by D. N. Hoxa
Truth. He spoke, and my instincts said truth.
No.
“You lie.” It couldn’t be. Masters couldn’t just give up a title. Being a master wasn’t just a title! No, it couldn’t be. We’d come all this way for nothing?
“Which is why I’m going to do the next best thing and show you mercy by taking your life.”
“No!” No, damn it! This wasn’t it. “I won’t let you kill us.”
He raised his hands, and I raised mine to grab the spear that was calling my name. With it, I stood a chance. If I used it right, I could wound Kassian, I could get Sim and Millie and get the hell out of there fast.
“Don’t touch that!” Kassian shouted next, but that wasn’t what stopped me. Sim and Millie had sat up and were looking at us, eyes wide and mouths open in fear. They were alive and well. And they could get away while I distracted Kassian.
“If you touch it, you die,” the dragon god said. “Do you hear me? Do not touch the spear.”
I looked at Sim and our eyes met. For what it was worth, I was glad he’d taken Millie and me on this journey. I was glad I’d gotten to know him better. I was glad I could count on him to know what I was thinking, to understand my messages as I understood his.
Take her and go, I said in my mind, and prayed that he heard me.
Then, I smiled at Kassian. “Come and stop me then.”
I grabbed the spear.
Never in a billion years did it occur to me that the dragon god was speaking the truth.
Until the world exploded.
I breathed, and fire slid down my throat, turning me into liquid. A massive, invisible hand wrapped around my torso and pulled me up, nearly breaking me in half. My feet no longer touched the ground. My heart no longer beat. My eyes no longer saw anything but darkness. My head was turned backward as if gravity wanted it off my shoulders while the invisible hand pulled me toward the sky. Time no longer mattered. Seconds blurred to minutes, and minutes went on forever. My life was no longer my own. The blood coursing in my veins no longer belonged to me.
Then, the sky opened. Light, brighter than the sun, white, with streaks of blue, filled my eyes and my head, wiping it clean of memories. For an eternity, I was completely empty. Nothing existed except the light that came down from the endless sky and stopped on my body.
But the more it lost its brightness, the more I remembered. Who I was, where I came from, who I wanted to be. My bones no longer felt like they were about to be broken, and my head no longer felt like it was about to fall off me. I felt the air around me, tasted it on my tongue.
Whatever was holding me suspended above ground, suddenly let go. I fell but not for long. My feet touched the floor at the same time as the butt of the spear that was still in my hand. Something slithered deep inside my gut, sending waves of vibration throughout my body. My skin was too thin to contain them, so they slipped out of me and into the world. Thin, horizontal strings of white light detached from my chest violently, pressing me against the wall, and they shot forward, growing bigger, brighter as they went.
Kassian stood in front, and Millie and Sim right behind him. They all saw the light but didn’t have time to move before it hit them.
They flew up three feet in the air before falling down, and all the gold around us blew up, showering the room in yellow. The gates blew open, too, with a terrifying screech, and the ground shook as more grey rocks fell from the castle’s walls, letting in more light.
But none of that mattered. My eyes were stuck on the strings of light that had already left the castle, almost breaking it in the process, and they flew into the sky for a long time before they disappeared completely from my view.
The sound of clinking metal as the gold pieces settled on the floor of the room again took me out of my trance. My body gave and I fell to my knees just as Kassian sat up, pushing the gold that had fallen on him away. His eyes met mine, and I saw in them something I never thought I’d see in a thousand years: fear.
The world tilted and my mind shut down.
Seventeen
Millie’s voice guided me to consciousness.
“Come on, come on, wake up. Open your eyes, Morgan. Wake up,” she said, over and over again, until her voice was all I could hear in my head.
I did as she asked. I opened my eyes.
A dream. Just a stupid, meaningless dream.
“There you are,” Millie said, smiling despite her swollen, red eyes. She’d cried.
