Page 45 of Rune

“He promised Elain he would. He, Elain, and Leif had planned this whole adventure together on Earth, visiting every country and sailing every sea. She had gone down early to scope it out, and her brothers found her dead a week later. Leif refuses to go back to Earth now, but it’s killing Ve. He feels like they are betraying her memory by giving up on the dream. Like if he doesn’t go, she died for nothing.”

I stared past Liv to Ve, feeling like I was seeing him for the first time.

“What are you guys talking about?” he yelled across the distance. At the other side of the arena, Leif, Bjorn, and Ingra were throwing spears at targets with perfect accuracy, but Ve stayed between the two groups with his eyes locked on us.

I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for him to watch me cling to an axe everywhere I went like it was my most treasured possession, when my people had used one to slay his sister. He’d even asked me to leave my weapons behind last night, and I’d refused.

“Nothing,” Liv shouted back. Her voice dropped again. “Don’t tell him I told you about Elain. He’s sensitive about it.”

“I won’t,” I promised.

“Now he has something to stay for though,” Liv said, offering a hand to help me up. I flashed a confused look at her, and she grinned. “You.”

Guilt crushed me. I wasn’t helping Ve stay. I was helping him leave. I clamped my mouth shut and nodded, cleaning the dirt off the head of the axe.

Liv was blind to my discomfort as she went on. “I’m glad you’re here. I haven’t seen him happy in a long time.”

When the sun had set and the air had cooled, we gathered in the stands overlooking the arena now bathed in moonlight. It looked different at night. Less hopeless and more haunting. Seats glinted with a silvery shine, the dirt was coated in black darkness, and only the heads of weapons could be seen, peeking out from their shadows to remind us they were still there. It was like looking at a nightmare instead of living in it. Reminding me what was about to happen tomorrow.

“The mortals will be here tomorrow,” Leif said, as if reading my thoughts. He’d left for a pitcher of liquid so dark red, it could be purple, and was now pouring it into six chalices. The cups were made of stone, with tops chiseled like a wolf’s mouth, opened wide to hold the drink, and bottoms like their claws. “And then it’s the most glorious week of the year.”

“What will happen?” I asked as he passed a chalice to me. It was large enough I had to hold it with both hands.

Ve sat beside me, resting his feet on the seats in front of us. He’d strung his hair back, and his expression fell soft like night erased all his worries. “First, we meet the mortals. The next two days are one-on-one combats until half are eliminated. After that they are let loose in Asgard.” He took a sip, leaving me confused.

“Let loose?” The thought of ten desperate mortals roaming the streets of the city was not a pleasant one.

“The city is emptied, of course,” Ve said. “At least the streets. We watch from above the rooftops as the remaining ten fight it out until the last one is standing.”

“How long does that take?”

“By the end of the day, only one lives. They are honored with a banquet, then released with all our blessings. They return to a promising life.”

I took a sip for no reason other than to have the chalice cover my face so they couldn’t see my thoughts. Those were my people who I would watch bleed for entertainment. I’d see them die and could do nothing to help them without exposing myself. I looked over the vast arena and thought of how freely I’d been training there today, when mortals would die there tomorrow. They’d bleed in the same place where I had laughed, and I’d watch. It was sickening.

Ve placed a hand on my knee. “You won’t know them.”

“I might,” I responded. “It could be someone from my clan.”

“There are thousands of clans. It’s unlikely.”

I shifted. He frowned. “Ruin, you don’t belong amongst them anymore. They fight to honor you.”

“I don’t want that.”

“Remind me, did they treat you well there?” He angled to see me better, as those around us pretended to be very busy with their drinks. “Were you loved amongst them? Do you think any of them would care if you were the mortal sent here to fight for your gods, or would they be grateful it was you they lost and not Tova?”

His words were true, but it hurt to hear them.

I set my jaw.

He dropped to his knees before me and gathered my hands in his. At the tender gesture, everything in me froze. His expression was soft ashe soaked in the look of me, and I concentrated on the warmth in his hands. “I don’t say that to hurt you. To us, you are everything. I don’t want you to forget who disregarded you, and who would turn over the whole world to keep you safe.”

By the tone in his voice, he was the one who would turn over the whole world to keep me safe.

He was right though—the Champion Games didn’t concern me. I had my own struggles to fix. But I would not enjoy the next few days. “I’d rather not watch, all the same.”

“You won’t have to.” He hesitated. “Though, we are going to be presented there.”

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