Fly? How the hell was she supposed to do that? She sort of skimmed off the ocean, flailing before something happened. An understanding born of another life. Maeva was there. The good Maeva. And she was reminding Erica.
“I got this,” she whispered into Kodran’s mind.
A moment later, she really did as she flapped her wings, lifted away from the water and despite the wind shear, gained altitude. It was rocky, and she was tossed about, but she didn’t give up. She couldn’t. There was too much at stake.
Kodran, a huge and remarkably attractive dragon with his dark bluish-black coloring, definitely became her wingman as he stayed close but didn’t interfere as she got the hang of things. He did, however, offer supportive words and coached her on.
“You’re doing great, Erica,” he said. “Trust your instincts. Trust your dragon. She will not steer you wrong.”
She knew. Her dragon was telling her. And it was the most amazing sensation. To be back inside a body that had once been so familiar. To feel the joy of spreading her wings once again and all the power that went with it. It was an astounding moment when she, at last, eased into the feel of her body and met Kodran’s dragon’s eyes as they soared next to each other.
It was impactful. A moment that had never been theirs. Eluf was now a dragon. And they were flying with one another as though they had been doing it since the beginning of time.
She only got another moment to revel in it before her twin’s distress hit her first. The pain in Shannon’s internal voice as she spoke to her mate, but everyone heard. “God, it’s happening again, Matthew. Just like before. He’s going to wipe everyone out.”
“Over my fucking dead body,” Kage growled as his dragon slammed into another and started battling.
“Nobody is going to wipe us out,” Heidrek agreed, well aware of the horrible ancient battle Shannon and Matthew had witnessed with Hel. “We are too strong now.”
“Yes, we are,” Bjorn agreed, still fighting from the ground, biding his time before he shifted. “We have planned for this, and we will win.”
Erica knew what they were doing. They were kings now and making sure their people got the mental support they needed.
Meanwhile, Naðr Véurr was after his number one enemy.
Hallstein.
Erica struggled through the unusual turbulence of time warps caused by Matthew, Lauren and likely even Hallstein. Sometimes the battling would speed up, then at other times slow down.
It was damn disorienting.
Kodran protected Erica at first as she got her feet under her...or wings. He intercepted a female dragon and tore her throat open before she could get close. Grateful, Erica continued gathering strength and tried to recall how to fight mid-flight.
“Come in hard and fast, Sister,” Lauren said, her voice as fierce as her little dragon. “Get their vulnerable spots, and then conserve your energy until they’re weakened.” There was a hungry grin in her voice. “Once that happens, take them out.”
Erica couldn’t help but be amused by the changes in Lauren. The dragon she became.
“This is a bloody good time,” Adlin declared. “The enemy doesnae stand a chance.”
She frowned, trying to place where the ghostly wizard was.
“He’s on Naðr’s back,” Svala replied, amusement in her voice. “I cannot think that such a thing is very good for my father’s pride.”
Well, there was something you didn’t see every day she thought as she spied Adlin on Naðr. A ghostly boy in a kilt riding a dragon. She was just about to comment when Kodran was slammed in the side by another dragon. Seconds later something else caught her wing, and she jerked back.
One of Hallstein’s head douchebags had caught her.
“Sonofabitch,” Kage roared before he slammed the dragon he was battling into the ocean and headed Erica’s way. “Hallstein and that one you’re fighting almost took me out in Maine. He’s strong, Erica. Watch yourself. I’m coming.”
“Get to her, Kage,” Viv said. “He’s a mean bastard. Don’t let her get hurt.”
Erica fought for all she was worth, but Kage wasn’t kidding. She knew exactly who she was fighting, and he was remarkably strong. She had seen the way he treated women at Hallstein’s club, and it was right up there with how the enemy himself had treated the other Maeva.
Just when she thought she had squirmed away, he caught her again and tossed her. She tried to gain her bearings, but the world was a dizzying roll of colors and sounds as he seemed to toss her around like a ball. He wasn’t just toying with her but enjoying touching her dragon at the same time. While she might not be overly familiar with dragon girl parts, she knew he was being lewd.
