KotLC: Eclipse (KotLC X Magnus Chase)

Chapter 21

Sophie's POV

I was woken by a knock at the door. I groaned as I dragged myself out of bed as the knock came again, more insistent this time. "I'm coming!" I called, fumbling to untangle myself from my blankets and make myself at least slightly presentable. My legs still ached from the night's running session. Apparently, running from a shadow wasn't something my muscles were used to.

I opened the door to see Alex standing there, arms crossed and smirking like he'd been up for hours, which was very possible.
"Finally." Alex said, voice laced with teasing sarcasm. "I was wondering when you'd get up."

I glared at Alex. "What's so important that you had to wake me up?"

Alex smirked. "Nothing much. I just wanted to see if you were going to have breakfast before Halfborn eats it all."

I blinked. "Give me five minutes."

"You've got two." Alex shot back.

I groaned. "Fine." And shut the door with a sigh.
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Lounge nineteen was much the same as it had been yesterday. My fellow hallmates sat at the same table overlooking the window, although the view was now of a snowy wasteland rather than the Sanctuary.

"There she is!" A familiar voice exclaimed.

"Hey T.J."

"What happened to you last night? You looked like you'd seen several ghosts." Magnus asked, then shivered. "They're horrible."

"Shadows." I answered simply.

"Is Sophie scared of the dark?" Mallory teased.

I shrugged. "No. Not the darkness you're thinking of." I sat down at the table with a plate of food.

"Then what kind of darkness?" T.J. asked, curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

I hesitated and put my fork down. How could I explain these moving shadows? The kind that weren't just the absence of light?
"It's... hard to explain."

Alex leant back in his chair. "We have a few hours until the fight."

I hesitated again before continuing, deciding whether or not I should tell them about Stygmir and my dreams. "You know the weird shadow in the Valkyrie Visions?"

T.J. raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What about it?"

I decided that there was no going back now. "Well... his name is Stygmir. And I saw him last night. In one of these corridors."

Halfborn let out a hearty laugh. "Nice joke!" He stopped laughing. "That's impossible. Nothing can get in or out of Valhalla without Odin's permission."

"Yeah," T.J. added, "Not even a god can enter Valhalla without express permission from Odin. Loki tried without permission. Several times. He failed each and every time."

"It must have been an idiot who thought that pranking a new girl would be funny." Mallory said, relaxing her posture.

"I can prove it." I blurted out before I could think about what I was saying.

"Really?" Magnus asked. "How?"

"I have a picture. Let me quickly get it from my room." I said and quickly left the room, dumping my plate away to be cleaned.

"I'll go with her." I heard Alex say and then start following me.

Alex sidled up next to me. "For the record, I believe you." He whispered.

"Thanks."

The walk was mostly quiet after that, with Alex making random remarks about the weather and wanting to see Emberclaw again.