ERICA HAD NO idea what to make of everything Maeva had said and done as she and Eluf faded away yet again. What was she to make of her carvings and the strange, vague tale she told Eluf. Yes, they certainly had something to do with Cybil’s Dragons of Winter Harbor collection and everything they had gone through but how was it all related? Because if she knew nothing else, Maeva was truly starting to lose it.

With a heavy sigh, she walked around the tree when Maeva and Eluf didn’t reappear again. “They’re part of the trunk now,” she whispered as she shook her head, crouched and ran her fingers over a depiction of the Yggdrasill. “Eluf must have merged her carvings with it somehow.”

“Telling in its own way, yes?” Kodran said as he crouched beside her. “Besides Shannon, did your sisters not all see carvings in the tree outside the chalet in Winter Harbor?”

“They did,” she said softly. “Cybil saw the Yggdrasill. Samantha, the Gungnir blade, Lauren the Nidstang close by.” Her eyes met his. “And I saw us.”

He frowned. “Us?”

She moved around the trunk a little and pointed at a man and woman. “I saw us in the tree back home and knew it was my ticket back in time.” She met his eyes again. “I also knew in combination with this blade, it would take me anywhere I wanted to go and not necessarily to you.”

“How did you know that?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Because despite how hard you tried not to, it took you directly back to me,” he reminded with a knowing grin.

“You mean Grant Hamilton took you to me,” she countered.

“Either way.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “You made it back to me.”

Her heart flipped a few times when his lips brushed hers. He had done things to her in that ash bed. No, done things for her, that she was still trying to come to grips with. His sole focus had been on giving her things she had been denied. Love. Tenderness. A sense of hope she had no idea she had given up on with men until he spent so much time making her feel good. No, big time understatement. More like worshipped and adored. 

Then there was that other thing he had done for her.

The magic he had used to slowly but surely burn away the unseen wounds Hallstein had left behind. Not only were his actions thoughtful but done so well, it all felt sensual. She had no sensation of facing old demons, or of the pain she had felt afterwards, just relief. Even her mind felt lighter now. She knew the enemy had hurt her, but memories of the aftermath, how broken she had felt, were fading quickly. Pretty soon those memories would be gone, and Hallstein’s hold over her—a hold she had no idea existed until that ash bed—would be gone too.

Which made her wonder.

If she was strong to begin with how much stronger would she be now thanks to what Kodran had done for her? She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. If she were to guess, what he did was going to free her in more ways than one. She already felt stronger, her mind clearer.

“So many times we held each other beneath this tree,” he murmured. “But I swear it never felt as good as it does now.”

“I know,” she whispered.

Erica was about to say more when the trunk began to glow, then the leaves and yet again, Maeva appeared. This time she was crouched on the ground against the tree shaking.

“What is it?” Eluf appeared, lowered slowly to one knee in front of her and touched her shoulder. He was even older this time. Elderly. “Tell me, Maeva. What is it?”

“It does not matter anymore,” she whispered. “You and your pride.”

It seemed Maeva had not let go of her crazed notion that Eluf only loved her in secret because he was too prideful to admit he desired a dragon. She still lived in a fantasy world. Out of touch with everything that had actually happened.

“Just tell me, my love.” He stroked her hair. “Tell me what happened to you.”

When she clutched her stomach and sobbed, Eluf shook his head and whispered, “No.”

“Yes,” she choked out and met his eyes. “I finally did what I have long said I would do.” She shook her head. “We should not have to live in hiding...so I finally told Bard about us.”

Oh, shit. Maeva had made true on her demented promise. One that bespoke that her mind really had snapped. After all, she, the good side of Maeva, had essentially told the enemy exactly what Eluf had done.

That he had created a doppelgänger.

“He was furious that I love you so much,” she whimpered as she continued to clutch her stomach. “So he...hurt me.”

Translation. Bard had her...and she was pregnant.

