As he passed by, I turned to Hecate. “You were about to say something?”
“It can wait. But Fury, there’s a reason we’re taking the long way up. There’s something I must show you along the way, and you’ll have to bring all of your courage to the forefront.” She shook her head when I started to ask for more details.
Within fifteen minutes we were set up. Thor and Freya stood by the fire, Hans in front of them. He was wearing a red tunic over his trousers, his head gleamed—probably freshly oiled—and he wore a bronze circlet. He was carrying a short sword that I didn’t recognize, and he was wearing an ornate set of bracers.
We gathered around, waiting.
Sif appeared from behind the chariot, walking beside Greta, whose hair was shining, as golden as the goddess’s own. It was intricately bound up in curls and ringlets, braids coiling in such a maze that I wondered if Greta would be able to untangle it all. It was gorgeous—like a headdress—but how Sif managed it in the brief time given baffled me. Greta was also wearing a silver diadem so highly polished that it sparkled. She was dressed in a simple white tunic dress that fell to her ankles, belted at the waist with a leather belt and a bronze buckle. Her wings sparkled, and I wasn’t sure whether she had dusted them with glitter or whether that was normal.
As Greta approached, Sif moved to one side. Hans reached for Greta’s hand. They stood, waiting. Freya bound a braided cord around their joined hands.
“This is not in the full tradition we usually bind to,” Freya said. “But difficult times blaze the way for new traditions. Your engagement was established five years ago, and the union is not entered into in haste.”
Thor cleared his throat. “We take your troth. Nine pledges, for the nine worlds. Answer honestly, lest the fire burn your heart to dust. Do you both enter into this union free of other oaths that would interfere or prevent you from honoring your vows?”
In unison, Greta and Hans said, “We do.”
Freya spoke next. “Do you enter this union, with love and honor, setting only your devotion to your gods higher than to one another?”
Again, “We do.”
Thor and Freya alternated, taking their vows, pledging them to an honor code that made me want to feel I could rely on someone as much as they would be there for each other. To serve each other, to protect and guard each other and their family, to honor and respect, to love and make love…the troth wove itself into the cord around their hands, a visible, palpable magic.
Finally, Freya said, “This troth is binding, under the will of Thor. Break it at your peril.”
“This troth is binding, under the will of Freya. Break it at your peril.” Thor motioned to Sif, who removed the cord and stepped back. “Now, it is time to exchange swords.”
Hans knelt before Greta and held out the short sword. “I pledge my sword to you, in protection and love. This binds you to my family.”
As he stood, she knelt and held out her own short sword. “I pledge my sword to you, in protection and love. This binds you to my family.”
They stood and exchanged the swords.
Sif moved in. “That you have pledged and exchanged your troth and your swords, from this day forward you are bound in marriage under the sight of the gods. Now, to the bedding!”
I glanced at Elan, silently asking her what they meant. But before she could answer, the meaning became perfectly clear.
“We need witnesses six. Freya and I will oversee, of course. Jason and Fury, you will join us. And Laren and Kendall.” Thor let out a belly laugh. “We’ll feast as soon as we’ve seen them consummate the marriage.”
“Wait. What do you mean, witnesses?” I really didn’t want it to mean what I thought he meant.
“Come. Follow us.” He motioned to me and, reluctantly, the four of us followed the two Elder Gods, who were following Greta and Hans. The walk was short, over to Hans’s van. The door was open and there were blankets and pillows laid out. “Hop to it, you two. All of your dalliances together mean nothing now. This is the first time you bed as a married couple.”
“You mean we’re going to watch—” Jason looked more flustered than I felt.
“It’s custom,” Freya said. She shrugged, a grin on her face. “It is one part of the custom that must stand. Since you are their closest friends, you will witness with us and remember, should there ever be a question about the legality of this union.”
Hans flushed. “I suppose I forgot about this part. You don’t have to stay the whole time, just to see…”
“To make sure you’ve knocked bits, I assume.” Kendall snorted. “Get moving.”
