The racking pain from the ring faded, leaving a residual ache, but Tyr ignored his discomfort and turned to where Vali held Annika's limp body in his arms. "She's alive? Tell me she's alive."
The crystal sword Thor had smashed was the weapon Odin used to freeze Annika and steal her powers. By smashing it they'd likely shocked her spirit into the void between life and death.
Vali's normally inscrutable expression fell away, and his face tightened to a mask of fury. The air around him prickled with barely contained power as he gently laid her on the ground.
Odin rattled his staff against the ice in triumph. "Not all powerful after all, are you, Vali?"
Tyr vaulted to his feet, heedless of his bruised muscles, wanting only to close his hands around Odin's throat and squeeze until the monster shut up. Vali caught his shoulder and jerked him back. "No. We use this opportunity," he said.
"Opportunity!" How could Vali call his daughter's death an opportunity?
Distraught, Tyr lashed out, but Vali deflected his blow. Tyr fell to his knees at Annika's side and took her face between his hands. Her skin was warm, but when he reached to touch her mind, he found only an echo of what she had been.
Vali crouched beside him. "She's still close. The remnants of the crystal sword and your bond hold her here. Try to call her back."
New hope surged. He closed his eyes and recalled the sensation of touching Annika's mind and spirit. Behind him, the deadly hiss of metal sliding over metal sounded as Vali drew his sword to stand guard over them.
In his mind Tyr called Annika to return, pleaded, cajoled, and commanded by turns. He clasped her hand, and the cursed ring fell from her finger into his palm. Tyr's eyes snapped open. Odin always joked that Draupnir only released its victims in death. Did this mean she was lost to him with no hope of return?
***
Deep crystalline blue cradled Annika in its familiar protective embrace. Her fear and uncertainty faded as the power stolen from her and locked in the crystal sword flooded her being. Far away, a man called her name.
His voice tugged at her chest, trying to drag her to him. A memory of love and tenderness whispered through her. Annika wanted to go to him, but that meant leaving her safe blue haven. He called again, closer this time. An image formed in her mind of his lean body and dark hair, lustrous golden eyes that flared like flames when he looked at her. Tyr.
A gossamer web enclosed her heart, tiny filaments of connection that she sensed bonded her with him. Her blue haven dissolved, and she found herself again in Valhalla. Fragments of blue crystal covered the floor in a starburst of destruction. The memory of Thor smashing the crystal blade tumbled back through her mind on a wave of grief.
When the sword shattered, she'd felt as if one of her vital organs was ripped out. She picked up a large crystal shard and clutched it lovingly to her chest. Her lost power streamed into her from the shattered blue crystal until she pulsed with energy.
Tyr called her name again and she turned, searching for him. She saw Vali standing like an avenging angel over her prone lifeless body, sword raised, protecting her physical form until she returned. He radiated light like a minisun, giving her focus. But she didn't think he could see her.
Her heart fluttered as the translucent filaments joining her to Tyr quivered with his grief. Squinting against Vali's brilliance, she followed the glittering strands to a shadowy form hunched over her body. It didn't look like Tyr. She paused warily, raising the crystal sliver to protect herself, but the translucent strands pulled her closer to the dark figure. She studied the shadow and realized that it was Tyr. He was concealed beneath a dense, dark mesh.
Annika dug her fingers underneath the mesh and tugged, trying to free him, but it clung like unbreakable wire. She looked around for help. Odin stood out like an oily black stain in the air. Trails of dark threads ran from the ring on his hand to other shadowy figures that must be Huginn, Muninn, and Thor.
Anger flashed through her, quickly chased away by determination. A burst of tingling energy ran along her arm to sizzle across the blue crystal shard. She would not let Odin imprison Tyr through the ring's evil any longer!
