Chapter Fifteen

Adriel

" L ooks like it'll hold for now," I say, scanning the wall being rebuilt around Eitr.

When the Forsaken last attacked, they brought down the west wall. Other sections were damaged. The warriors and Blooded have spent every waking hour since we reclaimed our fortress trying to shore them up. The work isn't perfect, but they'll hold.

With the landmines Stephan and Garrison have placed around them and the hidden trenches being dug deeper into the forest surrounding the fortress, we're in better shape than we were just a few days ago, at least. None of it will stop the Forsaken for long, but when they come, our brand of hospitality will cost them lives.

Damrion nods in agreement, his gold eyes scouring the wall, looking for any areas of weakness. When he finds none, he glances at each of the warriors gathered around us. "We need to finish them quickly without exhausting our strength. We need every warrior rested and ready for war. When they decide to strike, they won't hesitate."

"We'll be ready, Damrion," Malachi says. "We know what's at risk."

" Ja ," Dax agrees. "Even the Blooded know."

A shiver of unease ripples through me. Damrion stiffens beside me and I know he feels it too. Something is upsetting Abigail. Her distress pierces our souls like a blade, sharp and insistent.

"I want it finished quickly," Damrion orders, his jaw clenched. "Now, back to Eitr. We have other business to attend."

" Ja ," Malachi mutters, his voice weary. "I have a Valkyrie who thinks I'm the devil."

"If the shoe fits..." Reaper says with a smirk as we all turn away from the wall, heading toward the gates.

" Saurigr skítkarl ," Malachi retorts. The insult only makes Reaper's smirk grow.

A soft laugh rumbles from the giant warrior. I shake my head, tuning them out. After millennia of fighting at their side, I've gotten good at doing that. They pick at each other endlessly. They always have.

Not even halfway to the gates, a familiar scent floats through the air—death and decay. My body goes rigid as soon as I smell it. It's so familiar it's sickening. All around me, my brothers react the same way.

"Varulv," Dax snarls.

" Helvete ," Damrion growls, Magn flowing through his veins as his lystst?l blazes to life in his hands.

I reach for mine as well, grasping for the weapon forged from the power within me. One by one, lystst?l blaze to life in the hands of our brothers, warning growls rumbling from their lips.

Stephan pulls his sword, snarling.

I scan the forest, looking for the hellhound responsible for the smell.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Malachi calls. "We smell you, you filthy mutt."

One varulv doesn't come. Dozens do. I rock back in shock as black voids begin to grow before our eyes, appearing from thin air.

"Portals," Damrion growls. " Faen . They're opening portals."

Dozens of them open, spilling varulv and Forsaken into the forest around Eitr like a plague. My blood runs cold, rage boiling within me as I spin in a circle, realizing they've surrounded us.

War has come for us. And they've cut us off from the village. From Abigail and the Valkyrie. They're a black plague, standing between us and our mates.

Nei . Not today. Not our mate. Not ever.

" Beskytt Valkyrie!" I roar, my voice echoing through the frigid air.

" Beskytt Valkyrie!" my brothers roar back.

We charge forward as one, lystst?l singing as they slice through the air. The Forsaken and varulv rush forward to meet our charge, dark magic flying from the hands of the Forsaken. We dodge it when we can, and bat it aside when we cannot.

" Hel taki tik !" I snarl, my lystst?l biting into the neck of a Forsaken. His yellow eyes widen in shock as the wound immediately burns and smokes. I kick him from my blade, spinning to plunge it into the throat of a varulv attempting to bite Damrion.

His blade is a whirlwind of death as we push our way forward, killing everything in our path. Reaper is unstoppable on my other side, Forsaken after Forsaken falling to his lystst?l.

My heart pounds, each beat screaming Abigail's name. I don't stop moving. Don't stop killing. With every enemy that falls, I think of her. I think of the bond tying me to her and Damrion. I'll protect it at all costs.

We fight and run, bodies piling around us, the stench of blood and death and charred flesh filling the air. My lystst?l slices through another Forsaken and then another. But they still keep coming. We're drowning in a sea of dark magic and varulv venom—the army Abigail warned us was coming.

I glance at Damrion and see the same stark realization on his face. War is here, and we're vastly outnumbered. Worse, exhaustion is setting in.

"We'll make it," I snarl at him. Faen. We have to make it. We vowed to protect her. If we die now, she's defenseless.

"Keep fighting!" he roars in response, cleaving a varulv in two.

The Forsaken surge forward, more portals opening. We fight for every inch of ground, but instead of moving forward, they begin to push us back, further from the gate. Further from Abigail.

Malachi stumbles, falling.

" Skítkarl !" Reaper roars, using his lystst?l to chop the head off the Forsaken looming over Malachi, dark magic flowing from his hands.

A varulv crashes into him, driving him to his knees beside Malachi.

Faen . We're falling. We're failing.

Abigail. Gods, Abigail.

"Look out!" Rissa shouts suddenly, her voice cutting through the chaos.

" Helvete ," Damrion breathes beside me, awe coursing through the bond.

I glance up and see what he does—a ball of Light blazing brighter than the sun walking toward us. Nei, not a ball of light, but Abigail, Tori, Rissa, and Marion arm in arm, marching toward us in an unbreakable chain.

Every enemy that touches the Light burns. They don't scream. They simply die. The Valkyrie push them back, carving a path between them. They scurry like roaches, fleeing the Light...fleeing the Valkyrie.

"Hurry," Rissa says. "I don't know how long we can hold it."

Dax grabs Malachi, hauling him to his feet. Reaper leaps to his. We don't ask questions. We rush toward them, lystst?l spinning until the Light engulfs us.

We stick close as the Valkyrie turn, marching back toward the gates. The Forsaken send dark magic spinning toward us, but it melts against the inferno like butter, unable to penetrate.

Within minutes, we're safely through the gates of Eitr, the Forsaken and varulv too wary to follow. The gates slam shut behind us.

The Valkyrie slowly let go of each other's hands, their Light winking out.

Abigail stumbles.

"Abigail!" Damrion's lystst?l vanishes as he grabs for her, dragging her into his arms.

I release mine too, pressing my body to hers, my face to her hair. I breathe her in, inhaling her in greedy gulps.

"Damrion, Adriel," she breathes, her blue eyes filled with tears as she clings to us. "You're safe."

" Ja ," I murmur into her hair, but I can't help but wonder for how long any of us are safe. War has come, and it's come for our Valkyrie.

"The Forsaken have our sister," she whispers, tipping her head back to look up at him. "They have the blood of all five Valkyrie, Damrion."

"We noticed," he growls, placing his palm against her cheek. "They've opened portals all over the forest."

"They've come for the Bifrost," Rissa says, her expression grim as she clings to Dax, who holds her against him as if supporting her weight.

Damrion's eyes flash with unholy fire. " Nei . They've come to die. They aren't taking our mate, and they aren't taking the Bifrost. We'll die where we stand before we let them have either. If it's war they want, it's war they'll get."

I nod in agreement, my grip on Abigail tightening. She's our heart, our soul, our purpose. And we will do everything in our power to protect her. If it's her they want, they're going to have to go through us to get her.

And Damrion and I aren't going to make it easy. She's the first thing we've agreed on in millennia, and when it comes to her, nothing will break us. Not the Forsaken. Not war. Nothing.