Greta handed Freya her sword, then unbelted her dress and slipped out of it. She shivered and jumped in the van out of the snow, landing on the pile of blankets. Hans undressed and joined her while the rest of us stood around, waiting.
I wondered how any man could perform with such scrutiny, but as Hans moved toward Greta, stroking her breast, it was obvious that he wasn’t going to have any such problem in that manner. She moaned softly, and I found myself getting aroused as he lowered his lips to her breast. Irritated and slightly embarrassed, I shifted position and moved away from Jason, who was feeling all too close right now. He seemed to sense my discomfort and moved a few more steps away from me. I chanced a peek at his face, and saw that he was watching them intently, licking his lips.
Freya tapped me on the shoulder and nodded for me to return my attention to the couple, and her fingers on my shoulder sparked off a network of flames running through me. I felt like I was pulsating with energy and moved yet a little farther away, but kept my eyes on the happy couple.
By now, they seemed to have lost notice of us, fully engaged in their love play. Wistfully, I thought of Tam. I missed him in more than one way, that was for sure.
A moment later, Greta slid down on Hans’s mighty hammer, so to speak, and they were fully engaged. Freya and Thor stayed, but motioned to us that we could leave. I quickly hotfooted it back to the table to find that the others had returned the hot food to the fire, keeping it warm. I quickly sat down and stuffed my face with a piece of cheese, trying to shake off what I had just been required to witness. I understood the tradition, but that was the last thing I had expected when I suggested they get married tonight.
Jason had vanished somewhere, and I had the sneaking suspicion he was relieving himself of some tension, but even that thought made me shudder and I just focused on the food. Elan slipped onto the seat beside me.
“Was it hard?”
I stared at her. “What do you think? Oh, yes, it was hard.”
She blushed. “I didn’t mean…” Before she could continue, she burst into laughter and I joined in, grateful for the release.
“Oh man, I needed that laugh. I’ve never exactly been the voyeur type but I tell you, if I was going to watch anybody, they weren’t a bad pair to start with.” I laughed again, then let out a long breath and, for the first time in a while, relaxed a little. “I am glad they got married, though. It gives me hope. It kept me from focusing on what’s going on back in Seattle.”
“You’re right. What did Hecate say about why we were to come this way instead of going with Tam to UnderBarrow?”
“She said… I’m not sure, but it has to do with something she wants to show me. Also, she wasn’t sure we could make it clear enough of the waves rolling in. I guess…life the way we lived it really is over.”
Elan draped a hand on my shoulder. “Life has changed for me so many times I can’t even count. You’ll adapt. And you’ll remember what was, even as you grow into what will be.”
“Thanks, I need that reassurance.” I paused as Jason reappeared, looking quite a bit less tense. “You know, you really should sit with him tonight. It’s a good night to be by the side of someone special. If Tam were here, I’d be by his side now.”
Elan considered, then smiled and patted me on the shoulder again before picking up her plate and moving down the log to sit by Jason. They began
to talk in low tones and I turned my attention away, not wanting to eavesdrop.
Shortly after that, Freya, Thor, Hans, and Greta reappeared, the latter two clothed again. They were flushed, but smiling, and the feasting commenced in earnest. As we toasted the couple with a river of mead and finished off every scrap of the meal—Thor could really tuck it away—for a moment, life felt good. If I didn’t think about what we had left behind, or what might be ahead, in this one moment, I realized I was actually happy, if a little melancholy.
I lifted my glass and, to myself, whispered, “To Tam. I miss you, love.” And I could have sworn I heard him whispering “I love you” back.
Chapter 15
The next morning, by the time we were awake and groggily eating breakfast, Hecate received word that the road through the Edge was impassable. The tsunami had flooded it so badly that it was still underwater.
“Great, so what next? The cars can’t drive off road. Not through these woods.”
