Ice coated her hands and feet, holding her in place.

“You see, I had no idea how I was going to get him here given his disposition toward the place. But I had you, at least, and from the moment I knew what you were, I made sure the Emperor would only really trust me with your care. That meant promising him whatever he wanted to hear, but if you tell the man the sun shines from his ass, he will love you.” Victor dropped the pack and began rummaging through it.

“But then, while I waited and tried to sort out Aldrik, you gave me the greatest gift at all.” Victor laughed wildly. “A Bond! A Bond with the crown prince! You had his magic in you all along, it was right there, ripe for the taking.”

“You-you lied to me . . .” she wheezed weakly, struggling to regain her awareness.

“You love the prince of lies and yet are surprised by them?” Victor roared with amusement. He produced more crystals, laying them carefully around her prone form.

“What you are doing will fail; it always fails.”

“Don’t lump me in with the incompetent fools who are so hungry for power that they are blinded by it. I am of a far greater stock. Egmun thought he could take this power, but he didn’t have you.” Victor caressed her cheek.

Vhalla spit at him. “I will kill you,” she swore through chattering teeth.

“Will you?” Victor grinned. “I will certainly love to see that.”

“I will.” Vhalla’s lips were beginning to turn blue and tremble. “I promise.”

“That would be impressive, as this place will soon become your tomb.”

Vhalla looked around, her eyes finally focused enough to take in the space. She recognized the floor instantly. Spiraling out from her body were markings, and embedded into the stone was what she once thought were shards of glass when she had witnessed them in Aldrik’s memory, but now knew to be crystals. She was in the same spot Aldrik had made his first kill.

Her fingers and toes screamed in pain from the ice surrounding them. She knew the next step would be numbness, and then they would turn black and dead. Vhalla fought against the crystal around her throat, now burning her magic.

“You should be pleased.” Victor produced the axe from his bag, the axe she had cleaned for him so that no other magic would interfere with his diabolical plan. “You’re going to help bring in a new world order. Didn’t we say we believed the same things? Didn’t you say you wanted peace? To not be hunted.”

“You can’t buy peace with war,” she screamed.

“Kill everyone who opposes you; what other peace is there?” Victor set down the axe by her and returned to the bag.

Vhalla struggled futilely to break the ice around her hands. If she could just get the axe. She stilled as she saw Victor produce a shining crown made of pure crystal. The last tool he had brought with him.

“What is that?”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Victor held it up in appreciation. “The crown of the first king of this continent. It’s traded hands quite a few times and was the hardest thing for me to track down. Honestly, harder than finding a Windwalker. King Jadar had it for a while, and the Knights are good at making crystal artifacts fall off the face of the earth. But, eventually, it returned South thanks to one of the old Southern Kings. No one thought to look in the most obvious place for it! A few dozen records back and I only had a few treasure halls to sift through.”

“You’re mad.”

“Oh, Vhalla.” He returned to her side. “The line between genius and madness is so very thin. Really, it all exists in the same grey area.” Victor boldly placed the crown upon his head. “I fear, my dear, that you must die without ever seeing my new world order. But know that your death will build a society that favors sorcerers for eons to come.”

Vhalla heard the echoes of stones bouncing down the mountainside. A horse’s whinny echoed through the caverns. Victor stilled, looking through the doors she had opened and down the long stretch of crystals to the main entrance.

“I think we will have an audience for my ascension.” Victor smiled, turning.

A tall shadow stood in the entryway, the sunlight burning at his back. Vhalla struggled to lift her head, squinting to prove without a doubt what the frantic beats of her heart already knew.

“Aldrik!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her high-pitched, desperate call carried across the walls and out to her prince.

“Vhalla!” he roared in tortured and broken agony. His voice was as deep and dark as midnight, and Vhalla wondered how she could have mistaken anything else for it.

“It seems you shall be the first Solaris to die by my hand!” Victor beamed and turned to face the inferno that roared toward them.

The caverns were quickly illuminated with the burning rage of the crown prince.

STEAM FILLED THE caverns as Aldrik’s flames met an ice barrier and vaporized it. He threw out an arm, sending another blaze in quick succession. Victor blocked it with a surge of magic, the crystals in the crown on his head flashing brightly to amplify his powers.

“Are you not happy to see me?” Victor japed.

“Let her go!” Aldrik skidded to a stop, bracing himself, and Vhalla pressed her eyes closed for the next wave of heat. The fire was so great that it sent explosive shockwaves through the caverns.