“The sun turns black, land sinks into the sea;
the bright stars scatter from the sky.
flame flickers up against the world-tree;
fire flies high against heaven itself.”
—Prophecy of the Seeress 57
The bone-rattling jar of the Gjallarhorn woke me, jolting me upright. I ran to the window and peeked through the boards. There was light in the sky.
I’d fallen asleep.
We’d missed our chance.
“Get up! We need to go!”
The horses were still saddled and loaded. Hreidulfr and I were out the door as quickly as we could manage, pulling on our boots and cloaks. Digging my heels into the horse’s flanks, we rode out onto the path towards the gate, Váli racing along beside us.
A thunder of hooves filled the air, the einherjar pouring down the main street of Asgard, towards the gates. I pulled my hood up and slipped in beside the rest, letting us become part of the charge. I urged my horse faster, trying to get to the front. We needed to get there first.
But it was no use. There were too many horses. We were part of the pack, and as we thundered on with them, I tried to think of something else, some other way to stop this. We had time. Vigrid was still leagues away.
As we rode past Sessrúmnir, Freya’s soldiers fell in beside the rest, doubling their numbers. The ground shook under the force of a hundred thousand feet, hooves throwing powdered snow into the air.
The light in the sky dimmed and flickered. Our own shadows moved beneath us, stretching out like an entire day had passed in minutes. Heads craned up, the horses still surging forward. A shadow was racing along in the sky, chasing the sun. The shadow widened, engulfing the light and throwing the realm into darkness. I held my breath, waiting for the sun to come back.
It didn’t.
Flames flickered to light across my vision, wildfire and lanterns and torches. A chill settled in, all the warmth missing. And still we pressed on, knowing that Sol and her sun were gone for good.
The crowd was getting too thick. We’d be boxed in soon, and Váli might be trampled. I nodded my head to Hreidulfr, signalling to move, and the two of us veered out towards open space.
Finally, without all the bobbing heads in my view, I could see Vigrid. The field was barren, covered in nothing but snow, and in the distance were the tallest mountains in Jotunheim. Something was behind them, a light obscured by the ice. It burned so bright I had to squint just to look at it.
An enormous, boney hand reached up from behind the mountain and took hold of its peak, pulling itself up and over. His body was fire, licking the air and melting the ice from everything he came near. And he was coming for us, gripping his red-hot longsword in one hand. Surtr, the flame giant from the prophecy.
Yggdrasil protect us, we were never going home.
We needed to run because there would be no fighting this. I looked around for an answer, and there, on the shores that met the edge of Vigrid, was a pack of ships, emptying their cargo out onto the snow. A sea of dead souls, wraiths, and beasts, some missing skin and clothes and limbs, all marching to their next deaths.
The closer we got, the more the sight of the ships turned my stomach. Morbid nannies had told me the stories as a child; one ship would be made from human skin, another from human hair, and the last, the largest of them all, was Naglfar, the ship of nightmares. The toe- and fingernails of the dead were wrought together like dragon scales to serve as the hull of the ship, warped and yellowed and disgusting, more horrible than anything I’d ever pictured.
“Do you see him?” I had to yell over the hard rhythm of the horse’s hooves.
Váli barked, keeping in time with us as best he could, though his legs would never be as long and as steady as a horse. “In the middle!”
I looked toward the centre of the field. The opposing armies were rushing toward each other, blades drawn, eager to begin what they’d waited an eternity for. In the middle of it all, a burst of teal flame shot out and upward, knocking a dozen soldiers from their mounts. The damned fool had rushed headlong into the fray.
A massive wave hit the edge of the sea and spilt out onto the bank, far enough to reach us. The horses startled at the water underfoot and stumbled. I pulled the reins hard, trying to get it under control. A serpent burst forth from the sea, as big around as the trunk of Yggdrasil and just as tall. Its body sunk deep into the water and in the distance, curls of its seaweed-covered body twisted in and out of the water, beyond the horizon. There was no end in sight.
It bent its head down, and I knew him. The same colours, the same cool manner. But now Jormungandr was so big that every single scale was bigger than my hand. His mouth was a cavern, and his breath smelled like briny ocean water. We were barely a snack to him. My heart was trying to escape my chest as his eyes fell on us, his enormous teeth unsheathing for the kill.
