“I knew you’d fall for their act,” Eirik griped, but I knew he was faking annoyance. I had a feeling he’d wanted me to meet the cubs. “Hop on up, Dimples.”
“How often do you come here?”
“Whenever I need a break from Helheim. Karle is a pretty decent company when he’s not bitching about the wolves he trains. As you can imagine, I take those four imps up every time. They adore me.” His dragon was still full of himself. He lowered his legs and waited. The second I stepped on him, he yelped, “Ouch.”
I froze. “I’m so sorry.” I smacked him when he laughed. “That wasn’t funny.”
“You are such a softy.”
Once I settled at the base of his neck and secured the backpacks, he took off. The landscape around Ironwood was just as mesmerizing as the first time I saw it—one side lush with a thick forest and the other side dry and desert-like, but Eirik’s mountain was grassy with a group of trees at the top. The edge dropped sharply to a lake at the base.
“What do you think?” Eirik asked.
I loved it when he talked while in dragon form. I could feel the effect of the vibrations through my whole body. “It’s beautiful. Keep flying. I want to see what’s on the other side.”
“The Cat Clan’s land. You want to meet them?”
“No, some other time, but I want to see it.” He flew over the mountain. The surface sloped into a valley with a lake and a large settlement around it. Like Karle’s home, they had a wall around their little town, but they made it virtually impossible for anyone to access the water without their permission, Eirik explained. He mentioned the Cat Clan liked to steal fish for their lake. I could see how the cats could easily climb to the top of the mountain and find their way to the unguarded Wolf Clan’s lake.
Eirik flew down toward the lake. People rushed out of their houses and waved. He bellowed and circled back. I was still feeling the vibrations as he shot up.
“Roar again,” I called.
He did it then spoiled the moment by asking, “Are you making out with my dragon, Dimples?”
It was the closest to it, but I wasn’t admitting anything. I laid my cheek against his mane and sighed. He chuckled and the effect was subtle, but still just as stimulating. Yep, I was totally making out with his dragon.
He landed on top of the mountain and I could see why he liked the place. The patch of trees offered shade, but the grass area surrounding it was flat and low as though someone had mowed it. A few giant rocks were scattered around it. Surrounding the grass and the rocks were yellow flowers. Maybe Eirik had created it for us. Both villages were visible from his back. But when I got down, all I saw was the big sky and distant mountains.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s perfect. Like a landscaped backyard.”
“Good. Would you be okay if I gave the cubs a ride?”
I nodded and looked around again, searching for the perfect spot to set the picnic blanket. Anywhere would do because it was perfect.
“I’ll be back in a few.” He bumped me with his muzzle, and I planted a kiss on it before he took off, the displaced air whipping my hair every which way. I shaded my eyes and watched him. When he circled and did aerial tricks, even blowing fire, I laughed and waved. He was such a show off.
I removed my winter coat and chose a spot by the largest, striated rock. If a snake slithered from under it, I could always climb to the top of the rock and escape it. Of course, it could turn out to be an anaconda-like giant snake.
Not liking the direction of my thoughts, I spread the blanket and laid out our picnic trays, then rolled up my coat, and placed it at the foot of the rock. It was going to make a perfect pillow. Sipping water from a bottle, I sat, leaned against the rock, and sighed. This was nice. I knew I should put on some sunscreen, but I was too busy soaking up the rays to care. Besides, it was warm, not hot, so I had nothing to worry about.
A dragging sound reached my ears and I looked around frantically, trying to find the source. A soft breeze was all I felt. Hopefully, a giant bug wasn’t trying to crawl out from under the rock. Not a good thought to have when I was alone.
Feeling vulnerable, I buried my nose in Eirik’s T-shirt and inhaled. Immediately, I felt better. I was contemplating putting it on when he flew past with three boys and a little girl on his back. He looped while the children howled. Every time he did it, I expected one of them to fall, but they must be used to it. I stood and waved when they doubled back and swooped low. I saw something I’d missed while they were high up. There was some type of harness around his midsection securing the children to his back. I should have known he wouldn’t perform those maneuvers without making sure the children were safe. When he was out of sight, I pulled on his shirt and tugged the hem. It was so long it came to my thighs.
