Epilogue
SHAW
Cocooned in a tomb of snow and ice, I scoop Aslaug closer, running my hands over her transforming body. Dazed and immensely proud that Rasha connected the last link, I take my first breaths of renewed immortality. She has shattered the barriers that held my god attributes at bay.
Pure power emanates from every vein, healing my bones and muscles. Eradicating my exile, the expansion of our bond seers up my spine, through my skull, where sharp antlers are poking through my head.
“We must find her,” I say, holding the giant cat closer. I push my hand up through the layers of icy crust. Snow blasts everywhere in my first uncontrolled use of blind power. Fuck, I missed this.
Connecting with another rough hand, I know it’s Vidarr who pulls us up.
“She’s going to die if we don’t hurry.” He doesn’t wait for me to catch up. I sling the slow breathing Aslaug over my back so her head is resting on my shoulders, and we run.
“Are the others dead?” I glance behind us where Jorvik, Joanna, and Bjorn are buried in the onslaught of snow.
“Her brother and the girl are the only ones who have survived. Their life force is dim, but I feel it. I might have aided a tree in landing on the shit-head who hurt Aslaug,” Vidarr explains, his chin gesturing to the lynx slowly coming into consciousness.
The quick moment of pride at Rasha’s courage to wipe everyone out with an avalanche is replaced with fear that if I can’t bring her body to the ascendance, she’ll die before her transformation is complete.
Following our connection, I sift through massive snow drifts and felled trees at the bottom of the cliff.
Reindeer begin rising out of the snow with Vidarr’s help.
Their noses instantly brush through the ground, their hooves digging through the heavy piles until I feel Aslaug stir near my ear.
Kneeling, I let the lynx slide off and nimbly trot to a spot in the center of what will be a field come Spring.
I aim both hands at the snow, tempering my explosive power, trying to smooth the snow away from the place Aslaug is digging. Reindeer come in full force with Vidarr in the fray to encircle us. He glides on his coattails to where I am, helping to steady my magic so I don’t crack the earth.
“Stop, I see her.” He releases my shoulder, and we break into a run.
Aslaug peers at us, the unsure look in her amber eyes making my stomach clench.
What if Rasha is dead? Is my fate perpetually doomed to find a partner and watch them die on my behalf?
I can’t stop the emotions bubbling up through my skin, sizzling the snow off my torn clothes.
“Give me the map,” Vidarr says. Tossing the silver-star antler map to him, I barely register him criss-crossing the open space, making the runes.
I don’t know how to hold her as I sink to my knees.
Tears I haven’t shed in hundreds of years drop onto my cheeks.
Her body is broken, limbs twist the wrong way, and blood seeps out of her nose and mouth.
Yet, she tucked Skadi’s bow into her vest all the same.
“Rasha?” Her name is all I can manage as I remember I am a god.
Soon she will be too. Aslaug whines, her big teeth pressing into my bicep, as if to tell me I am wasting time.
Running my palms over Rasha’s broken arms, I pop her shoulder socket back in place, keeping the bond smoldering between us, and she stirs.
“You’re going to be okay,” I murmur, making her hair wet with my salty tears.
My fingers find the gaping hole from the arrow in her thigh, and I open my chaotic flowing magic, threading her muscles back together.
“Are you ready?” Vidarr shouts. He’s standing with his arms wide, beckoning magic to expand through his hands. The reindeer sense the three of us and nudge each other into a perfect circle.
Lifting Rasha into my arms, I watch her body tremble, and she reaches for me. “I’m right here.” I grip her hand, feeling the finished chain crumpled inside her blood-stained palm. I whisper over and over again that I love her, hoping that I can keep her heart beating until we ascend.
A thousand reindeer circle around me as I hold Rasha, and Vidarr stands with Aslaug at his side. Their hooves and curved antlers blur so we can no longer see the forest or the mountains, kicking up sparking snow into the air over our heads. I press my palm into Rasha’s and kiss her knuckles.
I am returning with my Queen to reclaim my throne. No one, immortal or mortal, will stand in our way to rebalance our worlds.