Page 71 of Vicar
Then right into a fiery explosion.
She blinked and flailed, trying to get her tiny wings to work right as she shot out from a great flame.
A flame born of Leviathan and Destiny Forging in Fire.
The beginning of her and her sisters.
Mesmerized, she gazed at it for a moment before she felt the pull of Helheim. The pull of needing to be born. So she turned to fly into the sun hitting the horizon only to run straight into a heavy gust of violent sinister magic.
Dark magic that was being lobbed at the good guys in an ongoing battle.
Terrified, she tried to break free, but she was entrenched in it until her tiny ethereal body got caught up in good magic. Everything turned light for a flicker of a second before she bounced off a golden unicorn horn, rolled along the creature's equine back, then shot out of the battle altogether into the shadowed woodland of Ireland.
She had only just stabilized when she sensed rather than saw numerous things in the forest. Not just Celtic gods but magical beings. Unusual creatures. Yet it was the gods she needed to worry about right now.
So said an all too familiar voice.
“Come, little one,” came a deep, gravely voice. A darkly compelling voice. “Hold fast to what just touched you and come to me.”
Violence.
She knew it like she knew her naughty half preferred blindfolds to gags.
Trinity had a split second to see an old man in long white robes out of the corner of her eye before someone with long black robes snagged her, chanted, and she whipped into the sun. Or so she thought until the world grew shimmering and peaceful.
Alfheim.
She might still be catapulting forward, but the terror she’d just felt washed away. Rather, she felt whole, home, and safe. And her tiny body reflected that growing solid before,whoosh, she was sucked forward even faster and fell straight into hell.
“No,” she gasped, jolting awake. She sat up terrified, only to realize she hadn’t just entered Múspellsheimr. She wasn’t about to be snatched up by that horrific dragon.
“You’re all right.” Having followed the dream as well, Vicar sat up and pulled her into his arms. “It was just a memory. You’re not there anymore.”
She trembled, trying to shake it off, but it wasn’t easy.
“Now we know what happened,” she managed. “And it wasn’t all that far off from what I speculated about how Violence tracked me.” She met his eyes. “He was there. Many were. Watching. Some waiting for the perfect opportunity.” She shivered. “Evil saw his opportunity with Jade and Violence with me.”
“Yet it wasn’t right away,” he reminded, as relieved as her that Violence hadn’t somehow lured her then and there. It would have stopped the Forge before it had a chance to begin because they needed the power of all five couples.
“Not going to Violence then made all the difference, Trinity,” Vicar said.
“Yet a teensy tiny part of me wanted to,” she confessed. “And you know it.” She released a shaky sigh. “Despite my terror, I was drawn to him.”
“Because your soul had just touched very dark magic,” he said, “right before it touched very good magic.”
“A unicorn,” she whispered, awed. “I’ve caught snippets of Destiny’s thoughts about her role in helping the MacLomains in Scotland and Ireland. Everything that led up to her and Leviathan Forging in Fire. So I knew a unicorn was involved.” She shook her head. “I never could have imagined feeling its magic, though. It was incredible.”
“And no doubt saved you from Violence,” he replied. “Then made sure you were touched by Alfheim before you ended up in Múspellsheimr.”
“Now you both know that’s not completely true,” Loki said, letting himself in despite their state of undress. He eyed Trinity with appreciation before Vicar manifested a fur blanket around her.
“Now tell me,” the god went on. “What do we know about the man in black robes who helped you?” He narrowed his eyes. “Someone who had no place being near my Forge and could very well ruin it.”
