"So," Saga said, as she peered warily outside. "About that little plan of yours. The one about us sneaking about towards the harbor?"

"Yes," Astrid said. "That plan. What about it?"

"Did you take into account the massive battle raging outside the bloody tower?" Saga dropped to her knees as an arrow punched through a nearby window and pinged off the marble steps.

"No, sadly," Astrid growled as she eyed Elba furiously. "I did not take into account the one chaotic factor that could potentially hamstring my plan. That's why I'm improvising."

Elba gave her a sour look as she watched the woman trail along the walls, fingers brushing against the stones, eyes closed. "What are you doing?"

"Listening for the stones," Astrid said. "And remembering where they are not."

"What does that even mean?" Saga snarled at her.

"It means shut up and let me think for a second!"

Saga was about to say more, but Grimm quickly changed her mind as she clapped a heavy hand over the reedy woman's mouth. "Let the witch think."

"It's looking really bad out there," Nora peeked out through the broken window. "It looks like the rebels are pulling back. I don't think they'll be able to rescue us."

"That's why we're saving ourselves," Emme reassured her as she cradled her swollen belly. "At very least Asmund isn't here to bother us anymore."

Nora shivered. "Please don't say that creature's name again. I don't want to think about it."

"Who's Asmund?" Elba asked.

Nora winced and turned away, eyes fixed on the floor.

"He's the Right Hand's second in command," Emme said, pulling Nora into her arms, comforting the girl as she stroked her hair. "He used to watch over us in the tower, but he doesn't anymore. Let's leave it at that."

"Right," Elba said. "Hopefully his head's on a spike somewhere in all this."

"Heads on spikes is too good for the likes of him," Nora hissed. "I would sooner chain him to a rock and drop him to the bottom of the sea."

Everyone paused at that. Even Astrid, fingertips mere inches from a protruding stone.

"Not gonna lie," Tergrid said, piping up for the first time since they'd started their daring, little escape. "I was not expecting that from you."

"Nora's got a real mean streak when she wants to be," Saga said. "I still remember the last time I pissed her off. The scar on my arse never did quite heal correctly."

Nora shot the hill woman with a dirty look. "You deserved it."

"Never said I didn't."

Elba perked her ears up at the soft sound of stones clicking together. She saw Astrid step away from the wall as several bricks folded into themselves, more and more clicking and clattering away until an even passageway appeared before her.

"How in the seven hells did you do that?" Elba stumbled towards the newly made entrance. "Was it magick?"

"In a sense," Astrid shrugged. "Magick makes it easier, but anyone can speak to the stones if they take the time to learn their language. Whether they listen to you or not, however, is an entirely different story."

The others gathered around Elba, staring just as dumbstruck at the hole, her own mind whirling with the new information. In the past she might have scoffed at the idea. Speaking to stones, of all things? But she had seen men bend and twist metal with a mere thought, seen hell rain down from the skies and set cities ablaze. How far off was it then? This simple idea that the stones were always listening.

"What did you say to them?" She found herself asking.

"I requested their help, that it would be for a great cause if they provided us passage to safety."

"And...they really listened?" This time it was Saga asking the question. There was no bitter edge to her tone this time, no fear or anger, only cautious curiosity.

"They normally don't," Astrid said. "The earth is a part of nature, and nature's eternal struggle is always to achieve balance. But things have changed. They understand what's at stake now, what changes are necessary to tip the balance back."

The witch looked up to admire her work. "And they decided to listen this time. Follow me, before they decide enough is enough. You'd be surprised how impatient the stones can get sometimes."

It felt a long time before Elba and the others emerged from the narrow passageway, the smell of stale air and body sweat washed away by the salty sea breeze. A gull called from nearby, the dull grind of ocean waves slapping against the shoreline like distant music.

The stones spat them out in what appeared to be an abandoned barracks. Instead of bunk beds and footlockers, the place had been gutted out and turned into an impromptu store room, gear and supplies heaped up in mismatched piles or stacked haphazardly in crates.

Elba peered outside. Judging by the muted sounds of battle, they were somewhere along the eastern fringes of an outer courtyard, hugging one of the walls, and hopefully as near to the harbor as they could get. She spotted the gate leading towards the sea from a nearby window, and her heart sank.

Two guards stood posted along the gatehouse, looking nervous and twitchy, fidgeting from side to side. They were Forsworn by the looks of it, untouched by whatever magick possessed their undead brethren. As human as she was.

At the very least they would be easier to kill if it came down to it. Elba still remembered her first encounter with the Chosen, and would not be making the same mistake twice.

"How's it looking out there?" Grimm loomed beside her, surprisingly quiet when she needed to be.

"Two on the watch," Elba said. "Forsworn. No one on the walls above by the looks of it."

"Should we rush them?"

"I don't think that's necessary. What do you think, Astrid?"

The witch appeared out of nowhere. Grimm took a cautious step back, clapping one hand to her mouth to avoid making a sound.

"You're getting better at that. "Astrid eyed Elba warily. "How do you do it?"

