Page 19 of The Last Valkyrie (Vikingrune Academy #4)

Chapter 19

Arne

MY FOCUS HAD SHIFTED once again. The difference this time was I had no control over it. My hand had been forced after I saw that Leper fighting with one of our Huscarls during the battle at the Selfsky Plains. The same Leper who fled and caused the Huscarl’s death when a draug jumped on him.

It had been appalling to witness. To see how far my old family had fallen.

In the past, I made the conscious decision to focus my energy away from Frida and the Lepers Who Leapt. I could no longer help them, they were causing me too much grief and heartache. The magicless band of rebels fighting against Vikingrune Academy had become spiteful, envious, and dangerous. Crazed and cultish, even, under the tutelage of my younger sister.

More than that, I had no agency or control over them any longer. My words didn’t matter, because I was no longer part of them—I was simply a part of the problem, the rune-imbued folk they were fighting against.

It was a strange position to be in, fighting on the side of the Lepers’ oppressors, in their eyes. The ones who kept them down, exiled them, and forced them to leap from those Wraith ships into the icy waters and brave death in order to claw their way back.

I would never stop respecting the Lepers Who Leapt. But I couldn’t, in good faith, support them any longer. Not after what I’d seen.

More than anything, I changed my focus after falling in love with Ravinica, telling myself I was willing to do anything to keep her safe and our love bound. I groveled, I begged, and I received my forgiveness. Now I would make sure I never lost sight of our love again.

Which meant refocusing on the Lepers for a final time, just when I thought I was free of them for good. Trying to find a solution that benefited us and them, to bring them on our side so we could avoid unnecessary bloodshed at the hands of the dark elves and jotnar.

Though the draug were monstrous creatures born from the depths of Hel itself, they were not my greatest concern. I knew without someone controlling them, the undead army would fall. We needed to cut the head off the snake to have any chance at victory for the Isle and humanity.

The Lepers were being led astray. I needed to know more, learn more, to really understand their end goal and what they hoped to accomplish by subjugating themselves to the wicked Dokkalfar.

After the mass burial ceremony, I tossed and turned that night with fitful sleep, recalling all the horrid events from the battle. Losing Rolf Blisdan had broken my heart, as I’d spoken about in my eulogy. I had been the one to bring him here from our village. And what did he die for? Why did we even find ourselves on those plains? Rolf had been made a shining example of the ruthlessness and violence of the jotnar, with their huge mythical beasts and otherworldly magic.

I was angry and frustrated. Worse than that, I felt helpless. I needed to do something to change the trajectory of this war, whatever little thing it may be.

I knew other students at Vikingrune felt the same way. Men and women I didn’t even know, initiates and cadets and soldiers alike, would be querying their own connections in and outside the academy to try and lend assistance to our survival.

I had to do my part.

Early next morning, I made sure to take a long shower in the community quarters and eat a hearty morning meal before starting to pack my things. I planned on traveling light, forgoing my ostentatious and flamboyant attire for muted colors that would hide me in the trees, light trail rations, and a few daggers along with my cloak, sword, and shield.

I looked the part of a warrior—something I had never considered myself until the recent battle with the jotnar.

Ravinica found me staring at myself in a mirror with a scowl across my face. My scowl broke and I smirked at her when she showed behind my shoulder in the reflection.

She walked up beside me and hugged around my middle, her touch lighting a fire inside me as she rested her chin adoringly on my shoulder to stare at us in the mirror. “Don’t go changing on me, Arne Gornhodr. I like you just how you are.”

I chuckled, petting the side of her face as we stared at each other in the reflection. “I have to at least look serious to my former comrades, lass. Can’t be your hunky twink forever.”

She laughed, open-mouthed, her cheeks flaming at my self-deprecation. I was used to poking fun at myself, and she loved it.

A few seconds passed in perfection, then a somber look overtook her features. “Be safe, Arne, and don’t be ashamed or scared to retreat at the first sign of trouble. Promise me.”

I swallowed hard, feeling a slight tremble in my hands. “I promise to come back to you, Ravinica. Our love will not be stopped by the gods themselves.”

She smiled, sadness sinking her eyes. “This is the most gallant I’ve ever seen you look. It suits you, love.”

I kissed her lightly on the lips, knowing that if I sank further into her heat, swallowing her warmth, I would lose myself and never leave this damn place.

“I know what failure means for us,” I said, gently thumbing her chin as I pulled back from the kiss. “I won’t let Ragnarok begin on account of my wayward, lost family of old. I’ll make them see sense, Ravinica. That is my oath.”

I only wished I believed in myself as much as the serene smile on her face told me she did.

I had a good inkling of where the Lepers were holed up these days. Even though I wasn’t close with them, I’d never lost my connections in Isleton, to the information-gatherers and scouts of the area.