Taking care not to cut the translucent strands that linked her with Tyr, she used the sharp-edged crystal to slice away the dark mesh covering him. When the final black threads fell clear, Tyr flared with a bright orange glow. Fire. His welcoming heat streaked along their bond, drawing her back into her body. She opened her eyes and gasped in a breath.
"Sacred elf-fire, Annika." Tyr pulled her into his arms and hugged her so hard she couldn't breathe. When he released her, she clung to the front of his fur coat, reveling in the solid strength of him.
"Are you all right?" she gasped.
"Am I all right?" He hugged her again. "Crazy woman. You're the one who died." He cradled her head and kissed her cheeks, nose, and lips. He pulled back, frowning and touching the crystal fragment in her hand. "When did you pick this up?"
Odin cursed, grabbing their attention. He glared at his ring. "Huginn, Muninn, bring me my errant son." Neither raven moved, their gazes locked on Vali, his sword still upraised.
Annika grabbed Tyr's hand and pulled the slave ring off his finger in case Draupnir could re-create the imprisoning mesh. Tyr stared at the loose gold band, confusion followed by hope flashing across his face.
"How…? The ring fell off your finger when you died, but mine shouldn't have come off."
"I'll explain later."
"Well parried," Vali said. "Now we riposte." He dipped and snagged the two rings. "On your feet, Annika. I need your help."
She couldn't imagine how her fledgling power might help Vali overcome Odin, but she scrambled upright, hanging on to Tyr's arm.
Vali held up the rings. "Did you foresee this consequence of your actions in the runes, Odin?" he asked contemptuously. Flickers of crackling energy danced around his hand, sparking off the rings. He turned to Annika. "Raise the point of your crystal dagger."
"Dagger?" Annika blinked at the crystal shard. She had a weapon in her hand and her father expected her to use it. The total weirdness of the situation suddenly hit her like a truck, nearly knocking the legs from under her. "I won't hurt anyone. I can't."
"No time for self-doubt." Vali gave her a meaningful glance.
Tyr placed a steadying hand on her back. His energy filled her, strong and fortifying. Annika dragged in a breath before raising the point of the glinting crystal blade.
Vali dropped both gold rings over the tip, then wrapped a hand around hers. A wild hurricane of energy raced through her, then she sensed her father's fine control focus the tempest down to a point of fearsome power. Lightning flashed out of the end of the crystal dagger, shooting towards the ceiling.
With a wrenching groan, the ice there fractured. Huge chunks rained down, thudding to the floor. Annika covered her head, while Tyr wrapped his arms protectively around her. Vali threw a light shield over them, and the ice bounced off with an electric sizzle like high voltage cable.
Odin staggered. Losing his grip on his staff, he collapsed to his knees. "Help me!" He grabbed for the hem of Thor's coat as his son lumbered towards the door, hammer over his shoulder, fleeing the destruction. Odin missed, and howled as he sagged to the ice, his limbs twitching, his wrinkled face screwed up.
"Incredible," Tyr whispered in Annika's ear. "Vali's focusing your combined power into the two child rings to attack Odin through Draupnir." The storm of ice fragments settled. The roof of the chamber was now open to the sky.
"Hold your focus," Vali commanded, and he released Annika's hand.
Her heart pounded as energy from the air poured through her into the crystal. She felt as unprepared as a kid given the steering wheel of her father's car, but she wasn't about to show weakness in front of Odin.
Vali paced forward, crunching shattered ice and crystal underfoot, his expression merciless. Tyr wrapped an arm around Annika, boosting her strength. He gripped her hand on the crystal shard. Heat shot through her, and flames leaped from the tip of the crystal.
"Skitur!" Tyr snatched away his hand. "My fire…How?"
"Who knows, just help me!"
Tyr's hand closed over hers again, and heat flooded her. Flames burst from the end of the dagger, engulfing the rings. Huginn and Muninn transformed into ravens and flapped up to the ceiling, circling, cawing loudly.
"Have mercy on an old man," Odin gasped, reaching for Vali's polished black boot. Annika's father took a half step back out of reach.
