Page 114 of The Last Valkyrie

Sven frowned, hands rising up around him. “We’ve been getting air this whole walk, the past thirty minutes.”

“You got a lot of it up in the sky earlier, too,” Arne pointed out unhelpfully.

The sky . . .

Yes. He was right.

“I know, I just . . . I need to think. I’m sorry.”

They looked at me quizzically, brows furrowing because I wasn’t making much sense.

The elves. The Runesphere. Deitryce. The damned assembly and Gothi Salos Torfen. The jotnar. The civil war nearly erupting inside the academy. Swordbaron Korvan and my captive mother, my dead stepfather and Damon, Eirik going to the dark side—

Gah!

There’s just too much going on.

I put a hand to my temple, feeling the pulse of my heartbeat in the vein. I needed a change of perspective—something to clear my head.

Closing my eyes, I vaguely heard my mates asking if I was all right before their voices drifted away. When I blinked my eyes open, my wings unfurled majestically from my back.

“I’ll be back soon,” I announced.

“Wait—Ravinica,” Grim stammered.

He didn’t dare try to grab my ankles this time when I took to the sky.

I hovered for a moment thirty feet up, wings gently flapping. I was starting to feel more comfortable with them. From thisvantage, I could see most of campus and the highest trees on the summit of Academy Hill; Mimir Tomes’ pillars and Eir Wing’s odd football shape, and of course Fort Woden stabbing into the sky like a gothic spearhead.

This was the perfect place to free myself, my mind, andthink.“I promise I won’t land,” I told my guys with a soft smile.

Then I beat my wings and flew away.

I left Academy Hill, knowing I wasn’t going to go far because there was another winged monster out here in the Isle and he was much stronger than I was.

If I could only find where you are, Ma, perhaps we could plan some sort of rescue mission.

Already I was thinking of new plans, new ways to tackle my problems.

Unfortunately, just as my headache was subsiding and I was starting to feel better, my world came crashing down.

I flew half a mile out from Academy Hill, cruising west, welcoming the chill bite of the night wind against my face. Below me sat Isleton with its flickering bulbs of orange and blue light. I wondered how many people were congregated in Trond’s Pub or Liv’s Libations right now, or if the bars were empty over the fear of our enemies’ movements. Many of the Isleton folk had retreated to the academy to take shelter.

Who still remains down there?

I gazed further west, deeper into the thick woods of Delaveer Forest that went as far as the eye could see.

The Isle was an island, sure, but it was a huge one.

Within another hour of flying, my breath caught in my throat. My wings stuttered, flopping me gracelessly left and right as I fought to maintain control.

Down below, an army of ant-sized flickering lights. Fires. Camps. Torches. All hidden beneath the canopies of Delaveer.But from up high, in the dead of night, they were the only lights for miles.

And there werehundredsof them dotting the horizon.

Fuck.

One realization that hit me? These handy wings totally changed the game when it came to spying and reconnaissance. Sadly, the result of that inadvertent recon only made my anxiety worse.

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