Sølvsten Whisper of the Ravens Book 2: Fehu

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-64690-624-6
Verlag: Arctis US
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 2, 624 Seiten

Reihe: Whisper of the Ravens

Anna reaches Hrafnheim, an unknown parallel world full of gods, demigods, and creatures. There she is picked up by soldiers of the ruler Ragnara, but a renegade officer of the army, Rorik, frees Anna. Together they set off to free her twin sister Serén, who had been captured by Ragnara. The road to the capital city of Sént is full of deadly dangers, and the vision of her own murder plagues Anna incessantly. She begins to realize more and more that Ragnarök, the end of the world, is directly linked to her own fate . . . The second book in an epic and gripping fantasy series where murders and supernatural forces meet in an unprecedented way.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sølvsten, Malene

Weitere Mitwirkende

Alair, Adrienne

Leseproben

Chapter 2
I leapt out into the field, and even though it was pitch dark, I ran as fast as I could in the direction of Monster’s voice. My ankle twisted several times in the soft dirt, but I quickly got to my feet and pushed on. It was now raining hard, and large drops struck me like icy pinpricks. “Where are you?” I called and fumbled around. My hands glided over the cold, wet earth. “Anna.” The voice was closer, but it was strangely faint. It sounded nothing like Monster’s powerful voice. “I’m coming.” Crawling on all fours, I patted the mucky ground, unable to see my hands in front of me. Finally I detected an enormous outline, and my fingers found fur. “Monster,” I panted. “Why are you lying down?” His fur was crusty and covered in warm, wet blotches that I could tell hadn’t come from the rain. I slid all the way down onto my stomach, and the chill from the earth sent a shock through my body, but I didn’t care. I snaked my arms under Monster and tried to lift his large wolflike body. “Anna,” he moaned again. “Stop.” “What happened?” I tried again to lift him and felt wounds and more warm liquid on his fur. So much . . . “Listen, Anna,” he thundered, sounding almost like his old self. The illusion was shattered when he let out a very doglike yelp. “We were overrun in the Iron Forest, and your sister was taken by Ragnara’s people. I tried . . .” he made a gurgling, disturbing hacking noise, and I didn’t grasp exactly what he had tried to do, but judging from his injuries, it hadn’t ended well. “Serén?” I breathed. “Is she dead?” But twins could sense if the other died. Couldn’t they? “No,” Monster said flatly. “She’s not dead. Yet.” “Yet?” “Serén said . . .” He yelped again. “She saw that Ragnara’s coming for you. Ragnara wants you two together. She no longer wants to simply kill you; she wants to capture you.” His raspy voice ended in a dull bark, but he forced the words out. “Monster,” I cried. “What happened to you?” “We were captured,” he said. “Serén told me what she had seen. She helped me break free, but I didn’t have the strength to bring her with me.” He moaned again. “I had to warn you.” “What did they do to you?” He didn’t answer my question. “You need to get away from here, Anna. Ragnara is coming, but you can change fate. You have to find Serén before . . .” He stopped to gasp for air. “You have to find Serén.” “What did they do to you?” I asked again. “I’m irrelevant.” My hands hovered over his body in the dark. “Irrelevant!” I inhaled tremulously. “You’re anything but irrelevant.” “You and Serén are all that matter.” His voice was paper-thin. I couldn’t bear the thought that he had run through Hrafnheim in this condition. I forced myself to focus. “Where is Serén now?” “She’s . . .” his voice trailed off. “Monster,” I begged, crying. “Where is she?” There was no response. “Monster?” I pulled at his limp body, and I managed to drag him a good distance toward Ben and Rebecca’s house through the muddy field. I shouted over my shoulder. “Help me! Luna! Mathias! Help!” At that moment, the clouds moved away from the moon, and what I saw was so terrifying, I screamed. “Monster,” I sobbed. “You can’t. No! No!” He was my best friend. He was one of my first friends. He couldn’t . . . “Monster!” I was now shouting so loudly, it resounded across the fields. So loudly, it was like I was trying to wake the gods themselves. But there was no help to be had. “No.” I shook him. “Come back.” A green flash told me Mathias was at my side, and that he had gone into demigod mode. Luna chanted spells, and, unbothered by Monster’s colossal weight, Mathias took him in his giant green arms and picked him up. Ben and Rebecca were there now, too, and they chanted around us, but I was aware of nothing but Monster’s