Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (15 page)

But how do I get through the cell’s door?
It’s locked tight.

I flew through the hole and moved up the
spiral staircase, resolving to scour my cell for a makeshift tool,
maybe a rock shard that I could use to bludgeon my way out of my
prison. I was so intent on identifying a means of escape, I failed
to notice the blazing red energy flashing toward me. Runa sprinted
along the hall toward the door of my cell, flinging it open at the
exact moment I registered her presence.

No.
My body couldn’t take a hit without my spirit—it would shut
down. And if my body shut down, the energy cord that linked it to
my spirit would be severed. I’d be locked out until my physical
self could regenerate…if not forever.

“
Get
up,
ko
,” Runa
shrieked. She charged into my cell as I flew after her. By the time
I made it through the doorway, she held my body against the wall.
Her fingers were wrapped tight around my neck as she slammed my
head against the hard stones. I should have felt each strike
throughout my spirit, but it remained pain-free. The lack of
sensation could only mean one thing—I was too late.

I dove for my body as Runa forced it against
the wall again, aligning my energy centers for quick re-entry. But
my spirit bounced back, as if it had struck the tower wall. I shook
myself and tried again, then again, to no avail. My body had
sustained too many injuries to be my spirit’s physical host.

We were separated.

“
I said
wake
up!
” Runa
howled. “Your friends weren’t where I thought they’d be, so I was
going to give you one more chance to find Fenrir. But if you’re
going to play dead”—she threw my body onto the ground, where it
crumbled into a lifeless heap—“then all bets are off. It’s lights
out for Forse.”

With
that, she transported out of the cell in a flash of crimson fury,
leaving my bloodied body on the floor. There was nothing I could do
to help it—without a cord to connect us, my spirit was as foreign
to it as Svartalfheim was to Asgard. Leaving my body alone at that
moment meant I risked permanent disassociation, but I couldn’t let
Runa ambush my friends…even if I had to spend the rest of my
existence as nothing more than an energy signature. I sent a silent
prayer that my body would heal enough to allow me to re-enter
soon,
or ever,
and I dove through the window, intent on finding my
friends. That monster wasn’t going to hurt one more god that I
loved. Not today, not ever.

My spirit soared over Svartalfheim, covering
kilometers of barren desert interrupted with the occasional
cactus-like vegetation. But though I encountered a handful of
castles, and even scoured the settlements surrounding the
parliament building—there wasn’t an Asgardian trace to be found.
Wherever my friends had gone, their energy was imperceptible. And I
couldn’t afford any more time away from my body—if I had any chance
at rejoining, it would have to happen soon. After two hours of
separation, the risk of permanent disassociation spiked
significantly.

I was butting up against that all-important
one-hundred-and-twenty-minute mark.

With a
burst of speed, I returned to Runa’s castle, soared through the
window and assessed my body. It was still on the floor, but now it
was curled in a tight ball. That was a good sign—it had moved since
I left. I aligned my energy centers and pushed against myself. I
made it halfway in before my body ejected me. Pulling back out, I
studied the corporeal heap. The blood caked against the back of my
skull indicated that wound was my most severe injury. It made
sense, given this was my second head wound of the day.
Note to self—bring a helmet on my next unifying mission.
A ripple of excitement ran
through me as I studied the shallow cuts and light bruises. My
energy remained low, but I’d fixed worse wounds as High Healer.
Even without a physical form, I was confident I’d be able to heal
this one, too.

I hoped.

I held my
fingers a half-foot apart, channeling restorative energy. When I
felt a malleable ball between my palms, I turned my hands downward,
pressing the energy into my body’s skull. The bleeding ebbed, and I
felt a light tug at my first energy center.
We’re
connected!
I pressed
another wave of energy into the wound, and the pulling sensation
intensified.
Good enough. I’m going in.

I pushed the remaining restorative energy
into my body and lined up my centers, this time slipping easily
back into my physical form. Pain exploded across my mind,
resonating from every nerve ending that was still operational. But
pain was better than darkness, and I welcomed the agonizing waves,
knowing the alternative was far worse.

