Valkyrie Blade (Valkyrie Bound #4)

Chapter Five

Marion

I pace Malachi's chamber, restless and uneasy. Dreams plagued my sleep like always, haunting my mind. But unlike usual, I don't remember the details. I just remember…darkness. It chased me awake, leaving me gasping for breath.

Malachi was gone when I sat up, choking for air. That was an hour ago. He hasn't returned since. Part of me wonders if he intends to come back at all. Worry churns through me at the thought.

I wasn't fair to him earlier. I lashed out, accusing him of using intimacy to get what he wanted, simply because the weight of guilt was crushing. Every time I think about my parents, I remember leaving them there. I remember running while they died for nothing. Admitting it out loud…talking about that night…I can't breathe through the guilt and shame.

Even now, it pricks at me. The air in the room feels thin, making my head swim. I need to get out of here, find Malachi, and apologize for what I said, for what I did.

He didn't deserve it. I think…I think he was trying to help me.

God. He's done nothing but try to help me.

He probably hates me now.

Can I blame him? I accused him of being the worst sort of man. And then I lashed out at him. And still, he held me while I cried myself to sleep.

He apologized, as if it were his fault.

I practically throw myself across the room, scrabbling for the door handle. I yank it open, stumbling out into the hall, feeling like the walls are closing in on me.

Like Malachi's chamber, the walls here are hand-hewn wood, the massive logs carefully placed. The seams are tightly compacted, making it impossible to tell where one log ends and another begins. It's beautiful.

I hurry to the top of the steps, stopping only when I hear voices floating up from below.

"But Rissa—"

"No, Abigail. You won't fall, so it won't ever come to that."

Abigail. Rissa. Two of my sisters. I grip the banister, straining for every word they speak, my heart in my throat.

"It could," Abigail whispers, her voice barely audible. "I've seen it."

"And I've seen your Light. I've seen our Light," Rissa retorts, her voice firm. "I'll bet on it any day of the week. But I won't agree to kill you. I don't care what's a stake."

"If I fall, you might not have a choice."

"If you fall, we're already lost," a new voice says. Tori. This must be Tori. "Everything is."

All three of my sisters are gathered below. An intense desire to see them for myself rushes through me. Before I can stop myself, I start down the steps, tiptoeing carefully.

Clearly, I'm not careful enough. I'm not even halfway down when all three of the women at the table turn to look at me.

I don't know who is who, but the woman at the head of the table has dark hair that falls in waves around her shoulders and brilliant blue eyes. There's a protective fierceness about her, as if she views herself as responsible for other women at the table.

The petite, curvy woman beside her looks small and delicate with her blonde hair pulled back from her face and her eyes wide as she stares at me. She radiates warmth and gentleness.

My heart clenches at the sight of the third woman, her vibrant red hair cascading down her back. She looks so young, yet her eyes hold wisdom far beyond her years, as if she's seen more than anyone ever should. There's a vulnerability to her, a sense of innocence that makes me want to wrap her in my arms and shield her from the world.

I pause as they stare at me, my heart in my throat. "Hi," I whisper, licking my lips nervously. "Um, I can't find Malachi."

"Marion," the woman with raven hair quickly rises to her feet, crossing toward me.

I eye her warily.

"I'm Rissa," she says, a welcoming smile on her face. "Malachi went out with the other warriors to examine the walls. He should be back soon."

"Oh," I whisper, fidgeting from foot to foot.

"Would you like to sit with us for a while? We don't get a lot of time alone, so we enjoy it while we can." Rissa grins at me, rolling her eyes. "The Fae are usually breathing down our necks at all hours of the day."

I hesitate and then nod.

Rissa loops her arm through mine, and we turn toward the massive table just in time to see Abigail collapse back against her chair, shivering uncontrollably.

"Abigail." Tori grabs her hand, concern etched across her face. "What's wrong?"

Rissa and I hurry toward them. Abigail's eyes lock with mine, and I narrowly avoid flinching away from the fear blazing in her gaze.

"Marion isn't the Valkyrie I saw in my vision," she whispers, her voice shaking. "They still have our sister."

Tori gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. "But that means…"

"They have the blood of all five of us," Abigail finishes for her. "They're coming for the pieces of the Bifr?st."

The Forsaken must not get the Bifr?st.

My mother's warning flashes through my mind, but I don't understand it any better now than I did then.

"I'm guessing this is bad?" I ask, glancing between the three of them for confirmation.

"So bad," Tori whispers. "Fates of worlds bad. Billions of souls at risk bad."

I pale, anxiety coursing through me. Is this what Malachi was telling me, then? They need whatever this Bifr?st is to help them reopen the portal?

"We have to let Damrion know," Rissa says, grabbing Abigail's hand to pull her up from the chair. "If the shards are anywhere near here, he has to get them out of here now."

