Page 100 of The Last Valkyrie

I smiled at the compliment.

Sliding my spear over my back into its holder, I approached Corym. “What’s up?”

He guided me away from the meadow and the clanking of steel and shouting students. “I have good news and bad news,lunis’ai.”

My stomach jumped to my throat. “Great. Uh. Tell me the good news first, I guess?”

He smirked at me. We were walking, weaving through crowds of students getting ready for their chance to train on the meadow. It was every man for himself at the moment. I hoped the chaotic nature of the training regimen would become more structured once a new Gothi was chosen and some order was established.

Luckily, everyone was too busy fighting and being worried to really think about Gothi Sigmund being absent recently. He had never been around much anyway, only showing himself when he had some ominous assembly to hold at Dorymir Hall.

Maybe wecanget on for a while without Sigmund’s death being noticed. The questions about who was in the gurney seemed to have died since the other night, thanks to the excitement of the elves showing up.

Good timing, Ljosalfar.

“Well?” I asked. Corym hadn’t answered me.

He was leading me away from the cadets, into a pocket of emptiness near Gharvold Hall where Hersir Gudleif Selken and Kelvar the Whisperer were helping establish camps for the Ljosalfar.

We stopped walking before we got to the heavy congregation of light elves, which was much more uniform and organized than our ragtag training sessions behind us on Tyr Meadow.

“Good news is, the Skogalfar are close,” Corym said. “Kelvar told me his scouts spotted them a few hours away from the academy.”

I smiled, but it was a cautious smile. “Excellent. Magnus will be happy about that.”

“Aye.”

He hesitated, staring out at the sea of elves.

“. . . And the bad news, love?”

Corym nudged his perfect chin toward the elves in the distance. I followed his gaze to Deitryce, who was huddled with some other elves.

“You see that pack slung across my sister’s shoulder?” Corym asked.

I squinted through the sun. I noticedsomethingthere, at her side. Couldn’t tell if it was a backpack or what, though. “Um, I guess?”

“She showed me it, alone, when I spoke to her once they were inside the academy. I’ll give you one guess what’s inside the pack,lunis’ai.What Deitryce decided to bring to Midgard.”

My brow creased with wrinkles. I didn’t like this game.

But there was a clue in his words.

“What Deitryce . . . decided to bring . . . to Mid—

My heart plummeted. Color drained from my face as I looked at him with my jaw unhinged.

“No,” I croaked. “She wouldn’t.”

Corym nodded deeply, closing his eyes and sighing.

“My sister snuck off with the Runesphere and brought ithere, Ravinica.”

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