Chapter Fifty Amund #2
“I didn’t know,” I offer, as if that’s any excuse.
“I thought you chose witchcraft over our family. I thought it was because you were a witch, not a seer. I… I should’ve left.
I wanted to go with you and Mother—you have no idea how much—but I couldn’t abandon Father either.
He told me he hurt his hand training. He said I was all he had left. ”
Nils scoffs.
“You were never to blame,” I add, looking over at Father. “He was.”
And so was I. I should have realized how badly Nils was hurting and done something to help him before he could hurt anyone else.
“You don’t have to do this,” I tell Nils. “It’s not too late to stop.”
“Of course it is!” Nils shouts. “I’ve killed people, Amund. I can’t stop now.”
I stare at him in disbelief, trying to make sense of his words.
Regardless of his reasons, he has killed people. Innocent people.
“I have to bring Uncle Trygve back,” Nils continues.
“No matter what. He’s like a father to me, more than Dad ever was.
The ritual failed thirty years ago, but I knew I could do it.
Even if it meant sacrificing a witch, a hunter, and a berserkr.
I’m going to bring Trygve back. He’s going to take Dad’s body.
And he’ll be better for me, Amund. Better for us. ”
“Nils, please,” I say, taking a step closer.
“It’s already done” is all he says.
The third triangle is finished.
Blinding white light bursts from the symbol, shooting into the ceiling in a constant stream. He’s opened a floodgate, and now spiritual power is pouring into our realm. Electricity crackles in the air like lightning.
Nils stands before the blinding light, reduced to a dark silhouette. For a moment he hesitates. He glances back over his shoulder at me, his expression sad and apologetic and uncertain. Then he takes a step into the symbol’s center.
“No!” I shout, extending my arm.
Light floods between my fingers, but I can’t reach Nils.
Not anymore.
Brightness swallows him. He’s gone somewhere I can’t follow.
A shock wave of energy blasts me.
My back slams into the stone wall, and I crumple.
“Alf?er óeinn,” Nils calls out in Old Norse.
His voice echoes through the chamber until it sounds like a hundred different voices speaking all at once.
“I call upon you, mighty All-father, ruler of the gallows, lord of the slain, god of prisoners! I, Nils Agnarsson, your loyal servant, have made this knot of the slain in honor of you, father of men and gods alike. O, Odin, I implore you, surrender the spirits I now name to the realm of the living once more. Trygve. Einar. Hekla. Jóhanna.” He chants name after name after name, each louder than the last, until finally he screams, “Hear me, Great and Terrible One!”
Glowing spirits rise around us, suspended in midair, dangling like lifeless dolls. They’re too bright to behold, like looking into the sun. Nils stands among them, his entire body lit from within. Even his hair and the wolf pelt glow white.
He lifts his palms and the rest of the spirits rise around him.
They slowly sink into the ceiling, disappearing—
“Nils!” I shout, wincing.
Nils looks down at me with glowing eyes.
He opens his mouth, but bright light bursts from his lips.
“No longer,” Nils says—but the voice doesn’t belong to my brother.
My blood chills. Our uncle was supposed to possess Father. Unless… Father’s warning comes back to me. Spirits cannot be trusted. Was Trygve manipulating my brother this whole time? Did he trick Nils into bringing him back just so he could steal his body?
“Trygve?” I ask slowly.
Nils—Trygve—nods. “As a seer of Egill’s descent, Nils is far more powerful than Agnar or I could ever hope to be. He is the perfect vessel.”
My chest squeezes. “He’s your nephew!”
You deserve a father who loves you as I do, Trygve had told Nils.
You will be not only accepted but admired, he’d said.
I have been nothing but honest with you.
Fury fills me anew. “That’s why you approached him, isn’t it? You must have known he was vulnerable. You manipulated him, gave him everything he never got from our father, all so he would trust you and want to bring you back.”
Trygve offers a small smile. “It makes no difference now.”
I reach for the dagger strapped to my side—
And falter.
He’s still inside Nils’s body.
I cannot hurt my brother.
I won’t.
No matter what he’s done.
Father has no such hesitation. He lunges at Trygve—at Nils—with every intention of killing them both. Before he can, Trygve raises his hand, and Father freezes mid-strike.
Trygve gives a sharp twist of his hand. Father’s legs snap.
I stare in horror as bones jut out.
He crumples to the ground, screaming in agony.
“Father!” I shout, rushing to his side on instinct.
