Page 30 of Between Broomsticks and Beating Wings
She pointed to a scroll, then handed me some more elder roots. The incantation looked unusual, reminding me of the ones on the scroll Rune had given me. “Do it as it’s meant to be done. Don’t make any changes to it.”
I shrugged and read the runes of the spell a few times before I began bending the roots to my will, muttering under my breath as I went. It took me half as long to place the spell, and when Iwas done, there was no rotten stench. Áma took it from me with a smile.
“Ah, there you are! It only took using seidr of the underworld to get it right.”
I swallowed hard, glancing back down at the elder roots I had just placed a protection spell on. The tips of my fingers felt warm, and I noticed a faint line under my nails, like I had residual charcoal shoved under them.
Áma stood and headed over to her chest. “I want you to stay with me for the week and learn more about this power of yours. I do believe it’s unlike anything you’ve seen on Midgard, and I have the resources here to help you understand it, at least a little more than you do now. You’re in no condition to travel with a wounded shoulder like that anyhow.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
NO GOODBYES
Rune
It’d been a week since Kari and Áma began their lessons, and in that time, Kari and I had managed to avoid each other for most of it. We ate meals with Áma as our buffer, since when we were alone, tension filled the air, and the two of us found some reason to bicker.
One of those days, I was feeling rather generous and put cinnamon in Kari’s otherwise plain porridge. The next day, apples. I’d still given her the same meal three times a day, while making elaborate and tasty dishes for Áma, Tove, and me, but until she let me in the bed with her, cinnamon and apples were considered my kindness. She’d been lucky I hadn’t let her starve, seeing as I’d woken each day with a tweaked neck and a stiff back.
I spent my days with Apple, flying around the Valley of the Mist and rejuvenating my seidr upon her back. I was using far less than I was used to, not having to cater to every whim of the souls I was responsible for. There was a deep need within me, however, one I craved to fulfill. While I’d wanted a break forso long, taking souls was ingrained in me. If you do something enough, it becomes a part of you, and a collector of the spirits of the slain was who I was, who I’d been for centuries.
Now that I was out of Valhalla, I was still in my leathers, still upon Apple's back, my white hair still in elaborate braids, but I hadn’t worn my armor since I’d stripped myself of it on the first night in Áma’s home. My body felt light without it in more ways than one, but today was my last day of that feather feel.
Kari had been making progress, and Áma had enough of our presence. While Kari still felt she had so much to learn from her, it was time we moved on, for Áma’s sanity and for our safety. While we were hidden in the mist, we were still in Asgard, and I didn't want to give Odin more reason to find us. If he entered the mist, it would be war, and everyone hidden within the mist would pay. We weren’t the only ones living under Odin’s nose, but we were certainly the newest, and the ones with the most heat on us.
I’d been yearning to see Rayna, and I’d picked up Apples’ reins many times to send her a message in any way I could, but I caught myself each time. She had no idea if I was still alive or where in the nine realms I was. I hated to make her wonder, and the feeling that was birthed from the lies and secrets hung over me as heavy as a storm cloud. I’d chosen Kari over my sister, and Kari fucking hated me.
Truly marvelous.
Apple swooped down through two rock houses on the mountainside before nose diving toward the valley below. Today was the day I’d go to Helheim, and I’d be collecting as much power as I could in preparation. Once we went through the Asgard gate, we’d have to go the rest of the way on foot.
The path between gates sat outside the realms. Gods ignored them in favor of the Bifrost, so they were claimed by monsters and traveled by low powered beings willing to take their chances.
I was neither.
Apple whinnied as she landed near Áma’s home, and I gave her a pat on the rear. I conjured an apple and tossed it in the air for the bottomless pegasus.
“That’s my girl,” I whispered as she chomped on the fruit, sending apple juice spraying two feet in every direction.
“She’s very beautiful.”
Peering over my shoulder, I spotted a strawberry blonde standing with a basket in her hands. Tove sat within it, fat and happily eying down an insect in the distance.
“You’re talking to me now, are you?” My attention was on Epli, where I scratched at the spots her armor usually covered. She too got a nice break from her gilded cage, and I’d made sure she’d gotten the most out of it.
“I was never ignoring you,” Kari said. “If you haven’t noticed, Áma and I have been rather busy in the incantation chamber. Doesn’t leave much time for chatting.”
“I imagine it doesn’t,” I agreed. “It’s probably for the best, seeing as we’ll be gettingmorethan enough of each other in the upcoming weeks.”
“When you’d told me we’d be traveling through the gateways, I hadn’t realized it’d take so long to get to each of them. I didn’t expect we’d be in a…purgatory of sorts.”
With one last pat, I dropped my arms from Apple and left her to graze. My gaze wandered over to Kari, taking in the lined smock Áma had given her. It was far simpler than anything I’d ever had in Valhalla. The under bust leather supported her, cinching the rust colored fabric of her dress that complemented her hair. She wore a shawl, as she often did, the edges of it embroidered with runes. I studied them, the symbols all speaking of safe passage and blessed voyage.
Clever girl.
“Mmm…well, the trip will give us plenty of time to discover what it is you truly want.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kari asked, following me back inside Áma’s home.
