39. The Way Back
The Way Back
Darien
Darien awoke to soft grasses lolling around him. The branches of the great ash tree shaded his eyes from the ever-present sun. Still cold and numb from his vision, he resented the shade that blocked the warmth.
Second-born King, usurper of the throne. Hel’s fingers welcome his bloodline home.
Paralyzed by Skuld’s words, Darien couldn’t bring himself to sit up even as he heard the others around him stir from their dreams. With effort, his fingers slid over his chest, but he could not feel the rune that Skuld had etched into his skin. Had it only been a part of the dream?
Perhaps we read them wrong. Though we have never been wrong before.
The words ran like a chill that lingered on his skin, carving out a hollow home to reside within.
The Norn had predicted his death, but they hadn’t said when.
Even Skuld had acknowledged her reading of the runes could be wrong.
He wouldn’t die. If he had to fight the Fates themselves, he wouldn’t die.
He forced himself to rise, noting Larissa’s pale face as he did. Fear struck hard. Had the Norn marked her too? “Are you okay?”
She flinched at the sound of his voice. “I’m fine.”
“What did you see?”
Her lips tightened and quivered. They rose together. Darien offered his hand to Halla, who was abnormally quiet, and exchanged glances with Anara, who touched her throat as though searching for something. Behind her, Masai and Kai silently rose to their feet. What had they seen?
How long had they been in their visions?
The unmoving sun revealed nothing about the passage of time.
Torsten would not wait for their return to march on Safír, and Darien needed to be there to free his people, mark of death or no.
He would make the right decisions in that aspect, at least. He would put his people first.
The Norn waited for them on the roots of Yggdrasil .
A small squirrel rested on Vereandi’s shoulders, chattering away gaily in her ear.
Catching Darien’s gaze, the squirrel leapt back onto the expansive trunk of the tree, but instead of going up, it scrambled down and disappeared into the maze-like structure of the roots.
Something rumbled deep below the earth, and two jets of smoke rose from between the roots.
As if sensing Darien’s impatience, Skuld said, “It is your decision whether to share with another what you each have seen and the prophecies we’ve given you.”
“King Torsten has already left the safety of Perle—” started Urer.
“—he is arriving in Safír now—” continued Vereandi.
“—but Safír will not fall as easily as Perle. Unless you all return by the third day, the Vienám will be forced to retreat,” Skuld finished.
Larissa stepped forward. “I still have questions.”
“You are allowed to stay,” Skuld offered. “But your questions will require further tests.”
Larissa’s face paled. Darien stepped toward her, laying a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, the indecision clear in her eyes. “I have to go back, Lara. I have to reclaim Safír.”
“Darien—” She hesitated. “What if we can’t come back?”
“You can stay, Lara,” Darien said the words slowly, even as he knew there was no other response he could give. “But I can’t.”
He held his breath as Larissa looked back at the Norn and then to him again. He meant what he said. He couldn’t force her to leave with him, but he couldn’t stay. He’d seen what making the wrong choice had done in his vision; he could not let it happen again.
Though Larissa’s shoulders sagged in defeat, she offered him a reassuring smile. “You fought for my people; I’ll fight for yours.”
“We’ll come back,” he promised quickly, before the doubt could creep in. Would they make it back? Would he ? Darien shook away the thoughts; he wouldn’t allow himself to think like that.
Vereandi twirled forward, grabbing Halla’s hands in her own. Larissa flinched at the closeness of the child goddess, and even Kai moved toward Halla, but Vereandi only touched her forehead to Halla’s. “Don’t forget us, okay?”
Halla smiled. “Of course I won’t!”
Vereandi’s smile slid from her face. “You’d be surprised how quickly mortals forget.”
“We should go,” Masai’s deep voice rumbled from the back of the group. It was the first time Darien had heard him talk since they’d woken up.
“Don’t you think we would if we knew the way?” Anara asked, but the irritation in her tone was half-hearted.
