She looked down on him from the steps she had ascended in the time he gave her to escape. He gained no ground with the Great Wolf, thick saliva strung between his teeth as he snapped his jaws and kept Vali on the defensive. The eagles noticed the elfin’s struggle and a group of them dove toward the wolf, tearing at his hide until the beast was writhing against their talons and thrashing his massive head in an attempt to reach them. Vali fled while the beast was distracted, not breaking his stride until he met her on the landing.
“Let’s go, while they're preoccupied.” Without stalling he snatched her upper arm and pulled her back into the castle, but a force wrapped around her ankles and yanked her back, out of his hand. Ailsa hit the floor with the slap of her hands against stone, dragged by her ankles down the stairs. The planes of her face hit the jagged edges of each step. Lightning struck down from the sky and rubble rained in front of her face, concealing Vali from sight.
Nerissa flipped her on her back as she clawed against the magic pulling her back into the courtyard. She heard Vali’s voice, but it seemed far off, getting smaller as if he were speaking through a wall. “I should kill you for what you’ve done to my witches!” she shouted, looming over Ailsa. With the flick of the witch’s fingers, Ailsa felt the air coaxed from her chest. “I showed you mercy, I gave you power over fate and helped you save your lover, and this is how you thank me? No, Ailsa. You will pay for this, even if we must lose our collateral in you.”
Ailsa’s vision mottled. A heavy weight pushed down on her chest, even as she used all her effort to take a breath. She swung at the witch above her with the dagger still in her fist, but the move was clumsy, and Nerissa barely moved aside to dodge it.
This was it. This was how she would die, at the hands of a vengeful witch with herFraendifar from her touch. She wondered if Vali could feel the burning ache in his chest as well, if the blood in his eyes blurred everything out of focus, if he felt the end.
But the enchantment was suddenly broken. Ailsa took a gasping breath of air and discovered a wolf with its jaws around Nerissa’s throat, the witch screaming in pain as poison from its teeth slipped into her bloodstream. The wolf tore something from the witch’s throat, looking up at Ailsa with crimson saliva dripping from its jowls. But that frosted gaze she knew anywhere.
“Ivor,” she whispered in shock. Why would she save her now, after all the wolf had brought her through? But Ivor only snarled, baring her teeth at her before she barked. The sound was so menacing it had Ailsa scrambling to her feet.
“Thank you,” she said, before turning on a heel back up the stairs where Vali was shifting through the defaced mountain rubble. He cleared a boulder from the path with his magic, and his figure came into view. Those golden eyes glowed like a beacon against the ash smeared across his cheeks and dusting his matted hair.
They made it through the doors and ducked inside the castle, where an unsettling quiet swallowed the hammering pulse in her ears. Vali’s hand was tight around her own, pulling her down deeper into the castle. The floor sullied by a trail of blood.
“Where are we going?” she asked breathlessly. Her heart demanded they slow down, but her fear pushed her beyond the limits of her body.
“We need to get out of Alfheim,” he only said.
“But how?”
He had no answer, and Ailsa understood. It didn’t matter how, only that it must be done. There were one too many gods in this realm looking for her. With the runes still marking her skin, she must still be hidden from Odin, and hopefully from the Volva and Fenrir as well. Perhaps she could mark Vali similarly and hide them both from prying eyes.
They burst through the doors leading to a great hall, one empty of furnishings but not unoccupied. Lines of elves dressed in black armor, glistening like wet tar against the lit chandelier hanging above, poised ready to attack. The front lines joined shields, the back cocked arrows. The stretching of their strings the only sound in the room.
“Dark Elves,” Vali whispered. He held up his hands in surrender, stepping in front of her.
“Lord Vali,” one man broke the front line to approach him. Vali straightened at the formality, like he had forgotten he was heir of this realm. The soldier approached them with a slight nod of his head in respect. “There were rumors of Fenrir hiding in the mountains, but we had no idea the wolven were working with the witches. Only today did the Great Wolf show himself after Frey left for the Light Palace.”
“Are you saying the wolven were behind our war?” Vali asked.
The soldier nodded. Ailsa admired the intricate design carved into the metal of his helm, covering a blanket of scarlet hair. “They used us. Took advantage of the animosity between the Dark and the Light Elves to distract us from Fenrir hiding somewhere near the well. We knew using sedir wasn’t the reason our realm was dying, but we didn’t have any other explanation to prove otherwise.” His eyes shifted over Vali. “But I think you have seen the truth with your own eyes.”
Vali nodded just as a shudder rocked through the palace, sending a sheen of dust trailing from the high ceiling. Ailsa squeezed his arm and said, “As grateful as I am this civil dispute between your people is resolving, we kind of pissed off half a coven of Volva. Can we get out of here now?”
The soldier placed a hand on his pommel and gave her a soft smile. “Our swords and sedir are yours, Lady. We can fight them off so you can get to the Light Palace.”
“No, the Aesir are probably still there. I need to take her to Vanaheim; it is the only place safe for her,” Vali briefly explained, pointing out the runes marking her skin and the ones that had disappeared from his own. The only expression the soldier disclosed was the growing whites of his eyes.
“We can make you a portal to Vanaheim.”
Ailsa startled, slipping a gasp. “You can do that?”
His smile widened, sensing she was impressed. “Have you ever seen the Volva traveling by foot across the tree, Lady? How else would they travel once summoned? Yes, sedir allows you to travel great distances, but a portal all the way to the Lower Roots will take many of us. We must start now.”
He turned back to his men and gathered a few of them on the dais where Vali and Ailsa were waiting. She turned to her elfin. “But what about Seela? And your mother. Do you feel safe leaving them all behind with the Aesir behind their walls and now Fenrir at their doorstep?”
He shook his head and held her closer. His chalky skin was rough against her cheek, warm in all the places she was cold. “I will make sure we send word of what happened here to Seela and my mother. Seela may venture after us or stay to defend her queen. Either way, it is her choice.” His fingers lifted her chin to angle her face toward his. “We will return, Ailsa, I vow this. I will not let my realm fall to Fenrir.”
“But for now?” she asked.
He sighed and lowered his face to graze her lips, pulling back only a breath to speak against her mouth. “For now, I will take you to Njord to keep you safe. He knew Gullveig and perhaps he can help you learn more with this power you have claimed. Though, you seem to have a good grasp on it already.”
She pressed her lips together to hold back a choking sound. “I’m sorry, Vali.”
“For what?”