glassy eyes, the tongue hanging out of his mouth, and the dark, wet trail we left behind on the pale gravel of the driveway, up the stairs, and on the floor. It smelled salty, sweet, and iron-rich. We entered the living room, and there the light revealed more. I should have turned my face away, but I stared at him, frozen. I saw every one of his wounds. “Save him!” I commanded. “Do something.” The witches exchanged a look without speaking. Mathias tried to press his godliness into Monster, shouting in frustration. “He’s a giant,” Rebecca said quietly to Mathias. “You can’t use your powers on him.” “Do something.” I stroked Monster’s snout and ears. “Do something,” I repeated, louder. Ben’s buzzing magic shot into me, and a moment passed before I realized that he had grabbed my arm. “Anna, there’s nothing we can do. Witches and gods have no effect on giant wolves.” I shrugged his hand away. “I don’t care about your stupid rules.” I looked around with teary eyes. “Elias. I’ll call Elias for help.” “His medicines don’t work on giant wolves, either,” Rebecca said. Even though I was gasping for air, I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. “What the hell are all your powers good for if you can’t save the most important things?” Mathias, who was on his knees, had let go of Monster, and his arms hung at his sides. His hands lay on Ben and Rebecca’s tile floor. He had returned to human size, and his neon-green glow was gone. He didn’t speak, but his expression said it all. On the floor, Monster lay completely still. His sharp teeth were bloody, and the huge paw I discovered I was holding had started to grow cold. I stroked my hand across his forehead, which had always made him lift his head up to me. Then I shook his paw, but his leg flopped heavily. “He’s gone, Anna.” Someone grabbed me by the shoulders. I raised my hand from Monster’s paw, ready to attack, but when I realized it was Luna, I lowered my arm, and she wrapped herself around me and held me tight. At first, I could do nothing but breathe shakily. I slid down over Monster’s motionless body. Even though I can’t see giant wolves’ auras, I had no doubt that he was no longer here. I hugged him close. No one tried to pull me back. Mathias and Luna sat at my side and rubbed my back while I cried and screamed, not that it made any difference. I barely noticed when someone, probably Mathias, carried me up to bed. Suddenly, my surroundings were just moving past me, and I landed on the mattress. I lay there between my two friends and clung to Luna while Mathias held me, and the few times I was somewhat conscious, I whimpered helplessly. I allowed myself this one night of despair. This one night, I could grieve. But in a corner of my consciousness I knew, when morning came, I had to do something.   Monster’s body was gone when I came downstairs on trembling legs. A dark spot on the tile floor marked where he had lain. Rebecca looked at me with concern from where she stood among dried herbs and decoctions in the kitchen. Ben took a half step toward me but stopped when his dark gaze met mine. “He was an excellent leader to his people, a valuable ally to us, and the most loyal friend you could have wished for,” Ben said ceremoniously. “He was able to see beyond conflicts between men and giant wolves.” He was silent as he drew some symbols in the air. A couple of weak sparks around his tattooed hands told me he had cast a spell, but I didn’t care. “Where is he?” I rasped. I had cried so much my voice wasn’t working properly. “In the barn,” Rebecca said. “He’s in the barn?” This came out like a squawk. “He must be returned to his people so they can lay him to rest, but right now there is no passage to Hrafnheim.” I tried to think clearly. “So how do you get to Hrafnheim?” Her voice was thin. “You can’t go there right now.” “At all?” Ben rumbled. “There’s a portal in The Boatman, but only Elias is allowed to travel through it. Not even Od can go to Hrafnheim. There’s also a passage down at Ostergaard, but Paul doesn’t let a lot of people pass. I don’t know how Etunaz got through, but we can’t go the other way unless the mission is pressing.” “Pressing?” The word came out like a shout. “But this is pretty damn pressing. He can’t just sit out in the barn and . . .” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “We put a stasis spell on him, so he won’t decay.” Rebecca said quickly. Then she hesitated. “Do you want to see him?” My hand flew to my mouth. “He’s laid out like a king with grave goods and offerings to the goddess of death. Hel must be appeased, since she can’t have him right away.” “Hel?” I asked, disoriented. “She’s the sister of Etunaz’s ancestor Fenrir, so she has the right to him.” Something turned in me....