Ready for war

Ready for war
Astrid POV

Jason was the first to break the silence. His chair scraped harshly against the stone floor as he stood, his eyes locked on mine, fierce and desperate.

“I don’t give a damn what prophecy says,” he ground out, his voice shaking but unwavering. “You’re not alone in this, Astrid. I swear my life to you. Whatever comes—whatever he is—you’ll never face him without me.”

Killian’s gaze snapped from his pacing to me. His jaw clenched, his hand trembling as he pressed it flat to the table. “He’ll have to go through me first. I’ll protect you, Astrid, even if it kills me. That’s not a promise—it’s fact.”

Something in my chest cracked open at their words, equal parts warmth and terror. They didn’t even hesitate. They were ready to chain themselves to me, to burn in the same fire.

But Dove’s voice cut through, calm and sharp. “Be careful with oaths like that. Binding yourselves to her—” Her pale gaze flicked to me, then to the still-glowing mark on my palm. “—might mean you’ll all burn together. Her fate and yours will be one. If she falls, you fall.”

A heavy silence settled. My throat tightened, the weight of it pressing down like chains.

“She’s right,” Professor Sera said gravely, her voice carrying the tone of final judgment. “The Little Star doesn’t shine alone. Whoever binds to her shares both her rise and her ruin.”

Killian bared his teeth in something between a snarl and a smile. “Then that’s exactly how it should be. We’re her mates. Her other half. If fate wants to tangle us in fire, then let it burn.”

Jason nodded, his jaw set. “We’ve already chosen.”

I stared at them, my heart caught between fear and fury. Every instinct screamed to push them away—to keep them safe from whatever curse clung to me—but I knew I couldn’t. Not anymore. Not when the Vampire Lord’s shadow was already reaching.

I stood, planting my palms flat on the table, my voice ringing louder than I expected. “No more running. No more being hunted, or toyed with, or waiting for his claws to tear into me again. If he wants me, he’ll face me. All of me. Not as his victim.” My hands curled into fists, light sparking faintly beneath the skin. “But as his weapon.”

Hera’s mouth curved in a rare smile. Elsie lifted her chin in fierce agreement. Even Dove’s expression softened, approval flickering behind the usual caution.

One by one, every gaze in the chamber turned to me—not with pity, but with something heavier. Trust.

I lowered my eyes to my palm, watching the glow ripple through the mark like starlight caged in skin. My voice was a whisper, but it carried.

“I won’t be your Little Star.” I clenched my fist tight, teeth gritting. “I’ll be your downfall.”

A murmur of resolve stirred around me, but it was Sera’s voice that cut it clean. Her cane tapped once against the stone. Her eyes, colder and sharper than steel, held mine.

“Then you need preparation, child. Steel your body. Sharpen your light. Because the Vampire Lord…” She leaned heavily on her cane, the chamber seeming to shrink under her words. “…is closer than you think. Right around the corner.”

About few days later.

Sweat dripped down my temple as I tightened my grip on the twin blades Hera had forced into my hands. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but I didn’t falter. Not anymore.

“Again,” Dove ordered sharply from the edge of the sparring circle. Her white hair was plastered to her face, her palms still faintly glowing from the wards she’d been weaving around me all morning. “If you can’t keep your guard up when you’re half-dead, you won’t survive him.”

I exhaled hard, spun, and blocked Odin’s strike. The impact rattled up my arms, but my footing held. Damon lunged in next, his strength brutal, his speed inhuman—but I ducked, rolled, and came up with the blade pressed to his chest.

A grunt of approval escaped him before he bared his teeth in a grin. “She’s quicker.”

Elsie clapped from where she stood with her bow slung over her shoulder, smirking. “Quicker and meaner. I like it.”

I staggered back, chest heaving, sweat soaking through my shirt. Hera tossed me a water flask, and I caught it one-handed without even looking. My reflexes were sharper. My balance cleaner. My strikes no longer wild but controlled.

Days ago, I could barely lift my head without pain. Now, I felt… forged. Like steel hammered against fire.

Still, every time I looked past the circle, my chest tightened. Killian and Jason stood at a distance, just beyond the barrier Dove had drawn, their eyes locked on me. They hadn’t come close since that night—couldn’t—but I felt them all the same. Their hunger to fight beside me. Their torment in being forced to watch from afar.

Killian’s jaw was clenched, his hands fisted at his sides, his wolf pacing behind his eyes. Jason’s arms were crossed, his face unreadable, but I caught the way his shoulders stiffened every time I stumbled, every time Odin’s blade came too close.

“I’m ready,” I said, lowering the flask, my voice steady despite the rasp of exhaustion.

Dove tilted her head, studying me like a jewel she’d been testing for cracks. Then, slowly, she nodded. “You’re not the same girl who collapsed in the courtyard.”

Hera’s eyes flicked over me, calculating, but even she allowed the barest of smiles. “You’ll hold.”

Elsie grinned wide. “About time. I’m sick of watching you fall on your ass.”

I let out a breathless laugh, then straightened, rolling my shoulders. The exhaustion was there, but so was something else, something deeper. My body was marked with aches and bruises, but my soul felt honed, sharpened to a single point.

The fear was still there, coiled in my chest. But I wasn’t just fear anymore.

I was ready.