Page 32 of The Last Valkyrie

It wasn’t good optics to have the Hersirs at each other’s throats like this, clearly bewildered at the outcome of the fight and not trusting each other. It didn’t speak well to morale.

Still, there was nothing to do to stop it. Tempers were high, fear was higher, and the leaders of Vikingrune Academy needed to figure out the next plan of attack.

“A contingency would have been nice,” Grim muttered next to me, burly arms crossed over his chest.

I took one glance at him and then double took, realizing he was stark naked as he stood there, bare-assed, big-cocked, and getting more than a little attention from other cadets.

I clenched my jaw, biting the inside of my cheek.We need to invent something to help him with these bear shifts. Damn. Everyone’s getting a free show.

Magnus walked up and tossed a cloak to Grim, saying, “You’re scaring the initiates.”

Sven chuckled, and Arne shook his head, the iceshaper’s face pale and gaunt.

Grim wrapped the cloak around his lower half, a frown deep-set in his face. He saw no levity in the situation, and neither did I. It was a gruesome, sorrowful time. There was no telling how many of us had perished in the fight.

Gothi turned to Thane Canute. “What do you think, commander?”

The quiet, one-eyed Huscarl leader said, “We need to regroup properly, sir. A dash to the forest isn’t enough. Hersirs Jorthyr and Anfinn can help, perhaps. Reinforcements will be necessary.”

Heads nodded around the leadership circle.

“We have no idea our death tally, Sigmund,” Axel said, still trying to convince the Gothi that blindly charging back into the fray was a bad move. He glanced over his shoulder conspicuously, blinking at some nearby soldiers. “Look at these kids’ faces. We’ve put them through enough. I daresay they won’t follow you with any strength if you decide on this course.”

“We’veput them through enough?” Sigmund scoffed. “Wedidn’t do this, Osfen! The jotnar and draug did.”

Kelvar said, “We led them here, Sigmund. This wasyourbattle, to prove our might. And we’ve come up wanting.”

Gudleif said, “The initiates need more training.”

“We may not have time for that!” Sigmund complained, throwing up his arms. “Who is to say when the jotnar might strike our walls?”

“They may never strike our walls, sir,” Canute pointed out. “We don’t know their minds. Which is another reason we need better intelligence and a better plan, in my opinion, sir.”

Sigmund eyed each Hersir in turn with a scowl, his chest-length beard whipping up in the breeze. The sharp scents of blood, fire, ash, and pungent swampland wafted on the wind.

I made a face, scrunching my nose, and looked back toward the west. The jotnar still had not emerged. I couldn’t hear any hissing or wheezing draug in the forest, now that sunlight was creeping over the eastern side of the Isle.

It seemed, for whatever good it did, we were safe for the moment.

The expressions on my peers’ faces broke my heart. Traumatized looks, sad eyes, sallow and pale cheeks that looked like wax figures. Everyone was exhausted yet too shell-shocked to rest. We would all be having nightmares for weeks about this fight, if not for the rest of our lives.

All the mayhem, the death . . .Is there nothing I can do to give voice to the soldiers—the “kids” Axel mentioned who actually died serving out Gothi Sigmund’s ill-fated war command?

Kelvar was right: We had fought and we had been found wanting. We simply weren’t ready for such a massive-scale conflict. Not with extraplanar beings we didn’t truly understand.

What are their motives? Their wants? Their needs? Their weaknesses?Whyare they here, dammit?!

Kelvar voiced that opinion a few minutes later. “We’ve seen enough to appreciate the jotun strength, poor Thorvi tasting the brunt of it. We need to learn more about these races, sir. Have Dahlia consult the tomes, have Axel train the soldiers in specific battle strategies, and I’ll train their minds.”

“I will join Hersir Osfen in training the cadets, sir,” Thane Canute added, earning a nod of respect from Kelvar. “I’m sure Hersir Jorthyr can forgo his shipbuilding exercises to train them as well. With three Hersirs tutoring our ranks, we can get stronger swiftly, I reckon.”

“Will it be enough?” Gudleif asked.

“Well, it certainly isn’t enoughnow,” Axel grunted.

They were running in circles around the argument, and I sensed it coming to a close. I sure fucking hoped so, because the adrenaline was starting to wear off and I was getting dead-tired. Everyone else was too.

Then a surprising voice chimed in from my right.

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