Chapter 49 | Arne

Chapter 49

Arne

"ARNE, WAKE UP!"

Hands jostled my shoulders, shaking me hard.

I blinked up at the flat, frantic face of Grim Kollbjorn. I'd never seen him so animated, so alert, and so worried.

Behind him was the oddest grouping, and I wondered if I was dreaming, or dead.

Is that . . . Sven Torfen? Standing alongside Grim Kollbjorn? Beside them were Magnus Feldraug and Dagny Largul.

I rubbed my eyes and shook my head. "W-What's going on?"

"You tell us, iceshaper," Grim said with a grunt. "We followed your trail for hours outside the academy, until we came to this spot. Not a pretty outlook."

Bodies scattered the meadow. Blood was everywhere, painting the lush grass red.

Everything that had happened—everything I'd done—rushed back to me as the pain in my head started to subside and mellowed into a dull ache.

I wished it hadn't ended that way with my little fox. Gods knew I didn't want things to go like that. In time, if I survived my return to the academy, then maybe I could tell her why I'd done it.

I knew it didn't matter now. She wouldn't listen. She was gone, and so were the . . .

"Elves!" I shouted, sitting up.

Yes, I certainly had much bigger problems than my betrayal to Ravinica Linmyrr at the moment.

"Great," Sven said from the riverbank. "He's lost his fucking mind. That makes two madmen I'm with." He sighed. "He's useless. Even more than he already was."

I shook my head furiously, grabbing Grim by the collar as he helped me up. I had no doubt I looked like a bedraggled lunatic in that moment.

"Believe me, Grim," I begged. "It's no jest."

The bear shifter looked at me with concern on his face. He glanced back at Sven, who was scratching his forehead from secondhand embarrassment, evidently, and then Magnus, who never looked concerned about anything.

Grim faced me again, his expression serious. "What are you trying to tell us, Arne?" His face grew more threatening, his beard twitching. "Where the fuck is Ravinica?"

I swallowed hard. "Elves have returned to Midgard, Grim. They've taken Ravinica prisoner."