Page 42 of The Crown of the Last Fae Queen (The Heartless and the Wicked #4)
TWENTY-TWO – KOLFINNA
Like Vidar had said, this trial was the same as the last one she had done.
She entered the room with the family portrait of Aesileif, Vidar, and herself, but instead of gawking at it like last time, she kept her gaze level and pointed at one of the blank walls.
She didn’t want another reminder of what she could have become if she had stayed with her family.
She didn’t need to muddle her already confused mind.
Because, truthfully, what reason did she have to side with the humans other than Blár, her friends, and the hope that the humans would treat the fae well once the war was over?
The last point she wasn’t even sure about.
The room shifted and warped until she arrived at the maze again. This time, she stood on the path and held her hand out, thinking of light magic instead of shadows. It didn’t come to her immediately.
Kolfinna bit back a curse as she whirled on her feet, the sound of growling causing her to tense. Two demon-like dogs with frothing mouths stood several feet away from her, their eyes glowing with hatred.
Light. Think of light .
They both pounced on her and she barely rolled to the side in time, magic bursting from her finger tips.
She raised her hands just as one of the dogs launched itself at her.
A blast of light speared the creature and ripped it in half.
Her mouth dropped open at the sheer power.
She released another blast toward the second dog and it bolted the creature to the ground with a shimmering glow.
The dog writhed around the rod of light impaling it in place; blood pooled around its wound, and its eyes slowly became glassy.
Her light magic slowly disappeared from its body.
A shuddered breath escaped from her.
She hadn’t expected that.
She raised her trembling palms. If she had known her light magic would be that powerful, she would have tried to use it a long, long time ago.
She had cut the creature in half. In half!
With renewed interest to see how well her magic worked, she continued down the winding paths of the maze.
Like Vidar had said, her light magic came to her easily—much more easily than her other powers, in fact.
Left and right, she began incinerating creatures with blinding white-gold light.
She experimented with creating spears of light, arrows, balls—all of it.
Whereas her shadow magic consumed in a wide net, light magic had to be more precise. She couldn’t spread her light magic thinly around the space like she could her shadows.
Monstrous creature after monstrous creature; she fought hordes of them. Unlike the last time, she wasn’t exactly frustrated with the number of times she had to turn around make her way down another path. She needed more practice, so she didn’t mind the extra beasts she fought along the way.
A beam of light shot through her hands and she aimed it to slice a troll’s head off. Blood sprayed in waves as the head rolled to the ground first, and then the body slowly fell with a loud thud .
She didn’t even bother staring at the corpse. She rounded the body and continued with her attacks on the rest of the creatures.
After an hour of battling monstrous beings, she arrived at the finish line, right beside the lake with the creatures who had almost drowned her. Fury pulled at the strings of her chest and she glared at the murky surface of the water, trying to make out the beasts that she knew were waiting.
Could she blast the lake with light magic? But then again, that wouldn’t necessarily kill them all.
For good measure, she shot the body of water with magic, and water spewed with each blast. She did it a few times until she was satisfied, and then tentatively dipped her toes in it. Nothing happened, but she didn’t put it past the beasts to wait until she had gone further in.
Sighing, she slipped into the water and swam away from the edge of the lake. The instant she felt something grab her foot, her magic seized and she attacked with blind panic. The creature released her—whether it was dead or not, she didn’t know, nor did she care.
Kolfinna continued swimming and releasing her light magic until she reached the other side of the lake. She hauled herself to her feet and shook off the excess water. Her braided hair was a sopping mess and she could feel the loose strands sticking to her neck uncomfortably.
That had been much, much easier than the first time she had been to this tower dimension.
Was it because she’d known what to expect? Or because her light magic came so easily to her? She couldn’t help the triumph that pulled at her lips as her surroundings began to blur and shift.
She didn’t collapse onto the floor of the tower like last time. Vidar was waiting for her, once again leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, and his gaze trained on the painting in the room. He had taken his helmet off, and she could see the barely concealed boredom on his face.
