Chapter Eighteen
Steffen’s eagernessto run ramped up the moment he opened his eyes. They’d had a good conversation the evening before, and Kresten didn’t feel offended that they didn’t trust him. In fact, he said trust was earned, so he’d just have to earn theirs by showing the needed trust demanded of him. Having known Steffen and especially Vestergaard for a long time meant they’d earned his respect to trust in their judgment in the matter. And it would be needed once they took him to a Draugr’s grave and asked him to go where every survival instinct in the human body would tell him to run the opposite way of instead.
What made Steffen so eager to run was to gather the Rigr and get them to Head of Fyn to meet the Draugr. He also hoped they’d find the Valkyries before then and that they’d have had a chance to speak to the V?lve about it all.
Tristan broke Steffen’s thoughts by bundling him up in his arms and grunting in his ear. “Too early for a firing ember, sweetheart.”
“It’s so close I can taste it.”
“Mm-hmm. My stubborn little mate. I love that about you, you know.”
Steffen smiled at the tender tone and scurried around to lie flush against Tristan. He loved that lazy morning look. And the wild hair, which he finger-combed somewhat into submission on the side of the head he could. “Glad to hear it because my ember is pulling me from the run, and Sk?ll agrees.”
Tristan studied Steffen for what felt like ages. It seemed so unfair to ask the uncle to pull from a run like that, too, but Steffen didn’t doubt that he had Tristan’s support. He didn’t doubt that Tristan would follow him, either. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate it. He also knew how he’d have to support Tristan in struggling with what he’d then have to miss out on with Matt.
“I feel the changes in you. That something pulls you. It’s important, not just to you but to all this. It’s like something awoke in me, too, when we fought those invisible ghosts with Rigr.”
Steffen nodded. “The V?lsung side of you.”
“You know this for sure?”
“I felt aggression explode in you, but the actions you took were no different than the protective, fair, and honorable mate I’ve known and loved for a hundred years.”
Tristan sent him a brilliant smile and dove in for a kiss. For a while, they just made out, and the many milling thoughts took a backseat.
But they weren’t the only ones awake, so their intimate moment was soon interrupted by Steffen’s pups, climbing all over them for morning snuggles.
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AROUND TEN, STEFFENcould barely stand still, happy his pups were seeing him off since he could then funnel some of all that eager energy into playing with them. The run would start soon, and his ember was greatly excited about something. The excitement felt like expectation. Like a kid at Christmas, eager to see what all the presents held.
As always, the Warlords shaded just prior to the run to scout the route ahead. In the distance, Steffen heard a loud hum. A roaring hum. One he couldn’t place, yet there was something familiar about it. Something that provoked both regret and determination.
While they shaded, a few big city busses with big middle doors that could allow entry for baby carriers and wheelchairs picked up some of the V?lsung Bitches and the tiniest of the fuzzpups. They’d be driven ahead to free up Sleipnir, while the others and young pups who could keep up with the slow bond would run with them. Because they’d made it to the freeways, they’d all run together that day and stop somewhere down the first third of Germany. Tomorrow, they’d arrive in Brussels.
“We run when the shading falls!” Geri shouted.
Steffen crouched to quickly pet his pups and remind them to be good and help out and help protect everybody. Astera, especially, perked up at that one. They ran off, and Steffen squeezed Tristan’s hand and stepped around in eagerness, waiting for the shading to allow everybody else to see. Including the motorcycles that he could hear on the road, police and military police would escort them and keep all traffic off the roads they ran on from here to Brussels, making sure no one got hurt.
The massive assignment and cooperation with the humans needed for that raised Steffen’s gratitude and trust in the success of the unity project. But when it came to the people in power they were on their way to negotiate with, Steffen felt less optimistic. Instead, he felt competent in what would be needed of him to weed out the unworthy and help test who was worthy of such power.
The shading dropped, embers roared to life, and the bond set off to the cheers of Cubi, humans, and visiting pack members.
Humans had shown up along the route and waved or merely watched curiously.
As they neared the Little Belt Bridge from Fyn to the peninsula of Jutland, Sleipnir ran ahead and stomped around out of sync at the sides of the six lanes to break the resonance of the bond’s stride. If they didn’t, the bridge could collapse. Rasmus had been the one telling them to do that even before building engineers had brought up the problem and asked for solutions.
The combined knowledge of a unity bond was enough to make Steffen’s head spin, but it raised his hope for a future where that combined knowledge could help further prosperity for everybody.
All this had started as a territory pack war because Dennis had misinterpreted the power of Matt’s confused and firing ember. Instead of sinking into war, Steffen had been the front runner in showing Matt’s ember a vision for their territory. That was as hard as Steffen’s ember had fired at the time. And that vision for peace and prosperity had been amplified to the nth degree as all Alphas of all rose around him and decided to see it through on behalf of all packs, then expanded to include allies.
So far, Steffen hadn’t seen his own place in the greater equation as that important, but as he rose a Vargr Rigr, he wondered who attracted who here. And how it worked. He was sure of one thing, though—he knew far too little of the powers working behind all this to even have a chance of figuring out the answer to that question, so he left that to the powers that be and focused on his part.
To run and gather the Rigr to test them.
Steffen’s ember rose harder.
As they reached Jutland and followed the interstate turnpike that merged the two major freeways in Denmark to follow it south, Steffen’s eagle dove to fly just in front of him. It flew through the Alphas running around him, proving it was a spectral bird. It suddenly veered right.
Steffen felt compelled to follow it, so he did, weaving his way out of the bond with Tristan on his tail until he got free and ran hard to catch up with his eagle. That meant he overtook the four Alphas of all taking up point. But he had to follow his eagle, and it took off up a slope and through bushes, so he followed, ducking his head and closing his eyes as he barraged blindly through the shrubbery.
Once he broke through, he saw a bunch of motorcycles parked on the bridge crossing the freeway. All were stopped and waiting by the on-ramp, where Marisol was arguing with a police officer who barricaded traffic to allow the running bond to run.