“I’ve been waiting to get my hands on you,” he growled into her mind. “I just needed my boss to be distracted.”
Fabulous. So he was betraying Hallstein this way in the midst of a full-blown war? The enemy really knew how to pick them. But what could this guy really do mid-air? Seriously?
Soon enough, she found out as he locked her against his stomach then started to gain altitude. She had felt a lot of strange things but nothing like this. Christ, it reminded her of the horrible moment she had lived in another life when Hallstein mounted her as a dragon.
This dragon was going to take her in flight. How the hell was that even possible?
“Kodran,” she cried out as true fear set in. She couldn’t move, barely breathe. “Where are you?”
“Right behind you,” he roared seconds before both he and Kage got blindsided by more enemy dragons.
Erica tried again to move, struggle, anything, but the dragon holding her kept her locked in place. God, she could have envisioned this battle a thousand different ways but not like this. Not...again.
Suddenly, a loud boom hit her ears, and the dragon holding her snapped back as though he had reached the end of a tether. When he did, it gave her just enough leeway to break free. She looked back to see what had happened only to catch sight of the last person she expected coming to her rescue.
The female Vanaheim seer.
Her eyes were closed as she stood on the ship and moved her hands as though pulling in a rope. All the while, though he struggled, the male dragon was pulled toward her. It was an unbelievable display of power and Erica was never more grateful.
Before the female seer pulled him any closer, Hallstein screamed in fury and betrayal and crashed down on his fellow dragon.
This was Erica’s opening.
This was her chance to reconnect with him.
So she pulled Maeva’s defiant evil dragon to the surface and embraced it.
“My love,” she purred as he began tearing into the dragon’s neck. “Thank you.”
Hallstein’s eyes met hers as he put an end to his fellow dragon then used him as a raft. “You are not...” He cocked his head, his red eyes blazing as he eyed her. “You are not yourself, are you Maeva?”
Shit. Was the other Maeva somehow getting through? Did he know he was being duped?
“Of course I am,” she murmured.
“Then why did you set a trap?” he seethed.
“I did not,” she argued, pouting like Maeva would have. “I was as deceived as you.”
Hallstein’s eyes stayed with hers as war raged in the sky and rain ran as red as the ocean around him. Though complete havoc surrounded them, everything slowed down, and all went very quiet as their eyes held.
As he caught her in one of his time loops.
Erica had no concept of his movements until they stood together on the dead dragon. Hallstein must be keeping him afloat with magic.
She did her best to remain enraptured by Hallstein as he folded his wings around her and his eyes met hers in the darkness of the cave he had created. All it would take was a single movement or roar of fire, and he could end her.
But he did not.
Instead, his red eyes stayed locked with hers as he contemplated.
“Tell me, Maeva,” he murmured. “Tell me of
your secret plans.”
Her secret plans?
Did this mean what she thought it meant?
It did. She could see it in the way he looked at her. So she did her best not to acknowledge the relief washing over her. He still trusted her. He didn’t question her loyalty. So love was blind after all. Because if nothing else, Hallstein thought he was in love with Maeva. Despite the way he had brutalized and tortured her, he had found love. And it was that, his affection for her, that was their only chance of winning this war. For a brief flicker of a moment, she felt the other Maeva struggling to reach out, to get to him, but it was too late for that.
Nothing was getting past the ring on her claw.
And nothing was getting past the love she and Kodran had finally found again after Hallstein ripped it away not once but twice.
Funny, as she cowered encased in Hallstein’s wings, eye to eye with one of the most powerful dragons ever to be born, she realized there was nothing she could say that would make sense. What was her ultimate plan? What did he expect to hear? Maybe they should flee and live to fight another day? No, he wouldn’t go for that. Only one thing would make sense to him. War. Them fighting alongside each other. And then there was that other thing.
