We moved on. The passage grew darker, the water gradually deeper. I hitched up my skirt, not so much to keep it dry—it had hung in clammy folds for the best part of our journey—as to make wading easier. The ground was treacherous, and often it was only Felix’s steady hand that stopped me from falling headlong. My mind began to fill with craven thoughts, thoughts unworthy of a druid, even one who had not yet made her final promise. I wish we had a lamp. What is that rustling sound? I want to go home.

“Take heart, beloved,” said Felix. He spoke softly, for my ears only, but in the stillness of the underground passage, it carried clearly.

My cheeks were hot. I had not spoken a word, but he had heard me. He had heard what I would not say: I’m scared.

I squeezed his hand. In my mind I said, I love you.

As if in response to my fear, the tunnel turned a corner and the darkness was relieved. A chink high above admitted a ray of dim light, as welcome as rain after drought.

“Back up!” Sigurd’s shout turned my blood to ice. We backed a few paces.

“What is it?” Cathal came past me, heading for the front of the line. I clutched Felix’s hand and peered forward into the shadows. “Sigurd, what—”

A pair of great eyes gleamed ahead, familiar eyes, bright in the gloom. Behind the eyes, the monster’s body filled the tunnel. There would be no going past. The eyes drew me. I saw the wild beauty of them, the myriad colors in their depths, the unshed tears of sorrow. I thought . . . I almost thought . . .

The creature opened its jaws wide. Its long white teeth caught the filtered light as it drew breath. It roared. The sound rang from every surface, powerful as thunder. I clapped my hands over my ears. Colm was crouched down in the water, his arms curled over his head, his whole body shaking. The men with the stretcher staggered in shock, almost dropping Thorgrim. The roaring went on and on. It set a vibration through every part of me. My heart raced; my head throbbed. I closed my eyes.

Nothing was right, he’d thought it was right, she came back, it should have been the way it was before, but something was gone, something was missing, and now he would weep, he would rave, he would blast his sadness into the depths of the earth until the whole island burst with it. He would destroy these outsiders, these puny creatures that dared steal her away, and brought her back incomplete . . .

There was only one thing to do. I let go of Felix’s hand and moved forward. Past the stretcher-bearers and the pallid Thorgrim. Up beside Sigurd, Oschu and Cathal. I took another step.