Running Ember: Wolf Shifters of Norse Lore

Chapter Fourteen

Kiruna, Sweden cameinto sight from far away as the landscape there was pretty flat. The artificial hills of mined soil rose to one side, and the stench of something Sk?ll couldn’t define hung heavily in the air as they closed in on the mining town.

This part of the plan had made Freki grumble to no end about the environmental problems of the world. A town of three thousand houses were being moved one by one because they’d discovered the rare earth minerals needed to make electric car batteries. They were going to dig up nature for political reasons, and they were ignoring the needs of the indigenous people, the Sámi.

This was Rigr’s field, but whatever they thought best would be what the allies fought for, too. That smell, though? Why had they planned to stay there? Probably because none of them knew it would smell like that when they’d sat around the table in the Alpha house at home and drawn their route on a big map.

Freki took the lead and led them through town to a bigger wooden area just north of it. People there had been warned, so all cars had been moved from the main road they ran on. Lots of people filled the sidewalks, though.

Next question was whether the little bridge could carry them as they made the last round north, swung right, and headed south again, crossing the same river at a place where it was a lot narrower.

Finally, they reached their destination, effectively five folding the town’s population.

As they reached the wooded area just north of the city border, Warlords stood in front of everybody else, staring at them, and Sk?ll rolled into his Warlord form as soon as they’d slowed to walking tempo. He shaded immediately, and the gathered Warlords added theirs to his power, showing their allegiance to the cause.

“With us run many shadow wolves, and two enormous ones showed themselves during the last massive power display. V?lve have confirmed. Fenrir hears our might, and their hope for home awakens with our unity.”

The Warlord Bitch stood taller, prouder. “I have weeded out the weaklings to join you with strong and dedicated Warlords and Warriors, my Warlord.”

“Perfect. Tomorrow, we run south again. Our destination is Brussels. The EU headquarters. There, our allies, the Rigr, will try for a peaceful transfer of our territory.” Sk?ll grinned and couldn’t really hold back the snort. “If or when they fail. We take it all.”

The Warlords drooled. “For Fenrir,” they drawled.

“Practical information. Bitches and their pups will join a second running bond to not slow the firing of embers. Sleipnir will carry the tiniest.”

Isbait and the Matriarch came up to Sk?ll, and Isbait’s body fired up.

“What numbers do you guard here, and what unity have you achieved?” Sk?ll asked.

“Sixty-five V?lsung, and nine of us are Warlords. Eighty Vargr and eight humans have joined us.”

“Freki and Vestergaard! Check for Rigr!”

“Warlord.” Freki walked off.

Marisol came up to Sk?ll and ran her fingers through his fur. “An eagle is flying over them. Like Steffen and the other sick Rigr, one here has won his battle.”

“Perfect. All parents to pups, report to Alpha Hati. Introduce us to the Vargr.”

“I’m Hati, by the way.” Hati raised his paw.

The V?lsung snorted.

“We can see that,” the Warlord Bitch said.

“Vargr thing. Names,” Sk?ll said. “At least yours.”

“Hylda,” the Warlord Bitch said.

Sk?ll glanced at Hati, who rolled his eyes at him. Sk?ll grinned and trudged forward. “Now the Vargr.”

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THE SHADING HAD LASTEDfor half an hour, and only after that did the humans of the village come closer to say hi. More meat was on its way, but they’d already seen to a lot of it.

They’d managed the calls needed, and talked with Kresten, Daniel, Tanja, and Patina. They’d also been updated on what Isbait’s power had awoken here and there.

Kresten was busy, considering he was the one that all humans called. V?lve had awoken in droves, and Kresten had pulled at a shrink that Elakdon had referred him to—the one who’d first been assigned to Marisol.

But that wasn’t the weirdest part. Fishermen, the coast guard, and the navy reported weird weather and compasses going haywire, while sudden shifting currents confused most fishers in the North Sea.

J?rmungandr stirred.

Guard Lord Foldon, who functioned as Elakdon’s Kriil-Nol, had already advised all ships to paint dragon heads on their hulls, and a snippet from the news showed an anchorwoman report on that from Thyboron—a small but very busy fishing village in west Jutland of Denmark—where a lot of ships were being hauled up in the middle of the fishing season to do just that.

The PM of Denmark had been on the call with Daniel, and the Danish politicians in the EU were fighting hard to prepare for the arrival of the running bond. Not all were happy, which worried two sides of Sk?ll and made the last one drool.

But the PM called with good news, too.