Maeva’s desire to rule Helheim with him.
“It is time to fight in both worlds, my love,” she said softly. “It is time to take what is rightfully yours.”
That should buy her just enough time. More so, Matthew and Shannon if they moved fast.
Hallstein eyed her another long moment, his eyes wild with pleasure as he nodded. “Though rare, you do have your moments of intelligence, Maeva.”
“Thank you,” she murmured obediently. “Moments of clarity, of course, because I am privileged enough to be around such greatness as you.”
“You are,” he granted. “And, as always, it pleases me that you realize that.”
And it pleases me that you’re going to get your ass handed to you soon, she thought, but kept it deeply repressed. Now wasn’t the time. Not yet. But soon.
“Let us rally mother then,” he murmured, eager to summon Hel. “Let us bring her into the midst of battle by putting some of these awful seers to good use.”
What did he mean by that?
Seconds later, she found out when time sped up, and in the blink of an eye, Hallstein’s dragon wasn’t with her but snatching up the female Vanaheim seer.
“No,” Erica roared and headed in that direction.
Hallstein would think nothing of it because he assumed she was playing a role. That she was fooling everyone into thinking she was actually Erica. Seconds later, the male seers appeared on the shore, infuriated and fearing for the female seer’s life.
“Do not let him sway you. Stay strong,” the female seer whispered to them before Hallstein roared with laughter, tore her apart and threw her into the ocean. She had just become the first of many souls he intended to send to Helheim to draw his mother’s attention.
Erica nearly lost her balance she was so affected by the horrible idisplay. She felt the pain of losing the seer as if they had been very close. That’s when she realized she was feeling Kodran’s reaction as he roared in fury. These seers had been his people. He was connected to them. And his connection and utter pain as Hallstein reigned fire down on the male seers, snapped something inside. Worse, whatever that something was, it ran like wildfire through every dragon connected to Kodran and left them far too exposed.
“Kodran,” she cried out as she raced after him.
Though things weren’t in slow motion, they certainly felt like it as an absolute nightmare unfolded. The war in the skies took a dark turn as the enemy’s dragons started to annihilate everyone in their path. Her heart seized in pain as she watched those she cared about fall.
Sam went down first. Her dragon crashed into the ocean screaming in pain before she sank.
Then Lauren.
After that, Shannon.
Erica kept roaring in agony right along with the Sigdirs as more began to fall.
When Cybil fell, it became hard to process anything.
Then so many more.
Tait, Bjorn, Matthew, Svala...
Then Heidrek...their king.
Weakened, stunned, her belly skimmed the ocean as she tried to keep flying. What was happening? How had they gotten here? What slaughter had she led them to?
“Kodran?” she whimpered, unable to put her eyes on him. “Kage? Viv?”
No sooner did she say it than her brother crashed down in front of her. Though she tried to grab onto him, his eyes met hers one last time before he sank, his final words a faint murmur. “Take care of Vivienne.”
Erica struggled to breathe, her dragon flailing about as it witnessed far too much death. Moments later, Viv crashed down beside Kage, and within seconds, she was gone beneath the sea too.
Grief-stricken, not caring the least about playing any sort of role for Hallstein anymore, Erica wailed in pain. They were all dying. Everyone.
Every last person, dragon, and seer.
Ships were going up in flames as Hallstein and Naðr crashed together in the sky in a battle for the ages.
“Here we are again, old man,” Hallstein said into Naðr’s mind. “And I will once more destroy you.” Nothing but evil laced his voice. “Bjark.”
“We will see about that, Bard,” Naðr retaliated as they fought and battled despite the wild weather.
Erica tried to remain focused on them but she couldn’t.
Not when Kodran crashed into the water in front of her.
“No,” she cried and swooped down. His neck had been torn open, but he continued to struggle. His wings still had some mobility.
“Leave me, Erica,” he said. “Go protect our people. Save whoever’s left.”