Erica and Kodran leapt back, their eyes wide when fresh fury lit Eluf’s face, and his actions became violent. Forget his advanced age, nothing but rage fueled his actions as he slammed his fist against the tree and it burst into flames. A second later, the tree vanished, and he pulled her into his arms. But now he held something.

A twisted cane.

The very same one that Kjar once created from the embers of another ash tree. There was no way to know how that happened but when it came to demi-gods, anything was possible. Not only that, but this was Eluf they were talking about, and something told her that he always found a way around things.

Much like Adlin MacLomain had once upon a time.

Eluf white-knuckled the cane still burning bright red, rested his cheek besides Maeva’s and whispered, “I promise you all will be avenged for what Bard has done to you. I will see it no other way.”

Maeva rested her head against his. “How my love? Because I know now how foolish I was to have spoken. I never should have said—”

Eluf put a finger to her lips and shook his head. “Never apologize for speaking your heart.” He stood then pulled her up. “I will come up with a plan. I will figure this out.”

“Figure this out?” She shook her head, pain in her eyes. “There is no figuring this out. Once Bard realizes I am pregnant, all of this will be over. And what about poor Einar?” She started trembling. “Everyone thinks I am with him. Now what?”

“I will take care of things,” Eluf assured. “I will keep you safe.”

Erica’s eyes widened as she heard Eluf’s thoughts through Kodran. Eluf had been protecting Maeva’s mind for a while now. He was still powerful enough that with Einar’s help, he had deceived many. As it was, Maeva’s sister and her Sigdir mate were thoroughly convinced Maeva had escaped the enemy’s clutches years ago. When she did, she asked to live a quiet life. One without strife. And Einar had helped with that. He had explained her desires to his people, and they understood given what she had suffered.

The only thing that kept the truth sealed was that the dragon tribes had gone to war years ago. Bard and his tribe lived their own life and still battled with Bjark and Einar’s tribes to this day. So it could very easily happen that one Maeva lived a life with Bard and the other, a quiet life with his rivals. Especially knowing Bard and his habit of hiding his women and torturing them.

“I am frightened,” Maeva whispered and met Eluf’s eyes. “This child cannot suffer for the sins of its father.”

Eluf gently brushed her hair back from her forehead. “And he will not, my love.”

Then they faded away.

Though she shouldn’t because they had finally arrived at the point in this story she understood, Erica still felt saddened. Poor Maeva. And Eluf. Her eyes went to Kodran. She knew he felt the same.

“It’s only a matter of time before the baby’s heartbeat is heard by Maeva’s sister,” she said. “So now it all starts to happen. Lauren...I mean Maeva’s sister in this life will go to her when she realizes she was hurt. Eluf will come forward, an anonymous helper that her sister barely trusts but accepts.” She frowned and leaned against the tree. “Then off Maeva goes to Mt. Galdhøpiggen to see through her pregnancy until Eluf deems it safe enough for her to travel through time.”

Kodran leaned against the tree beside her and took her hand. “This is truly a sad story.”

“It is,” she agreed and squeezed his hand before her eyes fell to the blade at his waist. “I wonder where that will take us next.”

Kodran unsheathed it and shrugged. “It’s hard to know.”

“May I?” She held out her hand. “Maybe if we both touch it we can move things along.”

The corner of his mouth curled up. “I remember a time when I tried to convince you to touch this, but you hesitated.”

“Your point?” She met his smile. “But I get it. We’ve come a long way.”

“In a very short time.”

“No kidding.”

He held out the blade. “It’s all yours.”

“No.” She shook her head and wrapped her hand around his on the hilt. “From the very beginning, it’s been all ours.”

Not surprisingly, the hilt warmed, blazed actually, and white light took them somewhere else. They returned to Eluf’s main cave at Mt. Galdhøpiggen’s peak. The shields were gone, and it was darker. Maeva stood near Eluf, now clearly pregnant. And Eluf, poor Eluf, had aged significantly. Now the head seer was hunched over and his voice raspy.

