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At his side, Maude fought with an almost frightening tenacity. Her focus was absolutely singular as she slipped into her muscle memory; her blade swung just right to catch this soldier on the jugular while she pivoted and thrust her dagger up into the ribs of another.

If Herrick hadn't been struggling to keep up, he would have admired the strength of his eldr in the height of battle.

Despite the distance that continued to grow between them, Herrick would not allow Maude to walk into battle alone.

A familiar tug pulled at Herrick's chest each time he intercepted a blow meant for Maude, his fatemark flaring with a dull silvery golden light beneath his tunic.

The same tug had directed Herrick to Maude's side when she had left him in Dagsbrun.

He trusted it, this bond that seemed to lay between them.

So why couldn't he trust her word? She vowed to explain everything, but where he might have believed her before, now there was a kernel of doubt in the back of his mind telling him otherwise.

Time after time, Maude pulled away from him and hid behind the walls of her heart.

He thought she had let him into the safety of her confidence, but it seemed he was wrong.

Maude was now taking on two fighters on her own, a man and a woman, but Herrick couldn't get a good look at their faces.

He was about to surge forward to help her when one of the shieldmaidens slashed down onto her shield, shattering it under the force, except Maude was already retaliating.

Her sword sliced upward to catch the woman under her chin, forcing her to step back so Maude could draw her axe.

With one hand, she brought the axe over her head and pitched it forward, throwing it hard enough that it lodged itself in another soldier's chest, cutting through metal and leather easily.

In the same fluid motion, Maude unsheathed the dagger on her thigh and launched herself at the woman she'd knocked back with her sword.

She spun with the dagger in hand, her red hair flying behind her, and sunk it into the woman's throat before she could reorient herself.

The shieldmaiden's blood sprayed from her throat to soak Maude in a wave of gore.

As she pulled the dagger from the woman's throat, Thor threw down another lightning bolt.

Herrick could see that Maude's eyes had gone black, lost to the death and animosity that surrounded them.

When she turned to face him, no part of the woman he knew and loved was present in her face.

Eyes that had become blacker than night glinted with a cold rage that did not belong to his eldr .

She looked at him now like she didn't even know who he was.

Blinded by another bolt of Thor's lightning, Herrick blinked, and when his sight returned to normal, so did Maude's eyes.

There is more brewing beneath the skin of the monster you love , whispered that dark voice into his mind. See how she loses herself to the bloodshed—a killer to her core.

Before Herrick could convince himself he was hearing things, he caught sight of the familiar onyx hair belonging to a certain General. Ice shot through Herrick's veins before the iron on his neck could stop his galder from reacting. Baldr .

In a moment of reprieve, Maude lowered her sword and wiped the mix of blood and rain off the blade with her sleeve before noticing that Herrick did not move an inch as he stared at his tormentor. His breathing became uneven as the iron continued to sap at the galder that was stirring in his blood.

"Herrick, you need to collect yourself," Maude shouted over the sounds of battle. She was right next to him, but she sounded far away as his focus narrowed in on the General of Flame."You're making the iron sap away at your galder too fast."

He didn't care. He only saw Baldr.

Raising his longsword, Herrick pointed it at Baldr, who finally noticed him.

Baldr's lips tipped up in a small, cruel smile as he raised his sword in response.

Before he could even process what he was doing, Herrick took off at a run.

Maude shouted something behind him, but her voice was lost in the shouts and screams of the dying.

Aware that she was following him, Herrick put on a final burst of speed that got him to Baldr's side faster than the Flame Soldiers around him could react.

In a short blast, the wind took out the small contingent of soldiers that were protecting Baldr, allowing Herrick to slip through and face the man who had stripped his soul down to the bare bones.

"Good to see you again so soon, Prince," Baldr said, his voice low and calm despite his surroundings.

His soldiers were being cut down in large volumes, the Elven and freed vitki taking on each soldier two to one. Baldr had no reason to be behaving so smugly as if he were actually succeeding.

"We have unfinished business," Herrick said between his teeth. He aimed his weapon at Baldr's chest, never taking his eyes off him.

Behind him, Maude was still fighting her way to Herrick's side, but he knew she would not interfere.

She had already blown the soldiers out of his way so he could get to Baldr unscathed; she wouldn't interfere again for the sake of allowing him this battle of honor.

Baldr raised his axe and shield, the Kingdom of Flame's sigil painted in bright gold against the black.

"It seems your friends have wasted their time in rescuing you," Baldr sneered, his eyes flitting from his brother to Liv and Bryn and then, finally, Maude.

His dark eyes lingered there for a moment, a spark of recognition flaring before he smothered it. He would have to die for that alone. Helvig did not know that his Heir was still alive, and Baldr could not be allowed to tell him.

"I promised you something last we met," Herrick said instead of acknowledging the taunt. "And I always keep my word."

He slashed his sword down onto Baldr's shield before he could respond, locking them into battle until only one stood standing.