Pain explodes through my body as something heavy slams into me from behind. I'm launched through the air, snow, and sky, blurring together. The impact when I hit the ground drives every molecule of air from my lungs. I skid across the frozen ground, each bounce sending fresh waves of agony through my ribs. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, and my vision swims with dark spots.
Trying to push myself up, my arms shake violently, and my muscles scream in protest. I see it through the curtain of hair matted with blood and snow—a Draugr bigger than any we've faced. Its bloated form casts a shadow that seems to swallow the light. Each thunderous step it takes toward me sends vibrations through the frozen ground.
A flash of gold catches my blurred vision.
No.No, no, no.
Gullfax charges across the battlefield, his hooves striking sparks from the frozen ground, mane streaming like liquid sunlight. His eyes burn with protective fury as he races toward me.
"Gullfax, stop!" The words tear from my raw throat, but it's too late.
Time seems to slow, but not by my power—by the cruel hand of fate, which forces me to watch every excruciating detail. The Draugr pivots with unnatural speed, its gigantic battle axe already in motion. The weapon spins through the air, a brutal arc of rusted metal and ancient malice.
The axe connects with a sound that will haunt my nightmares forever—the wet thunk of metal cleaving through flesh and bone. Gullfax's scream of pain is all too human, his powerful body arching backward as blood sprays across pristine snow. His legs buckle, and he falls, his magnificent form crumpling into the blood-stained powder.
"GULLFAX!" My scream echoes off the mountains, raw and primal. Hot tears freeze on my cheeks as I watch my friend's golden coat turn dark with blood, his sides heaving with labored breaths. His eyes find mine, filled with intelligence and pain that breaks something inside me.
The Draugr turns its attention back to me, its heavy footsteps leaving craters in the snow as it advances. Black ichor drips from its hands, and all I can think about is how those hands just took down one of the most magnificent creatures I've ever known.
Grief turns to rage, burning hot enough to melt the snow around me. The crown pulses with my fury, singing for vengeance.
A shadow passes overhead, followed by an ear-splitting screech that vibrates my bones. Through tear-blurred vision, I see monstrous forms wheeling against the gray sky—giant birds with wingspans wider than city streets, their feathers gleaming like sharpened steel.
"Hræsvelgr!" Heimdall's warning booms across the battlefield.
Apparently, undead Vikings weren't enough of a challenge. The universe just had to throw in some mythological murder-birds too.
The Draugr that struck down Gullfax towers over me, its rotting face twisted in a mockery of a smile. Rage bubbles up inside me, hot and fierce, mixing with grief untilI can barely breathe. My muscles scream in protest as I push myself to my feet, blood dripping from my split lip onto the snow.
That's when I see it—one of the giant eagles diving straight for Bryn. Its talons, each longer than my arm, extend toward my sister as she twists mid-air, trying to evade. But she's not fast enough. The beast's claws tear through one of her obsidian wings, and her cry of pain ignites something inside me.
Something snaps.
The power erupts from deep within, not the controlled flow I'm used to, but a tidal wave of pure, white-hot fury. Light explodes from my skin, my angel fire burning so bright it turns the snow to steam. The Draugr takes a stumbling step back, its glowing eyes widening with what almost looks like fear.
Good.
The corona of power around me intensifies until I float off the ground, my hair whipping around my face like flames. Every ache, pain, and ounce of exhaustion burns away in the inferno of my rage. The light pouring from me is so intense that it casts no shadows—it simply obliterates them.
With a scream of pure fury, I direct all that power at the Draugr. The beam of light that erupts from my hands isn't the gentle healing light I usually command—it's a concentrated blast of divine retribution. It hits the monster square in the chest, and for a moment, the creature's waterlogged flesh glows from within like a grotesque lantern. Then it simply... disintegrates every molecule of its undead form scattered to atoms by the force of my anger.
But I'm not done. Not even close. My sister's pained cry still echoes in my ears, and Gullfax's golden blood stains the snow at my feet. The light within me builds to a crescendo, and I feel it—that moment when a star goes supernova.
And…I let it happen.
Erik
35
The sight before me undoes me. Bryn's magnificent form lies broken in the blood-stained snow, her obsidian wing shredded like tattered silk. She's curled into herself, a position so vulnerable that it makes my heart clench. This proud Valkyrie, this fierce warrior, is reduced to this because I let my pride and her earlier words stay my hand.
Her blood paints the snow in violent streaks, the scent hitting me like a stone block. My fangs descend despite my iron control, throat burning with need. But the guilt clawing at my chest is stronger than any bloodlust. I crash to my knees beside her, gathering her broken form against me, every point of contact both heaven and hell.
A blinding light draws my attention skyward. Dani—sweet, controlled Dani—has become an avenging angel. A divine fury radiating from her every pore. Power crackles around her, the air itself charged with static that makes my hair stand on end.
She raises her hands, and the battlefield transforms. Beams of blinding light dance from her palms, each one finding its mark with devastating precision. Draugr burst into flames, their unholy screams echoing as they crumble to ash. The eagle-like Hræsvelgr, caught in her crosshairs, plummet from the sky, their wings disintegrating feather by feather.
The snow beneath her evaporates in a hissing cloud, the earth cracking and scorching under the onslaught. Shadows flee before her, obliterated by the divine fire she wields. Rhyland shouts to her, his voice lost in the maelstrom, but she's beyond reach—a goddess unleashed.