A little strength returned to my body, and holding onto her hand, I pulled myself up. Sim was sitting on the floor by my other side, and Kassian stood a few feet ahead, his hand covering his mouth as he looked down at me. Confused, concerned…angry?
I was going to ask what happened, but then I thought to look at the room. Gold everywhere, no longer in piles to the sides of the room. The gates were closed, but there were a lot more holes in the walls now, and I could even see a couple of broken rocks on the floor.
It wasn’t a dream. Whatever that was, it had really happened. I looked down to search for the spear, but it wasn’t there. Instead, another was on the floor, right next to my thigh. This one looked nothing like the plain, light wooden spear I’d taken from the wall. This one’s body was made out of cherry-colored, polished wood. Thin strings were engraved all around it, too many to count, right below the spearhead that looked like stainless steel, and a couple inches from the butt of it.
“How are you feeling?” Millie asked. I wanted to laugh.
“What the hell happened?” My voice sounded hoarse, like I’d slept for hours, but I didn’t feel like I’d rested. And it was still daylight outside.
But Millie couldn’t answer me. Neither could Sim. They both looked at Kassian, and I did, too. Maybe he could explain what the hell that was.
“You touched the spear,” he said. Definitely angry.
“No shit,” I said despite my better judgment. He was still the guy who could throw magic with his hands and cause me more pain than any weapon.
“I told you not to touch it,” he accused.
“And I touched it anyway.” What the hell did he want me to say? I gathered some strength to stand up because I didn’t want to talk to him sitting while he stood. It made me feel a bit more in control, which was a total lie, but still. “What the hell was that thing? And where is it?”
I couldn’t see it anywhere, but I’d felt it in my hand when whatever happened was over.
This time, Sim pointed his finger at the cherry wood spear.
“No, that’s not it. It was a different spear.” I’d seen it. I’d touched it. It was definitely not this.
“That’s a weapon of the Valkyries,” Kassian said, pulling my eyes to his. “That and the others on the wall, made by the hands of the Sons of Ivaldi themselves.”
I’d heard about the Sons of Ivaldi. If I remembered correctly, they were dwarves, and they went extinct a long time ago.
“And?” I pushed when it didn’t look like he was planning to talk soon.
A storm began in his green eyes, and he clenched his jaws, as if to stop himself from coming at me. God, I hoped he didn’t. I’d fall on my ass if he so much as blew my way.
“They lost their power after Ragnarok. They refused to fight for the Valkyries upon Odin’s death,” Kassian continued. “But no other living creature, except a god, can touch them and live.” What a story.
“Well, at least now you know that’s bullshit. I’m still alive,” I said. For now, I was still breathing. I’d continue to breathe if the dragon god didn’t lose it and grow scales on his skin again.
He squinted his eyes at me again, as if he was trying to figure something out, and then took a step toward me. I instinctively fell back. He smiled. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“And I’m not going to trust you.” I might be a fool but not that much. “Can you just tell me what the hell that was? From a distance?” The farther away from us he stayed, the better I’d feel, but he didn’t bother to move b
ack.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“My name is Morgan,” I said in a rush.
“Well, Morgan, that was the spear coming back to life. A spear of the Valkyries revived in your hand—and it didn’t kill you.”
“Of course it didn’t. It’s just a spear.” He couldn’t expect me to believe that it really was a spear of the Valkyries, could he? I’d seen the four Valkyries in the mining site, and neither of them had had any weapons—or clothes, for that matter. Only the old, dirty capes.
“On the contrary. It’s the only spear of Valkyries left in the world,” he insisted. “After Ragnarok, the remaining Valkyries put them here themselves, and I assure you, nobody else can touch them.”
Again. “Bullshit. Millie, go ahead and grab that wooden sword.” I’d show him that his stories were just fiction, not real.
“You touch it, you die,” said Kassian.
