Page 159 of Blood of Ancients

Chapter 44

Ravinica

IT TURNED OUT TIMEdid not move too differently in Alfheim than it did in Midgard. I hadn’t noticed the first time back, because Elayina’s alarm call had disrupted all my other thoughts, but now I saw it plainly enough.

Years had not passed in our absence.

We returned through the Kiir’luri, with Jhaeros’ Skogalfar entourage leading us back to the elfstone circle a final time. After meandering through the portal, we landed in Midgard during midday.

Brown splotches blood still coated the snow in spots. It was brisk, cool, and the blizzard had ceased. Sunlight shone through wispy clouds.

Most disconcerting, we discovered Frida’s body was gone. It brought a whole new bout of tears to Arne, because he could not properly bury her.

We all shivered and complained about the cold—especially since we’d just been in a warm climate, and had nearly forgotten how freezing it was here during winter.

We needed to get back underground, quickly.

“Give it another week or two,” Kelvar told us, “and Vikingrune will be back on the surface. This happens every year, lads and lady.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Sven grumbled. “It’s my third go-around.”

It took us two days to return to Vikingrune Academy. The route had thawed enough to keep a quick pace, even with Kelvar limping and growling along.

As he promised, he didn’t slow us down too much.

We returned to the academy through the front gate, after climbing the western bank of Academy Hill, past the iced-over waterfall.

Thoughts and memories of my time here played in my mind, making me nervous. My mates stayed close, noticing the trepidation that threatened to swallow me whole, and they gave me promising looks, smiles, and nods of approval.

I can’t wilt so fast. We just made a promise to come in blasting, red-hot, and like Hel am I going to let us back down on that oath to each other.

My men were already providing wisdom and guidance, like Elayina said they would, and they didn’t even realize it. Just them being near me, all five of them, brought me peace and calm.

The issues we had faced before leaving seemed so . . . inconsequential now. Trivial.

My familial spat with Damon; Grim’s annoyance with Eirik and Hersir Jorthyr; Sven with his Torfen siblings; Magnus with Tomekeeper Dahlia; Arne with the Lepers Who Leapt; Corym with his imprisonment and the general hate directed his way.

None of it mattered as much now that we were returning. I was sure the others felt the same way, and were thinking similar thoughts, as if our journey outside these walls had transformed us.

We were coming back changed, and I hoped our peers and the Hersirs noticed it.

I didn’t want to be held to a higher standard by the teachers, or be thought of as pretentious and domineering to the other students, or anything like that. We were still Ravinica, Magnus, Grim, Sven, Arne, and Corym. I still hoped to learn, train, and hone our skills.

But thedirectivewas different now. Our mission and outlook had changed drastically. For the first time, I felt I had an actual grasp onhowI was going to execute my revolution. It wasn’t just a dream or a vague hope.

I kept playing that thought over in my head, trying to ingrain it in my mind. I didn’t want these thoughts to get lost once the tumult and rigors of academy life began again.

No matter what, we need to remember what we’re doing here. It isn’t just about graduating and being the best runeshapers we can be. It’s about changing the face of Vikingrune Academy as we know it, so the generations of students after us can be taught something different.

Hel, maybe there didn’t even need tobea Vikingrune Academy if our plan worked out. Without enemies, what was the point of having a military training school?

I chuckled at the thought.We still have a long way to go before I can start thinking like that.

We reached the western gate of the academy and I smiled when I spotted the first familiar face: Huscarl Grant, bored out of his mind, whistling to himself. His gate partner today was quiet, someone I didn’t recognize.

“Hail, soldier,” Hersir Kelvar said with a small wave, getting his attention. “They started putting soldiers back on the ramparts, eh? Little cold for that still, you ask me.”

From the raised walkway, Grant’s whistling stopped. He leaned over the gate, gawking, and I could see the whites of his eyes even from thirty feet out. “Holy shit! You’re back!” Heturned around and repeated himself. “Oi, they’reback! Alive, I think!”

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