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I sprinted the last remaining feet toward Ales and Logan, jumping over a black boulder as I unsheathed my sword. It sang, trembling with power. Before my mind could initiate an attack, my sword sliced the head off a shrieking Raider. My sword became a chorus of vengeance as black aether dripped from the blade and the Raider became ash. The Valkyrie was in her element, and finally we were working as one, fighting as one.
My body stepped and then spun and, connecting against a second Raider, barring the strike of its red axe. I threw it off and struck my sword through his neck. I pivoted and pierced another dark figure straight into the heart before it turned to dust.
My sword moved in tune with the power inside me, melding with my body. It danced because I breathed life into it. My arms burned with fire. Iridescent markings flashed down my palms and laced up my forearms. The symbols matched the sword, pulsing with every strike I made. My attacks were smooth and elegant, my kills fierce and unwavering. My sword wanted each kill as much as I did. My aether lit my arms, enhancing the strength of the strikes. We gleamed, slashing through each Raider, like cutting through water.
The pure bliss of the battle was what I hungered for, but I also needed to protect. The instinct was as strong as the need to destroy—it was the mortal twined with the warrior. Together we will be the difference, changing the way it has always been.
I worked my way to Logan and Ales. Strike by strike, kill by kill.
Black aether dripped from my hands and splattered my neck when it sprayed from a falling Raider.
Ales and Logan held a sword in each hand, gutting the Raiders two at a time. When I made it to their side, I turned my back to see another hoard charging at us.
Logan and Ales turned their bodies to face the screaming Raiders. Before the disfigured creatures met our line, my mind reached out.
I created the connection to both of them. At first it was meant to be comforting to Logan and Ales—a gentle caress at the back of their minds to let them know I would guard their backs against the new horde.
But it changed as they descended onto us.
I started feeding Ales and Logan what I felt in the sword, what I felt from the aether inside of me. I was sending them my strength, my energy. At first it was small, in subtle waves, to wash over them, to aid them. It was Charlie loving them, and the Valkyrie completing the connection—protecting them.
I saw Ales strike two Raiders, spearing them through the heart, as another charged at his side. Ales didn’t have time to stop the dagger coming from the third Raider. I pushed at the connection with all of my strength.
The Raider’s dagger stopped short.
It bounced against a wall, a breath away from Ales’ back. Ales pivoted as he jerked his swords from the first two Raiders and cut into the third.
The dagger had been deflected by something Ales and I knew well—my aether. It created a shield for him, like it had over the spring last night. But this wouldn’t hold the water at bay. It would block the Raiders’ weapons. I wasn’t sure if it was even possible last night, but I had to try.
A Raider tackled me to the ground from behind, blurring my vision. I rolled with it in the sand and put my dagger through its skull. Coming to my feet, I searched for Logan.
He was to my left side, spearing a Raider through the heart. Two more Raiders angled to strike their scythes across his side. Logan turned into the strike as the weapons hit a wall, like they had with Ales.
Logan looked shocked, but he took his sword and plunged it into the first before flipping it into the second. He stayed focused on the dozen ahead and yelled to me, “Are you doing that?”
I sliced a Raider down the middle then shrugged. “Thought you might like it. I’m not sure how long I can do it for.” If I fed my aether from their strength, it would weaken them. I needed to hold myself strong without their help.
It was wrong to take from the Einherjar when they weren’t bound to you. Ales hadn’t told me, but the Valkyrie knew, and now I was conscious of it. It would go against every fiber of my being to take from them, not just because it was a Valkyrie creed. Screw the creed. I wouldn’t take their strength to protect myself.
Ales yelled over the screaming Raiders, “Take what you need to keep it fortified!”
Ales knows creating the shield for them is draining me… he also knows I wouldn’t do that to him.
We kept moving forward into the horde, cutting them down with each step we gained. Leo and Cri formed a second line behind us, only attacking what got through the three of us.
It wasn’t many. I didn’t dare hope we were winning, but it was progress.
Thank the Fates, I’m doing something right.
We were efficient with each kill. Logan and Ales anticipated my strikes, leaving me enough room to maneuver, then closing in beside me.
Logan was faster with his kills, but Ales was more strategic. He would lure them in, deceive his strikes, then take multiple Raiders at once. Both became more daring and ruthless as they tested the shields I maintained. It felt natural to share with them the power inside of me, but it drained my strength with every second. I was tiring more quickly than I had anticipated. With each kill, I could feel myself weaken a little more.
There were a dozen Raiders left when I looked up the coastline.
“Do you both see that? We are clearing the beach.”
We were beating them back. I focused on the few remaining in front of me as high-pitched screams penetrated the coast.