After an excruciating eternity, the darkness
gave way to grey, and I managed to claw my way to a sitting
position. At least two hours had passed since Runa had set on her
murderous march, and there was no telling how much damage she’d
inflicted. My spirit may have failed to help my friends, but now
that I was back in my body my tech could still get the job done. I
pressed my fingertips to my forearm and issued my command with a
scratchy voice. “Call Forse.”

When he
answered, the stressed face filling the screen did little to
reassure me. “
Hei
, Elsa.” His image bounced up and down against the backdrop
of black soot and red lava. Was he running by the molten river we’d
seen when the Bifrost dropped us in Svartalfheim?

“Where are you?” I rasped.

“Are you okay? Did she hurt you again? So
help me, Odin, I’m going to kill her.” Fury laced Forse’s
voice.

“
I’m
fine,” I lied. “Forse, you have to evacuate Svartalfheim. Runa’s
reached a whole new level of crazy. She is seriously going to kill
you. You need to get Tyr and Brynn out of the realm
now
.”

“Nobody’s leaving this realm without you.
We’re on our way to another tower. The locator hasn’t tracked your
blood sample, but it picked up a trace on Runa.”

“I thought it needed DNA to track
someone?”

“It does. Henrik uploaded a hair from an old
hat Evidence kept.” The screen showed Forse’s hip as he pumped his
arms.

“Forse, you need to be running away from
Runa, not toward her. Are you not hearing me? She’s going to kill
you.” My heart pounded at the words, sending another wave of pain
across my skull.

Pain’s better than dead, pain’s better than
dead
…dang
it, this hurts.

“She won’t get the chance. I’m going to kill
her first.” Forse’s face came back on the screen. His jaw was
set.

Oh gods
. He
wasn’t kidding. “That was never part of the plan.”

“
Ja
, well. Neither was you getting captured on me, was
it,
hjärtat
?
Plans change.”

“Turn around. She’s leading you into a
trap.”

“
I’ve got
this under control.” The lava stream behind him blurred as Forse
ran faster. “Sit tight. I’ll reprogram the locator and force
the
förbaskat
thing to get a read on you the minute we find
Runa.”

“I might be able to help narrow the search. I
never got to tell Tyr that I picked up a few more landmarks the
last time I was in his head. When I left my body, I saw that my
tower is roughly three kilometers from a pretty substantial
mountain range, and that a thick grove of trees surrounds the
property. Does that help?”

“Not really,” Forse grunted. “Most of the
towers that are tall enough to fit the specs you gave us are
guarded by both mountains and woods.”

“
I
traveled west to reach you,” I offered. “So my tower should be east
of the one you were ambushed in. Get yourselves out of
Svartalfheim, call the Elite Team, and send them to come find
me
after
Runa
calls off her god hunt. Just evacuate, now!”

“We’ve got this, Elsa.” Forse’s voice was
steady.

“
Elsa?”
Brynn’s upbeat voice rang through the device. Forse tilted his arm
so I could see our friend running alongside him. “
Hallå,
flicka!
”

“Hey girl, to you, too. You guys have got to
get out of this realm. Runa’s homicidal.” My plea fell on deaf
ears.

“You want me to miss a fight this epic? I
don’t think so.” Brynn’s ponytail bounced as she ran. “Gotta go.
We’re at the location, and holy Helheim, where’d they get a
dragon?”

“A what?” I squeaked.

“I’m signing off, Elsa.” Forse sounded tense.
Of course he did.

“Don’t turn the screen off!” I begged. “How
will I know you’re okay?”

“
You can
watch through my head,” Tyr chimed in. “Maybe having your calming
presence in my brain will keep me from killing every demon
I—
skit
, there are
two dragons. And I’ve got visual on Runa. She’s fifty meters due
north. Weapon up. Forse, are your guns fully loaded?”

“
Ja
,” Forse confirmed.

“
Good.” I
heard the swish of Tyr’s sword as he drew it from his belt. “Shoot
first, ask questions later. Elsa, see you on the inside.
Do not talk
when you’re
in my head, okay? I need to concentrate.”

“Thank you,” I whispered to my brother. “I’ll
be right there. I’ll do what I can to diffuse the hostiles so long
as they let me near their energy. And Forse? Please be careful. I
need you guys to come out of this alive.”