Vargr were banding together in Germany, and V?lsung walked out of hiding. So far, three hundred and eighty-six Warlords and Warriors waited on the outskirts of Brussels for the arrival of the running bond. Sk?ll hadn’t shaded that far south yet, and he wouldn’t until they were at Elakdon’s House on Fyn as it would have moved the epicenter of power far enough south to push at a big chunk and be able to defend it, should it pull hostile Warlords to attack.

But their current stop was a major point of their run, so the news would join them again to share it all with the world. That was partly why they’d chosen Kiruna. A small airstrip lay just outside town, and the first plane was landing to release journalists and camera equipment.

The Alphas of all had a scheduled appearance and were not to be disturbed outside that, which everybody had agreed to. Thank the gods for Guard Lady Paridin, who’d helped take care of all that.

Hati plopped down next to Sk?ll. “Seventeen fuzzpups ranging from a few months old to mohawk age. They all got the no ankle-biting rule.”

“Much to Freki’s delight, I’m sure.”

Hati snickered. “The mohawks want to talk to you, though.”

“They want to run with us, right?”

“Yes. I have no idea whether they can, but I got the feeling that the parents want them to.”

“To prove they breed strong pups, yes.” Sk?ll got up and shifted to his Warlord form, then trudged off toward the fuzzpup area with Hati. The parents eyed him, and Sk?ll had come to know why. As the new Warlord, he was expected to eat what he found too weak. “We are closer to reaching our objective than we have ever been. Other than breeding strong V?lsung pups, we’ve bred insurgent teams to influence politics. We are not done perfecting what is needed for us to reclaim but also keep our territory this time. Now is not the time to test pups. Now is the time to get them to where they can be tested optimally. All pups will go by the shorter route, led by Warlord Magnus.” Sk?ll pointed to one almost reaching the age of seeking. “Except you.”

“Warlord!” the young Bitch said. She stood next to a Bitch who also had four around the same age as Signy and Barde, and the mother looked at her daughter with pride and expectation.

Sk?ll turned and walked back to where they were setting up camp.

Villagers and their kids mingled and talked to Vargr, Rigr, and Cubi, and a few were playing tug-of-war with the foals. It all sounded pretty merry, so Sk?ll shifted to Vargr form to be able to enjoy the atmosphere as he ate.

The stench of the mine took away most of the enjoyment, though.

Later, he joined a game with Hati, Geri, Freki, Rasmus, and Torben, who’d roped a whole kindergarten class into teaching them something to take back home to Denmark, and adults stood around snapping pictures of their fun.

Hati got to play hero and kiss a few booboos, while Sk?ll, in a moment of distraction, ended up with a pretty, pink hairclip with a bow clasped to the longer fur over his shoulder blades. When the others had snickered for a while, he finally located the reason and caught the toothy grin of a six-year-old girl that would never be credible as an innocent smile.

He’d chased her around for a bit as she squealed and waved her arms, laughing hysterically, but she’d finally turned and run to him, hugged him, and removed the pink bow. Sk?ll had shifted to human form and fixed her hair, adding the bow, while telling her all about his twin little sisters. Whom he now missed like crazy.

Hati’s ember felt all warm and fuzzy as they’d said goodnight to the many kids and lounged around the fire that evening.

Sk?ll’s thoughts kept returning to his mom, dad, and baby sisters. To the whole pack, and he felt the dull ache in his ember, missing all of them.

Rasmus sat in human form with a sweet smile on his face as he sketched. Sk?ll needed closeness and wondered how much the run took away from Rasmus’ need to be near him, too. He knew he was in Warlord form far too much, and Rasmus would stay away. Vargr form was okay, but both were focused on the run.

Sk?ll shuffled up close to Rasmus and shifted to human form. Skin to skin felt almost strange after having mainly been in a form that had fur, and it made Matt feel...frisky.

Rasmus looked at him and smiled, hiding his sketchpad against his chest. “You’re not allowed to see it yet.”

“Okay. Then keep drawing.” Matt scooted back.

“Now?”

“Yes. I love watching you draw.”

Rasmus chuckled, but there was a hint of bitterness to it. “Too bad the Warlord doesn’t feel that way.”

“I notice when in that form, too. I’m just less prone to only focus on that. You know...the sweet little things in life.”

Rasmus grinned. Then he grunted. “Now I have to show it to you!”

“No, show me later.”

But Rasmus turned the pad, and it was a caricature of Sk?ll with a huge bow around his midsection, chasing the little girl around.