Abigail nods, rushing toward the door with our sisters. I hang back, not sure what to do with myself, until Tori turns to glance at me.

"You should come too," she says, holding out her hand toward me. "We're safer when we're together."

I nod gratefully, grasping her hand.

"Here." Rissa slides a pair of boots across the floor toward me. "These look like they'll fit you."

I glance down at the rain boots, swallow the lump in my throat, and quickly shove my feet inside. My sisters are a flurry of activity around me, shoving their arms into coats. Abigail holds one out to me, helping zip me into it. It's far too big, swallowing me.

"You'll need it," she says. "It's freezing up here."

I understand what she means as soon as Rissa throws the door open. The biting cold slaps me across the face as we burst out, the frigid air stealing my breath. I gape at the familiar village before me, my mind reeling. It's the same place the Forsaken brought me, but it looks nothing like the hellish stronghold I remember. Any trace of their foul presence has been scrubbed clean, replaced by fortified walls and deep defensive pits.

My sisters and I hurry toward the gates, carefully avoiding the deadly spikes and trenches spread across the town.

Halfway there, Abigail cries out and doubles over, her face twisting in pain. At the same instant, shards of ice dance up my spine, sinking all the way into my soul. Tori shivers beside me, and I know she feels the same thing I do.

"Forsaken!" a Fae atop the wall shouts. "They're opening portals all over the forest!"

"To war, Fae!" another voice roars in response. "To war!"

Horror floods through me, tearing at my heart. The Forsaken are out there. And so is Malachi.

No. Oh god, no.

My mind races as we rush forward, my pulse pounding in my ears. The icy wind whips at my hair and stings my cheeks, but I barely feel it. All I feel is the desperate, clawing need to reach Malachi before those monsters do.

Please, I pray silently. Please let him be safe. Let me get to him in time.

The Light that burns within my core floods through me in a surging tide of power that sets my nerves alight. I let it pour into me, grasping for it eagerly, desperately even. I don't call my blade, doubtful something so small would be much use in the face of Forsaken magic. But all around me, my sisters blaze with their own Light, their auras flaring white-hot.

"Well, that's new," Rissa says, surprise flickering in her eyes as she looks at me. "You know how to call your Light."

"I…" My voice trembles slightly. "I've always known."

Rissa and the others eye me silently for a moment, unspoken questions hanging in the air. But they don't voice them.

Instead, Rissa nods. "Good. You're going to need it because we're going out there." She gestures towards the gates, her gaze burning with fierce determination. "Our mates are out there, and we're bringing them back."

Tori's blue eyes blaze with an intensity at odds with her delicate features, while Abigail's jaw clenches, fear and anger warring in her expression.

"Link arms," Rissa commands. "No matter what, don't let go. We're stronger together."

We link arms, our Light bleeding into one another, weaving us together. I feel their Light flooding into me, amplifying my own power until I'm nearly drowning in it, my skin humming with barely contained energy.

"Open the gates," Rissa commands the Fae warriors lined up in front of the gates, her voice ringing with authority.

One of them steps forward, shaking his head. "You know we can't do that."

"Open the gates, Suriel," she growls, "unless you want every Fae out there to die."

"Nei, Valkyrie. I cannot."

I narrow my eyes on the man, my Light surging. A flick of my wrist sends a lash of power towards the defiant warrior. It pours over him in a shimmering wave, and he gasps, stumbling back in shock.

"What was that?" he demands, eyes wide.

"The only warning you're going to get," Tori growls, her voice hard as steel. "Open the gates."

The warrior hesitates a moment longer, indecision playing across his face.

I lift my hand, prepared to move the warriors out of our way if that's what it takes. He sees me, and his eyes widen.

"Open the gates!" he shouts. "Let them through!"

As the heavy wooden gates groan and start to swing outward, I draw in a shaky breath, my heart a wild drum in my chest.

Hold on, Malachi. I'm coming.

We march out arm in arm, an unwavering line of determination, our combined Light pulsing around us in a brilliant corona. But the sight that greets me beyond the gates steals the breath from my lungs. Ice cascades through my veins.

Portals ripple open across the forest, jagged tears in reality spewing forth a seemingly endless tide of Forsaken warriors and monstrous wolves. The air shimmers with ropes of their dark magic, the same twisting, contorting threads that killed my parents.

For a paralyzing heartbeat, I freeze in the face of their sheer numbers. How can we possibly hope to stand against such a force? How are we supposed to defeat the Dark when it's overwhelming?

And then I think of the Fae who rescued me, the one who looks at me as if I'm his salvation. He's out here somewhere, and he needs me.

I can't—I won't—fail him.

