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Too quickly, his flames had disintegrated into smoke, four thick, black plumes smoldering in a circle around him showing Baldr exactly what kind of damage he had caused in his rage.

He had stood quickly, a wave of dizziness and nausea slamming into him as he tried to take a few steps toward the palace gates.

Before he could try to determine if he could climb over the tall structures, Baldr put his hands on the golden gates just to find a zap of lightning singe through him, forcing him to release the cold metal.

Scrambling to figure out his next steps, Baldr looked around the small area he occupied in front of the gates and noticed that people had started to come out into the streets to see what the blast had been.

Before he realized what he had decided, Baldr took off at a sprint toward the eastern gates of the city.

The remaining strength he had in his limbs was needed to get him out of the city before more soldiers were sent after him .

He quickly ran through the villages and towns that lay outside the city walls.

He was close to Brastone if he exited through the eastern gates but Baldr remembered a rumor that only a few weeks ago, a fire vitki that escaped Flame Soldiers had been caught in Brastone and in their haste to flee, had leveled the small village until nothing but cinders remained.

With few options available to him, Baldr decided to head north toward the Icewall Mountains instead. The nomad towns that lay scattered in the now-forsaken Kingdom of Shadows could provide shelter for him until he could figure out his next steps.

What Baldr found when he arrived in Finniskali was more than he could ever have dreamt of in his youth.

It had put him on the path he currently walked, perilous as it was.

Since that day in front of the palace, when Leif had been taken from him, bitterness and anger had been Baldr's shadows— his fuel for why he had done the horrible things he did to rise to his current position.

He may have been named for the god of light and peace by whoever his mother had been, but Baldr had been swallowed by the horrors of their world for too long, its darkness having imprinted itself on him long ago.

There was no going back for him when he discovered the truth in Finniskali, and in order to save his kingdom, Baldr needed to become the villain.

It never stopped bothering him that he had to live in the darkness, even when he became numb to his own capacity for cruelty.

He'd had to do those horrible things to Kolbeck to remain in his position at Helvig's side, he reminded himself every night when the memories of torturing the man ripped him from sleep.

He had done plenty of vile acts in his life for the sake of his mission, but these nightmares had shaken him from his poor sleep and forced him to act.

Even if it meant putting his mission in jeopardy.

He'd smuggled a healing salve he'd concocted into his cell, given him watered-down wine and food to keep his strength up, and even armed him with the blade that had sliced clean through his palm upon his escape.

But the nightmares remained, the torture that had nearly made him fold from the wrongfulness of his actions still plagued him every night.

He had become a demon, had dived into the darkest parts of his soul to become this hateful creature that was fueled by rage and spite so he could smuggle out information from Helvig to feed the Kingdom of Shadows.

Until the mystery red-haired woman created a crack in the earth during Kolbeck's escape.

She had sparked an ember in him that reminded him of who he had been when he was a child. Gentle, calm, loving. The other half of his soul that had been somnolent all these years now burned brightly, the twin flame calling to him from a great distance.

And then, to add more confusion to his plate, she had saved him from Kolbeck fulfilling his vow to kill him. Baldr had become distracted, sending one of his soldiers over the railing of their ship when they got too close to their fight, so he didn't notice that the blow was coming.

Kolbeck and this mystery shieldmaiden had fought against the largest bulk of his forces, their combined skill deadly to anyone despite their level of skill with a blade.

She had stepped back when Kolbeck had issued his challenge, as was the custom, but when he had the chance to end his misery, she had stopped him.

Baldr still didn't understand why. He had wrapped his mind around it over and over but came to a blank each time.

Leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, Baldr recalled every moment of the red-haired warrior screaming as she carved a deep gouge into the dirt, how her wrathful face had twisted with effort as she wrought earth-shattering galder .

He thought about when their eyes met under the shield she had used to save him, how his surprise reflected in her green eyes.

The connection he felt to her was different from the one he had formed with Leif. It was more instinctive, deeper rooted into his soul than he thought possible. The gods had placed them in each other's paths and Baldr was determined to find out why.