The Prophecy

by Amanda DeShane

  “It's okay; it is over now. Karis will use a spell to get rid of the giant’s body. And humans in the area will think it was a bizarrely big storm with incredibly loud thunder.” Said Deacon into her blue hair. Pulling away, kicking herself mentally for being so weak at the sight of blood, she knew she should be stronger, given that the giant had wanted to kill her. Loki flew down towards her coming in a little too fast and grabbed onto her jacket arm sleeve. His momentum was causing him to swing up and over and hang awkwardly upside down from her arm. Looking at the raven, she shook her head and said,

  “You are one crazy bird.” Aurora looked for the other guys, now worried that they might be hurt. Karis stood beside the giant, and she watched in awe as his very muscular body shrunk in on itself until he was once again eight feet tall. The only sign that what she saw had happened was his clothing hanging tattered and loosely on his frame. A few cuts magically disappeared after he hovered his hand above them. Raising his fingers, he muttered some words, and a blue mist swirled out, expanding like a big bubble encasing the giant, then, poof, his humongous body disappeared along with his blood. Looking around once again, she saw Eli turning back into his human form as his bones cracked again, molding themselves back into place. It looked like it hurt. Only now noticing his pants lay in a pile on the cement. Aurora stared at his very buff naked hot body as it finished its transformation. Cheeks blushing a bit, she turned and looked for Teagan next but couldn’t find him. Reaching for Deacon's arm, she blurted

  “Where’s Teagan I can’t see him?” Deacon smiled at her reassuringly

  “He just flew higher up to scout for any other possible trouble. He will be back in a minute.” Looking skyward, she scanned the sky for a red dragon. Her brow wrinkled in worry as she bit her bottom lip. She hardly registered the rest of the guys rejoining the group. Deacon took her arm and guided her back towards the bridge.

  “We can’t leave without Teagan!” Aurora said a little shrilly, looking at the panic in her green eyes.

  “We won’t leave with him, and he’s headed back this way. He’s found trouble headed our way. So, he will catch up with us in just a moment.” Deacon explained gently. She turned around then and ran with them to the middle of the bridge where they stopped.

  “Why are we stopping here? If troubles coming, shouldn’t we get moving out of town?” Aurora said, feeling puzzled. The guys all looked at each other and stood silently for a few moments.

  “How do we explain this one Deacon, she still thinks like a human, she’s not going to jump off this bridge willingly, Dude!. And by the way, we all need to talk about some stuff later.” Said Karis telepathically through their connection.

  “We don’t have time to placate her; let's just grab her and jump.” Said Karis through their link.

  “What the fuck guys! Seriously what is with the awkward, odd silence thing you all do?” yelled Aurora, feeling mildly annoyed.

  “Look, Teagan has told me that there is a pack of demons heading this way. They must have been drawn to your power earlier and pinpointed your location through your magic signature. So, we have to jump off this bridge into a portal.” Said Deacon. Aurora looked at them then looked over the side of the bridge.

  “How did Teagan tell you if he is not here?” Asked Aurora as she looked over the railing at the very long drop. She grasped the railing tightly, her knuckles going white.

  “We all have a special connection and can talk to each other without words.” Shared Eli. Turning back towards them, she questioned their sanity and her own. Loki flew off her shoulder and landed on Eli’s. What are the chances that everything they had told her was real? The giant was real. Her hands lighting up like stun guns felt real. Feeling really confused, she bit her bottom lip then crossed her arms across her chest. Given her avid fear of heights, she looked at them and said

  “Are you all one fruit loop short of a full box? There’s no way in hell that any part of my body is jumping off this bridge!” Yelled Aurora as she crossed her arms across her chest, defiantly glaring at the guys. Eli, Karis, and Deacon all shared a look. Then Deacon turned towards her quickly leaning down he threw her over his shoulder.

  “Put me down! I said there’s no way in Hell! I mean it! Put me down now!” Screamed Aurora as she kicked, wiggled, and screamed.

  “Don’t make me resort to biting you or pulling your feathers out!” Shrieked Aurora as Deacon jumped over the bridge railing and balanced on the ledge. Deacon, with the intention of avoiding his wings being de-feathered, pulled her over his shoulder until he held her cradled in his arms. Staring into her face, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was — blue hair a mess and fire in her green eyes as she glared at him frowning.

