Valkyrie's Harem (Academy of Immortals 1)

Everyone stops moving. The click is loud, echoing in my ears. It’s akin, I imagine, to the first shot in a war.

Unmistakable.

Unforgettable.

Unstoppable.

Gardener opens the door and a draft of cold, frigid air blasts past us. It smells like sulfur and the chill is familiar, like what I felt outside the academy. Everyone watches, waits, but I know there’s a monster in there. A monster with sharp claws and a deadly appetite. A monster waiting to consume us all.

I stare into the darkness and see lumps on the inky floor. I narrow my eyes and make out the shapes.

Bones. Skeletons. People who have tried to get to the temple before.

“There,” Marielle says, pointing past the headmaster, toward the wide steps and massive stone pillars holding up an archway in the distance. Symbols are etched into the façade; the crown, the sword, the scales, the scythe, and others, marks that call to the end of times.

“Don’t,” I warn him, “there’s a guard to the temple. A vicious, deadly beast.”

“Don’t worry your pretty head,” Gardener says. “I’ve waited my entire life for this moment. No beast will come between me and destiny.”

Wide-eyed, Gardener steps over the threshold, entering the dark, inky abyss. He’s no longer inside, he’s in the place outside the Academy walls. A thin layer of liquid covers the soles of his shoes. In the distance there’s a howl. Dark magic slips its tendrils across my skin, pushing into my pores, wrapping around my heart in my chest.

I’ve felt this evil before. On the Otherside with Morrigan. Pure darkness feels the same no matter what the realm. It’s paralyzing, and we’re all caught in its web. The Immortals are trapped in their warrior like bodies. My classmates frozen in place. The only one mobile is Gardener—because he holds the key.

Gardener continues to move toward the temple, the key still clasped in his fingers. Once he reaches the gates with the key—the stone—it’s all over. We failed. We failed the Guardians. We failed Morgan and her baby. We failed the entirety of the Upperworld.

Marielle shivers next to me. The look of superiority has vanished from her face. She’s scared, and I glance down at her trembling fingers, seeing the hilt of Morgan’s dagger at her feet. The blade glints in the light and a burst of warmth hits my chest.

Enough warmth that it melts the hold the cold has on me. I wiggle my fingers. Shift my toes. Slowly, I bend, able to pick up the blade. The weight is perfect, the handle molding into my palm. Warm magic rolls up my arm, like a soft surge of electricity. Morgan’s power pulses through the blade, fighting against the darkness. All the love and light Damien forged in it for her. It breaks me free from the dark, evil magic holding us at bay.

The hallway is crowded, but everyone is focused, their bodies and minds in the clutches of darkness. Gardener walks through the water slowly, key clutched in his hand. I slip between Luke and Agis, then skirt around Marshal. Miya’s eyes follow me as I step over the threshold, my feet dipping into the murky surface. The dagger’s magic keeps me warm like a protective blanket wrapped around me. My shoes slosh in the water, and Gardener looks back.

“You’re not stopping this, Valkyrie. The vampire is right. This is bigger than you.”

“You’re right,” I say, hearing the howl of the monster in the distance. The water vibrates at my ankles. Bones littered at my feet. It’s coming. I’m running out of time. “But I have the power of the Queen of Ravens behind me. You’re not starting the apocalypse, not on my watch.”

He glances to the side, a smirk tugging at his lips. A dark, massive figure swoops in the distance. A feral cry rattles my bones.

“It’s too late,” he says. “I’ve started the clock. Once I get to the temple with the stone it’ll begin. The fight may take years, it may go on for what seems like an eternity, but eventually one of the demons behind you will win and they will take over the realms.”

Gardener turns and continues to the Temple.

I remind myself that I came to this world expecting a fight—death and destruction. So far, I’ve been playing games. No more. I lift the dagger over my shoulder and hurl it with all my strength. It lands, thwick, impaling in Gardener’s back. He gasps and pitches forward, landing face forward with a splash. I rush forward, yanking the blade from his backside, then pressing it to his neck.

“You can’t stop this, Valkyrie. And you won’t win. The fates won’t allow it. The Ravens abandoned their destiny and the gods aren’t happy.”

He coughs, his mouth filling with the dank, dark water and I see the light fading from his eyes.

The monster howls again, closer, so much closer. I reach into the water, feeling around for Gardener's limp hand.

“Where are you?” I mutter, well aware of the way the water trembles, the key lost in the murkiness. The monster coming, faster and faster until my fingers brush something smooth and hard. “Yessss!”

A shuddering thud forces me to look up and the massive monster is sitting on the steps of the temple, like a guard dog. It exhales, and I feel its cold breath blow across the space. Its yellow eyes, all six of them, narrow in assessment. To get to the temple with the stone, we have to get through the monster.

Another howl cries in the distance, followed by another and another. The sound of flapping wings follows.

He’s not the only one.

I clutch the key in my hand and slowly walk backwards, making sure not to trip over Gardener’s body.