I swam toward deeper water. I knew what this creature was now: a nokk. One of the most dangerous subterranean animals. Many a Night Elf had been lured to their death by their telepathic magic.
The nokk’s method was simple. They strung out a net of tentacles, then waited for their prey to approach. If one of their tentacles touched you, they would project images into your mind, drawing you closer and closer with the promise of your deepest desires. If I hadn’t sliced that tentacle away, the creature would have consumed me.
I watched the nokk twist and turn above the island like a slimy pendulum. I’d thought it would try to chase me, but it didn’t seem able or willing to move from its spot. I was trying to decide where I should swim next, when a familiar growl pierced the darkness. Marroc.
I searched for him. Where was he? He growled again, and fear snaked through me. Either it was the nokk calling me again with another illusion, or Marroc was actually nearby.
Cautiously, I swam toward the sound of his voice. I needed his help if I was to return to Midgard. If the nokk had him, I might be stuck in these depths forever. And worse, though I was loath to admit it, I owed him for his help. He’d helped me get the ring I needed, and I needed to help him find Loki’s wand so he could get his soul back. Or at least try to help him. I doubted we’d actually get it.
I hoped that Marroc might simply be calling out to me, but when I finally saw him, my worst fears were realized. He hung ten feet in the air, gray tentacles coiled around him like snakes. His eyes were closed, but he struggled in the nokk’s grasp.
I needed to free him.
“Skalei.”
I stood slowly in chest-deep water. The stones under my feet were slick with river slime. I tried not to think about what sorts of animals lived in an environment that was completely dark.
Fake Galin appeared again on the lakeshore. “Ali, you’ve returned to me?” he called from the darkness.
I tensed. The only way a nokk could project an illusion into my brain was if one of its tentacles was touching me. I spotted one floating in the water near my thigh. I sliced through it, and Galin disappeared again.
I probably only had a few seconds until the creature sent another tentacle reaching for me, so I threw Skalei as hard as I could. Spinning end over end, my blade was aimed right for the nokk, until it twitched rapidly. There was a metallic clank as the hilt bounced off the thing and hit the ceiling, then splashed into the lake.
Balls. I missed.
Galin reappeared on the shore. “Ali,” he called. “Ignore the lich—focus your anger on me. I’m the one you want to kill.”
I was about to call Skalei to me, but stopped. Something had moved in the darkness beyond the nokk. Slowly, the gray body of a second nokk slid from a hole in the rock. Its tentacles twisted frantically, sensing the air. I guessed it was trying to determine where the clank from my dagger had come from.
“Oh, crap,” I said under my breath. “Skalei.”
The nokk gripping Marroc looked like it was about to crush him. I didn’t have much time.
Holding Skalei, I estimated I was forty feet from the nokk. At this distance, the knife would rotate between two and three times. I was pretty sure I hadn’t thrown it quite hard enough last time.
I reared back and hurled the blade. It spun through the darkness. With a thunk, it sank into Marroc’s arm.
I grimaced.
Marroc didn’t move, didn’t so much as twitch. Whatever the nokk was doing to his mind, it was effective. But now, the second nokk was twisting toward the sound, tentacles twitching excitedly.
I gritted my teeth. “Skalei.” The blade returned to my hand, wet with ichor.
I knew I had the velocity right—I just needed to improve my aim. This time, I visualized the blade sinking into the nokk’s gelatinous body. I threw it again.
It spun end over end, and with a squelching smack, it sank into the nokk’s flesh. The blade was a tiny speck against the trunk-like body, but I’d made a successful strike nonetheless.
I grinned, waiting for it to drop Marroc.
Instead, it only squeezed harder. My heart slammed against my ribs.
This was pointless. Skalei might be lethal in my hands against