Smiling, I settled down and opened the cheese tray. It was another ten minutes of flying past while the kids howled when he returned, landed, and said, “I see you found Leo.”
“Leo?”
He pointed at the rock.
“You named the rock?”
He chuckled. “Of course not. Come out, Leo, and meet Celestia.”
The rock moved, a head sliding from one side. I’d never jumped so high or screeched so loud. Instead of a rock, I stared at a giant tortoise. It, uh, he stared right back at me, his mouth moving as he chewed. I swallowed and took a step back.
“Hi, Leo,” I said. Go back to sleep far away from here.
The same dragging sound I’d heard before came from behind me and I whipped around. The other tortoises were moving too. Now I realized why the place looked like it had been mowed. The tortoises ate the grass and the flowers.
Man, I hated the outdoors.
As if that wasn’t enough, Eirik started to shift back. I closed my eyes and blocked my ears with my thumbs. Still, I imagined the sounds and the pain he was going through and cringed.
I felt him before he pulled my hands from my ears. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t stand the sounds of your bones snapping and reforming.”
He grinned. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I go at super speed and use pain runes. Come on, Leo decided to stay put so we can use him.”
There was no way I was leaning against the tortoise. Eirik had no problem doing it, so I used his lap as a pillow instead. He didn’t ask for his T-shirt back, which I didn’t mind. I liked staring up at his bare chest. He opened the lid of the fruit bowl and popped several grapes in his mouth and fed me one.
“How did you find this place?”
“I came here a week after I took you to the hall. Maera needed certain medicinal herbs to make that nasty green concoction she fed you. She told me I could get them fresh from the caves and hillsides of various realms or the marketplace in Nidavellir, which wouldn’t be fresh. Since we wanted the best for you, I chose to visit different realms and check each herb off the list when I found them. Karle and Olea searched these mountains with me, until we found the moon mushrooms, which look more like toadstools but only bloom during the full moon. Since then, I’ve visited several times a week to help Karle train the cubs. The first lot will graduate in a few weeks and join the pack patrol. The other herbs I got were from Vanaheim and Alfheim.”
“I’m sorry I put you through so much.”
“Hey. You are here now. In fact, let’s a play a game. Every time you say you are sorry, you feed Leo a strawberry or a piece of watermelon. He loves watermelon.”
I shuddered. “No, thanks.”
“Then don’t say you are sorry.” He ate a piece of watermelon and fed me another. “Tomorrow, you and I will go to Vanaheim.”
I tried to keep an open mind. “Another favorite wilderness spot?”
“No, the beach. They have the most amazing white sand beaches. We won’t need to bring anything either, except swimsuits and our appetites. We’ll stop by Goddess Freya’s Hall and grab whatever we need from her sisters. They’re the ones who showed me where to get the herbs Maera needed. They’re bi
g on healing.”
~*~
EIRIK
I couldn’t have planned the day any more perfect. When Celestia dozed off, I held her and savored the moment. I even found the tube of sunscreen she’d packed and put some on her. When an hour passed and she still didn’t wake up, I started to worry. She slept through me carrying her to the trees and the cubs’ arrival. They’d even hauled the harness up the mountain and were so proud; I didn’t have the heart to yell at them.
Like most shifters, wolves moved faster and stealthier in animal form, but these cubs were playful and loud. Even after I fed them and told them to play near the flowers, I could still hear them. Yet Celestia slept through it all. Unlike the other cubs, Laufey lay a few feet from us.
“How come you’re not exploring with your cousins?” I asked her.
“I stepped on something on our way up and hurt my paw,” the female cub said.
I searched her paw and found a splinter wedged between her claws. It went deep. She bled a little when I removed it. I had no idea how to treat a fresh wound, so I told her to stay put. She lay down close to Celestia and studied her. She even inched closer to smell her hair and sighed. Wolves loved to scent people—sniff them so they’re familiar with their scent.
