Page 29 of The Last Valkyrie (Vikingrune Academy #4)

Chapter 29

Ravinica

THE ACADEMY WAS IN a major upheaval when we returned.

It took us a while to get back, with Thane Canute having weaker control over the Red Wraith than Gothi Sigmund. After a quick burial for Hallan, Damon, Klein, and the family who died from their collapsing roof, we left Selby Village without fanfare.

It could have been seen as disrespectful—leaving so soon, not giving proper eulogies for my half-brother and stepfather—but it was necessary if we were going to get ahead of whatever chaos awaited on the Isle.

The villagers understood that and weren’t crestfallen in the slightest about our prompt departure. In fact, I noticed relieved looks on their faces as we boarded the Red and pushed out into the sea. Without us there, they could get back to rebuilding their lives, and we could get back to doing whatever it was we did in the magical land we came from.

Our arms pumped the oars relentlessly, grinding and gritting our teeth as we sliced through the frothy water, the fjord, and into the greater ocean. We were replacing our sadness and apprehension about the future with sheer grit and force, none of us ready to unpack the tragic misadventure we’d embarked upon by coming to Selby Village.

It’s a ruin. Things will never be the same there after what happened—nightmares will run rampant in my homeland, and they’ll be looking to me and my kin for answers and solutions.

I couldn’t worry about the magicless folk in Selby much longer, because Academy Hill was no better off. Right when we arrived through the southern gate, tension was thick in the air.

We carried Sigmund’s corpse on a makeshift stretcher we’d hastily constructed out of sturdy branches from Delaveer Forest. Canute’s long cloak—big enough to hide any single man—was draped over him to give him some modesty and peace in death, and so cadets who saw us carrying the Gothi through campus wouldn’t know who he was at first.

We weren’t planning on hiding Sigmund’s death, of course, because that was foolish and would never work. Though the wider student body didn’t know where we’d gone, and we’d left rather secretively, it wouldn’t take long for questions to arise with Sigmund’s prolonged absence.

I couldn’t get my mother out of my mind. Lindi didn’t deserve such a fate after the life she’d lived. Always living in the shadows of weaker men, resentful of the success other people had, fueled by a need for revenge against people who had slighted her . . . now she was a captive of a lethal madman.

A captive of the same man who likely raped her to birth me.

I shuddered at the thought. My top priority would be doing whatever I could to set her free and make sure Ma was safe. Even if I have to sacrifice myself to do it.

Though it was late when we returned to the academy, plenty of students were moseying around, pacing through campus nervously, sharing gossip and secrets. A low din of conversation bounced between the two initiate quarters, Tyr Meadow, Gharvold Hall, and even Dorymir Hall where the gloomy debriefing had been held.

Thane Canute marched in front of our troop, which consisted of me and my mates. Damon, Eirik, and Sigmund were gone. I helped carry the gurney holding the Gothi, with Grim and Sven at the back sticks and Magnus next to me.

Dagny rushed us out of the shadows once we passed Nottdeen Quarter, heading north toward the central woods where Sven had once accosted me and Grim and I used to take our nightly strolls.

The cat shifter with the mismatched hair slunk next to me, letting out “pspsps” like she was calling a feline suitor.

I frowned at her, shoulders sinking. “Dag.”

“What’s going on, Rav? I could have sworn you left the academy with more people.” Her nervous eyes flicked to the makeshift stretcher. “Who is that ? Oh gods.”

“I’ll tell you everything later, bestie,” I said out the corner of my mouth.

Canute heard us whispering, glanced over his shoulder with a customary scowl that could have frozen the undead, and Dagny skittered away to unleash the new torrent of gossip.

“The Hel is going on there?” another student called out on the fringes of Tyr Meadow once we passed through the area.

“Is that a damn stretcher ?” someone else said. “A corpse?”

Students streamed out of the longhouses to see what was going on. Mass hysteria was close to breaking out, and we hadn’t even talked to anyone yet.

Canute led us directly to the monolithic towers of Fort Woden, with its impenetrable gates and stark walls. The Huscarls there opened the gate and let Canute pass—their commander—without word, sharing worried looks with one another. My mates and I followed Canute into the courtyard of the fortress, earning a few skeptical glances from the guards but nothing more.

If outside was palpably nervous, inside Fort Woden was even worse.

My eyes darted around the vaulted ceiling and old gothic architecture of the interior, showing me a castle that had withstood centuries of secrecy. I wished I had time to explore all the offset rooms and nooks of this place, because it was gorgeous, if not a bit grim and utilitarian.

Every inititate always wondered what inside Fort Woden was like. Most never got to see it. I supposed I was one of the lucky ones, though I wasn’t feeling very lucky at the moment. My damn heart was hurting and smacking against my ribs, bile rising up in my throat as I prepared for a lecture and bad news from the Hersirs in command.

Down a few halls, we heard yelling coming from a conference room. Raised voices from people I recognized without having to see them.

At the door, two Huscarls stepped aside and bowed to Thane Canute.

The one-eyed lord grunted over his shoulder. “Wait here.”