  “We have no choice Aurora; we have to get to Asgard, and this is the closest portal. We don’t want the demons to get a chance to kill you, and another fight is not really ideal right now.” Said Deacon as he stared into her eyes, pleading with her to understand.

  “I’m not jumping, absolutely not! Put me down!” Her fear completely taking over, she squirmed until he held her by only the waist, tucked up against his taunt frame. Fearing her screaming would just alert the demons faster to their location; he did the only thing he could think of, he bent his head down he locked lips with her kissing her deeply. Aurora’s struggles ceased as she melted into him.

  Her heart beat faster, and her hands that had once been fists on his chest slowly explored his chest moving to rest around his neck. Fully engulfed in the feel of his lips and hard body against hers, she totally forgot about all the stressors of the day. Aroused and wet, she greedily wanted more, it felt like her skin was deliciously on fire, she slightly registered the feeling of burning on her lower back. Ignoring it, she rubbed herself up against his body, her toes balancing on the tops of his feet, consumed she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he held her tight. Eli and Karis stood staring at them, very annoyed. Karis, angerly stepping forward, tapped Deacon on the shoulders. “Hey, um... We need to get going. Right now, it isn’t the best time to be locking lips and making out.” Deacon pulled back, and Aurora returning to her senses blushed deeply. What the ever-loving hell had come over her, she thought. Embarrassed and mad at herself for letting him manipulate her in such a manner, she kicked him hard in the legs and yelled

  “Put me down!” Deacon scowling felt rejected and deciding to be an ass replied.

  “As you wish, your highness.” And with that, he let go of her. She fell through the air screaming

  “You fuckin’ asshole! Ahhhhhhhh…” Aurora panicked grappling for anything even though it defied logic as there was nothing to grab. Wondering if this would be her last view, she took in the sight of her blue hair flying in suspension as gravity pulled her down. Her black leather pants flapping, and black combat boots with the laces now flapping in the wind. And the blue sky with soft cotton candy clouds in the sky above. Suddenly, a big red dragon was zooming through the sky towards her. Fear froze every muscle even though she knew it was Teagan. His dragon was intimidating and big, getting bigger by the moment as he got closer to her. The sun reflected brightly off his dragon armor.

  “You have nothing to fear from me; trust me; I will keep you safe.” Said a voice in her head. Oh my god, now I hear voices in my head too, she squeezed her eyes shut too terrified even to cry. Oh my god, I’m going to die either by the dragon or by falling, she thought.

  “No, you are not going to die; I won’t let you.” Said a voice in her head as she popped her eyes open to see Teagan’s dragon head above her. His big golden dragon eyes staring into her own.

  “Am I going insane, or are you actually talking to me in my head?” Yelled Aurora out loud.

  “Yes, we are linked telepathically.” Said Teagan as his dragon snout softly nuzzled her shoulder. Soft leathery wings wrapped around her tucking her safely into his scaled belly as gravity and the dragon’s momentum flipped them around so that he was below her. She lay tucked safely against him as the
y freely fell. The wind whistled as they fell faster. Hugging the giant dragon for dear life, she closed her eyes tight. Expecting water to engulf them any minute, Aurora got ready to hold her breath. Suddenly, they slammed into something and the world as she knew it stopped moving. Not wanting to let her go, Teagan reluctantly unwrapped his red wings from around her. She released her breath, opening her eyes, not quite understanding what she was looking at. Sitting up, she crawled off Teagan’s dragon and found herself on a big thick rope net that hung attached to big cords anchored into grey stone walls. The room was gigantic and grand with arches and torches of some magical sort that sat in silver wall sconces. They glowed brightly with great big spheres of orange, red, and blue flames, that floated magically above the sconces. Four big iron cages like lanterns hug on metal chains from the far depths of the ceiling shrouded in shadow. Looking back towards Teagan, she watched in awe. Bright light encased his large red-scaled body, then magically, his body slowly morphed back into human form. Now naked in all his glory, Aurora felt the heat rising to her cheeks as her eyes couldn’t help exploring every yummy expanse. Tight muscles ran up his thighs, a six-pack chest, and one hell of a sexy smile with a tiny dimple, and one raised eyebrow stared at her.

