Read Online Perfekt Balance (The Ære Saga Book 3) by S.T. Bende - Free Book Online

As she leapt, Runa opened
her mouth. The shard landed on her tongue, and when her feet
touched the ground, her skin sparkled for a moment, as if the
crystal had infused her with its brilliance. She pulled her wrists
away from each other, tearing free of her handcuffs and twisting
out of Forse’s grasp in one quick movement.
    “ Skit .” Forse turned
toward me and dove, his arms outstretched to pull me close. I
released my grounding and leapt toward him. As I did, I sent
another calming pulse through my aura in a futile attempt to soothe
his panic and help him make the most level-headed choices. But
before he could port us out of danger, Runa held up a hand. A beam
of light shot from her palm. It struck me in the chest and wrenched
me away from my protectors.
    “Arugh!” I cried out as the beam seared my
flesh, pressed between two rib bones, and squeezed my heart in a
vise-like grip. The organ thudded in protest as the beam drew me
forward, pulling me with unfathomable force. I reached for my
dagger to cut myself loose, but the beam shot through my arms,
immobilizing them, as I was dragged toward the only goddess in the
realms I truly feared.
    It must have been my absence of love for Runa
that enabled her to take me. I’d felt that same fear for the only
other creature who’d ever managed to hurt me—Fenrir.
    The mortals were right. Hate wasn’t the
enemy—fear was.
    “Elsa!” Forse dropped low in a crouch as the
beam ripped me farther from his reach. He launched off his toes at
the same time as my brother ducked his head and barreled toward
Runa. The closer they got to the beam, the faster it vibrated,
sending me flying at Runa. It only took a second to reach her side,
and once I was there she dug into my arms with her awful man-hands.
I was barely able to cry out for Forse before Runa ported us out of
the field, and into an abyss so dark, it looked like a black
hole.
    For all I knew, it was.

CHAPTER
SIX
     
     
    “ HEI ?” THE DARKNESS SWALLOWED my voice, before shooting it
back. From the amount of time it took to echo around, I deduced I
was in a small room—maybe three-by-three meters, if it was square.
I was curled in a ball on a hard floor, my arms cradling my torso.
My ribs were still tender from Runa’s blue beam assault.
    Tyr! Can you hear me? I shouted for my brother inside my head, and waited. Tyr! After a beat, I pushed myself
to a seated position, ignoring the residual pain in my
chest. Tyr? My spirits
sank as I realized he wasn’t going to answer. Wherever I was, the
location must have held enough dark magic to block his telepathy…or
maybe he was busy dealing with the evil elves Runa left behind.
Either way, things were not looking good.
    “ Hello?”
I called out loud, this time paying attention to the way the sound
traveled above me. The ceiling was high. Six meters? More? It was
impossible to tell when it was pitch black. I opened my palm and
held it face up at chest level. Calling on one of my more
mundane—albeit practical—abilities, I closed my eyes and summoned a
glowing orb of light. My hand began to heat, and a faint vibration
ran along my fingers. Any moment now, I’d hear the pop , and the room would
be bathed in a faint white glow.
    My brother got to fly, and I was an immortal
flashlight. Odin’s sense of equity was questionable.
    “ That’s
odd,” I murmured as I opened my eyes. The room was still black as
night. Where was my orb? I furrowed my brow and focused on my
fingertips. The tingling sensation confirmed my magic was still
within me, so why couldn’t it summon the light? Maybe…
    A chill
ran up my arm and wrapped around my heart. No . It would take
a lot of darkness
to mute my magic. Did Runa take me to Helheim? Or did she find a
way to summon enough darkness to cloak a building in Svartalfheim?
It was a dark realm, sure, but nowhere near dark enough to cancel
out my magic. Oh gods, could it mute my abilities
too ? I pushed my energy
outside my cell, scanning the