Hazel
The Thegn is even bigger than before, wreathed in something which could be fog but could also be souls, like those it has drawn from the depths under the Yeavering as an army advancing in the wrong direction.
“My army is where it needs to be,” the Thegn growls.
“Is it though?” I stare up at it before Warden blots out my view.
“But is it?” I feel the twitch in my sword. It dislikes the Thegn. It dislikes the dishonour which it was made to witness.
This weapon has honour. It has a soul, and it is not one the Thegn thinks it has.
Instead, for the first time in what turns out to be a short period of time since I arrived here, the shard of metal wrapped in leather speaks to me. It pierces my soul and begs for my forgiveness.
“My lady?” Warden rumbles in my ear.
“The sword,” I rasp back. “The sword is the key.”
“It is indeed the key, little one,” the Thegn booms. “And if you give it to me, you’ll find out exactly what it is in the correct hands.”
I look up into Warden’s handsome face.
“I need to give it the sword.”
“You cannot, my lady. If it has the sword, it has everything.”
“The sword wants me to give it back. Then we will have everything and he will not.” These are not my words, but I need Warden to understand. He has to understand.
There is a time for everything. There is a time for my link with the sword, and my link with the Thegn to come to an end.
This is the time.
He will understand, won’t he?
Warden cups my chin, tilting it up to ensure all I can see is him. My handsome Brag. The one constant in all of this, in my life, in my world.
“If that is what you want, Hazel. If that’s what your heart tells you,” he rumbles, his deep voice undercutting the maelstrom, centring me. “Do what needs to be done.”
“You trust me?”
“Always. Why wouldn’t I? You are my fated one, my lady. You are my everything. I hold you in my heart and my heart trusts you entirely.”
Warmth flows through me. The sort which blooms like a flower, delicate, strong, permanent. He accepted me for what I was the moment he found me. Warden had no interest in my lost memories, my background. He wanted the person in front of him. The person I am.
The woman with a sword in a howling gale, facing down a magical enemy in order to save us both.
I am that woman. Maybe I’ve always been her. I know, whatever happens next, I want to continue to be her. I don’t need my lost memories. Not when I have Warden.
“Do what you need to do,” he says, pressing his lips against my forehead. “I will be at your back.”
He releases me and I turn to face the Thegn.
“You want the sword?”
“It belongs to me.” The wind whips around us, stronger than ever, strong enough I’m not sure I can stay on my feet much longer.
I lunge forward, allowing myself to be caught up in the swirl, letting it catch my skirts, filling them. Because I know Warden will have my back.
Something tugs at the sword, but it’s not time to let it go, not yet. I hold it, pulling it back, pulling it to me. A roar greater than the wind fills my ears. My feet leave the ground. I am tethered to Warden, but I still can’t let go of the sword.
“Mine!” the Thegn bellows. “You, your sword, your amulet. They are all mine.”
“I think you’ll find I belong to Warden, and you cannot have me.” I can’t believe my words could have reached him, but I get a loud howl of anger in return.
“Then the Brag must die.”
“He’ll have to be mortal for that.”
“And so he is.”
Lightning spears flash all around, striking the earth, searing the air, charging it so my hair crackles.
Now? Please let it be now.
NOW.
I thrust the sword upwards, piercing the form of the Thegn, which is partially smoke and wholly something else. The weapon is pulled from my grip, sucked up and inside the creature which rises higher and higher above us.
“You have done well, little female,” it booms. “Give me everything.”
My entire body is tugged hard, away from the ground, away from Warden. I look back and see he has a hold of me still, his face a mask of determination and his eyes somehow different.
“No.”
I reach for the amulet around my neck and curl my hand around it.
“You don’t get to take me, and you don’t get the Yeavering.”
All around, the darkened clouds light up with fire. The sounds of it, of the Thegn, of the wind, are so loud, I am deafened. I hope Warden has a good grip on me because it wants to take me.
“Hazel.” I look down again, to see something other than determination in Warden’s face. There is a pain he can no longer hide, and I see his arm, covered in blood from a wound in his chest.
“Warden!”
“I will be with you, my love,” he says, his voice cutting through everything. “Forever.”
He pulls hard on my skirts, bringing me closer to the ground, his jaw gritted as he continues against the pain.
“It would seem you have lost it all, human,” the Thegn shouts triumphantly over the rest of the noise. “You may as well give yourself to me.”
“Never.” I grip the amulet, hoping whatever magic I have, and whatever magic it contains, can do something. “You cannot have what does not belong to you.”
Beneath me, I feel Warden buckle. But then I feel another strong hand on my skirts.
“Linton?”
The mothman has hold of me and has hold of Warden too, propping him up as the pair of them work to pull me down and down.
“I found a few things I thought might help,” Linton says with his usual unhinged smile. “They’ll be along soon.”
Above us, the Thegn howls, getting larger.
“I think it’s too late for help,” I say as I finally reach the ground and wrap my arms around Warden, who droops forward, his weight on both Linton and me.
“Depends what the help is,” Linton says, looking over his shoulder.
The entirety of the top of the portal is covered in standing stones, like jagged teeth, and they surround one huge one.
“Long Meg?”
“And her daughters,” Warden wheezes.
“I brought someone else I found here too.” Linton stares at the sky as a shape swoops through the fire.
“Fenrother?” Warden rasps.
“No.” Linton makes a face. “Something better.”
The shape punches through the clouds, and I see a flash of white, pink, and iridescence.
“Peggy?”
“The Laidly Wyrm?”
“The Laidly Wyrm.” Linton grins. “She said she’d take you home.”
“It may be too late.” Warden’s knees buckle.
“No!” I grab at him, taking him to the ground. “I need you, Warden. It isn’t meant to end like this.”
“As long as it ends, I am mortal, and you are safe, my sweet lady, it is the way it is supposed to end.” His eyes close.
“NO!” I scream as lightning flashes all around. “This is not how this works. You are mine, Brag, and I won’t let you go.”