Steffen and Tristan ran to her and shifted to Vargr. “Allow the V?lve entry,” Steffen demanded. “They ride with us.”
“Who are you?”
“Pack Alpha Steffen of Wolf Park, Aarhus. I’m the Pack Alpha of the Alpha of all’s territory. Allow entry! Now!” Steffen shifted back to his feral form because he was not debating this further with the cop.
And the cop hopped to it.
“Thanks, Stef.” Marisol hugged him, ran back to a dude on a bike, and hopped up on the back. The guy kicked the motorcycle to life.
That was the familiar sound Steffen had heard in the distance—the one bringing a sensation of regret and determination. It had been the sound, or especially the missing sound, of Rolf’s chopper while he’d been an Omega that provoked Steffen. He’d even closed his eyes and relished the noise as Rolf had been raised to Beta again and shown the bike to Matt. And his heart had squeezed when he’d seen Rolf ride off with Rebecca on the back of it not long after.
Next to them, Steffen’s eagle sat on the handle of a chopper, and the woman on it had long, dark, wavy hair sticking out under her helmet. She revved her engine, and the eagle set off, taking point. She followed, and Steffen raced to keep up, but he’d have to find her once they stopped again. Eagerness filled him with having found her. His eagle. His Valkyrie?
And the sensation regarding some of the people riding told him that there were risen Rigr among them.
Steffen and Tristan followed the bikers, who stayed in the inner lane. The running bond made room for them, and the bike with Marisol on the back rode up to the Alphas of all where Marisol gave them the rock-on hand gesture.
The noise from the bikes was a nuisance after the tranquility of nature on the first long part of their run, but it also clearly indicated a shift. They were almost at their destination. They’d gathered the beings of nature and were now heading to the noisy hub of human society. The bikes seemed quite symbolic that way.
A pulse of shading spread, leaving many to run in blindness, following only the embers that took up the front. But Steffen saw the many eagles and a few black and white swans fly above them in the recognizable V-pattern that swans held during flight.
The shading dropped again, and only Steffen’s remained visible in the sky above him.
He’d found her.
The hoard of bikes stayed beside them. Some had more than one person on it. But judging from body size—which was difficult due to the padded clothes—many were women. And a few of the men had eagles easily perching on their shoulders even though they were driving as fast as the Alphas could run.
Rigr? Rigr had the eagle of the Valkyrie sitting on their shoulders? Steffen’s was still flying. That had to mean something.
The bikes taking up the lead pulled at Steffen, and he recognized the need to prove himself and push himself like when he’d run to intercept Tristan.
Steffen had won the battle against the blue fungus. He’d risen a Rigr. And that Valkyrie was his to chase down.
So he did.
But there was no room, and the bikes stayed in their lane.
He’d find her once they reached camp somewhere in Germany. He couldn’t wait to get to know her and hopefully learn what all this meant. His ember pulsated with purpose, and he ran harder. The weight of the many embers became heavier, and the Alphas proved their strength and worth as they continued across the border and into Germany.
Closer. Closer. They were nearly there.
––––––––
FINALLY, THE RUN OFthe day came to an end, and they were directed to a big forest area a few miles from the autobahn. A huge estate had opened their grounds to them, yet it wasn’t a Cubi House, even though it had the size for it. It didn’t have that overshadowing scent of arousal.
They slowed down and found the many pools of fresh water that had been placed in the park-like backyard of the estate. But Steffen had other things on his mind than water, even though he felt parched. He immediately shifted to human and looked into the sky of eagles and swans that were circling. Why could he see so many now? Out of shading, too.
One dove toward him, and for a moment he feared it would crash into him, but it spread out its massive wings and turned, then landed on his shoulder. Powerful talons could be felt pinching into his flesh, but not painfully so. The spectral bird had weight.
Now, to find the Valkyrie.
Tristan hugged him, making Steffen half-pull back. Tristan looked at him puzzled. “What’s that about?”
“An eagle just landed on my shoulder.” Steffen looked at the huge thing, having to look up into its eyes. That powerful beak that close to his eyes seemed...frightening. Slowly, Steffen reached to pet the eagle’s stomach, and it allowed it, but the feel of its feathery belly seemed off. And the eagle wasn’t corporeal.
“I don’t see it,” Tristan said. “Just a shadow.”
“Then what awoke in you wasn’t Rigr but V?lsung. She’s here. I saw her. I felt her. I have to find the Valkyrie.”
Tristan seemed giddy at the announcement. “Let’s go!”
The eagle cried out, frightening Steffen enough to jump. But as he looked around, he saw her. His breath caught at the sight of her. Not in an attraction kind of way, but he felt some kind of attraction. A powerful one—just not one of...well, lust since he was gay. But he coveted her in some way.
Tristan spun to look that way.
A badass woman with long, dark, curly hair came directly to them, her brown eyes boring into his with the mirrored intensity and curiosity he felt toward her. She stopped just in front of Steffen and stared up into his eyes. “I’m Dicte, and my friend has been looking for you.”
“I’m Steffen. Your friend?” Steffen looked at the eagle and once again tried to caress its chest. “I can almost feel it,” he whispered.
She reached for it, too, and her fingers brushed his. “More real than a mirage, clearer than a dream, but not really here.”
Steffen nodded and looked at her. “I’m Pack Alpha Steffen of Wolf Park, Aarhus.”
“I’m just Dicte. And I just learned I’m a Valkyrie.”
“You just learned?” Tristan asked.
She looked up at him, craning her neck.
“My true Alpha mate, Tristan,” Steffen introduced.
“How do you do?” Dicte looked at Steffen again. “Something weird happened just after the knowledge of wolf shifters was revealed. The thunder awoke the eagles.”
Steffen smiled. “The rise of Chaos. Come. I’ll introduce you to him.”
“Wait.” Dicte grabbed Steffen’s arm, locking gazes with him. “I’m not surprised to find someone among the running Alphas to know this much, but...do you know you’re Rigr?”
