by S. T. Bende
“I’d propose Finna and Jande do ground ops.” I glanced at my friends. “Since you’re not combat trained, I don’t want to put you in the field unless we have to. And besides, you have access to crystals that do things we can’t.”
“What are you thinking?” Finna tilted her head.
“Remember that stone that broke Bob’s curse? Un-gargoyled him?”
“Diamond aventurine. What about it?” Jande asked.
“Well, since nobody’s been able to track the missing Opprør, I’m wondering if there’s some kind of protection around them. Like an energetic blocker that’s keeping us from seeing them. Or sensing them. Or whatever the trackers have tried so far.” I tapped my finger to my jaw. “There has to be a reason they can’t be found.”
“And maybe there’s a crystal that can break whatever block’s in place.” Finna’s eyes sparkled. “We’re on it. We’ll handle communications between the teams, identify potential blocks, and procure the crystal remedies.”
“Nice.” Jande nodded in agreement.
“I’m assuming we’ll be taking a search area.” Viggo arched a brow at me.
“We’ll take the farthest regions, since we’ve got the wings.” I made another note on my pad. “All this is good.”
“What can I do?” Elin asked.
I turned to face her. “Will you take ground ops with Finna and Jande, but also work with Signy? She and Larkin have access to information we don’t, since they’re Protektors. They may be able to pinpoint something in their briefings or interactions with the warriors that’s just suspicious enough to give us a lead.”
“On it.” Elin took another hit of her cocoa. “The Kongelig are stupid. I’m sure they’ve slipped up somewhere.”
“Let’s hope so.” I set my data pad on the desk. “If we don’t get those senators back, things are going to keep getting worse.”
“We’ll find them,” Viggo vowed. “We’ve done the impossible before, with fewer members. Between the eight of us, we’re a force to be reckoned with.”
“A faerie force.” Jande waggled his brows at Viggo’s wings.
Oh, honestly.
“So, it’s settled,” I said. “We’ll take off tomorrow, and—”
“Um . . .” Jande raised his hand again. “Did you forget about the Solstice Dance?”
“Viggo and I are out.” I shook my head. “If we’re tackling the remote regions, it’ll take us a while to get there. I don’t want to waste any time.”
“Dancing’s not a waste of time,” Jande muttered.
Ondyr and Zara exchanged a nod.
“Zara and I are out, too,” Ondyr chimed in. “I don’t want to go back to living in a dystopia. Svartalfheim was bad enough.”
“Fine. We’ll work through the dance.” Jande sat to point his finger at me. “But you owe me, Aura Nilssen. When you’re queen, you’d better throw the biggest coronation ball this realm’s ever seen. And you’d better have that seamstress of yours make me an outfit that’s to die for.”
“I don’t want a—” I clamped my lips together as Ondyr shot me a death glare.
“I won’t hear the end of it,” he muttered.
Seriously?
“Oh . . . fine. Jande, I’ll throw you a ball. A small one,” I added as his face lit up.
“You will not regret it,” he trilled.
I already am.
I sighed. “I’ll prepare an operations breakdown and have copies ready for everyone by morning. Meet here tomorrow at eight a.m., and we’ll go over any questions before the ground teams take off.”
“Let me and Elin prepare that breakdown.” Finna placed a hand on my arm. “You have enough on your plate.”
“But you don’t know all of the—”
“I’ll help them,” Viggo said. “You’re doing that weird twitching thing with your jaw again that usually means you’ve got massive sleep deprivation. And if I’m traveling with you for an indeterminate period, I’d rather you not be off your rocker.”
I crossed my arms. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you need to take a nap,” Viggo said. “The three of us will get this drafted while you sleep, and when it’s done, we can all go somewhere relaxing. Like the river.”
“Or the waterfall.” Ondyr pushed himself off the chair and stretched. “If we only get one day of summer, we’d better live it up. Swimming, anyone?”
“I’m in.” Zara stood. “Wynter?”
“Why not?” Wynter slid to her feet. “Meet you in the quad in an hour?”
