Page 49 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

“If you both don’t stop arguing, I’m going to throw both your asses back in that room.” Mímir jabbed a thumb back toward the Jötnar’sroom. “I don’t need men like you making the rest of everyone uneasy. Do I make myself clear?”

Tension roiled in the room, thickening with every passing minute. Finally, Mímir spoke again. “Let’s move.”

Out of everyone to lead, why did Fenris pick Mímir? Because as much as Kolfinna liked Mímir, there was something about him that felt … lacking? If Fenris were here, Kolfinna could imagine everyone whipping up into shape and relying on him. He had the kind of personality that made these kinds of situations bearable and doable. Mímir wasn’t bringing anyone together, and the anxiety was rising.

Kolfinna cast those thoughts away. She was in no position to question his authority or how the Royal Guards ran things. Maybe this was normal. And even if it wasn’t, it wasn’t like she knew much about leadership positions.

Kolfinna noticed Eyfura’s hand was still on Magni’s bicep. Eyfura leaned in closer, her tone low. “I understand you’re upset seeing Torsten die like that … You were close to him and he deserved better than that, I understand how painful that must’ve been, but we need to stick together. You can’t lash out like that—”

“I’m fine,” he bit back, shaking her hand away.

“Magni—”

Kolfinna averted her gaze from them and instead found herself watching Blár, who was hanging in the back of the party. Why had he joined her in removing the spikes? Did he not trust her? Was he going to get in her way? What was he trying at? He had helped her, somehow, but there wasn’t an ounce of trust in his hateful gaze. Was he going to get in her way later on? Was he going to resume the “cat and mouse” game?

Everyone filed into the next room, but Kolfinna hung back and tapped Blár’s shoulder. He was about to step through the threshold, but he stopped, glancing down at her. A draft sent shivers down her body.

Wintry blue eyes narrowed at her. “What?”

“Why—” Her voice caught in her throat as a sudden rush of mana surrounded the room. As if in slow motion, she looked at Blár and then at everyone else, who were already in the next room, mere steps away from them. No one seemed to notice until it was too late.

A gong boomed through the air.

The floor shook, and then she slipped as the walls disappeared. Kolfinna couldn’t breathe. Her body felt like it was being pulled at every angle. Her head felt like it would burst, like there was too much information for her to process and it would squeeze out from every orifice in her body. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Only blackness filled her vision. She clawed her neck for air, she fought to scream, flail, do something—but she was suspended in black space, unable to move.

Finally, her body slammed into something and the breath was finally knocked into her. She gasped, coughing and clutching her chest before a searing light blinded her. She squinted, blinked, and then gasped again. The sun shone down on her, and a warm wave blew against her, sending sand against her skin.

Kolfinna’s blood ran cold.

There was sand, and more sand, and rocks, and boulders, but mostly just sand. Kolfinna found it hard to breathe, her body suddenly trembling. It had happened again. They were somewhere else. And it wasn’t in their world because there weretwosuns in the sky.

And unlike last time when the whole party was with her, the only one beside her was Blár, who appeared just as stunned as she was. He pushed himself to his knees and turned his head left and right, his mouth slightly ajar, but he quickly screwed it shut and rose to his feet, his face growing stony.

“Damn it,” he muttered, looking down at his hands.

Once again, Kolfinna didn’t feel the pull of her mana.

Kolfinna wanted to throw up. Not only was she in a different world, but she was also with the last person she ever wanted to be with.

13

When Kolfinna waswith the party, she could pretend Blár wasn’t her constant nightmare. Honestly, she hadn’t felt the numbing fear of being around him when she was with the Royal Guards and the soldiers. But now that they were alone, it came crashing back to her. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to run away. Her right leg felt stiffer, heavier, and cold despite the scorching heat.

Blár dusted his pants distractedly with a hand, the muscles on his jaw clenching. In the harsh sunlight, it was easier to see all the imperfections blotting his usually handsome, albeit intimidating, appearance: the purple bruise on his cheek, the dirt and grime coating his skin, the dried blood and sweat greasing his hair and smudging his neck. Not to mention his now worn-out uniform, which had tears and blood splatters all over it. It was hard to imagine that all these changes happened within two days. Kolfinna didn’t want to think about how terrible she looked. Her wavy hair had transformed into a ratted nest, dirt and blood clung beneath her nails, and she stank of rotted fish and sweat—thanks to the ship incident. Her own uniform was torn in odd places here and there, the torn sections accompanied by a blooming of dried, stained blood.Not to mention she was missing a sleeve from when Eyfura cut it off.

“Where are we?” Blár shielded his eyes to peer at the sky. “Why are there two suns?”

Why did the castle ruins do such a thing? It was indeed a magical place, because how else would they be thrown in such a situation? How was it possible to teleport someone to another … world? Dimension? Kolfinna couldn’t help but shake at the thought of it. If other worlds existed, what did that mean for her world? Was this world even real? It definitely felt real. But how was any of this possible?

A roar resounded in the distance, booming across the landscape and causing sand to quiver in the air. Powerful mana radiated and blasted like a shockwave. Kolfinna fell to her knees, her body tensing. Even Blár flinched in surprise.

She had been so dazed by the bright suns and the sand that she had forgotten monsters existed. Who was to say there weren’t monsters here in this area? Kolfinna clambered to her feet, but there was nothing around them but sand and rocks.

“We don’t know when monsters will come,” she said quickly. “We have to—”

Her mind went blank. What did they have to do?

“We have to …? What?” Blár raised a dark eyebrow.

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