As the Crow Flies (Book 19 in the Godhunter Series)

by Sumida,Amy

  I took a deep breath, hoping that I was up to the task.

  There, in the center of the meadow, lay the Heart Stone. I could feel its beat from where I stood, as if coming into sight with it had aligned us instantly. The heart had been waiting for me, holding on like an ailing parent desperate to see its child one last time. Except this parent didn't want to die, and it knew I could save it.

  “You fucking traitor.”

  We all flinched, and turned to see Freyr standing at the far edge of the meadow, opposite us. He was staring at his sister like she had just stuck a knife in his heart.

  “Yngvi,” Freya held up a hand and stepped forward. But before she could say anything else, a shimmering heatwave burst out from Freyr's hands and hit Freya in the chest. She went tumbling back and lay on the ground, groaning.

  Eamon inhaled sharply and withdrew a few steps, but Thor and Odin went forward... with my sons on their backs. Oh hell no.

  “You've got five seconds to rethink this,” I said to Freyr calmly as I stepped in front of the men.

  “Fuck you, Godhunter,” he spat and dove at me.

  I was so shocked that he physically attacked me instead of using his magic, that I lay sprawled beneath him, stunned for a second, allowing him to get a good punch in. The ringing in my head ironically cleared my daze, and since I was already dizzy, I headbutted Freyr. A satisfying crunch made me smile. Blood gushed down his face from his broken nose as he reeled back.

  I saw Odin and Thor start towards us, but I held my hand out to them, “I got this. Watch over the children.”

  “Yeah, you'll get something alright, meddlesome bitch,” Freyr growled as he came at me again.

  “You'd best watch your mouth, Sunshine,” I drawled in my best Daryl Dixon impersonation.

  Mr. Blonde and Bastardly only smiled viciously and swung at me. I dodged out of the way, but his follow-up punch got me in the gut. The breath rushed out of me and I fell forward into him, using my weight to take him down with me. That's always been one of my fighting rules: If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me.

  My sons began to wail in unison and it inflamed me further, my hands beginning to shake from the rush of adrenaline.

  Inside me, my beasts started growling They were all focused on one thing: protecting our young. They clamored for release, clawing at my chest, but I didn't need them. I could handle Freyr, even with my broken star. He was a god of Rain, Sunshine, Fertility, Prosperity, and ironically, Peace. What was he going to do, shine some peace on me? Please. I think I could take him without teeth and claws

  As he tried to push me off, I pulled my knees up, using them to hold his chest down, and punched him in the face. His head had nowhere, the ground holding him firm, and his already broken nose flattened. Blood gushed down into his mouth and he spat it at me. I flinched back with a grimace. Gross. I'd have to remember that trick, and add it to my own nasty repertoire. I narrowed my eyes on Freyr, and just as he tensed to make another effort to free himself, I lifted my burning hand to his face. His eyes widened.

  “How much heat can you take, Yngvi?” I asked him.

  Before he could answer, I was knocked aside. I went tumbling, ass over teakettle, another body rolling with me. When we stopped, I found Freya above me, her amazonian frame pinning me down. A glance to the side showed Freyr beating a hasty retreat, lightning bolts nipping at his heels as both Odin and Thor gave chase.

  “Damn it, Freya, I wasn't going to kill him,” I pushed at her. “I just wanted to scare him into leaving me alone.”

  “Oh,” she eased back. “Sorry. He's my only brother.”

  She stood and helped me to my feet. I sighed and looked over to Thor and Odin. They were at the edge of the meadow, staring after the retreating god with dark looks. My sons had gone quiet. They were watching me carefully from the men's backs.

  “Should we go after him?” I asked Odin and Thor.

  “I'll go,” Freya said grimly. “I need to speak to my brother about the responsibilities of godhood. You stay here and do what you need to do to save Alfheim.”

  I nodded as she ran off, and then looked to the Heart Stone. My feet took me to it automatically. The men came with me, closing in around me protectively. My sons started making whimpering noises, so Thor and Odin took the boys out of the backpacks and held them so they could see me. They quieted down as I eased forward.