Erica’s eyes widened as she watched multiple people fighting nearby. Maeva’s sister and her mate. Lauren and Tait. They had just been deceived by Bard, and he was reveling in his trickery. That he’d managed to get them to kill one another.

She had heard about this. Knew that it had happened. But there was nothing as awful as watching Lauren being run through with a sword. Bile rose in Erica’s throat, and she squeezed Kodran’s hand. Hell, she was just about done with being in ancient Scandinavia. But naturally, it wasn’t over until it was over.

When Tait whipped a dagger into Maeva’s stomach to reconnect him with Lauren’s soul or some such bullshit, Erica couldn’t help it. She turned away and threw up. Sure, a moment later all would be well, and Maeva and her child would be unharmed thanks to magic, but still...that had been Erica’s baby too.

Her son. In a life long gone.

“Erica,” Kodran murmured, a supportive hand on her back. “Are you all right?”

“No.” She wiped her mouth, closed her eyes and tried to regroup. “Furthest thing from it, actually.”

He started to say something but stopped when everything grew silent. When they looked back, it was to see Eluf and Maeva sharing moments together that nobody knew about. Some of it, yes, but not all of it. Not when Eluf, at his ripe old age, still managed to retain more power than Bard likely anticipated.

What anyone standing close by would have heard, or even a prophet such as Cybil would have seen in a vision, was Eluf urging her to go. That she couldn’t stay there anymore. The enemy would hunt her until she submitted. They would be merciless and unforgiving.

“What of the Sigdir’s?” came Maeva’s soft, feminine reply. “Surely they will give me shelter.”

“Perhaps they would. Perhaps they would not,” Eluf responded. “We cannot trust in uncertainties.”

And that’s where the story changed because though Maeva didn’t seem to follow, Eluf suddenly turned, looked directly at Kodran and Erica and held out his hand. “Give me the blade. Your blade. Mine. Hers. Our kin’s.” His voice softened. “And though I will have to rewrite it a bit, give Maeva her fairytale.”

Erica didn’t hesitate but handed the blade over.

Kodran nodded his approval. He understood that this was bigger than they thought.

Eluf turned back and pressed it into Maeva’s hand. Then he said words meant for other ears. The ones Cybil had heard. And they went as follows...

“Take this and start anew,” Eluf said. “Never say who you are. Never shift again. Become anonymous. As time goes by, the dragon will go to sleep.”

“Will it ever awake?” Maeva asked.

“Only if something awakens it.”

“And what would cause such a thing?”

After that nobody heard anything else in a vision or otherwise. But Erica and Kodran did. They finally heard what else was said. And it broke her heart.

“It is time to say goodbye, Maeva,” Eluf whispered as he cupped her cheeks. “To stay here a moment longer will only put your child at risk.” He stroked her cheek. “We both know there is not much time left for us anyway.”

Tears began to fall as Maeva shook her head. “But I do not...” Her eyes pleaded with him. “We have been together for hundreds of years, my love. Do not send me away now. Let me stay...let me be here for you.”

“No.” Eluf shook his head. “It is time to think not of our own desires but about keeping your bloodline safe.” He rested his hand on her swollen stomach. “This is the soul that matters, Maeva. He is yours and only yours until he brings us back together someday.”

“But how?” she whispered, her heart in her eyes as tears continued rolling down her cheeks.

“With strength. Yours and mine.” He squeezed her hand around the hilt of the blade. “And this. Reborn of our love. Found again.”

She shook her head. “What does that mean?”

A wistful smile curled his lips, and though Erica sensed he wanted to glance at her and Kodran, he didn’t. “It means we will find each other again someday, my love. And when we do, ignorance will be defeated, and nothing will ever keep us from being together again.”

Maeva looked from the dagger to him and whispered, “I am scared, Eluf.”