I hurl a searing ball of Light into the closest group of our enemies. They erupt in a blinding flare, disintegrating to ash between one breath and the next. The portal that brought them wavers before collapsing in on itself like a cauterized wound.

"Aim for the portals!" Rissa shouts over the rising din of battle, her sapphire eyes alight with righteous fury.

We surge forward as one, hurling massive blasts of Light that sear away everything they touch. Forsaken and wolf alike crumble beneath the onslaught, more and more portals winking out of existence with each passing moment.

But for every one portal we destroy, two more pop up in its place.

"This isn't working!" Tori cries, hurtling another blast of Light into a group of wolves.

She's right. It isn't working. Rissa said we're stronger together, but we're still working as individuals. We need to work as one. One weapon, not four.

"Feed your Light into me," I say, not entirely sure what I'm doing. But I let instinct guide me, trusting it in a way I never have as I reach for every ounce of Light I can find, pulling it into me.

My sisters respond instantly, our connection flaring to blinding life as they pour their power into me. Rissa's fierce determination, Tori's unwavering loyalty, Abigail's potent visions—they all flood into me in a dizzying tide, merging with my own Light until I can barely tell where I end, and they begin.

The nimbus around us pulses and grows, expanding outward. It bathes the battlefield in stark white brilliance. The Forsaken shrink back from us, the wolves howling as they turn to flee.

Our combined Light crashes through my veins in a raging torrent, threatening to consume me. But I embrace it, surrendering myself until my skin hums and crackles with barely contained power.

We are no longer four women. We're an army…a weapon. And for once, it's not us who's afraid. It's the Forsaken.

As we march forward, they break ranks and flee, scurrying like ants to get away. Those who aren't fast enough die where they stand, burning as soon as the fiery nimbus surrounding us touches them.

They don't scream. They don't ignite. They simply die.

When the Fae come into sight, I nearly sob in relief. And then in terror. Malachi is on his knees, a Forsaken looming over him, dark magic flowing from his hands.

One of the other Fae lobs the monster's head off with his blazing sword, only to fall beside him when a wolf plows into him from behind.

They're falling. Failing.

No. They won't fall. We won't allow it.

"Look out!" Rissa shouts to the Fae as I reach for more Light, drawing it into us. The inferno around us blazes brighter, expanding outward.

The Forsaken surrounding the Fae fall back, cowering. Fleeing.

"Hurry," Rissa says. "I don't know how long we can hold it."

One of the Fae grabs Malachi, hauling him to his feet. The Fae beside him leaps to his. They rush toward us, their swords still spinning even as our Light engulfs them. Unlike our enemies, it doesn't burn them. It welcomes them, Light greeting Light.

"Marion," Malachi breathes.

I bite my tongue, fighting back a sob.

The Forsaken send dark magic spinning toward us, but it melts against the blazing inferno, unable to penetrate as we turn, marching back toward the gates of Eitr.

My legs shake beneath me, the Light wavering. It's too much power.

"Hold it," Rissa whispers to me. "Just a little longer, Marion."

I grit my teeth, nodding. I can do this. For Malachi, for the Fae, for my sisters, I will do this.

"I've got you, ljúfr . I'm here," Malachi murmurs. "Lean on me."

"No," I gasp, afraid of what might happen if I lose control of it. "Don't touch me."

He ignores me, wrapping an arm around my waist. The Light sears into him, his body going rigid. I know it hurts to have that much raw power humming against his bare skin. I feel his pain. But he doesn't make a sound. He simply anchors me to him, supporting my weight as we march toward the gates.

Within minutes, we're safely through, and they're slamming behind us.

As soon as they close behind us, I lose control of the Light. It flows out of me all at once, leaving me swaying dangerously on my feet.

"Easy, ljúfr ," Malachi croons, scooping me up into his arms. "Easy."

"T-thought you were going to die before…" I rest my head on his shoulder, so exhausted I can hardly think.

"Before what?" He skims his nose down the side of my face, breathing me in.

"Before I said I'm sorry."

"Nei," he breathes, pressing his forehead to mine. "Nei, Marion. You don't apologize to me."

"But I—"

His fingertip is gentle against my lips, the beads in his braids clicking as he dips his head to meet my gaze. "Were grieving, little one. I knew I was pushing when I asked. I knew how you might react, but I did it anyway because I needed you to feel it." He exhales a mournful breath. "You needed to let yourself feel it."

"Why?" I ask, my head lolling on his shoulder.

"Because I need you to survive," he whispers fiercely, the same ferocious desire reflected in his eyes. "And the only way you survive is if you fight. I need you to fight like hell, ljúfr . It's the only way out of this for any of you."

I shiver in his arms, but he's right. Regardless of what the past holds or the future brings…we have to fight. There is no other choice. War is here whether we're ready for it or not.

"I'll fight," I promise.