“Good. That’ll give me time to shower.” Zara chuckled. “When I got Aura’s ‘My room, now!’ message, I figured I’d be in for it if it took my time.”
“I waited until six a.m.” How many times did I have to say it?
“And that’s what’ll make you a great queen,” Viggo said. “But as a classmate . . . on the first weekend of vacation . . .”
“Get out of here.” I rolled my eyes.
“Bring lots of sunscreen, Wynter. You’re going to need it.” Jande held his sun-kissed arm against Wynter’s chalky one.
Ondyr nudged Jande forward. “You’ve got one day of summer vacation. Do you really want to waste it teasing the Bridger?”
Wynter shrugged. “He can tease me all he wants. I’ll just sic a water spirit on him.”
Jande froze. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” Wynter arched one brow. When Jande scurried from the room, she shot Ondyr a playful wink. “Feel free to use that one if you ever need to motivate him.”
Ondyr laughed. “Duly noted.”
“Though if you do need any, I’ve got enough sunscreen for the both of us.” Zara followed Wynter and Ondyr out of the door. As she walked, she tugged her crimson curls into a loose ponytail. “Redhead problems.”
“Is that why you’re always so angry in the training ring? Sunburn-phobia?” Ondyr shot over his shoulder.
“Nope, that’s because it’s too easy to kick your butt,” Zara fired. “I thought a guy from Svartalfheim would make a tougher training partner.”
Ondyr’s easy laughter echoed from the hallway.
Once the door clicked shut, I turned to Viggo, Elin, and Finna. “You guys sure you’re up to writing the breakdown?”
“We’ll have it done by lunchtime,” Finna promised.
“Now go to sleep,” Elin ordered. “And for the love of Frigga, please never call a six a.m. meeting again.”
“The fate of the realm is literally in our hands,” I reminded her.
“And the fate of my sanity is literally in yours. No more early meetings.” With that, Elin shoved me toward my bed. She grabbed her data pad and waved Finna and Viggo toward the door. “Let’s go, you guys. The sooner we get this written, the sooner we can go relax—for one day.”
“Fate of the realm!” I called as the door clicked closed. With a rueful smile, I dropped my head onto my pillow and stared at the ceiling. Elin had my back. She always had.
Now we just had to make sure that we had Alfheim’s.
Chapter 9
THE NEXT MORNING, MY team met in the academy’s courtyard. Signy stood beside Ondyr and Zara, both of whom were bent over stretching. Elin, Finna, and Wynter scrolled through their respective data pads. And Jande was shifting contents between two packs, his tanned arms glinting in the early morning sun.
“Fine. I’ll pull the amethyst, but I’m packing you malachite, whether you want it or not.” Jande looked up from one of the bags. “It’s a protection stone, and it will shatter if danger is nearby so I strongly advise that you keep it somewhere you can check to see if it’s in one piece.”
“We don’t want any more weight than necessary,” Ondyr said calmly. “And stones are—”
“Are you saying you can’t carry one teensy, extra crystal?” Jande stared pointedly. “With all of that muscle?”
“It’s not the one extra thing we’re worried about,” Zara countered. “That bag has, like, twenty different rocks
.”
“Crystals,” Jande corrected. “And excuse me for caring about you.”
“How about you pick your favorite five, and we’ll take those?” Ondyr offered.
“Fi—are you kidding me? Do you really expect me to choose between protection and synchronicity and neutrality and grounding and rejuvenation and—”
“Five,” Zara repeated. “You can do it, Jande.”
“You can,” Ondyr agreed.
“Oh, honestly.” Jande frowned. But he turned to the bags and withdrew several crystals.
“Five for us, too.” I laced my fingers through Viggo’s as we crossed the grass. “Assuming you packed us crystal kits.”
“Do you think I don’t love you?” Jande glanced my way. “Of course I packed you kits. But since you’re traveling farther than Ondyr and Zara, I’d really recommend bringing ten stones—fifteen, maybe.”
