Page 23 of Vow of the Undead
The king reached to unsheath his sword when I ducked past him.
My throat ripped with another shout at Ragna as I threw myself against her. She was a stone wall, and I was a child's ball bouncing against it. But the force of my impact got her to drop the rock in time, her mouth agape at the sight of me. I hadn’t pushed her over, but I’d shocked her enough to stop her from hurting the king.
She blinked and ducked to grab the rock again.
Guards converged on the woman with the pendant. Before they could grab her, she’d sunk the sharp end into the middle of King Drakkar’s hand where he gripped the hilt of the sword.
I didn’t know what kind of magic this witch possessed, but it’d surely helped her get past the guards and close enough to the sword-wielding king to stab him. When he dropped the sword, she moved with inhuman speed, pulling the pendant from his hand and then burying it into his eye, the weakest spot for a small weapon to do maximum damage.
If it impaled his brain, he’d be dead. They’d have achieved their victory.
King Drakkar stumbled back, and when I was distracted, Ragna grabbed the rock to finish him off.
Without even bothering to scream at her, I snatched her braid and pulled with every ounce of strength I could muster.She stopped short, the force of her hair yanking her back for one startling moment.
Every muscle in my body ached as I tensed and tried to drag her back. My arms burned as my legs shook.
The black spots spilled darkness over my sight and I was plunged into another realm.
One moment I was interrupting Ragna’s attack, the next I was inside a castle. I stood at the center of a vast room where King Drakkar sat on a throne, his legs spread wide. The grin on his face was unsettling.
A woman’s voice came from somewhere behind him.
“You must pass the trial.
Three are granted to you from Freya, Loki, and Odin, along with our gifts.
Pass and you will be granted a piece of the sagas once lost.
The first from me, Freya; track the king like a hunter, uncover him when he is at his most vulnerable. Follow the blood he leaves behind, it will lead you to answers.
Victory of the first comes with a visit from my companions. Bygul and Trjegul.
Victory will earn my favor and understanding that I can only give you when that comes.
Victory over these trials will spare your fellow witches for years to come.”
Trials? The Gods weren’t just guiding me, they were inviting me to share in their power.
I’d heard pieces of a legend where a witch was given challenges so that Odin and Freya could reach through this chosen woman and into Midgard to gift the people wisdom of the other realms. She shared in their knowledge as divine entities which helped the people of this realm survive.
Better even, Freya offered me her favor. If the God of beauty and independence gave me her approval, I could forget every wrong and wicked thing I’d ever done.
But how could she choose me?
I wasn’t worthy.
The vision vanished and I found myself on my back in the dirt. I blinked as the world filled in around me. The executioner with the eagle’s mask stood over me, her shadow cast long across my body. Ragna was crouched with her head in her hands beside me.
Bright red trickled down from a tear in her scalp.
“No, no, no,” I whispered.
I may have stopped Ragna from hurting the king, but I’d pulled her so hard I’d made her bleed.
In the last seconds of my life, I watched the man who should have been dead pull the pendant from his eye socket.
He’d lived. The damn king had fucking lived.
