With a crash, the door bursts open. I throw up my shield in time to block a silver arrow, the impact making my bones ache. I charge, ramming into a hunter as I swing my axe low, slicing across his knees. He falls, and Leif drives his sword through his chest. Two more of them rush me so I can’t get to Leif, not when he’s tackled to the floor. I push back against my attackers, unable to do anything except listen to Leif struggle.
Pain throbs in my chest as if I’ve been stabbed. Agony shreds the bond connecting me to Leif. No. No! He’ll be fine. He’s hurt. Only hurt. I’ll fight these bastards off and get him to a healer, but I’ve got to hurry!
An axe comes down on my shield with such force that the bones in my arm crack. A sword sinks into my shoulder. The burn of silver is so intense, it feels as if my arm is on fire. My body betrays me, collapsing onto the ground, immobilized with pain when all I want to do is fight.
I blink away the sting of salt and tears and can barely breathe when I spot Leif lying a few feet away. Blood trickles from his mouth, and his eyes are clouded. “Leif,” I croak, trying to make my body move, to reach for him.
In the sudden silence, Bjorn’s terrified cry is far too loud. One of the hunters walks over me, going for the bed.
“No. Leave him! He’s just a baby. I’m the one you want. Kill me!” I cry.
“Silence, beast!” A boot slams into the side of my face, making white light explode before my eyes. A tooth falls onto my tongue, blood coppery in my mouth.
Bjorn cries louder, and dread rakes its claws into my chest.
“Sir?” The hunter sounds uncertain. “He’s so little. What threat could this one pose?”
The hunter standing over me sneers. “Our orders were clear. Kill them all.”
“Y-yes, sir.” Metal screeches against metal, and my blood turns to ice.
I beg them, screaming for mercy for my child until my throat is raw. The tiny thread that is Bjorn’s bond snaps in two, the pain like an axe caving my ribs.
It doesn’t mean anything. He isn’t gone. I can still save him. If I can just get up—
Above me, the hunter raises his sword over my body.
Howls rend the sky beyond the cabin. The hunters shout in alarm, drawing weapons as they race from the cabin. Screams of pain and terror clash with the snarling of wolves, and then… all is silent.
Sucking in a gasp of air, I call out, “In here!”
My aunt Helga’s gray wolf bursts into the cabin, her snout caked in blood, strings of flesh stuck in her teeth. The fur recedes, revealing her pale face and wide, horrified eyes. “Oh my darling.” She kneels, lifting me into a sitting position.
I shake my head. “Leif. The baby. Help them. Please, you must help them.”
She wipes blood from my cheek. “They’re being taken care of, lad.”
My head rolls to the side, my heart all but stopping at the sight of Leif’s hooded eyes. His chest is barely rising. The silver is blocking his ability to heal.
“Leif,” I croak, reaching for him. Helga scoots closer, gently lowering me to the ground. She takes his hand and mine, placing them on top of each other. “Open your eyes. Talk to me. Please.” Tears burn my eyes as I wait for his response.
Leif’s eyelids flutter. “Gun… nar… our son, is he…”
Bjorn is silent. I can’t feel his bond, so small but always so bright and warm.
I squeeze his fingers as much as I can with the pain throbbing through my body. “Asleep. He’ll be fine. And so will you.”
Leif laughs, or tries to. Blood dribbles from his lips. “The Valkyries. They come. Can you… hear their wings?”
My breath hitches. “Leif—”
“Live, Gunnar. Don’t f-forget me. Find me… in Valhalla.” Leif’s mouth twitches into a smile, lips red with blood.
His frayed bond snaps, and my world grows dark and cold.
Live, he said.
How am I supposed to live when all my hopes and dreams for a future are dead?
