2026-09-09 21:28:04
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The grey light inside the crystals continued to gather.An ordinary man would die if even one of them struck him. Kaedric would not. As the Guardian of Midgard, his body could survive wounds that would kill most men, but the crystals would still burn through him. He could be unable to leave a bed for several days, and in his present situation, losing that much time would make the rest of his journey far more difficult.Sigrid saw the men move their hands.There was no time to cast a spell or warn Kaedric. The only way she could stop the crystals from reaching him was to stand in their path.She ran.Kaedric saw her pass him and immediately understood what she was trying to do.His face tightened with anger.“What are you doing?”Sigrid had barely placed herself in front of him when he caught her by the arm and pulled her back. The crystals left the hands of the men at the same moment, sending several beams of grey light towards them.The woman holding the baby released a loud scream.
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Sigrid cursed under her breath and hurried after him.Within moments, she was struggling to breathe.“There are creatures in these mountains that can copy human voices,” she called after him, panting. “And there are men who leave an injured traveller in the open and wait for someone foolish enough to help!”Kaedric did not slow down.“Whatever is happening down there has nothing to do with us!”The baby’s cry rose again, drowning out her voice as though it too were begging Kaedric not to listen to her.Sigrid did not like that at all.Kaedric could hear the woman more clearly now. He could hear her gasping for breath between each broken plea.There was no way he could ignore her.Sigrid’s foot slipped on a loose stone. She caught herself against a tree and lifted her head, cursing even harder.Kaedric was already far below her. He descended the steep slope with one hand against the rocks, using roots and branches to control his movement.“This baby,” Sigrid hissed as she forced hersel
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Sigrid took a deep breath.They had been travelling for almost two hours. In those two hours, she had tried at least seven different ways to start a conversation with Kaedric.None of them had worked.Walking beside him was like walking beside a wall that occasionally knew how to nod. The longest answer she had managed to get from him was two words, and she was almost certain one of them had been hmm.It would not have bothered her so much if she only wanted to pass the time. But there were things she needed to ask him.What had happened to him inside the Rootway?Why had Midgard answered him?And why had he allowed her to follow him when everyone else at Stormwall still believed she could not be trusted?Unfortunately, every question she asked died before it became useful.Sigrid glanced at him again.Kaedric walked beside her with his eyes fixed on the narrow road ahead. His face had not changed in almost an hour.“Your daughter,” Sigrid tried again. “She must look very much like yo
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Liv immediately mistook it for an act.Rage rushed through her.So this was what Solveig wanted?She had shown everyone how skilled she was. Now she planned to slow down and allow Liv to win, as if she was giving a gift to a weaker woman.Liv finally drew beside her.“Do not…” Liv stopped to drag air into her burning chest. “Do not insult me with your pity!”Solveig did not answer.“If you want to win…” Liv gasped again. “Then win properly!”Still, Solveig said nothing.Liv turned toward her.The pride was gone from Solveig’s face. Her lips were trembling, and her eyes were fixed on something behind Liv.This was not the face of a woman pretending to lose.This was fear.A faint whisper brushed against Liv’s mind.…execute her…Liv’s hands tightened around the bar.The sending gift in her blood had been weak for years, but this message had passed close enough for her to catch those two words.She looked toward the rooftops.Liv could not see the men clearly.Right where Vargr stood, h
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The second stone arch was getting closer.Solveig lowered the front of her sky-rift glider and leaned forward. The wind tore at her silver hair, but her hands remained steady around the wooden bar.She had raced through worse winds before.Back in her father’s lands, children from the great houses learned to ride wind-gliders while they were still young. Solveig had crossed mountain storms, flown through burning rings, and once finished a race with one wing half-torn from its frame.This was nothing.Liv did not know any of that.All she knew was that Solveig was getting farther ahead.The changing wind struck beneath the second arch.Solveig followed the race-master’s warning. She lowered her glider and allowed the current to pull her down. For one frightening moment, she seemed to fall straight toward the chasm.Then another wind caught beneath her wings.WHOOSH!Her glider shot through the stone arch and rose sharply on the other side.The crowd below exploded.“Solveig has crossed
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Vargr stared at the image of Astrid inside the dark crystal.The masked man stood behind him with a knife pressed against his neck. The blade had already broken his skin, and Vargr could feel a thin line of blood running beneath his collar.Inside the illusion, Astrid struggled in the arms of a woman wearing the colours of Liv’s old household. One hand covered the girl’s mouth while another held a knife against her side.For the first time that morning, real fear entered Vargr’s heart.Kaedric had left Astrid inside the Ashbane estate, surrounded by guards and protected by the city’s law-runes. If someone had still managed to take her, then the enemy was already inside their walls.Worse, Vargr had been standing here eating roasted nuts while it happened.“How did you enter the estate?” he asked.The masked man heard the fear beneath his calm voice, and some of the courage returned to him.The plan had worked.Havlord had been right.“We can discuss that after you agree to our terms,”
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