“Yes. I conquered the blue dream, and the fungi burn where I walk.” Steffen noticed a hint of pride in his tone as he announced that.
A brilliant smile spread on her face. “I’ll lend you my eyes to seek more if you want.”
“Yes,” he whispered.
The eagle cried out and took off, but it returned immediately and flew into Dicte. Just then, the Warlords shaded. Steffen stumbled back as the eagle made impact with her. Huge eagle wings unfurled behind her, and her eyes glowed amber like that of the hawk.
“I saw that,” Tristan whispered.
Her wings faded to that of shadow, but her eyes remained that of the eagle. A brilliant smile spread on her face. “Now I understand it.”
“Understand what?”
“The power to aid you is only mine to use, too, when given to a Rigr. It’s like...something connects us.” She put a hand over her heart.
“I understand the mate bond.” He looked at Tristan. “Wolves have it, too, and we mate for life.”
Her gaze darted from one to the other as she bit her lip. “So, I’m butting in here?”
“You’re welcome to because he’s gay and loves me.” Tristan flashed her a teasing smile. There was no jealousy to be felt through the bond, but Dicte felt confused. If she’d just found out she was a Valkyrie, no wonder.
“Most true Alpha mate bonds don’t result in a lover’s bond,” Steffen said. “Ours did. The eagle awakens a strong sense of loyalty toward you and it. A need to be your friend.”
Dicte smiled. “I can live with that.”
Steffen loved the glint in her eye and the crooked smile. “I’d love to learn everything you know about Valkyries, and I’ll share everything I’ve learned about Rigr, the fungus, some of how it works, and a theory as to why some are immune.”
Dicte snapped her head around. “Some are immune?”
“V?lsung and Sleipnir are.”
“Haven’t had the...pleasure.”
“Let me introduce you.” Steffen took Tristan’s hand and put an arm around Dicte’s shoulder to lead her. He then removed his arm because...they didn’t know each other at all, and he was naked, and it could all seem wrong to her if she’d only just been introduced to their world. “Sorry. Vargr are very physical.”
Dicte chuckled. “I feel your intentions. I trust you.”
“Good.” Steffen replaced his arm around her shoulder and felt for Freki’s ember because he was usually close to Geri, who, in turn, was close to Isbait. He suddenly felt the talons of the eagle on his shoulder, then the weight of it as the eagle pushed down to set off. Steffen stumbled as his vision shot out of focus, and he felt hands grab at his arms.
Steffen was...flying? He could see through the eyes of the eagle? But he found Isbait, and the eagle’s focus split between them and him, letting Steffen see which way he faced compared to the Stallion. Isbait was not with Geri and Freki.
Steffen’s vision returned to his own, finding Tristan’s worried gaze on him as he held him tight. Steffen felt a goofy grin spread. “Now I think I know how a Warlord feels when sending out their wolf. This is the same, just...cooler.”
“Then...that’s it,” Tristan said. “Part of what changed with me. I thought I was going crazy.”
“What?” Steffen asked.
“A few times, I thought I saw through the eyes of wild wolves.”
“Well, you are the true Skinwalker, so maybe that’s what Draugr awoke in you?”
“What’s Draugr?” Dicte asked.
“Blue zombies.”
“Oh!” She pointed in the direction Steffen had also seen Isbait in and started walking. “One sent me off my bike.”
Steffen and Tristan followed. “Then what?”
“Then I started finding people. Good and bad.” An emotion coursed through her, raising cortisol.
Steffen spun to face her. Had he been in wolf form, he’d have bristled at whatever she felt threatened by in order to be ready to protect her. “Wow, what was that emotion?”
The look she sent him meant they weren’t talking about it now, so Steffen left it alone. But the Vargr loyalty had been earned already, and he felt compelled to...burn.
“I found Rigr and other women with birds flying over their heads,” Dicte continued. “My eagle didn’t want to sit on the shoulder of the guy who helped me, but after the fever, he said he had to find an eagle, and he kept pointing to one that would circle above him. Mine flew with it, but mine also let me see wolves run. Or wolves and people lounging around bonfires.” She looked at Steffen. “I saw you.”
Steffen smiled because now it all made sense. Valkyries had awoken as Rigr did. And they paired up to give the warrior the advantage of the birds-eye view of the battleground? That was cool and could definitely come in handy.
“We set out to find more.”
“And came to my pack not long ago where you were turned away by soldiers.” Steffen should find the other Rigr now.
Again, the eagle’s sight forced itself on Steffen, and he stumbled, grabbing for Tristan.
“It gets easier,” Dicte said. “Predatorial birds have two fields in their vision where they can see clearly and even zoom in independently of each other. One field is ours to control. Once we do, we learn to see both here and up there at the same time.”
“Good to know.” Steffen saw that he was being led toward Isbait, and they’d be there within a few minutes. The eagle soared higher, and he saw a band of V?lsung slowly walk toward them from the east. They’d be there, soon, too. Half an hour, maybe. He also saw Thorleif make his way through the many Alphas toward them.
To their left—his or the eagle’s left? Dammit. He’d learn. But he finally located Vestergaard, making his way through the Alphas, calling for them to let him pass. He was closely followed by Kasper and Kresten, and they were heading toward the motorcycles. Steffen needed to meet all the Rigr there. Was that more important than introducing Dicte to Isbait? No, he needed the Valkyrie informed, too.
Steffen’s sight returned to his own body, and the weight of the eagle could be felt on his shoulder again. And now he could see Isbait’s head above the Alphas. “Isbait!”
The big foal turned his head and smiled, then came toward them with his Matriarch by his side. Their gazes locked on Dicte the moment Steffen had managed to get the short woman through the thick band of Alphas. She was no more than five foot five. He was six two, and Tristan was seven foot seven.
“You found your Valkyrie,” Isbait said.
“Dicte, this is the Chaos Stallion, Isbait, and the Matriarch, Visnar. They’re legendary beings among Sleipnir like the four Alphas of all are to Vargr and Rigr are to humans. He’s the one causing thunder without lightning.”
