Chapter 44 | Ravinica

IT TURNED OUT TIME did not move too differently in Alfheim than it did in Midgard. I hadn’t noticed the first time back, because Elayina’s alarm call had disrupted all my other thoughts, but now I saw it plainly enough.

Years had not passed in our absence.

We returned through the Kiir’luri, with Jhaeros’ Skogalfar entourage leading us back to the elfstone circle a final time. After meandering through the portal, we landed in Midgard during midday.

Brown splotches blood still coated the snow in spots. It was brisk, cool, and the blizzard had ceased. Sunlight shone through wispy clouds.

Most disconcerting, we discovered Frida’s body was gone. It brought a whole new bout of tears to Arne, because he could not properly bury her.

We all shivered and complained about the cold—especially since we’d just been in a warm climate, and had nearly forgotten how freezing it was here during winter.

We needed to get back underground, quickly.

“Give it another week or two,” Kelvar told us, “and Vikingrune will be back on the surface. This happens every year, lads and lady.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Sven grumbled. “It’s my third go-around.”

It took us two days to return to Vikingrune Academy. The route had thawed enough to keep a quick pace, even with Kelvar limping and growling along.

As he promised, he didn’t slow us down too much.

We returned to the academy through the front gate, after climbing the western bank of Academy Hill, past the iced-over waterfall.

Thoughts and memories of my time here played in my mind, making me nervous. My mates stayed close, noticing the trepidation that threatened to swallow me whole, and they gave me promising looks, smiles, and nods of approval.

I can’t wilt so fast. We just made a promise to come in blasting, red-hot, and like Hel am I going to let us back down on that oath to each other.

My men were already providing wisdom and guidance, like Elayina said they would, and they didn’t even realize it. Just them being near me, all five of them, brought me peace and calm.

The issues we had faced before leaving seemed so . . . inconsequential now. Trivial.

My familial spat with Damon; Grim’s annoyance with Eirik and Hersir Jorthyr; Sven with his Torfen siblings; Magnus with Tomekeeper Dahlia; Arne with the Lepers Who Leapt; Corym with his imprisonment and the general hate directed his way.

None of it mattered as much now that we were returning. I was sure the others felt the same way, and were thinking similar thoughts, as if our journey outside these walls had transformed us.

We were coming back changed, and I hoped our peers and the Hersirs noticed it.

I didn’t want to be held to a higher standard by the teachers, or be thought of as pretentious and domineering to the other students, or anything like that. We were still Ravinica, Magnus, Grim, Sven, Arne, and Corym. I still hoped to learn, train, and hone our skills.

But the directive was different now. Our mission and outlook had changed drastically. For the first time, I felt I had an actual grasp on how I was going to execute my revolution. It wasn’t just a dream or a vague hope.

I kept playing that thought over in my head, trying to ingrain it in my mind. I didn’t want these thoughts to get lost once the tumult and rigors of academy life began again.

No matter what, we need to remember what we’re doing here. It isn’t just about graduating and being the best runeshapers we can be. It’s about changing the face of Vikingrune Academy as we know it, so the generations of students after us can be taught something different.

Hel, maybe there didn’t even need to be a Vikingrune Academy if our plan worked out. Without enemies, what was the point of having a military training school?

I chuckled at the thought. We still have a long way to go before I can start thinking like that.

We reached the western gate of the academy and I smiled when I spotted the first familiar face: Huscarl Grant, bored out of his mind, whistling to himself. His gate partner today was quiet, someone I didn’t recognize.

“Hail, soldier,” Hersir Kelvar said with a small wave, getting his attention. “They started putting soldiers back on the ramparts, eh? Little cold for that still, you ask me.”

From the raised walkway, Grant’s whistling stopped. He leaned over the gate, gawking, and I could see the whites of his eyes even from thirty feet out. “Holy shit! You’re back!” He turned around and repeated himself. “Oi, they’re back ! Alive, I think!”

Magnus snorted next to me, “Well, not all of us.”

I shouldered the draug, and we made our way into the academy as the portcullis slowly opened.