My time outside these walls had been well-spent.

I began my journey heading through the underground tunnels I knew so well. Once at the southern end of Academy Hill, near sea level, I staked off toward a region not far from where I’d last seen the Lepers’ camp, when I had gone looking for Corym E’tar.

The situation was markedly different this time around, because I was not planning on rescuing anyone or bringing them back with me. If anything, I was ready to kill if need-be, since I expected many Lepers would try to do the same to me if it came down to it.

“What poison did you spit in the ears of our people before getting yourself killed, sister?” I wondered aloud, murmuring to myself as I crept through the Helgas Woods and the thicker forest beyond.

The day was chilly, the sky gray with angry clouds. Rain would come soon. I thanked the gods I’d brought a sturdy coat, throwing aside my flashy garb for something utilitarian. I had nothing to prove to these people or anyone else.

“Gods,” I asked myself with a weary chuckle. “When did I get so serious?”

Hints of the camp started to sprout up near sunfall, about six hours out from the academy. I was reaching the southern edge of the Isle, the craggy sands, before cutting east toward the oft-forgotten Koldna Hills and the valley between them. The waterfalls of the Three Norns were not far from here, up north in the wide jungle lands.

It was wild territory here. The academy never saw fit to inspect the place often, which made it ripe breeding grounds for rebels and Vikingrune tourists who wanted to get away from academy life for a bit.

The grooves in the hard-packed earth showed signs of an encampment recently moved. My connections had told me as much, yet I stayed for an hour to survey the scene anyway and try to pick up on anything off about the place.

Finding nothing untoward, I moved north, over the Urd and Verdandi Fjords—two rivers that were fed from the high waterfalls ahead. I moved slowly, methodically, knowing I was getting closer to my destination.

Night was upon me when I heard and saw the first hints of human life. It was a group of cloaked Lepers out on patrol, foraging and picking up fungi and berries for the larger group.

I hid in the hollowed trunk of a tree, waiting for them to pass, and then pulled my forest-green cloak tighter around me. The moon had trouble piercing through the cloudy veil, which gave me room to move, but I’d need to be careful regardless. I couldn’t count on any Lepers Who Leapt treating me right if they found me.

The main camp was nestled in the foothills of a cliff, under an arched ridge. Countless hammocks, tents, and makeshift cabins lay about the camp in a haphazard way, ready to be picked up at the snap of a finger if word came down the pipeline of an incoming enemy.

I recognized many of the people among the site, from their gait and statures rather than their faces, which were hidden by the night. Campfires dotted three sections of the glade, with a thick ring of foliage covering their flanks. It was an easily defensible position.

Seeing no sign of Dieter, and with the night still young and knowing he would not be sleeping, I stayed among the thick foliage to hide myself. Hunkering down, I waited.

And waited.

Three hours passed, with still no sign of Dieter. More promising, there were no signs of dark elves, either.

Maybe my people are not lost after all, and what I saw during the battle was a fluke—a play of the mists, even. Or perhaps it is only a sect of the Lepers who have joined the Dokkalfar invaders.

I was standing from my hidey-hole when I finally saw Dieter, my old salt-and-pepper-bearded friend, emerge from one of the camps with a man and a woman. They headed for the eastern fringe of the camp, away from me, moving slowly, deep in conversation.

Noticing my time to act, I snaked around the camp, going from west to south, making sure to move deliberately so I wasn’t seen. I had my blond hair tied back, my face hooded with my green cloak.

Dieter and his two comrades went into the jungle, evidently going on a foraging mission. I stayed far from them, keeping the trio in sight, using my natural litheness and stealth.

At one point, with my heart pounding, I let out a near-perfect imitation of a nightbird’s trill. It was the same code I’d used with Dieter and Frida in the past to get their attention when I didn’t want the rest of the Lepers to know I was there.

Dieter stiffened. He was bent low, picking through some roughage, when he raised his head. He looked left and right, then returned to his foraging.

A few minutes later, Dieter said something to his two comrades. As I crept closer, less than twenty feet out and stalking ever closer through the dewy trees, I heard the tail-end of his words.

“. . . I’ll get back shortly, Tru.”

“You sure, cap? Dark and spooky out here.”

Dieter laughed, his voice rugged. “Always dark and spooky out here, lad. Nothing’s changed.”

“Everything’s changed, sir,” Tru said ominously.

He and the other woman left, leaving Dieter alone to pick through the patch of berries he’d found.

I emerged from behind him, lanky and silent as the night.

“Didn’t think you’d have the balls to show yourself here, old friend,” Dieter said without turning to look at me. His senses were preternatural for a human, and there was gruffness in his voice that spoke of frustration.

