Under A Winter Sun by Johan Dahlgren (ink ebook reader txt) 📕

it to Finn. Finn grabs a chain hanging from the wall and wraps it around his armoured forearm and uses it to parry Eirik's blows.

Rivera claws his face. “Asher, you must do something.”

“Sorry, priest. No can do.”

“But they will kill each other.”

“I know.”

Eirik gets behind Finn and catches his older brother in a perfect chokehold. Finn grabs the wrist of Eirik's sword arm to hold the blade from his neck, but it's no use. He is too weak, even with the servos of his armour. There's no way Finn can get out of that hold before Eirik plunges the steel into his neck. Finn's face grows a darker shade of red as he desperately fights the chokehold.

I look away.

“Do something, Asher.”

I shake my head and a tear rolls down my cheek.

There's a sudden motion at the corner of my eye.

The little priest rushes forward and jumps on Eirik's back.

“Rivera. No.” But it's too late.

The little man digs the fingers of his armoured fist down around the centipede and pulls with all his might. He gets one of the horrible spikes out, and Eirik howls in pain and rage. He lets go of Finn, who slumps to the floor.

Eirik grabs Rivera's wrists in his enormous hands. He pulls them off, fighting the servos of the priest's power armour, and the little man howls in frustration.

In an incredible show of strength, Finn's little brother swings Rivera in his power armour over his shoulder and drives him headfirst into the floor. The little man's shriek is cut short as his neck snaps under the weight of the armour, and Eirik tosses him aside, casually.

The priest slides like a rag doll across the chamber and crashes into the wall next to Windsong.

“Shit.” I rush to Rivera's side. He is still alive, but I can tell it won't be long, and I pull his head up on my lap.

Soledad joins me and puts her hand on my arm. “Don't touch him. You'll kill him. His neck is broken.”

I give her a look. He will die, no matter what we do. All we can do is give the man some love for his last journey.

Finn struggles to his knees and Eirik towers above him. He shows off the blade in his hand to Finn and says something I can't hear over the rumble from the engine. I put a hand on Rivera's cheek to comfort him and hide the sight of Finn's death. I don't want the little man to see that his sacrifice was in vain. He has lived his entire life believing in miracles. Let him die believing he performed one.

“You fool, Rivera.” He is so light in my arms. “That was an idiotic thing to do. And very brave.”

“Brave?”

He coughs blood. “You think so?”

“Yes, I do. That took some serious guts, Rivera. You are a brave man. Braver than me.”

“Brave …” He smiles through the blood and dies.

See You In Valhalla

Rivera was brave, but also an idiot.

What did he think he could do against a Goliath?

Finn kneels panting on the floor before Eirik's blade. Blood froths through his broken nose with every breath. He's done. He grunts, accepting his fate.

Eirik raises the sword above his head, both hands around the hilt.

Ah, the Falcon. Famously bad move.

But even with that silly opening, there's no way I can get to Finn in time.

Then something stops Eirik. He flinches, and a deep shudder goes through his body. If it's the old Eirik fighting for control, or if the priest disrupted some control mechanism, I don't know, and I don't give a fuck either way.

I stretch from under the dead priest and close my fingertips around the pommel of Skallagrim's sword.

“Finn!”

I push it awkwardly across the floor.

Finn fumbles after the sword, as Eirik's blade swings down to split his skull. He gets his blood-slick fingers around the hilt and thrusts it through his brother's chest. Luck or skill, he impales the centipede and tears it out of his brother's flesh. The horrible thing shrieks at the tip of Windsong and goes into a frenzy of fevered thrashing. Then it locks into a clump and dies.

Eirik grunts in pain and something else. It could be relief.

Finn pulls the sword from Eirik's chest, and the dead centipede falls to the floor with a dull clank.

Eirik's knees buckle, and he collapses over his brother. Finn rolls Eirik over on his back with an effort. The younger brother is still alive, but he can't survive with the gaping wound in his chest and spine.

I run over to them but slip in the blood. I come skidding up to the giants on my knees as they say their goodbyes.

When Eirik sees me coming, he looks over.

“Still alive, little man.”

A pained smile flickers across his lips.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance. It would have saved me some pain.” He groans. “I underestimated you, Perez. Maybe you stand a chance against Geirmund.”

He coughs blood in my face.

I hope he doesn't carry any infectious diseases.

“Geirmund.” His face contorts into a grimace of disgust. Like he got a mouthful of rotten flesh. “That fucker tricked me. It's he who controls the army. Kill him, and they all die.”

He reaches out to me with one great bloody hand. “Stop him. For all our sakes.”

I grab his hand in both of mine. It's too big to hold, but I hope he understands the gesture.

“I'll try.”

I squeeze his thumb like a child would an adult. He squeezes back, but there's no strength left in his body. His hand drops away, splattering my leg with blood as it flops to the floor.

The brothers clasp hands and put their bloody foreheads against each other.

“See you in Valhalla, brother,” Finn says.

“I'll save you a seat, big brother.”

Eirik closes his eyes and dies.

“Touching, but we've got a job to do here,” Jagr interrupts over my shoulder. “We need to destroy that reactor.”

She gestures at the raging fire.

I get up and clap Finn on one massive shoulder. “Come, brother. Time