I wondered if we would receive the same standoffish treatment as we had when we first arrived in Alokana, or if we’d be greeted like heroes, like Lady Elayina.

We weren’t treated like heroes. Big surprise. In fact, hardly anyone even noticed we had returned for the first few hours, because classes were in session, it was Friday, and the academy was still huddled underground.

Us students were given a whole day of bedrest and relaxation before we were ordered to debrief Gothi Sigmund personally. Kelvar hadn’t told the chieftain he was bringing us along, and I couldn’t wait to see the shock and dismay on Sigmund’s face when he saw us shoulder-to-shoulder with the Whisperer.

Whatever you do, Kelvar, don’t play your hand too hard. You may be changed from our adventure in Alfheim, but the Gothi won’t be. Everything is just as we left it, and we can’t overstep.

We needed to be cautious on our first days back, to get the lay of the land. As much as I thought our quarrels were “trivial,” the other side of those teams wouldn’t think so.

Damon would still be out to get me. The Torfens would be cautious around Sven, after he beat up the entire Lanfen pack. Eirik would be wary, too, from his called-off duel with Grim and Sven. Tomekeeper Dahlia undoubtedly still wanted Magnus dead, or his blood drained.

During our day off, I reconvened with Dagny and Randi and got all the tea about what had been happening in our absence. I told my besties some brief teasers about Alfheim, and promised to tell them more once I had my wits about me and had rested up.

They made me pinky swear. Both of my studious friends were eager to learn more about our elven neighbors.

I wondered how many new tomes would be written about our trip there. We had new knowledge of the Ljosalfar that no one else had. Hel, we’d even discovered a new subsect of the elves—the Skogalfar wood elves—which had never been spoken or written about as their own race.

During our hangout session, the academy rocked with two earthquakes, back to back. Snow and dirt shook from the ceiling, and I glanced up and frowned.

“It’s been happening a lot lately,” Dagny told me.

“No one will tell us what’s going on out there,” Randi added.

I found it odd, because I’d never known the Isle to be on a fault line or tectonic plate boundary. Earthquakes had never been an issue the entire time I’d been a student.

I thought nothing of it, hugged my friends dearly, and departed to sleep for twelve hours straight in the tiny hay-cot of my cave dwelling.

Sighing as I reclined, I conked out almost immediately, thinking, Ahh, here we are. Back home.

It was a Sunday when we went to speak with Gothi Sigmund, all six of us tailing Kelvar the Whisperer as he stormed through Fort Woden Under.

When we got to the conference room where Sigmund Calladan greeted us, the surprise on his face was worth every bit the wait. He blinked at Hersir Kelvar slowly, and I could read the rage on his face like it was written in bold letters.

Betrayal . He thinks the Whisperer has turned coat. That he belongs to the elves and students now—not as his righthand spy master.

It was a delicious moment, the tension in the room palpable.

Then Sigmund cleared his throat and pulled a letter from his tunic. He flapped it in the air at . . . me.

I reeled, confused. “Gothi?”

“You received a letter from your mother while you were gone, Cadet Linmyrr.”

I gulped, stepping up to take the letter. Before opening it, I asked, “From my mother? Did you read it, sir?”

“No.”

The letter was blank on the outside folds. How does he know it’s from my mother if he hasn’t cracked it open? Lying ass.

“There’s another development we need to discuss before your report, because it is a timely matter.” Sigmund’s eyes moved to Kelvar’s, narrowing, a frown etched behind his long beard. “And we’ll need our best minds to come together to combat the threat.”

“The threat, sir?” I asked.

As if on cue, an earthquake boomed and shook the walls, making all of us stumble. Just like yesterday with Dagny and Randi.

Kelvar tilted his head, shooting the Gothi a suspicious glance. “What’s going on, Sigmund?”

The Gothi’s face was an implacable mask.

But I noted something else there, buried deep behind the lines and warts and planes of his face.

Fear.

He crossed his arms and dipped his chin to stare at us.

“The jotnar have come.”

To Be Continued!