Chapter 18
TALON
We stepped out of the portal in the belly of the abandoned train station. The air stank of metal, mildew, and raw magic. Above us, old cables hung slack. Rotted benches lined the walls, some split open to reveal the nests of rats that had long since eaten anything useful.
We passed the first threshold, moving from open ruin to narrow tunnel.
The shift in pressure hit hard. The air went dense, sticky as oil.
Magic seethed in invisible waves, each one thrumming up through the soles of my boots.
The wolf inside me pressed against my skin, ready. Ahead, the tunnel’s mouth gaped wide.
Maze slowed, arm raised, calling a silent halt. Our group stacked behind her, weapons half-drawn, each angle covered. The silence down here came alive. Nothing moved, yet every instinct screamed at the weight of unseen eyes.
Nicky moved ahead, bootsteps measured, gaze fixed dead ahead.
She swept her hands along the cracks in the wall, muttering a chant as she scanned for hidden traps.
For a long few minutes, nothing happened.
A layer of dust coated the rails, but no blood pooled on the stone.
That almost disappointed me. I’d expected a fight.
Three steps later, that changed. The Prime used to tell me to be careful what I wished for.
It started as a splinter of green under Nicky’s boot.
Then the ground exploded with a sickly light that lit every vein in the concrete.
Blood-forged runes erupted from the ground, changing into something physical and wrapping Nicky’s ankle before becoming a red shackle.
The metal hissed as it burned through skin, branding her with layer after layer of binding marks.
Nicky screamed, voice a sharp cut through the air. The smell of scorched flesh hit me, then the flood of her raw pain.
Maze moved instantly, hand raised to call a shield around us. As Larc reached for Nicky to remove the metal cuff from her ankle, a new figure surfaced from the far shadows.
Bryna.
I hadn’t seen her since before we left Vanaheim two centuries ago. I’d thought she had died in Balder’s attack on the Prime’s palace. We lost a few Valkyries and Shifters that day.
Bryna stopped ten feet from us, her posture loose as power curled at her fingertips.
She wore all black, and her light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
Yet every movement mirrored what Maze had drilled into us: confidence, calculation.
Only now, Bryna’s eyes gleamed with the same sick green as the trap.
A slow, deliberate salute. She tilted her head, eyes locked on Maze. “Hello, Maze.” Every syllable dripped disdain.
I angled myself in front of Maze, giving her a shield without breaking formation. Jenson’s blade caught the light. Candra matched Bryna’s stare, looking for openings.
Bryna strolled forward, never dropping her smile.
She circled Nicky, who writhed on the ground, fighting the shackle with every scrap of power she could muster.
The runes kept burning, bleeding magic into the air.
Nicky bit down on her lip, refusing to scream more, even as pain twisted her features.
Larc was still trying to remove the shackle but wasn’t having any luck. Each passing moment put more angry lines on my brother’s face.
“Didn’t think you’d walk into it this easy,” Bryna said, voice ringing off the walls. “But then, you all always believed you were above the rest of us.”
Maze’s expression sharpened. “You never had the courage to say that to my face before.”
Bryna’s jaw jerked once, a spasm of old anger. “You never gave us a choice. Old rules, old chains. Balder is going to change everything. The chains of your precious soulbond are what’s holding us back. Balder will free us all.”
The wolf in me surged. I wanted to rip the words out of her mouth, but every move risked Nicky’s life. The trap had a heartbeat of its own, pulsing brighter each time she resisted.
Maze flexed her hands, keeping her power contained. She spoke with venom-sharp authority. “Whatever Balder promised you, it’s a lie. He’ll discard you the second you’re no longer useful.”
Bryna didn’t flinch. “That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? Being replaced. Outgrown.” Her boot twisted on the cement.
The moment hung electric.
From every gap in the tunnel, the enemy rose.
Eitrborn. At least a dozen. Their bodies looked human at first glance, but their faces didn’t register as alive.
Black eyes, flat jaws, claws already extending from their knuckles.
They moved in brutal synchrony, each step echoing with predatory intent.
The stench of eitr flooded the corridor. My wolf howled, teeth bared.
We moved so our backs were to each other, weapons out. Larc faded into the near black, sliding to Maze’s flank. Jenson and Candra closed ranks, covering our rear.
Bryna watched the formation with clinical detachment. “Still think loyalty makes you strong?”
Nicky spat blood at her boots, fingers clawing at the trap. “If you want me dead, come do it yourself.”
Bryna smiled. “You aren’t worth the trouble. That’s what monsters are for.”
The first two Eitrborn lunged. I braced, feeding power into my core, waiting for the split-second gap. Maze’s aura shimmered around her, pale blue fire rolling from her skin as she locked eyes with the lead monster.
Nicky’s scream rattled the stone. I watched agony rip through her, but her hands stayed steady, refusing to give Bryna the satisfaction of collapse.
We were outnumbered and surrounded.
But we would not break.
I dropped into a fighting crouch, letting every sense sharpen. Maze gave me the briefest nod.