Matt snickered. He noticed that the drawing only took up the top left half of the page, and some loose lines were outlining...something in the bottom left corner. “What’s that at the bottom?”

Rasmus turned the pad to look at it, and somberness took over his expression. “I’ll show you later.” He packed the drawing equipment away and flipped the sketchpad closed, then moved around to make room for Matt to be spooned so that they both faced the fire.

Matt snuggled in and interlaced his fingers with Rasmus’, and they merely enjoyed each other’s company and the droning on of voices around them as the evening grew dark.

“I’m happy I came on the run, but I miss you,” Rasmus said.

Matt scurried around to face him, and their legs tangled up. It put their bodies so close, and their bodies reacted to the intimate position. “I miss you, too. It’s just easier for me to not think so much about it, considering I have so much to keep my mind busy.”

“I get it. And I know I’m mainly here for your human side.”

“You helped me balance myself when it was all chaos.” Matt kissed Rasmus on the lips. A sweet and lingering one, and it made his heart pitter-patter. Rasmus deepened it, and Matt pulled at Rasmus to feel more of him.

Something landed on them, softly, so they broke the kiss and looked up, finding Klaes covering them with a blanket. He flashed a toothy smile and joined his mate by the nearby fire again.

“Oh, good...” Rasmus pulled the blanket over their heads. “Privacy screen.”

Matt snickered. “This reminds me of the cozy little nook you’d made for us that evening after the housewarming party.”

Rasmus purred and dove in for another kiss, and Matt let himself get totally lost in their time together. He fully trusted in the Warlords and Alphas around him to take a moment to...

Come on...

Matt moved to lie on top of Rasmus and nudged his legs apart to grind against him, getting a sweet moan in return. Rasmus deepened the kiss, and Matt set a steady rhythm to pleasure them as they made out.

Rasmus reached between them and took them both in his hand.

The tightness around their cocks felt amazing, and Matt tried to imagine how it would feel being hugged inside Rasmus’ gorgeous ass, yet he had to fight his way past the mental images that intruded and took away from the moment he was sharing with his lover.

He had to push himself past it. For Rasmus. It was clear that Rasmus needed the added intimacy and intensity, and Matt hated that he had a weakness. He wanted to fight it.

He had to push past that comfort zone a bit at a time, and he knew that he could wash up really fast afterward.

Get on with it! You’re stalling on useless details instead of focusing on the good stuff. Do it!

Matt scooted back a bit to hover over Rasmus, and his dick thus slipped from the tight grasp of his lover’s hand. He wanted Rasmus to float away in pleasure. He loved the serene expression on his face when Matt took full control of their pleasure, and he kept imagining how he’d look if—

When, not if!

When Matt finally pushed into him. The imagined expression and moan turned him on big time, so he felt down Rasmus’ body and fondled him, imagining the sweet sounds growing more intense.

The hitching breath as he slipped his finger lower to massage the spot between balls and anus made his own cock bob with excitement.

And this was as far as Matt had ever gone.

He slipped lower, feeling the puckered skin contract at his touch.

Rasmus looked up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, and his breath came harder, faster, as he waited in anticipation.

Matt slowly rubbed the muscle and applied a bit of pressure. He’d need some saliva before he tried more than that, sure, but this was the step toward...breaching. This was a point he had to work past.

A drawn-out moan escaped Rasmus as Matt massaged the hole a bit harder. His head fell back, and his eyes fluttered closed. He loved that expression and could only imagine how much more blissful Rasmus would look when Matt had overcome his fears enough to give his boyfriend what he needed and yearned for.

Rasmus locked gazes with Matt, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Was that smile one of happiness that Matt was working past what kept them apart? Matt loved that smile and wanted to see it grow into a full one, so he sat back enough to be able to add a good dollop of saliva to his fingertips, then leaned back over Rasmus to study his sexy features as he massaged the saliva into the relaxing muscle.

And this was where he pushed himself a bit.

It’s natural and beautiful,the V?lsung side growled.

Matt applied more pressure, but then Rasmus gasped and pushed at his chest. “What?” Matt pulled back, surprised, afraid he’d done it wrong.

“Your eyes turned feral.”

“So what? I’m in human form.”

“Yes, but that’s Warlord mode.”

Matt collapsed with a heavy sigh. “No, it’s not.” He moved to lie next to Rasmus, propping his head up. He didn’t even know what his eyes looked like now, and he didn’t care. It seemed like Matt wasn’t the only one with an issue to push past for them to be able to have sex. “I merged completely thanks to you. I no longer see any separation between my three physical forms, but I’m less driven by feral instincts in human form, we all are.”

