My grip on my hammer’s handle loosens as my shoulders slump. Even though my physical contact with my hammer keeps the clearing bright, the light feels dull to me now.
I have nothing but a fading hope that extends into a long moment of silence.
Then there’s a softcrackon my left, followed by a littlethud.
A piece of stone falls away from his father’s statue.
I refuse to take my eyes off Erik even when there’s another softcrack. Another quietthud.
More chunks fall away from the statute.
And then, suddenly, the statue crumbles, pieces falling all at once, except for a thin line of stone that extends from the front of Erik’s father’s foot all the way up to the sword so that, astoundingly, the sword remains extended in the air, even though the rest of the statute has become nothing more than a pile of broken stone.
The air where the center of the statue once stood shimmers.
A spark of light suddenly flares and then grows, other streams of light forming in the air and pulling together.
It’s a slow formation, piece by careful piece, until a perfect sapphire orb floats in the air near the sword.
On my right, General Glass takes such a sharp breath that it sounds like an inhaled shriek in the heavy silence.
In an instant, she fully retracts her wings and, keeping me in her sights, darts across the space between me and Erik to reach his father’s statue.
I’m aware of the scuffling sounds of the other two Valkyries also lurching forward, both of them coming into view at the corner of my eye.
Glass reaches the orb first.
Her movements slow down so that, despite her former urgency, both of her outstretched palms close gently around the orb.
For a moment, her eyes glow silver, and then the orb seems to anchor to her right palm, remaining attached to it even when she lowers her arm a little.
She gives an audible sigh of relief before she pulls the orb close to her chest, her palm facing upward so that the orb turns gently on the spot in front of her torso.
Despite her external calm, her focus snaps to her sisters far more fiercely than I was expecting. “To claim the soul of Bjarne Haakonsson of the Einherjar is a great honor.” Her voice hardens as she stares her sisters down. “It will be enough.”
The other two Valkyries are silent for a long moment.
Then Glaive rubs her jaw. “Bjarne’s soul was thought to be lost. His seat in the Hall of Warriors has been empty for a long time.”
Griffin makes a humming sound in the back of her throat before she purses her lips in apparent thought. “Indeed, our Queen will certainly be very pleased that we have collected his soul.”
“Then we’re done here, yes?” General Glass asks firmly.
She doesn’t take her eyes off her sisters, even though she angles her body toward me.
In response to Glass’s statement, Glaive’s forehead creases, but she looks more perplexed than angry. “What of Erik theVandawolf’s soul? It should have risen from his body already, but it has not. How is this possible?”
“Perhaps he gave everything into the making of that weapon,” Glass suggests, still keeping her sisters firmly in her sights, even though she inclines her head at my hammer.
The other two Valkyries consider me with far more wariness than they did before, their posture becoming tense. I’m not sure why their attitude toward me has changed until Griffin speaks, now in a low murmur.
“If Erik the Vandawolf gave his entire soul into that weapon, then it is to be feared,” she says. “As is the woman who holds it.”
I have remained slumped in the snow, a quiet emptiness filling me with every passing moment.
I don’t feel fearsome right now.
What use is power when it can’t save the ones I love?