“Wait!” I screamed. “You know me! When you were young, you stayed in my home with your father and your mother! You ate eggs and slept near my fire! You know us! We’ve come to protect Loki!”
Jormungandr crooked his head and came closer, tongue licking the air. Smell. That was how a serpent smelled things. We stayed very still, letting him make his way to each of us, waiting. Whatever he found must have passed the test. A gentle rattle echoed from his throat and he gently knocked the side of his cheek into me. “Ssssigyn.”
A howl shook the air. I clapped my hands over my ears, trying to block it out. There was only one thing it could be, but I wasn’t ready to believe it. Jormungandr’s head shot up, and he slithered out onto the battlefield, wrapping himself around the peaks of the mountains, the end of his tail never leaving the water.
“By the Norn, I nearly shit myself.” Hreidulfr tried to catch his breath. “Never in all my years—”
Lights burst out along the black sky, green and purple, shimmering. The rhythmic beating of swan wings rose out above us, several hundred Valkyrie joining the fray. Each Wing passed at breakneck speed, tossing daggers below them like rain. Once they were clear, a flurry of arrows shot out across the sky.
“We’re out of time.” I pulled tight on my horse’s reins. “New plan. We stay together. We go in, we get him, and we leave. This battle is not our concern. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
The battle was raging, weapons and seidr flying in all directions. It was too thick to continue by horse. I jumped down and slapped the beast’s bottom. It whinnied and ran, hopefully to safer pastures.
If anywhere was still safe.
Hreidulfr abandoned his horse as well, a pair of hand axes at the ready and Váli on his heels.
I hadn’t even reached for my weapon when the first of the dead charged at me. The damned thing was missing an eye and the gaping, rotten hole startled me. If Váli hadn’t jumped onto it and tore out its throat, it might have been a very short battle for me.
“Stop daydreaming!” Váli fell onto his victim and bit down once more for good measure.
“Right.” I pulled in my focus, giving my head a shake. I scanned the horizon for a moment and caught a glimpse of teal flame. He’d shifted east. “Follow me.”
◦ ● ◦
We ran together, trying to avoid fighting with either side, skirting around trolls and Jotun Jarls and battle maidens. Fighting would only slow us down, so we struck only when struck at, following Loki’s ever-shifting location.
It was hard to run. The snow was being packed to ice beneath our feet, and where Surtr’s flame came too close, it melted and turned to mud. By the time I caught a glimpse of Loki, we were covered in dirt and blood.
I heard his laugh somewhere on my left. It was him, but it was manic, unrestrained. A flash of light blinded me for a moment. When my vision cleared, I found half the crowd around him on the ground, charred and smoking.
“Loki!”
He didn’t turn.
I didn’t have that kind of time. I cast a sharp rune and pushed, summoning a current of air to cut a path towards him. Bodies flew, divided by the wind. The three of us ran before the warriors on either side could regain their senses and attack. “Loki!”
He turned. His hair was wild and tangled, and he was covered in filth and sweat. He grinned when he saw me, and it pushed the melted wax of his cheek up in a way that was unsettling. The milky white of his eye stared right through me. My Loki might not be in there at all.
“You came!” He pulled a sword from one of the lifeless bodies at his feet and turned to meet me, his arms open.
I held out a hand against his chest, keeping him at a distance. “Loki, this isn’t the time. I—”
“Darling, this is the only time! We’re nearly out of it.” He wrapped his arms around me, and I submitted to him for a moment, watching over his shoulder for a stray axe. He planted a kiss above my ear and broke away, sweeping his hand out toward the scene before us. “Look what I’ve done for you. I brought them all here. Everyone already had their axes sharpened. They just needed someone to say the right words.”
How could he stand in the middle of a battle and still be so long-winded? I needed to stall. I clasped my hands together, whispered a set of runes, and drew a dome over us with my fingertips. A moment later, the air around us shimmered, and the four of us were locked inside a barrier with a young Jotun, a long-dead wench, and a single einherji. Before I could make another move, the Jotun and the wench turned on the einherji, ripping him to shreds with their blades. Then they turned on us.
