Chapter 37
Chapter 37
M y only goal in those awful moments as I tumble through the air is to land on my back.
I have to take the brunt of the fall and protect Galeia’s unconscious body. Not easy when I’m spinning uncontrollably and have no way to control my fall without letting go of her.
Somehow, I manage to hit the ground on my side, sliding across stones and dirt and then grass before coming to a stop facing away from the village. Galeia has remained cradled in my arms, her shallow breaths warm against my neck.
Thank the saints.
Cailey must have landed on her feet because she’s a bright spot in my vision, already sprinting toward me, screaming, “Get up!”
Thud-thud-thud.
A rapid succession of thumps sounds directly behind me, and all it takes is a glance to see three arrows protruding from the ground right at my back. An inch farther toward me, and they would have impaled my back.
But they aren’t the last.
My eyes widen at the thick rain of arrows that are pouring down toward me. If the first three were to gauge the distance, then these ones will hit me.
Fuck!
I roll to my feet, leaping away from the spot where I was lying—a space that seconds later fills with arrows.
I launch myself into a sprint, running as fast as I can, following Cailey’s path while I hold on to Galeia.
There’s suddenly a cacophony of sounds behind me, such a chaotic blend of noises that I can only identify the loudest of them…
The heavy beat of massive wings high in the sky.
The lighter beat of smaller, but no less powerful, wings closing in on me.
Another thud , something landing only paces behind me and then a beastly roar that silences everything else.
“Hurt her, and I will rip out your fucking throats!”
I miss a step, dropping to the ground in a crouch before I twist to see the scene behind me.
I gasp for breath, trying to take it all in.
In the sky, a majestic dragon with crimson scales coasts in the air, appearing almost suspended in the sky above us.
In the distance, at least thirty warriors appear on the wall, all of them with arrows nocked and pointed in my direction.
Much closer to me, a woman is in the process of alighting on the ground, her silver wings sweeping inward as she lands.
She is undoubtedly a Valkyrie, but her focus is on the figure standing between her and me.
Erik.
He casts a brutal shadow, every muscle in his body visibly tense, his claws extended, and his warning growl fierce. He’s wearing different clothing, but I don’t miss the blood splatter on the back of his neck.
Why is he here? What happened while I was gone?
As relieved as I am to see him, I don’t have any chance of getting answers right now.
“Step aside, Vandawolf,” the Valkyrie commands him, her hazel eyes flashing with silver that tells me she is accessing her power. “It is not your place to deal with this darkness.”
His snarl is full of fury. “Asha is not darkness.”
“Of course, she isn’t,” the Valkyrie snaps. “I speak of the creature in her arms.”
Creature?
A rush of disappointment fills me.
How na?ve I was to think that the Valkyries would protect Galeia—or at least help me to help her . My impression from my interaction with General Glass was that she believed her daughter had died. I should have realized from the depth of her grief that, even if she thought Galeia was alive, she had no hope of seeing her child again. Her people would not allow it.
Erik takes slow steps back and toward my right, taking a careful but quick path to stand at my side instead of in front of me.
We are most powerful fighting side by side.
I’m certain the Valkyrie will realize it, and we will back away now.
But my hope of a quick retreat shatters at the look on his face.
Since I made him whole, I haven’t seen a glimpse of the beast that he was turned into. Not once.
Now, there is nothing of peace or calm in his expression.
Only a seething fury.
Oh, Erik, what has happened since we were separated?
“You told me to go in peace,” he growls at the Valkyrie, low and dangerous, and despite his talk of peace, he draws his sword as if he wants a fight. “Do you plan to make an enemy of me, after all?”
“You forget I am the Valkyrie Queen!” she snaps. “That creature has Valkyrie blood. Blood that has been corrupted by dark magic. She is my concern, not yours. She’s certainly not worth dying over.”
“ Child ,” I grind out, wishing I could reach for my hammer right now, but I’d risk dropping Galeia. “She is a child , not a creature.”
