Page 37 of The Serpent’s Shadow

Over the past week—three now that Ravinica had been here—things had become tense. There was no outlying threat on the horizon, yet still I felt the walls closing in.

It was Logaithn’s words that unnerved me. He was our lead scout, often hunting in the eastern grounds where Vikingrune Academy was located. Bringing back boars and deer to eat was simply a diversion from his true purpose out in Delf’avernin Forest.

Most recently, two days ago, he came back and told me the academy had locked its gates for the first time in years. Of course he couldn’t penetrate their walls to see what was going on inside, but the outward appearance of a locked-down academy was a worrying development.

It meant we were running out of time—that we may be overstaying our welcome in Midgard.

It should have come as no surprise. Killing academy soldiers and thinking we’d get away with it without repercussions was foolish.

Perhaps Ravinica had simply been distracting me too long. Deitryce certainly thought so.

If I was to lead this vanguard unit, I had to do it wisely. I could not sacrifice lives for my own desires. I had vowed in Alfheim to watch over our people, keep them safe, and bring them home once our mission was complete.

Meeting the silver-streaked powerhouse that was Ravinica had . . . complicated matters.

Now, it was time to throw foolish notions aside. Daydreams would never become reality because of our differing circumstances. I hadn’t trained with Ravinica over the past week, in either combat or runeshaping, so I knew I was losing her anyway.

It was time for us to go our separate ways.

When I stormed into the corral where she slept, she jolted awake out of a dazed slumber. She smudged her eyes with her knuckles and stared into the darkness of the doorway where I stood.

“Corym? Is that you?” she asked, body rigid. Her hair glimmered in the soft moonlight bathing her bed through a side window.

“It is time,lunis’ai.”

“Time for what?”

“Time for you to take me to the Ancient One. It is time for you to return to your people.”

Perhaps it was a trick of the moonlight, the darkness, but I could have sworn her shoulders slumped when I said that last part.

Owls hooted softly nearby. Birds and nightcritters made little sounds as Ravinica led me through Delf’avernin. The trees were thick here, giving my encampment as much cover as we could muster.

We trudged for hours through the dense forest, walking side by side, heading west and eventually cutting north. The leaves, twigs, and grass at my feet gradually became sludgy and muddy.

The trees gave way to knolls and spindly willow trees. The path forward became less obvious, hidden by the rising swamp around us.

“Not far now,” she said. It was the first words from her in nearly an hour—short and clipped. It raised my pulse. When she glanced over her shoulder, she asked, “Why now, Corym? Starting to feel bad about what you’ve done?”

“All I’ve done is protect my people,lunis’ai.”

“Ah.” She eyed the ground to see where she stepped in the darkness. “You’re annoyed and finished with me, then. I have one more use for you to exploit, and then you’ll spit me out.”

A knot formed in my belly. I couldn’t explain the resistance and pain I felt hearing her say that. Putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her, I said, “Never that, Ravinica. I hope you do not believe me to be a monster.”

The softness of her face in the moonlight belied the toughness inside her. Her yellow eyes, so much like my own, shimmered like the sun and closed. When they opened, she said, “I don’t know what to think anymore. I was just starting to get to know you, but now I feel I don’t know you at all.”

A small twinge of hope shone inside me. I tilted her chin with my thumb, bringing our eyes together again. “Perhaps I can remedy that.”

Our lips were close, hers full and soft. She stared at me with a mixture of confusion and wonder.

I pulled away, clearing my throat, and continued to walk us down the ragged path through the swamp’s fringes. “Ask your questions,” I said. “I’ll see what I can answer.”

She said, “What is Alfheim like?”

It was a surprising start.

Slowing my march, I said, “It is a beautiful realm. Blooming with nature and magic. Not yet tainted by the technology and culture of this one.”

---