I pulled my daggers from my belt and readied myself, but it never came to that. Loki stopped the young Jotun’s heart with a bolt of electricity while Váli and Hreidulfr ripped the dead wench limb from limb.
Loki took a moment to look closely at Hreidulfr. He squinted. “Do I know you?”
Hreidulfr wiped his hand on his trousers and reached out. “I suppose you do, sir, though it’s been a while.”
“Hreidulfr! I barely recognized you!” Loki pulled him in for a hug, slapping his back. He released Hreidulfr and pointed at his eye. “Though my vision isn’t what it used to be. And look, you’ve got yourself a pet.” Loki pursed his lips, a sadness settling over him. “Looks just like him, doesn’t he?”
Váli snarled. “Who are you calling a pet, you traitorous, conniving—”
Hreidulfr bent down, stroking Váli’s fur. “Come on now. He doesn’t know better.”
All around us, both sides of the battle were banging their fists on the barrier, trying to get inside. It wouldn’t hold forever.
I turned to Loki and gave him a push. “I thought they were your army?”
“Oh, no, the prophecy is quite exaggerated. I knocked on a few doors, yes, called on a few favours, but these aren’t my armies. Besides, they’re not after me; they’re after you.” He stopped a moment and scratched at his chin. “Yes, that may be a bit inconvenient. Hel!”
I followed his gaze toward the sky. High above the chaos floated an impenetrable darkness, wispy and cascading, like smoke born from shadows. It turned at Loki’s call, and I saw that it was a living thing. It crept toward us, the wisps churning around itself, around the core that bound it together. Hel. She’d grown into herself, tall and beautiful. She was made of sharp angles, still half living flesh and half dead. Darkness flowed around her like a gown, bits of her pallid blue skin peeking out as it crawled and stretched over her body. She was as horrible and breath-taking as death itself. I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“Isn’t she something?” Loki put his arm around my back. “Goddess of Death, ruler of Helheim. You should see what she’s done to the place.” He chuckled, distant and frightening. “I guess we all will, soon.”
“Loki, please.” I took his face in my hands and turned his gaze to mine, hoping it would be enough to draw his full attention. “We have to get out of here.”
But he wasn’t listening. His gaze had travelled back to the sky. Hel had reached the barrier, sweeping down like a cloud. She lowered herself onto the dome and sat on its peak, staring at us. “Yes, Father?” Her voice was ethereal; dark, deep, and yet as sweet and seductive as honey.
Loki gestured to me. “Sweetheart, you remember Sigyn?”
“I do.” Hel bowed her head. “You tried. I never forgot.”
I blushed. It was hardly the time to get caught up in the past, but I did appreciate the sentiment.
“The family is having a bit of trouble with your army. Can you do something about that?” Loki waved towards the barrier, where the decrepit forces of her army were pressed up against the walls, attempting to rip through.
“Of course.” She lowered herself through the barrier as if it were made of nothing and settled onto her bare feet beside me. She reached out and set a cold hand on my cheek. The cold flooded through me, sending gooseflesh down my spine. She looked into my eyes. “You can ask.”
“Is he here?” The words slipped out before I could decide if I wanted to know, my pulse thudding in my veins.
“Narvi is safe.” Her smile was kind. “He was angry that I wouldn’t let him come, but it’s too dangerous for him here. He is more precious a friend than I could ask for, and I need him for what comes next.”
My hands went to my face, tears threatening to spill over. And for a moment I considered my options. I’d come here to save my family, but if Narvi was waiting, it would be so simple to join him. But it was too dangerous a thought to entertain. Instead, I looked at the family that needed me. “Please take care of him.”
“Always.”
She went to Hreidulfr next and touched his cheek. He jumped, but as she worked, the rattle against the barrier calmed just a little more.
Then it was Váli’s turn. She knelt down in front of him. “I told you I didn’t have him, Father.”
“What are you talking about?” Loki bent over her shoulder, peering down at the wolf.
Hel reached up and touched her rotten hand to his temple, her other hand on Váli’s muzzle. The recognition on Loki’s face was immediate.
