Page 21 of The Valkyrie Prophecy
I stab again, and my grip slips off the smooth hilt of thesword, and I end up punching the damn seat. The sword clatters into the basin. My hand throbs as I flex my fingers. Blood wells up on a few of my busted knuckles. Fuck.
“Try swinging up instead of right at it?” Tane offers. A large divot forms between his thick brows as he mimics the motion.
Lachlan shakes his head, crossing his tattooed arms over his chest. “Ye need to strike in the same place twice and much harder.”
“Let me try!” Mina pipes up, picking up the raven stone and stabbing at the throne. Her nose scrunches as she stabs again and again. Tiny flecks of crystal drop to the dirt below us, but no actual progress is achieved.
Evander chuckles at her as she backs away, glaring at the throne like it offended her personally.
“You need more muscle. Sword?” he asks, holding out a hand. Mina hands it to him, but sticks her tongue out at his back as he turns away from her.
Evander swings down with all his might and embeds the sword partially into the front of the seat. My heart stops. Close, so close. He yanks the sword out and tries again. It embeds a fraction further this time, but my anxiety ramps up.
Luna stands with her hands on her hips as she watches Evander’s arms flex with each strike. Her face gives nothing away, but I swear her eyes seem to glow.
“My turn,” she says, stepping up beside him. She holds out her hand, and he presses the sword into it, their eyes lingering for a moment.
Luna walks around the throne, her eyes narrowing as she scans it.
“Swing up,” Tane offers again, taking a step forward and mimicking an upward swing. Mathilda gazes sidelong at him and bites back a smile.
Luna waves him off and swings powerfully right whereEvander had lodged the sword into the seat. She gouges the hole deeper, but it’s still not as deep as we need. She glares at the hole and yanks the sword free. “We’re going to need someone much stronger.”
Evander gapes at her before controlling his face. “No offense taken,” he grumbles.
The tiniest of smiles tugs at her lips before it slips away, and she thrusts the sword out at Lachlan.
“You give it a go. Those two,” she nods towards Mathilda and Tane, “might be too much for it and crush the entire thing.”
Her words give me pause. Shit. If they puncture it too hard or too deeply, it could crack. And that would spray venom everywhere. Gods dammit. My fear of time has made me reckless.
Lachlan swipes the sword from her, throwing her one of those mischievous grins I love so much. Fear slices through me, and I take a step towards him, grabbing a hold of his arm.
“Wait.”
He glances down at my hand, his tattoo shimmering in the blistering sunlight, before looking back up at me. “What’s the matter?”
I shake my head, clearing my mind. “This might be more dangerous than I originally thought. Maybe we shouldn’t.”
Mina walks up to the stone, studying the hole Evander and Luna created.
“We’re not that far away, it looks like.”
Lachlan glances at Mina before his attention swings back to me. “Let me give it a go. We’re so close.”
There’s determination set in his jaw and the way his pupils narrow, like it’s a project he needs to complete. I heave a deep sigh, stepping back and sweeping my arms open.
“Fine. But just the once.”
Lachlan grins triumphantly at me and takes a near-charging run at the crystal. Holding the bladelevel, he pierces it much deeper than anyone else has. A breath of relief slips through my lips, and my shoulders lower when it doesn’t smash to bits. But when I step closer to inspect how deep he went, I see tiny spiderweb cracks branching off from the main crevice.
“No,” I shake my head, “no more.”
Tane swipes the sword from Lachlan. “I haven’t even given it a go yet.”
There’s an eager gleam in his dark eyes as he tosses the sword between his hands. Mathilda pouts. Her light blue eyes fixate on the sword as she lurches to grab it from him.
“It’s not your turn,” Tane says, moving out of reach.
