“Did you see that? He wished for us to squabble over you,” one soldier said.
“It doesn’t matter,” another responded. “Soon you will be tied to that spit there, being sacrificed for the greater good. Once the giants arrive, the ceremony can commence, and your heart will go to good use, too.”
The first soldier frowned. “How is it that you know all of this?”
“I pay attention when things are said around me.”
“Sort of dimwitted to tell the prisoner the plan of things, don’t you think? You don’t tell a buck you’re going to kill it before you do, and you don’t tell a prisoner exactly how she will die. Death is enough of a question.”
“How do we know she has this heart of Ymir’s?”
“I don’t!” Nanna interrupted. “That is a rumor. I have no such thing.”
“How’d she become the dragon then if she didn’t absorb the heart? There are only two ways: Ymir and Melqart’s blood, and since Melqart wasn’t answering her call, I doubt she’s even caught a whiff of the green goo.”
“Green, you say? He bleeds green?”
“I really can’t listen to this nonsense anymore,” Loki said, moving into the shadows and quickly and silently slitting the throats of the two men. He pushed their corpses into a tent.
“Is he always that impulsive?” Baldr asked Thor.
“He is not known for his patience,” Thor said, “but a truer companion I could not have.”
“You two are like brothers.”
“Sometimes, but Loki still requires a strong hand every once in a while.”
Before they could move up to release Nanna, another group of soldiers arrived and picked up her cage.
“I smell giants,” Thor said.
“How can you smell giants?” Loki asked. “It is not like giants are flowers or even moss from the river bed. They are living beings.”
“They are giants, and they make my hands itchy.”
“Let us not be hasty,” Baldr said as the soldiers moved the cage toward what appeared to be a makeshift altar. The symbol of a flame, the same as that which appeared on Melqart’s banner, was carved into the structure.
“Good, good.” Melqart appeared from the forest’s edge. “You have put me through enough on this day, Nanna.” He removed the dragonwort rope from her hands and yanked her out of the cage.
He bent her over the wooden altar, as if he planned to have his way with her. His hands roamed up her body, groping her. “I will kill you,” she whispered, and Baldr heard her.
“Stay still!” Melqart waved over four soldiers. They flipped her over onto her back. Each held down one of her four limbs. “I do not require that pretty head, just the heart.” He raised his knife, and just as he was about to thrust it into her chest, a firebomb erupted not far from the altar’s site.
Chaos boiled over in the camp. No one knew which way to look, or saw the invisible threats of Loki and Thor, who just wanted to use his hammer.
The soldiers loosened their grip enough, and in the blink of an eye, Baldr watched Nanna change again into the giant beast. With fire in her throat, she opened her mouth and blew as hard as she could, allowing orange and blue flames to create human candles. They lit up the night as bright as day, but Melqart remained. He jumped back from towering over her, and with the knife he’d used before, the same one drenched in dragonwort, he pointed it at her. Baldr raced forward and tackled him to the ground.
As he rolled to the side, Melqart stared at the dragon hovering above him. He raised his dagger and repeatedly stabbed her. The dragon tried to shake it off, but the blade remained jammed into her side.
Baldr couldn’t get close as the beast stalked Melqart, who attempted to use magic against her, but found it repelled by what could have been dark forces. Instead, the dragon took her chance: powerful jaws came crashing down on Melqart, and he disappeared in one large gulp.
Nanna
Somewhere in the Myrkviðr Forest
Everything around me slowed as the poison raced through my system. Unable to keep the dragon form, I shifted to my human shape. Blood seeped from my side, and I fell to my knees.
Fire licked at the trees, and lightning sizzled across the sky. That must have been Thor’s influence in the battle. Staggering forward, I could barely stand on my feet. The conscripted soldiers ignored me, and the gathered giants raced away, as Thor must have given chase.
“Annôn,” Baldr whispered. He said my name like a caress, and it touched something deep within. That which I’d been holding on to, afraid to let anyone touch, I wanted him to touch my heart and cradle it with care. My hand moved out to touch his face. Relief settled in me. I didn’t want to die alone in a strange place. Instead, I took his hand and held it. My body began to shake as a shiver raced through me. “You will not die,” he told me.
“I will not dishonor you even more than I have. If today is the day of death, then I must accept it.”
He drew a knife across his wrist and placed the wound to my mouth. “Drink,” he commanded.
I drank the blood that he willingly gave, taking just enough for me to move again.
“We can’t stay here. Surely Baal’s camp will turn back if Melqart doesn’t show up in time,” I said.
“I was not going to let you perish for my insolence. I should never have looked upon you.”
“What do you mean?”
Baldr sighed. “For months, I’ve lived in your dreams. Every night I’d visit you in your sleep, and we’d have grand adventures. Sometimes it was a simple trip to the sea to hear the waves. Other times, it was just us talking
