It also explained why he was doing his best impersonation of Aldrik’s voice.
“We need to go. We’re close now,” Victor said with Aldrik’s voice as he dismounted.
“Right…” Vhalla regarded the massive entrance to the Caverns warily. Vi suspected the woman’s expression was identical to her own when she’d first laid eyes on the place. Even if Vhalla couldn’t sense Victor’s illusion, she could pick up on the gravity of this ominous space.
Something caught Victor’s eye. He turned toward the valley. “We need to go!”
Vhalla worked to keep up with Victor, plunging herself into the darkness of the Caverns. Vi took a steadying breath as she laid eyes on the axe. She didn’t know the details of what was about to happen. But she knew that, one way or another, the power would finally be hers.
Victor placed a crystal in the Caverns, much as Egmun had, and the space illuminated once more. Blue and white light washed over them and magic cascaded down from the ceiling like stardust.
“There’s no time,” Victor muttered.
As the two continued forward through the first archway, Vi released Taavin’s hand and he quickly useddurroeto conceal them both in sound and sight again. She could no longer tell where he was, and in the Caverns, it was nearly impossible to make out his magical signature from any other crystal. Vi pressed forward, listening in on the conversation that was continuing before her.
“…we missed Victor along the way,” Vhalla said as Vi approached the archway that led into the antechamber. She was just in time to see Victor grab her. “Aldrik, your hands are cold. Let me go.” Victor laughed at her rising panic. The sound pricked uncomfortable goosebumps into Vi’s flesh. “Let me go!”
“No, I don’t think so, my little Windwalker.” Victor had dropped his poor attempt at Aldrik’s voice. “Do you know how long I’ve bided my time? Waiting,waiting! Everything has been going according to plan, and you will not take this from me now.”
My plan, Victor. I’ve been the one who was waiting, Vi thought darkly as she watched him shed his illusion. Victor had tricks up his sleeve she wasn’t expecting, however. He produced a crystal from his pocket, slammed it into the base of Vhalla’s neck, and coated it with ice to keep it there. Vi scowled, her spark tickling her fingertips. Victor had clearly taken it upon himself to do some additional crystal research.
She combated the urge to protect Vhalla.
Vi’s focus was on the doors that Victor brought Vhalla toward by force. A new barrier was there, albeit a clumsy one. Vi had wondered what exactly happened to “end” the War of the Crystal Caverns. She always suspected that people merely stopped going there, thus, no more monsters. But judging from the traces of Aldrik’s magic in the new barrier over the doors, the man had inherited some of his mother’s intuition when it came to the crystals.
Victor lodged an insult at Vhalla and threw her against the doors.
“Rhoko.” Vi held out a hand to help the barrier fall.
She watched as blinding magic wrapped around Vhalla, tightening across her. Vi could feel an aspect of the woman’s power knotting with the crystals. Victor was using the young woman as a catalyst, trying to unlock the door himself.
If Vi released her glyph now and destroyed the barrier, Vhalla’s magic would be wrapped in with it. There was no time to separate the two; they were intertwined. Vi panicked. Severing the magic could result in Vhalla losing her power.
Your mother found the strength to overcome overwhelming odds and be reunited with her power, thanks to this.
Fritz’s words appeared in Vi’s mind, as if ushered there by Yargen herself. He’d written them on the letter attached to the watch he’d gifted her. Vhalla had lost her magic in her time, too.
Have faith, Vi commanded herself. Everything was on a course for success. If she didn’t believe that, she couldn’t complete this task.
Closing her hand into a fist, Vi yanked her arm back. The thick barrier of crystals on the door shattered.
“Kot sorre,” Taavin whispered from somewhere nearby. The doors swung open, giving Victor access to the heart of the Caverns.
The man rambled madness to Vhalla as he carried her within, throwing her down like a rag doll. Ice coated the Windwalker, keeping her in place. Vi blinked, swaying, but kept her footing. Destroying the barrier had left her momentarily stunned.
“What is he doing?” Taavin whispered at her side.
Vi watched as he laid crystals around Vhalla’s prone form.Whatwashe doing?Vi worked to get her mind moving again after the burst of energy.
“Don’t lump me in with the incompetent fools who are so hungry for power that they are blinded by it,” Victor boasted to Vhalla. “I am of a far greater stock.” He believed that because of Vi. “Egmun thought he could take this power, but he didn’t haveyou.”
It clicked for Vi, then, and she wanted to scream. She’d been so focused on driving the momentum to get the weapons to the Caverns that she hadn’t thought about how old actions would echo in the future. Around and around the world spun, mistakes made and made again.
“He was Egmun’s student. He knew the same things as the former Minister… he’s going to use her as a sacrifice.” She kept her voice a whisper.
Taavin’s hand clasped over her shoulder and he was visible to her once more. The touch barely registered through the numbness that tingled over her flesh like dark magic. “What?”
“I will kill you,” Vhalla swore through chattering teeth.
