Vény was on the edge of exhaustion. Hunched over and panting, she gripped the thread with her right hand. Red spots stood bright on lush leaves in a trail behind her. Whispers in the wind encouraged her to keep going. With numb fingers, she stiffly moved along the thread as she stumbled through the brush. Vény refused to let go of the hazy cord. She kept a firm mental grip on her godi, maintaining the thread detectable on her plane.
The edges of her vision grew fuzzy. Vény had not gone this deep into the forest before and her only guide was the silver thread. Pain throbbed up her arm and the new black runes let off a soft glow in the night air. The gentle pull on her soul was getting stronger the deeper she followed the thread into the forest. Something was beckoning her.
With the waning moon high in the sky, Vény dragged her feet. Every breath grew more difficult then the previous. Each step felt like she was lifting weights on her ankles. Blistered fingers trembled as she attempted to move them along the thread. Angry burns formed on the top of her hand and wrist from the heat of magic flowing through her blood. Still Vény was determined to reach the destination this time. Pushing through the pain she continued on.
Her blurry gaze fell upon a soft glow in the distance, her heart fluttering at the sight. The unnatural pull on her essence grew heavier. She forced more energy into her godi. The thread hummed with power and soon could be seen with the naked eye. A sigh of relief left her lips. She diverted her focus from the thread and strained her eyes to see through the fog clouding over the brush. Damp plumes touched her searing skin, the cool stinging her burns.
Continuing through the fog, with the thread as her only lead, the trees grew fewer. The dense brush thinned and ground softened beneath her feet. Vény jumped as the thread in her bleeding hand vibrated as if someone ahead plucked it. Releasing her grip in shock, she tumbled forward and cried out as her injured hands caught her fall. Fatigue took over her body as the soul-fragment magic drifted from her touch. Adrenaline kept most of the pain at bay as her heart beat thick in her ears. Through the fog, she could see several dark shapes. Something was beyond the fog.
On her hands and knees, Vény took slow calming breaths with her head hung low and chin to her chest. Dismissing the intense pain in her right hand, she rose but lost balance on her wobbly legs. Vény fell into a tree. A branch smacked against the raw skin on her face. Vény held back a cry. Pushing herself against the tree to propel herself forward, she rushed towards the dark figures amidst the silver fog.
The fog dissipated. In clearing ahead were twelve large standing stones in a circle. Her breath caught in her throat. The heavy pull on her soul hummed through her body. With each staggering step towards the circle, the stones radiated. Vény realized this was a hörgr, an ancient place for worshiping the gods and ancestors. All of the stones that made up the outer circle were rune stones. As she got closer, she could see the delicate runes carved into each one. None of the tall stones held a face like the ancestor stone she uncovered. Disappointment filled her heart. Even if they were ancestor stones, she doubted she had the strength to pull another ancestor from the astral plane.
Wisps exposed themselves and danced along a moss path towards the rune stones. Vény smiled warmly as they lit the path for her. The twelve stones were all dissimilar in shape and none bore the same markings. The first on her left was tall and thin, growing wider as it extended high, the ancient runes in long, horizontal lines. Another was much shorter and fat with the runes written in a spiral expanding from the center. Vény watched in awe as their glow brightened.
Biting her lip, Vény heard a faint whisper in the wind. She slowly entered the circle, caught in a trance. The soft, dense moss under her bare feet felt soft. Underneath it were multiple old stones that were barely visible. The varied rune stones held faces of ancients. Vény broke into a bright smile and whispered prayers to the gods as she continued towards the center. Ignoring the throb in her hands and forearms, Vény reached out to a short, solitary stone.
Once her right hand touched the stone, bright light erupted from all twelve large stones along the outer circle. Vény panicked when she could not remove her palm from the rock. Unexpectedly severe pain burst from her wrist and she stared wide-eyed as the blood that seeped from her wounds was absorbed. Vény screamed into the night.
The stones emitted a soft vibration that Vény recognized as one of the chants her temple used to send good wishes to the ancestors. She could hardly hear their voices through the pounding in her ears. Vény was still unable to free her arm despite how much she pulled it. Through her open lesions, she could feel the stone linking to her soul fragments. Her mind would not focus long enough to connect to her önd to find the thread linking her to the ancient rock. If she were able to break the thread, her hand would be free.
The world shrank. Vény breathed fast, her pulse driving out all other sound than her heartbeat. The vibrations from the bright ancient rune stones sent her body into shock. Each note she could feel against her bare skin. As the light became brighter, the pain from her palm grew. Shielding her eyes with her free hand, Vény cried out and collapsed against the center stone.