Millie fell back. “I’ll just stay here if you don’t mind.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Millie. He said the same thing to me!” She’d been awake to hear Kassian warning me that I’d die if I touched the spear, and I was still alive.
But she shook her head. She was too afraid. So I turned to Sim. “Sim, you can—” He didn’t even let me finish.
“No, thank you. I’ll keep my hands to myself for now.”
Well, fuck.
“You touch it.” I pointed my finger at Kassian.
He smiled again. “No.”
Cowards, all of them. I stepped back and walked over to the stupid wooden weapons on the wall. I’d lie if I said I wasn’t afraid, but I grabbed the wooden sword anyway, just to prove a fucking point. Nothing happened. So I grabbed the bow and then the arrow.
“See?” I said, smiling because nothing had knocked me out yet. I was right. They were delusional.
“You’ve already survived one. The others won’t kill you.” Kassian shook his head in wonder. “Which is beyond me.” He looked at me like I was the freak in the room, not him.
“What’s beyond you?” I went back to my place, but I didn’t get closer to him than was necessary. I still wanted to make it out of there in one piece.
“It’s just…it’s impossible.” He shrugged, his eyes scrolling up and down my body, which made me very uncomfortable. “It’s impossible. You’re weak. You’re impulsive. You don’t think before you speak. It just can’t be.”
“You do know how to make a woman feel special,” I said through gritted teeth. “What can’t be?” I was no longer afraid of him. My anger had impaired my judgment completely.
“Only Valkyries and gods can touch the weapons of Valkyries, and they no longer respond to the ones they were created for.” He waved at the weapons on the wall.
I laughed. “So they were right when they said that you were mad. You need help, my friend.” Because what he was saying was so absurd, I refused to even try to understand it.
“The stories of the Oracles always said that the gods would come back to us through humans,” Sim said in a whisper. I turned to look at him. What the hell was his problem?
“We never thought it would be quite that literal, but now…” Kassian waved his hands at me.
“Do you even hear yourself? I’m a human. Human! I’m not a fucking god, you assholes!”
“I don’t think you’re a god, either,” Kassian said. A sigh of relief.There. He had some sense in his gorgeous head. “Only half.”
My jaw fell all the way to the floor.
“Think about it, Morgan. What happened when you touched the spear?” said Sim. God, how I wished I could kick his ass right now.
“I don’t know what happened. That’s what I wanted to find out, but I don’t anymore.” I turned to Kassian. “If you can’t take us home, then you’re going to tell us how to find one of the other masters.” It was the least he could do.
“You won’t need to find the masters. They’re probably on their way to find you here as we speak,” he said, half amused, half afraid. “The power that the spear released through you shook the whole world. If they felt even a fraction of what I felt, they’re on their way.” And he sounded damn sure of it, too.
Shit. “Well, good. Good.” Not good. I was in no way prepared to meet another master. I was too weak, too afraid, too unfocused.
“We need to leave,” Sim said, looking down at the spear. “We need to leave, right now.”
“No,” Millie said. “If the masters are on their way, we’ll wait for them.”
“You’ll die,” Sim said angrily. Damn him, but he was right. I felt it in my bones.
“How else are we going to get home? They’re the only chance we’ve got,” I reminded him.
“I’m done trying to run away from people who want to kill me for no reason,” said Millie, her voice shaking. “We’re waiting for the masters, and then we either die or we go home.”
“I agree,” I said, though my throat hurt to let out the words. But the truth was, I was tired of running, too. “I’m exhausted, too.”
“You’re not focusing on what’s important,” Kassian said, almost like he was offended.
“There’s nothing more important to us than getting home. You wouldn’t understand.” I didn’t expect him to. He already was in his home.
But he pointed at the spear. “That spear came back to life a thousand years after death, and it came back to your touch. This is only the beginning, Morgan. Whether you like it or not, you’re tied to it. You’re tied to our world.”
Screw that. “I’m not tied to anything.”