  “I won't let you die,” I whispered and laid my hand on the stone.

  Immediately, I felt a pull like a fist twisting in my chest and yanking me down. I gasped and fell forward, both palms flattening on the stone as my lower body dropped. The men rushed forward in concern, but I looked back at them and shook my head.

  “I'm fine,” I laid myself down onto the stone, and felt its heartbeat permeate my whole body till my heart beat in time with it.

  My vision filled with light. I closed my eyes against the glare. But it was inside me and I couldn't escape it. Within that light, a golden shape moved. It came forward and warmth filled me, a presence so achingly familiar that I began to cry like a child.

  “Mother,” I whispered as she pressed against my cheek. “I need your help again.”

  The presence eased back, and just when I thought she would leave me, she gave me the knowledge of what I needed to do. I inhaled sharply as the pieces fell into place within my mind, and for one brief moment, I had absolute clarity. I saw the picture I was meant to paint. I saw the colors, the design, the plan. There was no higher being behind it. Neither Faerie nor Alaric had foreseen this or maneuvered it into happening. But there was a plan, there was a reason. Not reason like you find inside a thinking mind. More like the reason behind a storm or a wildfire. One thing leading to another; a natural order to bring a final result that would benefit all.

  I'd thought of Faerie as the voice of the Source, and the same for Al with the Void. I'd thought they were the Source and the Void, the mind within the magic. But they weren't. Not exactly. They were pieces of the whole, like our consciousness is a piece of our whole. It exists within our body, and can direct our body in certain ways. But there are functions of life which work without our direction. Cells live and die within us, all to support us and the greater good of our existence. A symphony of activity subconsciously orchestrated.

  This symphony was what I'd glimpsed, but on a much grander scale. I heard its music at last, and knew that there was something more powerful than fate or destiny or even the consciousness of a realm. A single mind couldn't conduct this orchestra, no matter how great that mind may be. This was the flow of everything. The Source, the Void, all of the realms and the spaces between them. All of us and the space between us. It was the underlying power which connected every living thing.

  It has no name. To even attempt to limit it with a label would be impossible. But I knew it intimately in that moment and it gave me peace. I had raged against the thought that my life was out of my hands, that I had no control over it. When I had all the control. We all do. But it's a different type of control than we imagine. It's not a conscious choice. It's an instinctive process, loving instead of dominating. It wants us to be happy because it is us.

  I know I won't be able to explain it well enough for you to understand. Mere moments after the vision left me, I barely understood it myself. But I will always remember the feel of it. I wish I could have held onto it longer, held onto that feeling, and kept more than the memory of it with me. To have the complete unity and sublime peace which came from knowing that everything would be just as it was born to be.

  “Born to be,” I whispered and turned over onto my back. The peace may not have stayed with me, but at least now I knew what I had to do. I held my arms out to Thor, “Give me Brevyn.”

  “Brevyn?” Thor frowned. “Why?”

  “Give him to her,” Odin said in a low, reverent voice as he stared at me with astonished eyes. He'd glimpsed it too, I could see the remnants of it on him. It must have been our link, allowing him to share the moment with me.r />
  Thor shot his father a nasty look, but came forward and slid Brevyn into my arms gently. I placed my son carefully onto the stone beside me and sighed. It felt like I was bringing Brevyn home. Peace settled into my heart again, another shimmer of that feeling, as Brevyn opened his eyes and smiled at me. I laid my forehead to his and just held him. Waiting.

  As we touched, that essence which was once within me, the piece of my mother lodged within my nahual, rose up behind Brevyn and flowed into him. His little body shivered as his very cells shifted, his god soul trying to adjust to this new magic, this faerie essence. The symphony played on, and as my son once more became someone else, so did I.

  The flow didn't stop with him, but rushed into me through our joined skin. I saw my nahual again, the regal white jaguar with her golden spots. She leaped into me through my son, leaving my mother behind like a snake shedding its skin. Aednat split herself again to save her family and protect her legacy.