“Nope. Five. Same as those guys.” I nodded at the Verge who were stretching on the lawn. Then I raised a hand to my aunt. “Morning, Signy.”
“Good morning.” Her eyes twinkled. “You kids were out awfully late.”
“And I’m definitely regretting it,” I admitted. “No, Jande. I said five. I see you trying to sneak in more.”
“Oh, fine.” Jande shuffled shiny rocks between four gauzy bags and his pockets before settling on his choices. “Here. Take them. Don’t blame me if your trips are unharmonious, unbalanced, and filled with unnecessary accidents and upheavals. My original sets were perfekt.”
“I’m sure they were. But flying’s hard enough without the added weight.” I took the offered bag, and tucked it into the shoulder pack I’d fastened across my chest. Wings made backpacks difficult, but Viggo and I had managed a workaround. “Oh, good—you guys brought the daggers from the Verge center. Thanks.”
I bent to retrieve one of the small blades from a pile on the lawn. I slipped it into the holster on my belt, and snapped its latch closed. “I think that’s it for me.”
“Me too.” Viggo weaponed up before slipping Jande’s crystals into his own bag. “Finna, have you sent us our coordinates?”
“I just did.” Finna looked over from her data pad. “Check your comms; they should be there.”
I activated the watch-like device on my wrist, scrolling through until Finna’s transmission appeared “We’re going due north,” I confirmed. “Past the meadowlands, and into . . . kindur country?”
“Yes,” Finna confirmed. “There are plenty of caves there, and it’s remote enough that it’s difficult to track inhabitants. It could be an ideal place to hide something—or someone—you don’t want found.”
“A lot of someones,” I said. “We’re looking for around twenty senators total, right?”
“Correct.” Elin pressed a button on her data pad. “Ondyr and Zara, your coordinates are coming in now. You’re going south—not as far away as the winged team, but to another location with plenty of caves. The beaches on the Tyraste Sea.”
“It’s sea-dragon season, so be careful near the water,” Wynter warned. “The tiny ones are venomous.”
“Good to know.” Ondyr attached a dagger to his belt before passing one to Zara. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. There have been mudslides in the region thanks to recent erosion, so make sure you scout the entrances before going into any caves.” Elin made a note. “And try to establish a secondary exit route before entering.”
“Don’t get poisoned by sea-dragons, and don’t get buried in a cave.” Zara saluted. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Keep your comms on, and let us know when you’ve reached your destinations,” Finna advised. “Ondyr and Zara should be clear the whole time, but Aura and Viggo, reception may be spotty where you’re going. Just check in with us whenever you get a signal.”
“Will do,” Viggo confirmed.
“Wynter will be passing information from the Cloak, and anything she learns we’ll relay to you,” Elin reminded us. “If you run into any trouble, come home. We’re already down our senators; we can’t afford to lose anyone else.”
“We’ll be back before you know it.” I said it to convince myself as much as anyone else. This was only a fact-finding mission, not an actual extraction. Even so, I couldn’t ignore the butterflies jostling inside my stomach. An entire political party had disappeared. Fyrs Narrik wanted me and Constance gone, too. And somewhere out there, a dark energy warrior was trying to make deals with our allied realms.
Was taking off really our best idea?
As she always did, Signy seemed to read my mind. She quietly crossed to stand beside me, and slipped her arm around my waist. “I wouldn’t let you do this if I didn’t think you could handle it. You’ve more than proven yourself—all of you.”
“I know,” I said. “And I know we’ll be fine. It’s just . . .”
“There’s a lot riding on this,” Viggo spoke up. “But we’ll handle it the same way we do everything else. As a team.”
“An epic team,” Elin chimed in. “We kicked that Huldra’s butt, didn’t we? And your uncle’s? Sorry, Ondyr.”
“Don’t be.” Ondyr shook his head. “I’m one hundred percent Team Alfheim.”
“We’ll get the intel, and we’ll use it to make sure we find our senators,” Viggo vowed. “And then we can get back to focusing on what really matters—restoring the realm.”
He said the last words at the same time Ondyr said, “Summer vacation.”
