Such pride filled Ava that several tears slipped free. “He might be a different color, but he looks like you, Soren.” Her teary eyes went from him to their son, amazed by how much she could still sense her offspring. “His soul even feels like yours. The kindness. The natural ability to lead.”
“That is his mate with you two.” Soren was filled with just as much pride, sensing what only dragons could. “She is pregnant.”
Ava nodded, wiping away more tears, remembering everything. “I had a good life with them, and our grandchild but the heartache never went away.” She shook her head. “It never goes away once you’ve connected with your mate.”
“No.” His voice grew softer, curious, as though he sensed something. “Nor do our connections with kin...it is an endless circle through time.”
As soon as he said it, their son turned his mighty head their way and looked directly at them. His eyes lingered on Soren for a long heartfelt moment as son and father clearly connected across time and space then his eyes slowly went to Ava, flared with emotion then dropped to her belly.
“He’s really looking at us,” she whispered, convinced of it. “Me...”
Soren rested a hand over her womb and met her eyes, figuring it out a split second before the first heartbeat sounded. “Himself.”
A blink later, the past faded, and the present returned.
They were once again in the cave beneath the willow and though all seemed to have returned to normal her world had just completely changed. The flutter she had felt in a memory at the spring was now very real and her son’s heartbeat, close to her once more.
She was pregnant.
“I...how...” She shook her head, still grappling with her emotions. “I know how but...I’m not even in heat...and how could it have happened so fast?”
“It can happen very quickly with dragons,” he reminded, resting her hand beneath his on her womb. “And in this place, even quicker I imagine, whether in heat or not.” Happiness lit his gaze as it went from her stomach to her eyes. “Our son has returned, mate. He found us again.”
“He did,” she murmured, overcome by everything she felt. Because it was more than just this, more than just the precious heart beating alongside hers. “Mate.” A new warmth flowed through her. A sense of power and connection that made what she had felt before pale in comparison. “Do you feel it...the change in us?”
“You are mated,” came Leviathan’s voice from the entrance. “And more powerful than any of us, aided by the first Ancient offspring born to Midgard. A dragon born of love, not hate. The very first of his kind.”
Soren instinctually shook his head at Ava, not wanting her to put the babe in harm's way with what lay ahead. But she rested a hand on his arm and gave him a look that made things clear. Pregnant or not, she would be proceeding forward. She was never more sure of anything.
“It’s all come together,” she said softly. “Everything we need to see through Níðhöggr’s vendetta. To free those still stuck on Múspellsheimr and destroy Skáld once and for all.”
Interesting how amid such certainty, she saw the parallel to her life back in the twenty-first century as clearly as Soren had. Her desire to bring peace to those who needed it most. To lead those who only wanted to love away from the monster who would see them destroyed. She also, for the first time in years, felt some of the burden she had carried since that fateful day at the village lift.
When they became mated, Soren had seen inside her mind's eye.
He knew everything now.
“And as I said would be the case, I do not think any less of you, Ava,” he said into her mind. “Though my dragon and I do not find you guilty of any crime, it does not take away how you feel. So now we will carry some of your burden and lessen your mental weight.”
She blinked back tears, not just relieved that he didn't hate her for her crimes, but that he was willing to soak up some of her self-recrimination. The deep-seated pain that was always with her.
“Dawn is still hours away,” Leviathan said. “I will continue to keep watch. You should rest while you can for the morrow is going to require every ounce of strength we have.”
They nodded, and Leviathan left.
Soren laid a fur for them, but neither slept much. How could they, after all they had learned? After all that had happened?
“So something has finally happened,” Thorulf said into their minds. “I thought it had.” They could almost see his eyes narrow. “And you do have a new and mighty warrior with you!”
Confident Skáld could no longer hear them, Ava nodded that she was okay with Soren sharing that battle was on the horizon. Then she shook her head and mouthed, “We should wait to tell him about the baby in person.”
She didn’t want Thorulf to feel left out or second best and felt that best accomplished in person.
Unfortunately, the situation was taken out of their hands.
“There is a mighty new warrior with them,” Dagr declared, evidently as aware of the new heartbeat as his cousin. “You have a new brother, Thorulf!”
All went dead silent before Thorulf spoke again. “Is this true, Father? Have you already birthed a child with your mate?” His concern swiftly turned to opportunity. “How big is he? Will he soldier well by my side?”
Ava bit back a smile and remained silent.
“He is far from born yet, Son.” Soren smiled and remained careful with Thorulf's feelings. “As you know, when he’s born, he will be much smaller than you. You are his big brother so he will look up to you and I imagine, eventually soldier with pride by your side.”
Silence fell for another moment before Thorulf came to a decision. “I would like that and will teach him well. Because he is my brother, I will see him moved up through the ranks quickly so that he might fight by my side against Dagr.”
“And my sister,” Dagr declared. “You will fight both of us!”
“With fury,” Thorulf declared in return before he grew quizzical. “Between playing, of course, yes?”
“Technically, the battling is playing,” Dagr provided. “But yes, we will set aside our weapons on occasion.”
