Page 61 of Vicar
“That’s right,” Trinity said. She and Vicar battled on. Trees snapped and cracked the closer Violence got. “Because I did like her some.” She side-kicked a warrior then drove a dagger into the stomach of another man rushing her. “I liked how courageous she was. How upfront about how she felt. What she thought.”
He could admit he liked that about her too. Liked more about both Trinity’s sides than he was willing to admit. Which evidently gave his inner Sigdir just the amount of sentiment he needed to surpass his inner Múspellsheimr.
“You’re back,” Trinity said, feeling it the moment it happened. She crossed swords with an opponent while Vicar did the same. “Just like that, your Sigdir side has returned, and your Múspellsheimr half has taken a back seat.”
He had, but it felt different this time. The anger he usually experienced at knowing his other side had taken over wasn’t there. Instead, he felt more of a comradeship. Gratefulness that his other half hadn’t done anything awful to her. Hadn’t behaved like he might have even a day ago.
“We need to keep moving,” he urged. “Now.”
Despite how impressive her battle skills, they could only hold up for so long with this many men coming at them. Worse yet, there was a bigger beast on their tails.
Following his thoughts, Trinity knew their best course of action. They would cut a line through the warriors coming at them from the left and make a run for it.
“I’d say we should shift to dragons again,” she said, “but I have a feeling my inner Alfheim will only shift me back.”
“Because it did the first time,” he realized as they started battling their way to the left. “Just like reverting you to your softer self when you landed in the Alfheim tree, it was protecting you from Violence. It’s trying to keep him from being drawn to your Múspellsheimr side or you in dragon form.”
“You’re right.” She sounded certain. “I’d bet anything Violence initially approached me in dragon form after years of possessing others. That it was my dragon, he manipulated.”
“Which makes your inner beast more susceptible to his draw.”
“Exactly.”
As if he knew how close to the truth they were getting, the outer rim of trees closest to them slammed to the ground, and the air seemed to electrify.
“Go,” came a voice nearby. “Run!”
His cousin Estrid had manifested with an army of dead that had grown substantially in the short time since Midgard’s Rift had come into existence. Deceased men and women who chose not to be idle in death but fight the war from the other side until Helheim was open to them again.
Vicar didn’t hesitate but, knowing he could move faster, threw Trinity over his shoulder and bolted. Meanwhile, Estrid and her warriors attacked Mórrígan’s possessed Vikings with sound and touch they couldn’t see or hear.
“What about Jade?” Trinity worried. “Though I can’t shift, I shouldn’t leave her back there all alone.”
“She’s not alone,” he reminded. “She has gods fighting alongside her, as well as a mate who would never let harm come to her. Not just that, but few fight as well as your sister.”
“She really is good, isn’t she?”
“Ja.”
“I’d tell you I could run on my own,” Trinity mused, logical, clearly trying to focus on something other than worrying about her sister. “But I’ll admit you really are faster than me.”
He smiled despite the dire situation and moved faster still, zigzagging in and out of trees. Violence’s presence loomed larger and larger. Clouds whipped into a frenzy overhead, fueling the frothing rage of possessed warriors behind them. So said their grunts of warfare becoming outright roars as Vicar put more distance between them.
“We’re tracking you,”Thorulf said into their minds.“Once you’re in the cave, keep running, brother. Run until we’ve fully protected everything. Tor will be waiting.”
It was a wonder Thorulf and Jade could accomplish such a feat alongside Thor and Loki. It spoke much to their increased power and gave him great pride in his brother. Tor waiting on the inside was welcome news too. If nothing else, his brother-in-arms would only level him more, which meant less chance of his other side creating problems.
“I’m not so sure he will anymore,” Trinity said. “He’s...” she hesitated, searching for the right words, “changed since this all began.”
She was right. He could feel it from the inside out. His Múspellsheimr side was by no means tamed orkeptas Trinity had threatened on Jade and Thorulf’s adventure but pleasantly subdued. More level. He was there, ready to battle, to satiate his bloodlust, but it wasn’t so he could prove to his following how impressive he was. Not anymore. Now he simply wanted to end what had affected him and Trinity so much. What had caused such havoc in their lives.
Not for his following but for her.Them.
“And what about her?” he wondered, jumping a log then picking up his pace again. “Has your inner Múspellsheimr softened any? Because she felt different back in the Múspellsheimr chamber. Less aggressive, perhaps?”
“Perhaps,” she agreed, amused despite the danger they were in. “She didn’t want to castrate you then hook up with Violence anymore, so that’s a pretty big step.”
He chuckled. “You think to convince me she wanted to castrate me?”