What is he angry with me for? It’s my sister who died.

I wrapped my arms around my chest, fighting off the cold inside my cloak. “Thank you for sending them away so we can speak.”

He glanced over his shoulder, brows perked. “You sound forlorn, Arne.” He stood and dusted his hands off.

“Don’t I have reason to be, Dieter? I lost a sister. We lost the battle against the Dokkalfar.”

He shrugged. “Cut down plenty of dead, as I hear it.”

“So you weren’t there?”

Dieter shook his head. His dark eyes were hesitant, flitting around, which made me concerned about being here for long.

I didn’t know if I could trust my old friend anymore. A man I had basically seen as an older brother in my youth, when my own family had died. Dieter helped raise me and Frida.

“Same can’t be said about other Lepers,” I pointed out angrily. “Being absent at Selfsky, I mean.”

He nodded. “You lost a sister true enough, Arne, but these people lost a leader.”

“Am I to blame for that?”

A shrug. Dieter was looking thinner these days. He’d lost weight, and his face looked drawn with worry. “I sent you the letter. Did you not get the secret message?”

“I got it too late. I did everything I could.” I hung my head in shame, frowning at the ground. “I failed to save her. Even as she wished me dead, I tried to rescue her from herself.”

“We all failed Frida Gorndeen, brother.”

No. She failed us , I wanted to say. She gave in to the insidious promises of the dark elves. When I glanced up at him, I noticed Dieter getting closer. I reflexively stepped back out of caution.

Sadness crossed his face, seeing my reaction. “You don’t trust me any longer, Arne? After all we’ve been through?”

“I saw a Leper fighting a Huscarl that terrible night, Dieter.”

“Same as it ever was, then.”

Anger rifled through me, nearly causing me to Shape a rune and seal his mouth shut with ice. “Damn the gods, Dieter, I need answers! Why were the Lepers in that conflict? They had no business being there.”

“They had every business being there, Arne! Do they not deserve to fight for the same Isle they’ve called home for decades?”

He was chest-to-chest with me now. I didn’t back down from the larger man, snarls fierce on our faces as we blamed the other for our tragedies.

“They fought on the wrong side,” I lamented.

“They fought on the side of the people they think will give them what they want, what they need.”

“ Dark elves ? Then the Lepers are more foolish than I ever thought. Just what in Hel has happened here, brother?”

My voice cracked at the end, and he took a moment to settle down and step away from me. Dieter’s shoulders slumped. I recognized the tiredness deep in his face, like he’d seen things I couldn’t imagine.

I had also seen things he couldn’t imagine. The image of that draug ripping through a cadet’s throat, while the Leper he’d been fighting ran into the fog like a coward, played in my mind over and over again. I had been dreaming of it, nightmares keeping me from sleep. Only Ravinica’s warmth and the warmth of my mates had given me any peace since that awful night.

Dieter’s chest heaved with a sigh, frosty air clouding his face as he breathed out. “Frida was made a martyr in death.”

I clenched my jaw. “As I suspected. Are the Lepers aware the Dokkalfar killed Frida?”

His eyebrows jumped. “Is that true?”

“I was there, Dieter. I would not lie to you.” My face was deadly serious. Tears bit at my eyes.

He deflated. “No, they are not aware. The Dokkalfar have painted it as death from the hands of Vikingrune Academy. They’ve been by here, rallying and coaxing the group.”

I called back his words. “Truly is same as it ever was, then.” Shaking my head, pacing back a step, I heard voices far off but getting closer—undoubtedly scouts looking for Dieter.

“Seems your time here is coming to a close, Arne.” He glanced over his shoulder.

I nodded quickly. “What can we do, Dieter? Please tell me you have some pull with the Lepers Who Leapt. The Dokkalfar will not get you the Runesphere your people seek. They will only lead us to more death, destruction, and sorrow.”

The voices were getting louder, starting to echo through the jungle as people called out Dieter’s name.

“What can be done?” he asked hurriedly. “They’re too strong for us to fight them. Especially with more than half the group believing in their cause.”

“Do you believe in their cause? Tell me truthfully.”

“No,” he said with a resigned sigh. “I didn’t trust them even when Frida was alive. Now I certainly don’t.”

I clapped him on the shoulder. “Then that’s what I need to hear. Thank you, brother. Do your work, as you’ve always done. Show nothing. When the time comes . . . be ready.”

I turned to move away. Shadows were showing on the forest floor from the faint moonlight nearby.

“Ready for what, Arne?”

“For the call-to-arms. To join your human brethren and wipe this scourge off the Isle before it can grow and infect everyone we know and love.”

I dipped into the nearest line of bushes before I could be seen, and before I heard Dieter’s response.