“The whispers of you and the sound of your eagle crying have followed us for weeks now.” Isbait held out his hand. “I’m happy you found him.” Isbait looked at Steffen. “His ember needs to take action on important work now.”
Steffen smiled because, yeah, it did.
“Do you know what?” Dicte asked Steffen.
“Some of it, yes, but we need to know everything you do, and we need Marisol to help with a few things. Then we lay it all out for the Alphas of all so that everything works together with what the Warlords and Isbait have planned.”
“And the Matriarch,” Isbait said. “She helps me see work, too.”
“Don’t forget the sea, Rigr,” Visnar told Steffen.
Steffen blinked. “The sea?”
Visnar pointed west. “The sea is never resting, but now wind and current are not the only ones who stirs it.”
“J?rmungandr,” Steffen mumbled.
“I’m a biker geek, not a book geek,” Dicte said. “What’s a J?rmungandr?”
“The Midgard Serpent. We saw him.”
Dicte widened her eyes. “Oh.”
“Uhm, sweetheart? Might I suggest we introduce her to the book geek with a love for motorcycles?” Tristan suggested.
Steffen nodded. “Once he’s done shading.” Steffen looked at Dicte. There was something so familiar about her. Or maybe it was just a feeling? It had been so long since Steffen had mated Tristan that he wasn’t sure he remembered the many new emotions correctly, but he seemed to recall a similar sensation back then, right after they’d run together that first time.
“The risen Rigr here are looking for their eagles,” Steffen said. “Or, waiting for them to land. I saw them run toward the motorcycles.”
“Then maybe their eagle’s Valkyries are here.” She grabbed Steffen’s arm. “Let’s go. Isbait, Visnar, so nice to meet you. I hope we get plenty of time to chat really soon.” She tugged off with Steffen, who grinned at Tristan and pulled the huge guy along.
“I thought the Valkyries are the eagles,” Steffen said. “Like we are the wolves.”
Thorleif made it through the Alphas. “The Valkyries are no more their eagles than we are our shadow wolves.” Dicte turned her head and almost jumped at the huge being. They were at eye level, even though Thorleif stood on all fours. “I need to find Marisol.”
“She’s up here.” Dicte tugged off with them again.
“What did you mean by the shadow wolf not being you?” Tristan asked.
“They run with us,” Thorleif said. “Vargr are of this world, and you have your feral side here, which is what makes me think you can’t see behind shadow. But I’ve seen a shadow wolf leave your chest now. After the Draugr incident, something runs in shadows.”
Steffen felt the thud of surprise in Tristan, but it would make sense as it then connected him to the feral.
“Wait.” Dicte stopped and spun, and Steffen and Tristan just managed to stop instead of toppling the slight woman. “This world?”
“Not the shadow world,” Thorleif said as if that clarified anything.
“The eagle sees shadows when you shade. Bubbles of different colors. Or sounds. Something I don’t understand yet, but they’re not all the same. Like this one.”
“The shading of my Warlord?”
“No. The shading of these grounds.”
“I sense no threats on these grounds,” Thorleif stated.
They made it to the motorcycles, and the many men and women were setting up camp. It looked like what Steffen had seen on TV when bikers met. Most walked around without problems, and a few fumbled around or didn’t attempt anything in shading. Those who walked around had eagles on their shoulders, and Steffen felt for the talons pinching his, finding them there.
They got everybody’s attention.
Where were the other risen Rigr?
The eagle set off, and Steffen halted in his stride as he suddenly got a full bird’s eye view of the area, but he saw that Vestergaard and Kasper managed to pull Kresten through the run of Alphas close by.
His vision snapped back.
A guy laughed, coming toward them. “It gets easier, man.” He held out his hand. “Dorian.”
It said so on his leather vest.
Steffen shook his hand. “Pack Alpha Steffen of Wolf Park, Aarhus.”
“Man, I need a title or something longer than a nickname I got from my music teacher in the eighth grade.”
Dicte chuckled.
Kresten, Vestergaard, and Kasper came over, sounding slightly out of breath.
“You found her?” Vestergaard asked excitedly. His gaze was already on Dicte, but Steffen pointed her out anyway and took care of the introduction.
Man, being introduced to...fifty people? It would take forever.
“Let’s gather the Rigr,” Steffen said. “We actually have a deadline.”
“Let’s go.” Dorian turned. “Everybody! Step up.”
Everybody did, and the hellos commenced.
By the time they’d made their way through the group of bikers, the shading had fallen, and Matt, Hati, Torben, Finn, Lukas, and Vivi had arrived in their human forms. Matt was gawking at the motorcycles. Not far from them, Thorleif stood with Marisol and chatted.
“We should go there.” Dicte pointed and marched off toward Matt and Hati. Steffen agreed and followed with Tristan.
“How did you find Marisol?” Steffen asked.
“She came to us last night and told us to join the run.”
They made it to where Matt was checking out the engine of a chopper. Steffen knew too little about bikes to know more than that, but Rolf had explained a lot about choppers when he’d first gotten his, and the fact that it seemed naked compared to some of the...crotch rockets around made it easy to recognize as a chopper. As in chopped from excess weight. But some of them sounded very different. A low rumble compared to a high squealing sound. Steffen could handle the low rumble and hated the squealing sound when one blew past Wolf Park up on the road.
“You like it?” Dicte asked Matt.
Steffen got the feeling she was eying him to see if he’d touch her bike.
“I love it,” Matt said. “This is classy.”
“Honda Valkyrie 1500 CT Tourer,” Dicte said.
“My dad rides a Honda, too. But a Valkyrie? I’ve seen one in a magazine. Ninety-three cubic inch engine?”
Dicte smiled, nodding. “What do you ride?”
Matt grumbled. “A two-fifty Yamaha Virago.”
Dicte snickered. “Then this one is too much beast for you.”
“Yeah, I’m not allowed to ride my dad’s either. Yet.”
