Page 207 of Fallen Nocturne

A knock sounds against the open door. Landon stands in the corridor, already dressed for the trial with a pouch of white ash fastened at his hip. His face is pale beneath the dark sweep of his hair.

“The circle is prepared,” he says. “We need to leave.”

Rhianelle pulls away from me. The movement is slow, as though even the weight of the armor is almost too much for her exhausted body. Shadows bruise the skin beneath her eyes and her shoulders sag for one brief moment before she forces them straight again.

Everything in me screams to stop her. To take the sword from her hand, strip away the armor and carry her somewhere no king or ancient law could ever find us.

Instead, I release her.

Rhianelle follows Landon into the corridor without looking back. Perhaps she knows that if she does, neither of us will be strong enough to keep walking.

My heart breaks as I watch her go.

The ravine is perfect for the trial. It’s a deep cut in the earth, widening as it rises. Easy enough for spectators to perch along the edges and walls to look down.

Both armies have gathered. Elves on one side of the ravine, those who chose to believe in their queen. Fae on the other along with orcs, dwarves, and others scattered between. Thousands of them. All here to watch.

I stand on the elven side of the ravine. Garrett is beside me, silent and grim. Shade on my other side, pale but steady. Hrolf a little farther down, his ancient eyes fixed on the sword he made. Bas stands with the other healers. My brother has been helping the wounded. Blaire, Aelfric, and Rainer are here too despite their exhaustion and injury.

A little further along the ridge, the spectators from Hel have claimed their own space. Kheirall Balthazar and Ragnar are settled near the dwarven lords and the Orc King.

I catch pieces of their conversation on the wind.

“Where were you yesterday?” a dwarven lord asks Kheirall. His voice is flat. “Delphine came through with the demons of the Third Gate. You were supposed to flood the field with the Sixth.”

Kheirall considers the question with a grave expression. “Forgive me, I overslept.”

The dwarven lord stares at him with a look of complete disbelief. Even Mavren turns slowly to look at the demon lord. Ragnar pinches the bridge of his nose.

“You overslept?” the dwarven lord repeats.

“It won’t happen again,” Ragnar quickly says to calm the angered dwarf. “The important thing is the Duchess of Hel did what she was supposed to do.”

The bear berserker steps between them before the dwarven lord can rise from his seat. His body grows as he half-transforms into the Bödvar Bjarki.

Ragnar places one enormous hand on the dwarf’s shoulder and the other against Kheirall’s chest, holding them apart with effortless strength. “The battle is over. Delphine came. The demons fought for you. No one needs to start another war before breakfast.”

Mavren grunts in agreement. The dwarven lord continues glaring at Kheirall but settles back into his chair.

Kheirall inclines his head toward the berserker. “Sensibly handled.”

“Do not make me handle you next,” Ragnar warns.

Finnbheara descends into the ravine first. He moves like a predator, confident and graceful. He’s wearing light armor, dwarven-made and probably enchanted. It doesn’t restrict his movement at all. His sword is at his hip, a weapon that’s tasted blood a thousand times.

That fucker looks rested, Coinneach whispers.

Finnbheara appears uninjured and at full strength. While everyone else fought and bled yesterday, he was coordinating from above.

Rhianelle descends on the other side. She moves more carefully. Her exhaustion is visible in every step, in the slight tremor of her hands and the concentration it takes for her not to stumble.

This isn’t fair.

It’s not even close to fair, Fenrir growls in my head.

At the bottom of the ravine, Landon works.

He moves his hands, scattering ash from a pouch. Hawthorn ash, he’d said. It’s sacred to the fae. He must have started before dawn. The white line already stretches across most of the ravine, curving around the boulders and uneven ground as he completes the final section.