The badge was still glowing, and I squinted at it, trying to figure out how to make it stop.
"How do I unshine this thing?" I asked.
Agnos raised an eyebrow. "How should I know?"
"Aren't you a god?"
"Yes, but I didn't create the Gleipnir. Besides, you're the badge's owner. Don't they co with instructions?"
I groaned. "I just found out it could rge five minutes ago!"
Agnos said, shaking his head. "How do you keep stumbling into these things?"I looked down at the Gleipnir Badge, its surface still glowing faintly. "Uh... need help. Any of you please tell that you know how to turn this thing off."
Landvættir raised a stony eyebrow. "Turn it off? It's a badge, not a lamp."
"It's blinding !" I protested, squinting at the glow.
Landvættir leaned in, examining the badge. "Maybe you can unrge it. Press sothing."
With a skeptical look, I turned the badge over and spotted a small button in the center. I pressed it, and the glowing dimd instantly. A soft click signaled that the badge had split back into its original two forms.
"Crisis averted," I said, pocketing both badges.
Agnos sighed, clearly done with my antics. "Landvættir, the fragnt."
Landvættir nodded and beckoned us to follow him.
The burial grounds stretched before us, eerie and quiet, the kind of silence that pressed against your ears like static.
Landvættir, the spirit guardian of this sacred place, led us deeper into the heart of the ancient burial grounds. His voice had the calm detachnt of soone dropping bombshells over tea.
"A sacrifice is required to retrieve the fragnt," Landvættir intoned, his glowing eyes fixed on the horizon.
I frowned, my boots crunching on the loose gravel. "Sacrifice?" I repeated, hoping the echo in my voice would make it sound less ominous. "What kind of sacrifice? Blood? A favorite playlist?"
Landvættir stopped and turned to face , his expression a mask of somber inevitability. Slowly, his gaze shifted to Agnos.
Agnos, towering and smug in his divine indifference, t my eyes with a grim expression. "mories," he said. His voice was as heavy as the air around us.
The word hung there, sharp and cruel. "mories?" I repeated, the laugh that escaped my throat more of a nervous hiccup. "What kind of mories are we talking about here? The ti I faceplanted into a kraken's favorite snack pile or—"
"This is no joke, Carl," Agnos interrupted, his brows furrowing. "The fragnt will decide which mories to take. Once you agree, there's no undoing it."
I wanted to make another quip, so witticism to break the tension, but my tongue was suddenly dry.
Landvættir stepped forward, his translucent form seeming to shimr with the gravity of the mont.
"The fragnt has bound itself to this ancient site," he explained. "Removing it will either destroy this place or demand a personal sacrifice. Your mories will ensure the burial grounds remain intact."
"So it's either my mories or this place gets vaporized?" I asked, my stomach dropping like a stone. "That's... fantastic."
Agnos crossed his arms slash paws. "It's your call, but know this—if it's mories of Mythica the fragnt takes, you might forget everything you've done here. Everything you've fought for."
"Will I be able to get them back?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
Landvættir hesitated, the pause stretching uncomfortably long. "I cannot say. No one has ever willingly sacrificed their mories for the fragnt."
Well, that was just great. Not only was I signing up for the equivalent of a mystical brain wipe, but I was also the guinea pig for this whole operation.
Still, the weight of the burial grounds around , the ancient history that humd in the air—it was too much to ignore. I knew what I had to do.
"I'll do it," I said, surprising even myself.
Agnos raised an eyebrow (if he had any in his cat form). "Are you sure? This isn't sothing you can joke your way out of later."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Look, if I don't do this, what happens? The burial grounds are destroyed, and we lose another piece of Mythica's history? I can't let that happen. Besides..." I paused, offering him a weak grin. "You two will rember , right? Soone has to remind why I'm here when I inevitably forget." Follow current novels on novｅlfire
Landvættir gave a solemn nod, then motioned for to follow him.
We reached a tomb carved from black stone, its surface etched with ancient runes that pulsed faintly with light. The air was colder here, the kind of chill that settled in your bones and whispered warnings you didn't want to hear.
"This is it," Landvættir said. "Place your hand on the tomb to begin the process."
"Which hand?" I asked, more out of nerves than genuine curiosity.
Landvættir gave a deadpan look. "Does it matter? It's your mories being sacrificed, not your hands."
"Right hand, then," I said, forcing a shaky smile. "Might bring so good luck."
Agnos snorted behind , clearly amused by my attempt at humor.
I placed my palm against the cold stone, and imdiately the runes lit up like soone had flipped a switch. The tomb pulsed with energy, a golden glow spreading from my hand to the surrounding carvings.
Then ca the pain.
It wasn't the sharp, localized kind of pain, like a stubbed toe or a paper cut. No, this was the deep, soul-rattling kind of agony that felt like it was peeling back layers of my consciousness. My knees buckled, and I barely kept upright by sheer willpower.
Flashes of light danced behind my eyes—monts from my life, flickering in rapid succession. I saw my first day in Mythica, the dragonlings in their den, even my awkward attempts to befriend the PinkCorals.
They were there and gone in an instant, as if soone was flipping through my mories like the pages of a book.
"What's happening?" I gasped, clutching at the tomb to keep myself upright.
"The fragnt is choosing," Landvættir said, his voice distant.
It felt like hours, but it must have only been minutes. Finally, the glow dimd, and the pain ebbed away, leaving shaking and breathless.
When I opened my eyes, a small, purple shard hovered before , pulsing faintly with light.
"That's it?" I croaked. "I don't seem to forget anything. Does the sacrifice fail?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)