"You punished Tyr with a slave ring for the sin of saving my baby daughter's life. Why should I show you mercy?"
"Stop the pain, please."
Vali's sword hovered in the air above Odin, ready to strike. "Relinquish Draupnir and your suffering ends."
"No!" Odin banged his fist against the ice, an angry whine rising from his throat.
"He'll never give up the ring," Tyr whispered.
Annika trembled, terrified that Vali might slaughter Odin right there in front of her.
Her father angled the point of his sword at Odin's throat. "Death will break your hold over Draupnir," he said.
"I curse you, son of Loki. I curse you," Odin ground out between clenched teeth.
Vali smiled grimly, pressing the tip of his sword against Odin's throat until blood trickled onto the ice.
"Stop!" Odin's bony hands fluttered together, and he tugged Draupnir from his finger. "You win…this time." He held up the ring. The tense agonized lines of his body eased as he recovered from the way Vali had reversed the energy flow and attacked him through the ring.
Annika lowered her crystal knife and sagged against Tyr, exhausted but relieved.
The tip of Vali's blade touched Odin's throat again. "Renounce the ring," he commanded.
"Isn't it enough that I've taken it—?"
"Renounce it. Now."
"I release thee." Defiance flashed in Odin's single gold eye, only to be replaced by fear at another jab from Vali's sword. "I release thee, Draupnir, gift of Brokkr and Eitri, to seek ye a new master." He glanced longingly at the ring, then tossed it away.
A rent opened in the air, sucking in the ring. Searing elemental power burst through the chamber, whipping up a whirlwind of shattered ice that knocked Annika and Tyr to the ground.
Annika lay still until the turmoil faded, Tyr covering her with his body. Once the air cleared, he grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet. Heart skipping with apprehension, she peered through the steaming, shattered ice for Vali. By some miracle, her father was still standing over Odin, untouched by the chaos.
"Don't let him kill me, son," Odin shouted to Tyr.
Two tall, dark-haired men appeared out of the murky air. Annika needed a few seconds to recognize them. Huginn and Muninn now stood tall and straight, a bright intelligent glint in their eyes. Huginn's gaze flitted from Vali to them and back. "Kill him, or we will."
"Why put him out of his misery?" Vali moved aside so they had a clear view of the pitiful sight of Odin curled on the floor, looking like a vagrant in his dirty clothes. "Let us not deny him years of wretchedness in a shattered palace with no servants to do his bidding and no sons to bully."
Huginn narrowed his black eyes and nodded. "Very well." His outline shimmered, then the black raven rose into the air, larger and sleeker than before, to be joined a moment later by his brother. They flew towards the door and out.
Vali pivoted away from Odin and strode towards Annika, sheathing his sword as he came. Annika's heart thudded, praying this was an end to the conflict between her family and Tyr's.
"You did well, daughter." Vali brushed his knuckles across her cheek with a smile. "Take good care of your crystal dagger. It will focus your power whenever you need it."
His gaze settled on Tyr. He touched his fingers to his brow in some kind of a salute. "There's nothing holding you here now," he said.
Tyr returned the gesture. The two men stared at each other candidly, their eyes intense with unspoken acknowledgement of past friendship, shared pain, new beginnings. Then Tyr gave Annika a cautious smile. "We'll go somewhere warm. Perhaps I'll visit my mother's family."
"The Folletti," Vali said, his gaze drifting thoughtfully into the distance. "Italy will be a fine place to continue Annika's education."
Did that mean he was coming with them? She exchanged a glance with Tyr. Much as she wanted to get to know her father and discover how to use her power, she wanted time alone with Tyr. In some ways she knew him well, but in other ways they had a lot of catching up to do.
"Go on ahead," Vali said with a glance over his shoulder. Odin had stood and was shuffling towards the door in the back wall. "I'll find you after I've tidied up here."