“We were headed into the Wild Wood anyway. I’ll summon the horses I’ve borrowed when we’re ready to leave. They’re not exactly coming from a ranch, so bringing them here won’t be any harder than where we had originally planned to meet.” Hecate was eating a toasted cheese sandwich, which seemed odd to me.
Even odder, the Elder Gods had actually erected a very large walk-in tent and slept there, instead of fading back to whatever realm they went to when they vanished from ours. I had never thought of them as needing sleep, and the thought that they actually would make camp and rough it with us seemed a little boggling.
Hans and Greta looked incredibly happy and just being around them lifted my spirits. Greta’s wings flicked softly as the snow landed on them, and I found myself mesmerized by the feathers. They had sparkled the night before and I thought that might just be magic, but now that I looked closer, I saw they had an iridescent sheen to them that caught the light, be it campfire or even diffused light through the clouds.
“Are you the only gods who have moved into the Wild Wood?” Kendall asked.
“No, the Celtic pantheon has always been there. But they’re moving to be near us. And others are scoping out areas in which to build their temples.” Hecate paused, a frown on her face as though she was trying to decide whether to say something.
Finally, she said, “Some of the Elder Gods who returned to Olympus are rethinking their choice. I believe most—at least from the temple Naós ton Theón—will be returning as we rebuild out in the wilds. And if Zeus and Hera are second-guessing their choices, you can be sure a number of others are too.”
That news cheered me up. I liked having the gods near.
“All right. We should get packed up. You said you could summon the horses here?” Hans and Thor began to ready the table to go back in Thor’s chariot.
Hecate moved to the side, motioning for us to stand back. She let loose with a loud whistle, and a vortex began to spin, looking like a sideways whirlwind made of waves. As the portal grew wider, a group of white horses began to run through. The moment I saw them, I realized they belonged to Poseidon. They were stunning, as white as the snow, with long flowing manes that sounded like waves on the sea as the wind blew through them.
One of the stallions trotted over to nudge me with his muzzle. I realized that the look in his eye seemed very familiar. I leaned close, touching the mane. A ripple of energy ran through me and I let out a gasp. I knew this horse!
“Captain Varga!”
Varga was a Theosian sailor whom I had helped out only weeks before when his boat was riddled with ghosts. But he could never come ashore unless he was willing to change shape because the moment Varga set foot on land off his boat, he turned into one of Poseidon’s stallions. I wanted to ask why he was here, but there was no way to get an answer, so I simply whispered in his ear that I remembered him. He nudged me again.
“I see you found him,” Hecate said. “You ride Varga, Fury. He’ll protect you well.”
The horses were saddled and ready to go. As we transferred our gear to them, balancing out the loads, I managed to corner Hecate near the fire.
“You wanted to tell me something before the wedding last night. There’s something you want me to see, I think?”
She nodded. “Along the way, in the Wild Wood, there’s an old shrine dedicated to me. Remember when I said it’s time to expand your powers to the next level? Once we’re there, you’ll undergo the ritual that will bind you to my fire in a way you have never experienced.”
I held on to Varga’s bridle, staring at the horse. “Will it hurt?”
“I won’t lie. It will hurt, and you will walk through the fire like the phoenix.”
My stomach was once again tying itself in knots. “Will I be in danger?”
“You are always in danger, my Fury,” Hecate said. “You will face your fears and doubts. You must be willing to destroy, in order to learn how to create. I had not thought to put you to this test for a long time, but circumstances necessitate that we prepare you for what is coming.”
“What do you mean?” I looked up at her, and in her eyes I saw fear like I had never before seen in my Lady’s gaze.
“Lyon is alive. And he’s now at the World Tree, attempting to open the gates to Chaos. We cannot stop him from here. If he manages it, we will be facing far more dangers than Abominations. The demons of Chaos are madness incarnate. The initiation you’ll be going through will allow you to tackle them as you do Aboms, but this means transforming your fire so that it’s stronger and better under your control.”
“Then Lyon’s won?”
