Kvitrafn’s choice in door number one had been significantly less dangerous than the door Sreda and Roskva had evidently taken. Where they fought things that Kvitrafn would never be able to understand, she and Mazi had sung to Valhalla above, with voices as beautiful as the Valkyries themselves, of course. And it had been working! A surprise to herself, even when her tiny squeaking howls made out towards the sky.
She had even briefly met a friend*.
A boy of shadows, though she had never received his name.
Instead, she had merely glanced at him as his paws had grown closer toward her side, and offered him a sharp-tooth smile as she continued singing.
Kvit didn’t know where he went afterward.
Fortunately for her, in the aftermath of her brilliant singing, it was the sun glittering against a world of softened snow and the voices of her family that had ultimately roused her awake. As if carefully placed in the snow, she had woken in a ball of her own making—blinking eyes cast toward the sound of Roskva’s squeaking voice.
That was weird.
That was…PRETTY COOL.
She had leaped to her feet the moment such weirdness no longer bothered her and raced toward her sister and mother with the speed of a child who had just found the coolest thing eve—
Kvitrafn slammed to a halt.
Her sister had ORBS spinning around her. Little flecks of light that seemed to spin around her silhouette.
She turned toward Sreda next. Determined to have her mom fix this clearly blaring issue of inequality between them both, but then she noticed her face.
The blood that seemed to drip from eyeball—or where an eyeball should’ve been but was not.
Kinda like Achlys.
Kvit stilled as she blinked, her jaw gaping in all-absorbing curiosity.
This was totally not fair.
She had even briefly met a friend*.
A boy of shadows, though she had never received his name.
Instead, she had merely glanced at him as his paws had grown closer toward her side, and offered him a sharp-tooth smile as she continued singing.
Kvit didn’t know where he went afterward.
Fortunately for her, in the aftermath of her brilliant singing, it was the sun glittering against a world of softened snow and the voices of her family that had ultimately roused her awake. As if carefully placed in the snow, she had woken in a ball of her own making—blinking eyes cast toward the sound of Roskva’s squeaking voice.
Mama?Kvit called, her voice unusually echoey, as if replicating itself the moment she spoke.
That was weird.
Mama. Mama. Mama.She tested her voice again, ears perked, and listened as a faint trace of her voice seemed to resonate back.
That was…PRETTY COOL.
She had leaped to her feet the moment such weirdness no longer bothered her and raced toward her sister and mother with the speed of a child who had just found the coolest thing eve—
Kvitrafn slammed to a halt.
Her sister had ORBS spinning around her. Little flecks of light that seemed to spin around her silhouette.
NOT FAIR!Kvit cried, eyes bulging out of her head as she blinked at the cool dancing lights—her voice a louder echo as she screamed at Roskva.
I WANT COOL GLOWING LIGHTS.
She turned toward Sreda next. Determined to have her mom fix this clearly blaring issue of inequality between them both, but then she noticed her face.
The blood that seemed to drip from eyeball—or where an eyeball should’ve been but was not.
Kinda like Achlys.
Kvit stilled as she blinked, her jaw gaping in all-absorbing curiosity.
Mama, your eye—she started to say before she noticed that Sreda, too, had the glowing orbs of light twinkling around her.
YOU HAVE THEM TOO!She screeched.
This was totally not fair.
* Grim mention of Grim!