  I smiled as my jaguar came home, overjoyed to have her back along with the tiniest trace of my mother. Then my nahual began setting my souls to rights, conducting the dissonant chords inside me in a savage effort to make them into sweet music again. This was no easy task. Nor was it a pleasant one. The splitting of my star had been painful, but the healing of it was far worse.

  I flew back onto the stone, one hand automatically holding Brevyn in place as agony rocked my body. Claws, teeth, snarls, and roars. Screams of battle, cries of passion, the rush of the tide. The strength and weakness of humanity, the pride and power of the gods, and the swirling elements of the fey. All the spokes of my star shrieked to be heard at once. They cut through me as my nahual dragged them back to my center with her very teeth, like a mother cat corralling her rebellious young.

  My whole body was tight with the torture of it, muscles clenched to the point of palsy, teeth ground together, and eyes squeezed shut. I felt a hand gently remove mine from Brevyn, a sweet voice reassuring me that my son was fine. I should let go, take care of myself. Heal, Godhunter, heal yourself.

  A song filled my ears then. A soothing melody which sounded familiar. The music seemed to vibrate with the dissonance inside me and help to tune it. A hand went to my chest and warmth filled me as I felt Eamon's light sink into me. Beyond that light was Brevyn. His little body had formed a link between the land and the Source. Brevyn was already feeding Alfheim and with it, he fed the light elves. In a round about way, my son was healing me.

  Eamon sang and sang, filling me with the healing magic of the light elves, as if all of his people stood with him. My hand went to his, pressing it to my chest as the last piece of my star settled into place.

  Starlight flared through me, and Eamon's song fell away as his hand slipped from mine. I felt my body lift, limbs hanging limply at my sides. Then magic burst through me and my eyes shot open. I fell the few inches I'd been hovering over the stone, and sat up with a deep gasp. Odin, Thor, and Eamon stood before me, staring at me in awe. Behind them were the rest of the light elves. They had come to help Eamon heal my star. Around them were all of the creatures of Alfheim, serenely watching me.

  Thor scooped up Brevyn from where he'd been holding my son on the stone, and handed him to me. I stood and the light elves knelt. I caught a glimmer in the corner of my eye, and glanced down at Brevyn to see a glowing crown upon his brow. It was gold with living leaves entwined around it. At its center apex, there was a star. A nine-pointed star to represent the Nine Norse worlds and the Nine Great Magics. Brevyn may not have been exactly like me, no beasts within him, but he held three races now, thanks to my mother's essence, and he could very well hold three magics someday. Perhaps he would gain three beasts too. It seemed that the potential was enough. At least for Alfheim.

  “Trinity Star,” the light elves said reverently. I held Brevyn up to them and they cried it even louder; “Trinity Star!”

  The crown on Brevyn's head brightened and then faded away, but I knew it was still there. Nothing could remove it. Nothing could break this bond now that it had been set. Alfheim had its faerie ruler at last. A faerie who had once been a Norse god. Can you hear the symphony yet?

  Chapter Thirteen

  “He's gone,” Freya came back into the clearing with an annoyed look. She took in my position, seated on the Heart Stone with my sons held on my lap, and frowned deeper. “What did I miss?” She glanced around at the light elves and lifted her brows. “A lot evidently.”

  “We have a new Trinity Star,” Eamon said with reverence.

  “A new one?” Freya cocked her head. “Who's that?”

  “Brevyn,” I nodded to my smiling son, and he shook a happy fist at me. “He's given Aednat's essence a new home.”

  “No kidding,” Freya came over to peer down at him. “But how is he going to rule Alfheim? He's just a baby.”

  “He won't rule until he's older,” I sighed and looked to Eamon. “Which means he'll need a steward to watch over it in his stead.”

  “Me?” Eamon blinked his suddenly wide eyes. “I cannot, I-”

  “Yes, you can,” a female elf laid her hand gently on his shoulder. “Freyr turned his back on us and you stepped up, Eamon. You've been our leader for all this time. We know you can watch over Alfheim for the Trinity Star.”

  “There you go,” I chuckled. “It's decided.”

  “But what if Freyr returns?” Eamon asked.