Everything went dark and still. Frightened, Vény did not uncover her eyes. Letting her heartbeat slow and the drum dull down, Vény carefully listened for any movement before slowly lowering her arm. Vény squinted as her gaze adjusted to the darkness. Removing her black hand from the stone, she cried out as her skin tore. She glared at the now quiet stone. It was the exact reaction she had to when she reconnected the ancestor to his stone.
Confused, Vény moved in a circle around the center stone as she cradled her injured hand. It was as if nothing happened. No stone was lit. No disembodied whispers. Vény blinked. There was no wind. The heaviness on her that had been steadily growing throughout the recent weeks was gone. Her chest felt light and breathing became normal.
Movement caught her eye. Vény quickly turned around and came face to face with a tall man. Screaming out surprise, Vény stumbled backward and tripped over an ancestor stone hidden by moss. The man simply watched her fall and looked at her in puzzlement. Vény’s eyes slowly ran down his body and cheeks grew hot. He was naked. Quickly raising her stare to his face, Vény gasped softly. His eyes were pale blue, almost white. Vény almost couldn’t make out his short, jet black hair against the dark of night.
“I am surprised you found us honestly. Blæingr insisted you would show up. I had my doubts. The moment he came back, all he could speak of was some human girl,” the man rambled on. His voice was deep and it shook Vény to her core. The odd man walked towards her and bent down placing his arms on his knees for balance. Bringing his face closer to hers, Vény held her breath. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
A chuckle rang through her fuzzy mind. Vény broke her eye contact with the strange man before her and came upon another pair of eyes. The eyes were familiar and foreign all at once. They held every shade of blue all at once, the color shifting in hue with the movement of his gaze. The face of this other man was very similar, if not identical to the one bent in front of her, but his dark hair hung long and wild.
“Blæingr…” she whispered breathlessly. Her heart fluttered the moment a smile spread across his face. Standing up and leaning against the center stone, she completely forgot about the other man next to her. Blæingr rushed over to her and embraced her with force. Vény blinked in shock when they made contact. Once she was lifted into the hug, his body was gone. With a rush of air, she started to fall backward towards the ground. Just as suddenly, strong arms grabbed her shoulders from behind and steadied her. A bright laugh filled the cool air. Vény froze, trying to let her mind adjust to seeing a man disappear in the blink of an eye.
“Sorry,” Blæingr said sheepishly. He held her shoulders firmly as her legs wobbled with fatigue. “I am still not used to this form. Keeping it stable is not always easy.” His hot breath grazed against the base of her neck and Vény shivered. Under his fingertips, Vény could feel the pulse of energy. She could taste the inert tang from their raw power. Vény’s gaze flickered to the man with short hair for a moment.
“Ah, I am unsure exactly who he is,” Blæingr said nonchalantly. The man in question shook his head with an exhausted sigh. Blæingr’s untamed hair blew and tickled against her bare arms. Vény still was unable to process the images before her and could form not words to speak.
Blæingr gently turned Vény’s body around to face him and gingerly ran his fingertips down her right arm. His eyes grew focused at seeing the runes upon her skin and the bleeding lesions across her forearms down to her palms. Vény thought she saw anger flared behind his eyes but it quickly disappeared. When he let go of her hand and smiled at her, she surmised must have been imagining things.
“How?” she whispered, wetting her dry lips.
Blæingr put his hands behind his head with a laugh and stepped away from her. She did her best to avoid looking at anything but his face. “I am a God,” he stated as if it explained everything.
Realization rushed over Vény and she stood horrified. Quickly she went to the ground and into a deep bow against the ground. She should have never let herself forget that Blæingr was a god. A groan escaped Blæingr and he rushed to her side. The other man laughed as he leaned against one of the large rune stones. Blæingr grabbed her arm hauling her to her feet. Vény met his stare and couldn’t place her finger on the emotions that fluttered to the surface of his expressions.
“You, my völva, will never have to bow to me,” he said softly. “Never, understand?” his stare was unbreakable. Vény merely nodded her head in agreement. Vény shifted her gaze to the other man once again curious. “I suppose you could say he is another me,” Blæingr said.
Vény glanced from Blæingr to the other man. Frantically, she tried to comprehend what that entailed. Unable to control her weak body any longer and pain numbing her senses, Vény's body went limp in his arms.
Blæingr gazed at the sleeping human in his arms with a grin. “I believe you upset her, Aluær,” he said over his shoulder.
“It last saw you as a giant tree and you think it’s my presence that distressed the human?” Aluær said with another sigh. “What do we do now?”
“Her soul is faint and needs to be healed. We take her home.” Blæingr carefully lifted her into his arms to leave the hörgr. With another gust of wind, Blæingr disappeared. In an instant Aluær raised his hand towards Vény. Her body became weightless and suspended in the air. He walked over and took Vény in his arms. Aluær casted a glare at Blæingr when he appeared beside him moments later. “Good idea. You should carry her,” he said clapping Aluær on the shoulder.
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