“So you’re only dreaming of getting a ride on mine?”
Matt lit up with youthful eagerness shining in his eyes. “You’d give me a ride?”
“I think Rasmus rubbed off on you,” Tristan said.
Matt looked at him, then at Torben.
“Yeah, you’re bouncing,” Torben said.
Hati and Vivi snickered.
“I should get some clothes. There has to be a Guard Lord my size.” Matt walked off.
“Thanks.” Steffen smiled at Dicte.
“You know him well?”
“That’s Sk?ll, a pup from my pack.”
“Oh!” Dicte looked like she was about to facepalm herself.
“I’m Hati.” Hati raised a finger, then held out his hand.
More introductions.
“Steffen!” Thorleif nodded him over, but Marisol dashed to them instead, and the Warlord followed. “Marisol is having visions.”
“We all are,” Dicte said.
“Of what?” Steffen asked.
“Odin?” Marisol shrugged. “And old man with legendary creatures around him, both wolves and birds. Ravens, to be more exact. They perch on his shoulders, and he has a brown eye and one the color of Sk?ll’s.”
“Okay. What does it mean?”
Marisol shrugged again. “Shade spills from his chest, too, and pools around his feet, making it look like the ground under him is alive.” She leaned to the side to look past Steffen, who turned his head to spot what she was looking at. Vestergaard, Kasper, and Kresten. “And he wears a cape. Like Kresten’s.”
“What cape?” Thorleif asked.
“I dunno. I’ve never seen it before, but Kresten has a cape on. A shadowy one.”
“Things are getting weird.” Finn looked up. “How are the eagles visible to everybody else now?”
“Maybe because we’re so close to the epicenter of that power?” Vivi pointed around at the Valkyries and Rigr.
“No,” Tristan said, looking up. “Because we’re not all seeing them.”
Finn looked at him, then up again. “You’re not seeing all those birds?”
Excitement coursed through Steffen. “My, my. More Vargr Rigr.”
Finn and Vivi glanced at each other.
“I see one big shadow circling,” Lukas said.
“You’re seeing it through the mate bond.” Tristan reached toward Steffen’s shoulder where the eagle perched. “I see it on Steffen’s shoulder, too. But only shadows.”
“What does this mean?” Vivi asked.
“It means you’re coming with me soon,” Steffen said.
“Both had early embers, right?” Tristan asked.
Steffen nodded, wondering whether that could be an indicator. But Steffen didn’t have an early ember. They knew too little of embers in general, and speculating now, when learning so many new things, would be pointless. Especially since they were about to learn of a whole new connection to embers. Hopefully it would shed some light on everything.
Matt returned just then, wearing jeans, a denim jacket over his bare chest, and an eager smile.
“Warlord, you should know that Rigr are awakening among your bond,” Thorleif said.
Matt’s smile fell as his eyes turned feral, and he looked at Dicte. “Can I have a raincheck on that ride? Time to work.”
Dicte nodded sharply. “Sure thing.”
“Tell me everything,” Matt said. “After we’ve found Ela.”
Steffen’s eagle took flight. He could still only see either the bird’s view or his own, and that could spell trouble if this happened all of a sudden while running in the bond. He could trip and be stomped on by everybody, including Sleipnir. That would hurt. His attempt at focusing on his own eyes made the eagle return before he’d located Elakdon.
“I’ll get him.” Finn and Lukas dashed off.
“Bonfire?” Hati asked.
Matt nodded. “And all Rigr, Valkyries, and V?lve join us.” He looked at Steffen. “You’re my contact.”
“Yes, Warlord.” Steffen looked at Vivi, who continued to stare up at the eagles and swans with a WTF expression on her face. Early embers were Rigr? And they were awakening here? Steffen hoped that there’d be many traveling to Head of Fyn.
It wasn’t exactly dark enough to need a fire, but it seemed a new norm when gathering and sharing knowledge.
Finn and Lukas returned with Elakdon, Randr, Navidon, Warlord Magnus, six Guards, Isbait, and Visnar.
Elakdon looked around, smiling. “Something stirring?”
“These grounds whisper of seidr,” Visnar said. “A lifetime of dedicated work.”
“How did we find this place?” Matt asked.
“Someone reached out to me and offered,” Elakdon said. “Someone who’d seen the first run on Fyn and found my human alias, Bo Smedegaard.”
Matt got out of the clothes, dumped them on the ground, shifted to his Warlord form, and shaded.
Ravens squawked nearby, making Steffen look up and around. He located them in a tree nearby.
“Wow,” Dicte mumbled. “I run.”
Steffen looked at her, and her eyes were that of a feral wolf, staring as emptily ahead as a Warlord with a shadow wolf scouting would. The eagle set off and quickly homed in on the figure of an elderly man walking toward them. He looked exactly like Marisol had said, and shadow wolves walked with him on billowing shade that seemed to form a capsule around him.
But he walked between the Alphas. Unseen, it seemed. He’d be there soon.
“What do you see?” Steffen asked Dicte.
“Shadow wolves walk with an old man.”
The ravens squawked again.
From up high, Steffen could recognize his own feral form stalking around the old man and the wolves, but he wasn’t the one using his eyes. He and Dicte could lend each other their eyes? This became cooler and cooler. And more and more surreal. What the hell was happening to the world? What had awakened? Seidr of old? Yeah. The world had turned magical, and it was slightly messing with Steffen’s head, leaving him on shaky ground.
Now he understood what the other Rigr had said about needing to figure out what to believe in. It had changed more than merely needing a slight twist to his current worldview, too.
“Drop shade, Sk?ll,” Steffen said.
He did, but Steffen could still see the old man in his shadowy bubble as the eagle kept soaring above him.
“He knows we know,” Dicte said. “What is this?”
“Seidr,” Isbait said.
“Magic,” Steffen translated. If she didn’t know J?rmungandr, she probably didn’t know other Old Norse words, either.