He dropped to his knees and pulled Váli in. “I thought you were dead.”
“You were never that smart.” Váli’s voice was timid, not his usual biting self.
Loki squeezed Váli until he barked a cough. “I don’t care what you think I am. I wished for you back every day.”
“I—” Váli broke off into a mournful howl and nuzzled into his father.
“Loki.” I knelt down next to them. “It’s not too late. We can take them and leave, all of us. You wanted to be a family. Let’s go. Call off your children, and we can run to the ends of the nine and never look back. We can be happy, all of us.”
Hel stood, the darkness falling around her ankles like a gown. “I won’t. This battle is ours to win, and the gods have taken too much from me and my brothers. I speak for them when I say that we’re ready to die for that.”
I pointed to the battle. “They’ll throw everything away for this.”
“They have nothing to throw away. Our lives were taken from us when we were ripped from our parents and discarded. Everything after was the life they gave us, not the one we deserved.” She rolled her shoulder, and the bones under her rotten flesh shifted. “When they die, they’ll join me in Helheim like the rest. We give ourselves to rid the nine of these tyrants and begin again.”
Hreidulfr stepped forward. “All respect, goddess, but you’re not giving any of us a choice. Some of us want to live.”
“And you’re welcome to try. If you don’t, you always have a place in my halls, all of you. What else is family for? But you won’t change our minds.” Hel’s eyes fell on Loki. “You should take Father.”
“What?” Loki’s head shot up, and he sprang up from his embrace with Váli. “I’m not letting you do this without me.”
Hel took him by the hands. “You’ve suffered enough for a hundred lifetimes. If you can find happiness, you should. You’ll join us below someday, no matter when, but if Sigyn wants to take you, you should go. Be happy.”
An explosion sounded from outside the barrier. The Aesir forces had been gathering around it, beating their axes on it, but whatever the blow had been, it rocked the barrier to its core. Fire illuminated the sky in the distance. A wyrm, The Nidhogg, had joined the battle, swooping down with enormous wings to shake the ground as it landed, crushing everything beneath it.
“Decide, Loki.” I shook him. “The boys and I are going, with or without you. You wanted this family, and now it’s time to choose them.”
Loki rubbed his palm over his face, deliberating. I steeled myself for the words I expected, the firm denial. He’d always done what he wanted, and there was no reason for it to be different on the last day of the realms.
“Alright.” He looked up at me, his emerald eye peeking out from between his fingers.
“What?”
“You’re right. I’d be a fool to walk away from you.” He laughed too loudly, pushing back his mess of loose hair and braids. “Besides, isn’t the grandest trick of all, to convince them to kill each other while we all live?”
I had to force my slack jaw closed. “Then you’ll come?”
“Sigyn, you’re acting as if this is the craziest thing I’ve ever done.” He turned to look at the barrier. It wouldn’t be long. It was starting to fray, holes opening big enough to reach into. Outside, the carnage continued. Lightning flashed down from the sky, illuminating Jormungandr overhead grappling with a broad shadow that held a familiar hammer. The hammer came down on the head of the serpent, and Loki flinched. Jormungandr hissed and snapped his jaw forward, attempting to snag the god in his teeth.
The life paled from Loki’s face. He stared, unwavering, as his son fought off Thor’s strength, snapping at the tiny god that ran across his scales. He spoke as a strained whisper. “What have I done?”
Hel put her hand on Loki’s shoulder. “They chose this. Go.”
Loki turned to her, eyes glistening, then pulled her into his arms. The darkness enveloped them both, sweeping around their bodies. When he pulled away, he pressed his hand to her cheek. “I love you. Tell Narvi I’m sorry.”
“I will.” She pried herself from his grip and beckoned me over. “I’ll clear a path, but that’s all I can do. I’ve been away from the battle too long already. Be well, family.”
Hel rose into the air, the shadows swirling around her feet. She slid through the top of the barrier until she was high above us, then held up her arms. The darkness churned, and a stampede of her soldiers came pouring toward the barrier, pushing back the einherjar and Valkyrie poised outside it.