“I just...” Rasmus closed his eyes.

“Grams is so V?lsung that she holds the form, and you easily pile with her in that form. Tris’ eyes can change like mine. Why do you only distrust my V?lsung side?”

“It’s not that.” Rasmus looked at him. “It’s how you got yours that bothers me.”

“The Bite?”

“And by whom.”

Matt understood that one, so he nodded in thought. He’d felt so violated and cheated, but not anymore. Now it was a gift.

“I am trying to work with it, which is why I’m drawing you.” Rasmus reached over Matt to get the sketchbook, and they shuffled around to lie on their stomachs to look at the pages he flipped through. There were many with both Vargr form and V?lsung during shading. It was odd but great insight to see himself through Rasmus’ eyes. “And this one?” Rasmus turned to the page he’d been sketching on earlier and pointed to the still-blank corner with a scribbly outline of the V?lsung form. With nothing more than that, Matt could only guess. “It’s supposed to be how I wished I could see your Warlord. It’s how I see Grams.”

“I look forward to seeing it,” Matt said. “Maybe we should go ask Grams to be our shrink?”

Rasmus chuckled. “And Vivi.” He nodded. “Yeah, we might need some help here.” Rasmus turned onto his side and studied Matt. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Matt snuggled in and pulled the blanket up to cover them, and they continued to make out, but it wasn’t as lustfully as before. It was still intimate.

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WARLORD SK?LL AND THEothers shaded just prior to the run to scout the trails ahead.

Shadow wolves still ran with them, but they’d increased in numbers, and more of the huge wolves were among them. It caused a stirring of excitement and dedication in Sk?ll. To see it through. To get Fenrir home so that Wolf could prosper.

Those emotions fired up his ember, and the entire running bond jumped around, eager to get to it.

A lot of the human villagers had shown up to see them off, which was filmed. News people had landed during the evening before and stayed the night, and the hum of their voices as they interviewed both the citizens of Kiruna and Vargr Alphas sounded droned-out as Sk?ll’s shadow wolf raced down through Sweden.

“More Sleipnir inbound,” Thorleif said.

“A Warlord runs to meet us,” Bothild said. “One I know. Strong and capable with seventy V?lsung.”

“More fuzzpups?” Hati asked.

“No,” Bothild said. “They’ve been sent ahead now that the destination is known.”

“Sk?ll.” Hati poked his side.

“Mm-hmm?”

“A little girl wants your attention here.”

Sk?ll reeled in the wolf and looked down at the tiny human he’d played with the day before when in Vargr form. He still didn’t understand what she said, but Hati translated.

“I brought these gifts for your little sisters.” She held out two hairclips with bows that had the colors of the Swedish flag. It was exactly like the Danish flag, except what was red was blue, and what was white was yellow. “Maybe they can come play when they grow older, and they can run all of the North now that you made us all friends.”

Aw!The human in him felt so very touched.

“Unfortunately, I have no pockets,” Sk?ll said.

“I have an idea.” The girl reached for his head and pulled it down, and he felt her fiddle with his fur. “Hmm...no, not there.” She walked around him, and he had to lower himself because he knew exactly what she was doing. She was attaching them to his back.

Hati snickered, and Sk?ll sent him a glance.

“There you go.” She came to stand in front of him again, beaming up at him. “I hope they don’t fall off. If they do, my name is Anna Maria J?nnson, and you can write a letter to me here, and I’ll send new ones.”

“Thank you.”

The girl hugged him, and Sk?ll minded his claws as he pulled her closer with his paw. “Have a nice trip,” she whispered, then hugged Hati before running back to her parents.

Sk?ll noticed that all cameras were trained on them. Good. A V?lsung hugging a human child was good for their cause.

Isbait came over, his grin matching Hati’s. “Would you like me to carry the gift?”

“Would you?”

“Of course.” Isbait unclasped the bows from Sk?ll’s fur and put them in his fanny pack.

“Although you looked adorable with them,” Freki said.

“You’re just jealous.”

“Course I am!” Freki patted Sk?ll’s back. “That was sweet. Of both of you.”

It was sweet but not what Sk?ll had to focus on now. Instead, he let the previous excitement and dedication to the objective fill him up until the ember burned bright and pure and finally clashed with his mate’s, Geri’s, and Freki’s.

