistled sharply back, extending a winding coil of energy toward Jace.
Nyx turned to her friend. “Do your best.”
By now, the Sparrowhawk’s plunge had steepened. The winds had grown into a wail. The ship shook and rattled. Dread sharpened to a pain in her chest.
How long before we crash into the teeth of the Dragoncryst?
With no way of knowing, she pushed down her fears and pulled free of Shiya’s grasp. “Let’s go.”
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