“The way is through there.” Skuld pointed at the base of Yggdrasil . At her command, its root shifted, forming a knotted outline of a doorway at the base of the tree. Its frame was shaped entirely by roots covered in runes. Despite their glow, the tunnel beyond the frame was pitch black.
They moved toward it only for Skuld’s voice to stop them. “Aren’t you missing someone?”
Darien followed her gaze and started at Calder, still slumbering in the grass.
There was something about the presence of the Norn that stole his attention, making him forget the presence of his brother.
Or maybe that was his own subconsciousness that couldn’t bear the sight of this stranger masquerading with his brother’s face.
“He isn’t one of us,” Darien said shortly.
“Perhaps,” Skuld conceded. “But neither is he one of us. He cannot stay here. He must go back to the mortal world. What you do with him there is up to you.”
A heavy pause settled over their group. Larissa’s uneasy expression mirrored Darien’s own.
Anara crossed her arms. “We could kill him here as easily as out there.”
Masai glared at her. “You would kill a defenseless man?”
Anara moved toward him, a growl rumbling in her throat. “There’s nothing defenseless about him. If the roles were reversed, we’d be dead already.”
Though Anara’s comment had shaken Darien, he had to admit there was truth in her words. Calder would have slaughtered them all and walked away whistling.
“But they’re not reversed,” Masai argued. “We are not him .”
Kai stood behind Masai, his face pale and pinched as Anara and Masai argued. Darien stepped forward, placing himself between Anara and Calder. “No one is killing anyone. He might do that, but we don’t.”
Anara shook her head. “We’re going to regret this.”
“Maybe,” Darien admitted.
Larissa joined Darien, forming a barrier in front of Anara. “If we killed him now, we’d be like Shiko.” Her voice shook. “We aren’t her.”
“Fine.” Anara threw her hands, but Darien could see that Larissa’s words had worked. “But I’m not carrying him!”
“That won’t be necessary,” Skuld responded. With another flick of her wrist, the roots of Yggdrasil snaked between their feet and wrapped about Calder’s body, cradling him as they pulled him through the door. His body disappeared into the darkness.
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s not creepy at all,” muttered Kai.
Darien laughed. “Semi-sentient roots don’t make you all warm and fuzzy on the inside?”
“You know? Surprisingly not,” Masai answered.
Anara grunted. “Bunch of babies.” She stalked off toward the tunnel and vanished beneath the roots without a glance back.
“Nothing scares her, does it?” Masai murmured. Catching Larissa’s glance, he looked away. “Don’t tell her I said that.” Then he followed her through.
Halla turned in a wide circle, her eyes drinking in the sight of Yggdrasil as if trying to imprint it into her memory. Kai nudged her shoulder. “Ready?”
“Hardly,” she answered grudgingly, but followed him anyway.
Only Darien and Larissa remained. For a moment, Darien feared that Larissa had changed her mind.
Would she stay after all to find answers to the questions he knew still plagued her heart?
She sighed, reaching for his hand, though seemingly unaware as she did so.
Darien intertwined his fingers with hers.
There had to be a way to fulfill his duty to Safír and to Larissa. He would find a way to do both.
Larissa fixed her gaze on the Norn. “Can I change it?”
Darien didn’t understand.
Urer focused on her weaving while Skuld rattled her stones, but Vereandi glided toward them, drawing the etching pen from behind her back and setting it to Larissa’s skin.
A gasp escaped her mouth as a faint rune painted her forearm before it vanished, sinking back into her skin.
“When you need me most, summon me. I will come.”
“Vereandi,” came the thunderous reproach of the other two Norn.
Then Skuld stepped forward. “Your time is ending, and the door is closing. If you wish to leave, you must go now.”
With a jolt, Darien realized the roots had been constricting; the door was half its previous size. He yanked on Larissa’s hand, pulling her toward the ever-shrinking tunnel. Together they dove, sliding into the yawning mouth of the tunnel just as the roots snapped closed behind them.