Shall we show ourselves?
It is the only way.
A shadowed figure emerged from between the opposing realms. A woman shrouded in a cloak of darkness. Her face hidden beneath a shroud.
“Who are you?” Ailsa asked.
The hood tipped up and the face was that of a woman with skin like moonlight. Her hair black as pitch and eyes sewn shut. The woman smiled at her, as if she couldseeAilsa. Truly see through the sealed flesh and into her very soul.
“You’re the blind crow,” she said. “The one that’s been following me.”
And you are the Last Daughter. We were trying to write your name and finish the binding of your power, but you interrupted our ceremony.
“Last Daughter?” She shook her head, disoriented. “What do you mean? This power is not mine to bind with.”
Do you think it is not yours because you were not born with it?
“I don’t understand—”
You are Ailsa of Drakame. The power inside you has been passed down between eons and creatures. It was once Heid, then Gullveig. Now it has passed to a mortal by the promise of your ancestor.
Ailsa took a retreating step back. “Why? What do I have to do with Gullveig?”
YouareGullveig. As Gullveig was Heid.
She shook her head more aggressively this time, her steps still recoiling from the figure. “I am Ailsa, no one else.”
Your family asked for help long ago, and now you must pay it back for the gift we gave them. Surely you know about the blessing. The Last Daughter will bind with the ancient power and keep it safe. Fate has chosen you to do this, Ailsa.
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “This is payback for the blessing? I must shoulder this burden and do what with it exactly?”
Keep it from Odin. He will destroy the world in his endless quest for knowledge.
“He only wants to bring Baldur back.”
The woman frowned.Odin will not stop with Baldur. A god with the power over fate is the most dangerous creature in all of creation, Ailsa. Jomeer tried to warn your father, but he would not listen, and he burned her like they always burn the witches. But the flames only burn our flesh, not our spirit. We still live on.
“I do not want this! I do not want to have this power. I just want to go back to my little clan and live what little years I have left in peace!”
Those are no longer your choices. If Odin gets his hands on the Tether—
“I don’t care about Odin!” Ailsa was screaming now, her small voice booming across time and space.
Be careful who you trust, the snake is coiling before it strikes, the wolf is sharpening its teeth. Learn the truth, Ailsa. The dark may appear to be afraid of the light, but it is the darkness that decides how far the light reaches. Seize your darkness and make the light tremble.
“You aren’t making any sense! I am not a witch!”
Neither were the last ones with your power, and yet they were burned all the same. Trust your heart, Ailsa, while you still have it. We will give you one more chance to accept the power and the fate tied to its responsibility. But we will not risk Odin getting his hands on you, the balance of the blessing in your blood, the curse on your breath will claim you before he does. When you are ready to complete the binding, finish the rune.The hooded figure turned its back to her.
“Wait!”
But the crow was gone. Fire and ice mixed in front of her and hissed a foul smoke in the air. It surrounded her form, thickened until she could not see.
She closed her eyes and let the darkness seize her, too tired to fight its appeal.
Claim the power. Break your curse, Last Daughter.
Seela arrived with the horses just moments after sunset, relieved to find Ailsa was still alive. She brought half a legion of the Light Army with her, and Vali wrapped Ailsa’s bare body with the remnants of her gown. He pulled her close to his chest once he mounted his steed, monitoring her pulse every second they traveled into the realm of the elves.