“Do not be.” He cupped her cheek. “Because you are strong and once you go where I am sending you, you will become stronger. Your mind will clear, and your memories shall become less painful. You will live a good life and love your child well.”

“How do you know that?” She shook her head and choked back a sob. “How can you possibly know that?”

“Because I have been around for a very, very long time,” he murmured. “And have loved you time and time again.”

“So we will see each other again?” she asked, hopeful. “Because it sounds like we may.”

“We will,” he assured and kept his hand over hers on the hilt of the blade. “I promise you.”

Erica couldn’t stop her own tears as a single tear rolled down Eluf’s cheek. It was the first she had seen him shed since all this began. When she glanced at Kodran, she wasn’t surprised to see the heartache in his eyes too. This had been a powerful moment for them in another life. The saddest, most heartbreaking thing either of them had ever experienced.

“I love you, Eluf,” Maeva whispered.

“And I love you,” he whispered back before he started chanting and she faded away. Shortly after that, he faded as well. But they knew what happened next. Eluf had managed to fight off Bard. But it didn’t matter. The enemy had a new target. Maeva’s tribe.

They would pay for this deception.

“That was rough to see.” Erica wiped away a tear and met Kodran’s eyes. “You have to wonder though...who really created that blade? Was it Kjar in the flames of the ash? But he couldn’t have without Lauren burning that tree down. And Lauren wouldn’t have existed without the blade traveling with Maeva to the future, to begin with.”

“’Tis a bloody good riddle,” Adlin declared as he appeared and assessed the cave. “Och, something dire indeed just happened here, aye?”

“To put it lightly,” Erica said. “But at least we have a lot more answers then we did before.”

“I thought you might.” Adlin considered the cave. “It already has a different feel about it...an emptiness that wasnae here before.”

“Maeva,” Kodran murmured. “Without her here it will never feel the same for Eluf. This mountain will never feel the same.”

Erica slipped her hand into his as she felt his pain. The great loss Eluf had suffered.

A moment later, things started to change again. They didn’t switch locations, but the shields reappeared. As did Eluf who stood at the entrance to the cave. He wore a thunderous expression and gripped his cane in anger as he stared into the distance.

As soon as they knew they were under attack, Maeva’s kin had engaged Bard’s over the sea. The battle was vicious and heartbreaking, but thankfully Einar’s dragons were going to their rescue. At least they were until the unexpected happened.

Bard took advantage of a weak link Eluf never saw coming.

His head apprentice, Asmund.

Better yet, the dragon he had long loved from afar. Shannon in another life.

“Loki’s cock,” Kodran ground out as Eluf’s thoughts ran through his mind as readily as hers. “Bard promised Asmund that he would spare some of Bjark’s dragons if he cast a spell to pull Einar’s dragons back.”

“No,” Eluf roared at the sky. If any were strong enough to pull off such a feat, it was one of his head apprentices. “Do not do it, Asmund! Do not trust him!”

“But Asmund did do it,” she whispered. “Well, almost. Those who were already mated to Bjark’s dragons were able to bypass the summoning.”

“A summoning so strong it could not be ignored,” Eydis murmured as she appeared beside them.

“’Twould have to be,” Adlin said softly. “And ‘twould have to involve their dragon leader as well.”

Kodran shook his head. “Einar.”

“Yes,” Eydis said. “When Bard left this cave, he dispatched half of his tribe to destroy Maeva’s people while he went after both Einar and Asmund. As soon as he was able to capture Einar, he harnessed the power of both an original dragon and a head apprentice seer...then things became a thousand times worse.”

“Sonofabitch,” Erica whispered as so much became clear. “Bard didn’t just manage to annihilate my people that day but the majority of the Sigdirs as well.”

“Yes,” Eydis said sadly. “Under the telepathic influence of so much magic, they were barely themselves by the time they were unnaturally lured to Bard and the other half of his tribe. They were spellbound and vulnerable...weakened.” Her eyes met Kodran’s. “And they paid for it with their lives.”