“No.” Ali stepped back, her face now a mask of horror, “I must have forgotten.”
She stood in the center of my room, swaying slightly. I was starting to wonder if she’d lost her mind since I last saw her. My mind churned, thoughts frantic.
“What is going on?” I demanded. “What happened to you?”
She straightened suddenly. “I must go. My people need me.”
“How in the gods’ names will you get out of here? You need to stay with me, Ali.” I moved in front of the door. If the guards caught her, she would die a painful death.
“Get out of my way, Galin.” Her eyes blazed with intensity, madness.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Ali spun away from me, fast as the wind, and ran for the window. Flying over my desk, she smashed through the glass and leapt out into the night air, twenty stories above the earth.
I felt as if the world tilted beneath me, panic stealing my thoughts.
“Ali!” I shouted leaping onto the desk, leaning out over the broken glass. Terror clutched at my heart as I looked down. I expected to see her clinging to the side of the Citadel, or worse, smashed into the snow twenty stories below.
But what I saw felt worse. A few snowflakes glistened, the lights of Boston twinkled, but there was no sign of the Night Elf.
Ali had simply vanished. I wondered if she’d actually been here at all, or if my soul had yearned for her so much I’d simply imagined her.
Perhaps I was losing my mind.
Chapter 9
Ali
As I listened to the baby shark song on repeat, the warden led us straight to Sindri, the towering column of stone where the Shadow Lords lived. A guard stood at the entrance—the same one I’d spoken to when I’d last visited.
“Winnowing?” he asked the warden.
The warden glared. “Yes, I bring prisoners from the Audr Mines for the Winnowing. They have each drawn a marked lot.”
Instead of motioning us past, the guard dropped his halberd to block the entrance. “Only the marked may enter. You don’t have a lot. You stay here.”
“These elves are dangerous criminals—”
“Lord’s orders. Release them, and I will escort them inside. You may return to the mine.”
The warden grumbled under his breath, but stepped away anyway.
The guard motioned us forward. “This way.”
Quickly, we followed him up the winding entrance tunnel. When we reached the main hall, Bo and the other prisoners stared around, awestruck. I didn’t think any of them had ever been inside the Shadow Lords’ hall.
Just as they had the last time I’d visited, the three Lords sat on their stone thrones. Unlike last time, when I’d faced them alone, elves filled the hall. Young, old, male, and female, they milled around, looking mournful, emaciated.
As we moved further into the hall, Thyra raised her hand. “My warriors! The last of the marked have arrived. We are all assembled.”
The elves quieted, turning to face the Shadow Lords.
“I will be brief,” Thyra continued. “Each and every one of you have received marked lots. Three hundred have been chosen to represent our kind. Together, you represent the last hope of the Dokkalfar. A great plague has overrun our land. Our people are dying. We need to escape the confines of the Shadow Caverns once and for all.”
Her eyes gleamed, and a heavy silence fell over the hall.
“Let me tell you, briefly, what will happen next. Tonight, we follow the tunnels that lead to Galin’s wall. In the morning, the High Elves will let us pass into Midgard. We will travel to Boston, where we will fight at sundown. The first contest will be a melee. Three hundred of us versus three hundred of them. It is a fraction of our population to stop the starvation, and I believe it is our last hope. During the first trial, the blood will flow until half remain. Then we will rest until the next contest, and on and on until only thirty elves remain. It is a sacrifice, yes, but without it we risk total annihilation. Most of you will not survive the next week. But do not fear for your souls. A death in battle is a glorious way to die. At the moment you draw your last breath, the valkyries will lift you up and you will live in eternal glory in Folkvangr or Valhalla.”
A hundred questions raced through my mind, but I couldn’t ask them now. My muscles were tense, and fear mingled with anticipation. This