“Now!” I whispered a rune and the battered barrier fell. Loki and I barrelled forward, Hreidulfr and Váli on our heels.
A pair of einherjar lunged in front of us, blocking our path. One pushed us back, her round wooden shield held up, a sword darting out from around its edge. Loki pressed his hand against the wood and the shield burst into flame, throwing her off balance. Hreidulfr cut her down with two swift strokes of his axes, her body dropping into the mud. The betrayal in her eyes was evident.
“Traitor.” Her hands grasped at his legs as she fell to the mud.
He stood motionless, staring down at her while Váli sprang past him toward the next warrior.
“You remember she was nothing but a sour old hag, right?” Váli barked.
“Yeah.” Hreidulfr gave her a kick to the ribs and stepped over her, but the lost look was still in his eyes.
I followed them, leaping over body after body. The ground was filling up with corpses from all sides. The Jotnar lay entangled among Hel’s armies and the einherjar, lying together in some grim version of peace.
My heart stopped. I called for the others to wait, pointing at what I was seeing. There, in the centre of a hoard of dead warriors, was Odin.
He’d ridden Sleipnir into battle. The two of them were covered in decadent gold and white armour, almost impossible to miss. And they seemed to be holding their own against the enemies surrounding them, though how long that could last was hard to say.
“Sig—”
“I know, Loki. We’ll try.” I waved them forward, dodging through the fight, towards Sleipnir. If we had the chance to bring him home, we couldn’t waste it.
But Odin saw us before we could make any moves. His face soured. “You.”
“Yes, us.” Loki stabbed his dagger into the neck of someone in his way. “Give me back my son.”
Odin laughed. “And what makes you think I’m going to do—”
He flew off Sleipnir’s back as the horse bucked him off.
Sleipnir forced his way through the crowd, towards us, leaving Odin to pull himself off the ground.
Loki reached out for his son, letting him nuzzle into his chest. “I guess that settles that, doesn’t it, Grimnir? Hard to have friends when you’re always making enemies.”
“You’ll die today.” Odin was breathing frantically, pushing his way towards us. “Every last one of you. And I’ll bask in it, every moment—”
The ground shook. Again and again. Like running.
Odin turned. Behind him, closing in fast, was a wolf like a mountain, teeth bared and snarling.
Fenrir.
There was no time. No time to run, to fight back. We managed to brace ourselves against the quaking ground, and that was it. Fenrir bounded forward, his muzzle darted out, and it was done. Odin was lodged between his teeth, blood pouring to the ground below. Not a scream or a quip. Just dead.
The noise was horrific. The crunch of bone and armour, the slick sound of meat. Fenrir tossed his head back and swallowed the body whole.
Anything that had been fighting close to us turned and ran in the other direction, which was well enough. We were stunned silent, staring up at Fenrir’s blood-slick mouth in equal parts awe and terror.
Something stirred in me, and I pried Loki’s hand off my arm. Fenrir looked down as I stepped towards him, hand outstretched. He bent down until he was face to face with me, so enormous that I suddenly understood what it would be to stand next to a whale. But I pushed my fear down and ran my hand across the fur on his nose.
“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”
“No.” Fenrir’s voice boomed around me, and noticing me cringe, he started to whisper. “You’ve been long forgiven. You’re not the one to blame for the evils of gods.”
I nodded and stepped away, letting Loki and Váli step forward. With no inclination to eavesdrop, I turned to the battle. Still raging away from us, away from the enormous danger of Fenrir. But something was wrong. Something I could feel under my skin.
With runes on my breath, I tried to summon up a flicker of wildfire. I was tired, yes, but I knew the feeling of trying to cast while tapped of my own energy. This wasn’t it. All around the battlefield lanterns were flickering, flames and sparks dull and weak.
With so many völur taking from the ground and the air all at once, again and again, the energy was fading. The well was drying up. What I could manage to pull up was in spurts, a little at a time. The edge of the battlefield was in sight, but we needed to escape before we were left with only our hands to defend ourselves with.
A hand rested on my shoulder. “Are you alright, ma’am?”
“Hmm?” I looked up at Hreidulfr. A streak of mud ran across his cheek.