  “He has no power here anymore,” the woman nodded towards Brevyn. “There is our king. Freyr's magic will hold no sway over us.”

  “We can fight him,” Eamon whispered.

  “You couldn't before?” I lifted a brow.

  “No,” Eamon started to grin. “We cannot lift a hand against the King of Alfheim.”

  “But Freyr isn't king anymore,” Odin nodded. “You'll be fine. But should you need assistance, you may call upon me.”

  “And me,” Thor added. “We are both near.”

  “And now that we have a new king,” the female elf added, “he may establish a new chant to allow you to trace into Alfheim directly.”

  “You hear that, Brev?” I said to my son. “Looks like you'll get to make some changes right away.”

  “I'd better take Rian,” Odin reached for my little redhead, and Rian surprisingly went to him eagerly.

  I guess all dragons are attracted to power, and Odin's dominant display earlier had only endeared him to my rambunctious son. A firm hand is a loving one, no one knew that better than dragons.

  I was about to ask the light elves for some advice on choosing a tracing chant, when the grass brightened beneath my feet and lifted its healthy blades to the shining sun above us. And it wasn't just the sun glowing with light, it was the trees. Alfheim was coming back to life around us; flowers blooming, trees sprouting glistening buds, and the animals glowing with health. I looked to the light elves, and watched as their flesh plumped, hollowed cheeks filling and eyes beginning to gleam with magic.

  A cooling breeze circled us, as if Alfheim herself sighed in relief, and the light elves began to sing.

  Tears came to my eyes as I listened to the beautiful words, the grateful, joyous tribute they made to their new king and the life he'd given back to his kingdom. I looked from Rian to Brevyn, and realized that now each of my boys had a land to call their own. We were on the right path again, more perfect than it was originally meant to be. And it had all begun with Ull's decision to die.

  “You did good, honey,” I whispered to Brevyn and kissed his head. He smiled softly up at me and, for just a moment, I saw Ull in his eyes.

  Chapter Fourteen

  After we'd decided on a tracing chant for Alfheim, and set it into place within the tracing chamber of Alfheim's open-air hall, Odin, Thor, my sons, and I gathered to use the tracing room to travel home to Pride Palace.

  I felt incredible, my chest full of light and power. Every inch of me tingled with vitality, and my beasts were happy, truly happy; at peace for the first time since my star had been shattered. I felt compl
ete again, strong enough to face any adversary. Nothing was going to bring me down from this high.

  “Before we leave, we need to tell you something,” Odin placed a hand gently on my arm.

  My face fell.

  Rian was strapped into his baby carrier on Odin's back and Brevyn was with Thor. I glanced at my sleeping sons but they were both fine. My little princes. Though I guess Brevyn was now technically a king. Wouldn't that blow Arach's mind? It was kind of blowing mine, truth be told.

  “What is it?” I asked once I was certain nothing was wrong with my babies.

  “It's...” Odin's amazing peacock colored eyes traveled to the edge of my face.

  “What?” my hand lifted to my face in horror. “Did something happen to my face? Am I disfigured? Dang it, I knew I was too happy. Something always goes wrong when I'm too happy.”

  “It's your hair,” Thor said simply. “Your face is fine.”

  “My hair,” I felt my eyes widen. “What's wrong with my hair?” I grabbed at the thick lengths of dark hair curling around me, and my eyes caught a bright flash among the deep mahogany. “What the hell?” I pulled forward a swath of snow white hair and gaped at it.

  “We think it was the strain of putting your star back together,” Odin suggested gently. “But it could also be the manifestation of your star magic. When the light hits it, it twinkles.”

  “It twinkles?!” I growled, and rushed over to a shaft of sunlight streaming in through the mingling branches the hall's ceiling (I told you the hall was nature themed).

  Sure enough, within the light, my hair became a glowing streak of sparkles which would have looked right at home in the night sky.

  “I have starry hair?” I huffed. “I sparkle? What am I, the Twilight Princess?”

  “A strip of starlight,” Odin came over to me smiling, and brushed the star hair behind my left ear. “I think it's beautiful.”