Her sadness pours through me.
The loss of her daughter is raw and recent and overwhelming.
It’s a terrible, horrible pain.
A pain I could use against her.
Strength streams from my heart, down my left arm, and into my hammer, at which power flows from my hammer back into my heart. Strength and power as I finally accept the gift Erik gave me, the hope he forged for me.
Glass’s hand is unbearably tight around my throat, but her wings are fully spread and completely vulnerable, and she doesn’t seem aware that my level of wakefulness has changed.
I’m not about to give her any warning.
My left hand shoots upward as I drive the hammer toward her right wing. I allow the hammer’s handle to slide through my fist, giving me the reach I need to make contact with her silver feathers.
She seems to become aware of the movement too late, her concentration on me simply too complete for her to notice until now.
Her eyes fly wide as she attempts to jolt backward. Her wings begin retracting, but it doesn’t do her any good.
The hammer’s head collides with her feathers, and my power sizzles into them.
But instead of commanding her to break, I let my own grief guide me.
Heal.
Accept the sadness.
Move through it.
You can be whole again.
She gasps, and her gaze flashes from her wing back to me.
Her reflexes were already carrying her away from me, her knee rising from my chest and her wings giving a single sweep, but her gaze remains on me as she lands lightly in the snow opposite me.
Her hand flies to her heart. “What did you do?”
I don’t have time to answer her.
The other two Valkyries have recovered and are charging toward me.
They’ve left their armor in the snow and are now both dressed only in underclothes similar to Glass’s. Their breasts are wrapped in strips of black material while short, tight pants cover their pelvises. Unlike Glass, their stomachs are bare.
They leap toward me, kicking up snow as they move.
“Glass!” Griffin screams, her determined eyes blazing at her sister. “Seize Erik’s soul before it’s lost!”
Glass stumbles back toward Erik, but her knees buckle three paces away from him and she falls to the snow, kneeling in the white powder, her wings dropped at her sides.
Tears flow down her cheeks, falling to the snow.
My hammer remains extended in the air.
I have only seconds to defend myself.
I swing toward the other two Valkyries, seeking any metal on their bodies, but there’s none. They’ve abandoned their weapons, and I’m certain they won’t spread their wings.
As they rush at me, I take note of the way the black-haired Griffin comes directly for me while Glaive circles to my right. I’m certain that Griffin will try to disarm me, while Glaive will seek to use her power on me. Maybe she has to get her hands around my throat like Glass did, but it’s also very possible she can kill me through contact with any part of my body.
