Page 94 of Rune

“This is how we do it. We have the high ground, and we have two more fighters than they know. We draw them here and we fight.”

Without considering further, Tova made quick work of hoisting herself on top of the wall to stand on her feet and shout into the darkening night. “Here I am!” There was no holding back in her tone. She spread her arms wide. “You want to kill me? Come and try!”

That was exactly what I was worried they would do, but the damage was done now. All would have heard her voice carry down to the sea, and if they looked for a target, she was a perfect one. She sat herself down on the top of the wall, and waited. After a few beats, she dropped to her belly and eased back down.

“I saw movement,” she said, now back where the gods could not see.

Trig pursed his lips tight. “Spread out along the wall, keeping to the shadows. They will either enter through that gate, or by climbing this wall. My guess is the gate. When they come, you draw them to us, and let us fight together.”

Tova nodded, but Trig placed his hands on her cheeks. “Together,” he whispered. “I do not need you to save me. We fight together.”

I looked away at the intimacy of his tone. She whispered something, and it must have satisfied him enough because he let her go. “Good.” His gaze darted along the wall. “Spread out.”

He took off south, the direction the attack would most likely start, leaving us together in the quiet of the still garden.

Tova glanced to me. “If you die today, I’ll never forgive you.”

“If I die today, I will also never forgive you.” When I got a small smile, I backed into the wall. “Now go on, before someone sees you.”

She shifted into the shadows like a vapor that used darkness as a doorway, until I couldn’t hear so much as a small step. I started a low trace of the garden, pinpointing which places one might enter, and which paths they might take. If they came through the gate, we’d have the best chance. If they came over the wall and saw us, they could take us out one by one.

As the minutes went on, the darkness settled in further and further, until the number of paths a person could take became the whole garden, because we couldn’t see a thing. Tonight would depend more on our hearing than our sight, and that unnerved me. I hadn’t yet decided if the night was my friend or foe.

A feeling rose like a mist, settling over me until my senses prickled. I strained to see into the night, but it was no use. Still, the feelingwouldn’t go away, and it was distinct. I’d bet anything that Ve had entered the city, and was somewhere nearby.

Half my mind told me to leave and find him, to drag him back here safely. But I stayed. Unlike me, he really was a god, and he wouldn’t fall so easily. Still, we had abandoned all caution at this point. If enough of us were spotted, a simple headcount would reveal there were ineligible players in the game. Already Trig was relying heavily on his hiding position to keep him safe, for he’d ventured far into the zone that Odin could clearly see.

We were all taking great risks tonight for the ones we loved. I didn’t want to think of how poorly this might go.

“You and Ve seemed close today.” The voice came alarmingly close to my ear.

I almost leapt from my place. I whirled, searching through the dark to find Tova until her hand met mine. “I never left,” she whispered.

“You always were the worst at following direction,” I muttered back.

“This isn’t about me. Ve? Did you tell him how you feel?”

I was grateful she couldn’t see the foolish grin on my cheeks. “Actually, he told me.”

Tova wasn’t one to squeal, but she tightened her grip on my hand. “And?”

My sigh came out far more dreamy than I meant it to. “And I happen to be very taken with him.”

“Taken with him.” She chuckled. “Admit it, you think he’s the most gorgeous thing to walk the lands.”

I’d never say something so ridiculous, but that might be true. When I didn’t give a reply, she laughed again. “It’s all working out then.”

“Minus three people trying to kill us this very moment, yes.”

She swatted me. “We will be fine.”

I wished for her confidence. I suspected she wished for some too, and only said such a thing to help me find it. Either way, the unspoken truth of today was in the air like a storm cloud that devoured every ounce of light: there could be no sure promises made.

Finally something moved outside the gate. I thanked the gods.

“Let them come to us,” I reminded Tova, but if she was there to hear it, she made no indication.

A thin, wisp of a form took shape outside the gate, sawing through the binds. It took only a few seconds, as we’d predicted, but it was enough time they couldn’t slip in undetected. They tried, though. They opened the gate slowly to be sure the hinges didn’t betray them, and slid in, immediately getting low. There, they crouched, surveying the garden.

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