And there was the old man. He stepped closer, his gaze taking them in. “Who can see me?” All but Lukas raised his hand. The shading around the old man dropped, and Lukas looked surprised at his sudden presence. “The children of the gods. Coming together.” He chuckled as he walked closer. “I never thought it would be in my lifetime.”
“But you expected it?” Elakdon stepped forward with his hand out. “Nol-Elakdon.”
“Ebbe and flow. Constants of the world. This, too, is a constant.” The old man shook Elakdon’s hand. “My name is Henry, and yes, I’m British.” He went on to shake Navidon’s hand, then continued on from there, but the way he stared into their eyes as they introduced themselves made Steffen think he had...a plan for the lengthy hello. Except he didn’t shake hands with Isbait and Visnar. Instead, he stepped up and closed his eyes, and they greeted him forehead to forehead.
“You are Rigr, too,” Isbait whispered as he stepped back.
“I am.” Finally, the old man came to stand in front of Marisol, whom he hadn’t greeted yet. “And I carried you from your mother’s loving arms to gift to Midgaard.”
“My mother?” Marisol asked.
“The sea and the sun had a daughter, one to soar higher than anyone else.”
“I had a crappy life, just so you know.”
Henry hung his head and nodded. “We knew you would, and I mourned the fact. But adversity is what makes us either grow or...fall to the wayside.”
“I almost did.” Marisol looked at Elakdon, who reached for her hand.
“But the wolves didn’t let you, did they?” Henry asked.
“They hunted me every waking moment.”
“Or they spoke the language they know? Biting you to make you change your ways?”
Marisol gaped, and her gaze darted about as she apparently tried to shift her understanding of past memories.
“I see a golden son of the gods heeded my whispers, though.” Henry looked at Elakdon. The ravens landed on his shoulders, and he reached up to pet them. “I’ve tried to communicate with you many times over the years. Through them.”
“The ravens following me?” Elakdon asked.
Henry nodded with a smile that seemed relieved that his attempts had worked. “Only Royals are bound to the source.” He put a hand over his chest. “You’re born from it.”
Steffen stared at Elakdon, wondering whether Fenrir was the Wolf born from the source. The source of what? The ember?
“Join us around a fire,” Warlord Sk?ll said. “We’re eager to learn more.”
The old man lit up. “I’ve prepared for it.” Henry pointed toward the main house. “I made a special fire up here. One to seat many.” He looked around, but not at them. The ravens took off, and so did the shadow wolves by his side.
“I’ve pulled those who need to be there,” Sk?ll said.
“Can Rigr pull Rigr?” Steffen asked Dicte.
“No, but the eagles can gather and lead their Rigr. If they understand them already.”
The eagle on Steffen’s shoulder took off. He hadn’t even noticed it return. He’d just suddenly felt its talons on his shoulder as it took off. It flew into the sky and started circling in ways Steffen had never seen eagles do before. The others took off into the sky to join Steffen’s eagle, and everything became an air show, but it wasn’t airplanes doing acrobatics up there, going dangerously low and soaring back up into the sky. It kinda looked like starlings swarming to ward off predatorial birds.
Steffen’s gaze sometimes split to that of the eagle’s, and he saw soldiers and Vargr follow eagles, hurryingly making their way through the crowd toward them. “Rigr are coming here.”
“Good!” Henry turned. “Let me show you my cool bonfire.” He walked off.
Sk?ll looked at Steffen. He, too, had that WTF expression. “Did we just...run into Merlin or something?”
Dicte snickered. “Well, then there might be a King Arthur waiting among the Rigr.”
“Oh, what...” Sk?ll hung his head. “Of course that would be a tale of a Rigr rising. Along with Holger the Dane.” He followed the old man. “Now my attraction to that damn poster when I came to Denmark makes so much more sense.”
Steffen remembered having seen said poster on the wall of Matt’s bedroom at the housewarming party. And yeah, that would make sense. Steffen needed to dust off his memories of old tales to see if he could find more Rigr in lore. Maybe they could find more answers hidden in the details of those old tales.
Tristan squeezed Steffen’s hand, and they followed. It became a group of about sixty people, and Steffen looked around to see whose faces he recognized. Regional Alphas Victor and Kenneth stood out. They were of the yellow territories that Tristan had made a map of.
Most pointed into the air, and questions about what was going on hummed as the confused yet-to-rise Rigr followed.
The scent of lamp oil grew stronger as they followed old Henry to a big ring of granite stone. Above it, the eagles flew in one big circle now, drawing in their Rigr. In the middle of the stone ring was another, set up to raise and border a fire, and stacks of firewood lay here and there.
The outer ring wasn’t intact, though, leaving openings to enter the circle. Henry crouched by the stones at one of the entry points, lit a few matches, and brought them to the stones. A whooshing sound ran around the stone circle, and it lit up. The entire top of the outer ring was flat and stacked with wood, meaning no one would get cold backs from having their front to the inner fire. And granite would stay warm and radiate heat for hours. Ingenious.
Elakdon spun and looked around as the fire distributed around the outer ring, gaping. “By the gods. I want one.”
Randr chuckled. “Then I’ll build you one, elskling.”
A sweet smile and blush tinged the King’s cheeks red as he looked at his Rigr husband.
Steffen found them adorable.
“Since Vargr can hear everything and risen Rigr and active Valkyries can hear through their eagles, please let those without superhuman hearing gather closest to me,” Henry said.
The Cubi moved forward, meaning Elakdon, Randr, Navidon, and Guards, but those stayed by the outer ring. Warlord Magnus followed them, though, and stayed right behind Navidon.
“What’s going on?” Regional Alpha Kenneth asked, as he and Victor crowded Tristan.
“Who will explain this?” Henry asked.
Sk?ll turned and looked at Steffen.
“I will!” Steffen let go of Tristan’s hand and moved toward the inner fire, which Henry was lighting. Dicte followed him and stood to his right. Henry stepped up to Steffen’s left, while everybody else seemed to clump together close to the outer wall of the fire, leaving room for humans and Cubi closest to Steffen. “Welcome to this special fire. I’m Pack Alpha Steffen of Wolf Park, Aarhus. This is our host, Henry.” Steffen looked at the old man.