The two exchanged grins.
“Everybody double check that your comms are working,” Signy instructed.
“Mine’s good,” Elin said.
“Mine too,” Finna and Wynter added.
“On,” I said.
Viggo nodded, Ondyr raised his fist, and Zara gave a thumbs-up.
“All right then. Be very safe,” Signy ordered. She turned and pulled me into a hug. “Especially you, missy. Viggo, take care of my girl.”
“You know I will,” he promised.
“More likely she’ll be taking care of him,” Elin joked. But she came over and joined in Signy’s hug. “Seriously, Viggo. She gets hurt, I hurt you.”
“Noted.” He chuckled.
“Report back with any intel, and reconvene as soon as you can.” Finna tapped her comm. “Travel safely, friends. And may the light be with you on your journey.”
I squeezed Signy and Elin tightly. When I released them, I turned to Viggo with a nervous smile. “You ready?”
“Walk in the park, Glitre. We’ve got this.” With a grin, he leapt into the air. He stretched his wings out and flapped until he hovered above the quad. “Let’s go.”
I shot Signy one last, anxious grin, before running across the grass and extending my wings. With a flap I was off, soaring high above the castle, and into the unknown.
Seven hours later, my back ached, my abs screamed, and I was almost positive my wings were going to fall right off.
“Any chance we’re almost there?” I shouted to be heard over the wind. The gusts had begun hours ago, turning what should have been an eight-hour flight into what seemed to be a never-ending one.
“My comm says we still have a way to go.” Viggo glanced at his wrist. “After we clear these salt flats, there’s a forest, then another forest, then the meadowlands. Then we’re almost there.”
I rubbed at my neck. “Great.”
“If you want, you can draft me,” Viggo offered. “Get a break from the wind.”
“Yeah, thanks. We can swap in five.”
“No need. Unlike some people, I could do this all day.” Viggo shot me a rakish grin.
“Please. You were literally just whining about how tired your—”
“I was not whining. In fact, I . . . uh-oh.” Viggo glanced at his comm. “There’s another storm ahead. If the winds are as strong as this says they’ll be, I may need to draft you after all. You take the first rest.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. Every muscle in my torso was on fire.
How did
everyone else do this? Was there even anyone I could ask? Besides my grandmother, who I definitely couldn’t picture doling out athletic advice, I’d only seen one or two others like us. Where were all the älva, anyway?
“Hey,” I called as I tucked into Viggo’s draft. “Your parents had wings, right? Did they ever tell you how many of us there are?”
“I don’t think there are a lot.” Viggo spoke over his shoulder. “My dad said most of the älva scattered to remote areas to avoid detection. We have more abilities than light elves, and apparently the queen’s administration was abusing älva for their magic.”
“Shut up. We have magic?”
“You have glowing hand beams, don’t you?”
Fair.
“Did your parents have magic?” I amended.
“Dad had light beams, same as you.” Viggo’s shoulders rose. “And Mom had dust.”
“Dust?”
“Yeah. Some älva produce a powder that holds the resonance of their energetic gifts. It lets them share their abilities with non-magical beings. In the right hands, it’s great. But if someone intent on destruction—or exclusion—gets a hold of the dust . . .”
Recognition bloomed. “That’s why everyone else moved away.”
Ahead of me, Viggo swerved to avoid a fresh gust. I lowered my head and followed suit. “From what my dad told me, Narrik rounded up a bunch of älva and locked them in some government facility. Those with abilities were put to work bolstering the barrier’s security, while those with dust were forced to produce until they were depleted.”
“That’s terrible.” I followed Viggo back to the right. “Are those facilities still operating?”
“They were allegedly shut down once the barrier was lifted,” Viggo said. “But do you really think Narrik would forfeit access to that kind of power?”
“I can’t believe nobody told me about this.” I flapped my wings so I could pull alongside Viggo. “First thing we do when we get home is talk to Constance. We need to make sure everyone who was incarcerated is released—and that Narrik won’t force them to do anything for him, ever again.”