Forse’s
image jostled as he drew his sidearm. “I have no intention of dying
today,
hjärtat
.
We’re coming for you. Right after we take care of a little pest
problem.” Forse winked at the screen before it went
black.

Oh, Hel.

I doubled
down on protections, enforcing my aura with the thickest walls I
could visualize. Leaving my body when it was compromised
again
carried a degree
of risk, but if my spirit could help my friends in any way, staying
behind wasn’t an option. With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and
pushed my energy at my brother. It took less than a minute to find
him, but by the time I’d dropped into his head, he, Forse, and
Brynn were under fire. Literally. Two dragons circled the sky above
the stone structure where Runa, Tosk, and a dark elf I didn’t
recognize waited. The grounded monsters stood in a straight line in
front of the building, smiling like a crazed welcome wagon, while
their winged counterparts breathed streams of fire into the lava
river separating my friends from Svartalfheim’s un-finest. A wall
of fire erupted from the lava, creating a twenty-foot barrier
between my friends and my captors.

Double Hel.

My brother’s mind whirred. I could sense him
running through attack plans, evaluating each for risk, duration,
and effectiveness. A light flashed as he settled on the best one,
and he took action without second-guessing himself.

“Forse, you’re going to port us across the
stream. Once we’re on the other side, Brynn, you take the unknown
hostile. I’ll take out Tosk. Forse, I’ll leave Runa to you. Seems
you two have some unfinished business. Try not to hurt the dragons.
They’re most likely being controlled by one of these demons, and in
the event they’re acting of their own accord, keeping them alive
will be our goodwill gesture to their king, Nidhogg. He’ll owe us a
favor, and I have no doubt we’ll need one.”

“Like we don’t need one now?” Brynn
muttered.

“Two dragons, two dark elves, and an ex-pat?”
Tyr sounded confident. “We’ve got this. Now move out.”

Brynn nodded. She and Tyr moved close to
Forse. Forse wrapped his arms around his friends, gun still in
hand, and held tight. The next instant, the three of them were on
the other side of the fire wall. They hit the ground running,
dodging dragon fire as they tore across the blackened ground. My
back warmed as a blaze landed just behind Tyr, the dragon breath
narrowly missing his shoulder blades. He gripped the hilt of his
broadsword, and a perverse sense of pleasure flowed through his
head. I knew he wanted to end Runa himself, but because of her
prior relationship with Forse, the justice god was in a better
position to assess her weaknesses. And to Tyr, removing Runa’s dark
elf counterpart would be nearly as fulfilling. Tosk had been an
accomplice in my kidnapping, after all. And nobody hurt Tyr’s baby
sister.

Aw! I love you too, big brother.

No talking!
Tyr
growled inside his head.
I’m trying not to die here.

Sorry.

Ugh. Screw running.
Tyr bent low and launched himself off his toes. A stream of
dragon fire seared the spot seconds after he vacated it.

“
Must be
nice to be able to
fly
,” Brynn chirped. Tyr glanced down, affording me a view of
Brynn bounding up the gentle slope. Fire rained down as she danced
toward the stone structure. The dragons were relentless, shooting
flames in a near continual stream of rage. Their wings flapped
angrily and they whipped their tails back and forth, the flames
fanning beneath the forceful gusts of air.

“Just end the elf, Brynn,” Tyr commanded. My
viewpoint shifted as Tyr alternated screens in his head, glancing
between the dragons he flew level with and the team he oversaw on
the ground. My brother’s ability to compartmentalize blew me
away.

No wonder Odin gave him Dad’s title.

“I’m on it.” Brynn covered the ground in a
leap worthy of a classically trained ballerina. She came down
directly in front of the unidentified dark elf, who wore a mask of
shock—he probably hadn’t expected such a tiny female to cover such
a substantial distance in one jump. He pulled his arm back to throw
a punch just as Brynn brought her combat boot up in a powerful
roundhouse that landed squarely across his face. The elf stumbled
back, cradling his cheek in his hands. If the sound of foot on bone
was any indication, he’d be nursing a broken jaw.