Page 171 of The Last Valkyrie

I swallowed hard, nodding. “We have all lost so many.”

“Aye.”

With that, the dark elves departed. They had a much larger contingent than the jotnar, and it took a long time for them to make their way to the base of Academy Hill and abandon their siege.

As the sun began to rise across the Isle, pushing past the clouds and signaling a much-needed sunny day, my mates and I watched as hundreds of dark elves left Vikingrune Academy, heading for the elf portal north that would lead them back to their realm.

Vaalnath, Deitryce, Jhaeros, and the elves weren’t far behind, with theMaltortelling Corym he still had a promise to make good on.

Corym nodded in his usual deference when speaking to his father-mother, and said, “I know, my liege. It will be done.”

The expression on his face was one of fear and sorrow, knowing what he had agreed to do. And it broke my damn heart too, because it just seemed so careless and unnecessary given everything that had happened here.

Perhaps my people, my lovers, my mates, were always meant to be strictly human.It sure didn’t feel that way when the five of them surrounded me—Corym included—and embraced me as the savior of Vikingrune Academy.

“You did it, Vini,” Arne said for the group with a wide smile. Dieter stood next to him with a grin, as well as the remaining Lepers Who Leapt who had turned against the Dokkalfar at the perfect time to help us.

“I hope you know what you’ve just done, little sneak,” Grim said with a crooked smile. “You’ve changed things forever. For all of us.”

I let out a heavy sigh, wrapping my arms around my guys. “I know. I guess time will tell how it all works out. All I can say is, the important part . . .” Odin’s parting words returned to me. “We’re alive.”

Epilogue

OUR DEAD WERE BURIEDandreburiedin the catacombs beneath Vikingrune Academy over the next week. A ship burial on the southern shore for Gothi Sigmund and Tomekeeper Dahlia happened within the month.

It was a fitting end to the last line of King Dannon, whose body had been brought back from Selby Village by Thane Canute. The entire academy attended the ceremony along the shore, near theWraithlongships, complete with fiery arrows shot into their boats as they floated out to sea.

We watched for a long while as the flames consumed the ships and brought the dead Hersirs to their respective resting places.

I took solace in the fact Dahlia, at least, had gotten to Valhalla. Same couldn’t be said for Sigmund, but I supposed I’d never know.

For the month after that, I was in recovery. My wing was stitched, re-stitched, bandaged, healed by Dagny and other nurses, and tended after with meticulous care, until I’d had about enough of being pampered.

It took a while for the pain to recede, but eventually a full range of motion returned to my wings. I could fly again—and did so as often as possible.

After that, I went on an excursion with my mates and Hersir Kelvar to find every portal that had been opened in the Isle, to shut them down.

Since Dahlia’s studies had shown us that dragonkin were capable of closing any portal, no matter which race started it, I was the vanguard and VIP of the adventure.

Starting from Academy Hill, we closed the portal the jotnar had taken to leave, as the necromancer woman had told me to do. Then we went out to the elf portal north of Delaveer Forest—home of the encampment the Ljosalfar had first taken to get here—and closed that one.

Finally, we went all the way to Telvos Mountains for the first time, and a month later amid the frigid cold and destitute summit of those giant mountains, we found the final portal that the dark elves had used to persuade the jotnar to join them in Midgard.

“Sure hope we didn’t miss any,” I said once we had finished the job and were heading back to Vikingrune Academy one sunny day.

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