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

He tries to scratch my eyes out, but I bat his hands away and grab him by the face with both hands. I push with all my servo enhanced strength and there's a meaty crunch as his skull cracks.

I put the Paladin under his jaw and blow his spine out along with the centipede, and his body goes limp. The wings fall lifeless to the ground.

He's still impossibly alive, but that suits me perfectly.

I drag him mewling toward the raging fire with the limp wings trailing behind us like the veil of a vile bride. It's time to test Eirik's theory.

We reach the edge, and I gaze down into the abyss. Far, far below, the raging fire branches into five arms, feeding into the titanic engines.

I raise Geirmund high into the air. Even though he's old and bent, he's still a Goliath, and his feet dangle against the edge.

“Goodbye, arsehole.”

He rasps something that could be nooooo and I hurl him backwards across the gulf into the fire.

There's a brief flash of energy, instantaneously whipped down and torn apart as the fire consumes his body. His flesh reverts into its constituent atoms and adds to the flow of energy pouring into the great engines.

I wipe the gore from my hands and turn around, hoping to see Berengar and the remaining twin drop dead.

No such luck.

Fuck.

Who's running this shitshow? No matter.

After we blow this damn ship and send the Goliath army back to hell, that will be an academic question.

Jagr, Soledad and Tyrus battle the Wolf twin. He throws them off as an elephant throws off attacking lions, but just like lions, they pounce again. Jagr and Soledad have their machetes out, and there's a lot of blood. It's an epic fight.

But their struggle is nothing compared to the battle between Berengar the Defiler and Thorfinn the Skullfucker.

Theirs is a fight that's been waiting to happen since the dawn of time. They were born for this moment. The two greatest warriors in the known universe at long last get to measure their strength against each other.

This is the archetypal battle between good and evil.

Not that Thorfinn Wagner is good, by any definition of the word. I've seen my friend commit heinous acts of barbarism before, but they are nothing compared to what he's doing to the Defiler. And he gets as good as he gives.

The skalds will write songs about this battle, and the Goliaths will sing them around their fires for all eternity. But they will only ever sing them after their children have gone to bed, such is the viciousness of the fighting.

Jagr and Tyrus trip their Wolf twin and their struggle continues on the floor. Soledad raises her machete above her head and buries it deep in his neck. Tyrus and Jagr struggle to hold the raging Goliath down while Soledad yanks the blade from side to side. She slices the Goliath's spinal cord and any links the centipede has inserted into his flesh.

In seconds, his body lies still, and Soledad tears her weapon free in a shower of blood.

She may be a grumpy bitch, but she is great to have on your team in a fight.

I don't care. I only have eyes for the headline event.

Back and forth they rage across the chamber, trading cuts, blows, and kicks. They both get the upper hand only to lose it again, over and over.

Finn gets the Defiler close to the edge, only to be pushed back by a well-aimed kick from Berengar. The Defiler gets Finn in a chokehold, only to have it broken by Finn's fist to his face.

It looks like they will fight forever, but they can't.

Their blades are long gone, and they have resorted to hands and feet and teeth. They are both slick with blood and their fingers can't find purchase. It's come down to a contest of who can hold out the longest, and without the powered armour, Finn would not have lasted this long. Not after his battle with Eirik the Fair.

If we somehow survive this shit, Finn will bitch to his dying day about not beating Berengar bare-chested.

Then Berengar tilts his head back and roars at the heavens.

Blood froths at his nostrils as he breathes harder and faster. Oh, shit. He's going into a berserker rage.

If Finn is going to stand a chance, he has to end this now.

Finn knows what's coming and rushes the Defiler in a desperate move, only to slip in the blood and fall.

He pulls the Defiler with him, and they crash to the floor. They are both on their knees now, grabbing, slipping, punching weakly.

Finn pokes a finger into Berengar's eye, but the Defiler merely grunts and swats Finn's hand away. It trails sticky fluid, and Berengar slams a fist into Wagner's face in retaliation.

I can no longer recognise my friend behind the torn and swollen flesh. The only thing assuring me it's Finn is the grin on his face.

It's the joy of fighting and killing that shines so brightly inside Thorfinn Wagner. I've seen no one who enjoys killing as much as he does.

Except for Berengar the Defiler. His grin is even wider.

Finn is first to give in.

He plants one fist on the floor, slipping and sliding in the blood. Berengar gets behind him and wraps a arm around his neck.

With a mighty grunt, he hauls Finn to his feet and drags him toward the edge. Finn realises what's coming and steers their steps to the side.

He kicks off against the floor, picks up the pace and slams Berengar back-first into one of the support beams.

Right into the jury-rigged bomb we planted there.

With an ear-shattering boom, the bomb detonates and plasters Berengar the defiler all over the adjacent wall and floor. The explosion throws Finn through the air, and he comes to a sliding stop a few metres in front of me.

Jagr, Tyrus and Soledad struggle to their feet.

“Was that …?”

There's dread in Soledad's voice.

I lay the priest on the floor and scramble over to