Page 150 of The Last Valkyrie

It was like talking to a brick wall. An evil sentinel Helbent and fully focused on ending me.

My heart hurt as I fought my brother to a standstill, but he had the dark energy inside him to never give up. He would fight to total exhaustion, as long as I died.

For my mates, I can’t let that happen. For my friends—Dagny and Randi and all the others. Formyself, I have to fight.

I went on the attack.

Digging my back foot in, I launched forward in a lunge, rocketing toward him with my spear extended.

He lifted his shield and took my hit across the center boss, but I was already spinning and flipping the end of my spear up against his face.

Eirik avoided the whiplash with a deceptively quick flick of his wrist, showing me how he’d earned the title of Drengr warrior, and our blades clanged together and sparked.

I reeled my spear back, keeping my reach short while letting the wood glide easily through my fingers, until I was choked-up on the haft closer to the spearhead than the end.

I used it as an overly long sword, parrying and striking at Eirik in quick strokes.

He was a defensive fighter, as if he’d learned his trade from Thane Canute rather than Axel Osfen, and was more than a fair match for me.

As my arms tired and he showed no signs of slowing down, a desperate thought came to me.

My power . . . Dahlia . . . the snowy place.

The Tomekeeper was right: We didn’t understand the power inside me. Not fully. But I was starting to learn a few things about what the Runesphere had awakened, and now it was time to utilize them. To get deliberate with my mission, because I couldn’t let my mind-warped brother be the end of my story.

Focusing on his face, I chopped away a few errant test-swings of his sword meant to gauge my defenses.

I loped back a step, feinting retreat and tiredness, and he charged headlong into my guard. His shield lifted to smack into me as a weapon—to push me onto my ass so he could kill me—

And I raised my hand and siphoned the rage and heartbreak inside me, slapping my palm against his shield with an attack that stung my flesh.

His shield erupted in fire, embers shimmering orange and crackling at my fingertips.

Eirik’s mouth fell open in shock and he quickly discarded the flaming shield before its fire could crawl up his arm.

Even without the shield, he was far from defenseless. He had a slightly confused tilt to his neck now, brow threading, as he realized I could Shape without actually doing the motions.

He came at me again and I spun, pirouetting around his body like a ballerina on the balls of my feet.

At his side, he lifted his arm to advance a parry on my impending attack—

But I didn’t bring the spear at him like he expected. Instead, I put my hand on his face, lightly touching his forehead—

And closed my eyes.

It all took a split second, yet it felt like eons that I had my eyes closed, red and yellow lights blaring behind my lids.

“Rav!” Randi shouted from somewhere far away, and I knew she was in trouble.

Lost in the snowy place of my mind, I heard snow crunchingbehind me.

Well that’s new.

I spun around, away from the high valley walls.

Eirik looked at me, resplendent in armor of silver like mine. He looked down at himself and smirked. “So this is what being a Drengrshouldlook like, eh?”

A black orb, not much different than the golden orbs of Elayina’s and Damon’s spirits, shone in the center of his forehead where he couldn’t see.

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