Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) (16 page)

Crack
.

And a broken nose. Brynn planted a series of
jabs in the center of her target’s face, earning a heavy grunt and
a spray of blood from the dark elf.

“Is that all you’ve got?” The elf ducked,
then threw himself at Brynn. He wrapped his arms around her waist
and tackled her. They rolled across the soot, colliding with Tosk’s
tall, black boot. The unknown elf pulled his head back and pinned
Brynn to the ground. She struggled beneath his gnarled hands,
arching her back and kicking violently, but the elf was in control.
He leaned to the right, giving Tosk a clear shot. As the monster
raised his knee to kick Brynn in the head, I switched screens and
the ground flew at my face. My brother dove, closing the gap
between his bodyguard and himself in the time it took me to
blink.

“I don’t think so,” Tyr growled. He connected
with Tosk’s boot before Brynn’s face did, wrapping his fingers
around the dark elf’s ankle and yanking him off his feet. He flung
Tosk to the ground. Tosk tucked into a ball, narrowly avoiding a
shot of fire probably intended for Tyr. Tyr flew so he was level
with the dragons and held his hands out.

“Ceasefire?” Tyr offered. The dragon reared
its scaly head, sending a new stream of flames at my brother.
“Guess not,” Tyr muttered as he dove back to the earth.

Tyr’s view shifted as he caught sight of
Forse, locked in a battle with Runa. My chest constricted as I
noticed his gun lying on the ground, most likely knocked out of his
hands by Runa’s freakishly strong kick. Her leg whipped forward
like a wind-up toy on repeat, while Forse side-stepped to avoid
becoming a casualty of her stilettoed boot. When Runa shifted her
weight to kick with her other foot, Forse dove to the side, sliding
across the soot on his stomach and picking up his sidearm. He
gripped the handle and rested his fist on his wrist, firing a
steady shot as he slid. Runa howled as the bullet grazed her
shoulder. She held up her palm and sent a blue beam of light at
Forse.

How the Helheim can they fight
that?

“Tyr?” Forse bellowed. “What’s the deal with
the subject’s blue hand laser?”

I pressed a thought into Tyr’s head.

“Elsa says it looks like the same blue beam
Runa used to capture her, only in that case the beam acted as a
pulley, not a blaster. Runa must be able to manipulate it at
will.”

“Great,” Forse muttered, as he dodged another
beam.

“Elsa also thinks it’s a temporary ability
stemming from the crystal Runa ingested, and that whatever powers
it gave her will wear off. Hopefully soon,” Tyr relayed, as he drew
his sword and swung at Tosk. Tosk met the strike with one of his
own, the clang of metal on metal echoing off the stone
building.

“
Ja
, well.” Forse rolled behind a boulder as Runa fired again.
“Any time this particular power wants to go away, I’d be okay with
that.”

Forse popped up, holding his arm straight and
taking two quick shots with his pistol. A loud shriek pierced the
morning air as Runa let out a wail. Her arm hung limp at her side,
a fresh current of blood dripping from her shoulder.

“You need backup, Justice?” Tyr forced Tosk’s
sword to the side. He took the opportunity to drive the elf to the
ground with a firm front-kick. Tosk landed hard on his back,
skidding across the dust and dropping his sword in the process. My
brother pounced, sword drawn as he launched himself at Tosk. Tosk
hissed, rolling out of the way as Tyr pierced the empty ground with
his blade.

“Arugh!” Tyr growled, withdrawing his sword
and gripping the hilt with two hands. He swung in a perfect arc,
his weapon landing where Tosk should have been. But the elf rolled
again. Tyr swore so loudly, Odin probably heard him all the way in
Asgard.

But Tyr’s curse didn’t drown out the sound
that paralyzed my soul with a fear I’d felt on just one other
occasion. Although Forse’s cry barely registered on the screen in
my brother’s mind, I zeroed in on the image of the god I would have
done anything for. Forse lay on the ground, clutching his chest and
gasping. On the other side of the boulder, Runa shot one final
beam. It missed Forse by inches, striking the rock near his head
and causing an explosion that sent shards of stone flying across
the field. She held tight to her bleeding arm as she turned around
and ran.

