Page 39 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

“You—”

Kolfinna ignored Magni and said, “I got the rubies! Take me to the mast!”

Blár’s lips twisted and even with all the chaos surrounding them and the darkened skies enveloping them, she could see the flash of annoyance in his icy gaze. He probably didn’t like being ordered around, she realized, but he surprised her by giving a small nod.

Kolfinna ran straight for the mast once more. This time, with Blár fighting off the creatures beside her, it was easier. She kicked and shoved as many as she could, but dodging them was faster. Unfortunately, the thicket of monsters was only increasing.

She almost ran headfirst into the mast. She scanned the wooden mast for the inscription and quickly shoved one of the rubies into the holes. It slid in perfectly. The rain pelted down on her hard and she almost dropped the second ruby before lodging it into place beside its companion.

Thunder slammed onto the ship and it rocked violently from side to side. Kolfinna wrapped her arms around the mast and buried her face into it as the ship rocked faster and faster until everything blurred. It felt like she was plucked off the ship and flung across the sea. The wind swallowed her scream.

Finally, she hit the floor, gasping. Her eyes adjusted and she inhaled sharply, feeling as though her chest would crack open. She blinked against the blinding light, so different than the stormy dark sky. And that’s when she realized she was in that room again, the room with the ship statue—where all of it began.

10

All the tensionleft Kolfinna’s body and she was like a puddle on the floor. And then the pain hit. Her arm, shoulder, back, and the palms of her hands screamed in agony. She chewed the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. Her entire body quivered and her teeth chattered against the biting cold. Her bones were weak, her flesh was half frozen, and she was minutes away from curling into a ball and sobbing once the shock wore off.

But she wasn’t the only one in pain and at least she wasn’t dead. About a dozen of their party was sprawled on the floor, groaning and shivering and bleeding. They had started with two dozen men, and now that number was cut in half.

“W-What was that?” someone cried.

Mímir’s hands shook as he wiped the blood from his face. “I don’t know. I-I never read anything about—well, whateverthatwas.”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.” Truda’s teeth clicked together and she tried snapping, but her fingers were too stiff to make asnap. “W-Who knows how to do fire magic? We could really use it right about now.”

Kolfinna realized with a start that their magic was back. The familiar thrum of her mana nuzzled deep inside her and she sighed in relief. At least that hadn’t been taken away for good. But one thing was clear—this castle was dangerous. For all of them. What good were they if they couldn’t use their magic?

She quickly scanned the party, looking for Eyfura, but didn’t find her familiar face. Kolfinna’s heart sank and she recalled the screaming from the ship, the bodies being torn to pieces, and the creatures attacking mercilessly. The back of her eyes stung; had Eyfura died like that? She bottled the feeling deep inside and tamped it down for a later date, when she was ready to face her emotions.

“We need to treat everyone’s injuries,” Mímir said, eyeing the crowd. He frowned and pointed to each member, seemingly counting to himself. Before redoing the count again. And again. Kolfinna followed his gaze; there were only fourteen that survived.

Mímir cleared his throat and tried to smile encouragingly, but it came out forced. “All those who are able to, please help each other with the wounds.”

Kolfinna scanned the crowd once more, trying to see who had made it. Unsurprisingly, Blár was one of the surviving people. And another among the surviving people was Magni, who was shrugging off his soaked cape. His dark hair was matted against his slick forehead. Kolfinna’s blood suddenly boiled.That weasel.

Earlier, in the capital, she had been scared to face him and the other Royal Guards, but her confidence was slowly renewing itself. She was on the same level as them. Definitely not at the same level as Blár, but she was just as worthy, just as strong, to be standing with everyone here.

And if she wanted to fight—she could.

She was in front of him in a split second. Mana pulsed beneath her fingers and she shoved him as hard as she could. He stumbled back. She raised her hands and the stones beneath his feet rumbled. In seconds, they snapped off the floor and slammed into his chest. The force of the stones hurtled him backward and she manipulated the stones to attack him until he was pinned to the wall by a mountain of stones. For extra measure, she forced the wall to wrap him in a tight embrace, both of his hands and feet pinned to it.Swords that had been hanging on the wall clattered to the floor in a heap, some of them breaking with the impact.

“What were you thinking?” Kolfinna snarled, her back throbbing with the memory of the way he stepped on her as if squashing a bug.

“Kolfinna!” Mímir shouted, but she had her focus on Magni, who was trying to rip the stones off him.

Fire sputtered at Magni’s fingers, so she enclosed his fists with stone. Her eyes blazed. “You miserable little snob!” she snapped, tightening her grip on him. “You almost killed me!”

From her peripheral vision, Blár raised an eyebrow.Miserable little snob. That had been his insult back when Magni stomped on her back. Normally, she would’ve shied away from anything to do with Blár, but she was too blinded to care for any of that. She shook with rage as the scene replayed in her mind. He had tried to kill her and, in the process, almost killed them all.

Mímir grabbed her injured shoulder and pulled at her painfully. “Kolfinna! Stop this!”

“Get off me!” She shook his hand off and pointed at Magni. “That guy tried to kill me! I was trying to save all of us and he attacked me!”

“Kolfinna, let him go.” Mímir’s jaw tightened. “We can talk about this peacefully—”

“Screw that!” She wanted to rip Magni to pieces.How dare he?

“Kolfinna!”

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