Ascendant

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: LOKI'S LABYRINTH

Her home suddenly didn't feel so homely.

Looking around at the city, she heard distant dragons brawling, people's hushed voices, cries of pain, and sounds of the coming war filling the air with anxiety and despair as men and women toiled beneath the watchful gaze of their conqueror...

Walking to where she heard metal on metal, she watched past the shoulder of a guard to see one of their sword trainers knocking over a child about age nine before ordering him to get back to his feet, the kid bleeding from a cut on his face. But he did so anyway, his small hands gripping the dull sword he trained with as they locked blades again.

Peering over the different people working on their swings, she saw a girl about seven years old...

Suddenly that anxiety came back to her and she turned away, putting her back to a wall.

That idea she had of keeping it all secret was thrown out the window as her head began to clear. No. She needed to take the news of what happened to her straight to the top before Valmaor had the chance to turn it around on her. She would get him exposed and let the chips fall where they may.

She got her back off the wall and began walking down the street with determination in her steps, making her way past others without a glance as she kept a brisk pace, her destination the throne room.

Walking quickly, she overheard conversations that she didn't pay much attention to; a woman arguing about giving her husband a proper funeral but them insisting they take his body somewhere instead of allowing her to burn him at sea, two dragon riders talking about leaving at dawn tomorrow, and—

She stopped when she heard Valmaor's name and looked to the two women who were whispering about it. It was two of her Sisters, their cloaks catching in the wind when they returned Runa's gaze.

"What did you say?" Runa asked them, taking steps towards them instead as they had grabbed her attention. "What about Valmaor?"

They exchanged a look. "You didn't hear?" Ilsa asked.

Before any more discussion could be had, the sound of a man shouting and struggling got Runa's attention. She looked behind her towards the tall skinny entrance of the throne room as guards were pulling one of their own through the doors as the man protested desperately.

Runa's brows pulled together in confusion before she glanced back at the girls and then began walking to the throne room instead, wondering what the hell was going on.

Entering the halls, the ceiling had to be a mile high as the internal chasm that was the black stone throne room felt menacing around her. The throne that was made out of the same stone was a jagged and sharp design as if crudely cut yet somehow purposeful. The light that came through the triangular holes behind it formed a silhouette not only of the throne but of a tall dark figure standing before it.

"Stop! Please! We tried our best! Truly!" one of the men being dragged was saying before he was thrown to the ground aggressively by the other soldiers.

Runa kept quiet as she watched this unfold.

"Your little pupil moves like a phantom. We were the nearest to Valmaor's chambers and kept vigilant the whole time. But this man was trained to slip past guards. He probably got in through the windows. His kill was silent and by the time we realized something was wrong he had already taken off," the other summoned guard was saying as they held his arms tightly.

At this Runa's eyes widened and her veins went cold, realizing now why Muiredach was missing...

"He was too good! It wasn't our fault!" the first guard was pleading, his hand on the floor as he was trembling with fear as he spoke to the figure that still hadn't turned around. "Please... we did our best. There's no way we could have caught him..."