  “Like what you see?” Teagan said teasingly, then not wanting her to be embarrassed said.

  “Shifters deal with nakedness from a young age; we aren’t so shy when it comes to our naked bodies.” Not knowing what to say, Aurora turned around to examine the rest of the room.

  “Incoming!” Yelled Karis as he fell through the portal and into the big net, scrambling towards the side just in time as Eli fell through the portal and landed close to where he had been. Eli grinned at her and asked.

  “Still mad at Deacon?” Aurora stubbornly stuck up her chin and glared at him.

  “Yea, and he’s officially known as Deacon, the dick.” Eli laughed a great big hearty laugh. Still fuming at Deacon and not wanting to see him, she turned around and walked down a platform of stairs into the rest of the room. Looking around, amazed at the carvings on the grey stone walls, she ran her fingers over the stone. Each stone was sectioned off with a scene engraved into it. The stone was carved with scenes of the Kraken sinking ships on the open sea as giant waves sored high. Her fingers dragging as she went, she took in a God on a throne and lightning shooting down in the background. Must be Odin, she thought since he only had one eye. Continuing, she ran her fingers past wolves turning from wolf to human and back. Valkyries with big wings took their dead from battlefields to Valhalla honoring their bravery. In the last one, Dragons all sored in the sky, and below it showed the transformation of a dragon to a man then again to a dragon.

  “Who carved these? And where are we?” Asked Aurora as she continued to take it all in a while, her hands traced the grooves in the stone. Eli, on silent feet, quietly walked up to her. “They were carved by a craftsman a very long time ago, they say he went mad with visions, to get them out he battled the stone until the stone told his stories. And this is just a portal point in between worlds.” More footsteps sounded in the large chamber as the guys strolled towards her. Loki cawed in the chamber, causing it to echo a Caw! Caw! Caw! Back as he flew onto Karis’s shoulder, taking advantage of his 8-foot frame. Not one to cower and hide or hold her tongue Aurora swirled around in a fury. Glaring daggers at Deacon, she marched her small frame confidently towards him, heavily stomping as she went. Pointing her finger at him accusingly, she poked his chest.

  “You! I have a bone to pick with you, jack ass!” Deacon frowning stood still looking down at her. “You fuckin’ kissed me, then you dropped me off a fuckin’ bridge!” shrieked Aurora as her face became red in anger.

  “You’ve got to make up your mind, woman. You told me to put you down. So, I did. Plus, I knew you would be fine.” Deacon chuckled, thinking he was funny. Teagan, on the other hand, was fuming mad.

  Wanting to spare Aurora the added stress and knowing she had enough to try to make sense of, he decided to speak telepathically.

  “You dropped my mate! Sure, you knew she would be fine, but what the hell dude! What if something was down here that could ambush her? It’s happened to people before.” Yelled Teagan telepathically as he punched Deacon in the jaw. Deacon just took the hit, not bothering to fight, ashamed he hadn’t thought of the risks of letting Aurora drop through the portal on her own.

  “Wait a minute. What do you mean, your mate?” replied Deacon, green eyes wide in shock.

  “My dragon smelled her sent and went nuts when I battled that giant. My dragon told me to protect our mate.” Revealed Teagan as he pushed him roughly backward up against the carved wall.

  “She can’t be your mate because she is mine! I got the Valkyrie mating mark on my wrist.” Exclaimed Deacon through their link as he produced his wrist. A circle with a tree of life and a smaller circle with a wolf sat like a tattoo on his wrist.

  “I got my Dragon mating mark on my wrist while in dragon form.” Exclaimed Teagan as he threw out his wrist for inspection. A tree of life is a circle with a dragon in a small circle sat on his wrist like a tattoo.

  “Hey guys stop fighting as much as I am pissed, I don’t want you taring each other apart. Will someone please tell me what the hell is with this silence and glare at each other thing?” Said Aurora with her hands on her hips, feeling irked and a bit queasy suddenly. They all ignored her as they continued their inner dialog.