My world sank to a singular viewpoint, as I
gave in to the fear coursing through my energy.

Tyr!
I mentally
shook my brother.
Forse is down!

MY BROTHER CALLED OFF
his elf hunt and switched viewpoints, zeroing in on his
fallen friend. “Brynn,” he barked. “I’m flying Forse out of here.
Finish what you can and catch me as I go by.”

“Yes, sir.” Tyr’s view alternated, showing
Brynn driving her rapier through the heart of the unknown dark elf.
She wore a perverse look of pleasure as she withdrew the blade, the
heel of her boot pressed firmly against the elf’s stomach. His eyes
bulged as blood spewed from the hole in his chest. He drew one last
gurgling breath, and as I watched, his spirit withdrew from his
body, speeding through the sky and off to whatever level of Helheim
the goddess of the underworld deemed appropriate. If its muddied
color was any indication, the spirit was heading for Hel’s inner
sanctum.

Please let Forse be okay, please let Forse be
okay
, I chanted to
myself.

I won’t let him leave us. I’m almost to his side,
Tyr pointed out. And he
was—while I’d been wrestling with mind-numbing fear, he’d been
flying. He dove behind the boulder, scooping Forse into his arms
and dodging dragon fire as he carried our friend toward Brynn. She
jumped as Tyr passed, grabbing onto his leg and holding tight while
he flew them away from the wreckage, past the stream of fire, and
through the forest.

Hurry
, I
pleaded.

I am.
Tyr’s focus didn’t shift until he reached the shore of a
small lake. He dove, depositing Brynn on the ground and cradling
Forse as he touched down. I tried not to sob as I took in Forse’s
strong form, crumpled in the arms of War.

We need to heal him!
I urged.

A tense rumble emanated from my brother’s
chest. “Brynn, confirm there are no intruders in a twenty-meter
radius. I’ll shield the perimeter once it’s secure.”

“On it.” Brynn blurred around the circle,
returning in the time it took Tyr to lay Forse on the ground.
“Perimeter’s secure.”

“Excellent.” Tyr held his hand to the sky. A
silvery dome encased the area. Forse drew a shaky breath, and Tyr
zeroed in on my love. He shut off every screen in his mind but
two—the one that continually scanned the dome for threats, and the
one that studied his friend. Forse’s skin was unnaturally pale, and
his lips were lightly tinted blue.

They’re blue? Oh gods!

I know
. Tyr’s
eyes narrowed.
This isn’t good
.

Tyr placed his hand to Forse’s chest and
waited six seconds. His mind registered the slowing of Force’s
heartbeat.

“
Skit
,”
he swore.
“What the Hel did Runa do to you?”

Forse kept his eyes closed and opened his
mouth to speak.

He can move!
Relief surged through me.

Forse opened his eyes slightly as he rasped
out his words. “One of Runa’s crazy hand beams hit my chest. I
think it hit my heart.”

Oh my
gods. A blast to the heart under any circumstances was dangerous,
but Odin only knew what kind of powers the Svartalfheim crystal had
given Runa. If it was dark magic, and Runa had blasted Forse’s
heart…we were lucky he hadn’t been killed on impact.

My heart
thundered in my ears as I shouted at my brother.
Fix
him!

My magic extends to protecting, defending,
and killing. War-ish things. You’re the High Healer. Got any
ideas?

One look at the entry wound and I knew the
restorative energy ball I’d used to heal myself wouldn’t be strong
enough to overcome what Runa did to Forse. My rapid-fire pulse and
nausea-inducing adrenaline surge did me no favors as I scanned my
mental medical journal, honing in on several ways to heal an ailing
heart. Each depended on knowing the exact specifications of the
injury.

What do we know about the crystal that gave Runa her
powers?
I
asked.

“Brynn, did Henrik get back to you with the
crystal specs yet?” Tyr barked out loud.

“Hold on.” Brynn checked her communicator.
“Kind of. He’s still doing research, but he e-mailed limited
findings while we were fighting.”

“Convenient.” Forse coughed while I sent a
prayer of gratitude. If he still had his sense of humor, then we
still had time to heal him. But first I had to get a grip on my
energy, and calm down enough to be of use.

