Page 8 of Freyr's Hirdman
Freyr let fly his own arrow, but his gambit failed, for the thunder had spooked the stag too. As his newest arrow lodged into a tree, I was on my feet before its feathers stopped quivering. Even barreling through the thick sheets of rain, I attempted to skewer the animal while it ran.
I hit a half-completed nest on a low branch instead and watched a warbler flutter off in irritation.
“You’ll never hit anything with your arms!” Freyr called as we converged upon the narrow path the stag had headed down.
“How does one fire a bow without arms?”
“With yourback, little raven!” Freyr fired a running shot like I had, barely an arm’s length from me now, and the arrow zipped so near to the stag’s head, it buzzed its ear, sending it into a faster gallop.
I knew to use my back, but I had no proper anchor while in motion. I also had my hair plastered across my eyes. Worse was how Freyr was miraculously dry, as if a bubble of clear skies existed only for the god of nature.
I kicked his ankle, stumbling him into the nearest tree and breaking him out of whatever spell he’d cast to keep dry. He was as drenched as I was in moments.
“Scoundrel!” he accused.
“Just following my lord’s example!” I sprinted ahead.
I would never get in a good shot while running though; I didn’t have the skills. I had to use my speed, get as close to the stag as possible, plant myself, and fire with proper support. So thatwas what I strove to do while keeping my ears open for Freyr’s pursuit.
The downpour stopped, giving way to the rising sun, as was expected from a bested nature god. We were coming upon another clearing, with other animals disturbed by our hunt and fleeing ahead of us. Once the stag reached the opening, Freyr’s superior skills would outshine mine if I didn’t fire my arrow first.
I could hear him closing in on me and pushed myself with one last burst of speed before digging in my heels and calling upon my back muscles to carry my aim true. Just as I drew my arrow, Freyr appeared beside me, drawing an arrow of his own in almost perfect sync, and then—
My string snapped, and the arrow that would have loosed fell at my feet.
Freyr’s boisterous laugh nearly doubled him over with his arrow still nocked.
I couldn’t help but laugh too. We were both soaked and smudged with dirt, and our hard-earned quarry was halfway to Asgard. As we laughed and caught our breaths, Freyr put his arrow away and clapped a hand on my shoulder.
“No one ever said our storyteller and stablemaster was a hunter, eh?”
“I missed because my string snapped! And I am admittedly terrible at this. What’s your excuse?”
Freyr wiped some of the wetness from his eyes, tears from laughing mixed with lingering rainwater, and then settled his green gaze on me. “I was distracted by the scenery.”
Even chilled from the short-lived storm, my subsequent shiver was from anything but the cold. After all, the coming dawn was warm, as was the touch on my shoulder, for Freyr was the one who summoned the sun.
He looked so beautiful as he was in that moment, waterlogged and speckled with dirt, just looking at me like he hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
“There it is,” I said.
“What?” Freyr turned to look around us as if the stag might reappear.
I lifted my free hand to fold over his on my shoulder and never once looked away from his handsome visage. “Every once in a while, very rarely, you drop the mask that hides your sorrow. I know this is one of those times because your happiness is genuine, but your pain remains like clouds covering it.”
More pain bled into Freyr’s expression, burdened as he was by anyone knowing he felt it.
“It is okay to feel joyandsadness, Fricco, and to let it be seen.” I brushed my cheek against our connected hands.
Freyr pulled his hand away but only so he could stroke a finger along my chin. “Kings, let alone gods, little raven, are not allowed such luxury in front of their people.”
“But you are when you are with me.”
Freyr’s eyes drifted to my lips, then up, then to my lips again, like he was hesitant to take what this moment was drawing us into. Perhaps, in some things, I needed to be the one to lead.
I stepped closer and tilted my chin up.
Something barreled into us, bowling us over onto the ground. I was so stunned, so winded by the unexpected impact, all I could do was struggle for breath, but Freyr’s godly reflexes far surpassed mine. He snatched up my previously lost arrow, and while whatever beast that had rammed into us was equally struggling to right itself, Freyr pinned it and drove the arrow into its heart.