“The spear chose you for a reason. It gave you magic for a reason that I don’t understand, but it did.” This time, when he walked toward me, I didn’t move back. He was just an angry, mentally unstable, former master, that’s all.
“It didn’t give me shit. I feel just fine.” I felt about ready to fall on my ass, but he didn’t need to know that.
Finally, he stopped in front of me, too close for my liking. I could see every line of his face, the satin-looking texture of his skin, every curl of his black beard, every shade of green in his eyes.
“You’re brimming with magic,” he whispered. His breath blew on my face, and it tasted sweet. His smile made my stomach tie in a thousand knots. “You’re full of it. I can feel it on you.”
A hand fell on my shoulder. I thought it was him at first, but it was Sim. And he let out a loud breath before pulling his hand away.
“He’s right,” Sim whispered, a dumbfounded smile on his face.
I turned to Kassian. I didn’t want to step away, but damn it, he was making it really hard to breathe. “Whatever sick game you think you’re playing, stop it,” I warned.
“I’m not playing,” he finally said, and his eyes moved down to my lips for a fraction of a second before he stepped back. Thank God. I could breathe again. “Whether you want to hear it or not, that spear chose you. You’re magic, Morgan. You’re the closest thing to a god the worlds have seen in a thousand years.”
My muscles clenched then let go of me. I held onto Millie’s hand to keep from falling.
My mind, my instincts insisted that what Kassian said was true, which was ridiculous. Magic, gods—it was all too ridiculous.
“But I can’t be a god.” It wasn’t possible. It made no sense whatsoever. “I’m just a girl. I’m just Morgan Caine.”
“It doesn’t matter, Morgan,” Millie whispered, squeezing my hand. “The masters will be here soon. We’ll be home by sundown.”
“You don’t need the masters,” Kassian said. “You have more than enough magic to cross between worlds.”
“Stop it!” I meant to sound angry, but I just sounded desperate.
“Pick up the spear and show it the way.”
“Please, just stop,” I begged, but he wouldn’t listen.
“Pick it up. Show it where you want to go. See for yourself.”
He was deliberately torturing me with this because he knew how desperate I was to go hom
e. He was using this because he knew I’d have no choice but to try.
“Do it, Morgan,” Sim demanded. “Pick up the spear.”
I shook my head. They had no right to do this to me.
“Morgan, please. Just do it,” Millie said.
“You can’t be serious. He’s lying!” How could they turn their backs on me so quickly?
But I knew how. The promise of going back home was everything.
“You’ll see for yourself,” Kassian repeated. I hated him so much in those moments, I wished he’d just disappear out of existence.
Reluctantly, I leaned down and grabbed the stupid spear. It wasn’t the same one that I’d first touched, but if they were playing games with me now, I’d better just get it over with.
I pulled myself up without falling by some miracle. The body of the spear was cold to the touch, like it had been standing in a fucking freezer. My fingers turned numb.
“Just show it the way,” Kassian whispered.
Just show it the way, like it could understand me. But the hope in Millie’s and Sim’s eyes was too much. I had to do it, even if it was just to indulge them. And if there was even a small chance that Kassian was telling the truth…
I closed my eyes and pictured home. The streets of New York City.The two-story building where I grew up. Charles’s training center and our small apartment on the second floor. The coffee shop on the corner of the street and the bookstore on the other side of the center. Twilight—my favorite time of the day, when the skies turned orange and purple and you felt victorious for having lived through another day.
Tears slipped from my eyes. It had been so long since I’d allowed myself to think about home in such detail. I could almost smell fresh jerky—Charles’s favorite food. I could almost hear Queen blasting through the speakers as Charles cooked us dinner. Everything felt right for the first time in forever.
When I opened my eyes, only a room full of gold greeted me. A scream escaped my lips. The dragon god deserved to die just for making me believe, even if it was for a second, that I could really make it back home. It just wasn’t possible, and I was going to have to accept that if I wanted to live.