Page 46 of Blood of Ancients

Eirik, Tyrus, Gryphon, Ayla, Damon, Talmont, Gertrude . . . they all looked frightened, glancing at one another as if wondering what to do.

Grim made the decision for them, spinning on his heels while sliding his axes away. He enveloped me in a swaddle of warmth and hoisted me off my feet like I weighed nothing.

Grim dashed out of the room sprinting, the lumbering giant showing speed and calculation most people didn’t expect.

My mind was fuzzy, dazed. Inside, I wasn’t sure if the battle was over or not. It all seemed like a dream, and I knew I was in a bad way.

“Hold on, Ravinica!” His voice echoed off the walls above me, as my eyes closed.

Grim bridal-carried me through the halls, my head tucked against his bicep and shoulder.

I wasn’t sure where he was taking me. I drifted into a numb sleep before I could find out.

Chapter 14

Corym

MY MIND WAS TRAPPEDin this place, worse than my body.

I was a prisoner of people I hardly understood. The humans I’d met had shown their true colors—their avarice toward people of my ilk.

As it turned out, Lord Talasin had been correct a thousand years ago. Lady Elayina, too, understood far more than I did about the ways of Man.

Talasin’s chronicles had written about human greed. He’d told the oral history of the Ljosalfar and humans, from the elven perspective. From a perspective no one in this accursed realm understood.

I scoffed at Midgard. Every day, my resentment for humans grew to greater heights.

All except Ravinica Lindeen. Mylunis’ai, my silver-streaked love. The woman my people had callously captured, her half-elven heritage being a novelty to our kind.I suppose we’re not much different than them, if I think about it too long.

Sighing, I stood from the small bench hewn into the side of the wall across from my tiny cot. The gate at the door was drawn down, trapping me, only allowing me to leave twice per day. And never without a watchful entourage of Huscarls.

Ravinica wanted to change the world. I admired her tenacity and grit, her desire for growth. I might have thought it naïve and hopeless, but I had learned not to doubt that gorgeous creature. I would be on her side through it all.

Was I angry at her for breaking the portal-ward to Alfheim? Yes. That anger simmered each day, however, and I did not let it grow into the same resentment I shared for the rest of her kind.

Shewasn’t the one trapping me here, or among the hopeless gang calling themselves the Lepers Who Leapt. All Ravinica had done wassaveme. If not for her, I’d be in a much worse position than I was currently in. My skin would have been flayed from my body.

How could one so fair and idealistic change people so flawed? Onbothsides. The loathing between the elves and humans went marrow-deep. It was an animosity steeped in history. Hatred borne from tomes and third-hand accounts—stories and tales of tragedy and betrayal.

On our side, the humans were the greedy ones for wanting to steal the Runesphere from our sacred homeland of Alfheim and use it for their own nefarious purposes, centuries ago.

On the human side, I imagined the elves were the greedy ones for keeping its power from them; for erecting the portal-wards keeping humans from the wisdom and knowledge of Alfheim.

It seemed impossible to rectify these age-old grievances. These were not merely rivalries or petty squabbles. An entirewarhad been fought over the fates of Lord Talasin and King Dannon, the joint discoverers of the Runesphere.

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