Page 132 of The Last Valkyrie

We marched through campus toward the southern gate. That seemed to be where the majority of the cries and screams of battle were emanating from now.

Every few minutes, a draug would pop out of nowhere or burst out of the cobbles and attack us. Together, the four of us had no problem dealing with stragglers.

As Corym wiped the dark gore off his sun-dagger, he surveyed the twilit campus, the sky burning orange and red as it settled into nighttime.

“They’re everywhere,” the elf said. “First line of attack from the Dokkalfar, no doubt. They won’t be far behind.”

“Aye,” Grim said, transformed back into a huge naked human. “Must have come from the underground tunnels.”

I reeled at that, with the simplicity and obviousness of his tone. “Shit. Where we stayed during winter?”

His muscled shoulders rose and fell. “Where else? The tunnels are home to the school catacombs. This particular cropof draug must have been soldiers and students fallen over the years and buried on Academy Hill.UnderAcademy Hill, I should say.”

There was no other answer. It was a diabolically genius plan by the dark elves, or whoever was raising these bastards from the dead.

“Allows them to attack us from the inside, tear us apart from within before the Dokkalfar pounce on us once we’re weak and confused,” Grim said. “Smart.”

“I still think we should go back for Sven.” A frown was etched on Arne’s pretty face. “Much as the wolfie annoys me, he’s still one of us.”

“We’d do well to honor his wishes, iceshaper,” Corym said, rather callously. “Save the innocents.”

I scoffed. “Who the fuck is innocent at Vikingrune Academy?”

Arne raised a brow. “Yousoundlike Sven when you say shit like that, you know.”

My head bobbed left and right in agreement.Fair play.

A commotion to our right—west side of the academy—stole our attention.

Corym snarled and drew his blades, peering out into the darkness. “The elf camp.”

We stopped walking. The south still sounded bloody and horrible, which meant it was where we needed to go. I understood Corym’s hesitation. The Ljosalfar were camped over there, near Gharvold Hall. If they were fighting the remnants of undead created from the garrison of the academy, it meant the fighting might’ve been fierce. Undead Huscarls were worse than undead students.

“Go,” I said starkly. “Make sure your people are safe, Corym.”

He eyed each of us with his piercing yellow eyes. “You’ll be—”

“Fine,” Grim answered for us. “We’ll be fine.”

He saluted with a fist to his chest, blood seeping through his fingers to the hilt of his elegant, silver sword. “Any news of Ravinica, you come find me, yes?”

I nodded firmly. “No one is getting abandoned tonight, elf. But we have to live, first.”

A dull explosion rumbled the ground.

Our heads whiplashed to the sound, coming from the south where we were headed, about half a mile away.

A great plume of gray smoke and dirt billowed into the sky, making visibility impossible. Something caused an eruption of stone and metal near the southern gate, and it couldn’t have been friendly.

This doesn’t look good.

Vikingrune Academy was falling apart at the hinges.

“Fuck,” I breathed.

The wide-eyed, shocked expressions on my comrades’ faces told me they were thinking the same thing.

“Go!” I commanded Corym, snapping the four of us out of our stupor. “Help your people, and then round them up to helpusfight whatever the fuck is over at the gate!”

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