She chuckled once, the sound dead and dry, before she advanced into the room. She lifted the block of stone that protected her most valuable possessions and kneeled to retrieve the journal she had come for.
Laid on top of the journal was a neatly folded note addressed to her, the script familiar and elegant. Bryn froze.
The letter was from Revna, an unknown goodbye left to her from the halls of Valhalla. She could only stare at the paper sitting atop a pile of journals Revna must have known that Bryn would look for one day.
With shaking hands, Bryn retrieved the letter and stashed it in the leather vest she wore over her tunic, the blood on her hands staining the paper just as it tarnished her fingers and her soul. She quickly retrieved her mother's memories, gathered up the silk robe she had inherited, and grabbed the rest of the weapons she had stored in the room.
With impartial eyes, Bryn scanned the room that had been hers for most of her life. She had grown up here, had nursed her wounds here, had found her love with Revna here. Every memory of who she was permeated the walls of these rooms. The person she’d had to be when she started playing a double agent for the resistance bloomed here.
Now, that person would burn here.
Bryn raised her free hand in front of her and summoned her fire. Wreathed in flames, she extended her hand and shot a torrent of heat into the room and set her past ablaze. Without a single glance backward, Bryn walked out of the burning room, leaving behind the woman who had put duty above love in the ashes.
10
“Okay, everyone, follow me as quickly as you can,” Liv ordered as she used her wind to unlock more cell doors. “Grab who and what you can. We don’t have a lot of time.”
It had been frighteningly easy to free thevitkifrom their cells, but it seemed that Liv had been too late for so many people. In more cells than she’d like to admit, still forms that reeked of new death littered the floors. She had gagged when she found the first cell, their bodies still not entirely cooled from lack of blood flow.
Something about the dead didn't sit right with Liv as she opened yet another cell to find the four inhabitants long passed from this world. The veins on their limbs were black, and the skin around their throats was an angry shade of scarlet. It looked like they had ice burns on their throats, the slim band a permanent reminder of whatever horror they faced before their painful passing.
The further into the dungeons she got, the more cells she found full of death. The smell of rot grew stronger the further she went, and it only made Liv more determined to free as many as she could. Every cell she opened felt like a small victory when thevitkiwould emerge, a new spark of life in their sunken eyes.
With her heightened senses, she could see that the people she freed were struggling with the light from the torch she held. She suspected that when they reached outside, the sun would blind them. They had lived in darkness for too long now. Thankful that she had thought to bring medical supplies, Liv handed out strips of linen to everyone she freed.
The large group consisted of adults and some children, their emaciated form hiding their true ages. The mothers held their children tightly, some being reunitedafter being split into separate cells based on the type ofgalderthey could wield. Liv’s chest caved in at the sight. There would be a lot of healing that needed to be done within this group, if any ever occurred at all.
When Liv had offered them a hiding place from the Kingdom of Flame, some had hesitated. It wasn't until Liv had dropped her glamour that they had started to believe her. She told them of Nida and how the King of Shadows was extending refuge to all who could reach their walls.
Quickly, her group had become so large that she started to worry about drawing attention, but Liv couldn't turn her back on them now. As soon as they exited the dungeons, stepping over the guards Liv had slain, they raced for the servant’s corridors.
“How do we know your King will honor this refuge? How can we trust that you’re bringing us to safety?” One of the mothers asked, her eyes hard and untrusting as she clutched her child.
“You don’t know, but Elven have been thought to be extinct until now, and it's clear I am not lying about that,” Liv said over her shoulder as she cleared the hall for them to move through. “I travel with the Kolbecks from the Kingdom of Rivers, and they will confirm my story.”
Several of thevitkinodded, but the woman still held a healthy suspicion in her eye. When Liv waved them all forward, they began the last of their trek through the empty halls toward the docks. Light footsteps betrayed the group she traveled with, but the halls were oddly deserted. She had met no resistance other than the few guards who were stationed before the entrance.Perhaps Aeric’s spy was clearing the way for her to free these people.
Soon, they reached the doors that led outside to the docks.
“We’re going to step outside now,” Liv said, turning to face the group ofvitki. “Your eyes will hurt you if you don't cover them. I promise that as soon as you are in the longship, you can take them off.”
The woman who had questioned Liv earlier eyed her again before she hesitantly tied the strip of cloth around her eyes.
“Everyone join hands. Younglings, if you can hold on to your parents, do so now. We will all go out in a line together,” Liv instructed. She turned to the woman again. “What’s your name?”
The thick strip of cloth covered her blue eyes, but her light hair lay limp over her sweating forehead, the gold color still beautiful under the grime in the darkness of the hallway.Her fair skin was pale as her nerves seemed to take over when the artificial darkness surrounded her.
“Astrid,” she said, her voice still strong in the face of forced blindness.
Liv nodded before softening her voice slightly. This woman was clearly not one to back down from a fight, but she had also experienced countless horrors. It would shake anyone.
“Astrid, I want you to hold onto my belt and not let go under any circumstances. I’ll protect you from any attacks. I swear it to all the gods.”
Astrid was quiet for a moment before she gave a shaky nod and allowed Liv to guide her trembling hands to the back of her belt. Before she could grip it, she reached one hand backward to the girl who had trailed Astrid quietly. Her silver hair was dirty, and her form was thin, but Liv could tell she was older than a child. The lack of nourishment really stunted these poor people.
“We are almost free,minn blóm,” Astrid whispered and readjusted the young boy on her back who gripped her so tightly his knuckles were white.
Liv swallowed her anger at this family’s situation and turned to face the door. “Is everyone ready?”
