AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I had, even in recent memory, been known to be a little reckless at times. Well, more than a little. If I wanted to repair the damage I had done to this world, the damage I had done to the strings of fate themselves, I was going to have to think, and act with logic above impulse.
Though Valerian and I slept in the same room, it was in different beds. Not that either of us were in any condition to… revisit… what we had done a few nights ago—had it really only been a few nights?Not with Gullie and Melina around, not when there was so much else going on.
There would be time for that later.
Sometime.
Hopefully.
By the time morning’s light broke through the window, Valerian was already awake. I saw him lying on his back, one arm tucked behind his head, one knee propped up. He was thinking, a pensive expression on his face.
I watched him for a moment, trying not to let him know I had woken up. There was a calmness to him, a kind of serenity I should probably have expected. Today we were taking the fight to Malys, we were going to Windhelm. He didn’t seem bothered by the idea, though. One might say he was entirely unfazed.
But I knew the truth, at least I liked to think I did. Valerian was a man who exuded confidence. His mind was always at work, always puzzling things out, trying to stay one step ahead of the thing he was hunting, or the thing that was hunting him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid.
He was.
We all were.
I was about to speak when I heard footsteps coming up to the door to our room. The door wasn’t closed, but Gullie—who was on the other side of it—knocked without pushing it open all the same. “Rise and shine,” she said, “It’s time to go kick some impostor arse.”
Valerian took a deep breath in through the nose, exhaled, and turned his head to the side. He smiled at me, soft and reassuring. “Your godmother seems eager.”
“A little too eager,” I said, making sure to be loud enough that Gullie could hear me.
“Hey,” she said, “The mortal peril you faced on Earth may have kept you on your toes while you were there, but I’ve been sat on my hands here for a year. I’m ready for some action.”
“Action,” Valerian said, his smile turning into a grin.
I nodded, sat upright, and stretched. “Action,” I agreed. “I guess there’s no time like the present.”
“That’s the spirit!” Gullie said, “Mel made breakfast, so come and eat, and we’ll make for the castle as soon as we’re done.”
That, however, wasn’t a great idea, as we discussed over breakfast. It seemed a little preemptive, and a little presumptuous of us, that we would just be able to walk up to the castle without running into problems. The first one being, what in the world did we expect we would do once we got there?
Were we going to kill every guard in Windhelm until we got to Malys? Then what? Fate had given me a chance to make things right. What if by killing Malys we ruined our only chance at actually fixing whatever damage she caused?
And also, why in the hell were we talking aboutkilling people?
“I didn’t know Pixies were so bloodthirsty,” Valerian said, after he finished the last bit of sausage on his plate.
“We aren’t,” Gullie said, blushing slightly. “I don’t mean to come off as a mass murderer, or anything. I really am a lovely person.”
“She is,” Melina said, “I can vouch for her. She’d literally never hurt a fly.”
“And that’s saying something, because in my Pixie form, flies are basically the size of dogs to me.”
“So, what’s with all the bloodshed talk?” I asked.
“Look, I wasn’t suggesting we actuallykillanyone.”
“Just seriously injure them,” Valerian ventured.
“Exactly… or, okay, maybe not seriously. Just injure them enough that they can’t block our path anymore.”
“Okay,” I paused, “So, the plan is… we get to Windhelm, injure the Swords that stand in our way, then fight our way to Malys… and we convince her to make everything right again?”
“The last part I can get behind,” Melina said, “But the fighting our way to her… I think we’re going to need stealth, here. There are only four of us.”
