Vhalla clutched the watch with white knuckles as she spoke. Vi could almost see the girl trembling.
“Two paths will lie before you: night and day,” Vi continued. “Go west by night. Fade into the comforting obscurity of a shroud of darkness. You will find a familiar happiness there, if you can ignore yearnings for the sun.”
Go west? Why go west? She wanted to ask. But her mouth was not her own. Panic rose. Vi wanted to claw at her throat, but her hands weren’t her own.
“The other road will burn away your falsehoods by the light of dawn. You will own your wants for all to see. But take caution, for the fire that will expose you will give birth to an even greater power that will consume the land itself.
“And now, for payment.”
“Ah, right.” Vhalla put down her sack, her hands still trembling as she fished for gold.
“I do not want coin.”
“What do you want then?”
“That watch.” Vi’s hand pointed to the one Vhalla had been holding. The one that had been carried from another world, marked by Yargen, and was now imbued with Vhalla’s energy.
“This one? All right, of course.”
Vhalla passed it over, and as she did, Vi felt a shock of magic shoot up her arm. It was the same feeling as when she touched a crystal. Her watch had always been an item of fate, but its purpose had shifted. The token now waited for the moment it would be returned.
“Our current business has concluded.” Vi stood. Vhalla slipped into her shoes, all but running toward Daniel. Vi watched as they left, adding ominously, “Heed my words, Vhalla Yarl,” before the young woman disappeared onto the street beyond.
She collapsed with a gasp, clinging to the door frame to keep upright. Her body had been held by puppet strings as she’d acted out the motions at the commands of another.
“This was what you always wanted, isn’t it? A puppet in mortal form?” Vi rasped, feeling sensation return to her limbs. Her skin tingled in response, as if to say a delightedyes. She pushed herself off the ground, standing as tall as she could, but knowing just how small she was. She’d seen it, from Yargen’s view: the world was little more than a speck. “You’ll have it. But not for a little longer. Give me a little longer.” Vi’s attention drifted to the stairs.
Inside her mind, began a persistent background percussion.
Tick… tock…
The countdown ran not to the end of the world. But to the end of her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Soricium wasa desolate wasteland compared to Vi’s memories of the thriving capital of the North.
They arrived with the military as soldiers once more. The Imperial forces had been split after an assassination attempt on Vhalla’s life failed. Baldair, Aldrik, and the Emperor all took a different path to Soricium, in yet another variation from the worlds Taavin knew. Unfortunately, Vhalla traveled with the Emperor. And since Vi, Deneya, and Taavin were under Baldair, they had a long march without eyes on Vhalla or Aldrik.
Vhalla was the first to arrive in the Northern capital. Alone. Something had gone wrong involving the prince along the way. Vi heard stories of Vhalla’s heroism, and much like in the Crossroads following the sandstorm, each one was more impossible than the last.
There was no one they could ask for the exact details. So Vi, Taavin, and Deneya spent their days agonizing, holding their breath, and waiting. Surely, Vhalla and Aldrik couldn’t die. At least, she wanted to believe that. But if the goal was to change things, then she had to become comfortable withanythingchanging. These people didn’t mean anything to her, not really.
Yet, as the days passed, Vi realized she didn’t want to imagine a world without Vhalla or Aldrik. They were not her parents, but much like Jax, they wore the faces of the people she loved. She wanted to save this world for them, even if they were nothing to her.
Or rather, she was nothing to them.
When she finally did see Aldrik and Vhalla, together again, in the flesh, Vi felt ten stone lighter.
“I knew they’d be fine,” Deneya said as she followed Vi up to the top of the ridge that surrounded the basin that contained Soricium. They went to the axe together, Taavin catching some of the few hours of sleep he needed back in their tent.
“You did not.” Vi glanced over her shoulder. No matter how many times Vi came up here, the sight still jarred her. The Empire had burned and cut down every tree of the forest, save for the most sacred, which remained safe behind the walls of the fortress.
“I did,” she insisted. “Yargen is looking out for the girl.”
Vi snorted. Yargen was too busy clawing at Vi’s ribcage and skull, seeking control over her body, to focus on Vhalla Yarl. “Either way, I’m glad.”
“Is the tomb far?” Deneya asked, changing the conversation.