“Alphas, Warlords, and Warriors,” Sk?ll shouted. “We run!”

They roared, and Sk?ll joined in, shifted to Vargr, and set off. Isbait shook the ground, and the many Sleipnir reared, too, and followed. The pulses of all those Alpha embers made Sk?ll’s body tingle from the intensity, and as they settled into their pace, they found their equilibrium, and the bond slowly synced.

New embers had joined, and they needed to be incorporated. Some were insanely powerful, others were...there. But the power he ran with now had doubled since they’d reached Troms?, and the vision of home was easy to conjure up.

The powerful pulls of the Alpha bond thumped in his chest along with the double pulses from Tristan, who’d managed close to three hundred feral wolves now.

Something heavy seemed to echo under their pulses. Like the thumps were too low to hear but powerful enough to be felt. It seemed just out of reach for his senses, yet as they reached the high-intensity runs, that deep pull seemed a constant bass, roaring in the background. What caused that? Their numbers? The Matriarch joining Isbait? Risen Rigr with them? The failed Rigr they were all watching? The nine V?lve? A combination of it all?

Either way, Freki’s soundtrack needed something like that. It needed the natural sounds of Vargr and Sleipnir and the hum of the power. That could be cool—especially if it could speak to others the way it did them and pushed them to run so much harder.

The freshness of the air invigorated him. The hospitality of Kiruna had not been lacking, but the stench from the underground? He wouldn’t be missing that. It made him wonder what home smelled like, though. He yearned to find out and ran harder, which increased the low hum.

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CAMP WAS ONCE AGAINa well-picked spot for lounging and relaxation, and it smelled wonderful. Earthy, hot rocks, wild herbs, moisture in the air that foreshadowed a drizzle or heavy dew, wildlife, and Cubi feeding. The scents of arousal and bodily fluids already hung in the air, reminding Sk?ll of his and Rasmus’ problems. Well, at least they were getting clearer on them, yet Sk?ll hated that a third of him was a part of it, and it was one he couldn’t do anything about, lest he ignored the most powerful aspect to see their objective through.

Shading and calling home. And dinner.

That routine was getting boring. Not the dinner part. Sk?ll enjoyed lounging after a long day’s run, and he enjoyed always seeking out a new fire to have a chat with new Alphas and the new V?lve.

They and Marisol were getting along well.

Although his curiosity wanted him to spend way more time with them and the risen Rigr—which counted his own Pack Alpha, Steffen—Sk?ll resisted the urge, knowing he could and would be told of anything important. He kinda counted himself lucky that Steffen was among the risen Rigr, even though he didn’t understand how that could be.

As a leader, he had to delegate. He, Geri, and Freki had delegated the mixed running bond, while Hati tended to the dream and focused on that. And the kids they met along the way. Fuzzpups and foals counted, and they hadn’t been at camp for long before Hati was tugging rope with the foals or challenging them to move boulders and fallen logs.

Freki would often join in on that. Not only to test the ranks, even though it counted, but because the fighting Alpha loved fun and games.

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SK?LL NOTICED RASMUSat a distance, sketching, but he was clearly sketching Sk?ll. In Warlord form, he knew his lover was trying to find something. Rasmus thought about things visually by sketching them, and the caricature of Sk?ll with a bow around his belly, chasing little Anna Maria, was a clear indicator of why he didn’t have more than the V?lsung form’s outline in the bottom corner.

Bothild came up to stand by Sk?ll’s side, and for a while, they merely scouted the area without shading. “I wonder about something, Warlord,” she finally said.

“Let’s wonder together, then.”

She turned to look at him, slowly advancing and studying him. “The pale blue color the risen Rigr saw in their dreams? Is it the same color as your eyes?”

A thud of surprise hit Sk?ll, and he immediately turned to find Steffen. “Let’s not wonder about something like that but find out immediately.” Sk?ll pulled his Pack Alpha but met up with Freki and Hati before Steffen made it to them.

“What’s up?” Freki asked. “Got a pang of nerves and the need to test someone.”

“Bothild pointed out a detail that was...right in my face.”

Steffen padded over in Vargr form with Tristan by his side. “Yes, Warlord?”

“The pale blue fungus in your dream. How close or far off is that color to my eyes?”

Judging by Steffen’s reaction, Sk?ll wasn’t the only one who hadn’t thought about it.

