“Who?” Deneya said just as softly when Vi released her face.
“Vhalla Yarl and someone else.”
“Taavin said she wasn’t coming until the end of the war.”
“Taavin was wrong.” Vi cursed under her breath. “I’ve illusioned the only opening… they should leave.” Her eyes drifted to the crystal axe. She should’ve just taken it and been done with this place.
They waited in breathless silence.Let them leave, Vi willed. She didn’t know what it would mean if Vhalla somehow got the axe now.
She’d listened to stories of nearly a hundred worlds from Taavin’s memories, and in none of them did Vhalla Yarl get the axe before the war was over.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Vhalla’s male companion asked.
“We have to go in through the top,” Vhalla responded.
Deneya cursed under her breath and turned to Vi.Now what?she mouthed as Vhalla and the man continued discussing the impossibilities of the climb.
“Durroe watt ivin,” Vi said and felt an illusion slip over her shoulders.
“Lovely makeover. You’ll be so mysterious you’ll scare her away.” Deneya spilled her sarcastic words hastily.
“That’s the hope,” Vi replied back in all seriousness. “We don’t want her taking the axe until we’ve had a chance to replace it with the fake.” She had no interest in repeating her mistake in letting others take the crown.
“So you’re going to scare her away.” Comprehension lit up Deneya’s face brighter than the soft light of the crystals.
“Try to. Help me?”
“Always.”
Soft panting stole their attention. “Durroe watt radia,” she and Deneya both whispered in unison, a moment before Vhalla leaned over the opening above and let out a soft gasp as she beheld the contents of the cavern within.
Don’t do it, Vi pleaded silently as she watched the woman inch toward the edge.
Her plea went ignored, as Vhalla stepped off into the empty air. Magic flared up around the young woman with the unique signature Vi recognized from her own mother. She fell gracefully to a large crystal, until her foot slipped and she whacked her head.
Vi bit back a groan. Out of everything Vhalla Yarl faced, Vi would rebel against fate and all the gods that wrote it, if Vhalla died from a clumsy slip and fall andthatwas what ended the world, somehow.
But Vhalla, thankfully, didn’t die from a tumble onto a rogue crystal. She stood, walking through the room in awe, touching the tips of crystals along the way. Vi watched as they responded to her magic, tilting her head slightly. The pulses of power were similar to Vi’s own early experimentations with crystals.
Vhalla’s eyes were on the blade, as she approached with shuffled steps. She inspected it, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. As if sensing Vi’s watchful gaze, she looked over her shoulder, and then back to the weapon. Vi could see Vhalla’s uncertainty and chose to capitalize on it. Dropping her illusion, Vi heard the softest of whispers from Deneya at her side.
As Vhalla’s finger met the crystal of the blade, the whole room lit up.
Deneya’s illusion of light faded into feathers cascading to the floor. The woman always had a flair for theatrics. Vi had known that since Egmun and Aldrik in the Crystal Caverns, and prayed it helped them once more.
“Leave it,” she said, loud enough for Vhalla to hear.
Vhalla looked in her direction, eyes wide, like those of a prey animal.
“Leave the blade; do not take Achel from its tomb.” Vi used the old name for the weapon, given by the Northerners. It was the name she’d known from stories told around campfires growing up. Vi rested her hand on the crystals behind her, allowing them to create an opening back out to the forest beyond. She’d long since let go of her illusion over the entrance. “Heed my warning and leave. Do not touch the magic of the Gods, Vhalla Yarl.”
“Who are you?”
“I’ve had many names,” Vi gave her standard response as an illusion slipped over her, washing her in light.
Deneya grabbed her wrist, and they both were enveloped by Deneya’s other glyph, which rendered them invisible once more. Vi shared a worried look with her friend. They both returned their attention to Vhalla Yarl, waiting to see what fate held.
The whole affair must’ve overwhelmed the young woman, for she was on her knees, gasping for air. Or perhaps the magic of the crystals was too much for her, after all. Vi felt energized by them, but even she could recognize that the air was thick with their power in this ancient place. Vhalla stood and went for the axe. For one brief, glorious second, she hesitated and turned to the opening Vi had created.