“Your father is dead.” His face was set with deep concern.
“Oh. Yes. Honestly, he’s been dead to me for a very long time. But thank you for asking.” I showed him the sputtering spark in my palm. “It’s time to go.”
Fenrir had stood up and was already walking towards the centre of the battle, one careful paw in front of the other.
“Come on. We’re leaving right now.” I walked past the others, heading for the closest edge of the battle. “There’s nothing left to pick up, this detour is over.”
“I’m hurt that you’d forget about me.”
I turned. There, sword at the ready, was Heimdall. He was covered head to toe in shining chainmail, a grin plastered on his face.
“Goddamnit! Leave us alone.” I stepped forward, positively done with this whole thing. “If you want this fight, you fight all of us.”
He shook his head. “I used to think you were smarter than this, sister.”
“I suppose you never really knew me, did you?” My fists tightened around the hilt of my dagger. “We’re leaving, but it doesn’t have to be through you. Stand aside.”
He stepped toward me, axe in hand. “I’ve spent too many years watching, sworn to silence, but not this time. You have an obsession with your own doom, keeping him next to you. I’ve watched him murder and pillage and betray us all, and I will not let him leave here alive. Not this time. I’m done standing by.”
Loki stepped between us. “This won’t end well for you.”
“It ends with your death, and that’s well enough for me.” Heimdall’s body tensed, hunched over like a wolf before the kill.
“Should I tremble? Do you really think you’ll be the one to kill me? You’re just not that good, watchdog.” Loki pulled the axe from his belt, staring him down. “Woof.”
Heimdall laughed. “Did no one tell you? You die today. Your name is on the list.”
“I know that prophecy inside and out. We’ve served our punishment; there’s nothing else.” I reached for sputters of energy, anything that could help us.
“Do you really think there’s only been one prophecy after all this time? Allfather collected them for decades. You found one piece of the puzzle. It always comes down to you and I, Loki. This moment. You don’t live.”
Loki’s knuckles whitened on his axe handle and his remark wasn’t as quick as it might have been. “Only if you’re fool enough to believe in fate. Let’s see who’s better, hmm?”
“If it’s all the same to you sir,” Hreidulfr stepped forward to stand beside Loki, his axes at the ready. “I don’t think I’ll give him a fair fight.”
“Come, all of you. Horsie, too.” Heimdall waved us forward, inviting us to join. “It won’t make any difference. I win, no matter what.”
I summoned up a weak burst of light, casting it directly into Heimdall’s face. He shielded his eyes with his arm, which was enough of an opening for Hreidulfr. He charged at the god, one axe raised to strike him down. With incredible speed, Heimdall took Hreidulfr by the wrist and threw him backwards onto the ground as if the warrior were no more than a sack of grain.
Loki dove forward, trying to catch Heimdall before he could regroup. I focused, only to feel the energy fading from my fingers. Stripped of my own power, I pulled my dagger out and stepped closer. Hreidulfr was still pulling himself up from the ground.
The blade of Loki’s axe screeched against Heimdall’s sword as he blocked. Loki kicked, catching him in the chest and pushing him toward me. There weren’t a lot of opportunities, but I stabbed at Heimdall anyways. The blade glinted off him, leaving my wrist vibrating.
Despite being caught between us, Heimdall seemed at ease. It was no wonder. Against Thor, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Against two völur stripped of their power, a wolf, a horse, and an einherji, he could be reasonably confident.
A blur of grey fur whipped around my ankles and sprung up beside me, onto Heimdall’s back. Váli dug his teeth into Heimdall’s iron helmet, trying to wrench it from his head. On the third pull, it fell away and clattered to the ground. Heimdall stumbled away from Loki, trying to grasp the wolf with his free hand. All the while, Váli snapped at him in an attempt to remove any finger that came too close.
Seeing my opportunity, I struck hard, swinging in a swift arch toward his neck. Heimdall moved, lurching as he tried to pull Váli off. I hit armour once again.
