"You've stalled me long enough, witch," the spirit possessing Hauke said. "But now, this ends!"
Ashlynn's heart sank as she watched a glowing sword covered in strange, hooked runes appeared in Hauke's outstretched hand. The blade was easily as long as Heila was tall, and it glowed with a shifting pattern of multiple hues that matched Hauke's iridescent horn. Snowflakes and ice crystals seemed to dance in the air around it like moths around a candle flame, and the temperature of the air within the icy tomb grew so cold that it was painful to breathe in.
"Wait!" Ashlynn shouted, placing a hand on the spine of her sword and holding it up over her head. "Please. Hauke is my friend, and I don't want to hurt him. But if you use that sword," she said, her emerald eyes narrowing as she studied the intricately arranged magic within the blade. "If you use that sword, I don't think I can avoid harming him."