“And I would like to introduce myself later, once your many questions about those have been answered.” He pointed to the ring of eagles above them.
“Yes, please, start with those!” several called out.
Steffen nodded. “All Alphas in the running bond know we ran with a V?lve. Marisol. You know we picked up nine more on our way down through Sweden. And you know I got sick after we pulled an injured hiker and his friends from the wild. That sickness was an infection that I, Vestergaard, Nissen, and the hiker, Kasper, were all subjected to. So was Anker and the hiker’s friend...sorry, I forget his name.”
“Better left there,” Kasper growled.
“We all had a dream,” Steffen continued. “We’ve decided not to tell anyone more than that because that dream is important on a personal level. But after that, we started seeing eagles.”
Dicte stepped forward and held out her hand. One eagle broke away from the ring and landed on her shoulder, but then it hopped to Steffen’s.
“Some V?lve are called Valkyrie.” Steffen looked at Dicte, whom he found magnetic. “And all those who see an eagle now have a Valkyrie waiting to meet you and support you as your ember takes you toward our goal.”
Vargr roared enthusiastically.
“All early-rising embers need to step forward. All those who had an ember before their Rigr rose.”
Twenty-eight Vargr stepped forward, including Finn and Vivi. Sk?ll and Geri stayed back, even though they’d definitely had early embers.
Eagles broke away from the ring above to circle lower. Looked to be around the same number. From the gathered bunch of people, women came to stand with Dicte, but not twenty-eight, meaning not all the Valkyries were present. The Valkyries present made Vargr and humans step forward—probably from seeming as magnetic to them as Dicte did to Steffen.
Eagles landed on shoulders and Valkyries walked up to them.
Steffen smiled as Vivi shook hands with her Valkyrie, but the queen of the right hook didn’t seem to know what to do with what was happening. When a woman stepped up to Finn, she closed in. Shit, was she in heat? No, Steffen was sure of it.
“I don’t know why Rigr are also found among Vargr,” Steffen said, getting everybody’s attention again. “So far, we thought they were only human, and Kresten Villum was the first we pinpointed from his name paired with a prophecy. Do Valkyrie or V?lve know more?”
“Yes,” Astrid, the head of the coven they’d picked up in Sweden, said. She came to stand next to the old man. “Vargr Rigr were sought out before but by Fenrir. Today, those Rigr are known as V?lsung.”
Mumbled confusion sounded.
Steffen glanced at Warlord Magnus, who didn’t bat an eye. Instead, he raised his head and drooled. Same with Thorleif. And the same with Tristan? Except he looked puzzled, too, and a strong urge to see Thyra washed over Steffen. His mate needed his mother.
“One pack gathered under the fiercest Alpha Bitch.” Warlord Bothild walked through the opening to the circle, trailing Thyra, Klaes, his mate Silas, Jes, and Torben. “She had defended her pack and seen the loss of her mate. But all who remained standing were those she left alive. Strong. Capable. Incorruptible. And she swore to Fenrir that they would conquer the enemy of the territory.”
“The Thrall,” Steffen added.
Marisol began to sway and ran her fingers through Thorleif’s fur. She even ran her hand under his chin to let the drool drench her skin and dribble from between her fingers. “Thirst for vengeance, thirst for blood. I. Am. War.”
“You say such sweet things,” Thorleif mumbled.
Steffen flinched. Was that a V?lsung flirting? He quickly shook it, though. “And V?lsung are immune,” he told Dicte.
“As in...natural inoculation?”
“Could be.”
“Not all, I’m afraid,” Bothild said. “As we bred with Vargr and humans to keep the human form, we became susceptible to it, too, and those we kill to never endanger our own ranks. Also, we push them out to mingle with Vargr. We never forgot our promise to Fenrir, and one was to secure Wolf. We see our faltering line as still being of use to Vargr, so you got those to strengthen the wolf. Mainly Geri Freki packs. A clever High Alpha found a way to strengthen Vargr by breeding the Feral Vargr through a V?lsung Bitch.” She turned her head to look at Thyra. “He did very well.”
“And this is where I will introduce myself.” Henry stepped forward. “You see an eye the color of the Warlord Sk?ll’s. I am Rigr. I suffered the fever when I was only a boy. I am a Washed Cubi, so Nol, stay clear. I am poisonous to your people.” He looked at Navidon for a while, then at Marisol. “The cloak you see is a birth gift. In fairytales, it’s remembered as the gift of a fairy godmother. A V?lve gave it to me and my twin sister as we were abandoned and unwanted. Diseased. Left out to die. She told us of a vision. An eagle flew with a snake and a spear, and she followed it for weeks, arriving mere hours after we’d been put out to die. She took us in.”
“Who left you?” Elakdon asked with a voice thick with emotion.
“Our mother? Parents? Taken from them and disposed of? Your guess is as good as mine. But the V?lve we came to call mother and the Rigr we came to call father picked us up and one cursed confusion and hid secrets in what power the other draped us in. For those who can see and hear to find.”
“Huginn and Muninn,” Steffen said. “Thought and Memory.”
“Yes.” Henry smiled at him. “You see them.”
“And the snakes at your feet?” the young V?lve asked. “Are they J?rmungandr?”
Henry stared at her, agape, then leaned forward. “Tell me, my dear...what’s your name?”
“Ida.”
“Ida, having spent so much time with the Cubi, have you fed them?”
“Just one.” She looked at Navidon, who sent her a sweet smile. “He makes me feel safe.”
Navidon’s sweet smile grew, while a puzzled frown etched itself deeper into Elakdon’s forehead.
“Does anyone else see snakes?” Henry looked around at them, but no one acknowledged. The old man’s gaze landed back on the young V?lve. “Have you seen them in visions before meeting me?” The V?lve nodded. “Then your path is not with your coven. And you know this.”