“She smells nice,” the she-cub said.
“Yes, she does.” Since Celestia was using my arm as a pillow, I was immersed in her scent. I stroked a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead and she stirred, murmured my name, and continued to sleep.
“She is so pretty,” she said.
“Yes, she is, and so are you, Laufey.”
“How old is she?”
“Almost eighteen.”
“Wow, she is small. Is she a Dwarf?”
I laughed. The two of them were about the same height when the cub was in human form, yet Laufey was only nine years old.
“No, she’s not. She’s from Midgard and they don’t grow big over there.”
“Tell me about Midgard, Baldurson. Can I visit it? Do they have shifters like me? Can your Celestia shift?” She soon fell asleep while I told her about Mortals. She’d moved closer to us, her nose a few inches from Celestia’s head. She’d been scenting her again.
Celestia woke up and I made sure I was the first thing she saw, not the cub. I didn’t want her screaming again. She was the least outdoorsy person I’d ever met.
“You know that’s creepy,” she whispered.
I loved watching her sleep. “Just making sure you were okay and not in a coma again.”
She reached up and stroked my cheek. Her hand moved lower to my chest. “I’m never going anywhere again. Ever.”
“Good, because I won’t let you. Laufey is asleep beside you so don’t freak out.” She turned and her eyes widened. She reached out as though to stroke the cub, then stopped. “She’d been scenting you. Wolves do that.”
“Did you bring her up?”
“No, she climbed up the mountain with the other three. They even carried the harness, the imps. Laufey got a splinter in her paw and didn’t want to explore anymore.” It had been a while since I heard the other three. “Where are the others? I’ll be right back.” I kissed her briefly before getting up.
Wolves in the Cat Clan land might start a mess I didn’t want to deal with. I inhaled and tried to locate them. I often took them flying whenever I visited, so I could find their scents even in their little town. I followed my nose and found the three cubs eating wild berries behind the bushes.
“Take it easy with that, cubs. You don’t want to get stomach aches.” I got a few branches laden with berries and went back to join Celestia. I found her stroking Laufey’s fur. The cub was awake too.
“She made it better,” Laufey said, lifting her paw.
“I removed the splinter, cub. I made it better. She just petted you.”
The cub laughed. “You are silly. She made the pain go away.”
“She is a powerful Witch from Midgard and she has amazing spells that can do amazing things.”
“Thank you, Celestia.” The cub’s eyes fell on the berries. “Oh berries. I can play now. Bye.”
“Traitor,” I mumbled as the wolf cub took off. Celestia just smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. I’ve kept her out for too long. “Ready to go home?”
She shook her head. “I love it here.”
I was happy to hear it. These were my mother’s people and therefore my people too. I wanted them to love her as much as I did. “So you don’t mind if we make a quick stop in the village? I have to drop off the cubs and Chief Skavnir would be hurt if we left without stopping by.”
“It’s okay. I want to thank Karle and Olea for finding the mushrooms.”
I stood, cupped my mouth and yelled, “Hey, cubs. Get your hairy behinds over here. Time to go home.”
“Can we carry some berries?” one of them yelled.
“No way, you little punk. I told you before, Hymir. No berries on my scales or mane.”
“But Mama would love some,” the cub yelled.
“I don’t care. You know the rules.” I glanced at Celestia and groaned. She was staring at me as though I’d punched the cub. “That little punk is always trying to pull a fast one on me. He knows I don’t allow them to carry food during rides.”
“We carried food up here, Eirik.”
“Nicely packaged and wrapped. Berry juice is sticky. I don’t want gooey, blue syrup on my gorgeous golden scales. As it is I have to deal with their sticky fingers all over my back.”
Celestia laughed. “You’re such a faker. You and I know you can use runes to clean up.”
