Page 84 of The Last Valkyrie

Chapter 27

Ravinica

I WAS BACK IN THE SNOWYplace. A baleful otherworld of mountains, white-topped ridges, and a valley of darkness ahead of me. The walls of the valley were high, creating a passage only wide enough for two people to walk through.

At the far end of the passage, a shining gold light drew my attention through the bleak darkness and withering cold.

Staring down at myself, I noticed the ancient battle armor adorning me, glittering silver in the gray dawn light. “No, no, no,” I whined, feeling my wings tauten powerfully behind me. They were in perfect condition, rather than being wounded from reality, from Damon’s blade.

This was all wrong. I didn’t want to behere, because I knew whatheremeant.

With a great shaking and groaning of the earth, the valley in front of me began to close off, the passage narrowing. My decision was being made for me, the Norns laughing at my cruel fate.

I sprinted forward despite myself, so I wouldn’t be trapped on this frigid side of the plane.

I only made it through the path with the tips of my wings scraping against constricting stone, seconds before claustrophobia could set in.

The other side of the passage had the same springtime feel I remembered. Golden light floated a few feet off the groundin front of me, outlining the frame of my brother. Damon was naked as Elayina had been, showing himself with all the wounds and scars and damage from our battle.

“I’m here, brother,” I said in a low tone.

I hugged Damon against me, knowing the drill, and pumped my wings to lift us off the ground. Taking to the sky, the burden of where I must go weighed heavily on me.

It was a valkyrie’s edict to bring the fallen from Midgard and lead them to their respective afterlife. But I didn’twantDamon to be dead, or fallen. I wanted him to live.

I hoped I could negotiate some type of settlement over his fate.

He weighed nothing in my arms, like a feather. Was I that strong here, or had he become so light in my arms until his soul was weighed?

The odd surrealness of this place made it impossible to feel emotions or thoughts. There was only a direction guiding, singular, powerful. It drew me up into the sky, my wings glittering in the sun as I ascended the clouds. There was no coldness here, no warmth. Through the dappled clouds, I could make out the pristine landscape of green plains, rolling hills, and mountains in the distance.

The thick roots of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, skewered down from the heavens like tentacles of bark. The ends of the roots were thicker than my body, and they bulged to the thickness of buildings the further up I went.

Soon, I was no longer flying through the material plane. I knew that sure as anything, recognizing the twisting roots I glided near as a gateway of some sort into other realms.

Glancing down at Damon, I was concerned to find him in the same state—golden aura around his body, yet he had not reversed in age as Elayina had the longer I flew her throughYggdrasil. The feather-light body in my arms radiated heat, showing no signs of life in his closed eyes or pursed lips.

“Stay with me, Damon,” I urged, not sure if he could hear me above the roar of the wind this high—or if he could hear anything at all.

Instead of guiding me east from the furthest roots, my conscience drove me ever higher, until the jungle of roots became a vertitable network I had to bob, weave, and dip around to avoid crashing into.

My wings felt steady here. Though I had little control over them, and little idea of what my powers were in Midgard, here, they were sturdy and strong. My brain didn’t have to speak to them like it did my other muscles—they simplywere.

Peace swept over me as I blinked and noticed something past the tree, high upon a mountain peak cresting another layer of clouds. I had gone from ground, to clouds, to sky, to more clouds.

---