Heimdall reached over his shoulder and grabbed a fistful of wolf fur. He pulled Váli up and over his shoulder, tossing him to the ground. Váli landed with a yelp, his back paw bent in the wrong direction. Several of the einherjar had caught sight of the battle at hand and rushed toward Váli. Sleipnir sped towards them, barrelling several warriors on their backs as Hreidulfr raced to Váli’s side.
With the odds stacked in his favour, Heimdall stepped toward us. His sword came down at me, and Loki intercepted, parrying the blow and pulling back to strike again. They swung at each other, trying to find an opening, trying to find that edge. A sharp, wolfish squeal sounded off from behind Heimdall. Loki faltered just long enough for Heimdall to crack him in the jaw with his empty fist. The strength of it nearly brought Loki to his knees, but he managed instead to drive the handle of his axe into Heimdall’s cheek.
Heimdall fell to his hands next to Loki. Loki pulled back to kick him, but my brother was quicker. One swift motion of his sword severed the back of Loki’s grounded foot. He screamed and crumbled into the mud, the tendon of his ankle split in two.
“Loki!” I ran forward and drove my boot into my brother’s face. He fell onto his back, his teeth bleeding. I threw my weight onto him and swung my blade down. Heimdall caught my wrist mid-swing, the blade dangling above his face. One sharp twist was all it took to release my grip on the dagger. Screaming, I swung with my second hand, and he knocked the dagger from me as if I were a child, leaving me weaponless and restrained.
Writhing on the ground, Loki grasped at his ankle as Heimdall climbed to his feet, hauling me up with him. He turned me around, pressing my back against his chest like a shield. “Get up, Silvertongue. Don’t you want to protect your precious bride?”
Loki hissed and swung himself up, putting all his weight on his one good leg. Blood leaked down his boot and into the mud under his feet. The unhinged smile was back on his face, his teeth stained red. He spat, bloody phlegm splattering across Heimdall’s boot. “I should’ve killed you years ago.”
“Finally, something we can agree on.” My brother took hold of my hair and pulled my head back.
I’d had enough. I screamed and summoned up what trickle of energy I could find. I forced my palm onto his face. The sputtering wildfire in my hand licked his skin, setting his brows and hair ablaze. His grip loosened, and he fell back into the mud, trying to extinguish the flame.
“We have to go,” I said, turning back to Loki. Blood seeped from his leg and his lips.
He shook his head. “He’ll catch us. We finish this now.” He limped forward and buried his axe in Heimdall’s back. The scream that ripped from my brother pulled at my nerves.
The axe came back out with a splash of blood, the wet sound of it turning my stomach. Heimdall rolled to his side, still struggling to stand. Loki wound the axe back again, but Heimdall’s foot connected with Loki’s good leg, propelling him to the ground.
He was on him before I could move, driving a dagger deep into Loki’s chest.
The world seemed to dim then, for just a moment. I tried to focus on pulling up enough energy to do something, anything, but I couldn’t. The realms could burn for all I cared. Everything that had ever mattered lay bleeding out into the mud in front of me. My world shattered like glass dashed across the stones.
The sickening crack brought me back. Loki had driven his axe into Heimdall’s skull. My brother’s head nodded, his body swaying, trying to stay upright. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell, splayed out on his back, still as night.
I moved without really knowing it, hearing myself scream like I was underwater. Kicking Heimdall again and again, his limp body not reacting. The rage boiled under my skin, and I felt something crack in his chest. “You can’t have him! You. Can’t. Have. Him!”
Loki coughed, a sputtering laugh. “Sigyn, he’s dead.”
Shaking, I stopped, trying to catch my breath. Heimdall’s eyes stared up at the sky, blank and cold. A pool of blood soaked into the mud, spreading out from his skull.
Hreidulfr came to my side. Váli was perched on his back like a child, front paws around his neck. Sleipnir sauntered up behind them.
“The battle’s over,” Váli said.
We looked behind us. It was a massacre. The forces of either side had been cut in half, but the enemies of Asgard were running rampant. Hel’s army ran side by side with the Jotnar, cutting down swaths of warriors as if they were insects under their boots. Snow on the mountains cascaded down to the ground in wet, melting torrents. Flames ripped over everything that would catch, and the smell of charred bodies filled the air.
The realms were falling.