“Rare occasion,” Thorulf warned. “But often enough.”
Ava couldn't help but chuckle, so charmed by Thorulf she knew it was love. A love she likely would have felt for him regardless but made deeper because of her connection with Soren.
“You should get back to bed boys,” Soren said. “War is on the horizon.”
“Then we should come now?” Dagr asked.
“I have a feeling we will be bringing it to you after all,” Soren replied. “So tell King Sven to make ready. The time is nearly upon us.”
“I will tell him,” Dagr and Thorulf said at the same time.
“Good,” Soren replied. “Now get some rest so that you might fight well for our people.”
“And dine in the great halls of Valhalla afterward,” Thorulf cried.
Soren flinched. “Perhaps much later in your life, Son. For now, fight well so that you can soldier on with Dagr and your brother.”
“That is wise thinking, Father,” Thorulf said dutifully. “Fight well and protect Ava. I really would like to see her again and meet my new brother.”
“You have my word,” Soren vowed before Dagr ended the connection.
“Thorulf’s such a sweetheart.” She cozied against him. “Do you think he’s really okay with this?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Do you not feel it?”
“I do, actually.” She inhaled deeply, pulling in Soren’s scent, aroused yet again despite herself. “I feel connected to him through you in a whole new way.”
“As it should be for dragons,” he murmured. His breathing hitched as he responded to her need for him. The scent of her arousal. “We are all interconnected. Kin more so. Surely you felt that with your sisters.”
“Maybe a little when we were young,” she said. “But the easier my dragon became to repress, the easier it was to forget how it had f
elt I guess.”
“Yet you feel it now,” he rumbled, drawing in her scent as though it was a life-line. As though he needed it to survive. “You feel how much we need each other.”
“Mmm,” she managed, not quite able to find her voice when he began touching and stroking her. Not surprisingly, a chant later, they were nude again, and he had her on her knees. One swift stroke later, he was deep inside her.
How would they ever manage anything with this relentless, driving need that almost seemed insatiable? Even with him inside her, she wanted more. Everything he was.
“I will give you everything I am,” he growled, curving his body over hers, dominant in a way that drove her wild. Yet he soothed her too, making promises she knew he hardly believed. That he barely wanted. “I am told the lust becomes more manageable.”
Though she meant to respond, ask him how that was dragonly possible, words became impossible when he rode her with a mixture of aggression and heart-wrenching passion. All the while, he touched her here and there, fanning flames of arousal that eventually had her crying out again and again. Yet in her final cry of release, something else came through.
A roar that didn’t belong.
The enemy was closing in.
Skáld was almost here.
Chapter Thirty
SOREN CLOTHED THEM with a chant, pulled Ava behind him and held the First Blade at the ready. Where was Skáld? He had sounded so close.
“The willow is amplifying the sound,” Vigdis said. Having heard Skáld as well, she and the others had joined them. “Not only because this tree was part of Skáld’s Domain but because it is linked with the other ashes.”
When Soren glanced at Vigdis with surprise, she explained.
“Now that it is no longer tainted by our enemy, I can feel the connection between this tree and those. Níðhöggr’s influence over so much.” Her eyes went to the weeping branches above. “When he harnessed the power of our mountain, he used it not just to sustain his Realm but the trees, including this one. A point, as we all knew it was, of safety for those of us in the Domain.” Her eyes went to Ava’s womb. “A place of great power.”
“It certainly seemed to aid us in the final push of our journey.” Tess closed the distance and embraced her sister. “Congratulations!” She held her at arm’s length. “Mated and pregnant in one fell swoop!”
“Word travels fast,” Ava said, gracing them with a lovely smile.
Tess winked. “Dragon heartbeats travel even faster.”
“A very telling heartbeat,” Halla added, her eyes going to Soren. “You recognize it, yes?”
“Of course I do,” he said. “It’s my son’s.”
Her eyes widened, and she grinned at Rokar before she looked at Soren again. “It’s also a direct connection to our shared heartbeat, Cousin. The very reason our heartbeats beat for the first time in our mothers' womb. Derived from the many sparks of love created by our parents so that we could better fight the monster. A beast that once tried to cease dragonkind’s existence and in turn, theirs.”
“Many weapons in a long war,” Soren murmured, amazed so many dragons were, at the moment of conception, already subconsciously preparing for what lay ahead. But then, in truth, it lay in their past too, each and every one tied to a bloodline that came from the first dragons on Midgard. Dragons who knew on some primal level that their offspring would someday have to face their mortal enemy once again.
Now that time had come.
He knew it with every fiber of his being.
And there was only one way to do it.
He looked at Ava. “We need to repeat our past.”
“Somewhat,” she said, agreeing to an extent. “Only this time we can’t allow Skáld to separate us.” She rested her hand over her belly and shook her head. “None of us.”
Though his dragon flailed at the idea of its mate and offspring being put in harm’s way again, it knew they had no choice. It was time for his father and Uncle Bjorn to come home, and his deceased cousin Dahlia’s ghost to finally find peace.
It was also time to free anyone else who might be infected.