I did, but it was nice to hear her laugh. The sound wrapped around my senses and soothed my soul. “Yes, but I don’t want to or they’d try all kinds of crap during rides. Hymir, get your cousins moving or I’ll come after you and you won’t like it,” I yelled again. “He is the leader of their little pack and the sneakiest.”
Celestia clicked her tongue, grabbed the empty fruit bowl and cheese tray, and went to find the cubs. I’d known she’d do that. The cubs would tell their parents how she’d stood up to me and taken their side.
By the time I finished packing up our things, they were back with containers full of berries. She put the lids back on, put them in the backpack and once again, closed her eyes and covered her ears while I shifted. The cubs found that funny. Once I shifted, the cubs helped with the harness and strapped themselves in. Since it had one more loop, they offered it to Celestia.
She climbed first and sat at her favorite spot. The cubs followed and sat behind her. The ride down was brief. The cubs wanted me to do aerial tricks, but I wasn’t taking chances with their berry-filled stomachs.
Chief Skavnir and his family were in the courtyard when we arrived.
“Welcome,” he said and hugged Celestia. “You are finally awake. Did you know our mushrooms healed you?”
“Eirik just told me, so thank you.” She hugged him, then Karle, and Olea.
“We came to Helheim to visit you,” Olea said. “You looked dead.”
“Olea!” Karle snapped. “Forgive my sister. She’d never seen anyone fall into a deep sleep for weeks before.”
“Yeah, like you have,” Olea retorted.
“It’s called a coma, and it happens all the time in Midgard. It’s the way their bodies rest while they heal.”
Chief Skavnir insisted we drink something and would not take no for an answer. The second we sat, servers filed into the room with platters of food. I was starving after flying.
“Do you want to stay? We can leave if you like.”
“It’s okay. The food smells great,” she said.
We settled around the table, joining Chief Skavnir’s household for supper. When four musicians arrived with their instruments and started playing, I knew he’d planned this the second he heard we were in Jötunheim. His people started trickling in. Chief Skavnir called for more mead as more arrived.
Music and laughter filled the hall. We we
re almost done when Laufey brought her mother to introduce her to Celestia. The woman bowed and said, “Thank you for helping my little girl.”
Celestia shook her head. “I didn’t do anything.”
“But we heard you are a powerful Witch with amazing spells.” The woman shook Celestia’s hand, and then placed it on her distended stomach. “The baby will come out soon, but I worry. Can you use a spell to make sure he’s okay?”
Celestia looked uneasy, but she smiled and nodded. She placed her hand on the woman’s stomach and muttered under her breath. The baby must have kicked because she jerked and snatched her hand back, her face pale. The mother laughed and rubbed her stomach.
“Thank you.” She bowed to Celestia, and then went to find a place to sit on the rug by the other mothers. She whispered something to them and they all turned to stare at Celestia.
“Are you okay?” I leaned closer and asked.
“Yes. It was weird feeling the baby kick.”
“I was right.” I took her hand, kissed it, and pressed it on my cheek. “Your spells are powerful.”
“I don’t know about that.” She reached for her drink, took a big gulp, and made a face as the liquid slid down her throat. Color rushed to her cheeks.
“What’s this?” she asked, staring at the dark liquid.
“Jötun mead,” I said, trying not to laugh. It was stronger than what they brewed in Eljudnir, but perfect for their spicy dishes.
Celestia sipped her mead after that. When those gathered in the hall started to sing and clap with the musicians, she clapped along. The servers kept filling her cup, until I drained the tumbler and turned it upside down. Didn’t stop Celestia from sipping from my cup.
When they took to the floor, she joined them. For a moment, it was as if time slowed down just so I could witness this. It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen, Celestia in her modern clothes—tights, boots, and lacey top—dancing among Jötnar women in their traditional flowing dresses and cloaks. They towered above her despite shifting to regular sizes.
Their size didn’t seem to bother her. She clapped and twirled, the sound of her laughter mixing with the music, her beautiful golden brown hair floating around her. The sparkle in her eyes grew brighter until the sounds and the others ceased to matter. She became the center of my existence.
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