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“Tomorrow?” His fingers bit deeper into my shoulder.
“Fuck, Cri. What’s wrong with you?” I jerked my arm out of his grip. “Yeah, tomorrow. I tried to wait, but keeping the parts of me separate is becoming too difficult. It’s literally searing my insides. You go swallowing a ball of fire every time you get near Ales.”
“Ales?”
“Try to keep up, Cri. I thought you eavesdropped. She loves Ales.”
“Does Ales know?”
“Yeah… I mean, he has been inside my head. He felt what She feels for him.”
Cri’s grip tightened on my shoulder. “You can’t submit to the Valkyrie. You can’t die!”
“What? I thought you’d be over the moons about my decision. Now you and the Valkyrie can end this war… or try to. Who knows, She’s a bit of a marvel. Maybe She can do it.”
Tingles of light coursed down my spine, underneath the skin.
“Valkyries have tried for millennia, and they have failed. But if you’re still mortal, there might be hope for us yet.”
“I’m okay with my decision, Cri. You don’t have to give me hope.”
“It’s not just hope for you, Charlie. It’s for me too. Do you know what started this war?”
“You said it’s been raging before the Valkyries were Valkyries.”
“Yes, and if you ask the Valkyries, they would say it has always been fought, since the beginning of time. Before our world ever existed. Light versus dark. Good versus evil.”
Something in Cri’s tone made me and the Valkyrie pause. “But you don’t think the legends are true.”
Cri steadied his eyes on mine. “I’m not so sure. Despite everything, I still believe the Fates wouldn’t be so cruel. Life is supposed to be passion and pleasure, not endless war.”
A beautiful thought to have.
“If the war has been waging since before we can imagine, then what created the Keres?”
“According to the Valkyrie legend, the Skuld, the third sister of Fate, became tired of the Gods’ immortality and dipped her hands into the water of life, pulling only hatred from the pool. And from it came the Keres, death incarnate, seeking only to ravage the strength, the light from souls. In return, the two sisters of Fate banished the third. It is said the two older sisters together, created the Valkyries from the waters of life to save all mankind from the wrath of the Keres.”
“Do you believe the legend?” I asked.
“I don’t know, do you believe in fairy tales?”
“If you’d asked me five years ago, I’d have flipped you off, but now? I mean, I guess anything is possible. Why do you doubt the lore?” What did Cri see that made him distrust the Valkyrie’s word?
“The Valkyries that have commanded me are very different from those of the legend. They have been cruel, all humanity irradiated from them. Nothing remains but the warrior. I believe it’s why we are losing this war. It’s hard to save the living when you lack what makes you human.”
“If you want me to be the Valkyrie’s moral compass, you’ve got the wrong girl.”
“We need you to be. Ales doesn’t even know it yet. He knows he brought you here instead of Valhalla like he should’ve because he sensed something else inside you. He knew if you saw Eir and felt like I do, something would definitely be different about you.” Cri ripped at his armor, exposing the left side of his bare chest, the brand over his heart. “Why did you apologize to Logan when you saw this?”
There was no reason to lie to Cri anymore.
“I didn’t want to hurt him. It wasn’t something he asked for.”
“A Valkyrie would never say that. This mark isn’t a mark of honor like they claim. This is a mark of ownership. I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t ask for this life! It’s why we need you.”
“What does Ales think, about the mark?” I asked.
Does he resent the Valkyrie too?