Every muscle in my body tensed as the Eitrborn lunged. The nearest beast aimed straight for Maze, claws out. My wolf responded before thought could catch up. I braced my feet and shoved, summoning every ounce of power into a Grounding Pulse. Energy exploded from my core in a shockwave.
It hit leading Eitrborn with a crack. Power slammed the monster back, flattening it against the stone. Its body twisted, bones popping, flesh spasming under the force. When the pulse finished, what was left slumped to the floor, dead on impact.
Maze didn’t flinch as she met my amber gaze, an unspoken charge between us that was raw, exposed terror underneath the discipline. She was afraid of losing me. I feared the same every second she stood there, the full weight of enemy hatred targeting her.
The Eitrborn pressed in like a wall of muscle and claws, nearly closing all space between us. Maze squared her shoulders and stepped forward. Sweat beaded at her temples, but authority rolled off her in waves.
She didn’t speak. Her will did.
She raised her hands, channeling her command magic. Power rippled the length of the tunnel, seizing hold of our enemies in mid-motion. The effect instantly froze every Eitrborn in range in their places.
The room stretched thin. Maze trembled. Every heartbeat pushed her closer to the edge.
Jenson registered the gap even before the sound faded. “Candra, three left.” He mapped the attack before it landed, voice brutal in its clarity. “Larc, move.”
Candra’s Truthsense pulsed outward. “There’s two more behind the pillar and one above, watching for magic. Nicky’s trap is the keystone. Break it, the bindings drop.”
Maze clenched her jaw and glared at Bryna, who kept her grin wide as she used her magic to make Nicky scream out again.
Bryna circled Nicky, never taking her gaze off Maze. “It’s what you always did best, Maze. Pretend you’re righteous. You’re all the same once the power slips.”
Nicky’s boot dug trenches in the concrete. She fought for breath, and her hands were slick with blood as the shackle blistered her ankle. Larc slipped behind her, shadow-quiet. He mapped his own runes, determined to cut the trap.
Eitrborn at the edge of the Command’s radius twitched. Their bodies tried to break loose. Maze fought to keep them frozen, but her pulse faltered. The blue-white aura flickered every second.
Jenson called out the next moves. “Candra, now. Nicky, brace for pain.” He positioned himself to block the next wave the instant the Command dropped. Behind us, Candra’s hands glowed with magic, ready to snuff the ambush as soon as it showed.
Bryna must have sensed it, because her smile vanished. “You never knew when to quit.”
Maze glared, voice rough. “I never quit. Not for anyone.”
The Eitrborn nearest me wrenched one arm loose, claws snapping. Jenson anticipated it, driving his blade through the thing’s wrist in a flash of motion. The hand dropped, twitching on the floor.
Candra’s magic flared bright. “Now, Larc.”
Larc struck from the dark, blade prepped with a counter-ward. He slashed through the rune snare, slicing the magic as the trap tried to recoil. The chain shattered with a scream nearly as loud as Nicky’s as the ward buckled, then collapsed.
Nicky toppled, leg useless, gasping as the pain crashed in. Larc was there to catch her.
The Command of Will buckled. Maze dropped to one knee, but she didn’t fall all the way. I lunged to catch her, positioning my body as a buffer between her and the nearest monsters.
Jenson took instant control. “Candra, cover Larc and Nicky. Talon, move Maze.”
I obeyed, arm locked around Maze’s waist. Her breath was ragged as she clung to my jacket, refusing to let go. Behind us, the Eitrborn shuddered as the Command faded. Most couldn’t respond in time. Jenson’s blade and Candra’s magic blasted a path through the Eitrborn.
Bryna watched with cold fury as her trap collapsed. She backed up, retreating. Her eyes blazed with hate, but she made no move to finish us off. Instead, she let the Eitrborn take the blowback.
The air reeked of sweat and the black stink of eitr poison.
Nicky’s voice came out raw as she said, “Get me up. I can still fight.”
Larc hauled her upright, bracketing her with his bulk. Candra flanked him, scanning for any more magical attacks. Jenson sliced through the last monster trying to reach our formation.
Above us, the air shimmered. Bryna perched on a chunk of torn concrete that looked like it used to be a ledge. She held the Severing Stone in her palm, its surface crawling with black veins. A sick, greedy smile split her face.
“Balder sends his regards,” she spat. Then, a wall of sickly green magic ripped open behind her, warping the concrete where it passed. Bryna vanished into the light, the Severing Stone clenched in her fist.
The Eitrborn all vanished a moment later.
Jenson and Larc hustled Nicky between them, Candra flanking her other side. I scooped Maze into my arms, ignoring the drag on my shoulder from a fresh cut. She tried to protest, but I clamped down on her with a growl and forced her to let the weight fall on me.
I tapped my earpiece and spoke to Winter and Quil. “Open a portal.”
One appeared in front of us seconds later, and we stepped through, returning home to plan how we were going to get the stone back.