“Uhm...” Steffen stepped closer to inspect. “Yours are so bright, but when you let the wolf run, they fade.” Sk?ll understood that he had to send the wolf out, so he did, yet it stayed right next to them and turned to look at Sk?ll and Steffen. A shadow wolf stood very close to Steffen’s left. “That’s the color. But let’s ask the others.”

Sk?ll sent his wolf to the fire that Rigr sat by, seeing shadows around them. But he couldn’t make out what they were. Instead, he pulled his wolf in and followed Steffen to the fire with Bothild in tow. On their way there, they found Elakdon sweet-talking a Guard Mistress.

“Wanna brainstorm some missed lore?” Sk?ll asked.

Elakdon eyed them, looking slightly annoyed by their interruption. “I’d really like to feed first.”

“Okay. After that, please join us to figure out why my eyes are the same color as Draugr.”

Elakdon gaped, and all signs of hunger and annoyance disappeared from his features. “And why we missed it?”

“It’s not unusual to see a white husky with that color,” Freki said. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence?”

“We can’t work with maybes when it comes to an enemy like that,” Bothild said.

Freki shrugged. “Just adding it as a possibility. But I can see how it would bother V?lsung to be surrounded by an enemy you can’t see.”

“It’s not an enemy to us or Fenrir, so that’s irrelevant,” Bothild said. “But our allies are vulnerable, and that’s a problem.”

“Fenrir lost its territory due to a traitor, which we figured out is the Thralls who gave themselves thrones, right?” Elakdon asked. “And the Thralls are the enemy you can’t see, who just happen to be those most prone to lose to the battle of the Draugr curse.”

Again, Sk?ll got that thud of surprise, and Bothild looked no less shocked. V?lsung was blind to the threat that took down Fenrir? The need for unity with the allies who could see the threat just became the number one goal to see through their objective to serve Fenrir, and Sk?ll could see that the Warlord Bitch understood the importance of Rigr, too.

“But Navidon can sense them,” Freki pointed out.

Elakdon crossed his arms and gnawed his lip, staring off in deep and dark thoughts. “He senses something, yes.” Elakdon mumbled that to himself and stroked his chin in thought.

“But the Thralls who made thrones for themselves were the ones who retained drive and pushed toward power at any expense,” Steffen said. “Fallen Rigr.”

“And my son can smell them,” Bothild said. “Maybe we’re not as blind to the enemy as we thought.”

“And taste them,” Elakdon added. “Warlord Magnus says the Thrall...tastes different.” Elakdon whispered that last part. “Maybe we should toss this one to the V?lve? See what they can figure out regarding your eyes?”

“Good plan.”

“You do that!” Elakdon slapped Sk?ll’s shoulder. “I’ll go feed so that I can concentrate, then I’ll join you at Marisol’s fire afterward.” Elakdon turned to the Guard Mistress. “Was it I or you who was whispering something sweet?”

“My turn.” She smiled flirtatiously as she leaned in, wrapped a leg around Elakdon’s, and cupped a hand to his ear.

Sk?ll redirected his hearing to see if he could find Marisol and the new V?lve. Finding them close to Rigr was no surprise, so they headed that way.

Sk?ll plopped down right behind Marisol, who turned her head and smiled at him, then leaned back against him and snuggled up to the V?lsung form, running her fingers through his fur. It struck him how affectionate she was to that form in particular, yet now was not the time to ask why that was.

Steffen plopped down by Sk?ll’s head, very close in fact, while the others spread out around the fire. He leaned in and almost put his face in Sk?ll’s ear to whisper. “We, the risen Rigr, don’t trust Aksel. He’s the...traitor. We feel betrayed by his giving into the blue fungus instead of burning it. The feeling of betrayal sits in the ember.”

“Like the betrayal of Tyr, the hand burns the stomach of Fenrir,” Sk?ll mumbled, remembering having understood that for years now.

Marisol began to hum a tune, and the rhythm of her fingers curling in his fur became steady.

Good. What she’d overheard from lying so close had sparked inspiration for visions, it seemed. Now all they had to do was wait. And Sk?ll had to find a Warlord to stalk Aksel at all times.

In the distance, Rasmus perched with his sketchbook. Sk?ll didn’t acknowledge being watched and sketched. He let his lover look and think in creative images. He’d show Sk?ll once he was done thinking.

“What’s going on?” Astrid asked.

Sk?ll studied the head of the V?lve coven. “The color of my eyes is that of the blue thing. Especially when I shade.”

“We came here to learn why that is,” Bothild said.

The V?lve nodded, looking at each other.