"I've a keen nose. What can I say? Now, about my earlier question."

"I think we'll simply slip past them with no one else the wiser."

Grimm frowned, and it was a very impressive frown at that. "Maybe you can, witch, but I don't think the rest of us have your talent for sneaking around, especially me of all people."

Elba stared at Grimm, quietly doubting her.

"Thank your lucky stars I brought these along." Astrid slipped a hand into her pocket, revealing a handful of the talismans. "Who needs talent when you can have magick instead?"

Grimm curled her lip up in disgust. "Reeks of the Wyrd if you ask me. I think we can take them if we make a surprise attack. There's plenty of gear in here to pick over and I'm sure me and Elba and Saga could do plenty fine if—"

"Astrid," Elba cut in.

"Yes?"

"Give me one. I'll go first."

Grimm's eyes went wide. "You'll what?"

"I said I'll go first. If anything happens, though, you make sure the others get to the harbor in one piece."

"I...I don't know if..."

"It's all right, Grimm." Elba gave the woman a reassuring smile. Felt more like she was reassuring the side of a mountain. "Have a little faith." She took one of the talisman's from Astrid's limp hand, the woman's face as pale as fresh snow.

Where's Elba?" Tergrid said. The others looked around, but their eyes never quite focused on her, even as she walked past them towards the door, not even attempting to be stealthy. She knew how the magick worked. She'd done it once already.

Only Astrid kept her eyes on her, as keen to the magick's power as old Ohban had been.

Outside the air was deadly sharp, wind slicing down her back like a killer's knife, ripping at her heavy braid, turning her tears into icicles. The two Forsworn by the gate paid her no mind, too busy puffing into their hands, shuffling from side to side, bodies instinctively reacting to the cold.

She crept closer, bootsteps crunching in the powder fresh snow. Any second now she expected the guards to turn their heads and see her, call out for reinforcements, or simply run her through with a spear and be done with it, but nothing happened.

The gatehouse loomed before her as she walked past the two men, slow and assured as an evening stroll, even though her heart pounded like mad and her mind screamed at her to run. Slow and calm. That was the trick of it.

Elba knew the others were watching, knew their doubt as deeply as her own, but Astrid had done so much for them. Any doubt the group had for her had to be quashed then and there. Including her own.

She turned around and stared at the obvious tracks she'd left in the snow, the sound of battle off in the distance churning with the booming clap of thunder up above. She squinted as an arc of lightning raced past the gloomy heavens, burning a hot line of light across her vision.

Grimm came out second. She had to practically squeeze through the doorway, one hand clutching at the talisman around her neck, the other gripped tight at the pommel of a sword. She edged warily towards the gate, eyes locked on the nearest guard, but he paid her the same mind as he had with Elba.

After a bit of coaxing, Grimm stood awkwardly beside her. "I suppose the magick works after all," she muttered under her breath.

"Astrid's good like that." Elba smiled.

A few more minutes and it was Tergrid who came out next, nervous as a rabbit in an open field, but bravely following after Grimm's heavy tracks. Emme slipped out afterwards, Nora supporting her under one arm, before Saga burst out in a fit of speed, practically clawing at the ground as she scuttled behind Elba.

Astrid came out last, beaming from ear to ear. The two men at the gate didn't even look at her as she walked by. One had gone into a coughing fit, the other wiping his nose for the third consecutive time.

"An amazing display of your craft, as always," Elba said.

"Why thank you, my lady." Astrid gave a courteous little bow. "It's nice to be trusted for once."

"It shouldn't be possible?" Saga muttered, chest heaving as if she'd run a mile instead of the short jaunt from barracks to gatehouse. "I ran right past them and they didn't even see me. Like I was.. I was..." she trailed off.

"The wind?" Astrid asked.

Saga shot her a dark look as she lifted up the talisman to stare at it. "Should be possible," she repeated.

"Oh, of course," Elba said. "Dead men walking and an eternal night sky are all very plausible things to consider here in Danic. It's just moving like the wind that bothers you, is it?"

Saga gave Elba the very same look she gave Astrid. "You really go for the ribs, you know that Rook?"

"I thought I was Rook," Tergrid said, the tiniest hint of concern in her voice.

"Nah, you lost that title. I like her more than you now." Saga stood up straight, tall and lean like the spear she was. "So, what's the plan now, Rook?"

A scream split the air then. A loud roaring of words that boomed and echoed over the dark horizon, swallowing up the terrible noise of war, the howling winds, louder than the siege of Middengard, louder than even Elba's own terrifying heartbeat.

She stood there a moment, dumbfounded, heart fluttering, realization striking her like an arrow to the chest as she registered the words carved across the heavens by a single, terrifying voice.

"What the fark was that?" Saga demanded. Nora clutched at Emme as Grimm ran up beside her, all of them looking around, searching for the source.

"What could it have been?"

"It sounded like thunder!"

"It sounded like a devil!"

"It sounded familiar," Tergrid said, putting one finger to her lips in concentration.

"I know who it is," Elba said, barely able to contain herself. "That's my farking husband!".

***