AEgir (BERSERKER WARRIORS #1) - Lee Savino Page 0,20

waved his sword.

“No!” I would’ve hurled myself between them, but Danny grabbed me and pulled me back.

“Take her to the lodge,” my father shouted to Danny.

“Come, my lady. Please,” Danny wrestled with me.

“He cannot come onto land! The curse will take him forever!” I fought my father’s man.

Dòmhnall rushed to meet Ægir. Their weapons met with a clang.

It was too late. Ægir had come onto land. Already the magic was working, the curse taking hold. Ægir’s proud and handsome features contorted. His jaw and ears grew longer, his teeth thickening into fangs. The white pelt he wore over his shoulders seemed to creep down his chest. His legs grew longer and white-furred.

Dòmhnall fell back, driven to the ground by Ægir’s savage blows. But as the curse rolled over the great warrior’s body, his hands transformed to claws and his weapon fell to the sand.

Pointing his wolf’s head at the sky, Ægir howled. I sagged in Danny’s hold.

“Take her away,” my father ordered as his own men urged him flee. Danny dragged me up the beach. Nanny rushed forward and I fell into her arms.

“Come away, Muireann.” Her face held fear.

“I can’t leave him!”

“He’s gone now.” Sure enough, the Sea wolf was no longer a man, but a beast with white and golden fur.

Dòmhnall’s men closed around Ægir, their blades biting and baiting him. Attacked from behind, Ægir roared and swiped a great claw.

More men rushed up the surf, their breeches dark with the water. Ægir’s men, led by Hawk. It wasn’t even a fair fight. Dòmhnall’s men turned and died. I saw Hawk’s white teeth flash, him laughing as he cleaved a man’s head from his neck.

Without his men to help, Dòmhnall had no hope. He raised his weapon and the Sea Wolf thrust foot-long claws into his chest, lifting his body and tossing him with a thick spray of red. Deprived of more prey, the monster bellowed.

My father’s men had retreated. With frightened shouts, they barricaded themselves in the lodge as the Sea Wolf rushed towards them.

“No,” I cried, stumbling and almost falling. Only Nanny’s firm grip, tugging me forward, kept me upright.

I realized she was pulling me up the cliff.

“You cannot help him now.”

“He’s a monster. The curse will never let him go.” The wind snatched at my hair and numbed my face.

“And he’ll lay waste to your father’s land. The lodge will not hold him back, no matter what your father thinks.”

My breath was a rock in my throat. The vision I’d had would come true. The lodge roof on fire. The men and women’s bodies strewn around. Dòmhnall was dead, he would not lay waste to the island. But Ægir, mad with the curse, would.

“There’s no time,” Nanny shouted over the wind. Her hands peeled away the layers of cloaks around me. I shivered, naked in the cold air.

“He loves you?”

I nodded.

Nanny turned me to the cliff’s edge and gave me a little push. “Then fly.”

I tottered on the grassy ledge. “But—”

“You can do it child. You’re the raven. Lead him home.”

And I knew what I must do.

Below on the beach, Ægir’s men finished off the last of Dòmhnall’s and watched their leader seek new prey.

The Sea Wolf climbed on the roof of the lodge and tore into the rushes. A few more heartbeats and he’d break through, and lay waste to the frightened people huddled below. My people. My family.

No time to lose.

I stepped up to the cliff edge. My toes curled. Far below, the sea crashed into the rocks.

“Do it, Muireann. Fly!” Nanny called. “Fly away girl, with the magic your mother gave you.”

I spread my arms and leapt into the air. The world tilted. The Change came over me between one breath and the next. The wind caught my wings before I hit the water, and I soared upwards in a warm draft. I was light and free, no longer hungry or sick or tired. Magic indeed.

I flew over the beach. Hawk’s teeth flashed and he gave a wave. I cawed a hello and flapped to gain height.

The monster on the lodge roof paused in the act of ripping the thatch bundles apart. I let loose a stream of scolding cries. The wind tugged my tail feathers and I turned and flew back over the beach. Straight over the water.

That’s it, daughter, my mother’s voice whispered. That’s the way.

Behind me, the monster bounded to the ground. His men scrambled out of the way, but the monster ignored them and the heaps of dead