Page 108

In seconds, mana blazed at the blade and nearly scorched her skin off, and Blár’s eyelids fluttered open. In seconds, the beautiful painting she had in mind came to life. He was no longer like a corpse as he sputtered, blinked, and gasped as if he hadn’t breathed in years. His eyes flicked to her and recognition flashed through them.

All the tension in her body seemed to meld away in seconds—it was as if all the stress had been tied together by a ribbon, and Blár’s awakening had unraveled it, allowing relief to pool over her. Tears formed in her eyes and she flung her arms around his neck. He grunted, trying to push himself to his elbows. He placed a hand on the small of her back.

“Blár!” she cried between sobs of relief. She buried her face in his shoulder, breathing in the scent of vanilla, sweat, and blood.

“Kolfinna?”

She pulled back to inspect his injuries; he was fine, but he appeared weak and slightly disoriented.

Blár brushed a tear off her cheek, his eyes searching her face. “What’s wrong—why are you crying?”

“I thought you were—” She sniffled. A small part of her had believed he would sleep forever. She squeezed his hand and turned to the open doorway, where Magni and Truda were still fighting. “We need your help.”

“Don’t cry,” he said. “What’s happening? Where am I?”

“We’re in the middle of the battle.”

Kolfinna helped him into a sitting position. He groaned, his hand flying to his head. “I feel like shit.”

The dreki’s roar jolted him out of his bleary state and he stared past her, his forehead puckering. She followed his gaze to where Magni and Truda were keeping the dreki busy. But even from this distance, Kolfinna could tell that their attacks were either missing their mark or held no substance.

“You need to kill it,” she said. “Magni and Truda are fighting it off, but they’re exhausted. I don’t have much mana left either—”

He was already shaking his head. “I can’t freeze it.” A cough shook him. “My mana is completely drained. I’m running on fumes right now. I think my theory is correct. That dagger uses the person’s mana to wake them up because I don’t think I can do much of anything for a few hours until my mana returns.”

The color drained from her face. “Th-There has to be something—”

“I can maybe do one attack,” he said. “Just an ice spear, maybe. But I’ll need your help to keep me up on my feet. If I miss … We need to run away.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to throw it from the doorway, you can’t enter the room. I wasn’t able to write your name with the runes.”

“Help me to my feet.”

His face turned white as he pulled himself into a standing position. Kolfinna placed theGenfødsel Knivinto the waistband of her uniform and slipped her arm underneath Blár to help steady him. She tugged him forward, her arm straining with his weight as he leaned against her.

The dreki spun around and swiped its claws at Truda, who just barely dodged it. Her arm hung to her side limply, blood drenching the sleeve. Her breaths came in uneven gasps as she moved away from the creature. Magni moved like he was stuck in sludge. His fire barely had any spark to it.The smell of burning flesh and charcoal pervaded the air.

Blár stopped at the threshold of the door and breathed out heavily. The temperature in the room suddenly dropped quickly as ice crystals formed at the tips of his fingers. He held his hand up and ice crackled into a long, thin spear. A chill wafted over her from being so close and she shuddered as the icy grips clung to her body. The temperature continued to drop and the spear grew thicker and thicker.

“Block its attacks for me,” Blár said. “It noticed.”

The dreki craned its neck in their direction, its glowing eyes murderous as it stepped toward them. As if recognizing them both, it screamed and jumped toward them. Kolfinna drew forth more roots from the ravine and wrapped them around its legs with what little mana she had left. She tried to rein the dreki in with those roots, but they only slowed it down, the roots snapping with the dreki’s forceful steps.

It rushed toward them, its feet stomping and vibrating the floor. Blár’s breath came in white puffs from the cold and Kolfinna watched in horror as the dreki closed the distance between them. They only had a few seconds until it would be on them.

“Blár—” she started.

Mana burst from Blár’s body in a split second. Kolfinna was flung to the side as Blár stepped forward, twisted his upper body, and thrust the ice spear directly at the dreki’s face. It slammed right between its eyes, slicing through its skull until it was yanked backward. The dreki’s body careened to the left where it crashed with a loudthud. Half the spear stuck out of its head, while the other half lay on the floor in a puddle of the dreki’s blood and brain matter. The back of its skull was wide-open, spilling forth all types of liquids and fleshy material.

Blár fell to one knee, breathing heavily.Kolfinna reached forward to help him, but he waved her away.

“I’m fine,” he said.

Kolfinna retracted, glancing at the dreki’s decimated head. Even with the majority of his mana drained, Blár was on another level. If she had written his name in the runes, allowing him to use magic, how different would the outcome have been?

Truda fell to her knees with an audible sigh, all the fight draining out of her. Magni balanced against one of the broken pillars and leaned his head against it. The relief in the air was tangible.

“Truda, Magni—you both alive?” Blár asked.