Page 13 of The Last Valkyrie

Three more hoofed toward us, limping and burning like torches.

“Fuck, you’ve only given them firepower!” Arne cried out, abandoning his back flank to wave his hands and Shape the sky with runes. He reached for the ground and brought twin tendrils of water streaming across the ground.

When the draug trio stepped over the puddles beneath their feet, Arne bellowed and upturned his palms with another Shape, freezing the small rivers into ice blocks that locked the monsters’ feet to the forest floor.

They wiggled and writhed. Then the most disturbing thing happened. With a great cracking and snapping of bone, the draug broke free from the ice-freeze, snapping their own legs off at the shins as they forcefully moved toward us. They toppled forward, which slowed their pace as they were forced tocrawlafter us on their elbows and forearms.

I made a face, disgusted at the sight of their bony ankles and legs jutting up from the ground with black blood and torn flesh. The smell was awful, but worse was the sound the creatures made.

We went into slaughter mode, forced into action as they crawled after us. Swords fell, axes dropped, beheading and dismembering the dead creatures until they couldn’t come after us any longer. We moved on—

“Watch out!” Grim roared, shield careening to his left as the huge man moved much quicker than expected.

A dark shape spiraled through the sky, the displacement of air causing my head to snap over—

Just as a spearhead lodged into Grim’s shield a foot in front of my face. I gawked at the thrown projectile and thethunkthe spear made embedding in the iron-enforced shield.

Corym moved forward. A new enemy took the space in front of us between two trees. This creature had a bluish hue to him, the flesh rotting and falling from his cheeks, showing muscle and bone beneath.

“I f-fucking recognize him,” I stammered.

“A Huscarl from the field months back,” Corym said, spinning his radiant blade. He lunged forward and swung his blade easily, expecting to lodge his sword into the soft belly of the monster.

But this one sidestepped, drew a sword, and hacked Corym’s blade down. Corym’s surprised stare was met with only a black, soulless gaze and a snarl from a lipless mouth with brown teeth.

They fell into melee, swords clanging as Corym realized he was fighting arealopponent now.

“Remember your studies!” Magnus called out. “Newer draug means newer strength!”

More of the “newer” undead monsters tore into the woods around us. They drew rusted blades and nicked clubs, a few with cracked shields. They came from everywhere.

“Fuck,” I breathed, turning to the nearest attacker.

They ambushed us, breaking our shield wall easily as they managed to flank us in the darkness.

Arne shot an arrow into one. Thudding into the draug’s chest, it only momentarily stopped the mindless beast. Glancing down at the fletching of the arrow protruding from his chest, the draug let out a whispering hiss and charged at Arne—runningat him.

Arne fumbled with his sword, throwing down his bow—

Magnus was already there, a dark blade of red blood forming from his dripping elbow. He coagulated the blood solid and it made a dull sound as it connected with the rusted steel of the draug.

Arne managed to unsheathe his sword and stabbed under Magnus’ arm, gutting the thing. He yanked to the side to eviscerate it. Blackened guts spilled out of the draug in long ropes. It merely slipped on them and continued attacking, hacking its weapon.

“How the fuck do you kill these things?!” Arne cried out, backpedaling until his shoulders touched Grim behind him.

At that moment, Grim was beheading another strong draug, but even with it spilling dark blood all over its neck and shoulders, it kept swinging at my bear shifter.

I stabbed uselessly into one Sven was engaged with, spearing over my mate’s shoulder into the draug’s shoulder. The force of my strike spun it sideways, and then it was on Sven again in front of me, swinging at his shield.

I had no fucking idea how to kill these things.

We were a cohesive, powerful unit . . . but not everyone in this camp would have the same acumen or numbers we had.How long can we continue this before we grow tired and give the draug the advantage?These things were tireless. They kept at us again and again, throwing themselves on our shields, soaking up our steel, and thinking nothing of it.

The camp was in disarray. With a quick glance to my left and right, I saw shadows of cadets running through the trees, trying to link up with their respective cliques.

One shadowy figure ran from a faster, newer draug—likely one that had been reanimated from the battlefield near here where countless Huscarls lost their lives.

The shadowed cadet tripped on a root, sword and shield flying forward as he cried out.

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