“You think she knew we’d help her?” Elias asked. Henrik didn’t answer right away. Just stared into the storm, eyes distant. “I think she hoped.” By the time the Odin’s Mercy reached Holm Bay, the cub had stopped shivering.
That scared Elias more than anything. He had wrapped it in every spare blanket they had, held it against his chest, whispered to it like it was his own blood. But on the second day of sailing through thinning ice and calmer waters, the little bear had gone still—its tiny chest barely rising, its eyes half-lidded.