An invisible force pins us to the ground.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t stand. Stone crumbles beneath me as my body sinks deeper. Unlike the spirits, I can’t pass through a solid surface. I’m going to be crushed beneath the weight of his magic. Father doesn’t even resist. He must have passed out from the pain.
I have to stop Trygve before he kills us both. Gritting my teeth, I crawl on my elbows toward my brother. “I know you’re still in there somewhere, Nils. You have to fight him.”
Trygve gives a sharp laugh. “He can no longer hear you.”
Stones crack as I’m pushed deeper into the ground.
“Your brother surrendered to me,” Trygve says slowly. “He doesn’t want to be here anymore; it’s too painful for him to face what he’s done.”
Despite how much pain I’m in, his words manage to make me ache more. Nils was caught between an abusive father who denied him and the gruesome ghost of his uncle who manipulated him. If not for them, maybe Nils never would have gone down this dark path.
“I’m sorry.” I keep going, desperate as I drag myself over the rough stone toward him.
“I should have been there for you. I should have been a better brother. I know you said no one could understand, but I do. You wanted to be loved. It’s the same reason I stayed with Father.
And I’ve regretted that choice every damned day since.
” My tears fall freely now. “I love you, Nils. No matter what you’ve done, you’ll always be my brother. ”
The magic pinning me suddenly eases up.
Finally. I can move again.
Nils’s glowing eyes flicker out like a light bulb. “I-I’m so sorry. As soon as I put that pelt on, it became part of me. I… I wish I’d never touched it.” Tears slip down his cheeks. “I think there’s something seriously wrong with me, Amund.”
Every rib feels broken as I climb onto unsteady feet.
I fight my way toward my brother.
Before I can reach him, his eyes roll back, turning white again.
Trygve has regained control.
“Stop resisting me,” Trygve shouts. “Useless boy.”
Gritting my teeth, I take one step toward Nils. Another.
My brother is still in there. I won’t give up on him.
“I know you, Nils,” I say through gritted teeth, “and this isn’t you.”
Nils clutches his head, nails finding flesh.
I don’t know who is in control anymore. If anyone is.
“No!” my brother screams.
Light explodes from his mouth, filling the room, until Nils collapses. Another blast of energy follows, sending cracks splitting through the walls.
“Nils!”
I can’t tell if he’s unconscious or worse.
Finally, I reach him—
And throw my arms around him, pulling him against me.
As I embrace him, my world is swallowed by light.
Suddenly, I’m standing in a bright hospital.
My mother holds a tiny wiggling baby, all bundled in blankets, against her chest. This is your brother, Nils, she says, offering him to me with a smile.
As I accept him into my arms, he seems so impossibly small.
Fragile. I didn’t want to have a brother.
But as soon as I hold him, I love him. I will protect you, I promise him as I plant a kiss on his soft forehead.
I blink, and the memory clears, but I still hold Nils in my arms. Fresh tears fill my eyes as I’m overcome by emotion. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you.”
Arms wrap around me. “A-Amund?”
“Nils!” I crush him against me.
He’s no longer illuminated.
He’s in control of his body again.
As my brother hugs me, I don’t let go of Nils. I’ll never let him go again. We cry in each other’s arms. Debris rains from the ceiling, crashing to the ground around us.
“What am I supposed to do now?” Nils whispers.
“We’re going to get you the help you need,” I tell him, climbing to my feet. “But first you need to take accountability for your actions.”
Nils searches my face slowly. “I can’t, Amund.”
“You can.” I offer him my hand. “We both can choose differently this time.”
Nils hesitates.
After a long moment, he grabs my hand. I help him onto his feet as rubble rains down around us.
Chunks of stone fall from the ceiling, crashing around where our father lies on the ground. He must have regained consciousness while I was distracted. Father tries to rise but cannot.
His legs are broken.
“Help me, Amund,” Father calls out.
I hesitate.
Father might not have committed the murders himself, but he is still responsible. Nils never would have made the choices he did if it weren’t for Father and Trygve. If Father never abused him, maybe Nils could have used his powers for good instead.
I shake my head. This badly injured, there’s no way I’m strong enough to carry Father, too. Father needs my help, but so does Nils. I can save only one of them.
This time I have to choose what feels right.
“I’m sorry, Father.” A tear slips down my cheek, and then, using the same words he once said to me, I say, “But we can’t save everyone.”
“This isn’t over yet!” Father screams.
Together, Nils and I rush out of the seer school.
We leave Father behind once and for all.