“Isn’t it though?” Brynn ran her finger along
her arm. “He knows it’s a miliant crystal, but he hasn’t confirmed
any of its properties yet.” She looked up. “Is Elsa in your
head?”

“
Ja
,” Tyr confirmed.

“Does that help you diagnose Forse, Elsa?”
Brynn asked. “Sorry we don’t know more.”

It’ll have to do
. I’d done more with less hundreds of times. If there was
one thing healing had taught me, it was improvisation and calm
under the face of stress.

But it was hard to keep my panic at bay as I
watched Forse’s eyes squeeze shut with a fresh wave of pain.
Justice was strong—stronger than my brother, in a lot of ways.
Seeing him hurting like this was agonizing.

Hurry up, Else
,
Tyr urged.

On it.
I took a deep breath and processed Brynn’s words, running
Henrik’s classification through a mental diagnostic. Miliants were
extremely rare. Like, once-in-a-blue-moon, two-horned-unicorn,
cheerful-jotun rare. They were indigenous to Svartalfheim and so
far as I knew, there was only one other documented case of
ingestion in…in ever.

And that hadn’t ended well for anybody.

“Arugh.” Forse groaned and gripped his chest.
“It’s burning.”

Oh gods.
Burning wasn’t good
. Tyr? Get the emergency healing kit
out of Brynn’s backpack.
I
pressed my thoughts into his head.

“Brynn, hand me your backpack,” Tyr
snapped.

Brynn threw the bag at Tyr. He plucked it out
of the air with one hand, and withdrew the kit.

Now what?
he
asked.

Pull out the necklace—it’s a blue and green
crystal that looks like it’s glowing. Hold it against Forse’s
wound. A larimar crystal is a really powerful heart stone, and it
will work especially well on Forse because of his connection to it.
It won’t solve the problem, but it should strengthen his heart
enough to slow the progression of the injury for a few minutes.

Then what?
Tyr’s thought sounded panicked.

Then I think fast. Just get the crystal in
place.

Tyr did as instructed while I mentally
scanned pages of medical journals, online reports—everything I’d
read during the last two hundred years about miliant crystals. It
felt like an eternity. My heart pulled every time Forse winced
under the pain, but I finally stumbled on something that might
work.

I’ve got an idea. Your region of the realm
should have hemian flowers and tomad roots, probably somewhere near
that lake to your north. Tell Brynn to go by the water and look for
a black-petaled flower that looks kind of like a rose, and a
greenish moss that’s growing at the base of one of those big
trees.

Elsa, he’s really pale. Look at him
.

I drew a
sharp breath as I took in Forse’s graying pallor. His cracked lips
drew uneven breaths at alarmingly slow intervals, and a faint sheen
lined his forehead. What the Helheim was going on? He was
Asgardian—his heart should have healed on its own. Coupled with the
larimar stone, and its powerful connection not only to its patient,
but also to the High Healer who was using it, Forse should have
been nearly out of the woods. He most certainly shouldn’t look like
he was two steps from Hel’s gate. Whatever breed of miliant crystal
Runa had ingested, it must have contained
really
dark magic…the kind that could
kill a god.

Tell Brynn to gather those two flowers, roots and all, and
get back to you immediately
, I ordered.

Done
.

Brynn nodded as Tyr voiced his command,
removing her now shredded fingernails from her mouth as she blurred
to the trees. My attention shifted to Forse while she searched.
This particular healing would require a direct application of
physical elements, which meant I couldn’t separate my energy from
Tyr and heal Forse as a spirit—I’d have to rely on my corporeal
brother to do this with me. I’d never helped someone through
another god before, but healing was more science than magic, and
while Tyr was hardly what anyone would call a stellar student, we
had enough experience sharing a mind that I knew he could be an
exceptional instruction-follower.

Gods, this had to work.

“Got ’em.” Brynn blurred to Forse’s side,
holding uprooted samples of the plants I requested.

Good
. I
nodded.
Tyr,
start with the hemian flower. Magic out its heart.

Since when do plants have hearts?
Tyr’s head whirred as he looked the plant over
from roots to petals.