“Yeah, we’re fucked.” Ragna’s shoulder dropped.

While her mask concealed Bedivere’s lower face, no one in the room would doubt that she was grinning like a starved predator that had found its prey.

“So, they don’t expect us to win, just to die slowly enough,” Eric noted with a deadpan expression.

“Sometimes, Valkyries have to fight not for their own victory, but for that of their people.” Altera’s eyes lost their indecisiveness. She looked at her comrades with a fire that confirmed her decision. “Or, in this case, humanity in general.”

“Well said.” Jareth agreed. “The consequences of our failure outweigh any sense of individualism one should have. The protection of the planet has to be ensured.”

Eric looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Even if I can’t feel it right now, if such an aberration of Mana were to be unleashed, it could, in the worst-case scenario, result in the contamination of the planet. The chance is low but even then…”

That got into everyone. The entire group stared at each other in silence as the gravity of Jareth’s sank into them.

A portal opened. Moon Moon jumped out of it and landed in front of Altera. His fur had straightened up and increased his size, if only a bit, as he barked and fletched his teeth, glaring at everyone with eyes ready to fight. After a few years, Moon Moon could scare people with such behavior, but currently, his puppy-size made him look more adorable than threatening, and Ragna couldn’t help but chuckle. Still, his barking turned everyone’s attention turned to him and Altera.

“Sorry.” Altera’s voice wavered, and she bowed with her head. She caught Moon Moon in her arms before he could toll around the warehouse or attack anyone. “Moon Moon, please. Calm down.” She ruffled his fur to no avail and looked up to the Knights. “I’m sorry, he’s usually never like that.”

Agravaine sighed, mumbling under his scarf. But then, he looked closer at Moon Moon and raised his voice. “Wait, is that a Netherwolf?”

Altera nodded.

Agravaine and Bedivere exchanged glances, and Agravaine addressed the audience. “This might change the situation. Netherwolves were used during past expeditions into Hy-Bres or the Lost City, as it’s now known. They can sense aberrant Mana particles, such as those the abominations radiate. The Anti-Teran ring, the AT-Ring, of the Bendigeidfran research facility should contain most of the malicious Mana from the Lost City, but that a Netherwolf can feel it means the abomination had made it past the ring undetected, or something’s wrong with it or the facility.”

Bedivere stepped forward. “Plans have changed.”

֎

“So, when is he coming?” Ragna peeked her head out of the electric boat, looking into the night sky. A veil of mist had cast a blur across the Ashen Sea and obscured both moon and stars. As a result, darkness had surrounded them. They wouldn’t be able to locate their destination, wouldn’t the research facility’s ring of lights flicker on the horizon and break through the night. Yellow and white dots guided them in the right direction. Their boat steered through the waters without making a sound, and small waves nudged against its hull, filling the night with an ambient sound.

“He should be here soon,” Bedivere said. “His group had to skim the entire perimeter and return to us.”

“It’s more likely that we’ll meet up at the facility anyway,” Lutz said for the first time since they had created the new team. “Trying to find us in the dark is impossible.”

What expression did he make? Reading him without any light turned out to be futile. Though, it was unlikely that he would try to double-cross her. Bedivere hadn’t assigned any other Vaixians to their team, and the current situation needed absolute cooperation. If anyone tried to breach the resulting truce fire, the kingdoms would try them as an international criminal in Eren.

In response to Moon Moon’s behavior, the Knights had divided the gathered defenders into three groups: one to search for the abomination if it had crossed the ring, one to stand by if it reached the shore, and one to investigate the research facility.

After the scouting group had surveyed the area outside the AT-Ring and had not detected any abominations, it was time for the infiltration group to take action. That someone or something had disrupted the Bendigeidfran research facility had become the most likely theory, and so, they had formed two infiltration teams to confirm the suspicion. Bedivere had taken charge of the first team. That included her, Jareth, Ray, and Ilias Lutz.

At night, they would sneak into the research facility to investigate. Meanwhile, the second group under Grendel’s command – Altera, Eric, and the other two Vaixians – would explore the ring from the other side. Agravaine would join her group after finishing scouting, and the remaining defenders would wait at the shore in case something attacked Heorot.

“He’ll find us.” Bedivere’s voice sounded unenthusiastic. “Agravaine got issues, but he knows how to scout.”