  “What the heck! I got the Giant mating mark on my wrist during the fight too!” Said Karis through the link in confusion as he brought his arm forward to show everyone. A tree of life is a circle with Thor’s hammer in a circle sat on his wrist as well. Eli’s mouth dropped open as he added to the telepathic conversation.

  “I got the wolf mating mark on my wrist too.” They all stared at each other as they stared at the tree of life in a circle and a wolf head in a circle upon his wrist too. “What the fuck does this mean? Not to sound like a dick, but I’m not really on the share a mate with my brothers' bandwagon.” Said Eli as they all as one turned to look at Aurora, who stood with her hands on her hip’s, cheeks blush, and annoyance clear on her face.

  “Someone want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Aurora was fuming inside. These hunky guys could really make you feel like an outsider talking to a brick wall. Feeling like she was the odd one left out on the inner joke just annoyed her. It didn’t help that she was starting to feel unwell, almost feverish.

  “Can we take a look at your back, please?” Said Teagan as he stepped forward and caressed her arm warmly. Scrunching up her forehead in confusion, she quirked an eyebrow and asked. “Why would you need to see my back?” Teagan stammered a bit, trying to figure out how to explain it gently.

  “Come off it, Teagan, give the woman some credit and stop babying her! What he’s trying to find a way of saying is that we all got a mark on our wrist that in our culture means we have found our mate or a life partner. And you’re the only woman we have been around in days, so we need to look to see if you have the corresponding marks for one of us or all of us on your back.” Stated Deacon in his hard-no-nonsense way. Mouth hanging open in surprise, Aurora gasped like a fish for a few moments quirking her brow and staring wide-eyed at them all. Attempting to speak, she failed then tried again.

  “You all must be nuts! You mean to say that you think I might be all four of your guy’s mate or mate’s? So, in Asgard, your life partners are picked for you? Cause I’m really not a fan of people making choices for me guys.” She said slightly shrilly as her voice squeaked, and she bit her lip, trying to wrap her head around that concept. Hmm, one woman and four hunky very big intriguing, clearly not human men, that leaves a lot of room for the mind to wander to fantasy land. Plus, her one secret lay on her back, she had never shown anyone the tattoo she got a few months before her life going haywire, how the hell would four guys and one woman work in bed. Aurora, still a virgin, wasn’t innocent in the way a coupling could happen per se. She had read her
fair share of very racy and detailed romance novels. But four guys and one her!? When she didn’t think she could blush anymore, then she had been they up and topped it. She was fairly sure her face was as close to red as one could get.

  “Well, yes, we would like to find out, and well, the only way to find out is to look.” Said Karis as he reached out, caressing her other arm trying to comfort her as he imagined all this information in such a short amount of time couldn’t be easy. Heck, if it was him in her shoes, thinking himself human, then bam guess what you’re not human. He probably wouldn’t have handled it nearly as well as she had so far.

  Trying not to have the mental breakdown she felt coming on, she put her hand to her forehead and focused on breathing in and out for a few moments. You got this Aurora; you can overcome anything if you just keep going, she told herself. Aurora gulped air in breathing deeply then nodded her head in consent.

  Turning around, she lifted the back of her shirt up and over her head, holding the shirt over her front to cover herself the best she could, preserving some of her modesty. The four men all gasped as they stared at her beautiful curvy back. Their fingers traced something lower down on her back as they stared in amazement. At the base of her back, all the way up to the middle of her back sat four life trees in a diamond pattern; the wolf, dragon, giant, and Valkyrie symbols all sat in their own circles within their own life tree. The Norse compass sat in between and tree branches scaling around it. Just past her silk black bra strap sat a tattoo with a raven whose head crested just below her neck, a few strands of blue hair fanning it. The raven held the Norse compass. It seemed to blend right in with the magical mating tattoos. It was beautiful, intricate black lines, and looked like a full back tattoo. Aurora sighing put her shirt back over her head and pulled it back over her body. “I’m guessing from those gasps and the way you all are staring at me that I have a mark or marks?” If it weren’t so overwhelming, it would have been comical as they all nodded at once. For once, it was their tongue-tied instead of her. Trying to make light of the situation she said. “So, doctor, what’s the verdict?” They all just stared at her, not getting the joke. “In other words, which one of you am I mated to?