“The best way to do what you intend is to go through Skáld’s Ash,” Magnus said. “Because Skáld is so connected to the tree as he tries to make his way here, it’s the best chance to get everyone out plus our enemy then seal the Portal at last.”
“How do you know it will seal for good this time?” Pierce asked.
“Because not only do we have the First Blade,” Leviathan said, “but all the people along we need to ensure it never opens again.” His eyes went to Ava's stomach. “Most especially, we have the power of an old and mighty soul. The first of his kind. A dragon that will defend love at all cost.”
“Hopefully there will be no cost,” Soren said darkly, wishing it could be another way. That his son and mate were nowhere near any of this. Yet, in turn, he sensed they had to be part of it, or everything might truly be lost.
“Seriously though, how do we close the Portal behind us?” Tess pondered, thinking out loud. “I get that we’re all connected to the creation of the Portal and Burn of Transition, but how does that shut everything down for good?”
“Because it’s a reenactment of sorts,” Ava murmured, blinking as she seemed to understand. “I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I have a feeling we all have built-in instructions in our DNA.” Her eyes swept over everyone. “If we did it once we can sure as hell do it again, only better this time because we’re going to wipe out Skáld as well.”
“I like it.” Tess grinned. “Save the world version two-point-o.”
Ava nodded. “Exactly.”
Halla’s brows swept up in excitement. “So it is time to go to war, yes?”
“Yes,” Soren replied. “It’s time to go to Skáld’s Ash.”
“My men are camped in the woods beyond,” Magnus informed. “They will travel with us and fight any rogue warriors that are left.” His eyes met Ava’s. “They will not be able to go any further, though.” He shook his head. “They cannot go to Múspellsheimr.”
“No,” Ava agreed and started in the direction of the entrance only to sense something and stop. She looked Vigdis’s way nearly the moment the seer's eyes blackened with Ancient Matter.
Níðhöggr looked between Tess and Ava.
“You must not go the obvious route, Daughters.” His eyes rose to the canopy overhead then fell to the roots hanging and twisting along the walls. “You must travel via the trees but not through Skáld’s Ash directly. For he will be waiting.”
“Right,” Ava murmured. “It’d be like flying into the eye of the storm.”
“Better yet, into the eye of the storm too soon,” Tess said, reminding them of the storm at the entrance of the Portal. The storm that had haunted her and Rokar for so long.
Vigdis coughed out the Ancient Matter, her skin a bit drawn this time. “The Great Serpent will not be able to communicate that way again. He is using far too much power elsewhere.” Her gaze went from the roots to Ava and Soren. “He got his message across though. Now it is time for you to lead us where you will.”
“It is,” Ava agreed softly, holding the ring up to the roots directly above them. “Everything lines up. This is the direction we’re supposed to go.” Her eyes went to Magnus. “You won’t be going to Múspellsheimr, but I do need you at this tree before you go to Skáld’s Ash. Do your men intend to wait for you?”
“I’ve already talked to them telepathically,” he informed. “They are leaving for Skáld’s Ash now. The more we have there, the better. I will join them when I can.”
Soren and Ava nodded, understanding more by the moment what their course of action should be. Had to be.
“Thanks to seer magic, this tree is connected, even essential, for us to get the others out,” Soren said. “But Skáld’s Ash is essential too.”
“I will travel there now with Magnus’s men,” Tiernan said, “and help as I am needed.”
“I kno
w better than to ask you not to do that.” Ava embraced him. “Be careful, Tiernan.” She met his eyes. “If your magic starts acting crazy again, get out of there, okay?”
“Aye,” he assured.
Soren could tell by the look of determination in his eyes, the Scotsman would not flee no matter what. He would stand and fight.
Tiernan nodded at Soren, and the others then left.
“Before we do anything else we need to reach out to those at the Fortress,” Soren said. “Let them know that the time has finally come.”
“They know,” Ava said. “At least my sisters have followed a lot of it.”
“Which mean my kin likely have too,” he replied. “Even so.”
She nodded in agreement, and they reached out, opening their minds to their fellow dragons as Vigdis reached out to her seers.
“There is no way to know how much time will pass here once we leave for Múspellsheimr,” Soren said. “But it is best to be in position.”
“Yes,” Sven agreed. “The Ancients are here now too. They will protect the Fortress alongside the seers and our kin. Those of us who have mated since the prophecy started to unravel will be the front line between Skáld and our people.”
“Please be careful you guys,” Emily said.
“You as well,” Soren said. “Tell Thorulf I will see him soon.” His eyes went to Ava. “That we will see him soon.”
“We will,” Emily replied.
“Tess and Ava, you better come home to us,” Sage said.
“I second that,” Kenzie added.
“Hell, yeah,” Shea said. “I’m way past ready to be done with this asshole.”
“You and me both,” Tess agreed.
He sensed her sisters wanted to congratulate her on her mating and pregnancy but held back rather than get too emotional right now.
“We’ll see you soon.” Ava met Soren’s eyes. Like him, she sensed it was time. “We have to go. Love you all.”
“We love you too,” her sisters replied in unison.
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