He paused when I stepped next to him. “No.”

Narrowing his eye at me, he analyzed my face. The man was a towering brute, yet I wouldn’t be persuaded. He would have to go through my five mates to get to me, and we didn’t need any bloodshed in Fort Woden itself.

The Thane, wiser than he looked, seemed to come to the same conclusion once I said, “It was my village that was ravaged by all this, sir. I deserve to know what’s going on.”

“You’re a cadet.”

“I’m also tired of the closed-door discussions from leadership here. Aren’t you, Thane? Maybe none of this would have happened if we had been privy to—”

“Fine, just shut up and stay quiet,” he interjected, his voice deep and exasperated.

Inside the circular room, around a wide table, three figures stood and argued—Hersir Ingvus Jorthyr, Kelvar the Whisperer, and Tomekeeper Dahlia. They were like talking heads on a news program, interrupting each other, the line of their conversation impossible to make out among their combative language and tones.

The trio froze when Thane Canute and I stepped into the doorway, with my mates not far behind.

“What did I miss?” Canute asked, frowning and crossing his arms. “The academy is in a state.”

“Yes, and we require leadership ,” Ingvus snapped haughtily, his braided yellow beard slapping against his chest as he shook his head.

“What is going on?” I asked.

Tomekeeper Dahlia splayed her hand out, her face disgusted. “Who let the half-breed cadet in here?”

“I did,” Canute answered in a clipped tone.

“I support it,” Kelvar added, flinging his cloak down as he sat at the table. “It’s not important what she hears now. Everyone will know soon enough. Maybe she can blunt the message to the student body better than we can.”

“What message, sir?” I tried to stuff down my frustration. I was happy Kelvar had come to my defense, but Dahlia and Ingvus would always hate me. It’s totally untenable, the position I find myself in with these two. There has to be something that can sway their minds about me and my guys.

“The jotnar have come down from the Telvos Mountains,” Kelvar explained. “Damned scouts spouted off to half the school about it before debriefing us so we could prepare a statement about what to tell the academy.”

I blanched. The corner of my lip twitched. “You mean so you could hide the truth about what happened?”

Kelvar smirked at me, no one else seeing it, and gave me that one with a dip of his chin. Always secrets with this lot.

Ingvus scoffed, raising his chin defiantly. “So we could prepare properly without causing a riot. You wouldn’t understand the measures we must go through to keep everyone appeased, Miss Linmyrr.”

“Because I’m a half-blood?”

“Because you’re young and foolhardy,” he answered with his chin and gaze lowering threateningly.

I’d been called worse, so I ignored the shipbuilding Hersir’s insult. I tilted my head. “Were you aware one of your ships, the Yellow Wraith , is missing from the dock, sir?”

He reeled. “What?”

Clearly, he hadn’t been in on the dark elves taking the ship. Or he was an excellent actor.

When all eyes turned to Canute to answer—the man in the room—I rolled my eyes.

“It’s true, the Yellow is missing,” the Thane said simply. “Tell me more about the jotnar. Where are they currently?”

Kelvar turned his head, placing his elbow on the table and his chin on his palm. “Made their way south. My contacts say they’re making their home in the Niflbog, along with the dark elves.”

My brow furrowed. How is that possible? The dark elves were just in Selby Village, fighting us. They can’t have returned so fast.

Kelvar scrutinized the expression on my face. He saw the terror fleeting across my features. “Another portal has been opened, near the tree-cave where Lady Elayina was found. In fact, the site might be the tree-cave itself. More dark elves are here. An army.”

A sharp whistle of wind skipped past my lips when I inhaled sharply. “And the Ljosalfar? Skogalfar?”

Kelvar shook his head. “No news of them yet.”

“Fuck.”

“So you see why we’re in a kerfuffle, commander?” Dahlia shot at Canute. Her round face tightened angrily. “The students fear for their lives. We all do. Another attack is imminent, and this time it will be them coming to us to strike the academy’s walls.”

“We don’t have the support to stop them from rolling over us,” Ingvus said.

Kelvar added, “Citizens of Isleton have already climbed to our western gate to request safety inside the walls. They fear their town is next, sitting between the dark elves and their conquest.”

“We were arguing about letting them in or not,” Ingvus said.

My heart sank. Why not? “We could use all the support we can get!” I yelled, throwing out my arms. “Why would we turn away refugees of the very place that has supported Vikingrune for so many years?”

“Necessity and survival, lass,” Kelvar said with a defeated sigh. “Our stores will empty even quicker with more mouths to feed. Could lead to disaster if we’re up against a siege.”

I bit my lip, nodding. There were many intricacies I needed to consider. I was still of the mind we needed to support and protect everyone on the Isle, not just Vikingruners. Isleton folk, Lepers Who Leapt . . . whoever needed our assistance, we should be there for them.

The alternative, mass slaughter at the hands of our enemies, was not an option.

“While you bicker about what to do, we have more bad news to add to the tally,” Thane Canute said with a grumbling voice.

The three Hersirs eyed him.

“Gothi Sigmund is dead.”