“There’s nothing left without you,” she sobbed and dug her talons into the scales on his chest as she tried to keep him from sinking. “There’s no life without you, Kodran.”
“There is,” he whispered. “Emily and Håkon are still alive. Sven and Runa.” His eyes stayed with hers as he sank beneath the water. “Get them to safety, Erica. That’s all that matters now. They’re all that’s left.”
“I can’t let you go again,” she whimpered, still holding onto him as they both sunk.
“You can, and you will.” His voice was getting weaker in her mind, and his wings had stopped moving. “They’re depending on you.”
And I’m depending on you, she nearly said but didn’t as they kept sinking. As the ocean became peaceful beneath all the turbulence.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his words both from Kodran and Eluf. “I tried so hard to make a better life for us...for all of us.” His words grew fainter, and his heartbeat slowed. “Go save who is left. Start over for us.”
No misery was so great. No heart strong enough. Not for what she felt as their eyes held. As they sank deeper and he tried to stay alive for her. As she tried to stay with him.
“It’s time for you to go, Maeva.” He pressed something all too familiar into her talon. “It’s time for you to start over.”
Here they were again.
Him saying goodbye.
Her letting him go.
She clutched the Gungnir blade as he did and whispered, “I love you, Kodran.”
“And I love you, Erica.”
Yet it was Eluf and Maeva saying the same thing.
The four became two then the two became just one as his heart beat a final time then he left.
This time she wasn’t leaving him but the other way around.
Suspended, lost, she tried to hold onto his body but it became too difficult, and she had to let go. The way she felt as he sank into the dark depths of the ocean and vanished was unexplainable.
Pure torture.
But then something happened.
There was a strange shift she couldn’t explain as the blade warmed and the ring glowed. Then the water pulsed as if a bomb had gone off on the ocean floor. Th
at was the only way to describe it. Had the ring done that? The blade? She looked around. Waited. Yet everything looked the same.
But it wasn’t. Kodran was gone. They all were.
Or were they?
Hell, what was she doing? She needed to protect the children.
So she shot out of the water only to see Emily, Håkon, Sven and Runa standing on the shore watching her. A bear, white wolf, and a tan dog stood with them. She had heard about those animals. The bear was Heidrek and Matthew’s spirit guides. The wolf, Sven’s then Emily’s. And the dog had to be a ghost because if she wasn’t mistaken that was the Husky/Shepherd mix Megan had first traveled back in time with so long ago.
Guardian.
What’s more? Adlin and Grant stood behind all of them, their hands resting on the children’s shoulders as they watched an ongoing war in the sky. Naðr was fighting Hallstein for all he was worth and this time, the former Viking King wasn’t being taken down so easily. His anger was formidable and his wrath never-ending.
Adlin was no longer a ghost child but grown and very handsome as his wise eyes met hers and he nodded. A moment later, her ring’s glow brightened, and the Gungnir blade warmed even more.
“You will never hurt my people again,” Naðr roared as he and Hallstein whipped through the sky.
Confident the children were safe Erica raced after the battling dragons. All of a sudden, she didn’t see Hallstein and Naðr but Bard and Bjark. She saw the day Bard killed her grandfather. The way his dragons had beaten Bjark. The ruthlessness. She knew Naðr saw the same thing in his mind’s eye as she slammed into Hallstein and latched onto his back.
“Save the children,” Naðr said. “Do what Kodran asked of you, Erica.”
“I will,” she vowed. “As soon as we’re done here.”
Hallstein roared in fury as they started to drag him down.
“We do not have the power,” Naðr said. “Let this be my battle.”
“No,” she whispered as her eyes held his and they spun. As she became immersed in another life. “I let it be your battle before because I couldn’t get to you, Grandfather. This time I can.”
Their eyes continued to hold. He knew she wasn’t going to back down. He had no choice but to accept her help. Once the decision was made, she and Naðr proceeded to attack Hallstein with everything they had. And though he should have been able to fight off an older dragon and a female, something else began to happen.
Pride of a Viking Page 24