“She is Darkness,” the Valkyrie Queen snarls, taking a step toward us, her eyes glowing more silver with every passing second.
All she has to do is lay hands on me—or Erik, for that matter—and she can deal out death in an instant.
I brace for her attack, knowing that I can fight her if I can reach for my hammer, strategizing how I can possibly do so, but at that moment, Cailey steps forward.
She is a picture of serenity, a calm force that contrasts sharply with Erik’s fury, as she takes up position a step ahead of me and to my left.
Pure-white light sparks around her hands as she raises one hand toward the warriors on the wall and the other toward the Valkyrie Queen.
The Queen’s forehead creases, and she takes a step back. “What are you ?”
“Something that should worry you,” Cailey replies. “I saw what you did on the battlefield in the abyss. I saw what you sacrificed to defeat the primordial deity. I know the future you fought for. A future for your newborn daughter. So believe me when I tell you: This child”—she inclines her head at Galeia—“must live.”
The Queen’s eyes are wide. “You saw the battle in the…?”
“I did.”
“Then you’re?—”
“I am.”
The Valkyrie Queen takes another step back, her face suddenly ashen. “Then it will soon be the end of the beginning.”
She stumbles a little as she turns in the direction of the village as if she’s seeking something back there. Her silver wings sweep around her body as she turns, providing a protective shield while her attention is diverted. Cailey mentioned something about a newborn daughter. Perhaps the Valkyrie’s child is back in the village—I’m not sure—but it’s clear that what Cailey said has startled her.
Erik doesn’t waste his chance to step to my side.
His furious, gray eyes now flood with worry. He retracts his claws before his free hand closes around my shoulder. “Asha?—”
Maybe he was going to ask me who Galeia is, or maybe he was going to tell me that now is our chance to leave, but at that moment, his fingers brush Galeia’s arm.
A dark light sparks between them.
The shot of energy bites so hard that I gasp for breath.
Galeia jolts in my arms. Her arms and legs stiffen, her head shoots up, and her eyes fly open.
She’s suddenly wide awake and snarling, her quickly darting gaze rushing from me to the dragon in the sky to the Valkyrie Queen, whose wings catch the moonlight as she begins turning back to us, and finally to Erik.
I try to hold on to Galeia, but she launches herself out of my arms with a shriek.
“Galeia, no!” My cry of warning strangles in my throat as she jumps, not toward the Valkyrie or even at the dragon, but right at Erik.
She collides with his chest, her little arms wrap around his neck, and then she clings to him, growling and whimpering and snarling, her wide, green eyes turned up to his.
He’s frozen where he stands, his arms half-raised, his sword arm slightly bent, which I’m not surprised to see since she flew at him so fast he was no doubt ready to defend himself.
Still, she keeps on growling, more softly now but also more fearfully as she presses her face to his neck. Her legs dangle until he seems to remember himself, catching them with his free arm so he can support her.
Erik looks stunned, his eyes wide and lips parted. His forehead crinkles. Then clears. Then crinkles again.
Finally, he interrupts her with a short, sharp, commanding snarl, his head tilted so he can glare at her.
She stops whimpering, blinks at him, and then she smiles.
A giant, beaming smile.
Her lips purse, and new sounds comes out, clearly formed with difficulty but identifiable all the same. “Wo…l…f.”
Wolf.
Erik looks at me and I can’t possibly identify what he’s feeling. Anger. Sadness. Disbelief. Desolation. “Asha.”
“We have to protect her,” I say, the most important thing I need him to know.
The Valkyrie Queen is already making moves toward us again. Cailey hasn’t lowered her arms, but the threat will only increase. Erik must have so many questions, just as I have questions for him, but neither of us has time to answer them right now.
His reply is instant, and my heart warms to hear it.
“Yes,” he says emphatically. “We will protect her.”
With that, he turns back to the Valkyrie Queen with narrowed eyes.
“We’re leaving,” he says to her. “All of us. We can do it with or without bloodshed. It’s your choice.” His voice becomes low and dangerous as he asks, “Which will it be?”