“It’s a question for the shadows, so we’d like it if you’d shade for us to hear it better.”

“Is the shading of the perimeter of us and our fire here enough?” Sk?ll asked.

“Yes.”

Sk?ll let the shading rise around them, and it billowed up from the ground to lick up the V?lve. But now Sk?ll saw it. It spilled from Steffen’s chest to join what Sk?ll commanded. Marisol turned her head and looked at Sk?ll, and the shading spilled from her eyes, too.

This was getting weird, and they ended up with more questions than answers all the time.

Marisol leaned in and caressed Sk?ll’s face, locking gazes with him. “Fool’s gold will confuse the hoarders. Thrall kings and queens will think they have a friend because what corrupts them is what whispers. In their chests, a liar whispers. In their chests, corruption is born to spread.”

“Is it a fungal infection?” Steffen asked.

Marisol leaned back to recline against Sk?ll, and she weaved her hands and fingers toward the sky, making it look like a sensual dance as she stared up dreamily. But she commanded the shadows, too, and it flowed up her arms to look like branches of a rose bush, growing rapidly. Sk?ll stared at it, holding back from making the shade rise up to become the protective bubble.

“Look.” Astrid pointed at Marisol. “The blue tendrils try to work their way up Yggdrasil, giving Ratatoskr easy steps to spread his lies and slander between Nidhug and the eagle.”

Ratatoskr was the symbol of the Thrall? But what they saw was apparently the answer to Steffen’s question. It was an infection, and if it tried to grow on the tree of life, it tried to spread in life.

“What is it the shadows hide?” a V?lve asked.

Sk?ll didn’t know whether she was asking the shadow, her coven, or all of them, so he remained quiet, not adding his thoughts on the matter yet.

“Everything we learn from it looks and sounds different from what we hear and see in any other instance,” Astrid said.

“How often do you see the shade?” Sk?ll asked.

“Rarely, but we can feel it sometimes. If V?lsung cross close by, we sense them.”

“And Draugr graves?” Steffen asked.

“Yes and no. We know of places to stay clear of, and we don’t like feeling watched. Rarely have we seen the blue people. One did, and she left the coven many years ago. She said her eagle had to find something. Someone.”

“Rigr, Rigr, rise,” Marisol mumbled, still weaving her hands toward the sky, making a spectacle of the shadows. “Valkyries will fly.”

“So, V?lve have swans, and Valkyries have eagles.” Steffen looked up. “I hear one eagle cry out near me once in a while, but Marisol sees five. One for each Rigr who burned the blue fungus. And a dead eagle for the...traitor.”

“And another one circled a man we picked up in Kiruna,” Sk?ll added.

“Marisol’s black swan is just that,” Astrid said. “But with her is always a black swan with eagle claws.”

“And our swans are white. Hers are black,” the youngest V?lve pointed out.

“What does that mean?” Steffen asked.

“We don’t know.” Astrid looked around at the others. “But her control over the shadows is...more than a V?lve’s. She’s a sorceress. And the one who watches over her is just as powerful.”

“What’s the difference between a V?lve and a Valkyrie?” Tristan asked.

“What we hear and see,” Astrid explained. “And from where. V?lve have a swan following us. Valkyries attract eagles. But not regular eagles. They’re huge. A V?lve can have a swan for many years, and then it can turn into an eagle.” She pointed behind Marisol. “I’ve never seen one that has both forms. Sometimes, it cries out as an eagle, and then it has an eagle’s beak, but still a swan’s body and wings. But always claws, clutching weapons of war.”

“It’s a reoccurring dream of mine,” the youngest V?lve said. “That swan flies to me with a snake and hands it to me. I love it and cradle it and sing it a lullaby. And I’m never alone then. We are many women with snakes in our arms and various birds on our shoulders when the green boat arrives on a sea of slithering bodies.”

“I’ve heard something similar be recounted.” Sk?ll looked at Marisol. “Blue will merge with green. Who’s the woman in the green boat?”

“She was born pure with the essence of colors running through her veins. No darkness can ever touch her. Instead, it’ll shroud her to protect her. The shadows revere her as a goddess of creation. And in her womb, the whirlpool takes form.”

That made absolutely no sense.

Marisol sat up to where the shadows kept playing above her. She looked at the young V?lve. “In all their wombs, the snakes slither. Always five. But in her, only a head will grow.”

“Kinda...eww,” the young V?lve said.

“Yeah.” Marisol plopped back against Sk?ll, clearly coming out of her trance as the shadows simmered down to be the puffy dunes around them.