The young V?lve looked at the others with a sense of sadness and nodded.
“We’ve always known.” Astrid flashed an equally sad smile. “I often have visions of your swan leaving us to fly toward the sunset. Carrying a headless snake.”
“I have to go to the sea,” the young V?lve whispered.
“And soon, I’ll take you there.” Henry looked at Sk?ll. “I have to take all of you there.” He looked at Steffen. “Once you return with an army of shouldered eagles.”
“And until then?” Sk?ll asked.
“Until then, Warlord, you have a plan to carry out.”
“And once the stars have sunken into the red sea of their own making, the waiting Rigr of old will stomp once more as the sea takes over the shores and eagles and swans take over the sky,” Marisol said, still running her hands through Thorleif’s fur. “The earth will tremble as the river Van runs from the mouth of Wolf.”
“Hope, the river Hope runs from the mouth of Fenrir,” Sk?ll mumbled.
“And in his stomach burns a traitor’s hand,” Freki said.
“Or a sacrifice,” Bothild said.
“We’re gathering a think-tank of people with insight into the past.” Sk?ll stalked forward to look at the old man. “I need you there.”
Henry smiled. “No, you don’t.”
“I don’t?”
“You need me close to the coven of nine. One swan is leaving, and a black one takes her place.” He glanced at Marisol. “A mother by name we share. A father by name we share. But the sea added a gift to your conception. One pulled from the roots of Yggdrasil.” Henry looked away from Marisol’s hurt but curious expression. “And that son of Rigr has no eagle.” He pointed to Kresten.
“Why don’t I?” Kresten stepped forward. “Why am I considered special?”
“Because you have a hawk.”
Steffen’s mind worked fast, ending quickly at one of the creatures least told about in lore. “The hawk between the eyes of the eagle at the top of Yggdrasil?”
Henry nodded. “And I have no idea what that means.”
Everybody looked around expectantly at the V?lve, but they looked equally clueless.
“Nothing waits for him where I plan to take him?” Steffen asked with a sense of dread.
“No. Because what waits for him has been waiting since he was caped.” Henry shook his head. “And I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that means.”
“Stick with the V?lve, then,” Sk?ll said. “That means close to Steffen.”
“Again, Warlord, I’m sorry to offer contradictory advice. Keep the V?lve close to you and leave the Valkyries to do theirs. Marisol knows where she needs to be.” Henry turned to look at her, still draped over Thorleif and running her fingers through his fur. “And ultimately her coven.”
Astrid nodded. “We will remain nine when seeing off our youngest member.”
Sk?ll looked at Marisol. “Call it.”
“Right here.” Marisol looked at Thorleif. “Grand of stature, grand of might, grand in devotion, and grand in fight.” She looked at Sk?ll. “My dark feathers long for a trip to lands the sun has not shone upon for millennia. And mighty wolves will take me home to cast the shadow that colors my swan.”
Steffen’s head spun. The black swans were black from being shaded?
Suddenly, he felt too ignorant to call himself a keeper of history. He’d readily adopt a new title, though. A student. Of forgotten history.
Steffen looked at Sk?ll, who studied Marisol and the old man.
“I don’t like being ignorant,” Sk?ll growled. “Especially when we run for a goal that is finally within a day’s run.”
“Trust in this.” Henry put a hand over his chest. “It knows even if your mind doesn’t. And we should stay close to you to offer what we hear and see.”
“Do you have visions, too?” Elakdon asked. “A male V?lve?”
Henry shook his head. “I’m Rigr. Only gifted seidr lets me. Oh, and this.” He pointed to his blue eye. “I traded it for sight, but what I see is of no relevance to anyone here or anything now.”
Sk?ll nodded in thought, then looked at Marisol. “Your advice, V?lve?”
Marisol looked at Steffen. “Run, Rigr, Run. Unite the Rigr of tomorrow. See them rise or waste not. Strengthen unity, strengthen allies, strengthen warriors. The road home will be bloody.”
“Anything uplifting to look forward to?” someone shouted.
“A time where we are once again blind to the color blue,” Marisol said.
Disappointed mumbles ran through the crowd.
Hati’s ember roared to life, and Steffen heard an echo of pups and parents laughing through a snowball fight against him and Klaes. It had been the first he’d managed to rope them into after having defeated Ulrik and earned their trust in a Pack Alpha not being a dick who’d turn bitter in the blink of an eye.
Someone chuckled. Another called out a vision for his pack’s future. One of prosperity. Another joined in. A third. Soon after, the ring of people around the fire hummed with uplifted tales of fun from home and wishes for the future.
Steffen glanced at Hati, who stood in his black Vargr form, looking blissful and happy. The need for his pack pulled at Steffen. To pull the lunch wagon around Wolf Park to pick up playing pups. To play basketball. To race the pups through the forest after school. To enjoy coffee in the evening on the sofas of the communal building with the satisfied hum of the pack around him. The shrill cries of pups playing with water on the lawn in the summer. Finn playing guitar and singing around the fire. Watching pups grow confident and bond closer in fights in the sandbox. Tanja and Thyra chasing balls around wearing ridiculous hats and dress-up clothes. Jan laughing and dashing off, victoriously, having managed to trick someone into his latest think-fast challenge. Steffen had lost one of those, being unable to crack an egg with a frying pan. That picture of the blossoming Geri Freki Omega had made it into the year frame at the very center with his brother, Dennis, facepalming himself in the background.
At that moment, Steffen admired the vision Hati had found on behalf of all of them, and the excited, hopeful, and optimistic chatter filled his ember, too.
But so did Marisol’s statement. He guessed only Rigr, who’d battled the dream, the hopelessness, the dread, the sense of loss and confusion and the nothingness could understand how the lack of blue could be a blessing, too.
Where did it all fit, though? And how did it fit with Warlord Sk?ll’s plan and the work of Chaos?
He didn’t know. All Steffen knew was that he had to go make sure that all Rigr were ready to help erase the color blue from the future of all of them.