Hecate smiled grimly. “The battle, Fury. He’s won the battle, not the war. This is no longer a local issue—no longer possible to nip in the bud, so to speak. ”
And so we started out, with Varga bearing me and my gear at a stately gait. As the snow fell, we abandoned the cars, and with Thor leading the way in his chariot, Sif at his side, we began our march north.
Two days later, a day before we were to reach Verdanya, Hecate called a halt in the middle of the morning.
“We camp here for the day. We’re near my shrine and Fury will need to visit there tonight.”
As we made camp, Jason squatted next to me as I rested on a tarp spread over the snow, conjuring fire to start a blaze in the fire pit. We were in what had once been a park, Hecate said, although all remnants of the past were gone, except for the ruins of a stone building that had housed bathrooms.
“Are you afraid?” He handed me kindling as I shifted a few of the logs.
I took the splinters of wood, then held out my hand, coaxing a small ball of fire to appear. I touched the wood to the flames and they caught immediately, and I quickly tucked them under the pile of logs. The kindling caught the smaller pieces of wood, and I blew the tiny fireball into the center, where it blazed to life against the stacked wood.
“I might be.” I stood, arching my back. “I think I’m still shell-shocked by the past few days. What’s one more transformation, after what we’ve been through?”
He shifted from one foot to the other. “I wanted to thank you for talking to Elan. We’re going to give it a shot. I think we have a chance.”
I grinned at him. “Good. You should be happy.”
“Then we’re good? You and me? You know, because of your… Marlene.”
I let out a long breath. “Jason, it’s over. In the past. I’d rather not dwell on it, but yeah, we’re good and I’m all right. Let’s leave it for what it was. Though sometime…maybe you could tell me more about my parents. There’s so much I probably never knew.” A pang hit my heart that he had known them both far longer than I had gotten to.
He pulled me into his arms, giving me a long hug. We stood there for a moment before he kissed the top of my head. “I’d be happy to. And Fury, I don’t look at you like a child. Not now, not anymore. But I’ll always feel like I’m your protector. That will never change.”
We headed back toward the horses to finish unloading and set
ting up camp.
That evening, Thor was leading a sing-along fueled by plenty of ale, when Hecate appeared out of the tent-o’-the-gods, as we had taken to calling it. She motioned to me.
“It’s time, Fury. Bring your sword and your dagger. Change out of that skirt into a pair of your shorts. You’ll need access to your whip.”
I nodded and slipped into the tent that I was sharing with Elan. There, I pulled off the long skirt and slid on a pair of my leather shorts. I had on a V-neck knit sweater, and my leather jacket and calf-high boots made for tromping through the woods. The boots had a solid tread that worked on snow as well. As I sheathed Xan and slung her over my shoulder, and fixed my dagger back in my thigh sheath, I decided that—whatever came of this new phase—I would welcome it with open arms. The world had shifted and I wasn’t about to be left behind, faltering because fear held me back. Hecate had faith in me. Tam loved me. That was all I needed.
“Lyon, you haven’t won the war yet,” I whispered, emerging from the tent.
To my surprise, I found Sif standing there. I tried to curtsey as best as I could without toppling into the snow.
“A simple nod will do. We’re not standing on formality here,” she said. The golden-haired Viking goddess was holding a long black-feathered cloak. She held it out. “You’ll need more protection against the snow. Please take this.” It wasn’t a request, but more of an order.
“Thank you,” I said, wondering what Hecate would think. I slid my arms through the arm-slits and the cloak settled around my shoulders as though it had been made for me. It was warm and lighter than I thought. “But why…”
“Am I helping you? We’re all in this together, Fury.” And with an enigmatic smile, she walked away.
I was surprised by how maneuverable the cloak was as I tromped my way through the snow back to the fire. It didn’t get underfoot and as I thought about my whip, the opening in front pulled back on its own, offering me easy access. I blinked. Was the cloak sentient? As if in answer, it snuggled itself tighter around my shoulders, almost as though it were hugging me. Feeling disconcerted but grateful, I came to a halt three steps away from Hecate.
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