“Do I still need to raise the shading to become a bubble?” Sk?ll asked.

“Please do,” Astrid said.

Sk?ll did, and it condensed to the black obsidian dome that he could easily see through, but on it, shadows moved. Wolves, big and small. “What does the bubble look like to you?”

“It’s like sitting in a dome that functions as a screen, and on it, I see things,” Astrid said. “Eagles and swans, wolves, fire, a blue man with a sneer on his face, knocking.” She pointed, and Sk?ll realized she pointed toward the fire that the traitor Rigr sat around.

“Does the shading show you something regarding my eyes?” Sk?ll asked.

They all looked at him.

“I think it’s in your name,” Astrid said. “Sk?ll. Treachery or mockery. Your eyes will see Rigr, risen or fallen.”

“Okay, so who can see shadow spill from Steffen’s chest in shade?”

“Only you,” Steffen said.

“And me through our mate bond,” Hati added. “Like with Vestergaard.”

Elakdon and Randr walked through the bubble of shadow.

“What do you see from the outside of this dense shading, Fathers?” Tristan asked.

Elakdon and Randr plopped down close by their big son.

“It’s like walking through a mesh wall that disturbs my sight of what’s on the other side just a bit,” Randr said.

“Yeah, but something moves behind it that isn’t there when I cross it,” Elakdon said. “Shadow forms of something I can’t clearly make out.”

“I wonder what the other Rigr see,” Sk?ll mumbled. He half suspected the fallen Rigr to be blind to them.

“I’ll go figure that out.” Freki stood and walked off. “I need to know how to test those.” He exited the bubble and went to the fire with Rigr, calling Vestergaard to his feet to follow him. But Sk?ll saw a shadow wolf walk by Freki’s side the moment he left the shading. Either that or the shading allowed for the sight of it.

“I think we need to talk to Kresten about this soon,” Steffen said.

“Do we know or understand enough about it to do that?” Elakdon asked. “As far as we know, he hasn’t been tested by Draugr.”

“So he’s potentially Rigr. They’ll rise or fall.”

“Which is why I’ve tried to find out where we can find a Draugr’s grave in Denmark.” Elakdon looked at Randr.

“And I’ve helped locate the one I visited in my youth. Where my Rigr friend fell, and I rose.” Randr looked at Steffen and Sk?ll. “But is it fair to send them there?”

“Yes,” Tristan answered promptly. “It’s not just fair, it’s important.”

“I feel like I need to be the one to lead them there,” Marisol said. “I’ve seen it. As I walk ahead of them with a wolf by my side toward blue shading, more and more eagles soar above them. Their cries of anticipation fill the air. More and more humans join us as we walk. And as I stay outside and watch them enter, I see them battle both the zombies and each other. Eagles fall dead from the sky, while others go to perch on the shoulders of the men and women who exit. And those without eagles?” Marisol looked at Sk?ll. “They seek you out. You lead them away. And then V?lsung feast along with a black cloud of shade.”

Sk?ll noticed he’d started drooling and tried to curb it, but Bothild didn’t bother holding her salivation back. What surprised him was that Tristan wiped at his chin.

“Now?” Elakdon asked. “You feel like you need to leave now to see to that?”

Marisol nodded. “With them.” She pointed at the other V?lve.

“So, the big chopper.” Elakdon pulled out his phone. “Tomorrow morning before we run?”

“Yes. And I’d like to take the risen Rigr with me.”

“I’m running with the Alphas of all.” Steffen looked at Sk?ll—maybe to see if his Warlord had a different plan.

“Steffen and Tristan need to run with us, and you’re not taking the fallen Rigr anywhere,” Sk?ll said. “I’ll have a Warlord stick close to him until we reach the House of Elakdon.”

“My House?” Elakdon asked.

“He’ll be kept there with Erik. We need a chat with him. Along with Navidon.”

“Yes, Warlord. And all those who fail the Draugr curse will be led to my prison, too?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll have Foldon prepare for relocating resources to see to that.” Elakdon waved the phone. “Once I have a signal again.”

Sk?ll grinned and dropped the shading, which the ground sucked up again.

“He watches you,” Steffen whispered, poking the fire as if to hide his attention behind it.

Sk?ll didn’t have to look up to know who Steffen referred to. The fallen Rigr was attracted to the color of his eyes. What to do with that, though? Sk?ll needed a plan that worked in their overall favor. Luckily, they had some more running to do before they reached the House of Elakdon.