Ragna leaned back against the boat’s port, zipped her jacket to her chin, and pulled her mouth mask over the bridge of her nose. She shivered as winds passed by her clothes.

Had she known this morning that she would be wandering across the ocean in the middle of the night, she would have worn pants. Her skirt and stockings provided little protection against the elements and reminded her that summer had long ended. Even adjusting for the autumn weather, she wouldn’t have guessed that temperatures between city and sea dropped this much.

Everyone had become quiet again. The trip had consisted, so far, of brief exchanges between vast silences suffocating any chance of chit-chat.

Even if she couldn’t see anyone’s face, the uneasiness vibrated through the boat with the subtility of Gerard Donnerschlag.

Not that she could blame anyone. Even if her time in Ymir’s Tower had her miss most events of the past two months, she had understood that tensions between Vaix and Midgard had reached new heights. And now, she was sailing with a Paladin from Vaix to investigate unusual Mana occurrences at the Bendigeidfran. One might as well raise a sign with neon letters that spelled powder keg.

“I’ll be blunt,” Bedivere said after another session of silence had passed. “I know you’ve all got your differences and awkward histories, but I don’t give a fuck. You’re here because your abilities suit this mission, so do your job.”

Did Bedivere tell the truth? Bedivere shouldn’t know much about her abilities, even if she saw her fight against Ray. And even less about Jareth’s. Perhaps, she had placed Jareth and her intentionally into this group to keep them in check. Why should Bedivere trust them anyway? And the relationship between Avalon and Midgard relationship had room for improvement.

“If you’ve got something to get off your chest, do it now.“ Bedivere raised her voice. “Because if your squabbles keep me from my prey, I swear to the goddess, I will cut you down.”

“I’m sorry for my behavior.” A sigh came from Lutz’s direction. “I should be professional. But I can’t exactly throw my emotions away. Especially when I see her face.”

So, she hadn’t imagined it. Lutz did have a problem with her.

“You know, most guys can’t get enough of me once they see my eyes.” Ragna adopted a cocky tone and placed her hand on her saber’s hilt. “If this is about Diavolo, that creepy scorpion dude attacked us first.”

“No, I didn’t mean that. That was on Arturo, and I know that you’re pretty.” Lutz’s voice dropped. “But when I see you, I can’t help to see the faces of Linde Sieg and Drake Griffin. And I can’t help to blame you for my parents’ deaths.”

“I…,“ Ragna tried to answer, but Lutz continued.

“But, even if your parents hadn’t killed mine, I still wouldn’t feel comfortable working with you. I’ll be honest. Ragna, you’re fucking xenophobic, and I’ve seen your InstaNorse feed. Some of the stuff was just disgusting.”

Ragna cringed.

Her mind replayed moments from the past in her brain. How often had she called her parents heroes for murdering Vaxians, and what did she use to say about those from Vaix? Just how stupid was she in the past?

“Don’t worry about that.” Ragna’s voice cut clear, not letting her self-loathing and shame cloud her strength and determination. “Ragna Griffin died on the night of the Millenium Peace.”

“And who are you then?”

If she could, she would have smacked her past self. But had she improved since then? She had no idea if the Vaxians were guilty or not, or if they were good, evil, or neither. She had no idea about anything in this world. Even so, it couldn’t give her an excuse to stand still. If she didn’t like the current situation, she had to change it. No matter how long it would take.

She offered Ilias her hand. “I can’t erase the past, and I don’t know what will happen in the future. But right now, I’ll be your ally.”

“I can live with that.” Light illuminated the boat, and Ilias accepted Ragna’s offer.

Though, she could at least delete her past Insta posts.

Seconds later, everyone’s attention turned to the source of light.

Circle dots flared up on a serpentine creature flying with four batwings. And on top of that creature’s back lounged Agravaine.

Ragna’s eyes widened.

How the Hel did he bond with a Sceada?

“Is that a dragon?” Jareth asked. “Didn’t you say those were dead?”

“That’s a Sceada,” Ragna murmured. “They’re their descendants. Very wild and dangerous. No idea how he tamed one.”

“Descendants from what? Shouldn’t two dragons just create another dragon?”

“I’ve scouted the facility,” Agravaine hurled. “There’s trouble.”

He held up his phone and showed a photo of two men dressed in armor. Metal helmets in the form of a cone concealed their faces machine guns weighted down on their arms.

“The Judas Group.” Ilias frowned, speaking the name under a growl.