He turned his attention to her, his boredom shifting to satisfaction as he clinically looked her up and down. “That was faster than last time.”
“I know.” She squeezed the water out from her braid and grinned uncharacteristically. She couldn’t believe how effortlessly her light magic had come to her. “I had no idea light magic was that … easy .”
He looked amused. “Is that so? Light magic is actually considered difficult.”
“Truly?” She almost laughed at that. “Maybe I’m a genius then.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but Vidar canted his head in agreement. “Perhaps. You are my daughter, after all.”
That instantly made her frown, and she tried wrenching more water out from her tunic. “Why did my light magic come to me so easily? Is it because I’ve figured out how to use my shadows?”
“Yes. Most people are either adept at one or the other. It appears you have an affinity for light.”
“And yours is darkness?”
“I am an expert in all types of my magic.”
A typical male response. But knowing what little she did of him, he wasn’t lying. She could practically feel the mana that oozed out from him—though lately, she had noticed that she was becoming increasingly used to it. It wasn’t as crippling, or nauseating, as it once had been.
Vidar pointed at one end of the small room, where a short table had been placed. Atop the surface, a towel and a new set of clothes were neatly folded. “Change into them. We’ll be training with Agnarr.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. We don’t have much time.” He lifted one shoulder. “You are already adept at your fae magic, and your elf magic is passable now, too, so you can likely wield the D?d Svaerd without being controlled by it.”
Apprehension pulled at her chest and every breath seized from her chest. She could remember the feel of the cursed sword in her hand, the weight of its murderous lust, the bloodthirsty thoughts that ran through her mind whenever she held it. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed through her nose.
She could feel Vidar watching her, but she avoided his stare, opting to focus on the clothes and towel.
“I will wait outside,” he said.
The door shut with a click.
Kolfinna quickly ripped off her clothes and slapped them onto the ground with a plop .
She purposefully took her time drying herself and then changing into the new set of clothes, which were nearly identical to her previous ones, except these were in shades of black and red.
She ran her mind over the options she had for dealing with the D?d Svaerd , but she couldn’t think of a way to get out of using it.
After she was dressed and ready, she exited the room and Vidar led her down the hall again.
She noticed Blár from the corner of her eye; he was tall and menacing-looking, especially with half his face masked.
She had been so thrilled at seeing him last night that she hadn’t even asked him how he had arrived at this fortress, or how the fae had allowed him to wear a mask.
“I’ll allow you to spar with Agnarr for a bit,” Vidar said as they entered a courtyard of the fortress.
Sand covered the entirety of the ground, likely to soften any landings during a spar, and the walls of the courtyard were sprayed with dust, dirt, and more sand.
There weren’t any fae or elves here, and it was mostly isolated.
She assumed that was because Vidar didn’t want too many people watching her, but a few fae flew overhead from time to time.
Her guards lined the far wall, their hands clasped behind their backs.
Agnarr stood in the center of the clearing, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted back to stare at the passing clouds. Upon their arrival, he snapped his attention to them, a feral grin curling his lips.
“Ready to get your ass handed to you?” he said with a smirk.
Kolfinna frowned, and when she glanced at Vidar, he wore a matching expression to hers. That only made her scowl darker.
“If you let me use my powers, you might have a hard time.” She left Vidar’s side and came close to him. He loomed over her and she had a hard time tilting her head up. How tall was this man? She had never seen anyone this tall, or this powerfully built. It annoyed her more than it should have.
He lifted a golden eyebrow. “You think you have a chance against me with your powers?”
“I do.” She was aware of Blár’s gaze trained on her. It was probably best for her to have Agnarr show his powers and fighting style to Blár, especially since he would have to fight him over at the military headquarters.
She had thought her taunting would work in riling him up, but it only seemed to amuse him, because his smile grew slightly silly. Like she was a child telling him she was stronger.
“All right, let’s see what you’ve got,” he said.