Chapter 14

                                    

                                          
For a moment, Jess didn't think she'd get out of the pitch black basement. It took forever feeling along the wall to find the small door that was somehow even darker. Maybe the darkness was for the best - she couldn't see the cobwebs stretching across her face as she army-crawled across the cold dirt floor. 
A decrepit wooden door blocked the end of the tunnel. Jess pushed against it, and hundreds of splinters stabbed her palms, pushed in by the weight of a few feet of snow. She twisted her body in the tight space to use her feet to bust through the frozen hinges and push the door open. 
Seconds after clearing the tunnel, the house behind her exploded. A cloud of snow powered engulfed the last bit of busted glass and splintered wood, like the wall of an avalanche. The air glittered with frozen crystals suspended in midair. 
Jess ducked to protect her head from the wood and glass flying in all directions, but she knew she had to start running soon. Her feet drove her forwards before her eyes could see where she was heading. She almost ran face-first into a tree, but it was a relief to know she was going the right way. 
The sound of fighting shadowed her as she ran, but she could hardly recognize it as fighting. It was so quiet. There were no gasps or cries or shouts, or even the classic Hollywood punching sound effects. The only thing Jess could compare it to was the sound of ice cracking and shattering. Sharp noises accompanied by the whoosh of fast moving air.
As she weaved through the trees, something exploded above her head. She stopped and looked up to see an icicle embedded deep in bark. 
A roar sounded from the sight of the battle, and Jess had officially lost all track of what was going on. Had a bear shown up to the fight? As much as she wanted her questions answered, she knew she was not safe until she followed Sigyn's instructions and crossed the lake.  
She took a few steps out onto and then stopped. Under the blanket of snow, it was impossible to tell how thick the ice was. Above her on the hill, the trees began to quiver. Something big was barreling straight towards her. The ice was the safer risk, so she sprinted forward at full speed.
Sigyn was trying to steer the fight away from Jess, but she had her hands busy - or rather, hand - keeping herself alive. Her left arm hung limp at her side while she flung ice in every direction to keep the Vorðr at bay. Angrboða worked her way from the outside in, cutting down and knocking out frost jotuns on her way to Sigyn's side. Meanwhile, Kark, in the form of a towering icebear, charged through the snow swiftly as a deer, a formidable distraction to the Vorðr. As Kark swatted away the jotun's spears and axes, Sigyn and Angrboða took cover in the treeline to regroup.
As soon as she caught her breath, Bodi let loose a slew of curse words at Sigyn that were all variations of the word 'fool'. "A fire, Sigyn? Really?"
"You can call me whatever you want once we get out of here!" Sigyn winced as she grabbed her broken arm and covered her bicep in ice. It would heal on its own soon - if she lived. 
Angrboða glanced at the lake behind them. "If we get them out on the ice, can you flip it?"
Sigyn could, but when she looked at the lake and saw the tiny figure of Jess running to safety, she shook her head. "New plan."
She thought for a moment, but she didn't have a new plan, and Angrboda was losing patience.
"We can't hold them much longer, Sigyn!" She stood up, drawing a fresh knife. "Get them out on the ice."
The plan had been decided. All Sigyn could do was hope Jess made it off the lake in time. 
The three of them had taken out a handful of the Vorðr, but they were still outnumbered. The girls let the jotuns push them onto the lake while Kark herded them like sheep. To the Vorðr, it appeared as they were closing in on their target. To Sigyn's disgust - but not surprise - Åsa, the fearless general, was not among her soldiers to get a taste of the same plot. She was probably watching at a safe distance, like some...